It is time to shift your positioning.

There are probably some lessons here for wedding professionals as we go into the booking season.

Regardless of client base, many of us have already noticed that for 2009 it seems that ostentatious luxury is “out” and here are a couple of articles with some measurements.

First from Conde Nast on the recent holiday sales results. Out of all types of purchases, luxury items had the largest decline.

Next, even Prada is having in-store sales and Chanel is striving to reduce expenses.

Luxury for the sake of luxury is in decline and the major leading brands are shifting their marketing focus as a result.

Thankfully weddings are persistent. We will always have weddings, but the motivations and desires of bride-to-be for their wedding, reception and honeymoon seem to be changing. So for the best results consider changing with them.

UPDATE – 1/1/09

I just wanted to add this article from the Washington DC area into the post. It is from Aug 2008 and relates how many couples, while still getting married, were reducing costs. Includes a good reference to a NACE survey which found that about half their 465 responding members said 60% of their clients were “buying less expensive meals and avoiding luxury items”. I do not believe that this means that couples are not living their dream, only that many couples are working harder to afford their dream and choosing with care what has the most meaning and lasting value. It is my thought that this shift, creates an opportunity to advantageously re-position your business stressing heartfelt meaning and lasting value.

UPDATE – 1/3/09

I came across this article from the New York Times, dated Dec, 20,2008, titled “Recession? Time to Slash the Flower Budget“.  It seems a little pessimistic but does relate what a number of couples are facing and doing to keep their wedding plans together.  It is a good read to understand the reality of the circumstances and reactions by both couples and wedding professionals.  Here is a excerpt:

“… As the financial condition of the country worsens, the wedding industry, so long considered recession-proof, is seeing fairy-tale weddings stripped of their sprites, their sparkle and everything else that suggests splurge.

Some couples are slashing guest lists to include just immediate family and very dear friends, leaving aunts, cousins and the friends of friends out entirely, and bridal consultants say that they are seeing more couples postponing their events until they can be more certain they will have the money to pay for the wedding they want. Others are ratcheting up plans for quick, simple weddings that allow them to more readily take advantage of a safety net woven from the government and corporate benefits available to married couples.

Still other couples, armed with the skills they learned in a go-go economy, are trying to forcefully renegotiate with vendors to keep some semblance of their ideal wedding.

One bride had put down a deposit and locked into a contract with a site in a town south of Philadelphia, where she and her fiancé live. Given the amount of debt piling up from their graduate school studies, she suddenly thought that the $30,000 to $40,000 she had planned to spend on her wedding seemed ridiculous.”