Big costs for the big day

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This article was published 08/07/2023 (796 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Silk flowers, no DJ, axing the venue — many Manitoba couples are making concessions while getting married amid a heightened cost of living.

Local vendors have watched newlyweds scale back on their big day; some have pumped out micro-weddings, a cheaper event alternative.

“I just don’t think that it’s possible to do anything for $10,000 anymore,” said Teah Lytwyn, 26.

Lytwyn’s partner proposed in June of 2021. The two bought a house the same month; they decided to postpone their wedding until 2023 to save money for the event while paying off their mortgage.

They’d taken a variable mortgage rate and are now paying more than triple the interest they were before, Lytwyn said.

“If our mortgage wasn’t quite so high as it is right now, maybe there would’ve been some more wiggle room,” she speculated.

But there isn’t the wiggle room. Lytwyn, who dreamed of a venue wedding, is hosting one in her Tyndall, Man., backyard this September.

Over the past two years, she’s stockpiled decor found on Facebook Marketplace, buying tables and chairs she plans to sell afterwards.

What she hoped would be a $10,000 wedding is closer to $20,000, she said.

“We’re already investing so much into this day,” Lytwyn said. “There are certain things where it’s just like, I don’t want to compromise.”

Her $400 flower budget quickly became $1,200, for four bouquets, some boutonnieres and greenery.

Julie Myers, owner of Floral Fixx Design Studio, now rents out swathes of silk flowers.

The floral alternative has gained popularity as brides cut costs, Myers said. Couples rent the silks for table centres and archway flowers. The reusable décor might cost $50 or $75 per table, compared to $150 a table for real flowers.

“We deliver them, we set them on the tables, nobody really touches them for the day (and) they stay in great condition,” Myers said. “You can still get that big, grand look for maybe half the cost.”

The wedding industry can’t ignore inflation, she added.

“During COVID, we all had to pivot and change to make things work, to be able to give your customer what they’re looking for,” Myers said. “That’s the same with inflation.”

Meantime, Floral Fixx’s operating costs have increased. The supply chain continues to get “slightly more expensive all along the way,” including from wage changes, according to Myers.

Lisa Vander Kraake, 31, said she’s spending $10,000 on catering for her 141-person wedding this October — a big shock for someone who originally wanted to elope.

“I have made (the wedding) as cheap as possible, but it’s still more than we would have ever imagined,” she said. “Both sides of our parents have been appalled with prices.”

She considered a backyard wedding but, after totalling the rentals required, determined a venue would be cheaper.

She’s making her own florals and backdrops to save money.

It’s hard to pinpoint an average Manitoba wedding cost. Someone could have a basic wedding with little decor and 150 people for $30,000; others could spend the same amount on a smaller wedding with more elaborate decoration, Melanie from Melanie Parent Events wrote in a text.

Her company’s clients typically spend upwards of $50,000 on their weddings, and the budgets have seemingly increased with the market, she said.

It hasn’t been the case at Hawthorn Estates. More than ever, Tammy Belanger is receiving calls from couples to cancel their weddings because they can’t afford the day.

This year has elicited five cancellations so far, of the roughly 75 weddings.

“We’ve (also) had weddings postponed this year because the couple has felt really, really stressed,” said Belanger, Hawthorn Estates’ co-owner.

Some switch to micro-weddings, which the East Selkirk-based venue hosts Mondays through Wednesdays. Couples get 25 guests and a base price of $1,900 plus tax — it’s a trend that’s more affordable for some, Belanger said.

Hawthorn Estates will host five this year. Belanger figures couples might have booked more if weekends weren’t reserved for full-scale weddings.

Even the full-scale are often scaled back, she said. Weddings are increasingly taking place during the week and in the off season (November through April), at cheaper prices. Couples have more cash bars and fewer guests.

“They’re just sticking to the bare bones,” said Lili Krushel, co-owner of Bella’s Castle in Morden.

She’s noticed fewer videographers, wedding planners, DJs and other live entertainment.

Cocktail hours have been shortened, with no food offered. A recent wedding had pizza for its dinner, veering far away from a traditional three-course meal, Krushel added.

Both she and Belanger expressed difficulty in balancing higher operating costs with affordable rates for couples. Costs of wages, food, utilities and property taxes have all hiked, Krushel said.

“Usually the couple books us a year or two in advance, and we send them a quote,” she highlighted. “I don’t think we’ve ever raised our prices away from the quote.”

Belanger said the same. It can mean a lessening of profits, or partially eating the cost of goods and services, on the venue’s side.

A survey Canadian retailer Tip Top held last May found more than half of respondents — 57 per cent — would modify their wedding because of the economy. Twenty-eight per cent would invite fewer guests, while 26 per cent would downgrade their entertainment budget or scale back on food and décor.

Nearly one-fifth — 19 per cent — said they’d rely on parents, while 20 per cent indicated they’d take out a line of credit.

Around 1,500 Canadian members of the Angus Reid Forum took Tip Top’s survey online.

Brides like Lytwyn — who has pushed back a honeymoon abroad — are still enthused to have their big day.

Lytwyn and her fiancé might travel somewhere warm next winter, or the winter after — it depends on interest rate increases, she said.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com