A new wedding vision is on the horizon.
We will celebrate wonderfully and safely as we have learned that happiness and health are the two most essential elements for celebrating. Therefore, embrace these new trends for your wedding and find your healthy happily-ever-after.
Trend Number 1 – Indoor/Outdoor
Finding a wedding venue that offers viable options for indoor and outdoor celebrations will ensure your vision is multi-faceted with Plans A, B, and C, should the circumstances of weather, safety, or restrictions require a change in vision. Most event venues have the option of outdoor ceremony space, but few can afford protected outdoor space for the reception. We encourage our couples to embrace the outdoors and enjoy indoor and outdoor space equally. Wedding Trends for 2021 are leaning towards an outdoor cocktail hour, followed by indoor dining, and the WOW of returning outdoors for dancing! Imagine enjoying the night air and the glow of market lights while waiting for the next song. Envision the guest’s reaction when a quartet of strings is playing for dinner while the DJ warms up under an open-air pavilion. Follow this trend and step outside the wedding box and celebrate alfresco.
Trend Number 2 – Digital Footprints
Remember that it is all about location, location, location in real estate … and wedding photography. The wedding day is a series of memorable moments that happen at various times during the day in multiple locations. Trends are departing from posed photography and moving towards a journalistic approach to documenting a wedding. The photographic timeline should start and end in different settings. Consider some of the following photo ops for your timeline:
- Begin with a wedding morning wake-up call. Plan to write notes to each other and have someone photograph the moment you wake to read your partner’s message. And, yes, pajamas are acceptable for this early morning picture.
- Schedule a breakfast with your maids or men and relive the memories of your friendship for one last time as single folk.
- Dressing photos should begin in the spa/salon and continue in the privacy of your wedding suite – not the bathroom of your venue. Pictures of the dress, shoes, rings, flowers, and wedding boudoir require some privacy.
- Continue with pre-ceremony pics in your venue holding suite, vows in the ceremony site, unique traditions in the reception area, and move the formal photos from one place and time to another as in these photographic examples:
Trend Number 3 – Touch Points
The heart is the only touchpoint that should matter on the day of your wedding. Keep up with the times and the trend towards safety by considering one or all of the following ways to avoid high-traffic touchpoints:
- Sign in options – bring a note, give a note instead of signing a photo mat or guest book. Enlist IG to capture guest messages by creating a signing hashtag – #SmithAndJonesSignIn or #SignInForSmith. Be creative and avoid hard-to-spell words. You may also want to consider adding the option of signing a digital guest book on your wedding website.
- Handles are here, there, and everywhere. Hands are meant for shaking. Friends and family are meant for hugging, so be sure hand sanitizer is here, there, and everywhere at your wedding.
- Favors are no longer a must, but those that are trending involve some sort of safety measure, like customized wedding masks or wedding safety boxes filled with sanitizer, mask, wipes, and tissues. Letting your guests know you are all about their safety is the new movement in wedding favors. (It’s ok to add in a little chocolate!)
Trend Number 4 – Cocktail Hour
The new norm for the cocktail hour is a stationary approach. Hors d’oeuvres are delivered verses forming lines to collect miniature meals from a station. The approach allows for quality, quantity, and a quaint new style for guests to relax and be seated while enjoying a sampling of rustic to elegant treats. Some suggestions for taking a stationary approach are as follows:
- Individual Charcuterie Boards filled with an array of meats, cheeses, tapenade, and other antipasto type fare served to a table. Some might even go as far as making the little board the wedding favor.
- Picnic Baskets – equipped for one or two guests to enjoy. The sheer surprise of receiving the basket will dull by the magnificent morsels found inside. When cocktailing outdoors, blankets for two are encouraged.
- Bar to Table options includes – a brew and a box of sliders and fries, champagne and a plate of berries and chocolates, mulled cider and apple fritters, wine and a plate of cheeses, and there are many more.
Trend Number 5 – Photo Bombing
More ways to create your digital timeline and preserve every memory of the day is to include some incredible pictures in unexpected places. For example:
- Mask on/Mask off – when dressing, be sure to take a photo of the donning of your wedding day mask. The mask is off for the ceremony and formal shots, but be creative for a mask-on approach to the bridal party introductions, thus ensuring your guests are comfortable donning their masks for the reception. Have fun by offering a prize for the best guest mask.
- First Look vs. Last Look – “the first time, ever I saw your face, I thought the sun rose in your eyes . . .” No truer words can describe the feeling of seeing your betrothed waiting for you at the altar. While the “first-look” trend, invented by photographers to ensure they had more time to capture the first time the couple saw each other, was popular in past years, couples are returning to the traditional first look at the altar and opting for a “Last Look” at the end of the wedding . . .
- Family Ops and Private Moments – times tell us not to gather in large family groups; trends ask us to create private moments with your family members and capture the joy. Like these that touch the heart.
And the trends keep coming!
Follow along on our social media channels to learn more about 2021 trends and share ways you are celebrating your wedding day.
