For richer or poorer? It’s been a combined bag for vacation spot wedding ceremony demand over the previous 12 months.
While resorts are reporting robust reserving traits from {couples} trying to tie the knot, even when they’re extra price-aware than earlier than, journey advisors have seen extra ups and downs.
Roughly 30% of members of the Destination Wedding & Honeymoon Specialists Association reported a lower in 2025 wedding ceremony bookings in comparison with 2024.
The affiliation’s government director, John Hawks, stated advisors have cited quite a lot of causes for the decline. One member stated demand “settled” in 2025 after a post-Covid surge in 2023 and 2024.
Uncertainty in 2025 because of the economic system was additionally at play, Hawks stated, with {couples} involved about dropping a job. The rising value of vacation spot wedding ceremony ceremonies additionally was an element, together with steep charges for nonpreferred distributors.
On the flip facet, 50% of members in a December flash ballot reported that enterprise was up 12 months over 12 months.
“I think the long-term trend is that destination weddings are just going to continue growing,” he stated. “We don’t have any doubt that the overall market’s going to continue growing.”
Rise of the ‘elaborate elopement’
For resort operators within the Caribbean and Mexico, the sector continues to indicate energy, together with at Sandals Resorts, in response to director of weddings and romance Marsha-Ann Donaldson.
One pattern is what Donaldson calls “elaborate elopements,” that are intimate ceremonies for simply the couple that transition immediately right into a honeymoon. Some of those eloping {couples} host post-wedding receptions with family and friends again residence, typically revealing wedding ceremony movies and images whereas incorporating destination-inspired parts.
“They want to be able to recognize family and friends and have them be a part of witnessing their union, but they’re mindful that a lot of them may not be able to come,” stated Donaldson. “But nobody feels left out, because they go home and throw a party.”
An overwater chapel on the Sandals Royal Bahamian. Photo Credit: Sandals Resorts
Wedding budgets have elevated for 2026 in comparison with earlier years, in response to Maria Cabrera, product and operation coordinator for the Caribbean at Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts. But {couples} are extra adamant about discussing pricing parameters up entrance.
“Right now, the first thing they’re asking about is the budget,” she stated, although she added that demand for elaborate multiday celebrations with welcome receptions, excursions and cultural immersions remains to be operating excessive.
Maria Cabrera
“They’re coming here for both a wedding and a vacation,” stated Cabrera. “They ask, ‘What can we do when we get there? My parents, my family, my friends, they are all traveling for us, so what can we do for them?”
Spending is robust for shoppers of AIC Hotel Group, in response to Ash Tembe, vp of North American gross sales. AIC operates Mexico and Caribbean resorts underneath a number of manufacturers, together with Hard Rock.
However, smaller teams are displaying value sensitivity or pullback. While {couples} “aren’t necessarily cutting their overall budget, they are being more selective,” Tembe stated.
Wedding visitor hesitancy
Taylor Paffett, proprietor of Illinois-based Vibe Thrive Travel, stated her wedding ceremony enterprise stays robust heading into 2026.
“Last year we did 100 weddings, and this year we’re set to do the same,” stated Paffett. “We’ve heard within the industry that some people are seeing things trending down, but we aren’t feeling that yet.”
Paffett acknowledged, nevertheless, some shifts in consumer conduct that could be reflective of broader financial uncertainty. For one, extra invited visitors are hesitant about spending the cash to return to the marriage.
“A lot of people are saying, ‘Hey, we’re inviting 100, but we’re just not sure what [the headcount] will be; it might be 50 guests, it might be 80 guests,'” stated Paffett. “There’s more of an expectation of uncertainty in the guest count.”
She has additionally noticed shoppers being extra cautious about add-ons like elaborate lighting and florals. This warning comes as vacation spot wedding ceremony pricing has elevated considerably from prepandemic ranges. Paffett estimates that an 80-person wedding ceremony which may have value round $15,000 to $20,000 in 2019 might now run nearer to $30,000.
Despite greater prices, she stated {couples} nonetheless view vacation spot weddings as a powerful worth in comparison with conventional celebrations.
“At the end of the day, you’re spending all that money on a six- to eight-hour event, versus a full weekend with friends and family,” Paffett stated.
Jennifer Doncsecz, president of VIP Vacations in Bethlehem, Pa., stated her vacation spot wedding ceremony enterprise was drastically down in 2025.
Jennifer Doncsecz
She famous numbers could be deceptive: her group enterprise total — inclusive of birthday celebration teams, incentive teams, vow-renewal teams and multigenerational teams — is on the rise. But vacation spot weddings particularly have been down, as have been honeymoons.
“In September, several local wedding planners who refer their clients to VIP for honeymoons also told me that 2025 was as slow as 2020 was for them, which is crazy,” Doncsecz stated.
She attributed it to a number of components. For one, throughout Covid not many individuals have been relationship. Since then there was an increase in individuals working from residence, which has lessened their probabilities of assembly a companion at work, throughout lunch, throughout their commute or at a post-work comfortable hour. The economic system and price of residing can be seemingly contributing to fewer individuals with funds to journey.
The housing market in her space can be an element. Available houses available on the market are few, and costs are excessive. Local {couples} at bridal exhibits who have not set a date but typically cite ready to purchase a home, Doncsecz stated.
While 2022 was an “insane” 12 months for vacation spot weddings, it is unlikely advisors will see that high-water mark once more, she stated. This 12 months, many resorts nonetheless have Saturday wedding ceremony slots out there, indicating will probably be slower, however Doncsecz stated she believes 2027 will outpace 2025.
Trend of smaller celebrations
Doncsecz stated most weddings averaged 25 to 30 guestrooms tin 2022, with some teams in extra of fifty rooms.
But currently, smaller celebrations have turn out to be de rigueur, Doncsecz stated. Small weddings with 10 to fifteen guestrooms and micro-weddings with fewer than 10 rooms have turn out to be the norm. She theorized rising prices might be the rationale why.
“Interestingly, the larger group weddings tend to be for couples who are in their late 30s, which typically equates to an age where friends are more financially stable to afford to travel than they were in their 20s,” she stated.
It’s a pattern some resorts are seeing, as nicely.
Marsha Ann Donaldson
At Sandals Resorts, Donaldson reported that demand has been regular throughout the model’s 17 Caribbean all-inclusives, with wedding ceremony occasion sizes distributed throughout three predominant segments. She estimates that roughly 35% of Sandals weddings fall into the micro-wedding class, starting from two to twenty visitors, whereas about 25% are giant celebrations with greater than 100 visitors. The the rest fall someplace within the center.
“What’s important is that folks want to be able to customize,” stated Donaldson. “They want to be able to put their fingerprints on their wedding and make it very unique to them as a couple.”
Conversely, Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts is seeing a dramatic improve in group dimension in contrast with current years, stated Cabrera. Bahia Principe has 22 properties throughout Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Spain.
“In the past, it was smaller groups,” stated Cabrera. “But in the last few months, we’ve been receiving groups of 80 to 120.”
Part of the rise could be attributed to an uptick in {couples} welcoming youngsters to their vacation spot weddings.
“Years ago, the weddings were always just adults,” she stated. “But now, they are interested in having the family all together.”
AIC Hotel Group can be seeing visitor counts “slightly elevated compared to prepandemic norms,” stated Tembe. While micro-weddings have been frequent three or 4 years in the past, right this moment the everyday visitor depend is 45 to 75.
Couples are more and more viewing their wedding ceremony as a multiday expertise for attendees, Tembe stated.
“They want to maximize the investment, both their own and their guests’, by complementing the ceremony with group activities and excursions,” Tembe stated. “They’re inviting more guests as they are viewing destination weddings as both a celebration and a vacation experience.”