Tiny Details for Your Big Day: How Will Supply Chain Shortages Affect Your Wedding?

Preparing for your wedding should be an exciting time, but issues with the supply chain could make it more stressful than anything. Check out a few ways the supply chain shortages can affect your wedding to troubleshoot ahead of time and make things as easy as possible.

1. They Might Require Creative Venue Staffing

You might imagine supplies like fabric, buttons and flowers when you picture companies making products for brides. While that’s an accurate picture, there are other factors involved in supply chains like:

• The environment
• Manufacturing costs
• Business management

Staffing is also a primary issue affecting shipment and distribution. A recent survey found 26% of businesses lack the necessary staffing to maintain pre-pandemic production levels. With COVID-19 still causing people to take time off of work, you may need to get creative with how your vendors staff your wedding day. Ask friends and loved ones to step in and help with things like cleaning up, bartending or serving food to ensure everything runs smoothly.

2. They Could Interrupt Delivery Schedules

After placing an order, you always get an estimated delivery date. Those estimations rely on data pulled from the current supply chain, but lapses in communication can make your delivery dates inaccurate. Experts are turning to technology to make more accurate delivery estimates using the latest technology.

Many fleet companies use telematic sensors to relay information in real-time to servers worldwide. That data includes GPS tracking, allowing fleet managers to analyze fuel usage and mileage statistics to predict more accurate shipment schedules.

Although no computers can keep supply and employee shortages from affecting production facilities, your estimated delivery dates will likely be more accurate if they come from companies utilizing telematics. Ordering your wedding supplies early is another way to circumnavigate this possible effect on your big day. You can always plan creative and romantic dates to get closer to your partner while waiting for your deliveries.

3. They Will Make Things More Costly

When businesses can’t access a dependable influx of supplies to make and sell their products, they have to charge more for the loss of production. It’s how they stay open, but everything becomes more expensive for consumers. Brides can expect to pay more for vendors and supplies due to supply chain shortages in staffing, shipping and production.

Plan for Supply Chain Shortages

Supply chain executives don’t expect shortages to disappear anytime soon, so every couple must plan for how these issues could affect their wedding. Start planning early, order well before your big day and save as much money as possible to create your dream wedding during challenging times.