The wedding industry in the UK is trying to resist soaring fuel prices which are disrupting supply chains.
A hand-painted wedding dress by Alan Hannah costs around £5,000. A small price to pay for a dress that will probably only be worn once.
"Prices are rising. We always try to offer prices as low as possible, but it's a reality of today's world. Everything is going up these days," explains Josephine Scott, wedding dress designer.
Each dress is custom-made and hand-painted in Hannah's London studio: the bride can choose the color, and even the pattern, of the fabric paint. Are clients still lining up in the current climate?
"Well, every time there's a crisis, the cost of transporting fabrics, or even dresses, increases. But it's something we've learned to live with. We've been in this business for 35 years, so in a way, we've seen it all. So prices fluctuate," said Alan Hannah, a wedding dress designer.
Besides the dresses, there's the fuel for the limousine, the ingredients for the cake, and even the flowers flown to the UK.
“It was a worrying time when people were thinking about Iran, Lebanon, Israel, which are obviously the closest… we’re practically next door to them. But it didn’t affect us at all. Our main cost is fuel for the yachts, and that’s very expensive. And then there are the decorations, the bands, the transportation, the trucks, etc. We’ll absorb those costs. We already have. We’ll absorb them,” says Sharron Masoura, Founder of Exclusive Yacht Weddings in Paphos.
For those planning a destination wedding, industry professionals seem to be downplaying the impact of the Middle Eastern crisis, emphasizing the importance of planning ahead to avoid last-minute surprises.
