When reflecting back on 2020, the year that for many will go down in history as the worst year ever, where we are now, and where we were a year ago, are as different as night and day. A year ago, events of all kinds and sizes were being cancelled. Today, those same events are being rescheduled and new events are coming in. A year ago our only human interaction was through computer screens. Today, families and friends can once again safely come together. A year ago event and hospitality professionals were consumed with a sense of fear and dread of whether their business would survive. Today, there is a feeling of hope and joy as we come out the other side of one of the biggest challenges the industry has ever had to face.

“A year ago it felt like the world was ending,” said Kevin Dennis, from Wedding IQ in California, during WIPA’s recent State of the Wedding Industry webinar. “It’s been kind of a weird journey the past year, the pandemic brought out the good, the bad and the ugly in our industry.

“We’ve been beat up and brought down to the mat a couple times, but we’re not down for the count, we’re ready to fight some more. We’ve got some more fight in us still.”

During the webinar, members of WIPA’s various chapters California, Seattle, Atlanta, Chicago, New York and Utah, gave an update on their state’s current restrictions. Some of the topics discussed included guest counts to dance floors to social media were discussed, as well as the lasting impacts COVID-19 will have on the way they do business.

Back to business

Working within restrictions for events can be challenging for many event professionals because not only are they always changing, but they can be completely different from county to county, or city to city within the same state. And obviously, you can’t ignore those events that are violating the restrictions because a lot of couples are asking for the same things.

“It seems like the further you get away from the big city, the less people are playing by the rules,” Dennis said. “We call it the wild wild west over there.”

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While California, New York and Chicago continue to push up against small and restrictive guestlists, states like Utah, Georgia and Texas are almost back to business as usual.

“Our phones are ringing again and we’re very busy,” said Gillian Marto, with Atlanta-based Events of a Lifetime Productions, “and it just warms my heart.” 

In addition to working within restrictions, wedding planners are also having to contend with finding the right vendors since many of their former vendors have gone out of business, or there is that much more demand so finding availability is challenging.

“People got out, new vendors got in, and the vendors I typically work with are no longer available,” said BreeAnn Gale, with Seattle-based Pink Blossom Events. “There’s going to be a big need for all the vendors who are still in business.”

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