Gergana Karabelov faced unprecedented challenges in the operation of her Patisserie Angelica bakery in Sebastopol in the past year of the coronavirus pandemic. Yet as vaccinations rise and cases of COVID-19 decline, she has found a certain clientele to come back in droves: future brides.
On May 22, Karabelov met with five different couples to try wedding cakes, and four of them were booked. “It was crazy,” she said, with days up to 14 hours on the job. On June 26, she will be delivering cakes for seven different weddings – a feat that will surpass her record of five weddings in a single day.
“You’ve been through so much,” Karabelov said of the couple. “I had a couple who had to book an appointment three times … it was really hard to keep up with the shifts.”
Karabelov’s story is similar to others in the local wedding industry who had little work over the past year but are now increasingly booked out as couples try to schedule wedding dates. With almost all gathering restrictions set on June 15, the bridal rush includes both couples who postponed their wedding during the pandemic and those who recently got engaged. They are even joined by some who have quietly eloped or married during the pandemic and who hold elopement celebrations after the wedding, sellers say.
“It’s the equivalent of being stuck in traffic for a long time and then finally broke and going up to 35 or 45 mph,” said Marshall Bauer, president of Santa Rosa’s Milestone Events Group, before the pandemic is planned around 200 weddings a year. His company expects to coordinate 90 weddings this year by the end of the season in early November.
“We’re moving, but we’re not turning 65,” added Bauer.
The frenzied activity is welcome news for the local sector, with Bauer estimating that up to $ 200 million is being pumped into the local economy annually. For perspective, the total tourism impact of economic consultancy Dean Runyan Associates in 2019 was $ 2.2 billion.
The wedding industry contributes to a wide variety of businesses from entertainment venues to restaurants and chefs to event planners and furniture rental companies. The sector provides employment to part-time servers who can earn extra money in the summer months to live in our high-cost region. These include florists, photographers, musicians and DJs who have made careers themselves.
These include the likes of Joe Hernandez from AMS Entertainment in Sebastopol, who offers DJ and musician services, as well as photo booths for wedding ceremonies. “We basically didn’t do anything and now we’re back to the working events. Essentially, we’ve come into the game now, having been on the bench for 13 months, ”said Hernandez. Before the pandemic, AMS would hold 400 events a year.
Like other event companies, Hernandez received help from the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program with nearly $ 84,000 in repayable loans to AMS to cover salaries and some rents and utilities. This comes from a database held by ProPublica, the nonprofit news organization that tracks funding for the program. His business has only lost one worker who had moved out of the state since the pandemic began. Nine people have returned.
Smaller micro-weddings
AMS has previously hosted smaller micro-weddings with limited guests and more socially distant protocols. But that will change on June 15th. “Many of them have a very small congregation. There is only one ceremony and lunch or dinner. Dancing is very limited. But we’re really excited that we can possibly really expand it, ”said Hernandez.
Larger wedding celebrations are already taking place, such as Sydnie Vanevenhoven’s wedding to Anthony Szol when the two married on May 1st at the Charles Krug winery in St. Helena. As the COVID-19 protocols changed over the spring, the couple decided to reschedule their reception from the winery because there was limited what it could offer them. They went to the Meritage Resort and Spa in Napa instead to better accommodate their wedding celebrations. They rescheduled the event two weeks before the wedding, which was attended by 138 guests, many of whom came from across the country.
“I really don’t think it could happen without all of the amazing vendors. Everyone really wanted to go back to work and do a great job, ”said Vanevenhoven, who lives in San Bernardino County. They booked their wedding a year in advance and were determined to keep the May 1st date.
Like other brides, she wanted a wedding in the Sonoma and Napa wine region because “it’s so romantic,” regardless of the obstacles. She was also happy to do so this spring instead of having a traditional summer wedding in the face of the seller’s crisis now taking place. “I’m thrilled because we pretty much have our first choice of everything,” said Vanevenhoven.