As the economy improves, weddings are quickly becoming more significant in Tahoe’s economy than in the past.
Placer, Nevada, and Washoe counties were host to 11,935 weddings in 2015, according to The Wedding Report, which has been making a splash in the business community since the report was published in 2016. Together they generated over $380 million in sales for the year, with Washoe County alone making up almost $289 million, the report says. This is almost 20 percent higher than sales in 2009, and mirrors trends nationwide. In 2015 there were 2.17 million weddings in the United States generating $58 billion in sales, according to the report, an increase from $46 billion in 2009.
The trend is making a mark in North Tahoe/Truckee, where Stephanie Martin, owner and founder of One Fine Day, a boutique event-planning company has seen an uptick. Since starting her company in 2009 Martin has moved offices from a small space in Tahoe City to a larger office in Truckee to accommodate the increased business. One Fine Day was started in the midst of a recession and Martin notes that it’s not locals doing the majority of this spending: fully 99 percent of her clients are from out of town, with 75 percent coming from the Bay Area and the other 24 percent mainly from New York, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, and Southern California. It’s not that full-time Tahoe residents are not getting married in Truckee/North Lake Tahoe, they are just less likely to hire a planner, she says.
“Tahoe may only be 71 miles around, but we have so many great resources to offer,” Martin says that the reason so many couples chose to get married in Tahoe is because of the area’s beauty and accessibility.
Martin estimated that in One Fine Day’s event season, from June to October, her clients’ events bring $2.9 million into the community, a number that does not include the wedding cost itself.
The booming industry stimulates revenue in two ways: it employs vendors who provide many things a couple may need, including photographers, planners, venue owners, caterers, baked goods, and officiators; and it attracts traveling wedding guests, who spend money on hotels, restaurants, shops, and recreational activities.
Martin said she often gets flack from out-of-town couples who think they need to bring in their own vendors from out of the area. “You have to know where to look,” Martin said about how she picks her vendors. “Because every business is vital to the health and structure of our community.” Martin thinks it is important to employ local businesses whenever possible.
A Bridal Affair
Many of these local vendors appear at Squaw Valley’s annual Bridal Faire, an event organized by the North Lake Tahoe Chamber that brings bridal vendors to Olympic Valley each February.
Ginger Karl, Membership Director at the NLTC, organizes the event each year. She estimates that October is the busiest month of the year for weddings in Tahoe and that the best deals for renting venues can be found on Thursday and Sunday because the average daily hotel and other rates are lower than they are on the weekends.
Over 200 brides, mostly coming from the Bay Area, pre-register for the faire and are then qualified to win an eight-day, seven-night honeymoon, Karl said. The day features more than 50 local wedding vendors — everything from DJs to ministers — all of whom pay a vendor fee to get their business name out there in the industry, she said. All proceeds from the faire benefit local economic development. The 2016 faire was sponsored by Squaw Valley/ Alpine Meadows, Tahoe Blue Vodka, The Auld Dubliner, and Camelot Party Rentals.
This increase in Tahoe wedding sales does not appear to be slowing down anytime soon. The Wedding Report estimates that Placer, Nevada, and Washoe counties will see sales around $400 million in 2020, a $20 million increase from 2015. Nationally, this number is estimated to reach upwards of $61 billion.
