2010 Wedding Industry Predictions

Wedding Professionals:

In 2010, we’ll see a continued increase in weddings that are personalized, green, vintage, destination and DIY. Brides will still want their “red carpet moment” but they will plan their weddings with a more practical, down-to-earth mindset. Think smaller, more intimate weddings with bigger, more dramatic details. I believe that many of the values that brides cared about in 2009 still hold true. Brides will look to be transformed on their big day, they will value shared experiences and they will make their day an extension of their personal individuality.

New wedding themes will also emerge in 2010. Thanks in part to Vera Wang’s 2009 classical design of Ivanka Trump’s dress, I believe we will start to see fewer strapless gowns and more creative accents like feathers. “The stuffy by-the-rule-book wedding of years past has completely vanished. There is a woman in white, music, food, cake and vows - but every other aspect of the American wedding has been reconsidered,” reports BRIDES Magazine New American Wedding Survey. Here are some additional statistics from the survey related to emerging wedding trends:
• Fewer than half of weddings take place in a house of worship.
• 20% of couples have a friend or relative deputized to perform the ceremony.
• 13% of receptions feature music via iPod.
• Couples going with live bands are hiring specialty bands such as salsa, R&B and Polka.
• Over 1/4 of couples plan their weddings around a theme.
• 97% of grooms get involved with the planning.
• Soul-food and Mexican are the new go-to wedding cuisines.

Despite the surge in new wedding trends, many old traditions will still live on throughout the next decade. BRIDES Magazine New American Wedding Survey also reported:
• 76% will have a large wedding with all the traditions.
• 87% of women will wear a long white dress.
• 93% will indulge in a cake-cutting ceremony.
• 75% of brides will toss the bouquet and just under that amount will share a father/daughter dance.

Niche wedding blogs as well as free wedding websites will continue to proliferate in 2010. One of the greatest trends from 2009 was the explosion of so many FREE online resources and social networks to promote our wedding businesses. This has become somewhat of a double-edged sword because these resources can be overwhelming to brides.

Wedding professionals with the most entrepreneurial mindsets will thrive. During tough economic times, it is the smaller, nimbler organizations that can be creative and adapt. In 2010, we’ll see many entrepreneurial minds partnering together, cross-promoting each other and bartering. Social networks are a great place to create and foster these types of symbiotic relationships with other wedding professionals.

Technology and innovation will continue to evolve the wedding industry. Wedding professionals will increase their productivity as more software tools are introduced into the marketplace. More people will join the wedding industry because it is becoming easier to set up a website and market one’s services. Finally, adjacent wedding businesses will emerge. A great example of this was the launch of RecycledBride in 2009. Technology was one of the biggest enablers of the new marketplace at RecycledBride where brides and vendors buy and sell all things wedding-related. 2010 will be a year where the wedding industry will see new technology platforms, new marketplaces and new ways to connect.

So, given this ever-changing industry, how can wedding professionals stay on top of the latest trends and break through the clutter?

There are two ways:
• Word-of-mouth referrals will be more important than ever. To help with this, wedding professionals can compile and place positive testimonials on their websites. Wedding professionals can also increase word-of-mouth referrals by using social networks to connect with other professionals. Finally, wedding professionals can try to establish relationships with influential wedding bloggers.
• Be a thought leader on wedding trends and tips. By identifying and staying on top of a few wedding blogs or publications, you’ll be able to present brides with the most helpful and relevant tips. This will enable you to personally guide them through the massive amount of information that is out there.

My mission is to use BridalTweet as a platform to provide the right information and contacts to help you grow your businesses in 2010 and beyond. In 2010, I will continue my weekly blog to provide wedding professionals with free wedding business advice. And in January, I will be launching more tools to help you break through the clutter.

I want to personally thank you for all of your inspiration, enthusiasm and support in 2009. It has been an incredible year and I look forward to getting to know you better in 2010. Together, I believe our community will come up with countless, creative solutions and we will continue to thrive.

Happy Holidays to the entire wedding community,

P.S. What are your predictions for 2010 weddings? Please comment below.

About This Blog: Christine Dyer has an MBA in marketing and shares over ten years of marketing expertise with the wedding community. In this weekly blog called Supercharge Your Wedding Business, you'll find advice on an array of wedding business topics such as how to market to brides, social networking, wedding PR, wedding sales, vendor networking, branding, pricing and much more. .Please pass this news along to your own professional wedding network. To receive this advice in your email inbox each week, Sign Up for a Free BridalTweet Membership.