New Norms:
Couples are Moving Away from Big Weddings By Samuel Sutton
Standard-Radio Post editor
Over time, wedding traditions are bound to change. With advances in technology and other changes that have come during this generation, weddings and the planning period are both drastically different than they were just 20 years ago. Jennifer Harper, founder of the local wedding planning service, Wed in Fred, has seen some of these new norms through the years. She said one of the biggest changes is couples are opting for the smaller weddings more than before. “It was changing before COVID-19, but now it’s almost the new norm,” she said. “People are taking the traditional, very big wedding and bringing it down to what we call a ‘micro-wedding.’” These weddings, she said, still have the same components of a traditional wedding, but they’re greatly scaled down.
“They may be just immediate family, it might be immediate family and friends,” she said. “So, we’re talking about 25 or 50 people versus 100 people that it was before.” While this isn’t impacting the industry financially, as people are still paying for the DJs, food and venues, it’s just at a much smaller scale. Another big change from what people used to do deals with photography. Today’s couples seem to be opting more for the first-look photo, where the bride surprises the groom in her dress for a photo opportunity before she walks down the altar. “I think it’s beneficial to the couple because they get to see each other first, and then take a lot of pictures and get them out of the way, versus when you’re walking down the aisle, seeing the bride for the first time and taking all of your photos,” Harper said. “Although that’s very romantic and sweet, it’s really not very useful to the couple.”
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The way couples send out wedding invites has also changed, as Harper said over 50% of her couples send them via email now. “It’s easy, you can design it yourself and it’s cost effective,” she said. “E-Vites are definitely a trend, and I don’t see that going away at all.” Lastly, people are also tending to elope more than before. “It’s a really big trend where people aren’t even doing the traditional wedding at all. Instead, they’re just getting away for the weekend,” Harper said. Harper also owns the company, Elope to Fredericksburg, and she said that business has taken off. “We’ve been in business for six years and it was already taking off then, and now, it’s insane,” she said. “People are wanting to use their money toward other things. A wedding can be very expensive, and eloping is a great way to save money.”
