Destination weddings will always be and have their allure, but there is a growing wedding trend to host your wedding in a small town, and the reasons have made this trend here to stay, and with great reason.
About 25 percent of Weymouth Hill weddings are couples who do not live in our area. In this blog, I’ll share what is driving these bookings and the feedback we get from them and their guests.
Let me first share what motivated this blog, as I am a prolific researcher and read and listen to articles and podcasts on a variety of topics. This inspiration came from a podcast about a wildly popular Latino rap star from Puerto Rico, known as Bad Bunny. After some years of building a following, this chart-climbing rapper decided not to perform a single U.S. tour stop for this year’s tour; instead, he staged a number of his tours in his hometown of San Juan and other small islands. The result was staggering as fans came to him and jolted the economy of his hometown, San Juan. I certainly have considered before what the impact is for weddings occurring in our area, and determined they most certainly have an impact.
While destination weddings will always be a preference to some. Here is a list of why having a small town wedding can be ultra appealing.
- Number one is an economic impact. While you may not consider your wedding something to have a significant chain reaction–think again. I recently attended an out-of-state wedding. My accommodation stay was more than $1000 alone, then there were several meals, gratuities, valet parking, morning coffees, more incidental items and yes, the fuel to refill my tank to get home. It was worth every penny, but times my spend by 50 or more couples, and you can start to get the picture of the trickle-down effect.
- Guests love to visit somewhere new. I can’t tell you the times, I’ve heard wedding guests say, “Wow, I’ve never been to West Virginia, Kentucky or southern Ohio before. I had no idea it was so beautiful.” What’s more, is they usually are from somewhere I think is appealing, but enjoy seeing a lush, green landscape like ours. Let’s not forget how many times I’ve heard, “People are so nice here.”
- Cost savings to guests – While I mentioned a recent lodging spend of $1000+ for two nights in a major US city, a small town can offer much more reasonable accommodation pricing, with the average hotel night’s stay $150 per night or an Airbnb at $200 per night.
- Small-town businesses are built on trust and good reputations. After all, word of poor service can spread quickly in a smaller area. For that reason alone, you will most likely find those running local businesses are easy to work with—void of a lot of stringent policies and more of a commonsense approach to doing business.
- Small-town businesses are most often locally owned. By having a wedding in a small town, you are directly supporting many local small businesses.
- Better prices – It’s always telling to give a client a tour of our venue after they’ve been touring in a larger city or market. When they begin asking about upcharges and discover that what they are asking for is included in the rental, you can see their surprise, or they ask about something they expect we would tell them they can’t do, like add on more time, you can see them soften.
- Easier to vet vendors – with a smaller pool, there’s less sorting through unknown or never-heard-of vendors. Chances are, when you are having a wedding in a smaller demographic, someone has most likely heard or worked with your vendor before and can give you a thumbs up or thumbs down. In our early days, we had a larger city vendor show up late, smoke rolling out of his vehicle, cursing under his breath. I wasn’t sure he realized what a negative impression he was making. I quickly understood he was only still in business because he came from a larger market, and word of his non-professional behavior was slow to circulate. Needless to say, he made an impression that we would quickly give him a thumbs down if we saw his name again.
- Smaller cities and towns offer an element of nostalgia, like a slice of quintessential Americana. When my children went off to college, it was not uncommon for them to bring their “big city” friends back to their hometown on breaks. It most certainly became a “thing” as those friends would go back to school and talk about coming to Ironton, then other friends would want to come. They were always intrigued by the scenic river town, old churches, laidback life, and the quaintness of being in a small town.
- Going back to your roots – If you are from a small town, then why not go back to your roots?There’s a calming effect of “coming home” for a major life event. While some may fear that a small-town wedding would somehow minimize their event by not being metropolitan or thrilling enough, many times the opposite is true. Hosting your event in an area where you grew up shows confidence and pride in who you are and your area.
- Treated well – One of our first couples found our venue online and were from Virginia with no ties to our area. The mother was doing a lot of work herself for the wedding and ran into a series of hiccups. Our venue stepped in to assist however we could. At the end of the evening, as she was tired and relieved to have pulled it off, she was most overcome by how eager people in our area were to help. That is a hallmark of smaller towns and why having your wedding in one could be the most charming aspect of your day!
Before planning a wedding in a small town, you do want to make sure the area has the amenities you desire and enough lodging to suit the tastes of your guest list. You can do this by working closely with a possible venue and/or wedding planner who knows the best vendors, best lodging, transportation services, and can steer you in the direction of your dream wedding. Many times, they’ve been waiting for a client just like you and are willing to roll out the red carpet.
