Planning a destination wedding can be stressful, but what Michele Armento has been through for the last year goes far beyond that.
The New Jersey resident’s dream of having a wedding in ritzy Newport seemed within reach when she secured a May 2020 date for a glamorous reception overlooking Newport Harbor at Regatta Place on Goat Island.
Then the pandemic arrived.
First, Armento and her fiancé postponed the nuptials for seven months, thinking their outdoor venue would be safe for a large gathering by then. But soon Rhode Island appeared on New Jersey’s travel ban list, making the state off-limits to Armento and her guests. They rescheduled again, this time to May 23 of this year.
Then a new problem cropped up: Not only were Rhode Island officials limiting the number of guests allowed at weddings but they had banned dancing, too.
‘The whole ‘no dancing,’ that was a deal-breaker,” Armento said. “Like what do you do? I’m going to pay all this money for a fancy dinner, where everyone has to sit and not dance?”
The couple was preparing for a third postponement when some good news arrived in early March. That’s when Rhode Island officials announced they planned to loosen restrictions, reinstituting dancing under certain conditions and allowing more people at outdoor events.
Suddenly, Armento’s May wedding was back on.
And now countless businesses and individual contractors who are part of the state’s vast wedding industry are hoping more brides and grooms make the same decision.
Many of those businesses – from hoteliers to wedding planners to bridal shops – have reported staggering losses since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, when rules intended to slow the spread of COVID-19 put an end to grand weddings – those with several hundred guests, a DJ or band, photographers, flowers and limousine rides.
While most expect the grand weddings to return in full in 2022 as vaccines allow for herd immunity, uncertainty has surrounded this year’s wedding season, when receptions may be more of a hybrid experience of larger crowds and dancing, but with face masks, physical distancing and test requirements, too.
There were worries that bridal couples who have already delayed events from 2020 will push them back further or move them to other states with more-relaxed safety protocols.
IDC Inc., which does business as The Newport Experience, lost about $6 million in revenue last year because of postponed weddings, according to Kate DeCosta, corporate director of sales and marketing for The Newport Experience, which owns and operates Regatta Place and OceanCliff Hotel in Newport and Stone House in Little Compton.
DeCosta said some frustrated couples have postponed their events three or four times to try to get past the pandemic. Others have tried to pull out entirely and sought to recoup their deposits, which is typically half the cost of the wedding.
DeCosta remains concerned.
“This is an economic driver in the state of Rhode Island,” she said. “So much of our hospitality industry funnels down from these very expensive weddings.”
[caption id="attachment_364032" align="alignright" width="210"]
BLURRY FUTURE: Morayo Sayles, owner of Piper Brown Photography Inc., says she has 20 weddings on her schedule for 2021, but most of them are postponements from 2020 and/
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO[/caption]
MONEYMAKERS
Indeed, weddings are a big economic driver.
A Rhode Island-based group recently formed to amplify the voice of the industry during the pandemic has more than 900 members, including banquet halls, bridal shops, hair salons, limo services, caterers and cake makers.
And a recent survey of vendors by the Rhode Island Coalition of Wedding and Event Professionals indicated that the average cost of a wedding in the Ocean State over the past five years was $30,000 – and double that in Newport, which has a national reputation for opulent wedding events.
Nationally, the size of the wedding services industry is estimated at $55 billion by IBISWorld, an industry research firm.
While IBISWorld estimated a 21% decline in revenue in 2020 for wedding-related businesses nationwide, the firm is also predicting a 30% rebound this year as rescheduled weddings take place.
How things will play out in Rhode Island remains a question.
Last year, state health officials had limited catered events to no more than 15 guests to slow the spread of COVID-19, but they have gradually loosened that restriction in 2021 as cases have declined. By mid-March, limits were boosted from 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors to 100 people inside and 200 outside.
Those increases, combined with relaxed curbs on dancing, could make all the difference, venue operators said.
At Rhodes on the Pawtuxet, three major events were canceled this March alone, resulting in the loss of “tens of thousands” of dollars, according to Hillary Williamson, general manager at the Cranston banquet hall.
Constant changes, the lack of certainty and the possibility of a new COVID-19 surge have meant a lot of lost business and some staffing cuts. “It costs up [to] about $1,000 a day to run our facility, with insurance and utilities,” said Williamson, noting that the business has gotten by on its dwindling reserves so far.
The increase in crowd capacities? “That would be a game-changer for us,” Williamson said.
Wedding photographer Morayo Sayles is optimistic that the summer and fall wedding seasons can be salvaged, but she’s still on pins and needles.
Owner of Piper Brown Photography Inc. in Smithfield, Sayles shot her last two receptions a year ago, both tiny gatherings with fewer than 20 people. “And then it was just silence,” she said.
So far this year, she has 20 weddings booked – 16 of which are holdovers from 2020. At the same time, she’s had to cut her rates because savvy couples have been more assertive about asking for discounts, aware that photographers are looking for work.
To make matters worse, Sayles acknowledged some of the rescheduled receptions were looking iffy again because, despite the improving outlook, the threat of the virus remains, as do the decidedly unfun reminders of the global crisis: face masks, social distancing and negative COVID-19 tests.
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CUTTING LOOSE: Luke B. Renchan, a wedding DJ and leader of the Rhode Island Coalition of Wedding and Event Professionals, has worked closely with the R.I. Commerce Corp. on revising the wedding-specific regulations to be more competitive with other states while maintaining safety, such as relaxing restrictions on dancing. / PBN PHOTO/PAMELA BHATIA[/caption]
A DEMONSTRATION
To ease concerns, several organizations collaborated in January to hold a “mock wedding” at OceanCliff in Newport to demonstrate how such an event could be held safely and still maintain the festive atmosphere. “Vows” were exchanged on a cliff with an ocean view, and the reception inside included a first dance with the “newlyweds.” Guests and vendors were given rapid COVID-19 tests before entering.
The ceremony and reception were recorded to make training videos for hospitality professionals.
The mock event also included a “COVID safety officer,” tasked with ensuring partygoers were following public health protocols, but the state has now abandoned that requirement after liability concerns were raised by venue operators.
Luke B. Renchan, a wedding DJ and leader of the Rhode Island Coalition of Wedding and Event Professionals, has worked closely with the R.I. Commerce Corp. on revising the wedding-specific regulations to be more competitive with other states while maintaining safety.
Renchan said couples have fallen into two camps this year.
“Some people are what we call ‘COVID-ed out.’ They’ve changed their dates two or three times, and they’re going to move forward and just follow the rules of the date,” he said. “Whatever happens, if it’s 30 people, it’s 30 people.”
Others are rescheduling or moving the events. They want as normal an experience as possible and are willing to reschedule or move it to another location that is more lenient, he said.
So far this month, Renchan has had two cancellations.
One reception was for Labor Day weekend, the other in November. One couple had already gotten married and decided to skip the reception. Another is moving their event to Massachusetts, where they were certain they can dance and invite more people. They were willing to lose a $10,000 deposit on the venue, he said.
The no-dancing rule – aside from the traditional first dances – had many bridal couples fleeing Rhode Island, Renchan said, so the industry is eager to have the new Rhode Island guidance in writing. “They don’t see a wedding without dancing,” he said.
In Newport, larger weddings being planned by Angelic Affairs LLC are still scheduled for the summer and fall of this year, according to owner Kelly Teves.
She’s monitoring the rules set by the state of Rhode Island carefully and communicating the details to her clients. But many brides are so focused on their dream day that they’re not quite connecting the dots on wedding size.
Managing expectations has become a part of the wedding planner’s job.
“Especially with the vaccine rollout, a lot of them are still anticipating hosting a large wedding this year,” Teves said. “It’s very much, ‘This is my wedding. This is when I want it and I’ll just deal with the guidelines when that time comes.’ But in the meantime, they’re still planning in their mind for 200 to 300 guests.”
Cindy McIntyre has decided to push ahead with her wedding in late April, a date she booked at Meadow Brook Inn in Charlestown 16 months ago.
McIntyre, a Massachusetts native and a professional wedding planner who moved with her fiancé to Texas, had to whittle down the size of her reception because of Rhode Island restrictions. Under the new guidelines, she’s hopeful she can have 100 guests.
“The hardest part for me is that weddings in Texas are operating week after week, and thinking of our own day and cutting down our guest count is just so sad,” she said. “I tell all my clients the most important part of your day is who is waiting at the end of the aisle. I knew he was the one for me and I am not willing to wait.”
Apparently, others can wait.
Teves said some of her clients have decided already to skip over the next year entirely, as insurance that they can have the wedding they have always wanted.
About three of her clients who had originally booked a date for 2020 skipped over two years, to dates in 2022, and she’s already getting inquiries about 2023.
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PLAYING IT SAFE: A wedding industry group, in collaboration with R.I. Commerce Corp., held a mock wedding in January at OceanCliff in Newport, to demonstrate how to hold a ceremony and reception that follows COVID-19 protocols. / COURTESY SARA ZARRELLA PHOTOGRAPHY[/caption]
‘A LIFE EVENT’
When couples do postpone, the financial implications can be widespread.
“A wedding is not just a frivolous party. It’s a milestone. It’s a life event,” said DeCosta, from The Newport Experience. “For us in Newport, it’s an industry. Hundreds of people eat off that wedding, from the person who mops the floors to the person who provides the flowers to the person who bakes the cake.”
A poll of 50 members of Renchan’s coalition indicated that they had lost between 80% and 90% of their revenue and nearly 1,000 bookings between January and October of 2020.
Lisa Mattiello, the owner of catering company Pranzi Inc., in Providence, has suffered a 40% to 50% drop in revenue this year, due to the complete loss of corporate events and small weddings. She’s diversified her company, with grab-and-go convenience foods, and was able to stay afloat with a Paycheck Protection Program loan.
For catering and event staffing, the cost of putting on a small wedding is almost the same as a larger one, she said. “It’s the same amount of work,” she said. “I still have to send a chef, whether it’s for 10 people or 30 people. I still have to send ‘back of the house’ [workers], whether it’s for 10 people or 30 people. The staffing isn’t that much different.”
Venues, too, have found that smaller weddings are not cost-effective. Several Newport venues had stopped taking reservations for wedding receptions for 2021 while restricting guest sizes were in place, according to Teves.
At locations that remain open, jockeying for 2021 dates among brides has occurred, with some weddings even being planned for Wednesday and Thursday nights, Teves said.
With relaxed restrictions, essentially two years’ worth of weddings may be trying to find spaces and times in 2021, said Evan Smith, CEO and president of Discover Newport. Those that can’t find their preferred dates may move it into the following year.
Smith’s newly engaged daughter did that, he said. She skipped right over 2021 and is planning on a 2022 event.
The lost business in 2021 has been painful, he said. But he expects weddings will make a full rebound when the pandemic releases its hold.
“Grand weddings have been a part of our society for a long time,” Smith said. “Weddings will come back as glorious affairs. I think they’ll be back bigger and bolder than ever.”
Mary MacDonald is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Macdonald@PBN.com.
