For many in the wedding industry, 2022 is looking to be catch-up time following two years of postponed, cancelled and rescheduled weddings.
“It’s been a lot of hurry and wait and now it’s at the point where we’re actually getting to do a lot of events,” King Cole Catering owner Taylor Cole told Global News.
“Which is awesome, but it also means there’s quite a backlog of communication and details that need to be confirmed since everything has been up in the air until restrictions have been lifted recently.”
Cole says in the most extreme case, she has clients who originally booked in 2019 and are finally able to go forward with their wedding this year, after postponing once or twice.
She also says that before the pandemic, she recommended clients booked larger vendors — like venues, catering, and photographers — at least one year to 15 months prior to their big day.
But, like many things, the pandemic has changed that.
“If you got engaged in the last few months, I would say that you still have a hope of getting married in 2023, but you might have to be flexible with your date,” Cole said.
“If you’re wanting everything the way you want it, you would at least have to look until 2024.”
Cole also says the rising food prices are having an impact on wedding caterers, another factor that may also inspire couples to downsize their weddings.
“The pandemic has caused an increase in food supply costs, which has been across the board (and) everybody is sort of raising their prices, but that means that couples may have to make some adjustments to their wedding plans when it comes down to budget,” she said.
“My suggestion is don’t have your 225-person wedding if you can’t afford it. If you want … vendors of your choice, you may need to reduce your group size, which I think people are getting used to now. Smaller weddings will hopefully kind of become the norm.”
But not everyone in the wedding industry is feeling the post-restriction rush to the altar just yet.
“It still hasn’t picked up to where I thought it would be at this time,” The Perfect Gown owner Joanne Roth said.
“I’m hoping that once all the restrictions are lifted that we’ll get sort of back to a normal.”
Roth’s wedding dress store specializes in plus-size wedding dresses and opened just before the pandemic hit.
“I started a year and a half before the pandemic and it was extremely slow because nobody knew who I was, and then I was just getting going and then the pandemic hit and knocked me down,” Roth told Global News.
“So it was touch and go there for a while. I was really worried — can I hang onto the spot?”
Roth says the pandemic challenges caused her to expand to include bridesmaid and graduation gowns as well.
“I don’t know what it is, I’m hoping that it’s just going to turn,” she said.
“Maybe girls are cautious that they’ve been let down so many times in the past two years. I’ve had girls that have changed their wedding date like three or four times, so I can understand they’re hesitant to maybe book another day right away.”
Couples opting for elopement, downsized weddings
The pandemic also has many couples reimagining what a traditional wedding looks like.
“I’ve noticed quite a number of couples essentially making the decision to elope or cut their wedding down entirely, just because it’s really a matter now of choosing what means the most to you and deciding what you want to do for your day,” said Jensen Maxwell, a photographer who specializes in elopements and intimate weddings.
“So a lot of couples that had previously been planning larger weddings are cutting things down entirely, choosing to have 10 people, five people, or even just themselves. And I find that a lot of couples that are choosing to elope are choosing to do something now rather than later, because it’s kind of a matter of, ‘Yeah why not, let’s just get it done right now’.”
Maxwell was originally a photographer for larger, traditional weddings, but decided to make to switch to elopements and intimate weddings in 2019, just before the pandemic.
“I found that a lot of couples planning larger, traditional weddings ended up feeling really stressed with the day and it felt kind of like it was a little bit of a performance for the guests,” Maxwell told Global News.
“And I found (with) shooting elopements, that couples are generally a lot happier with the experience that they get, and they have something unique coming out of the celebration of their marriage.”
She also says many couples that pivoted from a large wedding to elopement or small wedding due to the pandemic generally feel a sense of relief.
“All of that planning has been lifted off their shoulders, all of the cost, a lot of the time has been lifted off their shoulders, so it’s a huge relief in that sense,” she said.
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