I first heard the phrase Wedding Industrial Complex in 2004 on indiebride.com. It was and still is a derogatory term to describe what was seen by brides as an over the top, pushy industry that felt it had the mandate of dictating all things wedding. Moreover, brides felt that the WIC was out to suck every possible dollar out of anything that attached the describer “wedding” or “bridal” to itself.

At the time, it hurt me to the very core. I knew more good hearted, honest individuals in the wedding industry that were simply trying to earn a living and support their family in an industry that they loved. Oh, for sure there were a few unscrupulous idiots out there that saw brides as easy marks, but for the most part, the people I knew and worked with all across the world were just as honest and hardworking as the brides that were scoriating them.

Little did any of us know at the time what the future held. All things weddings became covered in gold. The industry started to expand like a bright shiney bubble. Every one wanted in, everyone wanted a piece of the pie. So the pie kept expanding. Oh, not like a 9” pie suddenly becoming a 12″ pie. They just kept adding more toppings. First came the meringue, then the chocolate shavings, then the nuts, then the 24k gold flakes and on and on and on until the thing was so damn tall and top heavy it started to collapse from its own weight.

How did this start and where is it now?

As I see it, since the mid 90′s we have been witness to a massive shiny bubble in the wedding industry. BIGGER! BRIGHTER! SHINIER!

It couldn’t just be a beautiful wedding gown, it had to be couture!

I wasn’t just an invitation…IT SETS THE TONE FOR YOUR ENTIRE LIFE TO COME!

The food had to be 4star and the wine has your own imprint!

Your signature cocktail(who had even heard of that in 1995) has to be made with top shelf liquor.

And the list of idiocy goes on…

My personal favorite is letterpress coasters @ $15 each. Thanks Modern Bride.

This wasn’t the bride that began this…it was propelled forward by the media each trying to one up the next.

…and then in September of 2008, the economy hit the reset button; and that bubble burst.

Oh don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t  just our industry, it was everywhere from shoes  to drink to food. Suddenly Laboutains, Kobe Beef, Diver scallops and 25 y/o scotch were mainstream. Cough, cough.  People were mortgaging their homes to carry the ‘right’ purse.

So, where are we now? this quote came through this morning from trendwatching.com¹

People have grown up immersed in consumer culture – they ‘get’ it. But as savvy, streetwise consumers, they are bored, if not downright distrustful of the conventional consumer-producer relationship, and now look for brands and products that are more authentic, more human, and quite simply more mature.

In emerging consumer societies, there’s an obvious link between the broad spread of more liberal attitudes and increasing urbanization (URBANY). As new arrivals find themselves distanced from traditional social and familial structures, and are exposed to a wider range of alternative goods, services, lifestyles and experiences, their tolerance to these alternatives grows, as does their interest.

As you can see, the indie bride is now the mainstream bride. She is not willing to settle for what the magazines and popular blogs are telling her she has to have. The have been exposed to the world and are mature enough to make their own decisions about what is and is not important or relevant for their wedding. What’s more, they are having their new choices validated by other consumers online. They don’t need the planner to tell them what they are doing is OK, they just what them to facilitate it.

Two billion (!) individuals are now online, adding to and commenting on every possible topic, from politics to business and yes, brands. And they aren’t holding back, to say the least. The resulting ‘online culture’ is bold and often uninhibited, and that casual candor shapes people’s expectations. When companies find themselves the subject of discussion, their scripted, staged and cramped responses show just how out of touch many of them are.

In fact, the gap between the sanitized, litigious, politically correct corporate world and mature consumers wanting to experience something more daring and unscripted has never been bigger. Which in our book spells opportunity.²

So where is all this going?

Here is another story from last week

The Death of The McMansion

She said the trend there is more toward building green homes instead of big homes. Right now, they’re building a 1,200-square-foot uber-green home for a couple that’s downsizing from 3,000-square feet, Cheatham explained.

What’s more, many in the real-estate business say they think this trend of downsizing, or “right-sizing,” as Flint likes to call it, is here to stay.“This is absolutely a long-term effect,” he said.

The same thing is happening in the wedding industry. Just like the builders who are starting to build smaller, greener homes will survive; so too will the wedding vendors that correctly read the trends away from shiny and over the top to more genuine and meaningful.

Another trend that is going to figure in is the trend of ‘experiences’ over ‘things.’ For example, a couple may be more willing to spend several hundred dollars on a marriage workshop or course in writing meaningful vows than on a hand painted aisle runner.

As a wedding professional, you target is a moving one. You have to pay attention especially with the global paradigm shift we are experiencing. Now more than ever you have to know how your target market thinks, you have to think like a bride.

Or as I told some friends recently…

You either get on the bus or you get run over by it.

^{1, 2} Source: www.trendwatching.com. One of the world’s leading trend firms, trendwatching.com sends out its free, monthly Trend Briefings to more than 160,000 subscribers worldwide.