2009 Projections

I saw the following information about budget-conscious weddings in The Wedding Report, a great resource for statistics and news about the industry.   I know that local San Diego vendors have already seen this trend happening.  What I've been hearing from these vendors is that the number of bookings for next year has been steady compared to 2008, but it's definitely been the economy that has really been behind a lot of these belt-tightening decisions.  

Posted with permission from The Wedding Report:

2009 Market Forecast

In 2009, the number of couples getting married will remain steady overall at about 2.2 million. If the economy begins to recover, we may see a slight increase; however, if we see more economic turmoil the number of weddings will decline in 2009 as couples wait for the economy to recover. Spending will follow the same trend, except that overall spending will be down 10% over 2008, which is already seeing a decline of 20-30%. In 2009, we estimate the average wedding cost to be between $21,000 and $25,000.

2009 Trends

Most trends in 2009 will relate to saving money with the exception of a few. We expect other money saving trends to emerge.

• Smaller weddings with fewer guests
• Destination weddings or destination type weddings closer to home
• Accent colors on dresses and cakes with the most popular being greens and blues
• Increased reliance on family and friends to help plan, pay, and provide some of the services
• Increased use of green and echo friendly products and services
• Simplified decorations, centerpieces and wedding invitations
• Increased use of online RSVP’s vs. traditional mail-in RSVPs
• Off-peak weddings; Mornings, Afternoons, Fridays, Sundays, October becomes the new June
• Buffet meals, Hors d’oeuvre, and cocktail receptions
• Cheesecakes, cupcakes and miniature cakes
• All-inclusive packages     

Earlier this year, a friend forwarded me a post on from JD Roth's Get Rich Slowly.  This post was about Roth overhearing some wedding vendors discussing their rates; they were open to lowering their prices if asked.  I know this to be true locally, depending on your flexibility, the date and budget, among other factors. (On a side note, I feel the information JD Roth has on his site is excellent and I've been a follower ever since.)

Another post I'd like to mention is Ramit Sethi's "The 28,000 Question: Why Are We All Hypocrites About Weddings?" In Stephane Grenier's awesome new book Blog Blazers, Sethi said this was one of his most popular posts to date and I can definitely see why.  Weddings touch so many people whether it's your own, your friend's or your kid's.  However, I don't think that people really realize how much weddings cost until they are directly involved with the planning.  

Nobody wants to see the couple go into debt with their wedding even if the vendor is trying to make a living.  One General Manager I worked for said he didn't feel it was appropriate to push and upsell young couples starting out in life, paying for their own wedding.  I thought that was very admirable considering that the hotel was a business first and foremost. That being said, we just weren't the hotel for everyone's budget.  Sometimes we'd get calls from someone saying "but we really want to have our wedding there." and give us a budget for their Saturday night dinner reception that wasn't enough to cover a weekday lunch. To underscore what Sethi said, people need to be realistic about their spending and saving and what they can appropriately afford.  

What trends have you seen emerging for 2009 weddings?