Wedding Industry Says ‘Yes’ to Higher Costs Due to Supply Issues | Economy

According to theknot.com, the online source for all things marriage, weddings are a $ 100 billion industry in the United States, and the website reports pent-up demand for weddings in 2022 as couples have either postponed the nuptials due to the pandemic, or now host larger redos.

This bodes well for an industry with many moving parts. Weddings need photographers, flowers, cake, and a DJ who loves the Cha Cha Slide. It’s a get-together industry, and friends and families are just starting to comfortably come together.

No groom wants rain on their wedding day, but dark clouds of supply, demand and labor shortages with the resulting price increases thanks to continued disruptions in the market. global supply chain mean that even couples who plan ahead and get creative can still expect to pay more. . Even rice, the smallest movable part of the traditional farewell shower for the bride and groom, increased by 40% a year ago, and like all other products, its price is still higher.

Wedding dress manufacturers and retailers have experienced fabric shortages and other supply chain turmoil over the past two years due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, sometimes resulting in shipping delays or deliveries that arrive too late. And even for brides wanting to remove a dress from the display, the choice is more limited, as wedding dresses made in China and elsewhere are among the goods stranded at U.S. ports due to supply chain issues.

Professionals in the New Hampshire wedding industry are determined to keep prices as high as possible, even though accepting things that cannot be controlled is part of the equation for both businesses and clients. .

Jay Wolf, owner of George’s Apparel in Manchester, has been in the apparel business for 31 years and is a fourth generation clothier. The store specializes in tailored evening wear for men.

“I have a lot of friends in the business,” Wolf said. “Stores bigger than mine. Stores smaller than mine. We are all starving for goods.

According to Wolf, George’s traditionally offered formal white shirts for men for $ 39 to $ 100, but recently white shirts were selling for up to $ 150 … in other stores, that is.

“I am not increasing the prices,” Wolf said. “Maybe I should study economics more. I am not increasing my prices just because demand is increasing. My prices are my prices.

The owner noted that the ratio of costumes purchased to rentals was typically around 70% -30%, but it’s closer to 60-40 this year. According to Wolf, the rentals come from a different supply chain and delivery was not an issue.

Likewise, Fred Keach, co-owner of Concord florist D. McLeod, has been in the flower business for 30 years. The store, which opened in 1902, is in its fourth generation of family ownership. Once upon a time, Keach explained, the store had its own charcoal-heated greenhouses in southern Concord.

Today, Keach said, flowers are now coming from “everywhere” including California, Canada, Israel and the Netherlands, with roses mostly coming from South America.

“The supply chain has been a big issue from what our wholesalers have told us,” Keach explained. “There are two problems. The first is work. They can’t find people to work the fields and cut the flowers. The other problem is climate change. In South America in particular, the climate has changed a lot. This severely affected the growing season.

The florist has seen a 50-60% increase in the price of roses, with the wholesale price now stabilizing at 30% higher than before the pandemic. Another factor in the rise in prices for all flowers was reluctance to plant in 2020.

Keach believes that professional florists like D. McLeod have several advantages in what he called “a fragmented business”. Big box stores that have flowers on the sidelines, he says, may not give an item with limited shelf life the attention it needs to be profitable. He explained that despite the decline in gross sales at D. McLeod during the pandemic, the bottom line is actually up. The store has spent a considerable amount of time refining both its order and design to make the receiving to selling process more efficient. He also noted that flower deliveries to hospitals and nursing homes were on the rise.

Shauna Sousa has been a floral designer for over 20 years and is one of six designers the store employs. She spoke about the intricacies of her job: “There are a lot of nuances. You need a good eye and good spatial recognition. I can also work at disgusting speed.

Sousa advises couples to think about wedding arrangements three months in advance and have “a backup to your back.”

Keach also noted that half of the accents and accessories he ordered in January have yet to arrive due to delivery delays, which he needs for a trade show he attends in Atlanta every year.

Keach is reluctant to estimate business for the next six months, but Wolf at George’s thinks marriages have already bounced back.

“This past wedding season we’ve seen a lot of remaking,” said the draper. Annulled marriages. People who get married on a Thursday or Wednesday …. We had a strong fall wedding season; it’s been stronger over the past two years, and we haven’t had a summer lull.

Wolf noted that a men’s suit, which was once a wardrobe staple, may now be new territory for the ripped jeans crowd. For this reason, he explained, a proper fit, something hard to achieve with a suit from a rack at a major retailer, is important. He also suggested medium grays and blues as current popular costume colors.

Kirsten Maxwell Cooper, Editor-in-Chief of the-node.com, has several tips for cutting wedding costs: 1. Consider a weekday wedding. 2. Continue to use Zoom technology. It is now an accessibility issue. 3. Think about “nano-elements” for your big day. The mini cakes are in it. Plan a small wedding party. Consider postponing a big trip, whether it’s for a honeymoon or a destination wedding.

The Rosewood Country Inn in Bradford is a smaller wedding venue in New Hampshire with a number of pleasant twists and turns. Owners Stan and Odo Ovrevnik took over the historic inn in 2015 and added capacity as well as solar panels and two charging stations for electric cars.

The Inn is offering a Wedding Breeze for up to 40 people for just over $ 9,000. A special events leader has recently been added, as well as two field tents, which include a gazebo, small waterfall, and a picturesque photographic backdrop. The hostel can accommodate up to 32 people.

“We’ve tried to go down the line as much as possible with the costs, but there comes a point where you need to raise your prices a bit,” Stan explained. “We have always paid our people well, but now a good workforce costs more. Food prices have increased dramatically. From what I understand, alcohol is going to run out soon.

The hostel employs 15-20 workers, and with a more difficult to find workforce, the Ovrevniks cite the offer of flexible hours, sometimes including childcare, as important. On the positive side, they note that workers are more willing to do multiple jobs.

“We are not a one-size-fits-all establishment,” added Stan. “We always ask, ‘What exactly are you looking for your wedding? »» If you are looking for automotive panache, a 1929 Model A and a 1966 Ford Mustang are available for wedding parties.

This article is shared by a partner of The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborationnh.org.