Wedding research overview, trends & traditions
Metrobridesguide.com subscribes to an independent research company that tracks and forecasts number of weddings, spending, and consumer trends for the wedding industry, with the vision to be the leading provider of wedding market research worldwide.
Our research company collects data and aggregated from many different sources into proprietary market estimates. Their primary source of data is proprietary surveys to Brides, Grooms, and Wedding Professionals. They also use data collected from federal, state and local government offices, CDC, Census Bureau, Department of Labor, Easy Analytic Software, Inc., The Conference Board Inc., and Pew Internet & American Life Project as part of the estimating and forecasting process. This breadth and depth of data gives you, the consumer or the wedding professional a more complete picture of the wedding market.
Our mutual goal is to forward the consumer, and wedding professionals key research that provides a better understanding of the wedding industry for local US markets.
Providing information and tools that help wedding professionals acquire a better understanding of their metro marketplace so they can obtain more customers and make better business decisions.
Metro Brides Guide. com will also offer wedding consumers information and tools that help them with their planning activities while partnering with them to gain more insight into their local metro wedding market.
Number of Weddings
The foundation for number of wedding estimates are derived from wedding licenses issued at the State and County levels. Initial estimates use a rate per population method to calculate zip code level numbers. The research company then applies a proprietary formula to arrive at the final estimate and growth rate for each zip code. Zip codes are then summed up to each market level (city, metro, state, then US). The model for number of weddings attempts to take into account weddings that travel into a market and weddings that originate from the market.
Estimated weddings are generated for the following locations; US, States, Metropolitan Areas, Cities, and Zip Codes.
Estimated weddings do not take into account current natural disasters. In addition, due to the high complexity of predicting weddings that may travel into popular locations, the number of weddings for areas like these may be underestimated. With that in mind, we calculate a range of estimated weddings for zip codes, cities, and metro areas with estimated weddings under 500.
Please contact us if you feel there is a large discrepancy in the numbers for a location so we can re-evaluate that location.
Spending (Wedding Cost)
Our sourced currently collects data on 100 items through pre-wedding, post-wedding, and vendor surveys. This serves as the base for all spending data. Using the base results, they apply a proprietary formula to calculate estimates and growth rates for each item, for each market. The model for spending takes into account the current economic and social factors of each market.
The total market average is calculated from the "Weighted Demand Average," which is; average spent times demand equals the weighted demand average. Sum of weighted demand averages (minus items not included) equals the average price. Using the WDA instead of a summed average gives a better calculation, because it takes into account all items that a market may purchase.
Items not included in average cost are; All Honeymoon Items, Bridal Shower Invitations, Engagement Announcements, Engagement Ring, Bridal Shower, Engagement Party, Engagement Photographer, and Engagement Videographer.
Survey Data
All survey data is collected from random anonymous participants in electronic form through many channels. Surveys use both multiple choice and open ended questions. In 4 years, we have collected over 10,000 survey samples on wedding related items. The most current cost calculations are derived from a sample size of 3,620 surveys conducted in 2008.
Work is Progress
This research is a continuous work in progress. New data is continuously collected, aggregating, and re-evaluating to improve the reliability and accuracy of the estimates.