Last month, How I Met Your Mother actor Josh Radnor and his wife made headlines for a bone-chilling winter wedding where 59 guests were stranded overnight when a blizzard descended on the venue. According to the couple, the reason behind the off-season nuptials was their limiting schedules.
But for many, there’s another reason for braving the risks of a winter wedding: the prospect of saving money.
“We had maybe two winter weddings last year, and this year we’ve already booked 10,” said Melissa Close, owner and lead planner at Melissa Alison Events in Calgary. “I’ve seen more interest in off-season, as well as Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday weddings because people are looking to save.”
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The appeal isn’t surprising. The Knot’s 2023 Global Wedding Report shows that 52 per cent of couples in Canada adjusted their wedding budgets because of economic pressures last year.
There’s just one problem: Hardly any evidence suggests that off-season weddings offer significant savings.
“There’s always been a perception that getting married in the winter is cheaper when it’s really not,” said Melissa Samborski, an event planner and owner of One Fine Day events in Toronto. “Venues might give you a discounted rate, yes, but food will cost more, flowers will cost more, a lot will cost more.”
The belief that you can save money by having a wedding during the off-season – a period that starts in December, peaks in January and February, and ends in April – has been around for ages, with social media playing no small role in promoting the trend.
Kendra Matthies, a 26-year-old wedding makeup artist who opted for a winter wedding herself, drew in almost 100,000 views for her TikTok praising off-season nuptials as the ultimate budgeting hack. A quick Google search for budget wedding tips will also see off-season ceremonies regularly top the list.
But industry experts say off-season discounts hardly offset the equal or greater cost of just about everything else on the wedding budget. Flowers, for example, are especially more expensive during the winter, a trend that’s driven by Christmas and Valentine’s day demand in quick succession.
“Growers need eight to 10 weeks to grow something, the demand is huge and you’ll pay a premium,” Ms. Samborski said, noting that flowers absorb 5 per cent to 25 per cent of the budget.
In British Columbia, where off-season weather spans the gamut of freezing rain and blanketing snow, the situation is similar.
“The wedding venue might give a discount of maybe $2,000 – but the labour doesn’t get discounted,” said Samantha Rose, co-founder of The Bridal Bar in Vancouver.
The venue isn’t necessarily the biggest expense. Food and catering make up around 40 per cent of total costs, according to Ms. Rose. And in addition to more money spent, there’s risk of more money wasted.
“With the weather, there’s higher cancellation rates,” Ms. Samborski said. “But once you’ve committed to your guest count, you’re still paying for that guest even if they don’t show up.”
She concedes that some savings for off-season weddings might’ve been possible in the past. But COVID-19 lockdowns changed that for the foreseeable future.
“You won’t see those discounts you saw 20 years ago,” she said. “People in the industry are still trying to make up that lost revenue.”
While more couples become budget-conscious, costs are only rising: “Prices have doubled since 2022 – every vendor has a flood of weddings,” Ms. Rose said.
Another savings myth to dispel is that flights and hotels are cheaper off-season: “Hotels always compete with what’s in town so you might be competing with an NHL game or Taylor Swift,” Ms. Samborski said.
In Calgary, where temperatures regularly fall below zero in the double digits, the story might be different. According to Ms. Close, average weddings there hover around the $50,000-$60,000 mark, but off-season, couples can save around 20 per cent in overall costs.
“Vendor availability is more open; you can shop around, it’s easier to negotiate,” she said.
Nova Scotia-based wedding photographer Alex Stead said there might also be savings in terms of minimum spend.
“I charge the same rate but I have a minimum on the weekend and especially during summer,” she said. “If you did a wedding on Saturday during off-season then I wouldn’t have a minimum.”
Still, you might save as much choosing a weekday in the summer over a weekend, Ms. Stead added. It will save you the trouble of nervously watching the weather channel on repeat.
The verdict: While there are some perks to a winter wedding – snow-swept photo backdrops and more vendor availability – significant financial savings aren’t one of them.
For those truly looking to cut costs, the value of slimming the guest list can’t be understated: “I’ve seen people regret big weddings but never saw a couple regret a microwedding,” Ms. Stead said. Even if things don’t turn out as planned, the stakes simply aren’t as high.
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Mariya Postelnyak