These days, soon-to-be married couples are far more likely to ask for a UHD TV than china dishes. Grooms play a more significant role than they did in weddings 20 years ago. Nuptials now are more elaborate and embrace more traditions.
Those are some of the highlights of a new survey comparing feedback of couples married within the past five years with those married 20 or more years ago.
Best Buy commissioned the study with Wakefield Research to dive deeper into the world of today’s brides and grooms, following the launch earlier this year of Best Buy’s very own wedding registry.
Among the survey’s key findings:
Wish lists are getting a reboot.
Whether they’re newlyweds or have been married for 20 years or more, 76 percent of couples said they would prefer to register for an Ultra High-Definition TV than a formal china place setting.
In fact, if they could do it all over again, 75 percent of couples married 20 or more years ago said they would “tech-ify” their registries. Forty-one percent would have registered for a TV, and 40 percent would have asked for a camera or video camera. Nearly a third (31 percent) would have selected a tablet, and about one in four would have included a smart thermostat (24 percent) or wireless sound system (23 percent).
Since Best Buy launched its registry in February, Blu-ray players, streaming TV devices, wireless speakers, smart thermostats and small appliances — such as hand blenders, slow cookers, griddles and irons — are some of the most popular items couples have registered for. The top three most requested gifts? The Ninja professional blender, Apple TV and an Oster cordless wine opener.
Grooms are stepping up
In this new survey, 69 percent of recent brides say their grooms played a significant role in wedding planning, compared with fewer than half (49 percent) of those married 20 or more years ago.
From choosing food and beverages (60 percent) to planning the wedding registry (43 percent) grooms actively prepare for the big day. Whether they were involved, 92 percent of both recent and experienced grooms think that wedding planning should be shared equally between partners.
Weddings today incorporate more traditions
Today’s couples have more wedding traditions than those married for 20 years or more. More couples today are making formal, public proposals (23 percent); taking engagement photos (46 percent) and throwing wedding-related events, such as bachelor or bachelorette parties (45 percent). It makes sense then that every step of the wedding is captured in photos. Today’s couples take almost three times as many photos as older couples did.
Note: The Best Buy Weddings Survey was conducted by Wakefield Research (www.wakefieldresearch.com) among 1,000 brides and 1,000 grooms. The survey was fielded between May 29th and June 12th, 2015, using an email invitation and an online survey. The margin of error at the overall level is +/- 2.2%