'Pulling out all the stops': Busiest wedding season in decades hits the South Shore

Scituate resident Emily Walton said "yes" to a marriage proposal in February 2021. A month later, the planning began. 

"We weren't really thinking that we needed to do things that quickly, but just some other friends that were getting married in 2021 were saying, 'You should really start looking into things, because they are booking up quickly,' " Walton said.

Walton's wedding is one of 2.47 million weddings – the most since 1984 – forecast to occur this year. After two years of delays and cancelations, the industry is seeing a sharp uptick in the number of couples ready to tie the knot.Some South Shore vendors and venues, including Marshfield-based Beach Plum Floral and Event Design, have already met their order threshold for the season. 

Nicole Malone, of Weymouth-based N. Malone Events, said, "We're back to the big weddings and pulling out all the stops and not being stressedabout 'Well, what if we do this and then the government says, 'Oh, we can only have 45 people.' "I think everyone's kind of in full-steam-ahead-mode."

Jessica Hennessey, of Marshfield-based Jessica Hennessey Weddings and Events, said of the 18 weddings she assisted with in 2021, 10 of them were postponements. This year, she only has two postponements. 

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“The work last year was doing and redoing and redoing things over and over and over," Hennessey said. "This year is just all brand new, everyone's either been waiting since they got engaged in 2020 or just wanting to get married kind of quickly.”

Planning requires flexibility 

Malone is starting her wedding season in late May and is booked almost every weekend through November, she said. Clients are aware of the demand. Malone said some are starting the planning process two years in advance, in contrast to the typical 10 to 14 months to ensure they get the details they want. 

Hennessey stresses flexibility for this reason. Part of her service includes providing a timeline of when vendors should be booked. She said she has moved the timeline up to accommodate the extra demand. 

"What I like to say is there's always somebody available, it might just not be your No. 1, 2, 3, 4 or 10th choice," Hennessey said. 

Jill Landry, owner and lead designer of Beach Plum, said the volume of inquires has tripled from past seasons, though she has limited her bookings. 

"Brides and grooms are feeling really anxious about securing vendors because of how busy the wedding industry is," she said. "It's sort of a known thing, and I don't think people are getting the call backs and the response to their inquiries because wedding vendors are so inundated with business."

Landry was fully booked for 2022 by September 2021 – six months earlier than usual.  She expects a floral shortage this year because of the number of events. There was a shortage during the pandemic  because fewer flowers were planted, she said.

"What we do is we try to encourage clients to pick colors versus exact flowers. So, for instance, if someone really wants a pink peony, instead of sort of getting stuck on a pink peony we ask them to be open to options of other pink flowers that resemble a peony, such as a garden rose," Landry said. 

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The same push for flexibility remains true when selecting a venue or a date. Between this upcoming wedding season and the ability to host other celebratory events again, South Shore venues feel the demand. 

Francesca Lombardo, director of sales, marketing and strategy at Lombardo's in Randolph, said clients are booking more last-minute and feel more comfortable hosting larger events. She encourages clients to explore weekday weddings due to lack of availability on weekends. 

"In the past, it was more the client was in control. Now it seems like the venues are more in control because the demand is so high," Lombardo said.

Cheryl Notartomaso, sales and catering manager at White Cliffs Country Club in Plymouth, has run into similar situations: people try to book weddings three to six months in advance and there is no availability. 

This wedding season, couples are met with lack of supply and price increases, though vendors and event planners say they try to limit raising prices.

"We maxed out at 200 people here, and we have more 200-person weddings this year than we've ever had," Notartomaso said. "So, I think that people are ready to party."

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Reach Alyssa Fell at afell@patriotledger.com.