Wedding Budgets at $31,213 Show Improving U.S. Economy

Here's one sign of the U.S. economic recovery that few Americans will rejoice over: The average cost of a wedding just hit a five-year high.

Spending on nuptials reached an average $31,213 in 2014, up 3 percent from the year before and the most expensive since 2009 adjusted for inflation, according to an analysis of data released Thursday by XO Group Inc., which owns wedding website TheKnot.com. Spending per head was at its highest level since the company began surveying brides in 2007, as the size of the average guest list shrank to 136 people, the lowest on record.