""I remember being in that moment, and all I was doing was moving weddings," says wedding planner Martina O'Riordan. "With each wedding you could have 10 to 15 suppliers. And because we had no clarity - nobody did - we were pushing things back six months, six months again, then 12 months." O'Riordan, who is based in Tipperary with her business MartinaO and is vice chair of the Irish Wedding Professionals Association, is describing the "massive" impact the pandemic had on the industry."
""After the enforced limitations of the pandemic years, many couples embraced the opportunity to make their nuptials an intimate event. Now, large weddings are making a return - but not as traditional 'beef or salmon?' affairs. It was, amongst many things, something of a ground zero for weddings. Like all gatherings, they were placed under serious limitations; venues were closed, live music and dancing were forbidden, curfews put in place. At one point, only six guests were permitted.""
Pandemic restrictions devastated the wedding industry by forcing venue closures, banning live music and dancing, imposing curfews and limiting gatherings to as few as six guests. Couples responded by holding intimate nuptials during the restrictions. Planners and suppliers faced repeated postponements, often pushing events back six to 12 months and coordinating 10–15 vendors per wedding. As restrictions lift, large weddings are returning, but celebrations are shifting away from traditional, standardized formats toward more personalized and unconventional approaches. The cumulative financial and logistical impact on small businesses and freelancers in the sector was significant, with many facing deep uncertainty.
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