Photo by Cona Studios
It can be so hard to keep up with wedding trends these days. With social media inspiring new ideas, it can be hard to narrow down what to do at your wedding that truly sparks joy. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of the top wedding trends for you to incorporate into your big day!
When planning your wedding, keeping up with the latest wedding trends ensures you know about the wide variety of possibilities available to make your day a truly unique experience for you and your partner.
Wedding trends bring to light creative ideas that someone tried and has since caught like wildfire in the wedding world. Get inspired by the trends below, shared by Central Florida’s best wedding vendors, and who knows, maybe it will spark an idea of your own that becomes a future wedding trend!
CANDID MOMENTS WITH ARTISTIC FLAIR
Couples today are requesting more often to have their photographers and videographers capture the candid moments of their wedding day rather than focusing heavily on posed portraits. Not only is this a trend in photography and videography, but it’s now being seen more frequently through the use of live paintings.
Live painters are most commonly seen capturing very specific, pre-determined moments of a wedding day. Moments like the first kiss or first dance during their wedding reception. When a couple decides to go with a more candid approach – how do you pick the right moment?
Katie Collins Live Painting shares, “To get these looks I often work pretty closely with the photographers and sometimes use several photographs to get the perfect painting. Candid moments sometimes have to be organic and unplanned to be natural and the right moment is sometimes unpredictable. The lighting and everybody’s expression has to be right. Sometimes I will merge images from a couple of photographs to get the perfect piece.”
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Photo by Rebecca Ashley Photography
PLAN YOUR STYLE AROUND THE VENUE
The venue is typically the starting point for planning a wedding. Whether your venue is a farmhouse surrounded by woodlands, a ballroom fit for Cinderella, or a historic sight filled with charm, you likely chose it as a reflection of your and your fiances’ personal style. It makes sense that you would take inspiration from your chosen venue and apply it to the rest of your wedding, making it a whole vibe!
Stephanie of Socialite Events says “For a venue that has plenty of outdoor space with lush greenery and foliage, it helps you to have a naturally organic vibe. A venue that’s full of such beautiful nature should have the focus be on those lush gardens, greenery, shrubs, and everything natural.”
Every element of your wedding, from the dress to the decor, can all be tied together to fit your style and that of your chosen venue. Applying your venue style to all the pieces of your big day is an evergreen wedding trend resulting in a visually stunning expression of your love!
Photo by Rebecca Ashley Photography
In the example above, Stephanie says, “Be sure to highlight the natural elements of nature and minimize the use of artificial or non-natural items. Instead of tablecloths, our couple decided to go with custom dyed table runners which really exposed the natural texture of the wood tables.”
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Photo by Elise van der Lee Photography
WEDDING FAVORS WITH A PERSONAL TOUCH
Wedding trends aren’t just for dresses, themes, and color palettes. They can be found in the smallest details of your big day, like wedding favors. Your guests all have different interests, likes, and dislikes so how do you choose a wedding favor everyone will appreciate?
The latest wedding favor trend focuses on choosing a favor that expresses something about you, as a couple, as a way for your guests to get to know you better or learn something fun about you. Your guests are there to celebrate you both so why not use that opportunity to share something with them that brought you together or continues to bring you together every day?
Elise of Elise van der Lee Photography shares “Party favors can be such a sweet and personal touch for your guests. Especially when you choose something that tells your story. Warner & Kristine picked a Datil Pepper Jelly as their party favor to accompany every plate of their guests.”
Let your guests know why the personalized favor is important to you by attaching a small note that shares the sentiment of how it relates back to you.
Whether it be a special jelly or sauce you experienced in a new city together, chocolate from the place you had your first date, or a luggage tag that represents how much you love to travel – a personalized favor will add a meaningful touch to your wedding day.
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Photo by Honey Bee Memory Photography
GEOMETRIC DECOR FOR A MODERN LOOK
More couples are choosing a modern look when designing their wedding. From centerpieces to ceremony arches, this sleek, minimalist style is definitely trending.
Stephanie of Socialite Events has seen this wedding trend in her couple’s designs and shares, “You have to strike the right balance between geometric décor and floral accents to achieve the modern contemporary vibe you want. Too many geometric elements can be overwhelming and when left on its own without some sort of floral it can become underwhelming. Incorporate some freshness of greenery with the modern accents that allow you to keep your wedding from feeling too cold or industrial.”
Photo by Honey Bee Memory Photography
If you know that modern is your wedding style and you plan to incorporate these geometric features but haven’t found the perfect venue yet, Stephanie suggests that you focus your search on industrial or loft-style venues.
And remember, even though your ceremony and reception may be in two separate locations, you can still design both spaces to fit your theme. Consider adding a geometric-shaped ceremony arch with a splash of floral or decorating the aisle with geometric lanterns (pro tip: you can repurpose these to be used as centerpieces for your reception!)
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Photo by That First Moment
PERSONALIZED CAKE TOPPERS
A common wedding trend we’ve seen for years has been the laser-cut acrylic or wooden cake toppers featuring the couple’s last name. This trend is evolving, letting the cake toppers continue to tell the story of who they are in much more creative ways than just the couple’s name.
Stephanie of Socialite Events shares her experience with this wedding trend, “They also had an “It’s a Small World Themed Cake” which brought the magic and wow factor for this romantic wedding. The cake topper was a custom music box the groom built that played “ It’s a Small World”. A nod to their meeting and falling in love despite the groom being British and the bride being American.”
Finding a cake topper to tell your story can be as simple as asking your chosen cake designer if they’re able to make you the topper you’re envisioning with edible materials. Additionally, shops like Etsy feature small businesses that can craft something unique and meaningful for you.
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Photo by Kirk Marsh
LIVE PERFORMERS
Your wedding day is the day for you and your partner to shine as the center of attention but you don’t have to be the only entertainment for guests. A growing wedding trend is the incorporation of live performers throughout the entire day, whether it be the ceremony, cocktail hour, or reception.
The performer you choose can even blend into the wedding style you’ve chosen, like the stilt-walker shown above from Odd-O-T’s Entertainment. A unique live performer like this can turn into a photo op for guests as well as a seriously fun conversation starter!
But a photo-op isn’t all that live performers can provide for your wedding day. The options are truly endless and can range from caricature artists to Elvis impersonators and bring a surprising element at every turn for your guests to enjoy.
Whether you want some of the spotlight turned away from you or something to enhance that spotlight even further, adding performers can bring just the right touch of entertainment you’re looking for.
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Photo by KMD Creations
SUCCULENTS IN PLACE OF FLOWERS
On your wedding day, a day that’s entirely unique to you and your fiance, why not make sure that every last element is an expression of your individuality? No one says you have to have a floral bouquet and succulents are a gorgeous alternative!
Andie from The Flower Studio says, “A bride wants no flowers at all? No problem! Don’t get us wrong flowers will always be beautiful additions to any day but utilizing other plants not only gives you unique textures that flowers may not they can also be a great option for any decor ideas that may not allow for the proper water storage or temperature for your floral to remain fresh.”
For this wedding, The Flower Studio said, “Garlands with greens only were provided for the ceremony, and baby’s breath centerpieces were a must-have. Succulents were a must-have for our bride, Sarah. It is your wedding and it is up to us, the professionals, to bring your vision to life. Anything can be done tastefully. Don’t be afraid of your ideas, – it is always possible to achieve your dream wedding with a little guidance.”
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Photo by Elise van der Lee Photography
TYING EVERY DETAIL TO YOUR THEME
Planning to have a fairytale wedding theme? How about a garden-themed wedding? Maybe a rustic wedding? No matter the theme or style you plan for your wedding day there’s something they all have in common and that’s making sure that everything on your wedding day ties together into the overall theme or style.
Photo by Elise van der Lee Photography
Certain wedding trends come and go fairly quickly but this one is timeless. If you’ve picked a theme or style for your big day then why wouldn’t you want to incorporate it in every way you could possible?
Elise from Elise van der Lee Photography shares with us how her recent wedding used their fairytale theme to bring everything together. “It was a fairytale wedding and everything was so beautiful. From the little details to the beautiful Belle Bella Shoes to the special wedding ring. The Capen House was a dream venue and matched their vibe so well. The beautiful outdoors with the gorgeous garden and the view of the lake made it all come together so well.”
Curating the perfect attire to tie into the theme or style is something that, along with other customizable details like place settings or stationary, can really help bring your overall vision to life.
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Photo by Lazzat Photography
BACK-LIGHTING IN PORTRAITS
Intimate portraits throughout your wedding day don’t have to be boring or even traditional! Using unique lighting at your venue or asking your vendor team (especially the photographer) to help you create special lighting is something that will make your portraits more unique and personal.
Lazzat Photography says, “Our style is not just about capturing ‘pretty visuals’; it is about effectively encompassing the love between a couple through individual moments that will be framed still forever.”
This couple used the bride’s favorite color throughout their wedding day, taking it a step further to personalize their portraits with beautiful backlit images.
Lazzat shares this fun fact with us, “Taylor’s favorite color is green so the happy couple truly took this into consideration when planning their bridal details! If you check out An+Taylor’s engagement session, you will notice that their family rocked green-themed outfits. Taking a look at their wedding day, their bridal parties were styled in green outfits as well! Knowing how much Taylor loves this color, we implemented it during various parts of their bride and groom session, including their indoor segment by the waterfall!”
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Photo by Koontz Photography
UNITY CEREMONY
A unity ceremony is a tradition or symbolic moment added to the wedding ceremony that signifies the joining of the couple. For years we’ve seen the common unity ceremonies with candles, sand, or braided rope but in recent years this tradition has developed into something more playful and unique to the couple.
The options are endless but as a starting place, you should focus on things that require two elements that when put together join into one. Daniella from Koontz Photography shares a memorable unity ceremony, “This couple did a PB&J Unity ceremony. Partner 1 takes either the peanut butter or the jelly and partner 2 takes the other. They apply it to a slice of bread, put the two pieces together, cut it, and then eat a piece. At the wedding, they used a mickey mouse sandwich cutter and ate the ears!”
If it’s a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that brings you together or even two wines mixed together that make something special to you as a couple there’s no wrong way to make your own unity ceremony.
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Photo by Cona Studios
GENDERLESS & INCLUSIVE WEDDING PARTY
When it comes to including all the most important loved ones on your wedding day, you shouldn’t let gender get in the way of the role they play during your special event.
Follow the wedding trends and let go of the traditional roles a specific gender is “supposed” to play. Make your wedding day genderless to include everyone in whatever way you want; after all, it’s about the people and the place they hold in your heart, not which side they stand on!
Cona Studios shares their experience with this trend, “We are so excited to witness the wedding industry become an inclusive space. This includes the shift from a traditional bridal party to a more progressive genderless wedding party. It’s so exciting to see a cumulation of all the special people in our couples’ lives getting ready together and standing beside them regardless of gender.”
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Photo by Flora Bloom Photography
PLAN A PRIVATE MOMENT
This trend is an extension of the popular first look. Your wedding day is full of shared moments in front of your friends and family. Planning a private moment is a great way to ensure you and your fiance have a window of time that you won’t forget amidst the excitement of the rest of your wedding day.
Reading your vows during the ceremony can often leave couples feeling nervous which makes the moment harder to remember. Consider meeting together privately before the ceremony to exchange your vows. Another version of this trend is having your first touch or first kiss in private.
Flora Bloom Photography has seen more and more of this trend. Here’s what they had to say, “[A private moment] adds a sweet and intimate time for the couple to focus on just each other since they will spend most of the wedding day talking with other people. And since they’re sharing the vows privately, they don’t hold back their emotions as they might if they were to share in front of everyone.”
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Photo by SugarPop Productions
AUTHENTIC MOMENTS IN VIDEO
Whether it’s with video booths or a videographer, this year’s wedding trends focus heavily on capturing moments in video formats that are more candid and authentic. In addition to still photos, couples are showing more interest in being able to relive and watch the memories from their day.
Brian with SugarPop Productions says, “I think what’s going out is video being an after-thought. Video has become as sophisticated as photography (even using the same cameras and lenses), and more people are seeing it as an essential part of their wedding memories.”
Not only is videography trending, but we’re seeing more interest in the use of video booths to capture authentic guest interactions. Additionally, content creators are becoming a part of couples vendor teams to capture snippets for social media so they can really encapsulate the memories on social media without the family or couple having to worry about it on the wedding day.
Brian goes on to say, “It started with the Slow Motion booth trend a few years ago, then continued with 360 booths, which are still popular now, and will continue with even more video effects integration, not just in the experience but on the kiosk itself. We’re creating custom video montages that play on our booth tower, interactive experiences, user-selected effects, and filters and you’ll continue to see this trend grow as new technologies evolve.
We’re also seeing a big trend toward having a social media content creator or a social media wedding concierge. This is someone who will capture video and photo clips throughout the day and post them accordingly so your family and friends won’t have to.”
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Photo provided by Florida Wedding Expo
MATCHING WEDDING T-SHIRTS
With all the decision-making and logistics that come with planning your wedding, don’t forget to have fun! “Bride and Boujee”, “Champagne Campaign”, “Wife of the Party”; themed, custom t-shirts are always a fun addition to your wedding events.
This wedding trend may have started with bachelorette parties, but there are countless ways to bring matching t-shirts into the fold. It could be Mrs. & Mrs. honeymoon t-shirts, getting ready t-shirts for your bridesmaids and groomsmen, a special shirt for you and your friends or family to attend an expo, or a clever t-shirt slogan for the whole wedding party. The possibilities are endless; so get goofy, express yourself, and make the t-shirts!
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The list of wedding trends continues to grow longer every year. The most important reason these have become trends is that they add unique value and personality that makes a wedding stand out. Never feel pressured to use an idea just because it’s trending. Thinking outside the box to make something your own is what starts the future wedding trends!
Want to share all the unique things you did for your big day or all of the wedding trends you incorporated? Share your wedding day with us here!
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