You might get a first impression that there always must be a heart-broken bride or groom behind a wedding cancellation.

Well, that's not quite true. To proof that this is what we've received just a few days ago from a selling couple from Illinois that is just thinking to elop:

"We have decided to skip our wedding and elope. The stress of planning is not worth the additional money we are going to spend. We are eating the cost of our deposits. In an attempt to recoup that money, we are trying to sell our dates for these venues. Our venue is an amazing and beautiful location, and the first two deposits on the date are already paid. The above photographer is paid in full for pictures and video."

And it's not all only weddings, but e.g. a failed attempt to organize a fancy school reunion might become someone's wedding reception or a birthday party, like this one example from a Virginia seller that we received last week:

"...It's actually a failed attempt at a Ten Year High School Reunion.  I was dumped with the responsibility and there simply is not enough participation to cover the costs.  So far, I've paid a $3250 deposit. .."

No matter what the seller's reasons are, our registered couples get a chance to find an event of their dreams and for a fraction of the cost. Someone's canceled wedding might become a fancy birthday party for someone else or a wedding abroad opportunity for a foreign couple or a vow renewal - and that's what's already happening at our wedding brokerage.

And at a given moment if there is no canceled wedding that would suite the needs of a buying couple, than there is our growing catalog  of last minute late availability discounts, where various wedding vendors advertise specific dates on discounts even over 60% and higher. 

It's all about savings and great prices. Selling couples get a chance to save their deposits and cancellation fees. Buying couples get a chance to get a real bargain and wedding vendors don't loose a date that they weren't able to sell on full-price. It's a win-win for everyone.

Miami, New York, USA – Weddings are for many one of the most emotional and most costly day of their lives. More often than not, large sums of money are paid out to various vendors in advance deposits. Usually as early as six months prior to the big day, over half the total balance must be paid to the venue, caterer, DJ, photographer etc. And let's not forget to mention the other necessary items purchased like the engagement ring, wedding dress and wedding bands.

Unfortunately though, for one reason or another, sometimes the couple decides they are unable to go through with the wedding and it needs to be called off. In such situations most couples lose their deposits and have to not only deal with a severe emotional loss, but also a significant financial one which is often hidden in lost deposits and strict vendor cancellation policies.

American weddings are a $51 billion dollar industry. According to a recent study by The Wedding Report Inc, 270.000 or 13% of couples each year cancel their wedding. Keep in mind that the average wedding cost is around $25,656, so for those couples who decided to not take the walk down the aisle, this can be a huge loss.

It turns out the biggest expense, 38% of the overall wedding budget is connected to the wedding venue rental and catering services, where also the strongest cancellation policies are enforced. Wedding rings make 10.2 % of the overall budget.

To better address the needs of these couples, two pioneers and leaders in the secondary wedding market, CanceledWeddings.com (www.canceledweddings.com) and I Do Now I Don't (www.idonowidont.com), teamed up to provide a hassle free one-stop shop concept to help couples in US with their canceled engagements and wedding plans.

“We try hard to help couples solve their problem with deposits and their vendors’ cancellation polices by re-selling their cancelled event as a prepackaged wedding at a discount to another couple. A key component in a wedding is not only the event itself that our service specializes in, but also the rings and dresses - when canceled, the couple must deal with all of it at once.” – says Peter K. Ulrich, CEO of the Canceled Weddings.

"As wedding and event management industry insiders, we know how to move vendor contracts and protect our clients, which gives us a chance to provide great deals to brides and grooms world-wide. However, this is a very different task, infrastructure and skill set than that which is necessary to be able to successfully resell wedding jewelry and dresses. We’re excited to partner with wedding jewelry experts I Do Now I Don't and be thus able to provide our US clients greater value with a one-stop shop solution.” – says Michaela Durinova, Canceled Weddings USA Country Manager.

“I created I Do Now I Don't as a result of my own broken engagement and it's truly become my goal to help others turn their misfortune into another person's fortune, as well as a cathartic experience for themselves. At I Do Now I Dont, we guarantee both our buyers and sellers a safe and secure environment, as well as incredible deals and savings.  We're thrilled about this new partnership with Canceled Weddings as we see a real need to provide couples with resources to help them salvage financial loss due to their canceled wedding-- whatever the reason may be." – says Joshua Opperman, CEO of I Do Now I Don't

Canceled Weddings

Canceled Weddings (www.CanceledWeddings.com) is an international wedding brokerage firm specializing in the secondary market for canceled wedding plans and honeymoons. The company helps couples reduce the financial burden of their wedding cancellation by re-selling it as a pre-packaged wedding at a discount to flexible couples or to those looking for a good deal. The CanceledWeddings.com portal is a global online brokerage service with regional arms in USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and India backed by a cosmopolitan team of wedding and event management professionals helping couples worldwide to save money. It’s a win-win for everyone!

ABOUT I DO NOW I DON'T (www.idonowidont.com)

I Do Now I Don’t (IDNID) is unlike any online site you’ve ever seen.  It all starts with a simple premise  - put buyers and sellers together where both end up with a great price for their jewelry and other collectables. The site offers an outlet for people ready to unload their leftover “assets” from a failed relationship, divorce or a diamond ring they have not worn in years.  Items for sale at any time range from diamonds, engagement rings, vintage and antique engagement rings, wedding rings to wedding dresses and collectible watches. Many items come with great stories that transform a generic gem into unique shopping experience. Buyers, in turn, get a great discount and the opportunity to own higher quality jewelry than they thought they could afford.  

I Do Now I Don’t is all about providing buyers and sellers with security, simplicity and superior service. Each diamond sold on the site is inspected by our GIA trained and accredited gemologist to assure its authenticity. The buyer's money is released to the seller only when the diamond certification process by our expert is complete.  In a world where so much is uncertain, our process allows everyone to buy and sell jewelry in 100% safe, secure and trusting environment.

Concept of Canceled Weddings brokerage is very new to a lot of people. For many of them it’s still so new that they can’t make up their mind if this venture is a pure genius or totally crazy.  Well, we will see about that.

Let’s have a look at some numbers. Just American weddings are a $51 billion dollar industry that employs nearly 800,000 people. 

According to a recent study by The Wedding Report, 270.000 or 13% of all American couples each year cancel their wedding. Keep in mind that the average wedding cost is around $25,656, so for those couples who decided to not take the walk down the aisle, this can be a huge loss.

Another study shows that the biggest expense of a wedding is the reception generating an estimated 38 % of the total wedding industry revenue. Major costs associated with the reception include venue rental and catering, where also the strongest cancellation policies with cancellation fees are in place.

The Real Wedding Survey organized by The Knot and also our own experience shows that some brides are even starting to plan their wedding before their guy actually pops the question. Brides are now allowing themselves more time to plan, with 31% beginning to plan more than 12 months ahead and 16% of brides now plan their wedding even before getting engaged. 

This study also shows that 24 % of all American weddings account to destination weddings when couples decide to get married abroad and travel to say their “Yes, I do”.

These are just numbers for the US wedding market, if you add the size of the wedding market in Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and India you get the secondary market size where our team of Canceled Weddings operates. 

And hey, we just opened AbgesagteHochzeiten.de which is our German version of CanceledWeddings.com.

This is a pretty serious slice of market, which we and our Group are very serious about.