Inflation and It's Impact on the Wedding Industry
America has been through an obvious change in the economy, and not for the better. The lingering question is, why is everything so expensive in 2022? The historically average inflation rate of 2.5% has hit 8.3% annually, which is the highest it has been since the ’80s. This means that everything is getting more expensive, and most Americans’ salaries aren’t increasing to match. The largest contributors to this increase are housing, food, and gasoline…but the impact of the inflation rate doesn’t end there.
Why have prices increased so much? Although it feels like The Pandemic has ended, its impact is still affecting many Americans’ budgets to this day. Transportation costs for goods have risen due to supply chain issues such as shortages of shipping containers paired with a shortage in labor. The combination of these issues resulted in a rise in shipping costs.
Prices are forecasted to stay on the up rise in 2022. At the start of COVID-19, many factories were forced to shut down while orders were still being made. This caused those orders to sit and escalate, meaning that there was a heavy demand paired with a low supply. Even though these factories have been able to reopen since then, they are still barely meeting this strong demand. Cars/rental cars, gasoline, clothing, food, medical supplies, and even Christmas trees are predicted to increase in price. Large TVs are now selling for 30% more than in previous years, the price of used vehicles is up by 31.9%, and even rental cars have increased in price by 73.5%. Not to mention the gas prices that have impacted Americans all over with a rise of 42.7% over the last year. In 2022, it is hard to even go grocery shopping without pinching your wallet, while grocery stores have had an average price increase of 3%. These percentage increases are applied to almost anything these days. However, they are not only affecting everyday needs.
In 2022 the inflation rate has impacted the cost of weddings. Once again, it all comes down to supply and demand. As the pandemic pressed pause on weddings across the country, there is an overflow of couples wanting to get married all at once. This of course means an increase in demand for vendors, entertainment, photographers, flowers, wedding planners, etc. who then must adjust and increase their own prices to match and ensure a profit for themselves. The heavy demand is the cause of the supply chain issue which results in a high increase in price. So, what specifically does this mean for the wedding industry? There is now limited availability along with higher rates for all wedding professionals. Hotels and certain venues have been able to charge higher rates for popular wedding dates due to the flux of couples desiring similar dates. For this same reason, it is difficult to even locate available wedding venues. Once the wedding is booked more problems arise, such as shortages of certain rentals like furniture or tents paired with staffing/labor shortages needed to set up these rentals. Lastly, as flowers are so important to any wedding day they are now difficult to locate... then may get stuck in transit…and are incredibly expensive.
However, the cost of weddings is not only affecting the way couples budget but for wedding professionals as well. Prices and costs that clients may not consider when they receive estimated proposals from vendors, and any other wedding professional include business licenses and insurance which are vital to any business. Website fees, software fees, and marketing costs just to keep their business running. And lastly, of course, taxes. Not to mention that during the pandemic 40% of wedding professionals suffered an estimated financial loss of $10,000-$50,000. Anyone in this industry has had to adjust to the changing economy, forcing higher rates just to match inflation.
