The development of longer courtships prior to engagement is prompting brides to decrease the length of their engagement period, and the wedding events industry is definitely being affected.

The typical engagement used to be 1½-2 years, but that time period is shrinking significantly among brides today. 30.0% of brides say they’re planning for an engagement period of 1-1½ years, and another 29.7% are planning for 6-12 months. A surprising 10.5% of brides even say they plan to have an engagement lasting no longer than 6 months!

So, what do shorter engagement periods mean for your consultant business?

More planning in less time
6 months isn’t much time to plan an elaborate wedding, and shorter engagements may affect your client services. For example, providing brides with three florist options may be more practical than offering seven. Quick decision making is key to making the most of a short engagement, and offering fewer, more specified choices for brides is one way to keep things on the fast track.

Vendor Relations
As a consultant, you have the best connections with the best vendors. However, shorter engagements may call for a revision of your vendor list. Making a list of vendors who provide great work in minimal time is a way to offer your time-crunched clients the most time-effective vendors.

Fewer engagement parties
Shorter engagements combined with the fact that most couples now pay for wedding-related parties themselves has led to a decline of engagement parties. 71.2% of brides say they do not plan to have an engagement party. Depending on your current services, you may want to refocus marketing to other planning areas related to event management services.

To read more on current engagement trends see: Rules of Engagement Changing for Modern Couples