April 8, 2025 • 20 mins
You didn’t start your business to stay stuck. If you're ready to finally hit 6 or 7 figures WITHOUT burning out — book a call with our team → https://weddingproceo.com/application
Think the wedding industry is slowing down? It’s actually about to explode… but only if you know how to pivot.
Let’s talk about why leads feel low, what Gen Z couples really want, and how to scale your wedding biz in 2025 without burning out.
This is the thread I'm referring to: https://tinyurl.com/2trctc5e
This is the article I referenced https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/us-wedding-services-market-report
How to Reach Gen Z Couples in 2025 https://weddingproceo.com/how-to-reach-gen-z-couples-2025/
2025 Wedding Industry Trends https://weddingproceo.com/2025-wedding-industry-trends/
The (FREE!)ASSUME Sales Training: 2x your wedding bookings in 30 days—step by step. Thousands of wedding pros have already used it to land more clients immediately! http://weddingproceo.com/freetrainingorg
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EPISODE SHOW NOTES BLOG & MORE:
https://weddingproceo.com/is-wedding-industry-failing-2025/
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Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Wedding Pro CEO Podcast. If you find these strategies helpful, make sure to share this episode with your fellow wedding pros. And remember, in the world of weddings, it's all about building genuine relationships and showcasing your best work. Until next time, keep shining, CEOs!
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Have a question you’d like Brandee to answer? Ask here: http://bit.ly/3ZoqPmz
=========================
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Brandee Gaar (00:01):
The wedding industry in 2025 is
not what it used to be.
Prices are up, couplesare savvier and
strategies are changing.
In today's podcast, I'mbreaking down what's.
Really happening in thewedding industry right now.
Why many wedding pros arestruggling and exactly
what you need to do to notjust survive in 2025, but
(00:21):
to scale your business tosix or even seven figures.
Hey there, CEO.
You're listening to the WeddingPro CEO Podcast, the podcast
to help you grow and scale yourprofitable wedding business.
I'm your host, Brandee Gaar,and over the last 17 years,
I've grown my company to oneof the largest planning firms
in Orlando, Florida, and thisyear is such an interesting
(00:42):
year , here in 2025 becauseit all depends on who you
ask what's actually happeningto the wedding industry.
So the question we're gonnaanswer today is, is the
wedding industry declining?
Let's get into it.
A few weeks ago I was scrollingthreads as I do to see what's
going on in our industry, whatpeople are talking about, and
(01:03):
add my own 2 cents, of course.
And I came across a threadthat read, do you think the
wedding industry is declining?
And I was so intrigued becauseI was like, Ooh, I wanna see
what other people are saying.
Typically on threads, it's like.
The most downward spiral,like everybody over
there is doom and gloom.
It's so interesting to me.
Um, how many wedding prosare over there talking about
(01:26):
like how they're not gettingany leads it's all negative
Nelly for the most partso I opened the comment section
fully expecting that, and I was.
Pleasantly surprised, but Ialso thought this would make
for a really great podcast totalk about what our industry
from within is saying aboutwhat's coming in 2025 or how
2025 feels so far, about acouple months into the year.
(01:50):
Right.
So this thread was posted,um, in mid-March, a couple
months into the year.
So I wanted to kind of talkabout some of the responses
that are on here, some of thecomments, and dig into them
with some, with just my own2 cents and some with facts
That we found, online aboutwhat is actually happening
in the wedding industry.
So let's dig into someof these comments.
If you're listening to thison our podcast and you want to
(02:11):
see this thread in the commentsfor yourself, you can head over
to our YouTube channel becauseyou can see it on my screen as
I'm kind of scrolling through.
You can see the commentsthat I'm looking at.
The main thread said,do you think the wedding
industry is declining?
So a couple of thecomments, , are just insane.
Right?
, so I won't really put muchinto those, but I think.
What I loved seeing is thatso many people said it's not
(02:34):
necessarily declining, butit's shifting, which is so
true and I've talked aboutthat I feel like until I'm
purple here on the podcast.
But this one comment says,I think it will continue
to shift as it always doesdecline in the sense of what,
less weddings or less spend?
And the original poster said,I meant declining in terms
of hospitality, but totallyforgot to put that in there.
(02:55):
So it's been interesting tosee what people's response
to the word decline means.
And so I, I actually tookthis post also like this
commenter did, which is,you know, do I think it's
declining in terms of likehow much people are spending
or how small the weddingsare, or just in general,
are weddings getting less?
So I think that that wasinteresting that there was
multiple ways that thatcould have been taken.
(03:16):
Um, but.
Shifting, right?
People are talkingabout it shifting.
Another commenter said, um, it'snot declining, just changing.
So let's talk aboutthat a little bit here.
In 2025, we now have GenZ in our marketplace.
And the reason I think it'simportant to talk about this is
one, because when millennialscame into the marketplace.
We talked about them.
(03:37):
Honestly, we talked aboutthem for an entire decade,
like how millennials buy,what they like, their spending
habits like every, we kneweverything about them.
Gen Z came into the marketplaceduring Covid, which is
interesting because theoldest, gen Z right now here
in 2025 is about 27 years old.
So during COVID,they were 22, 23 ish.
(04:00):
So they were just startingto come into the marketplace
as buyers, as like legitadult buyers, right?
And so it almost feels likethey snuck in and all of
a sudden they're here andwe're like, whoa, whoa.
Like what do we dowith these people?
And so the market.
Is shifting because theybuy so differently from
Gen X and from millennials.
(04:22):
And so I find this really,really interesting that
I think a lot of usweren't ready for it.
So here in 2020 4, 25, we'relike, wait a second, why are
our strategies not working?
And the difference with Gen Zis that one, they've always had
the internet 100% of their life,they've had the internet, they
have had social media, most oftheir formative years, right?
(04:44):
So the last 15 yearsthey've had social media.
They're used to gettinganswers quickly.
They want fast responses.
They are okay spendingmoney, but they really
value what it's for.
They want you to have a purpose.
They want to know theperson behind the brand.
They don't just buybrands necessarily.
They don't buy into alot of designer things.
(05:06):
They don't, um, they wantto see like real people.
They wanna see authenticity.
And so that's all very,very different than how we
used to run our businesses,which was perfect grids.
And we, millennials loveddesigner, everything.
Like they wanted to see thatyou were luxury that you were
high end, that you were muchsought after, whereas Gen Z is
(05:30):
more like, how real are you?
Like how authentic are you?
I don't necessarilyneed to buy the designer
or the most high end.
I just want to know thatit's gonna be the experience.
That I'm looking for.
And so I found this really,really interesting as we're
shifting strategies, andagain, we talk about this so
much on the podcast, so notdeclining, just changing.
Um, one of the other commentssaid, I think it's shifting in
(05:52):
response to a new generationof couples who prioritize other
life milestones other thanthey value a costly wedding.
There will always be a luxuryclient and there always will
be a more budget consciousclient, but I think it's the
middle to high-end clientelethat's declining the most.
So I find this commentinteresting too, and this
commenter's absolutely right.
(06:12):
There's always gonna bebudget conscious clients
or there's always gonna behigh end clients, but what
this new buyer, is valuingthe most, is the experience.
So there's a lot less.
Importance put on, is itInstagram worthy enough?
Right?
They want it tofeel more authentic.
(06:34):
So that's where a lot of thesecontent creators are coming
in too, because instead ofhaving the perfect two minute
trailer video that makesyour wedding look like it
was just this epic weekend,they're wanting more raw and
real clips behind the scene.
And so they're bringingthese content creators in
to really show more of that.
Realness of what theirwedding was like.
(06:55):
It's also a lot less emphasis onhow it's gonna show up in photos
and what it's actually gonna belike in person for their guests.
And so I, I am so interestedto know if you're watching
this video, I would lovefor you to comment below
what you're seeing in yourmarket in regards to this.
Are you seeing a lot moreemphasis on the experience?
(07:17):
Are you still seeinga lot of emphasis on.
The Instagrammable moments.
I kind of wanna know fromour audience, tell me in the
comments what you're seeingin your market and how you're
seeing Gen Z kind of shakeup the marketplace in terms
of what the buyers are like.
Another comment I. Is, yes, it'soversaturated and misguided.
(07:38):
We can thank social mediaand the desire to be viral.
Now, this one I really wantedto touch on because I find
this such an interesting post.
Listen, social media hassuch a bad rap, right?
Like so many people arelike, social media is
the death of our society.
It's, you know,ruining our children.
And I don'tnecessarily disagree.
(07:59):
With any of that.
However, I tend to be aglass half full type of
person, and I have to say,running a business in the
age of social media I thinkis like one of the greatest
gifts that we could ever begiven as business owners.
Because I was lucky enough,I guess, to be able to tell
both sides of this story.
(08:19):
I started my business 17years ago, so Facebook only
existed on college campusesand Instagram wasn't around
and TikTok was still musically.
I don't even know if it wasmusically at that point, but
when I started my businessback in 2007, social media
wasn't a thing really.
And you know, obviously peoplehad websites and email, but
even then it was like thetalk back then was like,
should you have a website?
Does it matter?
(08:40):
And I'm like, I can't evenimagine that that was a
conversation at some point.
But social media certainlywasn't a thing, and so you
could not connect directly withyour buyers in any way, there
was no way for you to connectdirectly with your buyers.
The only way for you toadvertise to reach your buyers
was through a listing sitelike the Knot or Wedding
Wire, or through, like,I mean the Yellow Pages.
(09:02):
I don't know how many peoplereally use the Yellow Pages,
there was no way to reachdirectly to your buyer.
You were either being referredby someone else, they were
seeing an ad in a magazine.
They were seeing anad on a listing site.
There was no way to reachthat buyer directly.
Now.
You don't need any ofthose third parties.
In reality, you can easilyreach your end client directly
(09:23):
and so much more warmly andyour content can constantly
be updated . One of thethings that was so challenging
back before social media wasthat we would put an ad in
a magazine and you had towait six months to change it.
Like if anything changed oryou just wanted to update the
copy, or you wanted to updatethe graphics, you had to
wait six months to change it.
And then the new issue came out.
Now we're constantly able toupdate what our brand is, who
(09:46):
we are, who we're speaking to.
We can see what's workingin real time and shift
our strategies as it'sworking or not working.
So I do understand this commentwhere it's saying, yes, it's
oversaturated and misguided.
I definitely think thatthere's some of that going
on oversaturated, for sure.
But think about it.
Think about how many weddingpros actually exist, right?
(10:09):
Like tens of tens of tensof thousands of wedding
businesses exist, honestly,just even in the US economy.
And then think about how manyof those people actually show
up consistently on social media.
So few of them.
If you are showing your face ona weekly or even better daily
basis on social media, you haveno idea how much that's gonna
(10:33):
separate you from the norm.
That's how we teach our weddingpros inside of Wedding Pro
CEO, to become part of the 1%.
That is, the top of thetop in our industry because
you need to be showing up.
You need to be showing upconsistently using social
media to separate yourselffrom the pack and to make
people know that you arean expert in what you do.
(10:54):
Help them to understand whatit's like to work with you,
the experience of workingwith you, why you're clients,
love working with you.
This is a massively importantpiece of separating yourself
from the average weddingbusiness, from making sure
that you establish yourself asa leader in the marketplace.
So while I think it's, Iunderstand the comment of it
being oversaturated, I alsothink it's a completely blue
(11:16):
ocean in the wedding industryfor wedding pros to stand
out and to actually make abrand for themselves, make a
name for themselves becauseso few wedding pros are
actually using social mediaconsistently and effectively.
The next commentsays, declining, no
ever changing, yes.
The priorities have shiftedwith the new generation, but
marriage and weddings willhappen on a different scale.
(11:37):
What's really interestingabout this one, I
completely agree with this.
I think marriages andweddings will happen on a
different scale, but what'sreally, really interesting
is the Not Weddings Report.
Weddings Trend Report cameout a couple months ago
and I did a video on that.
We'll link it herefor you guys to see.
I did a, a video on that,kind of analyzing that report.
And what was really,really interesting is Gen
(11:58):
Z is expecting to marryat a significantly higher
rate than millennials.
Millennials were actuallydeclining in how many of
them were expected to getmarried, whereas Gen Z, it's
gone significantly up interms of how many of them
are expecting to marry.
So we know that more andmore weddings are gonna
(12:18):
happen as Gen Z continuesto enter the marketplace.
But this commenter's, right,it will be different on what
scale they're marrying, right?
We may see more microweddings or more.
full weekend weddings wherethey're having destinations
and experiences over theselavish, kind of over the
top Instagramable weddings.
We're definitely gonna seemore of that, but weddings are
(12:38):
going to continue to happenat a much more rapid pace
than they have in the past.
Okay, so I love this commentwhere this commenter said
it's on track to be a $70billion industry this year
in the us and what I think isreally interesting about this
is he's absolutely spot on.
I went and read the articlethat he linked here.
And let me just tell you, peoplethat link the data that they
(13:02):
have gotten their informationfrom, like steal my heart.
I absolutely love data.
You guys know this about me,but I love even more when
somebody links the data soI can go read it for myself.
And this is really justsaying exactly, this is
the market analysis report.
It is saying exactly what we.
Already saw coming out fromthe Knot Wedding Trends
(13:22):
report, which is that thewedding industry is expected
to grow 6.8% year overyear from 2025 to 2030.
So if you're here in the weddingindustry, buckle up because we
are going nowhere, like this.
Industry is only gonnacontinue to grow.
Currently in 2024, thewedding services market
was valued at $64.9 billionand is expected to reach.
(13:47):
$90 billion by 2030, y'all.
This is insane.
Okay?
Like this industry isabsolutely not declining.
It's not declining.
And what I want you to hear isthat again, this new generation.
They buy differently,they shop differently,
they research differently.
And so if you want to be able totake advantage of this massive
(14:09):
growth that we're expecting tosee over the next five years
in the wedding industry, youhave to change your strategies.
And I have multiple episodeson this over the last six
months talking about howGen Z buys differently.
And so I really want you tolisten to some of these episodes
that we have, talking about howGen Z buys and what strategies
you need to be implementing intoyour business so that you can
(14:30):
take advantage of what's cominghere over the next five years.
We will also link thisarticle here so that you guys
can read it for yourself.
Again, I love data.
I love you being able todo the research yourself.
Go into this article and justread about what it's saying
is happening to our industryover the next five years.
I think it's really,really interesting.
This last commenter said,I think it's about finding
(14:50):
leverage and seeing wherewe can cut services to
accommodate these couples thatwould like to work with us.
For me, that means simplifyingmy offerings and pricing to
just the essentials and thenoffering them add-ons after
their initial retainer is made.
And this is something thatI've been talking about at a
lot of my speaking events whenI'm speaking with different
vendors that are coming up tome saying, you know, I'm really
having a hard time closingbecause I'm adding everything
(15:12):
into the initial package.
And I agree with thiscommenter so much.
I have edited our strategyas well to really focus
on, okay, let's justget them signed, right?
What do they needfor their wedding?
And I want you to bereally sure of that.
You have to understandwhat their desires are,
what their pain points are,what their day looks like,
so that you can presentthe best service for them.
(15:33):
But then I want you tocreate a drip campaign,
an email campaign.
After they have signed to offerthe add-ons that you have.
Gen Z is definitely buying ina way where they're quick, they
wanna make decisions fast, andso being able to get them in on
that initial retainer and justsay, okay, this is everything
you need for your day.
And then as they see howtheir budget flushes out
(15:53):
and as they see how thedesign is coming along.
I've worked with a lot of DJs onthis where it's let's get them
in for the initial retainer,which is their reception,
possibly adding on ceremony.
And then if you wanna add ondancing with a cloud, lights, a
photo booth, um, a DJ surround,like all these other things
that you have the option todo, you can do that through a
drip campaign that offers themthese things throughout their
(16:14):
planning process at the pointwhere they're likely gonna be
ready to make those decisions.
But in the beginning, wewant to just sell them.
What do they need?
What do they needfor their wedding?
Right?
And so I think there'sa really interesting
strategy that's gonna helpmore vendors to close.
So if that's you, Iwant you to really think
through your strategy.
Do you need to add everythingin the kitchen sink into
that initial package, or canyou sell them what they need
(16:35):
and then offer additionaladd-ons as they're planning
throughout so that you can kindof become that one stop shop?
You can be that person thathas the things to offer them,
but you don't have to add itall into that initial package
right in the beginning.
Okay, so CEO, what?
What is our decision here?
Is the weddingindustry declining?
CEO?
Absolutely not.
And as you can tell, not only bythe articles that we've shared,
(16:59):
that wedding industry is goingto be growing significantly
over the next five years.
But I'm also super encouragedby the comments in this
thread because I genuinelyexpected to open it and see
just like, yes, yes, yes, yes,The industry's junk, right?
But instead, what I'm seeing is.
So many wedding pros saying it'snot declining, it's shifting.
And that's exactly whatI want you to understand.
Every single year that you'rein business, you are going to
(17:21):
have to shift with the economy,shift with the changes of
strategy, shift with the newgeneration of buyers, that's
never gonna change no matterhow long you're in the industry.
I've been in the industryfor 17 years and it's
been really, really.
Fun every single year tounderstand what's working,
what's not working,what strategies we're
gonna have to change.
And that's what makesbusiness exciting, is that
we're constantly evolvingand constantly having to
(17:42):
come up with new strategies.
So if you're listening to thispodcast and you're like, okay,
Brandee, tell me more about howto sell to this new generation.
I wanna understand the strategy.
I want you to go listen toepisode 277 where I talk all
about how to market and sellto Gen Z specifically, and
this is gonna help you somuch to reach this new buyer
type as they come in with aflourish into our marketplace
here in 2025 and CEO,I want you to take full
(18:04):
advantage of the growth thatour industry is experiencing
and will continue to experienceover the next five years.
So if you're listening to thisand you're like, I need help
with this Brandee, like, Iwant your team's eyes on my
business, I wanna invite youto book a free gap assessment
with our coaching team.
You can book that by going overto weddingproceo.com/application
(18:26):
and you can book that gapassessment right there.
Tell us a few thingsabout your business.
Book a time that works foryou, and our team will take a
look at your business and tellyou where we think that you
need to focus to really scaleyour revenue here in 2025.
It's a totally free appointment.
if we think thatwe can help you to.
Double your revenuehere in 2025.
We're gonna talk about nextsteps on how to join Wedding
(18:48):
Pro CEO, so that we can jumpinto your business and do
that with you throughoutthe rest of this year.
Wedding Pros, thank youso much for being here
every single week, and Iwill see you next time.
The wedding industry in 2025 is
not what it used to be.
Prices are up, couplesare savvier and
strategies are changing.
In today's podcast, I'mbreaking down what's.
Really happening in thewedding industry right now.
Why many wedding pros arestruggling and exactly
what you need to do to notjust survive in 2025, but
(00:21):
to scale your business tosix or even seven figures.
Hey there, CEO.
You're listening to the WeddingPro CEO Podcast, the podcast
to help you grow and scale yourprofitable wedding business.
I'm your host, Brandee Gaar,and over the last 17 years,
I've grown my company to oneof the largest planning firms
in Orlando, Florida, and thisyear is such an interesting
(00:42):
year , here in 2025 becauseit all depends on who you
ask what's actually happeningto the wedding industry.
So the question we're gonnaanswer today is, is the
wedding industry declining?
Let's get into it.
A few weeks ago I was scrollingthreads as I do to see what's
going on in our industry, whatpeople are talking about, and
(01:03):
add my own 2 cents, of course.
And I came across a threadthat read, do you think the
wedding industry is declining?
And I was so intrigued becauseI was like, Ooh, I wanna see
what other people are saying.
Typically on threads, it's like.
The most downward spiral,like everybody over
there is doom and gloom.
It's so interesting to me.
Um, how many wedding prosare over there talking about
(01:26):
like how they're not gettingany leads it's all negative
Nelly for the most partso I opened the comment section
fully expecting that, and I was.
Pleasantly surprised, but Ialso thought this would make
for a really great podcast totalk about what our industry
from within is saying aboutwhat's coming in 2025 or how
2025 feels so far, about acouple months into the year.
(01:50):
Right.
So this thread was posted,um, in mid-March, a couple
months into the year.
So I wanted to kind of talkabout some of the responses
that are on here, some of thecomments, and dig into them
with some, with just my own2 cents and some with facts
That we found, online aboutwhat is actually happening
in the wedding industry.
So let's dig into someof these comments.
If you're listening to thison our podcast and you want to
(02:11):
see this thread in the commentsfor yourself, you can head over
to our YouTube channel becauseyou can see it on my screen as
I'm kind of scrolling through.
You can see the commentsthat I'm looking at.
The main thread said,do you think the wedding
industry is declining?
So a couple of thecomments, , are just insane.
Right?
, so I won't really put muchinto those, but I think.
What I loved seeing is thatso many people said it's not
(02:34):
necessarily declining, butit's shifting, which is so
true and I've talked aboutthat I feel like until I'm
purple here on the podcast.
But this one comment says,I think it will continue
to shift as it always doesdecline in the sense of what,
less weddings or less spend?
And the original poster said,I meant declining in terms
of hospitality, but totallyforgot to put that in there.
(02:55):
So it's been interesting tosee what people's response
to the word decline means.
And so I, I actually tookthis post also like this
commenter did, which is,you know, do I think it's
declining in terms of likehow much people are spending
or how small the weddingsare, or just in general,
are weddings getting less?
So I think that that wasinteresting that there was
multiple ways that thatcould have been taken.
(03:16):
Um, but.
Shifting, right?
People are talkingabout it shifting.
Another commenter said, um, it'snot declining, just changing.
So let's talk aboutthat a little bit here.
In 2025, we now have GenZ in our marketplace.
And the reason I think it'simportant to talk about this is
one, because when millennialscame into the marketplace.
We talked about them.
(03:37):
Honestly, we talked aboutthem for an entire decade,
like how millennials buy,what they like, their spending
habits like every, we kneweverything about them.
Gen Z came into the marketplaceduring Covid, which is
interesting because theoldest, gen Z right now here
in 2025 is about 27 years old.
So during COVID,they were 22, 23 ish.
(04:00):
So they were just startingto come into the marketplace
as buyers, as like legitadult buyers, right?
And so it almost feels likethey snuck in and all of
a sudden they're here andwe're like, whoa, whoa.
Like what do we dowith these people?
And so the market.
Is shifting because theybuy so differently from
Gen X and from millennials.
(04:22):
And so I find this really,really interesting that
I think a lot of usweren't ready for it.
So here in 2020 4, 25, we'relike, wait a second, why are
our strategies not working?
And the difference with Gen Zis that one, they've always had
the internet 100% of their life,they've had the internet, they
have had social media, most oftheir formative years, right?
(04:44):
So the last 15 yearsthey've had social media.
They're used to gettinganswers quickly.
They want fast responses.
They are okay spendingmoney, but they really
value what it's for.
They want you to have a purpose.
They want to know theperson behind the brand.
They don't just buybrands necessarily.
They don't buy into alot of designer things.
(05:06):
They don't, um, they wantto see like real people.
They wanna see authenticity.
And so that's all very,very different than how we
used to run our businesses,which was perfect grids.
And we, millennials loveddesigner, everything.
Like they wanted to see thatyou were luxury that you were
high end, that you were muchsought after, whereas Gen Z is
(05:30):
more like, how real are you?
Like how authentic are you?
I don't necessarilyneed to buy the designer
or the most high end.
I just want to know thatit's gonna be the experience.
That I'm looking for.
And so I found this really,really interesting as we're
shifting strategies, andagain, we talk about this so
much on the podcast, so notdeclining, just changing.
Um, one of the other commentssaid, I think it's shifting in
(05:52):
response to a new generationof couples who prioritize other
life milestones other thanthey value a costly wedding.
There will always be a luxuryclient and there always will
be a more budget consciousclient, but I think it's the
middle to high-end clientelethat's declining the most.
So I find this commentinteresting too, and this
commenter's absolutely right.
(06:12):
There's always gonna bebudget conscious clients
or there's always gonna behigh end clients, but what
this new buyer, is valuingthe most, is the experience.
So there's a lot less.
Importance put on, is itInstagram worthy enough?
Right?
They want it tofeel more authentic.
(06:34):
So that's where a lot of thesecontent creators are coming
in too, because instead ofhaving the perfect two minute
trailer video that makesyour wedding look like it
was just this epic weekend,they're wanting more raw and
real clips behind the scene.
And so they're bringingthese content creators in
to really show more of that.
Realness of what theirwedding was like.
(06:55):
It's also a lot less emphasis onhow it's gonna show up in photos
and what it's actually gonna belike in person for their guests.
And so I, I am so interestedto know if you're watching
this video, I would lovefor you to comment below
what you're seeing in yourmarket in regards to this.
Are you seeing a lot moreemphasis on the experience?
(07:17):
Are you still seeinga lot of emphasis on.
The Instagrammable moments.
I kind of wanna know fromour audience, tell me in the
comments what you're seeingin your market and how you're
seeing Gen Z kind of shakeup the marketplace in terms
of what the buyers are like.
Another comment I. Is, yes, it'soversaturated and misguided.
(07:38):
We can thank social mediaand the desire to be viral.
Now, this one I really wantedto touch on because I find
this such an interesting post.
Listen, social media hassuch a bad rap, right?
Like so many people arelike, social media is
the death of our society.
It's, you know,ruining our children.
And I don'tnecessarily disagree.
(07:59):
With any of that.
However, I tend to be aglass half full type of
person, and I have to say,running a business in the
age of social media I thinkis like one of the greatest
gifts that we could ever begiven as business owners.
Because I was lucky enough,I guess, to be able to tell
both sides of this story.
(08:19):
I started my business 17years ago, so Facebook only
existed on college campusesand Instagram wasn't around
and TikTok was still musically.
I don't even know if it wasmusically at that point, but
when I started my businessback in 2007, social media
wasn't a thing really.
And you know, obviously peoplehad websites and email, but
even then it was like thetalk back then was like,
should you have a website?
Does it matter?
(08:40):
And I'm like, I can't evenimagine that that was a
conversation at some point.
But social media certainlywasn't a thing, and so you
could not connect directly withyour buyers in any way, there
was no way for you to connectdirectly with your buyers.
The only way for you toadvertise to reach your buyers
was through a listing sitelike the Knot or Wedding
Wire, or through, like,I mean the Yellow Pages.
(09:02):
I don't know how many peoplereally use the Yellow Pages,
there was no way to reachdirectly to your buyer.
You were either being referredby someone else, they were
seeing an ad in a magazine.
They were seeing anad on a listing site.
There was no way to reachthat buyer directly.
Now.
You don't need any ofthose third parties.
In reality, you can easilyreach your end client directly
(09:23):
and so much more warmly andyour content can constantly
be updated . One of thethings that was so challenging
back before social media wasthat we would put an ad in
a magazine and you had towait six months to change it.
Like if anything changed oryou just wanted to update the
copy, or you wanted to updatethe graphics, you had to
wait six months to change it.
And then the new issue came out.
Now we're constantly able toupdate what our brand is, who
(09:46):
we are, who we're speaking to.
We can see what's workingin real time and shift
our strategies as it'sworking or not working.
So I do understand this commentwhere it's saying, yes, it's
oversaturated and misguided.
I definitely think thatthere's some of that going
on oversaturated, for sure.
But think about it.
Think about how many weddingpros actually exist, right?
(10:09):
Like tens of tens of tensof thousands of wedding
businesses exist, honestly,just even in the US economy.
And then think about how manyof those people actually show
up consistently on social media.
So few of them.
If you are showing your face ona weekly or even better daily
basis on social media, you haveno idea how much that's gonna
(10:33):
separate you from the norm.
That's how we teach our weddingpros inside of Wedding Pro
CEO, to become part of the 1%.
That is, the top of thetop in our industry because
you need to be showing up.
You need to be showing upconsistently using social
media to separate yourselffrom the pack and to make
people know that you arean expert in what you do.
(10:54):
Help them to understand whatit's like to work with you,
the experience of workingwith you, why you're clients,
love working with you.
This is a massively importantpiece of separating yourself
from the average weddingbusiness, from making sure
that you establish yourself asa leader in the marketplace.
So while I think it's, Iunderstand the comment of it
being oversaturated, I alsothink it's a completely blue
(11:16):
ocean in the wedding industryfor wedding pros to stand
out and to actually make abrand for themselves, make a
name for themselves becauseso few wedding pros are
actually using social mediaconsistently and effectively.
The next commentsays, declining, no
ever changing, yes.
The priorities have shiftedwith the new generation, but
marriage and weddings willhappen on a different scale.
(11:37):
What's really interestingabout this one, I
completely agree with this.
I think marriages andweddings will happen on a
different scale, but what'sreally, really interesting
is the Not Weddings Report.
Weddings Trend Report cameout a couple months ago
and I did a video on that.
We'll link it herefor you guys to see.
I did a, a video on that,kind of analyzing that report.
And what was really,really interesting is Gen
(11:58):
Z is expecting to marryat a significantly higher
rate than millennials.
Millennials were actuallydeclining in how many of
them were expected to getmarried, whereas Gen Z, it's
gone significantly up interms of how many of them
are expecting to marry.
So we know that more andmore weddings are gonna
(12:18):
happen as Gen Z continuesto enter the marketplace.
But this commenter's, right,it will be different on what
scale they're marrying, right?
We may see more microweddings or more.
full weekend weddings wherethey're having destinations
and experiences over theselavish, kind of over the
top Instagramable weddings.
We're definitely gonna seemore of that, but weddings are
(12:38):
going to continue to happenat a much more rapid pace
than they have in the past.
Okay, so I love this commentwhere this commenter said
it's on track to be a $70billion industry this year
in the us and what I think isreally interesting about this
is he's absolutely spot on.
I went and read the articlethat he linked here.
And let me just tell you, peoplethat link the data that they
(13:02):
have gotten their informationfrom, like steal my heart.
I absolutely love data.
You guys know this about me,but I love even more when
somebody links the data soI can go read it for myself.
And this is really justsaying exactly, this is
the market analysis report.
It is saying exactly what we.
Already saw coming out fromthe Knot Wedding Trends
(13:22):
report, which is that thewedding industry is expected
to grow 6.8% year overyear from 2025 to 2030.
So if you're here in the weddingindustry, buckle up because we
are going nowhere, like this.
Industry is only gonnacontinue to grow.
Currently in 2024, thewedding services market
was valued at $64.9 billionand is expected to reach.
(13:47):
$90 billion by 2030, y'all.
This is insane.
Okay?
Like this industry isabsolutely not declining.
It's not declining.
And what I want you to hear isthat again, this new generation.
They buy differently,they shop differently,
they research differently.
And so if you want to be able totake advantage of this massive
(14:09):
growth that we're expecting tosee over the next five years
in the wedding industry, youhave to change your strategies.
And I have multiple episodeson this over the last six
months talking about howGen Z buys differently.
And so I really want you tolisten to some of these episodes
that we have, talking about howGen Z buys and what strategies
you need to be implementing intoyour business so that you can
(14:30):
take advantage of what's cominghere over the next five years.
We will also link thisarticle here so that you guys
can read it for yourself.
Again, I love data.
I love you being able todo the research yourself.
Go into this article and justread about what it's saying
is happening to our industryover the next five years.
I think it's really,really interesting.
This last commenter said,I think it's about finding
(14:50):
leverage and seeing wherewe can cut services to
accommodate these couples thatwould like to work with us.
For me, that means simplifyingmy offerings and pricing to
just the essentials and thenoffering them add-ons after
their initial retainer is made.
And this is something thatI've been talking about at a
lot of my speaking events whenI'm speaking with different
vendors that are coming up tome saying, you know, I'm really
having a hard time closingbecause I'm adding everything
(15:12):
into the initial package.
And I agree with thiscommenter so much.
I have edited our strategyas well to really focus
on, okay, let's justget them signed, right?
What do they needfor their wedding?
And I want you to bereally sure of that.
You have to understandwhat their desires are,
what their pain points are,what their day looks like,
so that you can presentthe best service for them.
(15:33):
But then I want you tocreate a drip campaign,
an email campaign.
After they have signed to offerthe add-ons that you have.
Gen Z is definitely buying ina way where they're quick, they
wanna make decisions fast, andso being able to get them in on
that initial retainer and justsay, okay, this is everything
you need for your day.
And then as they see howtheir budget flushes out
(15:53):
and as they see how thedesign is coming along.
I've worked with a lot of DJs onthis where it's let's get them
in for the initial retainer,which is their reception,
possibly adding on ceremony.
And then if you wanna add ondancing with a cloud, lights, a
photo booth, um, a DJ surround,like all these other things
that you have the option todo, you can do that through a
drip campaign that offers themthese things throughout their
(16:14):
planning process at the pointwhere they're likely gonna be
ready to make those decisions.
But in the beginning, wewant to just sell them.
What do they need?
What do they needfor their wedding?
Right?
And so I think there'sa really interesting
strategy that's gonna helpmore vendors to close.
So if that's you, Iwant you to really think
through your strategy.
Do you need to add everythingin the kitchen sink into
that initial package, or canyou sell them what they need
(16:35):
and then offer additionaladd-ons as they're planning
throughout so that you can kindof become that one stop shop?
You can be that person thathas the things to offer them,
but you don't have to add itall into that initial package
right in the beginning.
Okay, so CEO, what?
What is our decision here?
Is the weddingindustry declining?
CEO?
Absolutely not.
And as you can tell, not only bythe articles that we've shared,
(16:59):
that wedding industry is goingto be growing significantly
over the next five years.
But I'm also super encouragedby the comments in this
thread because I genuinelyexpected to open it and see
just like, yes, yes, yes, yes,The industry's junk, right?
But instead, what I'm seeing is.
So many wedding pros saying it'snot declining, it's shifting.
And that's exactly whatI want you to understand.
Every single year that you'rein business, you are going to
(17:21):
have to shift with the economy,shift with the changes of
strategy, shift with the newgeneration of buyers, that's
never gonna change no matterhow long you're in the industry.
I've been in the industryfor 17 years and it's
been really, really.
Fun every single year tounderstand what's working,
what's not working,what strategies we're
gonna have to change.
And that's what makesbusiness exciting, is that
we're constantly evolvingand constantly having to
(17:42):
come up with new strategies.
So if you're listening to thispodcast and you're like, okay,
Brandee, tell me more about howto sell to this new generation.
I wanna understand the strategy.
I want you to go listen toepisode 277 where I talk all
about how to market and sellto Gen Z specifically, and
this is gonna help you somuch to reach this new buyer
type as they come in with aflourish into our marketplace
here in 2025 and CEO,I want you to take full
(18:04):
advantage of the growth thatour industry is experiencing
and will continue to experienceover the next five years.
So if you're listening to thisand you're like, I need help
with this Brandee, like, Iwant your team's eyes on my
business, I wanna invite youto book a free gap assessment
with our coaching team.
You can book that by going overto weddingproceo.com/application
(18:26):
and you can book that gapassessment right there.
Tell us a few thingsabout your business.
Book a time that works foryou, and our team will take a
look at your business and tellyou where we think that you
need to focus to really scaleyour revenue here in 2025.
It's a totally free appointment.
if we think thatwe can help you to.
Double your revenuehere in 2025.
We're gonna talk about nextsteps on how to join Wedding
(18:48):
Pro CEO, so that we can jumpinto your business and do
that with you throughoutthe rest of this year.
Wedding Pros, thank youso much for being here
every single week, and Iwill see you next time.
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