DENVER — 2020 was the year of whittled-down weddings, social distance dancing, and guests joining by Zoom.
But in 2021, it’s a different story.
Event venues say this chapter of pandemic business is beyond booming, as people try and reschedule 18 months of lost plans.
“We were completely shut down for 18 months, and now we’re drinking through a firehouse,” Amy Lugowski, who manages event venues like Asterisk Denver, said.
“We are absolutely inundated with inquiries on a regular basis for events in short-term, within a week, to events wanting to book out years in advance – 2023 and even beyond,” she said.
“Pre-pandemic, [we had] maybe six wedding blocks on a weekend. And weddings on site, maybe two or three a month,” Ruth Kilzer, Director of Sales and Marketing for Hilton Denver Inverness, said. “Now, try 12 wedding blocks easily [per weekend] and then weddings – pretty much every weekend.”
Not only are more people booking weddings and hotel room blocks, but Kilzer said they’re also adding wedding events, like a pre-wedding welcome party for guests or a sendoff brunch.
As customers are looking for more outside options, the hotel has turned a pre-pandemic outdoor garden space into a full wedding ceremony venue complete with a pergola and walkway for the bridal party.
Another new trend: the weekday wedding. Kilzer and Lugowski said they’re even seeing weddings on Tuesdays.
“There’s just so much demand for weekend weddings, but there’s obviously a finite number of weekends and days,” Lugowski said. “So if you’re wanting to get married, you’ve got to be flexible with what you’re wanting, got to be flexible with location, cost, date, with day of the week, with guest count.”
It’s a big shift from 2020, when venues were shut down or operating on small capacity limits for months. Some venues and vendors couldn’t survive the restrictions and had to close or leave the industry.
The Colorado Event Alliance (CEA) was born as a response to the situation, designed to support the events industry and its workers struggling during the pandemic.
Logowski is a volunteer with CEA. While people are excited to return to weddings and events, she hopes they remember what it took to get to this point and how difficult industry conditions remain today.
“A lot of these businesses suffered through 18 months, with no help from government, no help from all these grants, trying to best they can to hang on through this time, too,” she said.
Today, staffing shortages and supply chain disruption are making it even more difficult for the venues and wedding industry to meet the booming demand and still maintain the quality offered before the pandemic.
Wedding venue teams say it's important to preserve those traditions and special moments. Kilzer said her team has tried to serve as a partner and consultant helping couples navigate stressful and emotional decisions.
“For every bride and groom, this is their special occasion, their time they’ve been waiting for,” she said. “It’s making sure they feel cared for and important on their special day.”
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