The pandemic crimped the wedding industry. Now, business is booming.

It’s a good time to be in the wedding business.

While COVID lockdowns wiped out the wedding season in 2020, the industry has recovered sharply, creating a flurry of business for vendors, per The New York Times.

The boom is expected to last beyond this year

While many of these ceremonies are socially-distant “micro-weddings,” not everybody is cutting back, which brings good news for vendors.

Independent research firm Wedding Report expects the average price per wedding to rise through 2023:

• 2021: 1.93m weddings, average spend of $22.5k
• 2022: 2.47m weddings, average spend of $24.3k
• 2023: 2.24m weddings, average spend of $24.9k

Increased spending could be due to a number of factors, including couples saving up during the pandemic, stimulus checks from the government, and the surging stock market.

But the boom may actually be a blip

Wedding Report expects 2022 to have the most ceremonies since the 1980s before settling back to pre-COVID numbers, which weren’t exactly on the upswing.

Data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) maps the decline in marriage rates along the following timeline:

• 1982-2009: Marriage rates declined steadily
• 2009-2017: Marriage rates stabilized
• 2017-2018: Marriage rates dropped 6% to the lowest rate recorded between 1900 and 2018

One boom may lead to another

Since many couples wait to get married before having children, a baby boom could be next.

Recent data reported across multiple states hints at a turnaround from early in the pandemic when birth rates were declining.

With that in mind, it may not be a bad time to brush up on your babysitting skills.