The big-time, indoor weddings business is on its way back. But couples on a budget may need to rethink finances, reports Christine M. Johnson-Hall for The Philadelphia Inquirer. 

Lindsay Albert, event specialist with Catering by Design, describes the present activity as “the opening of the floodgates.” In staging ceremonies at the James A. Michener Art Museum, she’s seeing guest lists swell to prepandemic lengths. 

The good news comes after some dismal performance in 2019-2020.

Catering by Design saw a 90 percent decline for 3Q2020, owing to slashed guest lists. Its typical number of weddings for that period (25-30) dropped to three microweddings. 

But business is rebounding. 

Catering by Design and the Michener have 35 weddings on deck just for the rest of the year — more than double the 2019 pace. 

Weddings at River House at Odette’s are also becoming as ample as thrown rice. Pandemic price raises for necessities like food and labor are driving wedding costs up; however, the site is honoring contracted fees with couples who already have made arrangements. 

At HollyHedge Estate in New Hope, general manager Tim Luccaro warns that prices are expected to rise 5-10 percent in 2022.  

“We have to pass on the cost of operating to the consumer at some point,” he said. 

More on the return of large-scale and indoor weddings is at The Philadelphia Inquirer.