FEBRUARY IS THE MONTH OF LOVE - And Here Comes the Bride

2020 was a complete disaster for the wedding industry. However, unlike other live events that were “cancelled” weddings were not. For the most part, they were pushed off to 2021.

Wedding planner Holly Poulter, Founder and Creative Director of Revelry Events, as this to say about the upcoming wedding season. "2021 will be the industry's busiest yet, with even the off-peak, normally quieter weekdays and months booking up with not only 2020 postponements, but also couples who would have been planning a 2021 wedding anyway", Holly warned. "It's safe to assume Summer 2021 will be busy anyway, with newly engaged couples snapping up dates alongside postponements, so expect the less popular months to book out as well."

Weekday weddings are on the rise this year. Driven by availability because last year’s couples who moved their dates snapped up the best ones already, newly-engaged couples are opting for week days in lieu of postponing. Wedding professionals are working to modify weddings to work with a weekday plan so that couples are happy to take time off during the week to go to a wedding of someone near and dear.

2021 will definitely see more local destination weddings due to the uncertainty of travel in the coming year. California with its beaches, wine regions and mountains, offers the best of the best for outdoor and destination venues.

WHAT WEDDINGS WILL LOOK LIKE IN CORONAVIRUS ERA?
Smaller weddings were trending in the last few years anyway, as couples started to actively choose to reduce their headcount way down in order to invest more in each person, rather than spread their hard-earned money further across 150 people. This crisis has shifted priorities and the focus is now more on an intimate gathering with their nearest and dearest, and it will be hard to get over the mental hurdle of being around big groups.

Finances will also play a big role in this. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that in most cases, reducing headcount reduces spend. So, if couples have been hit particularly hard by this crisis but they just want to be freakin’ married, then perhaps we’ll see smaller budgets and smaller numbers because of it."

My husband and I got engaged on February 14, Valentines Day and yes, we celebrated in a limo! As we turn the page on January and move to the Month of LOVE it’s time to play Cupid and get on with marketing your celebration packages. And, very importantly get on the phone with your local wedding planners and venues to cash in on the busy wedding season ahead.

Sara Eastwood-Richardson
Executive Director, GCLA