BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – If you’re looking to tie the knot in the next few years, patience is the virtue you’ll need.
A combination of labor and supply shortages are the icing on the cake for an already over-extended wedding industry.
Despite venues, vendors and wedding planners being fully booked for the next few years, they’re struggling to keep couples happy and finances in the green.
Two years into the pandemic, the coronavirus is still causing wedding woes.
“It’s been a crazy year. Past two years, for that matter,” said Vermont-based wedding planner Jaclyn Watson of Jaclyn Watson Events.
Watson says the industry will likely be in the muck until 2025.
“We don’t foresee anything really changing, unfortunately in the next couple of years. Just because the pandemic really did hurt us,” she said.
It’s a challenge that Watson and other industry experts are struggling to work through, with obstacle after obstacle curbing celebrations.
“Right now, we’re struggling finding things. You know, rentals are completely sold out, linens are sold out, flowers have gone sky-high,” Watson said.
Vermont Tent owner Michael Lubas says with a huge increase in outdoor events, plus supply chain and labor issues, they’re hitting roadblocks, too.
“I can’t order champagne flutes right now. I can’t get them. I can’t get long-stem white wine glasses. So, inventory is a challenge,” Lubas said.
He says tents won’t even ship out until September. As a result, they’re turning away customers nearly every week, even those planning events as far out as late-summer.
“We actually have five or six dates right now that are completely booked and another five or six dates that are almost at capacity. And when we only have 20-25 weekends a season, yeah, we’re backed up,” Lubas said.
While rental companies, venues and vendors work to keep up, planners are trying to stay afloat.
Watson says she normally would take on 12 events a year, but last year, she took on 24. And she says she’s still losing money.
“All of us are losing money because we can’t take as many as we need and we don’t have the staffing to do it, we don’t have the supplies to do it,” Watson said.
As we enter engagement season, couples looking to use a wedding planner are now facing a two-year backlog.
Wedding planning site the Knot says weekday weddings could rise by 2% this year, as compared to pre-pandemic times.
Watson says she’s seen a significant rise in Thursday, Friday and Sunday weddings because venues are booked solid on Saturdays. In fact, she anticipates that number could be higher than 2%.
Watson suggests keeping an open mind and being upfront about budget, especially if you’re working with small businesses.
“It will still be a beautiful wedding, it will still go off, but having an option B is the best way to go,” she said.
Watson says she and other wedding industry professionals are currently trying to recruit the help of state legislators to get relief funding to keep planners afloat.
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