Lisa Joiner author of Unveiled Wisdom: Wedding Planning for the Mid-Life Bride recently shared some valuable insights about a demographic that is under-served in our market.
Did you know that mid-life brides and grooms who are 40 and over represent 35% of all weddings in the U.S. each year? It’s amazing to discover how powerful this segment is. In the U.S. there are over 100 million adults over 50 and that segment accounts for half of all consumer spending according to AARP. But this group is only targeted by 10% of marketing spend!
Sadly, we’ve received surveys and feedback from our show attendees that verify that this segment is currently overlooked by our vendors as well. Many assume that older attendees are the moms of the wedding and not the bride. This was reinforced by a recent experience that our Operations Manager, Ellaina experienced as she was helping her mom plan an upcoming wedding. All of the vendors assumed that it was Ellaina that was getting married and not her mom. Enough so, that with subsequent appointments she found it necessary to introduce her mom as the bride upon arrival to the appointments.
Unfortunately, brides over 40 are largely seen as irrelevant in a world focused on youth, technology, and a hip, cool vibe according to Joiner, she say’s “Let’s be honest, in the bridal and business world, age isn’t sexy. When it comes to designing a bridal gown or a wedding package for a mid-life bride, age myopia is rampant.”
Mid-life brides contribute almost 19 billion of the 54 billion dollars spent each year on weddings in the U.S. Can you imagine what they’d spend if they had age-specific products and targeted ad campaigns? Decidedly more!
According to Joiner, we need to be more mid-age inclusive. Women in mid-life want to look stylish and current, not younger. They want to be relevant, and on their wedding day, mid-life brides never want to look like the mother of the bride or as if they’re wearing their daughter’s dress. They want modern designs that flatter their bodies, and they have spending power. The lack of offerings for mid-lifers creates a divisive culture that infers beauty, romance, creativity, and celebration belong only to the young. Each year in the U.S, over 750,000 mid-life brides struggle to be wooed by wedding vendors.
But, the ‘Silver Spend’ is noticed and appreciated by vendors who frequently work with mid-life brides. These vendors know how pleasurable mid-life brides are to work with, and state that while the events might be smaller with fewer guests, the commitment to top quality is consistently high.
Check out the Joiners full article here
Photos by Coppersmith Photography
