Micro marriage as a response to inflation

Micro marriage as a response to inflation

Danielle Woodcock was planning her wedding when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, initially delaying the big day and then forcing its cancellation. When she restarted this project in 2021, she decided to go in a different direction – a micro wedding.

Posted at 3:33pm

Split

Rosa Saba The Canadian Press

Her guest list, which once numbered around 100, dwindled to 30 relatives, and she and partner James Costello ended up spending less than $10,000.

Before embarking on the micro wedding, the venue and food alone cost well over $10,000, she explained.

While many couples have had smaller weddings in recent years due to pandemic restrictions, the highest inflation in decades is prompting many to opt for a micro-wedding, which typically has a maximum of 50 guests.

While rising costs were a factor when Ms Woodcock started planning the wedding again, the pandemic also prompted her to reconsider the entire event.

Her October 2022 wedding, hosted by Toronto Micro Weddings, was intimate, personal and — most importantly — fun, she said, rather than stressful and breaking the budget.

“We didn’t feel like we lost anything. »

TD Bank’s annual Love and Money survey, conducted among American couples in November 2021, found nearly a third of respondents were planning a micro-wedding — and that was before inflation peaked on both sides of the border in the summer of 2022 reached. That was also before central banks started raising the cost of borrowing.

Tiffany MacIsaac and her husband founded Toronto Micro Weddings in 2018 through their event planning business. That part of her business has grown significantly during the pandemic, and inflation has only made it more attractive, she noted.

I think the pandemic has forced people to turn to micro marriages. But as more people have moved on to other people’s micro marriages, it has become something that is only socially acceptable and a progressive option.

Tiffany MacIsaac, Creative Director at Toronto Creative Events (TCE)

Ms MacIsaac adds that “the requests are endless”.

Many couples these days feel like they have to choose between having the wedding of their dreams and being able to save for the future, she said. “We wanted to create a package that offers both. »

Ceremonies in ephemeral places

To reduce costs, companies planning micro weddings work with event providers and venues, acting as middlemen to facilitate the process.

Toronto Micro Weddings’ basic package for a ceremony and cocktail starts at $8,000, and Ms. MacIsaac is also happy to recommend items not included in the package — she often directs brides to wedding dress rental locations.

Some couples go even further and opt for “ephemeral” weddings.

For the latter type of event, a company sets up a wedding venue for a day or weekend, and couples can pay to use it, usually just long enough to perform the ceremony and grab some refreshments, explained Nataleigh Ballantyne, founder of Love Shack Toronto, a wedding planning company.

Ms. Ballantyne and her husband started their business with a pop-up shipping container wedding venue in Toronto, which opened in July 2020. With space for up to eight guests, Ms. Ballantyne wanted it to have a chapel-like Las Vegas feel. and it was an option for people getting married despite pandemic guidelines.

Although the shipping container project was temporary, Love Shack Toronto now offers a host of micro weddings and pop-up weddings.

A common misconception about micro-weddings is that because they cost less, they aren’t that special, Ms Ballantyne pointed out.

“I think micro-weddings allow people to really prioritize what’s important to them that day,” she explained, recommending couples make a “list of the most important things” so they can determine what they need to prioritize financially.

The guest list is often the most difficult part of a small wedding, Ms Ballantyne continued, but her advice on prioritization extends to the guests too – listen to your heart and focus on what matters most to you.

“If you can’t live without some people, you have to do what seems right,” she said.

Toronto Micro Weddings clients Alicia and Khaled Maadarani wed in July 2022, and they say inflation was a big factor in their decision to have a micro wedding.

As they weighed their options, they realized that a 50-person event would cost them around $13,000; Her bill eventually came to $8,000.

It was a huge relief for the couple, who could worry less about money before and after the big day.

“I feel like that’s all that matters as long as you have people you love and care about,” Alicia Maadarani said. Stressing out about a big wedding with a big budget isn’t really worth it. »