The wedding must go on

Wedding bells are still ringing despite the recession.

“I think people are continuing to have their weddings,” said Jeff Rapoport, co-owner of Jordan: Caterers, Design and Event Planners in Darien, Conn.

“A very small percentage of people are doing it themselves or having a potluck or not doing it at all. We”™re not seeing a decline in business because we tend to go to a higher end in the market, but for the most part people want to spend money on this milestone event and they won”™t want to skip it.”

That”™s good news for Rapoport and his wife, Debbie, who estimate wedding parties account for 45 percent of their business, but “there are certainly simple ways to have parties that don”™t cost a lot,” Rapoport said.

To start, “think about which aspect of the event is most important” and spend the most money on essentials, he said.
“For example, if someone”™s most important element is the floral designs, then they should allocate more money towards that,” Rapoport said. “Or maybe the venue is more important to you; at a recent wedding at a large theater that was costly to rent, the client had white tablecloths, period. She had nothing extra, so she cut down on the decorating expenses and was still able to have the venue she wanted.”

 

Having fewer menu selections can also keep costs down, Rapoport said.

 

“Truffles, caviar, filet mignon, shellfish and local, sustainable food, which is a trend that shouldn”™t be overlooked, are the most expensive menu items,” Rapoport said. “Offering guests local produce seems to be a growing trend, but it is still very costly to buy local products. There seems to be demand for it and I think sometimes people would like to opt for it and don”™t because of the cost. It will be interesting to see as distribution of these local products improves how the economy will change as that keeps growing.”

An ongoing trend in the bridal industry is destination weddings, according to Frank Fontana, owner of Fontana Bridal Salon in Scarsdale.

“We”™ve seen a big uptick in destination weddings,” Fontana said. “I would say in the past year or so we”™ve seen more destination weddings than we”™ve ever seen. Last week we sold a gown to a bride who was getting married in Rome.”
Popular destinations include Florida, the Bahamas and the Virgin Islands, Fontana said.

“I think the reason destination weddings are popular is because it”™s a smaller wedding, so the people who really want to go to these weddings will pay to fly to the destination,” Fontana said. “Instead of having 300 people at the wedding they will maybe have 100, and the guests use it as a vacation.”

In general, most brides spend an average of $2,500 for a gown, he said.


Fontana Bridal Salon, a third-generation family owned and operated business for the past 65 years, has been in Scarsdale for 33 years.

“We”™ve seen this cycle before,” Fontana said. “Every 10 years there”™s sort of a recession in the bridal industry, but it always comes back. I would say 2005, 2006 and 2007 were some of our best years, and last year we saw a 20 percent drop in business.”

However, “I would say there”™s been an uptick in weddings for 2010,” Fontana said.

“Last year I saw people cutting back and people postponing wedding dates. We”™re always working six months to a year in advance. The past two to three months we have seen a lot more weddings than we did for 2009. Price points are going up too; last year they were spending less and this year they are spending a little bit more.”

TIPS FROM THE TOP:

Here are some of Jeff Rapoport”™s tips on how to save money on your wedding.

  1. Keep guest count low by thinking about who you really want at your wedding.
  2. Search out venues ”“ there are public parks and homes of friends or family where weddings can take place for a low price or even free.
  3. Look for volunteers to offset service staff, or “Instead of having a sit-down dinner with two servers per table, perhaps you go for a menu that can be served with fewer staff.”
  4. Eliminate photographers”™ fees by having a few photo-savvy friends take pictures at your wedding.
  5. Instead of paying a florist, have friends pick flowers and create unique arrangements themselves.

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