Designing a wedding is no small feat. Between budgetary constraints and other logistical issues, it’s like putting together a medium sized event single handedly. Sometimes, the person’s vision creates a magical, unforgettable wedding, but sometimes you look back at the pictures and wonder why they already feel so weirdly dated already.
Someone asked “What wedding trends of today do you think will eventually be dated?” and people shared their favorite examples. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section below.
#1
I really hope the extravagance dies out. I just…my heart aches for these couples spending upper 5 and 6 figures mostly for the aesthetic, and then come back here and post about everything that went wrong.
On wedding dresses: the tops that look like lingerie. Super cute if that's your style, but in a few years it'll be so dated.All of them! There is nothing in 2024 that won’t look dated in 2050, just like how there was nothing in 1980 that didn’t look dated in 2000. Some things will be dated faster than others, but everything will be dated, from the clothes and accessories to the hairstyles to the food served to the photography style. Even the fact that you had wedding photography at all will be dated one day.
Timelessness is a myth. Always has been.The extravagant pre-wedding events.
The Instagram worthy planning (so stress producing).I'm actually surprised the cursive "bridesmaid" font hasn't died off yet. god i hate that font.Going into debt.The cursive minimal signage and beige/white/tan everything.Massive destination bachelor/bachelorette parties that costs thousands of dollars over days at a time. LOL I can’t wait for them to go away.Most of it to be honest - the huge expensive Instagram weddings, the cursive fonts, so many signs, getaway bach parties, the dress style that’s mostly lace top with a line bottom.
We all just kind of have to assume that whatever we do for our weddings now, eventually we’re going to have to defend ourselves to the grandkids of “it was cool at the time!”.The bare/minimal icing wedding cakes! I think that they’re cute, but it’s definitely a trend and will probably look dated in photos.Garter toss ?
Makes me uncomfortable EVERY. TIME.Bows. While they’re pretty, and I am actually planning on a few bow-things for my wedding next year, I think this will trend will be done within the next few years. I can see people thinking it looks too young or something.I would love if the trend of expecting friends and family to spend hundreds (even thousands) of dollars on wedding related events would die. Unfortunately, if the posts here show anything, the entitlement culture seems to be alive and well.The bustier/corset/lingerie type dress bodice I think will be the equivalent of the 80s puffy sleeve.Desaturated photos, the ones where the colors aren’t true or there’s so much white light to make everyone look ethereal. Also the dresses that have the fabric appliqués all over them.Pampas grass and triangle arches. Boho dresses.Maybe mismatch bridesmaids dresses? I personally love the idea of everyone being comfortable in styles that flatter them and will be adopting the trend for my next wedding next year. But something tells me the trend won’t vanish but will die down drastically.Following the *trend* in this comment section by sharing something I’m including in my own wedding that I’m sure will be dated soon:
Alternative bouquets.
I’m doing a LEGO bouquet, I see crochet bouquets are becoming more popular, but honestly I think it’s one of those things like themed weddings where some people will always do it, but it won’t be as common as it is now.Having a lot of guests. I think that elopements and micro-weddings will continue to become more and more normalized and socially acceptable as couples look to save money and keep things low-key and low-pressure.
Guests expect more from weddings nowadays than they did a few decades ago when potluck receptions and having family and friends pitch in were still socially acceptable. Now, couples are expected to wine and dine their wedding guests to a certain extent and hire professionals instead of relying on family and friends.
I'm not saying that guests' expectations are wrong or out of line. I understand that many guests travel long distances, take time off work, and/or make other sacrifices to attend weddings. What I'm saying is that most couples, even now, can't really afford to provide that level of hospitality to very many guests.
I mean, if you think about it, the biggest line items on a typical wedding budget aren't the venue or the decorations, they're the things that effect the guest experience the most: food, beverage, entertainment, and staff (so you don't have to put guests to work). It is simply impossible to have a wedding below a certain cost threshold without significantly impacting the guest experience.
So as housing shortages persist in the Western world and the cost of living (and therefore vendor pricing) continues to go up, we're going to see more and more couples forgoing having wedding guests, or choosing to only have a select few family/friends in attendance.
Personally, I regret letting my husband's family pressure us into having a wedding instead of an elopement. I enjoyed our wedding, but even though we did what we could to keep costs down while providing good hospitality to our guests, the wedding still set us way back financially. And the real kicker is that the vast majority of his family ended up not being able to even attend our wedding.
When my own daughter grows up, if she ever wants to get married, I will most definitely emphasize that she and her partner can have whatever kind of wedding they want and can afford. They don't have to follow any specific tradition and they don't even have to include her father or me or anyone else.Neon signs, drink/champagne walls, first looks (which I love and we are doing, but I think the pendulum will swing on this one), blurry film photos.The mirror for a seating chart. Gloves and pearls. The oval diamond on a thin gold band. Confused as to why so many people say it's timeless bc it's clearly a hallmark of 2020s rings.So many!
- extravagant pre wedding events. I think this is partially fueled by social media, partially by friend groups and family being all geographically scattered. I can see it getting scaled significantly back to just a private intimate activity the weekend of the wedding
- any activities that heavily are influenced by social media: bridesmaid proposal boxes, instagram reel/tiktok created by your videographer, etc
- fashion-wise: deep illusion v necks, corset bodices, reception dresses, Hollywood curls
- design/decor: *the* cursive font, marquee letters, neon signs, film cameras on tables, Y2K/70s design elements.Wildflowers and bright, colourful palettes, WHICH I LOVE BTW.I have so many thoughts!! Champagne towers. Everyone wearing colored sunglasses / glow sticks. The drop/ baroque waist wedding dresses. Eucalyptus. Sparkler exits. The fake handwriting font, and similarly, the elongated cursive that everyone uses. Neon signs (obvs). Bud vases. Wedding hair that’s down with the two pieces near the ears pinned back, and similarly, Hollywood waves. Oval rings w a gold band (guilty lol!). The notes for everyone at their place setting. Wedding gloves and puffy sleeves. Embroidered veils / dresses. Disco balls!! Ok that’s all I can think of.I’m seeing a lot of 70s inspired wedding looks these days and I think it’s going to look the way the early 2010’s boho/hipster vibe looks to us now.The rustic look, specifically a geometric, wooden shaped alter with some flower attached to it. The Neon signs of the newlywed's last names, the acrylic signs of the seating arrangements. If we go into wedding dresses, then specifically mermaid cut dresses with sheer bodices and a leg slit. Or the ballgown with a boned bodice and baroque or dropped waist. Also the detachable off the shoulder strap or puffy sleeve. Bridesmaids dresses: mismatched dresses, especially if some are solid colored and some are floral print.- bridal gowns that look more like underwear than outerwear.
- flower walls
- mirror signs
- floral arches
- uplighting
- photo booths
- destination weddings.I think (hope) the concept of a wedding weekend will go out of style. It’s expensive to host a welcome dinner, celebration brunch, etc in addition to a wedding and as a guest I’m just not interested.
Also all the wedding adjacent events like bridal showers are unnecessary when people live together before marriage and it feels weird with giving multiple gifts between all the wedding events.
Geometric and hoop arches are also probably a trend (and one I am using). Also all those mirror sign seating charts since they’re difficult to read.
In terms of dresses, I think the more form fitting, lace style will be dated (but that is also what I got so no hate)
In terms of rings, the solitaire cut and pave band are both very trendy so I can see those being dated. Diamonds in general are also becoming less popular, so we may see a shift to a non diamond ring being more common.Wedding photographer of 15+ years here. All clothing and hairstyles will obviously be dated. Almost all decor will be dated.
But these people commenting about first looks are hilarious. First looks aren’t a trend lol. They are a logistical aspect of a wedding.Most of them.
What comes to my mind is the washed-out pastel color schemes, especially sage or mint green. Shades of rusty orange are also big now, especially for fall weddings, and I don’t think it always will be the case.
Mismatched floral bridesmaid dresses.
The dreamy, I just picked these wildflowers by the road, shot in a blurry or darkly saturated aesthetic.
The bride wearing a hat and/or leather jacket in photos.
Sunglasses with the bride and grooms initials for guests to take pictures of.
Those are all things I like though. They’re going to look dated but who cares?! My mom thought her poofy sleeves were cute in 1985. All the women getting married in 2005 thought that strapless A-line gown and the teal bridesmaid dresses were cute. People who had burlap and hay bale cowboy boot weddings in 2014 thought that stuff was cute. They weren’t wrong, those trends just didn’t last forever and it’s ok.
What I do hope dies is a**l-retentive dress code instructions that sound like the bride or groom is typing through gritted teeth and on the verge of tears imagining someone showing up to their party with a slightly inappropriate hemline, and inventing hyper-aesthetic dress codes that require color schemes, familiarity with some dumb micro trend from TikTok, etc. Though 10-15 years ago I recall seeing people insisting on white-tie dress codes (clearly totally unaware of what that meant) for their middle class weddings, so I hold out no hope.
Calling small to medium sized weddings, or weddings with slightly offbeat elements, “micro weddings” or “elopements.” You had 30 people watch your ceremony then sat for a formal plated dinner. You didn’t elope. Similarly, the term “anti bride,” especially when applied to weddings with minimal deviations from a “traditional” wedding. It’s been multiple decades since not doing weddings all exactly the same has been mainstream, we don’t need a label for someone who changes into Chucks for the reception or skips the bouquet toss any more. It feels like society saw Bridezillas when it was on and decided *that* was the average wedding experience instead of something remarkable enough to make a TV show about, and everyone getting married since then has had to make up dumb labels to justify why they aren’t like that, when in fact *they* are actually doing the normal and typical thing.Acrylic signs.Tombstones everywhere. The arches, the table numbers, the menus.Photo booths and props.Veils with colorful flowers in them.Everything that people are claiming to be “timeless.” Oval diamonds, champagne towers, pearl veils, film photography, etc. Nothing is truly timeless.
