New England couples are no longer willing to settle for less than their dream wedding after years of cancellations, rescheduled dates and scaled-down celebrations. And with those dreams have come new traditions, shaped by the pandemic, of incorporating intimacy and individuality into their special day. “That’s what’s different now between your mom’s wedding and your wedding,” said Molly Chalmers, co-owner of Finishing Touch Events , a Newburyport planning company.
“You don’t have to have anything you don’t want to.” Boston area planners said this year’s requests from their New England clients signal an industry switch that could last for years to come. “Everything has been in a constant shift since 2020,” Nicole Simeral, owner of Nicole Simeral & Co , a Boston-based luxury event planner, said.
Her wedding clientele looks for venues mostly in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and, for some, foreign destination locations. The backlog of weddings caused by the pandemic has finally eased this year, the planners said. “In May 2021, we had this massive surge of people calling — it was a backlog of basically 16 months, and so it stayed really, really, really busy,” Simeral said.
“This year,” said Chalmers, “definitely kind of feels like we are out of the COVID bubble and back into more normal kind of trends.” It’s ushered in a new era of wedding traditions — ones that go beyond omitting the bouquet and garter tosses — though they have become the most opted-out traditional rituals. Seating chart at a recent Beverly wedding.
(Courtesy Sara Louis/Event Planning by Sara) Sara Louis, Event Planning by Sara Smaller guest lists, multi-day celebrations A wedding invitation in 2024 has become physical proof of how close you are to the couple, who want to talk and share time with each of their guests. “Weddings are skewing a little smaller,” said Sara Louis, who runs Boston-based Event Planning by Sara . “More people are saying, ‘I want the people that I really care about to be there, and maybe I don’t need to invite people I haven’t talked to, that I don’t know.
’” “I think COVID has made people a little more reflective and [couples] think about who are the most important people in their lives,” she added. “Maybe that’s not what they need, to invite everyone they’ve ever known.” But this doesn’t mean couples are throwing smaller-scaled events; it’s the opposite, the planners said.
The trend of an entire “wedding weekend,” or hosting several parties leading up to and after the day, has and will continue to become more common. “Everyone wants to have multiple celebrations so they can get as much face time as possible with family and friends,” Simeral said. She recalled an “epic weekend” wedding she’d planned in Chatham for earlier this month, which had at least six different events.
Day one started with a traditional rehearsal dinner followed by a welcome party. “Then it’s the wedding day and after-party, then a post-nuptial brunch, and then we rented out a dozen cabanas so they can have a beach day with all their friends and family, with corn hole and all of that,” Simeral said. According to The Knot, a wedding planning website, the average cost of a wedding in New England in 2023 was between $42,000 and $44,000 .
And even partners who don’t want extravagant celebrations are making things cozier, Chalmers said. Mini-moons, or pre-honeymoon long weekends, have become increasingly popular. Those who elope or want just a little ceremony may still “do the party portion, so they’re getting some kind of intimate vibe for themselves .
.. but still able to celebrate with friends and family,” she said.
Capturing it all as an “authentic moment” in photos and video has never been more important, said Louis. “A lot of [couples] are doing a little bit more documentary-style, doing some of the standard portraits, but also in the background capturing more of the candids,” she said. Cape Cod still the premiere wedding location Tying the knot on Cape Cod might not be an original idea, but it will continue to be the premier Massachusetts destination, the planners said.
This generation of couples, however, is more creative when choosing their venue, food, decor and event choices. “The Cape Cod properties are just really, really, really busy, and it’s for a reason: because of the incredible, iconic venues,” said Simeral, naming in particular two up-scale properties, Chatham Bars Inn and Wequasset Resort and Golf Club. A tent at a recent wedding in Beverly.
Wedding decorations have gone from flowers to multi-layered affairs that reflect the couple's style, according to planners. (Courtesy Sara Louis/Event Planning by Sara) Sara Louis, Event Planning by Sara Chalmers’ company planned two weddings on the Cape for Labor Day weekend, one at a formal golf club and the other at a beach club and boathouse. She said it was interesting to see the two during the same weekend because they had “really different vibes.
” “There’s a lot of that on the Cape; you can get really fancy, you can also get a lot more relaxed, and it’s where people [planning in New England] may look around for the wide options,” she said. Simeral added she’s seen an increasing number of couples considering Watch Hill, Rhode Island and the Berkshires, specifically Lenox, for their weddings. Beyond being something outside of a banquet hall, it’s due to venue availability, and both spots are halfway points for those traveling from major cities, she said.
Saturday is still the day to be married. Just over a quarter of Louis’s 30 weddings this season are scheduled for Friday or Sunday. But if that day for the ideal venue is too expensive or not available, this generation of couples will drop plans in favor of price points and availability, the planners said.
“People are still going for the places that they want, [but if it’s on] Cape Cod or a busy luxury venue, they’ll be like, ‘Nope, I’m going to be flexible, and I’ll take a Friday,’” said Simeral. Food, flowers and favors The couple’s individual style or vision shines through in how venues are decorated. “People are veering away from a super traditional, flat-floral thing,” said Chalmers.
“It’s not just one centerpiece on the table, it’s lanterns in addition to special flowers, it’s a ton of candles or just something kind of different.” The planners said the food served to wedding guests has been more carefully selected and taste-tested than ever before. Environmental sustainability, such as whether a venue will compost or not, is also top of mind for most clients.
Custom wedding napkins with a couple's pet. Photo by Sara Louis, Event Planning by Sara Sara Louis, Event Planning by Sara “A lot of people are probably more ‘foodies’ than back in the day,” said Louis. “That is something that’s important to people: having really good food and drinks.
” “And why spend money on favors when you could spend it on entertainment or something else to elevate the guest experience at the wedding?” she added. Food trucks, family-style meals, and individual wedding cakes, along with doughnut or cannoli dessert guest stations, were on her clients’ lists this season. One of Louis’ weddings had every meal served as paella, a Spanish rice dish with countless recipes.
Other personal foodie touches this season included espresso martini stations and lobster bakes, while the concept of a “signature drink” for both newlyweds is here to stay. Pets have also taken center stage in some weddings. Louis recalled one couple’s dog being the face of their cocktail napkins.
Other couples had their pet walk down the aisle as the ring bearer, while other couples included their pets — dressed up or not — in wedding portraits. Post-pandemic flexibility key to wedding plans Each planner has had different experiences adjusting to the post-pandemic wedding business landscape, especially since venues are almost completely booked for 2025. “Every time we kind of think we know what’s happening in the market and how people are going to book, it usually changes,” said Simeral.
Despite her past experience forecasting event bookings at the Boston Harbor Hotel, she said it’s nearly impossible to tell which way the industry is moving. “There’s definitely a very huge short-term market right now of people that are calling for, you know, things within six months,” the luxury planner said. The pandemic also caused some vendors to shut down, which makes planning that much harder when there are fewer options to choose from, Simeral and Chalmers said.
Floral cake at Beverly wedding. Photo by Sara Louis, Event Planning by Sara Sara Louis, Event Planning by Sara Simeral gave the example of charter bus companies going out of business after the pandemic led to canceled wedding plans or scaled-down guest lists. The 50-person charter buses used to shuttle wedding guests pre-pandemic were no longer needed.
“For the 2025 season, we found inquiries were coming in earlier than we saw for 2024,” Chalmers said. “I think people are kind of feeling that stress of there aren’t enough vendors, that they’re feeling like they need to start a little bit sooner.” Despite the tumultuous market, the planners believe their booming businesses won’t stop anytime soon.
“The joy people feel now being able to celebrate again at a pre-pandemic level, I don’t think it’s ever going to go away,” Simeral said. “I think everyone wants to have the celebration that they dreamt about,” she said. “I don’t think it’ll ever stop.
” More Business content.
