Toward the beginning of each new year our online wedding store likes to do a little research to discover the most recent wedding trends. Most elements of weddings remain timeless and still work beautifully from year to year. We do notice specific elements that are favored each new wedding season, lending to what is considered that year's "newest" trends.
Here are a few exciting wedding planning ideas that we expect to see a lot of in the coming months. These may be exactly what you've been looking for to put together your own dream wedding in 2021.
"Sequel" Weddings
The social distancing guidelines across the country last year put a wrench in the works for many couples planning a 2020 wedding. Some postponed their nuptials while others went ahead and got married but without all of the friends and family members in attendance that they would have liked.
This year, many of those newlyweds will be hosting a "sequel" to that original wedding so that they can celebrate with more of the people they love. A 1-year anniversary party is perfect timing for this type of celebration. If you like this idea, go for it! You won't be alone.
Smaller Guest Lists
Even though more people are getting together this year than last, most celebrations will still be kept to a minimum number of guests invited. These "micro" weddings consist of 50 or fewer guests. A couple of wonderful perks to this type of celebration is that the entire event seems much more intimate and it's a lot easier to create a more personalized experience for everyone, both yourselves and the guests.
Individualized Food Displays
Hosting a buffet dinner where everyone has to walk past a long line of foods and serve themselves can worry many people that are concerned about germs. This year, more wedding receptions will have individual servings of foods packaged in a way that a single serving can be picked up and taken. For example, instead of a big salad bowl with tongs for serving, individual cups of salads can be set out on the table.
Another perfect example of this is the rise in interest for mini wedding cakes. Some might consider these the same as cupcakes but if you find a creative baker, they can look more like small, single serving cakes.
Customized Favors
A smaller guest list means that you have fewer wedding favors to give away. With less to buy, you may be able to spend a bit more on each favor without taking a big chunk out of your budget.
Also, it's less of a task to personalize these favors when there are fewer to label. To make this even easier, many of the wedding decorations and accessories at WhereBridesGo.com can be personalized at no extra charge!
Welcome Boxes
While most favors are given away at the wedding reception, a new trend is to offer welcome boxes when guests arrive at the ceremony filled with items they may need during the celebration. Some items you might include in a box like these are hand sanitizer, wedding-themed masks, tissues, hand-held fans, or sunglasses. (Those last two are especially handy for an outdoor wedding, which happens to be next on our list of trends!)
Outdoor & Backyard Weddings
Outdoor events allow everyone a lot more space to practice social distancing. That paired with the smaller guest lists many couples are having is making backyard weddings extremely popular this year.
Natural decorations with lots of greenery and florals works perfectly for these. Evening weddings look magical with the incorporation of twinkling lights or if you prefer to not have to worry about lighting, daytime brunch weddings are becoming a lot more popular.
Assigned Seating
To help everyone with efforts to remain socially distant and keep sets of people at your wedding together with their own households, many couples are taking it upon themselves to assign seating. This will cut down on the amount of people wandering around and you get to include adorable escort cards and place cards in your wedding décor. Some of the options we have for you at WhereBridesGo.com can even do double-duty as wedding favors.
Not all wedding trends appeal to everyone but they are a wonderful source of inspiration for getting your own creative juices flowing. You'll always find even more wedding inspiration within the pages of our online wedding store which can be browsed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Whenever the urge strikes you to work on your wedding plans, we'll be right here waiting, Where Brides Go, For What Brides Love!
~The WhereBridesGo.com Team
Post by Deanna Powell, Certified Bridal Consultant