Social gatherings such as weddings and reunions not only create memories, but they also mean big business. The U.S. wedding market generated an estimated $61.9 billion in revenue last year, according to industry research firm IBISWorld. Meanwhile, about 5,000 U.S. military reunion groups hold gatherings each year, according to the nonprofit member organization Alliance of Military Reunions. Both segments are expected to keep rolling along in 2023.
Novel nuptials
While the pandemic may have halted many things, it didn’t stop love. Case in point: The projected number of weddings in 2022 was more than 2.5 million, up from 2.2 million in 2019, according to The New York Times. To put that number into perspective, it’s the equivalent of 7,123 weddings a day, notes The Knot, an online wedding planning service. In fact, so many couples married last year that it is now in vogue to host a weekday wedding; after all, there are only so many Saturdays in a year.
The wedding boom is a boon to planners. Opal Grand Resort & Spa in Delray Beach, Fla., now requires couples to have a wedding planner for their events. The property, which is part of the Opal Collection of hotels and resorts, offers a roster of planners, along with a list of preferred vendors.
“We think we’re going to continue that at all our properties in 2023,” says Jodi Torres, regional director of event management for Ocean Properties, a marketing firm that represents Opal Collection, which includes 20 properties in Florida.
“Weddings go through their phases with ebbs and tides,” says Torres, who has been in the business for more than 30 years. Pre-pandemic, weddings were smaller and more cost-conscious with couples choosing DIY table settings and décor. Now, glamour is back, with wedding celebrations growing in size and scope.
Nuptials held at Grand Opal average 150 guests—about double the number of guests prior to the pandemic, Torres notes. In addition, couples typically book space for two to three events, along with a block of rooms, she says.
Wedding attire also has changed. Brides have gone from strapless sundress-type outfits to glamorous gowns with lace, velvet, and low-cut backs or no backs. “After COVID, it’s more high-end chic with a classic Hollywood style,” Torres says. “They’ve upped the bar. It’s been so exciting for the team to see.”
Couples are making their weddings an experience for guests, too, with destination weddings, mobile selfie stations, 360-degree photo booths, monogrammed items, s’mores stations, specialty liquors, and choreographed dance routines. One couple even set up a vintage phone so guests could call and leave a congratulatory message for them, Torres notes.
“We’re happy to be part of that,” Torres says. “Twenty twenty-two has been an exciting year for us.”
Military reunions march on
While the pandemic highlighted the importance of human connection for everyone, perhaps the need to reconnect is felt most strongly among brothers and sisters in arms who bonded amidst the toughest and most challenging experiences. So, it’s not surprising that with the return of more in-person events, military reunions also are advancing.
Popular destinations for many veterans’ gatherings are near military museums and bases. That includes Cumberland County and Fayetteville, N.C.
“Being that Fayetteville is home to Fort Bragg, the country’s largest military installation, and the U.S. Army Airborne
& Special Operations Museum, we are fortunate to host several military reunions a year,” says Isaiah Griffin, convention sales manager for DistiNCtly Fayetteville, formerly the Fayetteville Area CVB in North Carolina. The CVB team works with military reunion groups to help them find hotels, offsite venues, transportation, and local attractions, Griffin says.
“Unfortunately, due to the toll that COVID took on our country—especially the elderly—attendance numbers are down,” says Griffin, a military veteran himself. “So, in return, more of the older war veterans are eager to see their battle buddies, and more military reunions are booked, just with smaller groups.”
In addition to older veterans, Griffin senses a coming uptick in reunions among younger veterans of the Persian Gulf War, as well as those who were deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I foresee in the near future that Gulf War-era veterans will begin to start planning reunions,” Griffin says.
Proximity to the nation’s capital with its many military memorials and history museums puts Virginia’s Fairfax County on the radar of many veterans’ groups. And the newly opened Silver Line Extension of the Washington Metro system now offers visitors easy access from Washington Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia.
“We’re delighted to host dozens of military reunions here in Fairfax County every year,” says Dean Miller, national sales manager for Visit Fairfax.
Prior to the pandemic, Visit Fairfax saw about 100 military reunions a year. The number “has returned to close to pre-pandemic levels,” notes Miller, who also is a ConventionSouth Editorial Advisory Board member. He says he’s been steadily talking to planners who are organizing reunions for veterans from all the military branches.
Visit Fairfax helps planners at different levels, depending on the need, including arranging introductions, finding caterers and entertainers, and assisting with motor coach charters. “We set up for a high level of service to folks who are looking to plan a reunion,” Miller says. “We send a packet, schedule site inspections, show them hotels, and show them things that will make their reunion special.”
That includes the National Museum of the United States Army, which opened in 2020 on the grounds of Fort Belvoir in Fairfax County. “It has been a huge drawing card for Army reunion groups,” Miller says, adding that Air Force, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy groups also enjoy the museum. “The galleries hold special exhibits that have drawn a lot of interest. The exhibits are stunningly presented, and it has tons of reunion and event space.”
Other nearby attractions of particular interest to military reunion groups include the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center; George Washington’s Mount Vernon; Arlington National Cemetery; Civil War battlefields; and memorials recognizing Americans who served in World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, as well as in individual branches of the U.S. military.
In addition to reunions, the Honor Flight Network brings veterans of all military branches to Washington, D.C., to see the memorials that commemorate their service. Since 2005, more than 200,000 veterans from more than 130 locations across the nation have traveled on Honor Flights, according to the U.S. Department of Defense website.
