Photo of Abbi Sudtelgte and T.J. Lally (Millennials). Photo credit: Scott DesLauriers

One of the divisions of Hitch Studio is wedding styling and wedding invitations, which means the team here at Hitch LOVES LOVE! Hitch Studio co-owner and wedding coordinator & stylist, Renee Halgerson, values each and every second she spends with couples preparing for their happily ever after. In fact, the majority of the brides we work with are Millennials (individuals born between 1982 and 2004, who are confident, optimistic, and socially-networked). We at Hitch Studio get Millennials. We love working with Millennials because we ARE Millenials (barely. Carrie and Renee were both born in 1983, but for the most part, yes).

So, what do Millennials know about love and marriage? Quite a bit it turns out. We have all heard the statistic that, “50% of all marriages end in divorce.” Many are under the impression that this is still true, but it isn’t, thanks to the Millennial generation of happy couples. A new study discovered that in 2015 the divorce rate reached the lowest it has ever been in over 40 years! Yay for young love.
Wendy Manning, the Co-Director for the National Center for Family and Marriage Research stated, “We’ve seen a decline of divorce among people who are younger and an increase among people who are older”. Another study conducted at Bowling Green State University found that in 2015, there were only 16.9 divorces for every 1,000 women married. Overall, there has been a 25% decrease in divorce rates since 1980. Here’s another article we found about why Millennials are rocking marriage. The 80’s may have known how to party, but we know how to love! Millennials are breaking marriage-barriers that were typically the norm for their parents’ generation, and thus proving Millennials are actually awesome at marriage! Hitch Studio can attest to this with some data of our own.
Since Hitch Studio opened in 2014, 100% of the couples who hired Hitch for wedding styling and planning are still happily married! Out of the 102 couples Hitch has designed wedding stationery for, 101 are still living out their happily ever after — that is 99%!

Photo of Abbi Sudtelgte and T.J. Lally (Millennials). Photo credit: Scott DesLauriers

So what does this mean for the team at Hitch Studio? It means we know YOU! If you’re reading this blog here’s what we probably know about you as a bride:

  • We know you’re from the Midwest (probably South Dakota or Minnesota).
  • We know that 34% of couples say they’ve contacted a vendor through a social network. So, you could check out our Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest links if you wanted.
  • We know the average age of a bride getting married is 30 and for the groom is 32.
  • We know that the average cost of a wedding in South Dakota is $14,000.

Out of the 80 million Millennials, we know that the average bride plans a wedding in 10-15 months, spending at least 15 hours a week on wedding details (that’s over 600 hours of planning!) and about 80% of that time is spent online. Let Hitch Studio save you some time. We can recommend vendors in any category at any budget point you need to be at in the Sioux Falls/Brookings area. Plus, it’s free. We’ve done our research on our wedding vendors and we know a lot about you, the Millennial bride. Check out this infographic for more information from WeddingWire that we found helpful. But again, the better we know you, the better we can serve you.

At the beginning of the summer, we surveyed over 60 Midwest brides to find out just that. What do Millennial brides actually want? How can Hitch Studio best be of service to the most stressful parts of your wedding?

We asked our brides what they wished they had more help with when planning their wedding, and 37% wished they had more help with decorating the reception (both physical and choosing centerpieces).
One bride stated, “The hardest part for me was taking the several pictures I had and trying to describe what things from which pictures I wanted. What usually happened was I would describe something and the way I described it was not how the vendors I worked with saw it. What does does it mean when I say industrial but whimsical? How can I make sure that when I show vendors photos they take the things I like from the photo and leave the things I don’t like from the photo”.
This is exactly what Renee Halgerson, wedding coordinator & stylist, specializes in — making your vision come true! Whether you want a rainbow of colors or are dreaming about an oreo cake in place of a traditional wedding cake, Hitch can (and has) made that happen! Check out Hitch Studio’s wedding styling gallery here. We also offer a one-on-one meeting called a “centerpiece showcase” where we set up 10-12 centerpiece options that match your wedding colors and style — and you bring in the elements you want incorporated as well (picture frames from Grandma, vases from mom, tea cups you’ve been collecting) and we put together a variety of reception centerpiece that you LOVE.

Photo of Abbi Sudtelgte and T.J. Lally (Millennials). Photo credit: Scott DesLauriers

We also found that 36% of the brides surveyed wanted to know how to make wedding planning less stressful, and 34% wanted to know an overall checklist/timeline for the actual wedding day. Huh. Well, Hitch can check both of those things off your list! Download our “All-Inclusive Wedding Planner Timeline Checklist” here. And you can hire Hitch to make your wedding less stressful by contacting us here.  🙂

“Had it not been for other couples getting married while we were wedding planning I would have had no idea what order the reception really should go in (as far as cake cutting, speeches etc. as well as how much time to budget for each). Having more assistance overall with the time budgeting for the day of would have been much less stressful”.
At Hitch Studio, we provide independent Millennials with a variety of options for how involved you want Renee in your day! You can pick and choose your package level. Whether you just want help with setting up and tearing down, or the whole nine yards (including reception timelines), Hitch has something just for you. We even asked brides if looking back they wished they would have hired a wedding planner/decorator. Of the brides surveyed, over 50% said they would have hired some sort of planner or coordinator for the day.
“I know it would have been easier to have someone else who is a professional do what they are best at. Wedding planning was not my thing!”
“I had a friend step up and be a coordinator for the day and did all of the behind the scenes things I couldn’t do. If she hadn’t offered, I would have paid someone to do it. I think that gets overlooked and is something people forget about because they are so busy with other things. I’m thankful that I didn’t have to worry if candles were being lit or any of the other countless things that come up”.
Well, the Millennial brides themselves have spoken, and Hitch Studio continues to listen! So whether you need some help putting together the perfect centerpieces, want some fun ideas for your head table, or need a crew of people to set up and take down all your outdoor ceremony chairs, be sure to contact Hitch Studio today for your free consultation. We love you, Millennials! You keep on lovin’ too.
Posted in Corporate Design Work Blog, Renee, Styling, Wedding Etiquette, Wedding Planning, Wedding Studio and tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

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