Kelly Ripa Reveals Shockingly Small Price Tag for 1996 Las Vegas Wedding to Husband Mark Consuelos

Kelly Ripa and her husband, Mark Consuelos, are both successful television stars in their own right, but their 1996 nuptials came with a shockingly small price tag.

The topic came up on a recent installment of Live With Kelly and Mark, as the happily married couple discussed the cost-saving "micro trend" for weddings.

"A quirky cake. No big ceremony. Candles over flowers," Ripa read off a list of features included in recent wedding festivities. "This is the year of the cost-effective wedding. Ceremonies are out, parties are in."

"So they’ll do a small ceremony and then a big party. Buffets are back on the menu, for cost-effective reasoning. They’re cheap, they’re cheerful and they’re returning to wedding venues," she continued. "Brides are opting (for) secondhand wedding dresses. Because let’s face it: nothing’s been worn less than a wedding dress. Unless it’s my wedding dress, which now doubles as a beach cover-up."

She also noted that some are "getting rid of the wedding ring" and "engagement ring," and just using a single "ceremony ring."

As for Consuelos, he was on board with the cost-cutting endeavors for couples' big day.

"The money spent on these parties and flowers and rings and dresses, it just doesn’t make sense to me. It never made sense to me," he added.

But he doesn't only talk the talk, he also walked the walk. Ripa and Consuelos eloped in Las Vegas in 1996 – which turned out to be wildly affordable.

"Our wedding was great. $179, including airfare, thank you!" Ripa chimed in. "We should start a wedding service."

This isn't the first time Ripa and Consuelos have shared details on their own special day. While they were happy with their wedding, the mom-of-three shared that both sets of their parents did not like that they chose to elope.

"They (hated) that," she said in a 2024 installment of the hit morning show. "Spoiler alert: if you're planning on eloping, your parents will hate that."

Another thing that made their ceremony cheaper was that they chose not to buy any floral arrangements.

"I'm still sorry we didn't spring for flowers, because I always think my hands look awkward," she said earlier this year. "Flowers are extra."

During an August episode of Live, Consuelos told guest host Jenna Dewan that he got some ink after tying the knot with Ripa.

"We eloped, and we went straight to a tattoo parlor," he said at the time. "I don’t know whose idea that was, but we went straight to get tattoos, and it was a horrible idea."

"I’ve since had it covered up with something different here, but I got the tragedy/comedy actors (masks), the thing. Awful," he noted. "The smiley face and the angry face. I’m like, oh, my god. It’s so cringey just to think of it."