Couples are getting back to the altar and tying the knot in record numbers in 2021. CNBC has highlighted a gigantic 25% increase in wedding bookings for 2021, with that number set to rise again in 2022. What those couples looking to tie the knot will be experiencing is a new raft of technological transformations that are changing how weddings are arranged and carried out. Signs are pointing to a highly digitized future in which weddings are taken away from their traditional origins and pointed towards a highly automated future.
Healthy robotic helpers
Weddings are an intimate affair and that has led to them frequently attaining superspreader status. Figures analyzed by Healthline show how weddings have become the battleground for new COVID infections, and that has led to a scaling back in how guests interact. Among the many ways in which technology has changed weddings has come in the form of robotic help. Drinks being dispensed with and payments taken entirely digitally, and now with the help of non-human helpers, helps to reduce the amount of mingling to a normal level and should help to enhance the experience of the wedding goer by peeling them away from the bars. This can also help with reducing the overheads of the big day, and catering companies are able to offer more competitive packages to the wedding-goers and the family making all of the arrangements.
Changing rituals
How weddings are arranged and maintained is changing, too. The Economic Times of India has highlighted how the ‘interview’ process of traditional Indian nuptials, where each side of the arrangement speaks to their respective families in order to sound out their suitability for the job, has been reduced to digital processes on Skype and Zoom. This nods to a wider trend in the wedding planning world. Invitations are increasingly being led by digital means, rather than on paper or card. RSVPs are managed digitally, as are items like gift registers and dietary requirements. This leads to a greater level of assurance and a wedding day more tightly managed for the bride, groom, and guests.
Building a budget
Consumer electronic prices have come down, and families have more money in their pocket than ever before. That’s providing the means for families to use the latest technology to move away from the costly expenditures of classic wedding planning. USA Today highlights how to-be-weds can utilize everything from personal speaker systems to independent photography to reduce the overheads of their big day and ensure that they can then turn that money towards life-affirming costs, like the venue used, or the honeymoon after all is said and done.
Technology will define the weddings of the future. It reduces costs; it puts in place more levels of health and safety assurance; and it creates new opportunities to make the day that bit more personal. Ironically, the charge towards digitization is, arguably, making the wedding more intimate.
