the wedding industry is up and
running again as more venues
reopen, more people are
vaccinated and couples
reschedule their canceled plans
due to covid.
But with the return of weddings
comes the return of a lack of
services catered to people of
color and nontraditional
couples.
Special correspondent Fred de
Sam Lazaro looks at how some in
the industry are hoping to
change that.
Fred: It was called colorful
weddings, a wedding expo
intended to push the bridal
business beyond bridal white.
>> So much of the names dream
wedding community doesn't
realize all of these is this is
exist -- businesses exist.
Fred: Rena started her wedding
planning businesses in 2019.
She has been to classes on how
to market her company, how and
Instagram should look.
>> We are told, you need to have
these rights, white, airy
photographs.
Immediately I am like that color
aesthetic it not apply to every
wedding good Fred: For her own
wedding, she struggled to find
vendors who understood the
traditions and nuances of her
celebration.
>> A traditional evening of
dancing, and what exactly are
the elements, henna, and
someone he didn't have to walk
through through the entire
process.
We wanted also to include
something west African and I
could not find anybody.
Fred: That could be because
diverse vendors have struggled
to break into mainstream
business.
She says most event centers work
with a small group of preferred
caterers, for example, that
limit options for ethnic
cuisine.
>> It is very hard to penetrate
into any area.
Fred: It's not just venues that
shut out ethnic startups.
This wedding planning company
offers a distantly African
>> If you want to get your work
in a publication, it is so hard.
>> We've been talking to people
and referrals and things like
that.
>> I think the wedding industry
lags behind, and some of that is
because it is an industry that
is selling "Tradition."
Fred: This professor says that
tradition began in the upper
classes in Victorian England but
really took off in America after
World War II, and curiously, as
a result of it.
>> There were many people like
the Dupont company that
specialized in the making of
synthetic fabrics during the war
that wanted to find a way to put
that technology to use in peace
times.
So making inexpensive white
gowns was a way to do that.
It was largely white,
working-class and middle-class
families who really rushed to
embrace what had been previously
an elite custom.
Fred: She says it is important
to include vendors that have
caught up to the reality of a
changing America.
>> If we are going to make in
the wedding industry, more
diverse, we need to promote
vendors who cater to a more
diverse customer.
>> For me, I think the place
where maybe it has come to the
surface most is around makeup.
I am a little wary of going to
an artist that doesn't know how
to work with my skin tone and
coloring.
Fred: They discovered ideas for
their upcoming wedding
celebration were not easily
found in magazines or online.
>> We wanted to not have a
traditional wedding cake and
there are some cool vendors here
who do people -- do beautiful
cake, like a south Asian suite.
>> It's nice to be in a space
that gets the conversations out
of just us, and there is not
just one script for what a
wedding looks like.
Fred: And for nontraditional
couples, acceptance is perhaps
growing but never guaranteed.
This couple has been nervous at
times while planning their
wedding.
>> Do they know?
How will they think about it
when they do know we are
same-sex couple?
>> So far, walking in here, I
was expecting them to be like
where is your groom, but right
away they are like when is your
wedding?
They assumed, which was nice.
Fred: And potentially
profitable, with the average
cost of an American wedding
approaching $30,000.
>> We have a situation because
of changes in our U.S. Society,
that more persons of color and
members of same-sex couples have
a kind of purchasing power into
security in our society that
allows them to be customers for
professionally produced
weddings.
Fred: A more than $50 billion
business she expects will see a
post-pandemic surge this year.