Why Booking Weddings Feels Harder in 2025 & What Is Actually Working Now

In this episode we’ll cover:

• Why booking weddings feels harder in 2025 even when you’re doing “all the right things”
• What’s changed in the way couples research and choose vendors
• How top wedding pros are still booking out despite the slower market
• The key mistake many wedding pros make when inquiries slow down
• Why a marketing plan matters more than ever this year
• How to shift from reactive to intentional marketing that actually works
• What you can do now to start booking more weddings in 2025

Why Booking Weddings Feels Harder in 2025 & What Is Actually Working Now

0:00:00 – Heidi Thompson
Why booking weddings feels harder in 2025 and what is actually working right now.

0:00:09 – Intro
In a world where wedding professionals are struggling to market and grow their businesses, one podcast brings together top experts and actionable strategies to help you build the wedding business of your dreams. This is the Evolve your Wedding Business Podcast. Here is your host, Heidi Thompson.

0:00:41 – Heidi Thompson
Hey there, welcome to the podcast. I’m your host, Heidi Thompson, and I work with wedding professionals just like you, to help you move past the ghosting and the price shopping and all of the struggles that we’re seeing, especially this year, and book more weddings and book more weddings. Now, if you are like most wedding professionals, I can probably guess what you’re up to.

You’re out here doing all of the things. You’re posting Instagram on a consistent basis. You’re updating your website, you’re working on your SEO. You’re pinning like a pro. You’re giving the not more of your money, even though probably hasn’t done a ton for you lately and yet nothing. Inquiries are down, ghosting is up for sure and bookings feel like pulling teeth. If you are heading into the fall, thinking I cannot afford another slow season, this episode is your sign to stop guessing and start shifting.

Today, I’m breaking down why booking weddings feels harder in 2025 and what’s actually working right now for the wedding pros who are still getting booked without losing their minds in the process. I have had this same exact conversation with so many wedding pros lately. I’m doing everything right, so why does it feel like nothing’s working? Does that sound familiar? If it does, you’re not imagining it. And no, your business isn’t broken. You’re probably doing a lot of things right.

You’re showing up, you’re marketing, you’re serving your clients well, maybe even over delivering. You’re squeezing in some learning between weddings and late night catch-ups on editing and timelines. But if you’re still not getting booked like you used to, that’s not on you, it’s on the strategy, or really the lack of one. One of my clients told me recently I don’t get it. I’m doing the same things I did last year and they worked great, but this year crickets and she’s not alone the market has shifted. Couples are slower to book, they’re more cautious with budgets and they’re overwhelmed by a sea of vendors shouting at them online.

Here’s what we’re up against in 2025. First, you’ve got Gen Z couples, who are more values-driven, more budget-aware and more skeptical of salesy marketing than any generation before them. They’re taking longer to make decisions 30 to 40 percent and they do a lot more research. They want to feel completely confident before reaching out, making that first contact, let alone booking.

Add in economic uncertainty, worldwide inflation, the general wait and see vibe in the market right now and, yeah, bookings feel harder. And they feel harder because they are. But that doesn’t mean that you’re powerless. You know I’m not gonna leave you hanging like that. It just means your strategy has to evolve. The problem isn’t you. The problem is still relying on advice. That stopped working two years ago. So what is working right now?

Here’s what the wedding pros who are getting booked are doing differently. First, they’re not trying to be everywhere. These wedding pros have figured out where their ideal clients spend time and they show up with intention. If Pinterest and Instagram aren’t bringing them leads, they don’t force it. They shift focus to where the ROI is real, like maybe, referrals, email marketing, seo. It’s different for everyone, but they’re not trying to do everything.

Number two they know what sets them apart. I cannot emphasize how important this is, especially right now. Instead of trying to stand out by being louder or by being the cheapest, they get crystal clear on their positioning.

What is the one thing that makes you the obvious choice for your ideal client? That’s the message that your marketing should lead with and that’s what stops ghosting before it even starts, because it puts you in your own category. You’re no longer competing with all the other photographers or venues or officiants or caterers. You are in a category of your own that massively cuts down on ghosting. That massively cuts down on ghosting.

Number three they follow a simple, repeatable marketing system no more throwing spaghetti at the wall every day. They’ve got a plan like what I teach inside my membership The Wedding Business Collective that actually fits into their business and their real life, something that helps them stay consistent without sacrificing sleep, sanity or every single weekend of their life. Because, yes, you can book dream clients consistently without marketing and without hustling, 24 seven. And this well, this is just the beginning.

Next week, I am opening up something that’s going to help you go deep into everything I just talked about. It’s called the Book More Wedding Summit and I’ve brought together more than 45 experts to help you stop guessing and start booking with clarity, with strategies that are working now, even when people are ghosting, when people are taking forever to make decisions. These are real strategies, real conversations, no fluff, with some of the best and brightest in the industry. It’s free, it’s focused and it’s going to give you the shift that you’ve been looking for.

So, if this episode has hit home and if you’re excited, I want to hear from you. Send me a DM on Instagram, just say ready, that’s it. No awkward conversation, no pitch, just a yep, I’m in.

Let me know this message has landed, because next week we are kicking off something that’s going to change how you book weddings moving forward, and it’s going to get you out of this funk that you have been feeling this year. I’d love for you to be part of it. When you send me a DM, I will send you the link to get your free ticket as soon as the doors open. Like I said, that’s happening next week.

So DM me on Instagram, just DM me, with the word ready, and I’m curious to hear about how this year has been for you so far, because I’m hearing a lot of commonalities, but there are some, you know, interesting outliers as well. I’m really curious to hear how it’s been for you. So next week I will be back talking about why you’re still not booking, even though you’re doing everything right. And, of course, I will have your official invite to the Book More Wedding Summit, where you can get your free ticket when doors open. All right, my friend, I will see you over on Instagram in the DMs, take care.

Links & Resources:

The Wedding Business Collective
Get your Ghosted Lead Booking Wizard
How To Stand Out & Get Booked This Engagement Season

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