HOW TO PLAN THE PERFECT WEDDING IN 2021

The new year has certainly brought hope to everyone, from engaged couple to wedding venue owners. Piovra Group as well as other venue management and wedding planning professionals have already seen a substantial increase in event inquiries from couples who are ready to start planning a 2021 wedding. Many of them are already reaching out about planning a 2022 wedding. The vaccine distribution is also giving us hope in a quicker than expected reopening and is allowing all of us to see a bit of a light at the end of the tunnel. 

On top of that we are seeing more and more news coverage of various economic experts and epidemiologists are now sharing their forecasts that our future will include a robust enthusiasm for social celebration. Just as the “roaring 20’s” followed the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, so we may see something similar once we’re on the other side of the COVID-19 nightmare we’ve all been enduring together as a society. 

With that said, let’s talk about what to expect, if you’re newly engaged, or perhaps got engaged in 2020 and decided to wait a bit before starting to plan your wedding for this year or the next one. 

PLANNING YOUR WEDDING IN 2021? DON’T WASTE TIME!

Remember that more than an entire year’s worth of wedding season was upended by the pandemic. I say more than a year, because it’s not just 2020 weddings that were postponed. We’re already seeing additional postponements from spring 2021 dates for couples who desire larger celebrations and have realized they need to wait longer. 

Wedding Venues, vendors, and suppliers have limited capacity left to offer you as they’ve been forced to fill so many 2021 dates with weddings that were originally scheduled for last year. 

You may need to be prepared to expand the geographic reach of your venue selection, consider off-peak dates, and reach out to more than one wedding venue management company or wedding planner.

IDENTIFY YOUR WEDDING BUDGET.  

There is so much misinformation circulating when it comes to budgeting for a wedding. How much does a wedding really cost? Maybe $15,000. Maybe $25,000. Maybe $50,000. Maybe $250k. Maybe $500k+  There is no singular answer to this question, because asking the question itself is similar to asking “How much does a residential property cost?” 

A house in one neighborhood may cost $125k. A nearby house just several blocks away may cost $800k. The location, age, quality, curb appeal, landscaping, fixtures, appraisal value, and upgrades (or lack thereof) are all factors at play, even if the houses are the exact same square footage. 

When deciding on your wedding planning budget you should consider:

• The number of guests

• The geographic location and the venue (Do you need a tent? That’s a whole other ballgame… and it’s never accounted for in online budget calculators and media stories.)

• The level of formality (I don’t just mean your guests’ attire… I mean type of dinner service, décor, etc.)

• Your individual priorities and preferences as they pertain to quality of any number of services such as photography, entertainment (Band? DJ? Both?), videography, floral design, transportation, catering, etc.

• And if you’re planning to Host A Wedding at A Private Residence, there are many additional factors to be consider.

EVENT VENUES, WEDDING PLANNERS AND VENDORS RATES MAY BE HIGHER DUE TO THE PANDEMIC.

It’s important to understand that you should not expect pricing for a 2021 or 2022 wedding to be the same as it might have been when booked in 2020. Across the board, it’s customary for rates to gradually increase year over year, but in the context of the pandemic - which largely sidelined and dramatically crippled the live event industry - most businesses need to increase their rates to simply continue to survive and return to a level of stable revenue. This is not something that should scare you, nor is it something to be angry about. If you want to have your wedding at a venue that typically does 50 weddings per year, but that venue was only able to do 10 in all of 2020/early 2021, then you need to be understand that the venue’s owner is working overtime to recoup their loss, stabilize their revenue, and bolster their bottom line so that they can stay in business to serve you. 

Budgeting for a wedding is hard, and it can feel overwhelming. The single best investment you can make is to hire a wedding planner who can help you wisely steward your budget and set realistic expectations to help guide you in strategic decision making. Your planning process should be joyful! It should not be grounded in financial uncertainty. 

This is why you should contact event experts such as the team of venue match-makers at Piovra Group to make your Venue Search smooth and enjoyable.

CHECK OUT OUR VENUE SELECTION AND CONTACT US TODAY TO SCHEDULE A TOUR. WE ARE NOW ACCEPTING BOOKINGS FOR 2021-2022!