WHEELING — Single ladies elbowing their way to prime bouquet-catching space. Couples smearing cake on one another’s faces — or even having a cake. Needing directions and a car to get from a wedding site to a reception.

Forces ranging from the pandemic to shifting generational preferences are putting the ixnay on such long-standing traditions and the big, fat weddings of the recent past, according to a trio of local experts.

Today’s couples — mostly millennials, the youngest of whom are now in their mid 20s — are more likely to be looking for ways to cozy up with their guests.

Ashley Dunlap of Oglebay Resort & Conference Center and fellow Wheeling-based wedding specialists Stacy Gilson of Hello Gorgeous wedding planning and Bob Bailey of As You Like It catering and event planning shared details on the trends they say are emerging in local weddings.

SMALLER BUT LUXE

In an overarching trend she suspects is related to both the pandemic and generational tastes, Dunlap said the 170 weddings that have already maxed out Oglebay’s multiple venues in 2022 are notably smaller than those that preceded COVID-19.

There are a few blow-out events on the docket — one of which Dunlap noted involves the booking of 202 rooms for two nights — but 100 guests seems to be the new sweet spot.

This is true, she said, even for Pittsburgh couples who favor Oglebay for mini-destination events that are lower in cost than those in their home city.

“They still want the space,” Dunlap said of even larger venues at the site. “They just want to have less people.”

To accommodate this trend, she said Oglebay’s wedding team has figured out ways to make large spaces like the Pine Room — which can seat up to 350 guests — look cozier.

This can range from taking advantage of existing pillars to making creative use of draping and lights.

Gilson has had similar experiences. She is still doing weddings with as many as 400 guests, but she said about half of her clients are now seeking more intimate celebrations.

Interestingly, all three experts said it’s only guest counts that are scaling down.

At Oglebay, this is partly a matter of keeping smaller events financially viable for the resort, Dunlap noted.

Couples have responded by going big, something Gilson said may be related to their being somewhat older and established in their careers.

“They’re starting to want higher packages, a really nice bar and a really nice food package,” Dunlap said, adding that that part of the trend doesn’t stop at reception meals. “Now, instead of large, minimal décor and basic food, people are wanting to do small guest counts with a high-end look.”

Twelve years into the wedding biz and having chosen a large wedding herself, she’s intrigued by the trend. Dunlap said her sister, in contrast, is in the midst of planning a 75-guest event in another state for which most of the guests will be staying on site for an entire weekend.

Which leads to another emerging practice, Dunlap said.

HAPPY TOGETHER

Couples sprinting out the reception door for honeymoons and guests scattering to the wind are also becoming a thing of the past, Dunlap said. Weddings for out-of-town couples in particular are becoming weekend events in which newlyweds stay on site with their guests — perhaps playing lawn games and just hanging out.

For Oglebay, which operates on the funding from such events, as well as the city and multiple area wedding vendors, she said this is an all-around win. In addition to direct wedding income coming into the community, guests tend to roam during the weekends — eating meals at area restaurants or shopping at Centre Market.

In another part of this development, all three specialists said many of their events now involve the marriage ceremony and the reception being at the same location. Couples don’t want their guests to need to drive around.

At Oglebay, Dunlap said couples are sometimes opting to serve cocktails on the lawn outside their wedding location while staff scurries to convert the space from ceremony to reception seating.

Bailey said he has seen outdoor weddings at locations such as Grand Vue Park in Marshall County segue into receptions conducted in tents with outdoor heaters in place. Gilson has done three such single-site events in the White Palace at Wheeling Park.

“We’re bringing our guests together. We want to make sure they have a good time. This isn’t just about us,” Dunlap said of the current thinking. “That might be generational. Millennials chase experiences.”

NO RULES

They are also less likely to fret about tradition, Gilson noted.

“There are no rules for a bride,” Gilson said of her clients, for whom she provides everything from planning to hair and makeup to even the finishing touches on receptions. “They don’t want that flower throwing. It’s a different generation of brides.”

In like manner, Gilson said cupcakes are displacing the multi-tiered affairs that once dominated reception tables. And, posing in a photo booth is considered quality reception entertainment, she added, especially since people can leave the event with these personal mementoes in hand.

NO GERMS, SOMETIMES

The one place couples are rule oriented — at least at times — is when it comes to COVID-19. Gilson said that has actually helped her business.

“The only thing the pandemic’s done is tick them (couples) off and inconvenience them,” she said of clients needing to adjust to limitations that have changed over time or by place. “That’s why they need a planner — so they can pivot.”

Even now, when government restrictions on gathering sizes have lifted, Gilson said some churches require masks while others do not. Some venues require food to be packaged in certain ways. Others do not. It’s something that she must continually monitor

Bailey, who has been in the catering business for nearly 30 years, said he has seen the same thing. He noted one area venue might require gloves and a cafeteria style serving line — which he said is slower and is something guests tend to not like. Another may allow any type of service.

That inconsistency runs deep in today’s weddings, he noted.

“More people are using disposables,” he said of a table-setting trend he suspects makes little sense in terms of actual disease spread. “They feel safer using disposables and then things can just go in the trash.”

At the same time, Bailey noted things like social distancing and mask wearing are rare at most of the weddings he is catering.

“It’s like, if we’re getting married, the rules are relaxed now,” Bailey said. “If they go to Walmart the next day, they’re all in masks but, at the wedding, everything’s like it always was.”

One wedding he catered in late 2020 led to nearly 20 COVID infections, he noted. He and his staff, whom he said continue to mask to this day, were not among them.

Z TRENDS

Gen Z couples — who have come of age in the pandemic — are introducing yet other trends, Dunlap noted. Or, reintroducing as the case may be.

These younger couples often opt for full-on wedding planners to orchestrate everything from music to flowers — a trend that she said millennials had started to move away from. And, sometimes, she noted, it’s a parent who’s doing the planning.

“They know what they want,” Dunlap said of these early 20s couples. “But (they) want planners or parents taking care of the details.”