Zionsville Chamber of Commerce officials believe Zionsville and its many boutiques and wedding-adjacent stores make the town an ideal destination for weddings, bridal showers and brides shopping for a wedding dress.
The chamber, in an effort to promote the town’s businesses and vendors, hosted its inaugural Get Married in Zionsville event April 17. Chamber officials said they hope to hold the event some time again in early 2022 and continue to host the event annually.
“The idea is that if we can bring weddings into Zionsville, it becomes an economic engine for the whole town,” Allyson Gutwein, the chamber’s executive director, said.
Gutwein said it would be more than just wedding venues and bridal stores that benefit from increased interest in a Zionsville wedding.
“It makes a lot of economic sense to bring people in large groups because that way if they are using a facility for a wedding they are also using someone around here for catering and for their bar service. And then their guests are staying in the area and dining in the area and shopping in the area. Once we can get them here, they can see what a great town we have.”
As more people are exposed to Zionsville, more will want to return, Gutwein argued.
Diane Yows, a wedding and event planner with Make Your Day Events, said Zionsville’s brick Main Street offers a unique wedding destination away from more populous areas such as Carmel or Indianapolis.
“It’s a small town, which I like,” Yows said. “It’s got that feel to it. But it’s also got that city feel, too, because it’s so close.”
Terry Rake, owner of Titus Bakery and Deli, said if Zionsville brings in more couples looking to marry, it would allow her business to cater for more weddings.
Everywhere you look, especially downtown, is so unique. The businesses, the architecture, the brick street, obviously. I just think it’s a beautiful setting.”
