When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Montreal last year, Montreal’s soon-to-be-wed all wanted the same thing – postponement. With guests invited, venues booked, and plans envisioned, Montrealers were unwilling to give up on their plans for a big wedding. More than one year later, couples aren’t willing to wait any longer to get married. While large guest lists have fallen by the wayside, couples aren’t tightening their budgets, opting instead for big visual impact in smaller spaces.
“At the beginning of the pandemic couples had this idea that a small wedding was a sort of sad wedding.They wanted to wait until they could celebrate with more friends and family members,” explains Athanasios Gomatos, owner of Athanasios Gomatos Events. “Now they realize that a small wedding means they get to spend their budget on fewer guests, but with much higher quality and visual impact. The intimacy that comes with restricting a guest list means that the people who really matter to you, surround you. You get to talk to them, to dance with them, to see their enjoyment of your big day. The budget for flowers that had to stretch to fill a 2000 square foot venue before, can now be used for a backyard or garden venue and the difference is incredible. It looks more like a celebrity wedding when smaller spaces are filled with beautiful, fragrant flowers and greenery.”
While couples and their families have become more enthusiastic when it comes to planning more intimate weddings, they aren’t willing to entirely shut out extended family and friends. Technology such as Zoom and Skype, once rare in wedding planning circles, is now expected and commonplace.
“Wedding venuesthis year have to have stable internet connections in order to ensure that family and friends who weren’t able to be included in smaller events can still be part of the celebration. Many couples are even choosing to have a professional videographer exclusively handle the Zoom feed so that those at home can feel like active participants in the wedding. Those attending from home dress up, they raise a glass totoast and they offer their own speeches, explains Athanasios Gomatos.
Intimate weddings are also enabling Montrealers to incorporate all the things they love about their city into their wedding. “As we all know, Montreal has an incredible food scene. We all seem to have our favourite restaurants, cafes and hidden gems. Before the pandemic, with larger weddings where couples often had to cater to 200 guests or more, it would rule out a lot of the couple’s favourite local restaurants which generally don’t offer catering. Now that weddings are smaller, the pastry shop that makes the bride’s favourite chocolate cake can be called on to make the wedding favours. The groom’s favourite local cocktails, which would have blown the budget at a wedding with hundreds of guests, can now be enjoyed by all the guests in attendance. It has taken a year, but couples are embracing the benefits of smaller weddings. Keeping the guest list small means that couples are less likely to have to cancel at the last minute because of new restrictions. if this past year has taught us anything, it’s to seize the moment. Enjoy and celebrate life and love right now.”
About Athanasios Gomatos Events
Athanasios Gomatos is a full service Montreal wedding planner and event planner and, as a seasoned professional with over 7 years experience, has created magical and memorable events for an extraordinary range of clients. Whether an intimate garden wedding or a large, nonprofit fund raiser, his expertise lies in not only planning and executing those weddings and events, but creating that one-of-a-kind experience his clients and their guests will always remember.
For more information about Athanasios Gomatos, please visit https://athanasios-gomatos-events.com/