Throw the confetti

Houston puts a ring on it as 8th best U.S. city to get married in 2025

Wedding bells are ringing in Houston.

Put your hands up, Houston. H-Town has climbed through the ranks to become one of the top 10 best places to get married in America this year, according to a just-released study from WalletHub.

WalletHub ranked 182 U.S. cities based on the average wedding costs; the number of venues, vendors, and services; and the number of activities and attractions in every city.

Houston ranks No. 8 for 2025, and especially stands out for activities and attractions (No. 10) and facilities and services (No. 15).

With more than 130 different wedding venues to choose from throughout the Houston area, there's no shortage of beautiful and unique locations to tie the knot. Plus, the bride and bridesmaids can get the party started early with with a shopping spree at Houston's 41st annual Bridal Extravaganza Show, or a luxurious spa getaway.

"Certain cities also make wedding planning easier with an abundance of options for wedding essentials, from florists to videographers to venues," WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said. "The more options a city has, the more likely you are to receive competitive pricing and to find places that can work with your optimal schedule."

It's equally important to be budget-conscious, as weddings can cost about $35,000 on average, WalletHub said.

"When weddings can cost tens of thousands of dollars and prices have only become even more outrageously inflated in recent years, it pays to hold your wedding in a city that’s affordable, both for those paying for the wedding and for guests who will need to make accommodations," said Lupo.

For the avid DIY-ers out there, there's plenty of tasks that can be accomplished without shelling out hundreds or thousands of dollars – such as creating special floral arrangements using unconventional vessels as vases.

Houston is the second best place to get married in Texas, with Austin climbing into first place statewide and No. 6 nationally. Two additional Texas cities made it into the top 25 best places to get married: San Antonio (No. 20) and Dallas (No. 23).

The top 10 best places to get married in the U.S.in 2025 are:

No. 1 – Orlando, Florida
No. 2 – Las Vegas, Nevada
No. 3 – Miami, Florida
No. 4 – Atlanta, Georgia
No. 5 – Tampa, Florida
No. 6 – Austin, Texas
No. 7 – San Francisco, California
No. 8 – Houston, Texas
No. 9 – New Orleans, Louisiana
No. 10 – Fort Lauderdale, Florida

reports wallethub weddings houston

Unhappy holidays

Porch pirates swipe nearly $2B in packages from Texas homes this year

Porch Pirate Person in Glasses Steals Packages

Getty Images

The Grinch isn't the only one stealing Christmas these days.

’Tis the season for porch pirates. If past trends are an indicator, the Grinch will swipe close to $2 billion worth of packages delivered to Texas households this year, with many of those thefts happening ahead of the holiday season.

An analysis of FBI and survey data by ecommerce marketing company Omnisend shows porch pirates stole more than $1.8 billion worth of packages from Texans’ porches last year. Porch pirates hit nearly one-third of the state’s households in 2024, according to the analysis.

Omnisend’s analysis reveals these statistics about porch piracy in Texas:

30.1 million residential package thefts in 2024.
An average household loss of $169 per year.
An annual average of 2.9 package thefts per household.

“Most stolen items are cheap on their own, but add them up, and retailers and consumers are facing an enormous bill,” says Omnisend.

Another data analysis, this one from The Action Network sports betting platform, unwraps different figures regarding porch piracy in Texas.

The platform’s 2025 Porch Pirate Index ranks Texas as the state with the highest volume of residential thefts, based on 2023-24 FBI data.

Researchers at The Action Network uncovered 26,293 reports of personal property thefts at Texas residences during that period. The network’s survey data indicates 5 percent of Texas residents had a package stolen in the three months before the pre-holiday survey.

The Porch Pirate Index calculates a 25.8 percent risk of a Texas household being victimized by porch pirates, putting it in the No. 5 spot among states with the highest risk of porch piracy.

The Action Network included online-search volume for terms like “package stolen” and “porch pirates.” Sustained spikes in these searches suggest that “people are actively looking for guidance after something has happened. Search trends serve as an early warning system, revealing emerging-risk areas well before annual crime statistics are released,” the network says.

Tips to avoid being a victim
So, how do you prevent porch pirates from snatching packages that end up on your porch? Omnisend, The Action Network and Amazon offer these eight tips:

Closely monitor deliveries and quickly retrieve packages.
Schedule deliveries for times when you’ll be home.
Use delivery lockers or in-store pickup when possible.
Ask delivery services to hide packages in out-of-sight spots outside your home.
Install a visible doorbell camera or security camera.
Coordinate deliveries with neighbors or building managers if you’ll be away from your home when packages are supposed to arrive.
Request that delivery services hold your packages if you can’t be home when they’re scheduled to come.
Illuminate the path to your doorstep and keep porch lights on.

holidays porch pirates crime