Post Covid Weddings – Newstalk with Pat Kenny

After a year of contributing to The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk, would you be believe that last week was the first time I got to be in studio with Pat. I had been in with Anton Savage but this was a monumental day as I finally got to meet Pat and he’s just so nice.

A highly topical piece, and something that many are trying to wrap their head around is just how are weddings in our post Covid world.

You can listen back to the full interview on the Newstalk Podcast right here.

A key piece to consider is that like any market, when demand is high and supply is static (as we can’t produce more venues or create 2 versions of the one supplier), then price will ultimately go up. Like airlines, when they are setting prices for key destinations and then selling out seats fast, the price yields up. This is no different. Prices have gone up for both couples already booked from last year or the year before to any new bookings now. Those increases range anywhere from 10%-20%

We now have 2 years of roll over from weddings that couldn’t take place so many of those weddings are finally happening right now. Many couldn’t get weekend dates when they went to postpone so they have midweek dates. Prime venues may be back to back with no break for the entire months of July and August.
With this in mind, couples who would have liked to have gotten married this year then are layered on top or they’ve pushed in to next year so that backlog then pushes up demand for the following year.
Now, add on the political, economic and environmental landscape. These factors have now pushed demand for items the business buy to run their business including cost to hire people and they are now more expensive as their own cost of living has gone up and they want more money which is fair enough. The margins many suppliers worked on pre Covid are no longer viable.

We’re Back

Despite all of that, big weddings are back. It’s business as usual and like we never even had a pandemic. There are two things driving this. Firstly, the market can now have what they want and they appreciate it more and secondly, the venue selection for small weddings has reduced now that they can operate to the max capacity. Therefore, minimum numbers are required to get key dates and many venues have pulled or restricted certain small number packages. This also goes for some of the urban restaurants that were able to open for weddings, they can’t eat in to their regular trade so they don’t have as much available for those 20-40 sized weddings on prime dates. BUT there are still plenty of great venues and restaurants offering but ultimately the industry is geared towards making the best of their chance to recoup.

Small weddings are a thing

I’m seeing so many who loved the look and feel of the 25 person wedding still proceed with that. In particular Dublin City Centre styled weddings where you have a City Hall ceremony followed by a nice restaurant with gourmet food. This is still very much on trend. Take a look at Sarah Hanrahan’s (i come undone) wedding – for me this is what an intimate city wedding is all about.

Sarah Hanrahan’s Wedding – Credit Ivana Patarcic

Going Abroad

Im also seeing a big increase in couples coming to me looking for recommendations and advise on weddings abroad. More so than any year and i’ve supported that with extra articles.  A few things here, there is a natural want to get away and that comes with the opportunity to have a smaller intimate wedding and secondly, depending on type of venue you want, dates / availability is an issue and people cannot get their key date plus a day two whereas abroad can offer that. There is an assumption that it can be cheaper to get married abroad but it’s not necessarily – it’s all relative to what you are looking for. the top destinations that i’m seeing right now are Spain, Portugal, Canary Islands, Coastal areas fo France & Italy, Malta and some Mexico.  A more recent abroad wedding is Sinead de Blogger who got married in Nerja. Absolutely stunning.

Sinead de Blogger’s Wedding in Nerja – Credit Peter Carvill

Gifting

Our final topic was the going rate for wedding cash gifts and ideas for gifts in general. All of the details discussed are right here in this article: Wedding Gifts.

I hope you enjoyed the details here or had a chance to listen. It’s always great to chat all things weddings with Pat Kenny.