The wedding season is upon us

WEDDINGS in Spain for expatriates mainly take place in two months of the year:

June and September. Apart from the excellent value for money associated with having a wedding or symbolic blessing in Spain, every type of wedding service supplier that one finds back in the UK or Ireland is also found here, plus the chances of having a sunny and dry day, is possibly ten-fold over what one could hope for in the British Isles!

However, the ‘crisis’ has also had a big effect on the wedding, communion and celebration market. Not only are couples cutting down on their expenditure for their wedding but some are also putting off tying the knot completely, until things look a little better economically. One might expect such feedback from the expatriate community but the section being hit hardest is the Spanish marketplace. Tony from AG Fotographic in Torrevieja said that “our bookings are down by about a third and most couples are leaving planning their wedding day until the last minute.”

Nick Knight from Photo Video Spain reported much the same thing: “Most of our bookings come through the internet and many are from Ireland, so the exchange rate is not an issue. However, couples are now more willing to compromise. The date is more flexible and once they have picked a venue, only then will they start to book services. We have more than one photographer on our books so we can usually say ‘yes’ to a late request, but many others can not.” Those that are noticing a definite downturn are what some my see as ‘non-essential’ services. One of the hardest hit is that of Weddings cars. Daffyd Evans-Jones from Prestige Autos Espana said that “2010 has been very slow for us, even though we especially imported a longer wheelbase Rolls-Royce Silver Spur especially for the special event market.” Brandon Keith from Costa Blanca Weddings echoed Daffyd’s remarks; “this year video bookings tend to be for our basic packages just to cover the ceremony while many couples are relying on family or friends to video their special day!”

On a more positive note, Valerie from Valerie’s Novias in Pilar de la Horadada said that although her sales of wedding dresses was slow this year, purchases of wedding cakes has been higher than ever, with requests from such locations as Barcelona, Madrid and the Costa del Sol. Louise Bradley from Lindyloo in Spain said that “it was almost impossible to plan for 2010. Couples are walking into my La Zenia shop and saying they are getting married in two weeks and can I help organise their day!” The other good news is that bookings and enquires for 2011 are very positive so 2010 seems to be a season of survival and, with an election in Spain planned for 2011 and an upturn in the economy, maybe the Wedding market shall be booming once again.

Keith Nicol

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