Wedding planner Carmen Luk says venues have begun removing U.S. wines and bourbons from menus in the face of tariffs.Jennifer Roberts/The Globe and Mail
When Sarah Ashbourne visited a Vaughan, Ont., bridal boutique in early March, she was drawn to a gown from California. But she was also warned that its price could spike at any moment.
The retailer cautioned that her total could soar between 15 to 30 per cent because of U.S. tariffs, which at the time threatened to disrupt global supply chains and raise import costs.
The blowback from U.S. tariffs on global trade partners hasn’t just added urgency to shopping for a white dress. It’s starting to ripple across Canada’s wedding industry, raising some prices in an already inflated market, reducing selection for everything from flowers to stationery and adding pressure for couples to commit to a purchase right away.
As far as selection goes, hotels and venues have removed popular California wines and U.S. bourbons from their wedding packages as they became unavailable in many provincial liquor stores, said Carmen Luk, principal event planner at Toronto-based Devoted To You.
Photographers are facing increased costs for film stock, with many stockpiling in response to rising prices, she said. Kodak, for example, a major supplier, is based in the United States.
According to Ms. Luk, wedding photography already costs between $3,000 to $10,000 on average. So any price increases in this category can be hard to budget.
According to Ms. Luk, wedding photography already costs between $3,000 to $10,000 on average, and further increases can be hard to budget for.Jennifer Roberts/The Globe and Mail
Some planners are noting a surge in the cost of floral arrangements. “Especially the ones clients don’t want to budge on – peonies, roses and orchids,” said Margarita Oudalova, a Toronto-based event planner specializing in higher-end weddings and events.
She said that a significant chunk – possibly around 30 per cent of flowers – used in Canadian weddings pass through the Port of Miami, including some coming from places outside of the U.S. The same rose can now be priced around 15 per cent higher than last year, she said.
Brides do have options to substitute flowers from across Canada, Ecuador and Colombia, said Johnny Reynolds, business lead at Callia, a Toronto-based flower delivery service. But greens, such as eucalyptus, are more challenging to get from outside the U.S.
It can also be harder to pivot when it comes to wedding gowns.
Higher-end dresses are often sourced from Europe and Australia, while more affordable options tend to be manufactured or assembled in Asia and distributed through U.S.-based suppliers. Owing to tariffs imposed on imports from countries such as China, many U.S. retailers are raising their prices, which can ultimately affect Canadian brides, said Calgary-based Alisha Chadee, owner and lead wedding planner at Events by Whim in Toronto.
On social media, she’s seen brides posting duty bills in the hundreds if not thousands of dollars for dresses they ordered before tariffs took effect and are receiving now.
“We have to order a bride’s gown 8-12 months in advance … tariffs are added when the site ships, not ordered,” said Danielle Gulic, co-founder of bridal boutique LoversLand in Toronto.
She said stores like hers are being tariffed on products ordered in 2024 and arriving in 2025.
For Ms. Ashbourne, the potential for added costs was nerve-racking, with dresses she’d seen already priced between $3,000 to $5,000. After just 24 hours of deliberation, she locked in the purchase.
Other couples have been shifting toward local designers, with the Buy Canadian movement making modest waves in the bridal market too, said Ms. Chadee. But these often involve design, materials and labour sourced entirely within Canada, which contributes to a higher price point.
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For acrylic signage and stationery – used in countless wedding knick-knacks, from invites to menus – vendors heavily rely on materials from, or routed through, the U.S., said Ms. Oudalova. Until a recent 90-day truce, the U.S. and China – a key supplier – have slapped each other with punishing tariffs surpassing 100 per cent.
She’s also noticed linens and decor items sourced from the U.S. have increased about 15 per cent.
One reason couples may be experiencing tariff-related price shocks is that many vendor contracts include clauses permitting price adjustments in response to shifting market conditions, Ms. Chadee said.
She advised couples to review these carefully and request price caps. “Couples can’t be contracted for a $250 plate meal and then have that double based on market conditions next year.”
Still, some soon-to-be newlyweds believe that wedding vendors may simply be taking advantage of the rhetoric around tariffs to raise prices.
“It’s an excuse,” said Toronto-based Alexandra Raszewska, whose wedding is this summer.
During her planning process, she found some vendors were raising costs well before the new U.S. tariffs kicked into gear. While exploring food options last winter, a $30 plate of chicken became $50 in the span of a few weeks before any contract could be signed.
“It’s a luxury now to have a wedding,” she said.
To stretch her dollar, Ms. Raszewska initially planned a destination wedding in Italy, where she said her money went much further. She ultimately reverted to hosting in Canada to make it more accessible for family.
In an ironic twist, Ms. Chadee also noted a spike in U.S. couples opting for a wedding in Canada, with tariffs hitting even harder south of the border and the U.S. dollar remaining strong against the loonie.