The recession is having a huge effect on the wedding industry. Do it yourself weddings, smaller guest lists and scaled down festivities are becoming the norm. Even wealthy brides are cutting way back on what they are spending on their big day. A new trend is renting expensive jewelry for the wedding, instead of buying it.
Some businesses, however, are capitalizing on the economy. For New York-based Adorn Brides, which rents out bridal jewelry (including Sethi's earrings, which cost $100 for the weekend), the recession "really has worked in our favor," says co-founder Laura Carrington. "Even if a bride is spending $200,000 or more, a $10,000 or $20,000 necklace is still not a practical purchase" when you can rent one for $350.
Steal the Time, a New York-based luxury watch leasing company, recently outfitted a Manhattan groom and his four groomsmen with Rolex Submariners (the company's 30-model collection ranges from $52 to $308 a week, pieces that go for $850 to $14,200 retail).
"We do live in an image-obsessed society, and people always want to portray an image that may not be there anymore," says founder Justin Figari.
But at Chicago's Cakegirls bakery, gone are the elaborate $7,000 confections. Starting in January (a big planning month for summer weddings), co-owner Mary Maher noticed a shift "right away": Couples began choosing smaller, simpler creations. Right now, the average cost is about $900 for a cake; a year ago it was $1,200 to $1,500.
The change indicates "they might be curbing the guest list and doing weddings that are a little more modest," says Maher, whose shop appears on WE's Amazing Wedding Cakes.
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Even deep-pocketed couples are trimming the trappings. Sethi trimmed her $300,000 Bahamas wedding — to the tune of $50,000 — by using local musicians instead of flying in a band and nixing hand-calligraphed menu and seating cards. She felt "really guilty" about asking her 62 guests to travel, given the expense and time off required. So for some, she and her husband, Raj Sethi, helped pay the hotel bill.
The goal is to cut costs while sustaining style. "You don't want to look back on it and say, 'What a great budget wedding I had.' But you do want to be a smart consumer," van der Meer says.
Many consultants think that this is a permanent trend and that the excessive wedding displays in years past are gone forever. Even wealthier couples who could afford to spend lavishly on the wedding are doing a small event and using the money as a down payment on a house.
