‘It’s beyond crazy.’ This post-pandemic wedding season is seeing more couples than ever

HILLSBORO, Ore. (KPTV) - The month of June means the start of wedding season, and planners and venue owners said this year is their busiest season in decades.

Many places like McMenamin’s Cornelius Pass Roadhouse were booked with wedding reservations in 2020. Then the pandemic hit causing many couples to delay their plans.

Now, rescheduled wedding and new weddings are overwhelming the industry.

“It is beyond crazy,” said wedding planner Nora Sheils. “There are so many weddings happening and couples are really wanting to go big this year.”

Wedding planners, venue owners and vendors are all slammed right now. Many places are already completely booked and already have long waiting lists.

“We have more weekday weddings than ever,” said Sheils. “More Fridays, more Sundays, just because venues booked up so early for this year.”

But supply chain issues also mean some items like invitations, decorations, dresses and flowers may be harder to get or take longer to arrive.

Sheils said wedding planners can help you find places and services that you might not know about. And if you are planning a wedding right now, here’s some advice:

“They’re going to have to be really flexible,” she said. “Probably not on a weekend at this point. Staffing is an issue this summer. There are so many things affecting the industry just like the entire world.”

Inflation could also create some challenges for couples right now as prices are 20-30% higher than they were 2 years ago.

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