What’s Captifying The World: Love isn’t canceled—as Covid-19 restrictions ease, couples are saying ‘I do’ to micro weddings and splashing out on quality wedding experiences

The bells are still ringing but the multi-billion dollar wedding industry no longer looks the same. 

Micro weddings became the new norm during the pandemic—more than 60% of couples who got married in 2020 said it was important for them to take the next step in their relationship and marry their partner, regardless of the changes they had to make due to the pandemic, according to The Knot’s annual study.

The study also found that of couples whose wedding date was between January 1 and December 31 2020, one out of every two couples (47%) has rescheduled a new date in 2021, despite not knowing how restrictions would impact the big day.

Quality over quantity 

Captify analyzed billions of searches to discover how the pandemic has impacted wedding planning for newly engaged couples. Between February 20’ and March 21’, there has been an 88% YoY uplift in searches related to getting married, as couples that got engaged throughout the pandemic and those that had to postpone, show increased intent for micro weddings.

Data around wedding proposals show budgets for future weddings beyond the pandemic will continue to be spent differently, with newlyweds searching around:

• Luxury Travel: 14X above average, including a 953% YoY search uplift for first-class flights. Being unable to travel as frequently over the past year, newlyweds are making up for lost time and splashing out on luxury honeymoons and 5 star travel experiences abroad.
• Quality Seeking: 23X above average—brides and grooms are seeking out higher quality wedding experiences, engagement rings, venues, vendors and dresses, with increased search volume and consideration time around premium brands, such as Tiffany & Co. and Cartier relative to the months prior to the pandemic. 
• Photography: 10.5X above average—newlyweds are looking to capture and celebrate the joyous moment of being reunited with family and friends.

Assuming money is finite, these search patterns suggest higher investment on proposals and on honeymoons than ever before, which makes it likely that we’ll be seeing less budget spent on the number of guests (even after gathering restrictions subside) and more on the personal experiences for the newlyweds themselves. 

Understand emerging newlywed audiences through search 

Changes around wedding planning continue to evolve—brand marketers across gifting, travel, luxury, fashion and hospitality should lean on intent revealed through fresh data to monitor how couples are making decisions and capture this audience in real-time moments of interest.

Get in touch to request a demo of Sense, Captify’s new Search Intent Platform designed for brands to discover critical consumer behaviors and insights, pinpoint the intent and size of audiences, and seamlessly activate programmatically across all channels—all powered by real-time intent.

*Data sourced from Captify’s global network from 02/01/20-03/01/21