Tips For Navigating The Wedding Gap This Wedding Season

Tips For Navigating The Wedding Gap This Wedding Season - Eternity

Tips For Navigating The Wedding Gap This Wedding Season

13th April 2024

If you’re reading this, it’s highly likely that you’re a wedding professional curious about ‘the wedding gap’. You are possibly left thinking ‘why are enquiries so low?’, or ‘is there something I need to do with my marketing?’, and possibly even lowering your prices and margins for clients this year.

It’s something that the entire wedding industry, globally, is facing in 2024 wedding season; but expected to normalise by 2025/26.

Have a read at why this is occurring, what this could mean for your business, and what we suggest.

WHAT IS THE WEDDING GAP?

The wedding gap is derived from the ‘engagement gap’, both referring to the number of couples meeting, getting engaged and getting married drastically decreasing over the last few years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This all goes way back to the source. All research, globally, shows that the average couple meets and dates for 3-4 years before they decide to get engaged and get married. However, in 2020, the world ultimately went into a bit of a standstill – and that really reduced the ability to date.

Since Covid-19, we saw restricted weddings taking place in 2020 & 2021, but many couples had really postponed their weddings to 2022 & 2023 – hence the great influx of bookings which were almost unbearable.

Some businesses we spoke to were quite literally having to turn down numerous bookings in 2022 & 2023, due to hitting their daily capacity limits.

Most professionals expected 2024 to ‘return to it’s normal levels’, but it has certainly hit below-average levels this year.

In addition to that, Covid-19 caused a high level of economic uncertainty, with many countries facing high interest rates and the UK being in a ‘cost of living crisis’.

This has certainly had a two-way impact. Suppliers have faced higher costs, hence bumped up their prices to retain the same margins pre-Covid; and couples have become much more cautious in where their money is being spent.

how are couples feeling?

Having spoken to a handful of couples, we’ve definitely seen a mixed bag of opinions.

We have noticed a trend that quite a few of bookings this year have been those couples who met and got engaged all within 1-2 years – quite a rarity but definitely been on the rise.

Other couples have said that their budget is the same, but they have had fewer guests invited; hence a higher price per head than usual.

A number of couples have also expressed concerns around the property market, which has majorly impacted their views on which they prioritise from a spending perspective.

navigating the wedding gap

As a business owner, it’s really natural to start getting frustrated about this year. Here are some of our expert do’s & dont’s to thrive during the wedding gap.

DO:

keep marketing

Do not stop marketing! Often at times like this, it can be slightly demotivating to continue to market your business and see minimal ROI. It’s important to remember a few things:

Firstly, your ROI will likely never be instant. Frequently posting will help attract further couples for 2025 & 2026; so you’re definitely in it for the long run. Regardless of whether that’s social media, exhibitions or any other form of advertising / PR.

Secondly, as soon as couples see an inactive social media account for 4+ weeks – they immediately assume the business is closed and have a lower chance of enquiring.

streamline internal processes

With the downtime, one of our biggest recommendations is to streamline your business AKA do all those things that always sat at the bottom of your to-do list.

Whether this means you’re a caterer looking to refresh your cutlery, or a wedding stationery designer looking for a better way to share your portfolio / pricing plans. Now is the best time to do this.

network

Honestly, it’s the best feeling when you speak to someone whose in the same boat as your. As wedding professionals, a large majority start off as solo / duo business owners – it’s really nice to speak to a fresh face and share your concerns, frustrations and ultimately have a bit of a laugh.

In the long run, this will also help you form better bonds onsite at events in the upcoming years.

refresh your brand

It’s time to make your brand ‘Gen-Z’ ready! With the next generation of couples on the rise; what they think and what they like is very different to millenials.

Now is the best time to take a look at your branding, your style, your communication methods; and essentially refresh it all.

Whether that be on your website, socials, or any marketing materials; be sure to start soon.

focus on pricing & positioning

If you’ve now been in the industry for 3+ years; it’s likely that you’ve established yourself in a specific market. Now is the best time to take a step back and see if this is the ideal market for you.

Do you wish to be more mass market? More luxury? More destination?

Take a look at your positioning & pricing and see how you can refresh and relaunch appropriately.

offer payment plans

This one will definitely not go unnoticed by couples. We have seen a number of suppliers implement payment plans, which has given their couples more comfort during the cost of living crisis; and played a huge part in the decision making role when picking between suppliers.

upskill

One thing we all know and love about the industry is the fact that there are new ‘trends’ every 3-4 years. This means needing to upskill yourself, your equipment, and your team. Now is the best time to invest in yourself.

don't

undercut prices

There’s only one don’t; and that’s not to undercut prices of your competitors.

If you start to eat into your margins; you’re not running a business, it’s simply just a very expensive hobby.

In addition to that, it begins to devalue the industry as a whole and will ultimately make it more difficult to increase prices over the next few years as we return to our usual level of weddings & events.