Whilst many couples who had their wedding postponed due to the pandemic in 2020 have since tied the knot, we are still expecting to see a boom of nuptials in 2022.
Restrictions were only fully lifted on the day dubbed ‘Freedom Day’ - 19th July 2021 - with an estimated 50,000 weddings planned for this first month of restriction-free life.
This left just five months to cater for postponed celebrations from 2020 and early 2021, on top of those already booked for the year.
Combine the remaining ‘postponers’, with more newly engaged couples looking to get hitched in 2022, and it’s no wonder that it is set to be a bumper year for the wedding industry.
What couples are looking for
According to Bridebook’s 2021 Wedding Report, 69% of couples said that price was the most important feature when researching wedding venues and 49% of couples booked their venue within the first three months of engagement.
55% cited beautiful grounds and views for photos as one of their most important factors in choosing a venue, 44% noted the importance of helpful and friendly staff, 43% wanted a lovely interior and 43% said that food and catering options were key to their choice.
Barns continue to become increasingly popular venues for weddings, with 19% opting for a barn type venue, but hotels remain the most popular venues, with 23% of engaged couples having booked this type of venue.
Digital wedding planning
Having spent a lot of time at home over the last two years, and an increasing amount of time online, couples have become experts at researching from their phones, and pros at wedding planning from the comfort of their sofas.
According to Bridebook, couples reported spending 10 hours per day wedding planning, with 17% of venue-seeking couples researching for 20+ hours a week.
More than ever, your website is your most important tool. At the very minimum it should be mobile-friendly and easy to navigate with key information and benefits of getting married at your venue visible at a glance.
Couples will be looking for:
- ‘Real wedding’ photo galleries
- Video tours
- Testimonials
- Transparent pricing
5 Wedding marketing tips
1. SEO: Invest in SEO (search engine optimisation) to ensure that your website is working as hard as it can for you to reach those Google top spots for relevant key terms.
2. Google analytics: Check your Google analytics regularly to understand how your website is working for you, where your traffic is coming from and where you can make improvements.
3. Social media: Keep active on social media. Share beautiful photography on your Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest accounts - make use of Instagram stories and reels - video content gets the most engagement. Interact with other relevant accounts and encourage engagement with your content to boost your visibility.
4. Social adverts: Keep front of mind using social adverts. Target newly engaged couples (56% of couples update their Facebook status to engaged within 2 days) or use the retargeting feature to reach people who have visited your website. Use the lead generation type ad type to collect email addresses of prospective couples.
5. Printed materials: With life playing out online more than ever since the pandemic, it’s the perfect time to introduce some beautiful, quality print materials to cut through the digital noise. Whether it’s a lovely wedding brochure, a leaflet or postcard, give couples the option to receive some marketing materials in the post when they enquire, or hand them something to take away when they visit for a show around. They will hang on to it, share with friends and family and remember your venue.
What next...
With so much demand, there has been a surge in new wedding venues and suppliers.
Whilst there is certainly enough market share to go around for 2022, when wedding levels return to ‘normal’ over the next year or two it’s inevitable that there will be a surplus of businesses.
So, it’s more important than ever to keep ahead of the competition, stay on top of the latest weddings trends and stand out from the crowd with creative marketing.
Download our Wedding Trends Report
Keep ahead of the competition with our 2022 wedding trends report.
Seven wedding trends for 2022 and 2023
1. Inside-out weddings
2. Sequel weddings
3. Micro weddings
4. Supersize celebrations
5. Sustainable weddings
6. Destination weddings
7. Insta-worthy weddings