Let's keep our eyes on the Future

I think we can all agree that 2020 has been a year that we will all be happy to leave behind. The rising COVID numbers and increased restrictions have had a huge effect on us all personally and massive implications for our beloved industry. 

There is no doubt about it the last few weeks and months have been hard. 

However, we know that pent up demand for people to travel, celebrate and gather again is building and we are very confident of a speedy bounce-back for the industry once there is a readily available vaccine. 

In the meantime, at WeddingDates we are focusing on helping our clients #RestartTheRecovery and everything we do is with an eye to the future. Today we want to share with you some analysis we have been doing on the enquiry patterns of newly engaged couples who are now acutely COVID-aware and planning accordingly.

Since 28th July 2020 (last 3 months) the breakdown of enquiries looks like this:

• 14% of enquiries have been for 2020 dates
• 43% of enquiries have been for 2021 dates
• 36% of enquiries have been for 2022 dates
• 2% of enquiries have been for 2023 dates

Between postponements and the usual numbers of newly engaged each year we expect to see a sharp increase in demand again in 2021/2022 and we have a few bumper years ahead of us for weddings. 

Lead-in time is increasing. People are planning farther out than they were pre-COVID, as couples want to be certain that they will have their big day as exactly imagined. We believe that now is the time you need to be targeting and speaking to those couples to help secure the future of your business.

Despite the current dramatic effect on all of our businesses, we also need to consider the impact on our longer term strategy. Revenue from those weddings is a long way off but deposits contribute to cash flow and bookings will help improve the sentiment of owners and investors.

I hope you find this information helpful and interesting and if there is anything else we can do to support you, please don’t hesitate to reach out or I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Stay safe,

Ciara

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Ciara Crossan

Founder & CEO

WeddingDates