Weddings are back! But couples may need to wait until 2022 to book a venue.
When I was looking for summer internships in the fall of 2020, my goal was to work with celebrity event-planner Mindy Weiss. But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March, my dreams of working in the event industry were just that — a dream. With strict stay-at-home orders and restrictions on gatherings, people were forced to cancel all events from children’s birthday parties to weddings. Although this was detrimental to event planners all over the world, the industry is rebounding steadily as restrictions ease up. However, this boom has made the logistics of planning a wedding — like securing a venue and catering company — very difficult.
An estimated 2.6 millions weddings — a record high — will take place in the U.S. in 2022 compared to the 2.1 million weddings in 2019 according to the wedding-planning website the Knot. Data from Zola, an online wedding-gift registry shows that of these two million weddings, about 17% of them were re-planned due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Steve Squitiro, who owns a waterfront venue in New York, said they’ve been busy with newly engaged couples looking to book nearly two years’ worth of postponed weddings from the pandemic. “We just don’t have the ability to fill them. The dates are just gone. At this point, the shoppers that are coming in now are really for ’23, they’ve given up on ‘22,” Squitiro said. “Everyone is pretty much looking at ’23 and beyond. Similarly, Gene and Veronica Carbona, the owners of a wedding venue in Maine, turned away 20 to 25 couples a week because the dates are booked.
With global supply chain backups and labor shortages, some couples should expect their wedding budgets to increase due to inflation. According to a survey conducted by Brides and Investopedia, 16% of couples plan to spend more because of Covid-19, while 70% of couples overall feel that wedding products cost more simply because they are for a wedding. In 2021, the average cost for weddings was $22,500. However, the projected average cost for 2022 and 2023 is in the $24,300 to $24,900 range according to the Wedding Report.
In terms of the goods and services couples spend most of their money on, 61% expect their venue to be one of their largest expenses along with the wedding rings and jewelry. Other costs include the catering company and food, wedding attire (dress, tuxedo, etc.), and a wedding planner.
Although it may be difficult to secure the perfect wedding venue or nail down the right makeup artist for another year, there are ways to be smart about budgeting for your big day. Wedding planner Krystal Gardenia offers her advice:
“If you aren’t a flowers person, don’t spend a ton on flowers. If you aren’t a sweets person, don’t spend a bunch on the cake. It all depends on you.”
So even though the event planning industry is back, professional planners want to help clients prioritize what matters most to them in a time of rising prices and a high demand for venues.
