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.
I wrote out a long comment, but there are loads of people trying to change this industry for the better. 78% of all flowers in the US are imported and it’s a huge problem. I hope you’re able to always buy locally grown flowers from small farms like we do. (Many of whom also grow vegetables.) In our area, housing developers buying up arable farmland are the biggest challenge to small scale farms.
You keep saying you wrote out a lot, but does that actually matter at all? Are people not allowed to respond simply because you git your 1k character count?
No, I’m not referencing my original comment. I meant I drafted a detailed response to the water/arable land/invasives complaint about the entire cut flower industry, and all the orgs/lobbying efforts re: farmland and ag policy we are working on to change it, but deleted it.