2021 Covid-19 Wedding Market Update

In June 2021 we did a follow up survey for COVID-19 to determine how the market is moving. For this round, we had 2,229 consumers and 283 businesses respond. Most of the business responses came from those in the Photography, Planning, Venue, Entertainment, Attire, Florist, and Officiant segments.

In the end, we are going to stay with our current forecast for 2021 and beyond.

Current forecast is:

2021 – 1.93 million weddings with an average spend of $22.5k
2022 – 2.47 million weddings with an average spend of $24.3k
2023 – 2.24 million weddings with an average spend of $24.9k

After 2023, things should start to normalize, and we will get back to pre-pandemic number of weddings and spending.

Results from the survey suggest:

• 20% of 2021 weddings rescheduled out to 2022
• Businesses are about 10% less booked than 2018/2019, it is a mixed bag
• 28% of businesses are more than 25% less booked
• 17% of businesses are more than 25% more booked
• Many businesses are reporting that the second half of the year is the busiest for them
• Some are seeing surges already while others are not. I think it depends on where you are in the country and the type of business you are in.
• Many are reporting that this year is not profit or new events, but reschedules, so that is impacting over all profit for the year.
• Some are reporting that couples are still a bit nervous
• Good staffing is hard to find
• Many still reporting smaller weddings
• 87% of couples say they are not having any issues finding what they need or want
• 10% of couples reporting higher prices prior to pandemic
• 5% of couples reporting hard to find a venue for their date
• 15% of couples say they are still cutting budgets by as much as 28%
• 15% of couples say they are still cutting guest counts by as much as 27%
• Both budget cuts and guest count reduction is consistent with what businesses are reporting