It’s not you, it’s them: Engaged couples are cutting back on lavish weddings

Multi-tiered cakes, elaborate floral displays and choreographed first dances: The traditional white wedding has been long considered a hallmark of American life.

Multi-tiered cakes, elaborate floral displays and choreographed first dances: The traditional white wedding has been long considered a hallmark of American life. The obsession with lavish weddings grew to a fever pitch in the years following the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. At the same time, inflation soared — and the average cost of a wedding broke $30,000 for the first time in 2023, according to The Wedding Report, a research company that tracks wedding data. Now, after two years of elevated inflation eating into consumers’ wealth, for some engaged couples, splurging on a dessert table or extra sprays of flowers, which are the definition of “nice to haves,” has become a much less justifiable decision. That’s bad news for wedding vendors who provide services like videography, photo booths and catering. Meanwhile, those vendors are facing a more worrisome existential threat: a looming drop in the overall number of weddings. The number of US weddings soared to a 25-year high in 2022. Now, just two years after those highs, nearly 17% fewer weddings are expected, said Shane McMurray, CEO and founder of The Wedding Report. The halcyon days of insatiable wedding demand are unlikely to return anytime soon, he added. Forced postponements and cancellations in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19 were part of the reason for the recent surge in weddings. Demand was pent up: Instagram was stuffed with “wedding influencers,” and the TikTok hashtag #WeddingTok racked up billions of views.