Pandemic still weighs heavy on wedding industry

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This article was published 22/01/2024 (606 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A scaled down, post pandemic version of the Westman Wedding Expo welcomed fewer brides this year, adding to the challenges for local wedding industry business.

Bryan Podworny, owner of Expressions Entertainment and the Westman Wedding Expo, says small wedding-related businesses have continued to struggle post pandemic.

“We’ll be down from last year, down about 30 per cent. I knew as soon as we opened the door that we were going to be down,” Podworny said.

Podworny, has run the Westman Wedding Expo with a partner, and then on his own, since January of 2008. The Westman Wedding Expo didn’t happen for two years during the pandemic and made its return last year. By then, Podworny said, brides and grooms had adapted to new shopping habits.

“I think what COVID did was it showed the power of being able to shop online, and it pushed everybody to be really creative digitally,” Podworny said. “So when that happened, people got used to it and they got trained. I mean, I’m guilty of it. It’s so much easier to just go online, find it, look it up, and you don’t have to go talk to people. People’s attitudes changed about wanting to go and actually converse. The true benefit of the show is being able to have a conversation. Because something might look really good online, and then when you show up you might hate the person that’s doing it.”

The Westman Wedding Expo had about 27 vendors this year that featured everything from music, to photos, to where to host your wedding, and even permanent jewelry. Podworny also hosted a “wedding workshop” which covered a wide variety of topics, from how to sit on the toilet in a wedding dress to how much time you need for pictures.

“We cover timelines, not so much a budget, we touch on it a little bit. But what are the benefits and non benefits to having a ceremony at three o’clock versus four o’clock? Or two o’clock versus four o’clock? Those little types of things,” Podworny said. “It’s all about fun. It’s all about enjoying your day. One of the things that I’m going to bring up today, as a bride, when you’re wearing your dress, go into the toilet forwards, don’t back into the seat, lift your dress, and sit down.”

Pre-pandemic, Podworny said, the Westman Wedding Expo boasted more than 90 vendors and more than 600 guests. This “scaled down” version did not have a big money prize for brides or fashion show, but simply offered the chance for brides and wedding businesses to connect. He said trying to make a comeback from being shutdown during the pandemic, to running a small business with financial pressures such as inflation (and Canada Emergency Business Account loan repayment for businesses that got one) was a struggle for owners.

“(COVID) was horrible. It absolutely decimated the industries. Why did we only have 27 vendors or whatever it is? The whole small business loan thing is coming up — CEBA … I’m not saying these guys have took that out, but the independents were getting flushed and we’re getting screwed again,” Podworny said. “But part of that is that they just can’t afford it. These vendors are just getting smashed every direction.”

CEBA, an initiative of the federal government launched in April of 2020, offered interest-free loans up to $60,000. Those businesses who took out a CEBA loan during the pandemic had until Jan. 18 to pay it back and get up to $20,000 debt forgiveness if paid in full. After the deadline, the debt becomes a three-year loan with five per cent interest per year.

The Canadian Federation of Businesses (CFIB) was lobbying the federal government to extend the deadline, saying many businesses would have to fold and default on the loan. They weren’t successful. According to the federal Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, more than 1,000 businesses across Canada declared bankruptcy in the third quarter of 2023, which is up from pre-pandemic numbers.

“It’s just small business, man. It’s just small business. It’s always tough. It’s always tired. It always is. And that’s the challenge,” Podworny said.

» khenderson@brandonsun.com