The wedding sector takes off in 2022 after postponements due to the pandemic

The wedding season is about to begin and in the Co-Cathedral of Santa María de Cáceres, the religious epicenter of the Monumental City, a total of 55 weddings have been signed up for this year. The data is striking because in 2019, the last year of absolute normality before the outbreak of the coronavirus, 37 weddings were celebrated in this temple. It is not that the figures have recovered but that they have exceeded the pre-pandemic statistics. What happened in Santa María is not an isolated event. It is a phenomenon that affects the entire bridal sector. And not only in Cáceres, but throughout the country.

The postponement of the links planned for 2020 and 2021 due to covid restrictions has multiplied the ceremonies planned for this season. The bride and groom who, initially, had reserved a date for 2022 have been joined by those who had to change their day one or several times. One more fact, in Santa María 26 weddings were celebrated last year and 33 were cancelled, either because the date was moved or because they were permanently annulled.

José Antonio Toril and Yumara Fondón made the decision to get married in December 2019. It was then, a year and seven months in advance, when they set a date for their wedding: July 31, 2021. But, as the day approached, the bride and groom chose to change the date and wait. “Last summer there were many restrictions and we couldn’t celebrate the wedding as we wanted. So we chose to postpone it », says José Antonio while he recalls, by way of example, that the capacity in the halls was limited and they did not want to leave any of their guests out.

Now it seems that the countdown has really begun. The couple is getting married on April 2. “We have less than a month left and we are already a little nervous,” illustrates José Antonio. The religious ceremony will be in Arroyo de la Luz, the town of the bride. And the banquet, at the Casa Claudio restaurant, in Casar de Cáceres. Last Thursday they visited the facilities to see, on the ground, the distribution of the attendees.

The corners are decorated by José Antonio Crujera, owner of the Omicrón store in Cáceres, specialized in the sector. «People do not stop calling us for this year and we can no longer take more weddings. We have all the ones that were canceled in 2020 and 2021, plus the ones we had reserved for this 2022 », he exposes. “We are going to work twice as much as a normal year. If in 2019 we had more than 30 weddings, this year we have more than 50 », he adds.

Eva Delgado knows what it is to organize a wedding from start to finish. She is professionally dedicated to it. She is in charge of the company E. Wedding & Event Planner. She has also had to close her 2022 agenda due to the high demand that exists. “In this year 2022 I have 17 weddings distributed between the months of May and December, and of them, six are postponed,” she exposes. «There are 17 weddings in total when the normal before the pandemic was from 12 to 14. This year I could have more than 20, but I rejected several because each wedding is months and months of work, and I think that after a certain number it is difficult treat them all well. Already the couple with whom I am signing contracts and offering budgets are for 2023 », she details.

rescheduled weddings

“Of those six, some are from couples whose first date was in 2020, that is, weddings doubly postponed, because first they went from 2020 to 2021 and in the end they will be held in 2022,” says Delgado, who has a degree in Pedagogy from the University of Salamanca and that certifies that this year there is an upturn in celebrations. «In my case, the 2021 season was almost normal, because I had work from May to December, especially couples who got tired of canceling and canceling as the periods with restrictions continued throughout 2020 and when 2021 arrived, they decided now take the step”, explains the organizer.

«There has also been the case -he concludes- of couples who have not been able to handle the work involved in rescheduling and rescheduling a wedding with all its suppliers (catering, photography, video, hairdressing, flowers, etc.) and have hired us to that we put their wedding in order, ”he ditches.

Ana Matesanz, owner of the LaSuiteRoom space for brides in the capital of Cáceres, knows a lot about weddings, and specifically bridal fashion. “Of course this year there are many more weddings. The rebound is due to the fact that we still have weddings from last year and even from the previous one that coincided with pandemic peaks and have been delayed until now. And, on the other hand, there are those other couples who have simply waited for the theme to improve before deciding to celebrate the wedding. They say there are 20 percent more weddings than a pre-pandemic year. This year there will be no lack of happiness”, concludes the expert in the sector.

In places like the Castillo de la Arguijuela de Abajo or Aralia it is already difficult to find a place to say yes I want this 2022.

The Island Palace already hosted more celebrations last year than in 2019

The upward trend in weddings, after the cascade of cancellations in 2020, already began to be seen last year. The Palacio de la Isla, a place designated by the City Council to celebrate civil liaisons, hosted a total of 74 weddings, according to information provided by the Consistory. The data is higher than that of 2019, the year before the pandemic, when 68 links were recorded. In 2020, the year of the outbreak of the coronavirus, only 31 ceremonies were officiated and they took place, mainly, in the months of August and October. In this same space, 83 weddings were celebrated in 2017 and 81 in 2018.

Among the councilors ordering these ceremonies, Teófilo Amores stands out for heading the classification, unassigned mayor. During 2021 he acted as master of 14 ceremonies. He was the one who made the most weddings of the entire corporation. “I always have availability”, he comments while he recalls that he has also married in the Church as a deacon in the parish of San Blas, a stage prior to politics. The rest of the weddings were celebrated by councilors from the Government team, with the exception of Rafael Mateos, spokesman for the PP, who married a couple in 2021.