Wedding Pro CEO | Building Profitable Wedding Businesses

272. 2025 Wedding Industry Predictions

• Brandee Gaar • Season 6

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Gen Z is officially here—and they’re reshaping the wedding industry! 

Based on insights from The Knot Worldwide 2025 Trends Report, in this episode, we will break down Gen Z’s 

2025 Wedding Industry Predictions and the Top Trends Wedding Pros Need to Know.

If you want to stay competitive and connect with this next wave of couples, you'll love this epsiode!

Learn to help your couples to see the value in your service and speak only to their pain points in this free training: https://weddingproceo.com/freetraining

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Brandee Gaar:

If there's one thing we can all be most certain of, it's that every single year brings change. And for a business owner, that's often really difficult because we want to just set the processes and then repeat, right? But if it was that easy, everyone would do it. Building a business brings change every single year. And that means that every year we have to look at what's working, what's not, what trends are coming, what the economy is doing, and how we're going to strategize against it to make sure that we're scaling every single year. So in this episode, I'm going to talk all about what trends we're seeing coming in 2025. And no, I'm not talking about the Pantone color of the year. This is a business podcast. We're going to be talking about what economic and what business trends are coming So you can best strategize how you're going to grow and scale your wedding business in 2025. Hey there, CEO, you're listening to the Wedding Pro CEO podcast, the podcast to help you grow and scale your profitable wedding business. here in 2025, what trends are we watching to make sure that our business is set up to thrive this year? So the first trend that we're noticing happening in this year is that Gen Z is fully 100 percent in our buying marketplace. Generation Z are people that were born between 1997 and 2012. So the oldest of them is almost 30 years old, which feels absolutely crazy to say And the youngest of them is already 12 years old. So yeah, our 12 year olds aren't buying from us yet, but they are coming up in our marketplace. And this is a generation that we really need to be paying attention to. Side note. As I'm recording this episode, we are already out of Gen Alpha, which is the generation after Gen Z. And I find that impossible to believe. I actually was reading an article where it said that, Gen Beta started on January 1st of 2025. So the last, People born in Gen Alpha were born on December 31st of 2024. And that feels mind blowing to me because I'm still in this like, Oh, Millennials was the group we talked about forever, right? So, we put so much attention on Millennials and how to sell to them. But it's really time to turn our focus to Gen Z because they are the people that are buying in our marketplace right now. And those Millennials that used to make us all crazy when they were buyers, they're now their parents. And so we need to make sure that we're paying attention to this generation. So how does generation Z buy? Like what makes them different from the millennials that we used to sell to? And honestly, even the Gen X or the boomers that have been in our marketplace before. The statistics we're using today are all from the Knot Worldwide's 2025 Trends Report. And so if you want to learn more about that, we'll link it in the show notes so that you have it and you can take a look yourself. But these statistics are super, super interesting to read through. this one says, Gen Z continues to pave the way for the golden era of marriage, which I think is really interesting because so many people are saying marriage is dead, people aren't gonna get married anymore, that you know, they're just gonna live together. And listen, I I definitely think that that's coming to be more of a thing than it was, like, in our parents generation. But what we're actually seeing is a trend back towards marriage from the millennial generation. A lot of our millennial friends decided not to get married. They lived together for long amounts of time, and they never actually went through with the nuptials. But Gen Z is bringing it back. Family values are a big deal to them, and Gen Z is coming back to wanting to have A marriage, wanting to get married. And so I find this really interesting. It says Gen Z is more optimistic than ever about marriage with the majority rejecting the notion that marriage is dead. 86 percent of Gen Zers envision marriage in their future. That is an incredible statistic, you guys. That is literally an incredible statistic. And the really cool thing about this is Gen Z is the generation that's going to be in our buying marketplace for the next 15 years. So this is really the generation that we're paying attention to and who's going to shape the wedding industry really going forward. this is looking really good for us, right? 58 percent definitely plan on getting legally married at least. And then 28 percent are considering the possibility of getting married. So these are great statistics for the wedding industry. So when you see all those nasty TikTokers that jump on your TikToks, they do mine and they're like, marriage is dead. Nobody wants to get married. That's actually not true. But let's talk about what kind of weddings are they having? there's a strong demand for micro weddings. And this really came about. Mostly with COVID, right? Not to say that micro weddings and elopements weren't big before that, but for sure they got really, really trendy during COVID. Now COVID made it necessary to have elopements in micro weddings , but now because of just the cost of things and because Gen Z is a lot more cost conscious than our millennial generation was, they are a lot more focused on where their money is going and how they're spending it. The really cool thing about this generation, though, is that they are a more wealthy generation as well, which I find to be really, really interesting because there's so many of them that have learned how to make money outside of a normal 9 to 5 job. And so, it's really, really interesting. A lot of researchers are saying that Gen Z could be the wealthiest generation of our time, which I find so interesting and I love it. I have to tell you guys, I'm obsessed with Gen Z probably because two of my children are Gen Z, but also just because I find them to be so innovative, so thought provoking. They really want to. to just understand like where their money's going, how to make money, how to buck tradition and so that's really shining through here in these wedding statistics. This statistic from The Knot Worldwide is saying there's a strong demand for micro weddings. Now, micro weddings are not elopements, right? Elopements are typically weddings with 15 guests or less, where micro weddings are more around the 50 guests range. Now, I'd love to know from you guys, Have you seen this? Like, is this something that you're seeing as a trend in your area? In my area, I'm in Orlando. We have not seen this, to be honest, and some of that could be because we have such large hotels here. Like, we are very much a convention city. We're also the number two wedding destination in the U. S., behind Las Vegas. And so, I don't see as much of the micro wedding trend where we are, but I do know a lot of our students inside of Wedding Pro CEO are saying this is a trend that they're seeing in their market. So I'd love to know from you guys, is this a trend that you're seeing? So if you're on YouTube and you're watching us on YouTube, tell me in the comments, is this a trend that you're seeing in your marketplace. I love the idea of micro weddings because it does allow us to expand that budget so much more. It's really, really challenging when a couple comes to you and says, you know, I have this budget and I want 150 guests and you're like, that's not going to stretch. Like it just, it's harder to stretch. And you can do such more unique details when your couple has a smaller guest count. Your photos go so much faster. You can get big group photos. It's just a more. Intimate event. So, so far we've learned that Gen Z, is definitely more apt to get married, which is super exciting, but they're more looking towards micro weddings. So if that's not something you currently offer in your offer suite, or that you even speak to in your marketing, this is going to be something you really want to think about when you're looking at your marketing, your offerings, and your marketing. How you're talking to clients, you really want to lean into that micro wedding, more intimate type event as a possibility with your company. Okay, number three that we're seeing from Generation Z is bucking tradition. Now this one I don't think is actually that different from the Millennials. What I have found to be interesting about our couples though is that the Millennials almost bucked tradition just to like. I'm not hating on Millennials. If you're listening to this and you're like, whoa, I'm a Millennial and Brandee totally hates me. That's not true. But I will say I found the Millennial generation to be more like angry a little bit. And so, just as a whole, and so I find that generation to buck tradition more just because they're like, I'm not gonna do it my parents way, right? And what I found with Gen Z is that they're more creating new traditions. I see less of them just trying to like, Get rid of the traditions just because their parents did it that way and more like what traditions can we start to implement to really make our wedding weekend about us or about our guests. I have seen a huge trend toward wanting their guests to really feel important during their wedding and so I'm here for that. I've never been that planner that says, do your wedding your way and screw what your guests think. I'm like, why would you invite a hundred people to come and travel and come celebrate with you if you don't even care what their experience is like? Like, I find that so bewildering. Side note, okay? That was a total aside. But all that to say, I'm loving that Gen Z is creating traditions, new traditions, all around the feeling of their event, what they want their guests to experience, and the celebration that's gonna happen during that time. So some of the trends we are seeing that they are embracing, are asking guests to unplug during the ceremony. That one's been around forever and to be honest, no one listens. So we'll see if it gets any better with this new generation being guests. But I'm, I know for a fact, we're always going to see a boomer with a giant iPad in the ceremony taking pictures. And it kind of is what it is at this point. You almost have to just laugh about it. Right? Photographers, you feel me? Right? Okay. Um, number two is hosting a wedding weekend to maximize time with loved ones. Honestly you guys. This, and this again, could be because of where. I am located, I'm in Orlando, and we do weddings in Orlando, Central Florida, and North Florida. Both are huge destination markets, so it could be just because we are more in a destination market, but I would say more than half of our weddings are a wedding weekend, and not just A Friday or a Saturday. Very few of our weddings are just one day anymore. They're literally an entire weekend experience and I'm here for it. Like I love wedding weekend experiences. I think if people are going to travel, let's maximize that time with them. It takes the pressure off the couple on wedding day so that they're not feeling like they have to say hi to every single person during their wedding. They've seen most of them throughout the weekend, and so they can really just enjoy the celebration. So I'm here for the weekend celebration. number three, they're including ethnic, religious, and or cultural elements in the wedding day. I'm here for this as well. I love how much it personalizes the ceremony. Relationship counseling. I think this one, um, I saw it coming. And honestly, let's be real. The divorce rate for Gen X and for Millennials was off the chain. So I am totally here for this. I see Gen Z's really making a turn towards more family values. They want to really put an effort into their relationship. They want to set a solid foundation from the beginning and they know that to do that it's going to take work. And so I'm here for the relationship counseling. Um, number five is eco friendly or sustainable options into the wedding. I don't know if I buy this one. I feel like this has been on the trends list for like the last decade. And honestly, I think one wedding a year actually cares, for us, actually cares about. including eco friendly or sustainable options in their wedding. I think a lot of our couples want to and then they're kind of like, uh, it's expensive. Maybe not. So we'll see if this one actually comes to fruition. I'm not sure that it will. Combined bachelor bachelorette celebrations. Again, I do see this being a trend and I think it goes back to points three and four, which is that they are doing relationship counseling. They're including religious ceremonies or ethnic ceremonies in their ceremony. And I think all of it comes back to building that firm foundation. So why are we going to have these crazy Bachelor Bachelorette celebrations where you're kind of like sewing your last oats. No, instead they're having combined celebrations. I do see that they're a lot more elaborate though. They're like trips, right? And so having these couples trips to really celebrate them as a couple before they get married, I have been seeing as a trend. Number seven, planning your wedding around a specific holiday or event. I hope this one does not come to fruition. I'm not going to lie. The weddings that happen at like Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving weekend, New Year's Eve. Listen, it sounds super fun, but all of your guests now have to make all of their family arrangements around your wedding weekend. And I'm not here for this one. Plus moving forward, 20 years now, I can tell you right now, I don't really want my anniversary on a holiday for the rest of my life. I just don't. So I hope this one goes away. I'm not here for this one. Number eight, implementing a strict dress code. This one we have seen on almost every single one of our weddings. We, either they're saying, please only wear these clothes, or they're saying we suggest this color palette. Almost all of our weddings now have a Pinterest board of guest attire inspiration, and they want them to dress in a certain palette. I get it. Everything is about kind of the look, the photos, the video, the Instagram, the TikTok afterwards. Hello, content creators, right? And so if some of your guests are dressed in fuchsia, when you're, you know, having a fairly muted wedding palette, it looks terrible in the photos. So I totally get this. I don't know that I would do it myself, but I get it. I think it, I think it can be kind of fun. Number nine, planning the wedding around what felt most lucky. To be honest, I really don't understand this one, but we're going to just say it means that the couples were superstitious. Um, they, they planned it around superstitions, I guess. I really don't even understand what this one means. So we'll have to reach out to the knot and figure out what that means. and number 10 is financial coaching. So I think that this one's really interesting. Obviously it doesn't have to do with like, The trend of what's going to happen, right? Like they're not going to have financial coaching at their wedding, but more couples are just like they're doing relationship counseling. They're doing financial consulting, which going back to the fact that they're very conscious about what they're spending their money on. They have money. they are expected to be the wealthiest generation we've ever had in history. They have the money y'all listen to me. Okay. They have the money. They just want to know that they're getting value for their money. So you as a wedding pro. And more than ever, it's going to be so, so important that you really speak to what value you bring to the table. What are their pain points? What are the things that they're expecting? What are the things that they want? And only speak to that. that is going to be massively important as you really start to market to this generation and during your sales consultations. And here's the thing. If you're listening to this and you're like, I want to know more about really how to convert, how to tell these couples that I do have that value, that I'm the one that they should book, I have a brand new training. The Only sales strategy that you need to double your wedding bookings in 2025. And I'd show you exactly how to walk through my assume method, helping your couples to see the value in your service and speak only to their pain points. You can grab that training completely for free by just heading over to WeddingProCEO. com slash free training. You can just put your name and email address in there and right away, you're going to get delivered that free training and get this. It's only like 15 minutes long. you can hear me speak exactly how we speak to our couples and how we close those sales every single time. Head over to WeddingProCEO. com slash free training and grab that training. Okay, let's head into point number four, which is the top. Cultural wedding influences of 2025. And you guys, this one was funny. I'm not going to lie. Like this one was so funny because I was like, okay, the top cultural wedding influences of 2025. So this is the top cultural trends Gen Zers believe will influence and shape weddings in 2025. These are hysterical. You guys have to listen to these. Okay. So the number one is old money aesthetic, which I was like, old money aesthetic. Okay. I mean, I kind of. Buy that right that just kind of means like high end luxury or like one of the other ones that they put on here Number five was quiet luxury. I've heard a lot of people describe their wedding as quiet luxury I actually describe my house as quiet luxury like I want it to feel luxury But I don't want it to be wow or over the top or like sparkly. I want it to be like comfortable, right? So old money aesthetic, I think It's similar to quiet luxury, so we're going to go with that. a couple of the other ones that they said were celebrity weddings. I think that's always the case, right? Though I feel like most celebrities are divorced six months later, so I don't know that I would go by their wedding. okay, number three, Taylor Swift. This one was kind of funny, but I get it. Because she writes so many love songs, but most of them break up. So are we really like planning our wedding aesthetic around like Taylor Swift? I'm not really sure, but I do hear her songs being used a lot in weddings, right? I don't know about friendship bracelets at a wedding, but maybe. Number four was cottagecore. This one was so funny. Like I'm dying. Somebody that is going to do a cottagecore wedding, please tag me in it when you post it, because I have to see what this means. Like, I don't understand cottagecore. Okay. Number five, we already talked about was quiet luxury. Number six, demure and mindful. Okay. Demure was totally a trend in 2024, right? I don't know that it was really for the right reasons, but demure and mindful. I can see that. Um, number seven, tic tac dances, like. TikTok dances are gonna shape the wedding trends? I don't, maybe, maybe they are. I think That's bizarre a little bit, but I'm also not, I mean, I'm not the marrying age, right? So maybe, maybe TikTok dances will shape it. I do see obviously like bridesmaids doing like a TikTok trend as like a surprise. Maybe, I don't know, but that one's a little bit weird to me. Number eight is all of these are weird. Okay. All of these are weird. I don't, there's only two in here that I agree with, which is old money, aesthetic and quiet luxury. So you can see where I stand on this. Right. But number eight is Western. I don't think I understand. Damn that at all. I don't even know where that's coming from or who was planning Western wedding. I don't know. Anyway, number nine, Sabrina Carpenter. Anyway, and number 10, Chapel Run. Again, I think some of these are just weird, but this is The Knot's Trends Report. So I'm just going off of that. I'm just reporting to you guys what it is. So what can you learn from this slide? Probably nothing, to be honest, because this one is just weird, but I thought it was fun and it was funny. So here we are chatting about it, but there's really nothing to learn from this. Cause like, what would I tell you to go make cottagecore offering on your website? I don't think so. So funny, right? Let's pay attention to these trends. Please, please tag me if you do a cottagecore styled wedding. I have to see it. Okay. And then number five, this one is actually super, super interesting. This one is the hottest U. S. wedding markets. And this one is so, so intriguing. So you guys want to know what they are? This is The top 15 wedding markets in the U. S. And actually, I found this one to be really, really interesting because Orlando's not on it. And that's okay. That's okay. I'll take it. I'll, I'm, I'm okay with that. But I mean, we do do the most weddings next to Las Vegas. So, um, I'm thinking that these are just the hottest meaning they're growing the most because actually Vegas isn't on here either. So I'm going to take it as these are the cities that are growing the most, like have the most potential to see a big boom, um, in their wedding market. So if you're in this market, pay attention. Here's the top 15. Santa Barbara. Definitely. And San Diego. So both of those, we have so many students in both of those markets. So y'all listen, if you're listening to this and you're like, yes, I am ready for it. Like, let's talk, let's look at how you're doing your marketing. Let's make sure that you're in front of these couples because these two markets are massively booming. Number three, Chicago, number four, New Orleans, number five, Long Island, number six, Cincinnati, Ohio, seven, Cape Cod. I mean, Everyone, come on, wants to get married in Cape Cod, right? Number eight, Los Angeles. Nine, Charlotte, North Carolina. Yeah, I'm here for that. Charlotte has like the most beautiful weather. Number ten, Columbus, Ohio. I don't know you guys, Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio. Like maybe, I don't know. Um, number eleven, Nashville. I find this one intriguing because Nashville is such a booming market anyway. But mostly for like the bachelorette and bachelor parties, right? So I find this one intriguing. Number twelve, Napa. For sure. Love Napa. Number 13, Kansas City. Do we think that Kansas City made this list because Taylor Swift lives there now like with Travis Kelsey? I don't know you guys tell me but I think Maybe maybe people more people are getting married there so they can be like maybe Taylor will come to my wedding That's what I think. That's just my opinion. Number 14, Boston and number 15, New England So lots of Massachusetts on this list three cities in Massachusetts made the list three from California as well two from Ohio, but none in Florida only one in New York, so Yeah, anyway, if you're in one of those markets, I want you to really be focused on how you can take advantage of the boom that's coming to your market that The Knot is predicting in your market. Okay, CEO. So there you have it. Those are the top five statistics that I pulled from the 2025 Trends to Watch report from The Knot Worldwide. And what can we gather from really all of this information? Some of it was just a lot of fun to hear and some of it we actually are going to use for strategy next year. The thing that I want you to hear is that we are dealing with a new generation. Yes, millennials are still in the marketplace, but guess what? Gen Z is here. Gen Z is here. 30. Well, they're 27, 28, right? They're about 27, 28, all the way down to 12 years old. So if your couple, if your ideal couple falls in that early 20s to late 20s range, these are your people. Now, if you are still dealing with more mature couples, if you're like most of my couples are in their early 30s, you're still dealing with the end of the millennial generation, But you need to be making sure that you're straddling both of these generations and understanding how to sell to them. And really the biggest thing to do when you're selling to anyone is to understand what is it that they value? What is it that they are looking for in their wedding? And then sell to that. Make sure that you understand their pain points, that you sell directly to that, and you will win. Every single time in this marketplace. You guys, I am so excited about everything that 2025 has to bring. We are finally past the election year. I think we have finally, finally gotten past all of the pandemic related closures and wedding gap and all of that kind of stuff. So I think 2025 is going to be our first normal year since 2019. And I am here for it. If you are listening to this and you're like, Brandee, I am here for it too. Like I want to know more about how to work with your team and how to scale my business and how to make 2025 my year. I want you to head over to brandegaar. com slash apply, fill out a few questions for us and let us do a gap assessment with your business. Once you fill out that application, you're going to get an opportunity to book a call with our team where we're going to do a gap assessment. In your business, we're going to look at what's working, what's not working, and we're going to help you to see where you can really strategize for scaling your business this year. And Hey, if you were the right fit, we'll suggest next steps to join Wedding Pro CEO in the right program. That's going to be perfect for you. thank you so much for being here every single week. I am thrilled to be going into our fourth year in the Wedding Pro CEO podcast with you. And I will see you next time.

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Brandee Gaar

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