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Wedding industry in high demand

Vendors and venues in Columbia County are adjusting to the high demand from couples who are rescheduling their weddings because of the pandemic.

BLOOMSBURG, Pa. — It's the calm before the storm at Mountain View Barn, a wedding venue in Fishing Creek Township.

Owner Dean Ribble is getting ready for yet another wedding this weekend, on his property. 

"We had I think 34 this year so next year we have 36 and we're already booking 2023 wedding so it's been very good. We've been very blessed," said Ribble. 

But it hasn't always been easy the coronavirus posed challenges for wedding venues like Ribble's. 

"2020 was the year from, it was very bad," Ribble said. "Whenever Governor Wolf announced all the cancellations of meetings like this you know the phone was ringing off the hook. We did refund over $20,000 that year and rescheduled a lot to 2021."

Vendors are also working on overdrive just to make up for lost time. 

Nicole Dumond, a photographer in Benton, says she's already booked out for the rest of this year, including almost all of next year too. 

"This year has definitely been a struggle I'm basically working at double capacity of what's normal in an average year. So like this month in October I have seven weddings and there aren't that many weekends," said Nicole Dumond, the owner of Nicole Dumond Photography. 

Newswatch 16 reached out to over half a dozen cake and catering vendors for comment.

They weren't able to speak with us because they are so busy working to fulfill orders for weddings. 

The stress the pandemic has played on the wedding industry is something all involved are feeling. 

"It's a trickle effect, that's affected us that will continue to affect us down the road because of the fact that you know money that was spent during covid to keep us afloat we are not recuperating this year," Dumond said. "So, it's definitely really different the burnout is really real."

Their advice to those looking to book their wedding, be patient and plan ahead. 

Check out WNEP’s YouTube page. 

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