• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, January 7, 2019

Between declining marriage rates and online shopping, the wedding market continues its shape-shifting. The latest?

Internet bridal registry company Zola has hatched a New York City pop-up, including on-demand in-store  elopements. (All the associates are Universal Life ministers.)

And David’s Bridal, which filed for bankruptcy protection last fall, is running a new ad featuring diverse – even same-sex – couples, stressing the importance of individuality over tradition.

Millennials don’t just get married less, they get hitched differently. About 85% live together before they get say “I do,” and they’re also more transient, says Jennifer Spector, Zola’s director of brand. But while it’s true that the wedding marketing is changing,“it’s not as different as you might think,” she tells Marketing Daily. “Couples still want to hire wedding bands. They want rings. They just want to organize those things in a way that’s easier and faster.”

She says the Zola pop-up is meant to be a sort of “wedding planning paradise.” The experience destination has a listening booth to hear playlists and find your ideal wedding song, and a 3D-printing space where couples can take a photo, then turn it into a customized cake topper. To ease the stress, there’s a CBD lounge. And while there have been no takers on the in-store marriages yet, Spector thinks it will happen soon, since Zola is tossing a free cake in with the offer.

The shop, based on earlier tests in Los Angeles and Dallas, delivers on Zola’s promise to help couples set up wedding registries and plans in one hour or less. “The goal is to provide a streamlined registry and planning experience that works well on mobile,” Spector says. “Before, you’d wind up with 11 tabs open on your computer.” Zola also sells print invitations and save-the-date cards.

Ads for the shop, in the city’s Flatiron District, are running in subways and online, and she says it will stay open through April, to accommodate the busiest times of wedding planning. (More couples get engaged on Christmas Day than any other, so the first quarter is a critical period.)

David’s Bridal, based in Conshoshocken, Pa. is also looking for new ways to woo millennials. The company, in the midst of a bankruptcy restructuring plan that it hopes will help it shed $450 million in debt, just kicked off a new ad to help usher in its busiest season. And besides introducing more lower-priced dresses, it’s also expanding its Blueprint Registry, and optimizing the online shopping experience.

The new ad shows off the changing faces of marriage: One young couple walks down the aisle with a toddler in arms, for instance, and a same-sex couple enjoys their first dance. It’s running on radio and online video.

Yard created the ad, called “Re-write the rules.” It plays off the old-fashioned “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue” adage, says Liz Crystal, David’s CMO. 

The main idea is inclusivity, and “for every bride to feel that we have something for her while staying true to her vision and who she is, no matter her style, budget, or type of wedding,” adds Crystal.

Currently, about half of the adults in the U.S. are married, reports the Pew Research Center, down from 72% in 1960. In part, it’s because people are delaying marriage, with the median age for a first marriage rising to 27.4 for women and 29.5 for men in 2016 compared to 20.3 for women and 22.8 for men in 1960. But more Americans have never married, and more are choosing to live with a partner instead of marrying.