Summer Ross and Anndreia Bond recently broke some bad news to the 16 bridesmaids for their Sept. 25 wedding in Frederick, Md. The Azazie dresses they picked for them no longer cost $84. The price had jumped to $128.
“And that’s before shipping,” said Ms. Ross, 25, a benefits specialist from Ruther Glen, Va.
Asking their closest friends to shell out an extra $50 or so was difficult. But the couple wanted to be transparent about the way tariffs may affect many of the accouterments of weddings. In addition to sharing the bumped-up price of the dresses, which are made overseas, they composed a group text that included other higher expenses their bridesmaids might encounter.
“The cost of your shoes might go up,” wrote Ms. Ross and Ms. Bond, a 32-year-old administrative program coordinator. “There’s even a possibility the cost of getting your hair and makeup done will go up. If this is not something that works for you, we completely understand.”
When the Trump administration announced widespread tariffs in early April, the effect on weddings may not have been top of mind. But for brides, grooms and the people who support them, the fallout has been confusing and at times stressful.
“Dresses, flowers, décor — all of that wedding stuff — we import all of it,” said Marc McIntosh, a founder of Team Wedding, a global wedding marketing company. Couples marrying in the next few months may not have to worry about blowing their budgets “because they’ve already signed contracts, and most of those vendors will adhere to those contracts,” Mr. McIntosh said. But by year’s end, he said, “what you’re going to see is that vendors have worked through their inventory, and they need to replenish their supplies.”
Venues will most likely see a rise in prices for the table linens they’ve gotten used to buying cheaply from overseas, for example. Caterers will probably have to pay more for already pricey French Champagne.
Among the businesses hardest hit, Mr. McIntosh said, are the bridal boutiques and florists. He noted that “very few” wedding gowns are made in America, and he estimated that 80 percent of wedding flowers are shipped here from South America.
Still murky is the question of how much couples can expect to offset the increases those businesses incur.
Sheena Lassiter, 41, and Curtis Chapman, 43, of Chesapeake, Va., got engaged on Valentine’s Day and are planning an April 2026 wedding for 165 people in Chesterfield, Va. They had already budgeted for categories like flowers and décor when the tariffs were announced. Now they’re bracing themselves.
“We don’t know what to expect,” said Ms. Lassiter, a Defense Department employee whose financial concerns have been amplified by cuts to the federal work force. The tariffs “have definitely focused us,” she said. This means paying extra attention to the fine print on vendor contracts, which the couple is making an effort to sign early in hopes of locking in prices.
Wedding planners like Bretta Thompson, the owner of Just the Two of Us Wedding Services in the Indianapolis area, say the extra scrutiny may not be unwarranted. “Some of the vendors I work with, especially florists and décor providers, are starting to revamp their contracts to put clauses in stating, ‘Due to recent tariffs and circumstances beyond our control, your actual end cost could be 10 to 30 percent higher’” than initially estimated, she said.
“They don’t know how long the tariff situation is going to go on,” she said. Some brides have already paid in full, preventing vendors from passing on some or all of the added costs. “For bookings going into 2027, they don’t know how they can absorb it.”
Suppliers of wedding goods made in the United States are not immune from tariffs, either. Fashion designers in particular are feeling the pinch.
Although dresses might be designed and sewn domestically, “We don’t make textiles in our country — there are very few mills,” said Sergio Guadarrama, an owner of Celestino Couture, a fashion atelier in Hudson, N.Y., with a thriving bridal business.
Fabric costs have skyrocketed as a result, he said. “The price of silk charmeuse and silk satin has doubled in some places. Lace was already astronomical. It got way worse.”
Because Celestino accepted deposits for bridal gowns that did not go into production until the tariffs took hold, Mr. Guadarrama and Celestino’s co-owner, Kade Johnson, are now operating at a financial loss on some gowns.
Couples may be leaning toward smaller weddings to offset the unanticipated price increases, according to Laura Cannon, the president of the International Association of Professional Wedding Officiants. “Already we’re starting to see an uptick in elopements,” she said. “That’s pretty standard, actually, during times of uncertainty, like we saw with Covid. Any change that causes uncertainty affects budgets.”
Vendors like Andrea Lekberg, the owner of the Artist Baker in Morristown, N.J., and Steven Burchard, the owner of Magical Memories Entertainment, a nationwide event company whose home office is based in Pleasantville, N.Y., don’t expect couples to save money by forfeiting their particular services.
“People hold onto traditions and the core of weddings” when feeling financially pinched, Ms. Lekberg said. They may elect to skip a prewedding trip to Aruba with their bridesmaids, she said, but they won’t want to hold a reception without a cake. Mr. Burchard said customized experiences like photo booths, which Magical Memories provides, are still important.
Instead of goody bags and wedding favors, couples might want to hire a caricaturist or even an LED party robot. “People want to spend money on experiences, something that gives them bang for their buck, not more stuff,” Mr. Burchard said.
Mr. McIntosh of Team Wedding said the stock market may ultimately decide how much and where wedding budgets shift.
“The traditional ‘dad pays for the wedding,’ that’s still a big thing,” he said. “I’ve seen over the years that when people feel more wealthy, they’re going to spend more. If dad’s portfolio gets rocked by the stock market, you’re going to see cutbacks to the wedding industry in general.”
Still, Amy McKenzie, a wedding planner and the owner of Amy Cynthia events in Richmond, Va., is advising her clients to hit the pause button before excising elements of a wedding they have their hearts set on, like cascading florals.
“For a lot of my couples, I say, let’s start local,” she said. For example, “you can find a florist who grows locally.” And instead of picking the trendiest of centerpieces, “you can find a seasoned local decorator or rental company that may already have items in inventory, so they don’t have to source them from overseas.” Another option is going the D.I.Y. route for categories like décor and hair and makeup, she said.
But even couples who know how to pivot financially may want to add 10 to 15 percent to their wedding budgets to offset the tariffs.
Mr. Chapman said he and Ms. Lassiter are anticipating costs will rise 20 to 25 percent, which will most likely land them $10,000 to $20,000 over their initial budget.
Ms. Ross and Ms. Bond expected to spend no more than $28,000 when they started planning last October. But they are already well above the $30,000 mark.
“Last time I checked, we were right around $40,000,” Ms. Bond said.
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