It's been a roller coaster year for brides, grooms and the wedding industry.
Many have had to completely change how their weddings were going to look. For some, that meant changing how many people they could invite because of COVID-19 restrictions. Now, wedding planners and vendors are already getting ready for what’s expected to be a crazy wedding season heading into next year.
Portland newlyweds Joe and Meagan Mayol started planning their dream wedding last fall. Joe said staying flexible was key because their plans practically changed on a daily basis. Once the pandemic hit, they realized their wedding was going to look a lot different.
“We just moved all of those deposits to next year because hopefully, we’ll still get to have that experience with friends and family," said Meagan Mayol.
The couple still had their special day this summer when they got married in Sunriver, but it looked a lot different. Instead of the two hundred people they had invited, the guest list was reduced to just 10 people.
Nora Sheils, the founder of Bridal Bliss in Lake Oswego, said next year will be doubled up.
“It’s looking to be two wedding seasons in one year, because you have all these 2020 postponements and then you have all the couples who were planning on getting married in 2021,” said Sheils.
For couples who had to change their special day like Shannon Ware and James Beedy, who decided to elope to Las Vegas during the pandemic, they’re still going to make sure they get that dream wedding next July.
“It’s a big wedding, there will be more than 300 at Portland’s Golf Club, it’s a different type of wedding: It’s Great Gatsby meets A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” said Ware.
But they will just have to exercise a little unplanned patience.