The COVID-19 pandemic will leave a lasting effect on so many things and that includes how we celebrate weddings.
On a weekend that usually marks the start of summer wedding season, NBC Connecticut’s Leslie Mayes spoke with event planners and a bride to be about how the pandemic may change the wedding industry for good.
When wedding bells ring for Marian Andoh and her fiancé Trevor, their big day will be a smaller affair than either previously envisioned. It’s a result and perhaps lasting effect of the pandemic.
“I did have a little bit of FOMO [fear of missing out] with not being able to have the grandiose events everybody else gets to have, but at the same time, I like intimate functions, so it was kind of a relief” says Andoh, who originally envisioned a large wedding at a New York Botanic Garden with 200 people.
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The pair got engaged in November. With uncertainty about what the world would look like on their wedding day and a backlog of postponed weddings filling available venue dates, the couple pivoted, going instead for a South African destination wedding early next year with just 50 guests.
Marian, a former wedding planner herself, is using a new phrase for the pared down affair “micro luxe.”
“Still very beautiful, it’s just smaller. So all the bells and whistles, just tiny” she said.
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Couples like Marian and Trevor are joining a trend planner Kimberly DeBose said may remain long after the pandemic with some dropping big bashes in favor of smaller, intimate ceremonies and celebrations.
“Absolutely… weddings are going to be celebrated in a different way post pandemic” she said.
Debose had 20 weddings postponed in 2020 because of COVID. She says many couples calling her for wedding planning now have more meaningful guest lists and goals to make sure those present have a magical time.
“People are really focusing on inviting the close family, the close friends and those that are going to support them in their marriage to celebrate that union,” said DeBose.
That is a sentiment echoed by organizers at Aria Event Hall in Prospect. They’ve been extremely busy booking couples as restrictions have eased. They said for the couples now finally getting their chance to tie the knot, there’s a renewed focus on family.
"Most importantly right now, they want to get their families together. If anything out of this pandemic, family, friends are so, so important,” said Aria sales manager Lina Mosca.
Perhaps it’s a positive change to come from this long time of uncertainty- getting new couples focused on what truly matters on their wedding day: love.
“At the end of the day, we are getting married. This is for us whether its four people there, just the two of us or 50 of us,” said Andoh.
