The National Center for Health Statistics predicted a significant increase in weddings for 2006. We have moved out of Generation X and into Generation Y. And as the largest demographic group born since the Baby Boomers, we must understand what makes them tick if we want them to sign on the dotted line.

With Generation X, we floundered for new marketing strategies. An industry in transition, we searched for ways to woo and book them.

• Often the client was the parent of the bride, but occasionally it was the bride and groom, especially with older couples and/or if this was a second marriage for one or both.
• Previously, most expenses were paid by the bride’s parents (who were often happy just to get a parking ticket validated), so we created ways to attract parents. Gradually, we saw that couples shared in the expenses.
• Marrying couples were getting older, and the groom was becoming involved in decision making.
• Couples began asking if they could bring in their preferred pastry chef, wine and/or Champagne.
• The wedding party didn’t want just their parking tickets validated; they wanted the same for all guests.
• The greatest impact on the wedding industry was a new group of business people, entrepreneurs, who had requests for both themselves and the marrying couple. In other words, there were two clients: the business who referred the bride and groom and the couple.

Things are settling down within the wedding industry, and especially among hotels, country clubs, and private facilities, which provide sites for wedding productions. And, today, every wedding is a major production. If we were disappointed in the results of our marketing and business growth, we can be confident that “the times they are a-changin.” And we now accept that, instead of one client (the bride or her mother), we have several: the individual wedding businesses (there may be up to 20 separate companies), the wedding guests, the different and sometimes several parents of the couple, and, finally, the couple being married.

A memorable experience for me was visiting Jamaica’s Half Moon resort four years ago, where I was hired to teach the June Wedding, Inc.® certification program to executive and corporate staffs. Half Moon’s director of sales, Myrtle Dwyer, had a marketing vision she wanted to implement. Her ideas were far ahead of anything I had seen in the United States, no doubt because Half Moon had long catered to a worldwide clientele. Seeing the wedding market changing, she wanted to provide her staff with expert guidance and the knowledge of what this meant.

Thus, we focused on fine-tuning existing programs as well as developing new ones. Recognizing that the mother of the bride’s role was being usurped by the bride and groom and that the engagement period was growing longer (an average of 17 months), we created relevant marketing strategies.

Since Half Moon knew then that couples were better educated and better traveled than in times past, we pointed out the relaxed and elegant pampering the property offers. Instead of calling attention to a complimentary one-night stay in a bridal suite, Half Moon’s redesigned website emphasized the property’s luxurious and private villas, staffed with a housekeeper and butler.

Meet Generation Y

Today’s marrying couples are older (average age 27 for the bride, 29 for the groom); 27 percent pay for their wedding; and 45 percent pay more than they had expected or budgeted.

“The days of offering a one-night stay no longer sound so inviting, even with a bottle of Champagne and chocolates,” says Jubilee Lau, JWIC of Jubilee Lau Events in the San Francisco Bay area. “That’s why I work with hotels like the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay a few miles west of San Francisco” (not to be confused with Half Moon Bay, Jamaica). The AAA Five Diamond property with its world-class spa and two championship golf courses emphasizes personalized service at every turn.

Public Relations Coordinator Shelly Auyeung points out that more couples today want a getaway with family and friends. “We arrange golf packages for them and their guests as well as spa services that include everything from a manicure and pedicure to body wraps and peels, massages, and a co-ed Roman mineral bath.”

Note the term “co-ed,” another important marketing strategy for luring Generation Y. Women may be the primary decision makers, but men are more involved in wedding plans than couples from other generations.

And this brings us to more statistics: 83 percent of today’s couples are employed full time; they work hard (are paying a mortgage and own one or two cars); and they play hard. Realizing they are rarely together, they want events to bring them closer. They want to create memories for family and friends. And since most couples do not get married where they grew up, time with family andfriends is more precious. If they can do this in a unique or exotic setting, it’s even more enticing.

We have all dealt with brides who become frustrated when discussing money. There’s a reason for this. Most wedding magazines and books do not give accurate information about wedding costs. This and the fact that the second- or thirdtime bride has not planned her own wedding until now should help us realize the mindset of today’s bride. She doesn’t want things for free. Rather, she wants to understand the costs of each aspect so she can make an informed decision.

Generation Y couples want customized service without paying couture prices. They are not spending less. Statistics tell us otherwise. But every expenditure is carefully and comprehensively considered. After all, it’s their money. While they want uniqueness so something stands out in the memories of family and friends, they are willing to pay for it.

Couples who call Dianne Tatro, owner of Travel Quest, are offered numerous options. Each possibility is explained and time allowed for the couple to think about and digest the information. Once major decisions are made, Tatro ensures that everything will go as smoothly as icing on a cake.

“Today’s couples want to be pampered in a casual setting,” says Tatro, “which is why I refer my clients to hotels who are creative in their services and ability to think outside of the box.”

And while it is certainly true that marrying couples don’t want to miss any of their wedding celebration, as producers we must realize that couples need to spend some time alone together without being surrounded by family and friends.

For example, the Rose Hotel, a boutique property in Pleasanton, California, offers two settings when a wedding is held at the Palm Event Center. The bride and groom can relax in the luxurious setting of the Rose, while their sister hotel down the street, the Courtyard Marriott, hosts more budget-conscious guests.

Couples want to know we are there for them. That may mean having more meetings before and after the contract is signed. If a client doesn’t have an independent wedding consultant, the hotel can create partnerships with local consultants and offer that as a service. An alternative is to have a senior staff person become certified as a wedding consultant, letting them learn how to make month-to-month timelines, track the budget and actual costs, and set up meetings between the couple and independent service providers, especially businesses who will be working together on the wedding day.

We are in for some prosperous times. Those companies willing to look at and possibly change their manner of working with brides and grooms will reap sizeable increases in their bottom line.

Robbi Ernst, III, is founder/president of June Wedding, Inc., an association for event professionals based in Guerneville, California.