May 26, 2026
Canadians are increasingly willing to scale back wedding plans in favour of saving for a home, new survey data suggests.
According to Royal LePage, nearly 8 in 10 Canadians would consider asking for money toward a home down payment in place of a traditional wedding gift. The survey also found that 82% would consider scaling back or even forgoing a wedding celebration entirely to help afford a home purchase.
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The findings highlight how continuing housing affordability pressures are reshaping major life decisions, particularly for younger Canadians trying to enter the market.
“As the cost of living puts pressure on household budgets across the country, more Canadians are finding themselves having to make difficult trade-offs between the two – and in many cases, it’s the wedding that gets scaled back,” said Anne-Elise Cugliari Allegritti, vice president of Research and Communications at Royal LePage, in a statement.
Many Canadians see a home as the more important investment
According to the survey, 83% of Canadians identified buying a home as the biggest or most important purchase a person will make in their lifetime.
That sentiment appears to be influencing how couples approach marriage and financial planning. More than half of married respondents said they now wish they had requested money toward a home down payment instead of traditional wedding gifts.
The survey also illustrates how attitudes may be shifting across generations, including among older Canadians reflecting back on their own experiences. “I’ve always thought it was a shame to spend all that money on just one day,” one Boomer respondent from Quebec said in the survey.
Another Boomer respondent from New Brunswick described home ownership as “a gift that keeps on giving because a home will always appreciate in value.”
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Housing affordability is changing how couples approach major milestones
Royal LePage says rising housing costs — particularly in markets such as southern Ontario and British Columbia’s Lower Mainland — are pushing more couples to prioritize building equity over hosting expensive celebrations.
In British Columbia, respondents were the most likely in Canada to say they would request money toward a home purchase instead of traditional wedding gifts.
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The survey also found many Canadians are becoming more flexible about the traditional order of major life milestones. Rather than marrying first and buying later, some couples are choosing to purchase property together before planning a wedding.
“In Toronto, many couples are choosing to purchase a home before getting married,” said Tom Storey of Royal LePage Signature Realty in Toronto.
Other real estate professionals cited a growing preference for smaller weddings, delayed honeymoons and more modest ceremonies as buyers try to preserve savings for down payments and future housing costs.
Weddings are increasingly being viewed through a financial lens
That shift also reflects the wider financial pressures many households throughout Canada continue to face.
Royal LePage noted that the average wedding now costs roughly US$33,000 — or more than C$45,000 — before factoring in a honeymoon or wedding rings.
For many couples, that has turned weddings into another major financial decision, and not simply a personal or cultural milestone.
And while the survey does not suggest Canadians are abandoning weddings altogether, many appear to be rethinking how much they are willing to spend on a single event at a time when housing affordability continues to dominate long-term financial planning.
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Steven Brennan is a freelance finance writer based in Vancouver, BC. He holds a BA and an MA from Maynooth University, Ireland. His work regularly appears at Canadian Mortgage Trends, Lowest Rates, Loans Canada and other Canadian and US brands, while also working as a ghostwriter for financial influencers.
