As a wedding celebrant in North Yorkshire, Melanie Gail shares her top predictions to look out for in 2021. The coronavirus pandemic has put the future of big scale weddings into question, with the restrictions being placed events which has forced many couples to change their original wedding plans.

A few of the key predictions:

• Are small weddings here to stay?
• Will winter weddings takeover in popularity from summer weddings?
• Will wedding insurance increase in popularity?

1. Are small weddings here to stay?

The most popular search trend, according to Google Data has been small weddings, with a +122% rise in year-on-year searches since June 2019. There’s a lot of uncertainty around when larger weddings will be allowed to go ahead again. And, even if the rules do change, some couples may feel uncomfortable planning large gatherings. So it isn’t a surprise that we’ve seen a significant increase in the number of people searching for inspiration on small weddings. It looks like a lot of events planned for 2021 will be quite intimate, with shorter guest lists.

Melanie Gail comments “The pandemic has obliged couples to consider downsizing or postponement. I think smaller weddings (less than 50) will be a common theme for a long time to come and North Yorkshire wedding bookings are following this trend. All my clients are aiming for guests lists of around 30”

2. Indoor versus outdoor weddings

We now know that there’s a lower risk of coronavirus spreading outdoors, so it makes sense that there’s been an increase in the number of people searching for inspiration on garden weddings. It seems safe to say that we’ll see a rise in outdoor weddings for 2021 as brides and grooms look to eliminate any possible risk of a cancellation.

Outdoor weddings give people more reassurance regarding restrictions, but it also gives them more flexibility and freedom to design their day exactly as they want to. Social distancing is easier to achieve when you have a large garden or field to spread out in.

“As a wedding celebrant in North Yorkshire, I’m used to the outdoors and all types of weather so an outdoor wedding is not only a big trend but it’s also my favourite type of wedding. Celebrants work in all weather conditions thoughout the year so outdoors gives us all more flexibility.”

3. Winter versus summer weddings?

With the majority of 2020 summer weddings being cancelled, there’s bound to be an increase in demand next year and this might have forced more people to look at winter dates. Many weddings have been moved to the end of the year or even postponed until 2022 or 2023. So, it’s no wonder that many people have been searching for winter wedding inspiration. In June, there was an 84% increase of google searches compared to the same month last year. It looks like a lot of couples could be planning winter weddings for the coming years.

4. Engagement rings

Lockdown has been an intense experience for everyone. Whether spending so much time together made couples realise they wanted it to be that way forever or the global pandemic put things into perspective, there’s been a significant increase in people searching for engagement rings. In fact, in June alone, 55,000 more people searched for engagement rings compared to the same period of last year, so we could be set to see a wedding boom in 2021.

And it’s not just women who have seen more proposals in lockdown: there’s also been a surge in people searching for men’s engagement rings online. This suggests there may have been a rise in same-sex couples deciding to settle down, as well as women choosing to throw tradition out the window (it is a leap year, after all). This could well contribute to an increase in weddings in 2021.

5. Wedding insurance – more important than ever?

2020 has shown that, no matter how carefully you plan your wedding, some things are completely out of your control, so it’s unsurprising that there were 50% more searches for wedding insurance this June compared to the same month in 2019. It’s likely that far more couples will make this a priority in 2021.

Melanie adds “Many suppliers are also offering to be flexible with dates and refunds so that couples will have the confidence to book. Whilst we are cautiously optimistic, we are by no means fully ready to get back to normal, so refunds, guarantees and moving dates are all part of the equation for any wedding supplier.”

Footnote: Google search data was used to find out what people were searching for in June 2020 compared to June 2019. Trends are in order of highest percentage increase in searches year on year. Data were correct at the time of searching.