Thursday 14 March 2013

Alternative? .. who cares as long as you are yourself.

2013 has been a really cool year for the wedding industry so far.

 I have noted that our clients are not following any one particular trend, the majority of my clientele are only really talking about one thing : 'different'   They want their wedding to be different somehow, they want their wedding to not look like every other wedding they have seen in the wedding magazines.  

I think the trend for 'different' or 'alternative' weddings has now reached its apex and is in fact now the mainstream in itself.  

With the majority desiring a more 'alternative' approach, this now creates unique problems and opportunities for the wedding industry as a whole.  

As a wedding industry supplier you can either set your stall out as a 'Vintage' supplier or some other niche supplier.  Marketing your business towards this smaller slice of the overall 'Alternative' pie, this is obviously a fantastic way to market yourself, however these niche trends are short lived, creating a need to restructure your business regularly to hold onto your niche market.
Or you can market yourself as an overall 'Alternative' supplier, encompassing lots of different individual trends, "Vintage" , "20's" , "40's" , "50's" , "Rockabilly" , "Gothic" , "Steampunk" , "Bohemian" the list goes on!  It is a bit of a jack-of-all-trades approach to what should be a specialist market but why the trends are there, why not research these trends are mould your business to suit?

I do however have my doubts over the whole trend of 'Alternative' , I find it difficult to justify the two words in the same sentence! Surely "Alternative" & "Trend" are the complete opposite of each other?  Once something becomes a trend it's no longer the alternative, no?

Maybe (and this is just me thinking out loud) modern couples have more niche interests, and the trend for alternative weddings stem from young couples having alternative interests in life and these interests are just being reflected in their weddings?  I really do hope that is the case!  I hope young couples are not choosing a 'Rockabilly' style of wedding despite having no love for the music or fashions? I hope couples are not choosing a "SteamPunk"themed wedding without having any idea of the literature the fashion comes from!

  I would like to think that modern consumers are far too savvy to just simply copy someone else's lifestyle choices because that is the 'look' they want for their wedding but sadly I don't think this is always the case.

For me a wedding should be about 'The Couple' or 'The Couple and their Families', it should be a reflection of their relationship, their lifestyle and a glimpse into their private relationship, so everyone can share their love for each other.  It's a celebration of two people, two lifestyles and two families coming together, not just a photo shoot for a wedding blog.

I sincerely hope the wedding industry continues down these new avenues and explores new ground.  I hope that couples continue to seek 'alternatives' to the mainstream, after all that gives us small businesses a fighting chance! I also hope that couples choose the right 'type' of wedding for them, not for us (the people who ooooh & aaahh over super cool weddings online) .






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