Having been a part of the wedding industry for such a long time I’ve seen trends. I’ve seen so many trends come and go, from bridal fashions to decor, photography styles to the rapid rise of social medias influence on how a couple perceives the value of their day.
We recently worked with a couple who found themselves feeling quite despondent about the fact their wedding hashtag had only received 74 subscribers. When they only had 120 guests, we thought that was quite good – but their intentions were to go viral and become internet sensations.
They completely forgot that a wedding is about getting married, that was secondary to internet stardom aspirations.
So where do I think weddings are going, what direction will weddings in 2020, 2021 and 2022 take.
UNPLUGGED WEDDINGS
Personally, I think and hope that we’ll see a removal of technology. Refocusing energies on the significance of the day and bringing back what a wedding is actually supposed to be about.
More and more of my clients are opting for unplugged weddings, and a few opting for just unplugged ceremonies. Its wonderful to experience days where by none of the guests have their phones. Now in some cases this is for privacy reasons, but often its just because phones take people away from the occasion, they open their phone to take a picture and are instantly drawn into a world of notifications, likes and shares.
The easiest way to achieve this is to add it to the invite, politely request phones be kept in bags, in the car or at home. You can even help enforce it by having your ceremony somewhere without mobile coverage! Cheeky, but effective.
ELOPEMENTS
I find the UK market trails a few years behind the US market, looking out West for inspiration and trends has served me well across my career, and a trend that is massively popular in the US is elopements. Getting away somewhere pretty, just the two of you (or with a small group of family and friends). This has been especially true of the pacific north west area, an area that has driven rustic wedding trends over the past few years – but we’re seeing the trend trickle throughout the rest of the United States and over the past 12 months, into the UK.
We recently helped organise a Sunset Snowdonia Elopement and are helping plan a perfect Lake District Elopement. We’re also seeing an increase in elopement requests for major cities – with London, Manchester Edinburgh and Brighton being super popular.
Elopements really bring the focus back to the couple, the emotions and the significance of the occasion. I’ve also been told by alot of our wedding photographer friends that elopements are lovely to photograph – often freeing up a photographers creativity and giving opportunity to create something truly special.
DETAILS ARE OUT – LOVE IS IN
A few years ago, it was all about the bunting and the tree trunk centrepieces. Before that it was hay bales, more bunting and tents. Before that, florals and pastel colours. Trends in the details come and go – a few years ago everyone had to have picture frames for ‘selfie stations’ prompting a rise in photo booths and selfie props.
Im glad to say people are moving away from details.
The average budget for our high end clients to spend on details was around 25% of their budget, over the past year this has reduced to 10%.
Details are essentially there to impress your guests, give them something to talk about and share on social media and make everyone love you just that little bit more.
With the increasing focus on the human element, the emotional connection and the actual emotions – the focus on details has shifted away. With couples spending more on clothes and food instead. I’m sure the trend for detail oriented days will be back in 5 years – so keep hold of those jam jars and buy extra shares in mason jars.
Wedding Planners
We’ve seen a big uptick in the amount of enquiries we’ve received – we’ve also seen a huge increase in the amount of wedding planners coming into the market. This can only mean one thing – increased demand.
Increased demand signals that more couples are prioritising a stress free day over other things, they are valuing the efforts a good wedding planner can bring to their day. Of course were super happy that wedding planners are becoming more popular – but objectively from a client stand point we’re excited to see people have a more hands off, relaxed day and thoroughly enjoying themselves rather than getting fixated on the small stuff and the logistics of the day.
Perfect Day 