Nationwide Study Finds Two Minnesota Cities Are Top Destination Wedding Locations

When you hear the term destination wedding, don't you instantly picture a wedding somewhere warm on a white sandy beach or at least an adventure somewhere like Las Vegas?

That's what I think of, but a new study titled The Most Desirable U.S. Wedding Destinations ranked two Minnesota cities at #1 and #2 on their list. I know if I lived elsewhere and was invited to a destination wedding, I'd have questions.

This study was done by InsureMyTrip and they assessed 160 of the most populated U.S. cities, including one from every state, to find which are the best wedding destinations.

They then collected data based on the following criteria:

• Quantity and quality of venues
• Entertainment
• Florist options in each city
• Annual rainfall totals
• The average cost of a hotel

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As for the methodology, each data point consisted of the latest research available from reputable sources. All sources are city-specific level data points. The data was then standardized using minmax normalization. What is that you ask? I'll let them explain:

The minmax normalization value is multiplied by 10 to create a score (between 0-10). A score of 10 is always the best result, while a score of 0 is the worst. Each city is then ranked on its overall rating across all wedding-related data points, to find which city is the most desirable for a wedding.

Once all the data had been crunched, the top two destination wedding locations in the entire U.S. were St. Paul, Minnesota, and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Take that, Hawaii!

Here are the cities that finished in the Top 10:

1. Saint Paul, Minnesota
2. Minneapolis, Minnesota
3. Grand Prairie, Texas
4. Irving, Texas
5. Garland, Texas
6. Atlanta, Georgia
7. Ontario, California
8. Bakersfield, California
9. Dallas, Texas
10. Colorado Springs, Colorado

I guess the lesson learned for Minnesotans planning a destination wedding is that perhaps the best place to tie the knot may be right in your backyard.