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By Derek Craddock

wedding bells are ringing

Wedding venues and businesses busier than ever after COVID-19 backlog

Mar 10, 2023 | 8:00 AM

Couples are now booking months, even years in advance for their big day as the backlog from COVID restrictions clears up.

Restrictions and gathering limits forced many couples to postpone their wedding, leaving venues with a backlog of bookings.

Now, it appears the backlog is clearing and venues are booking up very quickly.

“Right now, we’re booking 2024 weddings and we’re seeing inquiries for 2024 and beyond that,” said Ashley McLean, wedding cooordinator with Elk Ridge Resort.

While Elk Ridge has a policy stating it can’t book beyond 2024, McLean said they’re still getting inquiries about 2025 weddings.

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In an email to paNOW, Candle Lake Golf Resort said it is also booking into next year.

“Summer and fall 2023 are fully booked at Candle Lake Golf Resort,” the email reads. “We are about half full for the 2024 season, this is usually the time when guests are inquiring about the following year and there is no lack of inquiries on our end! It’s looking great.”

One local business that is constantly busy is Delicate Petals, an event planning and dress shop in Prince Albert.

Owner Violet Herdin is already booked for March, and is getting calls for next year as well. Despite COVID and restrictions creating a backlog for venues, Herdin’s business didn’t slow down.

“Because we do the dresses as well,” she said. “When the events died down, the dresses picked up. I was able to float because I had both.”

In the summer of 2021 when the majority of restrictions were lifted including gathering limits, Herdin said business quickly ramped up.

“People are looking for that service. I’ve been busy all the way through.”

The wedding business is in fact so busy, that its not only the traditional summer weddings that people are looking for.

Elk Ridge has had many requests for weddings all year round, even in the wintertime. McLean attributes this to destination weddings being sidetracked.

“There’s a host of people who travel to warmer places to have destination weddings and a lot of people couldn’t do it this year,” she said “I think because of that unknown in the travel industry, we are seeing brides and grooms rethink what kind of destination they can have and ours is a whole different kind of destination.”

She added places like Elk Ridge definitely offer a range of activities and amenities to those booking winter weddings, saying that the beauty of the north is on full display, giving the feeling of a winter escape.

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derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @PA_Craddock