Today’s wedding industry is one of the healthiest business sectors in the nation, despite a waning economy. While engaged couples are as budget- conscious as other consumers, professionals in wedding-related businesses say some traditions never go out of style, and new trends are as wide-ranging as the couples themselves. That’s spurring an increasingly diverse pool of products and services, and there’s no shortage of shoppers to take it all in.

Shirley Sbriscia, co-owner of Bridal Heirlooms in South Hadley, said that, 20 years ago, weddings were as clear-cut as the cake.

“You had one kind of wedding — the basic ‘form wedding,’” she said. “That’s certainly not the case anymore.”

Today, said Sbriscia, couples planning weddings of all types and sizes tend to create more-specialized events that speak to family traditions as well as their own personalities. “Couples today are focused on catching people’s eyes,” she said, “which is nice, because it becomes so individual. Guests really get to know little bits about the bride and groom.”

By incorporating little, personal touches or big, bold statements, brides and grooms are also changing the face of the wedding industry. That move toward unique ceremonies and receptions is opening the sector up to all sorts of businesses, from artists and craftspeople to major corporations.

Denise Fontaine, of Hull, Mass., for instance, makes her living as a ‘vintage artist,’ using found and vintage objects to create one-of-a-kind pieces, from furniture to jewelry. While she never focused on wedding products before, Fontaine recently invented her own bid into the wedding business: handmade card boxes shaped like a tiered wedding cake that she introduced to a worldwide audience via the popular hand-made retail Web site, etsy.com.

She said the response to the item, which uses many recycled materials and therefore has also been a hit among couples planning ‘green’ weddings, has been so positive that She’s now crafting and marketing other creations, including cake toppers, centerpieces, favors, and albums.

“I started out making things I thought would create memories — heirloom keepsakes,” said Fontaine, “but everything vintage is so hot right now, and green is so in. I’ve already had a lot of feedback from others, telling me to get out to wedding expos.”

On the other side of the entrepreneurial spectrum, American Express has a way for couples to finance such flights of fancy. Those registered on the Knot, an online resource site for wedding-bound couples, might receive a complimentary wedding-planning binder from the credit card company, along with an application for ‘the Knot Card,’ which features an array of services designed to help engaged couples plan their weddings, consolidate their expenses, and earn membership rewards points redeemable for everything from travel to merchandise for the home.

There are a number of others reasons for this brisk activity in the wedding marketplace, too, beyond a preponderance of creative couples. The first is the fact that the wedding industry is already like no other, crossing into any number of other business sectors, including hospitality, food service, retail, the arts, tourism, E-commerce, and even technology and philanthropy to an extent, as music and lighting services become more complex, and a greater number of couples choose to forgo little favors in order to make a donation to a favorite charity.

Elizabeth Taras, an account executive with Market Mentors in West Springfield, has worked extensively with clients in the wedding industry, and is also a patent holder for a resort spa concept that would lean heavily on wedding services. She added that weddings are the type of time-honored, family tradition that doesn’t stop during tough economic times. Trends may shift, and families may choose to scale back on certain things, but there’s generally at least one aspect of the wedding day that the bride, groom, and their families will strive to maintain, be it the food, the venue, the dress, or the entertainment.

“I’m amazed by the number of things that used to be traditions, and then someone made a job out of it,” she said, listing floral arrangements, wedding cakes, and bridemaids’ dresses among them. “Even in a bad economy, we see people take away from one thing only to put their money toward something else.”

Taras added that, after 9/11, Americans scaled back their retail and travel dollars considerably, but began allocating more of their funds toward family- and self-oriented events and activities.

“People started looking more toward the mind-body experience,” she said. “We saw spa and wedding business rise almost identically. Plus, the fact that a wedding is a one-day, once-in-a-lifetime experience still resonates with people. They want to make it special.”

Return of the Blushing Bride

And, as Fontaine and American Express have already discovered, the health of the wedding industry is prompting many entrepreneurs in various fields to cut their own slice of the nuptial pie, by either creating new products or services, or repositioning existing ones.

Denise Smith, for instance, a photographer based in Longmeadow, has long specialized in children and family portraiture, but this year expanded her repertoire to include a service called Bella Donna, Italian for ‘beautiful woman.’

These portrait sessions are designed to appeal to women at any stage of their lives: Bella Donna Maternita is geared toward mothers-to-be, while Bella Donna Madre explores the mother-daughter bond.

But it’s Bella Donna Sposa that Smith expects will receive the most attention. Modeled after the heirloom portraits that, in many cultures, were a traditional aspect of an extended wedding celebration, Smith said these images put an emphasis on the beauty and grace of a bride during a time when they are the primary planners of their own ceremonies and receptions, leaving little time for pampering.

“The bridal portrait is a time-honored tradition that we don’t see very often anymore,” said Smith. “I wanted to create an art form that is also an experience like no other — something brides could do for themselves, that gives them an opportunity to catch their breath and say, ‘I’m the bride.’”

The portraits are typically taken before the wedding, providing a sort of ‘dress rehearsal’ for the bride that can also help to calm nerves. Hair and makeup are done, the gown is donned, and subjects are placed in a variety of elegant settings in Smith’s studio.

Later, the portraits are enhanced to resemble oil paintings — a final, classic touch on a tradition Smith hopes she can resurrect.

“There are so many traditions associated with planning a wedding that contribute to the industry,” she said. “This is one I wanted to bring back, and it also creates a niche for me where I don’t have to compete with most of the wedding photographers, because it’s something they don’t offer.”

Crowd Pleasers

Jim and Lisa Powers have taken note of this trend toward diversification within the industry as well. The couple publishes the Wedding Day Sourcebook, a monthly wedding resource guide serving Western New England, and are the owners of CJC Events, which specializes in producing wedding shows and bridal expos. The duo produces three shows in the region each year, including the Western New England fall and spring bridal shows and “A Day of Elegance,” a smaller show held at Northampton’s Look Park.

“We’re definitely seeing more niche vendors at the shows,” said Lisa Powers, who noted that attendance in general has been growing steadily over the past several years. “There’s one who makes hand-carved wedding goblets, and another who paints portraits of wedding cakes. Talk about a niche.”

Despite a tight show-planning and publishing schedule, Jim Powers said that even he and Lisa have introduced their own new service aimed at the wedding crowd — event lighting such as color wall-washes, wedding monogram projections, and spotlights — that they say is all the rage, and proof of an industry that is not only holding strong, but evolving.

“More and more people are realizing that they have a business or part of their business that is perfect for the wedding industry,” he said. “Lighting is one example of an area where people would like to spend a good amount of their money, because it’s a unique element that makes them different from everyone else.”

Lisa Powers said she’s also seen larger businesses tailoring some of their services to couples, such as spas and hair salons, to capitalize on this brisk pace. “I don’t see weddings dropping off at all,” she said. “This sector is not as affected by the economy as other industries; there’s a vendor for every budget, and it’s all out there.”

She noted that response from businesses to couples planning weddings of all sizes at all price points is a big reason why the sector is expanding.

“Some couples are really budget-minded, but they all pick what’s important to them, and they’re all looking for quality and service,” she said, noting that, like Smith’s Bella Donna packages, the smartest companies are those that cater to the bride. “In most cases, the bride is running the show.”

A Marriage of Ideas

Sbriscia agreed that brides-to-be are a major driver behind the increasingly vast selection of nuptial products and services, adding, however, that vendors must be careful not to oversell these savvy shoppers.

“Many brides are more budget-conscious today,” she said. “They’re the ones who are cutting down guest lists and searching for money-saving alternatives.

“But they’re not settling for things just because they’re less expensive,” Sbriscia cautioned. “More than anyone else, a bride tries to soul search and choose what she and her other half feel is most special. There are a lot of bells and whistles to choose from, but people are going back to who they are, and choosing things that reflect that.”

One way brides keep the overhead low is to do their research, added Lisa Powers, including through the ubiquitous Internet.

“There isn’t a bride out there who hasn’t used the Internet in some way,” she said, noting, however, that even the Web isn’t affecting business in exactly the same way as in other sectors. She explained that while vendors need to have a Web site to stay competitive, there’s still a very visual, hands-on quality to wedding planning that keeps local vendors very much in the game.

“The Internet is just the beginning,” she said. “Couples will use it to research and save time, but they need to look at the photo albums, see the flowers, try on the dress, and develop a good relationship with their photographer and DJ, especially. Those are things you can’t do without making an in-person visit. As for buying a dress online, people do it, but I certainly don’t recommend it.”

That visual aspect is also one reason why wedding shows, like those CJC Events produces, continue to gather steam. Lisa and Jim Powers have heeded the trend, adding a number of special features to their events such as fashion shows, cake-design competitions, and table-décor contests. In some cases, the brides in attendance are the judges.

The Heart of the Matter

Sbriscia said that, even with all of this commerce surrounding the Big Day, the elements of fantasy and romance associated with a couple’s wedding are very much alive, and that trend toward celebrating the couple and their traditions, both new and old, is likely to continue.

“In the end, I think people want to follow their hearts and feel special,” she said. “Couples know they can’t get that from a computer when they’re planning their wedding, and they know there are countless little ideas out there for them to see.”

Those couples that choose a few of their favorite things, and the vendors that supply them along with an extra helping of customer service, are those that are shaping the industry, Sbriscia mused.

“And it’s a fun industry. It’s great to see the smiles on people’s faces when they’re doing things that they love. That’s when everything really comes together.”

The rest is just icing on the cake.

Jaclyn Stevenson can be reached at

stevenson@businesswest.com