Not Your Parents' Wedding: Survey Uncovers Major Shifts in Nuptials across Just One Generation
July 06 2015 - 9:58AM
Business Wire
Anyone planning or attending a wedding recently might suspect
the tradition has changed dramatically over the years. New consumer
insight now confirms it: today’s weddings are more elaborate,
embrace more traditions and grooms are playing a bigger role in the
planning process compared to 20 years ago – not to mention a big
shift in what couples want and how much they expect guests to
spend.
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Whether they're newly wed or have been
married for 20 years or more, seventy-six percent of couples said
they would prefer to register for an Ultra High-Definition TV than
a formal china place setting. (Photo: Best Buy)
Those are some of the highlights of a new survey comparing
feedback of couples married within the past five years to those
married 20 or more years ago.
The survey, conducted by Wakefield Research on behalf of
retailer Best Buy, found that today’s weddings are much more
involved than those of the prior generation, from the proposal to
the engagement and finally, the ceremony itself.
Best Buy commissioned the study to dive deeper into the world of
today’s brides and grooms and understand how technology fits into
modern weddings, following the launch earlier this year of its own
wedding registry.
Among the survey’s key findings:
Grooms are getting in on the action.In this new survey,
69 percent of recent brides said their grooms played a significant
role in wedding planning, compared with fewer than half (49
percent) of those married 20 or more years ago.
From choosing food and beverages (60 percent) to selecting music
for the ceremony or reception (52 percent), planning the wedding
registry (43 percent), and picking out invitations (36 percent),
recent brides say their grooms actively prepare for the big day.
And whether or not they were involved, 92 percent of both recent
and experienced grooms think wedding planning should be shared
equally between partners.
Weddings today are more elaborate and incorporate more
traditions.Today’s couples have more wedding traditions than
those married for 20 years or more. In fact, 71 percent of recently
married couples say their wedding was more elaborate than their
parents’ was.
More couples today are making formal, public proposals (23
percent), taking engagement photos (46 percent) and throwing
wedding-related events like bachelor or bachelorette parties (45
percent) and engagement events (33 percent). It makes sense then
that every step of the wedding is captured in photos. Today’s
couples take almost three times as many photos as older couples
did.
Gift lists reflect lifestyle shift: what couples want and how
much they expect guests to spendSeventy-four percent of couples
today say they prefer a gift that’s useful rather than sentimental.
They also have higher expectations for what their guests will spend
on them – half estimate the average cost of the wedding gifts they
received exceeded $50.
“Just as weddings are changing, so are the gifts couples are
looking for,” said Wendy Fritz, Best Buy’s head of gifting
strategy. “Both the bride and groom are spending more time than
ever on their registries, and tech items are showing up more and
more because of how couples live and work today.”
It’s appropriate to list technology items on a registry,
according to 74 percent of recent couples. Experienced couples
would agree, with 58 percent saying tech items are appropriate
gifts. In fact, if they could do it all over, 75 percent of couples
married 20 or more years ago said they would “tech-ify” their
registries. Forty-one percent would have registered for a TV, and
40 percent for a camera or video camera. Nearly a third (31
percent) would have selected a tablet, and about one in four would
have included a smart thermostat (24 percent) or wireless sound
system (23 percent).
“We’re seeing couples registering for everything from Blu-ray
players and appliances to wireless speakers,” said Fritz. “One
survey result was particularly telling: Whether they’re newly wed
or have been married for 20 years or more, seventy-six percent of
couples said they would prefer to register for an Ultra
High-Definition TV than a formal china place setting.”
For complete results of the survey, please contact
press@bestbuy.com.
The Best Buy Weddings Survey was conducted by Wakefield Research
(www.wakefieldresearch.com) among 1,000 brides and 1,000 grooms.
The survey was fielded between May 29th and June 12th, 2015, using
an email invitation and an online survey. The margin of error at
the overall level is +/- 2.2%
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150706005501/en/
WCGChristina Khoury,
612-806-0757ckhoury@wcgworld.comorBest Buy Public
RelationsShandra Tollefson,
612-323-4418Shandra.Tollefson@bestbuy.com
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