Mazel Tov!
Big Jewish Weddings
Are Back in 2022
JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER
T he New York Times reported in February a pre-
diction from the trade group Wedding Report that
about 2.5 million weddings would “take place” this
year, a “bump not seen since 1984.”
Locally, rabbis and event managers are corroborating the
forecast. Weddings are back in 2022, they say.

But aside from the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, the
lockdown period, weddings never really went away, accord-
ing to rabbis and event managers. Th ey just changed shape.

Philadelphia-area Jews held smaller celebrations, some-
times even micro aff airs with 10 or 12 people. Th ey also
hosted parties in diff erent locations than traditional ven-
ues, like backyards and public parks. Some gatherings still
crossed the 100-guest threshold but, in general, these major
life events were scaled down due to pandemic concerns.

In 2022, though, the standard big party is back, and it’s
back in full.

Samantha Foxwell, a coordinator at the Artesano Gallery
in Philadelphia, said, “We’re seeing 200-, 250-person wed-
dings.” Michelle Durinzi, the marketing director for Robert Ryan
Catering, which services three area venues, estimated that
the average 2022 wedding crowd is between 125 and 175
guests. Both ranges are larger than the planners saw in 2020 and
’21. “People are ready to party again,” Durinzi said.

And it’s not just crowd sizes that are standing out — it’s
the sheer amount of bookings that venues and caterers are
seeing. According to Foxwell, Artesano Gallery already has 43
events on its 2022 schedule. She mentioned that, “we’ve seen
a ton of inquiries for 2023 and 2024.”
Nancy Schwoebel, who runs catering sales for Catering by
Design, a company that serves event spaces in Bucks County,
on the Main Line and in Philadelphia, said, “people are
booking much more short-term than they were.” Between
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