The long-awaited moment has finally arrived. After an almost complete shutdown with only a few minor exceptions, we resume   celebrating weddings and in a big way! 

The number of marriages and ceremonies in general (religious festivals, birthdays) and therefore, speaking of clothing, ceremony and wedding dresses take centre stage. 

A natural phenomenon that started with the loosening of the pandemic restrictions and  gradually expanded in countries where the health emergency is over. 

In the United States, the year 2022 will be the year with the most ceremonies since the  1984 onwards, and Italy is also expected to have a good recovery, taking into account  that there were 96,841 marriages in 2020, down 47.4 percent from 2019 (Istat data)  with many more civilian ones than religious ones. 

There is no doubt that those who waited confidently will now become operational, but beyond the statistics, what has actually changed? 

Two trends seem to be emerging with contrasting aspects: on the one hand, mini and minimal weddings, under 50 guests; on the other hand, the crowded ones with 100 to 150 guests. Definitely growing is the ethical approach: the goal is not just entertainment,  but Millennial and Generation Z also want to send a message full of positive content and thus weddings from white become green. Paying attention to waste, no more food in  abundance, but very carefully chosen food, local food, just as   the floral decorations. Values that are expressed in both domestic weddings and destination weddings. And as the investment reaches pre-pandemic levels, preparations have shortened. Perhaps the time to get clear ideas was even too much:

Traditional 9 to 12 months pre-pandemic timing has become as short as 4 to 5 months,  while celebrations lengthen, and bachelorette/bachelor parties become almost mandatory and the “many days wedding” driven by the wish to be together. At the same time pre-packaged formats have gone out of fashion completely and demand is for full customisation. 

Thus the wedding planner market and to some extent even the  wedding dresses market have promptly responded to this need. 

Giuliana Parabiago