The truth about the "Wedding Boom" and creating an authentic wedding planning company.
Have You Been Hearing About The Wedding BOOM?
There will be an estimated 2.5 MILLION U.S. weddings this year in 2022 - according to wedding market research. That's a record high since 1984. This report has been floating around and causing some wedding hysteria in all truthfulness. So let's break down what this means for couples and why I think we need to be more truthful when it comes to planning weddings.
Yes 2.5 million weddings sounds like a big number especially up from 2020's number of 1.27 million. But if we were to look back PRE pandemic we'd see that's really only about a 16% increase to the industry so why is this such a big deal and should you be concerned that you and your partner are going to have to compromise your dream wedding?
Reschedules, Restocks, & Retrains Oh My!
So once we've established that its not necessarily a giant amount of weddings it's easier to understand when you look at the behind the scenes part of the wedding industry. The iceberg sized workings that happen under the surface that make those Pinterest worthy moments happen that are captured in your wedding photos you maybe feel you're paying too much for. The real problem facing the wedding industry is just the giant 0 to 100 rush vendors have been thrown back into, while many of the supporting parts that help them move forward are struggling to regain their previous momentum.
Reschedules are pouring over from the previous wedding seasons often with those couples having first dibs on their desired date if not already booked. There are only 52 weekends in a year and with 71% of couples getting married on Saturdays those desirable dates fill up quickly.
Not only rescheduling causing some difficulties, there are supply chain shortages between shipping and production of raw materials. This particularly is affecting florists importing flowers and materials but stretches to caterers & bakers on the rising cost of ingredients across the board. Things are taking longer to come in and are costing more than before. The largest ports in the world are all still back logged and desperately trying to unclog.
We also can't forget the hands that all help make these events happen are experiencing their own shortages as well. Many skilled workers had their industries stopped for a year or more and had to walk away to provide for themselves and their families. The uptick in events happened so quickly replacing and retraining teams has been difficult for many vendors trying to keep up with demand.
Is this all causing you to stress some more? Don't worry I'm not here to scare you I'm here to help.
Verity Weddings Creating Truths
I started Verity Weddings after helping a friend
plan her wedding after the tidal wave that is Covid-19. I had been and currently still am providing management services to event planning, catering, & production companies. Weddings were just one of the many types of events I had experience executing. It had broken my heart to see how much my friend was struggling, not only in wedding planning but because of just other things happening in her life.
I hated seeing the extra pressures
planning a wedding made her feel on her appearance, how she felt she meant to people, and the crazy expectations social media produced on the wedding experience. I wanted and pushed for her to ignore other peoples expectations and focus on her & her fiancé's story, making that the central and ONLY focus of her wedding.
Over the past few years I've talked and worked with many couples throughout their wedding planning journeys and have kept notes. Below are things I've noticed that come up with couples the most:
Budgeting & money worries
Feeling pressured to meet others expectations
Not knowing what they can expect from their vendors and often under utilizing them
Not having the words to deal with difficult family & friends
Feeling alone or isolated during the process
Just feeling overwhelmed with the amount of decisions and options
So here I am now. Embracing my own journey to help others plan weddings of meaning. To help them get that wedding of their dreams in a way that won't break the bank, peel back the curtain on wedding industry so you can prioritize what is worth it to you, & to feel amazing being your true self in true love in full view for the world to see.
XOXO,
P.S. Join my FREE wedding planning group The Confident Bride Society. Brides, Grooms, & Vendors Welcome!
Comments