🔒Wedding, events venues see post-pandemic rebound, while economic challenges persist

The 2023 peak wedding season is in bloom, and couples emerging from the pandemic eager to tie the knot are driving a need for event venues large and small as well as some new industry trends.

Banquet halls in March 2020 were shut down due to the pandemic. Some were able to reopen months later with a limited number of guests, restrictions on indoor occupancy and health precautions such as masks.

Wedding and banquet facility experts said the industry is bouncing back from the COVID crisis, while still facing supply chain and other economic challenges.

The Wadsworth Mansion in Middletown hosts some midweek corporate events, but primarily deals in weddings, with an average of about 100 to 140 ceremonies and receptions annually, with guest lists ranging from 125 to 165 people.

Executive Director Megan Bush said the historic venue was able to reopen with limitations at the end of June 2020 for ceremonies only. Then, a month later, it began hosting outdoor receptions for micro-weddings — just a few dozen guests — under a tent outdoors.

The smaller weddings remained on trend for two years, “but now we’re back to seeing weddings of 150 guests,” she said.

But it’s not just guest lists that are growing. There’s also a need for more traditional wedding and party venues of all sizes, industry experts said.

To meet the demand, a number of event planners are looking to open smaller rental spaces, often in a vacant storefront, to host everything from weddings and baby and bridal showers to birthday, anniversary or retirement parties.

In Vernon, Sharlene Otero and Kenny Gonzalez of Tolland-based Modern Style Events LLC are planning to open a 4,300-square-foot rental banquet space in a shopping plaza on Talcottville Road.

A similar plan for a 1,280-square-foot events facility has been launched in Windsor Locks, at 5 National Drive, by Douglas and Jesse Schneider, a father and son real estate investment team that recently purchased the larger 24,000-square-foot retail plaza for $1.45 million.

“It doesn’t surprise me that more non-traditional wedding venues are popping up,” Bush said. “People are booking early because of the demand.”

The Wadsworth is now taking wedding reservations for 2025, and is completely booked for Friday and Saturday weddings in 2024.

Attitudes around weddings have also evolved since the pandemic, Bush said, with more outdoor ceremonies under tents becoming the norm.

Celebrations may become more casual, with outdoor lawn games or food-truck rentals instead of a traditional sit-down reception, she said.

“We are seeing more casual, fun and easy weddings,” Bush said.

Marisa Davis, catering sales manager at the Delamar hotel and Artisan restaurant in West Hartford, said she has more than 35 weddings booked for 2023, compared to 22 in 2019. She is already getting inquiries for 2025, with some 2024 dates still available.

Brides are willing to push a wedding further out in order to book a large venue, or they are finding other ways to tie the knot sooner, Bush said.

Underutilized Sunday weddings are becoming more popular due to high demand, and now brides are even booking Thursday or Monday events.

Davis said The Delamar just hosted a Monday, May 1 wedding.

Managers at The Goodwin Hotel in Hartford said as businesses welcome more employees back to the office, meetings and receptions have increased drastically.

“People want to celebrate everything from retirements to graduations, meet and greets, happy hours and networking events,” said Stephanie Pion, longtime director of sales and catering at The Goodwin.

The Goodwin has events booked out through December and the beginning of 2024, with the ability to host numerous corporate and social functions at once throughout the year.

Economic challenges

Phillip Chabot is vice president of his family company, the Chabot Hospitality Group, which owns and manages the Farmington Gardens reception hall, North House in Avon and 1850 House at Silo Point Country Club in Southbury.

The Chabot family also leases and manages restaurant and event space at the Blackhawk Country Club in Stratford.

He is now launching the company’s latest venture, High Point Gardens, in the former Mahan’s Lakeview Fine Catering facility in Wolcott.

He has some events, weddings included, booked for the new space, and he sees a willingness from the public to gather together again.

“People are going out, and the banquet arena is bouncing back, but not yet as great as pre-pandemic,” he said.

His facilities are now booking into 2024 and 2025, with the 2023 season perhaps a bit slower out of the gate due to lingering concerns.

“But it’s more economy-driven than pandemic at this point,” he said.

Bush, of the Wadsworth Mansion, said the cost of protein options, such as beef, chicken and fish served at weddings, has increased by 30%.

Many caterers or vendors are now building in a gas surcharge for clients, especially those driving large refrigerated trucks, she said.

Labor costs have also gone up for venues that provide workers with a living wage inline with the rising cost of food, gas utilities and other expenses.

But this has not damped the overall desire to celebrate milestones.

“Brides and grooms are just as eager to get married now more than ever,” said Davis, of the Delamar. “This year everyone is excited to get back into the swing of things and leave COVID behind.”