Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Ever Changing Wedding Traditions: September 2018 Edition


The wedding world is forever changing. What’s in? What’s out? Or more likely what will be in and what will be out? We’ve learned key ways to stay on top of the ever changing trends. Learning and reading about the events and wedding industry on a frequent and consistent basis has helped. Following the right wedding and event accounts on IG is a must. Wedding experts are always sharing and/or showing their opinions and individual spinoffs regarding the next best things and what the couples are starting to try out. These visuals help shape what we see at weddings today.


Doing this same type of research, we also find what’s typical for couples not to want at their big day anymore. Wedding Day factors that have gone out of style. The best way to stay proactive with this is to hear from clients themselves. It’s important to listen to what they’re asking for and what they aren’t. Every couple has different tastes and will plan their wedding the way they want to but it’s often easy to find a common thread between multiple wedding clients and pull a common denominator. So I’ve compiled a list from a mix of my wedding research and personal client experiences to share what traditions may be on the way out and what is on the way in to replace it!

Cake is out. Fun desserts are in! Yes, the cutting of the traditional white wedding cake that tastes slightly stale with too much icing with a bride and groom cake topper that looks vaguely like you that everyone only eats a few bites of, is slowly losing popularity. If cake is out, then so is the classic cake face smoosh that follows the cutting. Only specialty cakes with unique designs and flavors or even in a unique position, perhaps upside down, remain in.



Now couples are more interested in providing guests with their personal favorite sweet treats that are typically unique and yummy. Anything goes from an ice cream sundae bar and cotton candy machine to various pie flavors and warm cookies and milk. Often the desserts are revealed as a surprise to guests and are sure to satisfy every sweet tooth.


The sweetheart table is out. Mingling with guests is in! Couples are tending to lean away from the table for two and swapping it out for a seat with close friends and family. It’s a way to be more connected to your guests and feel more like a part of the wedding than an observer. Some couples are opting out of a seat altogether and instead take the time when all guests are seated to visit each table and chat with the attendees. Either way, the couples want to be more included in the dining hour.

Saturday weddings are being pushed aside with more Friday, Sunday, and even weekday weddings! These new potential wedding days are typically less expensive compared to the highly desired Saturday. Now that couples are trying out new days, it’s a wonder why Saturday was even all that special after all. Fridays offer a great opportunity to make a long weekend wedding event and are especially great for family visiting from out of town. Having a non Saturday weekend is a great alternative and in most cases be less expensive.

The bouquet toss is being tossed aside and substituted for a multitude of  other unique moments. Instead of gathering all the single women at the event on the dance floor in order to battle for a catch that qualifies you for the next wedding- couples are changing it up! Some give the bouquet to the longest married couple at the wedding as a tribute to true love and a long marriage. Other times, they’ll split the flowers up and give them to close family and friends. Sometimes they even gather all the children attending the event and throw a few teddy bears into the crowd. Couples can now create a new, more meaningful tradition for guests to enjoy.

The dramatic exit from your wedding complete with fireworks and music is out. Staying until the last possible minute dancing the night away with your guests is in. Couples are taking full advantage of their most magical night with loved ones and savoring every moment dancing and living it up. Speaking of living it up...open bars are out and signature cocktails are in! Couples are leaning towards offering a few signature drinks compared to a full bar of choices.

Small intimate wedding parties are in and huge groups are out. It’s a lot more popular to choose 1-4 of your closest friends and family to be in your wedding party compared to the past where numbers reaching up to double digits was common. This not only saves money and makes planning easier but also makes the wedding a little more intimate. Some couples are opting for no wedding party at all!

Spending late nights planning your wedding by the light of your laptop is out and hiring a professional wedding planner is in! As more women join the workforce, it’s harder for couples to find any time to plan and it seems to be an added stress on top of work. Wedding planners take away that stress of dealing with anything and everything you need them too. Plus they are experts in guiding couples through the process. Having someone to turn to for advice and questions and not having to worry about every little detail will no doubt save you extreme levels of anxiety.
Trying to impress your guests is in!



Couples have always wanted their guests to enjoy the wedding but recently the enjoyment has been taken to a whole new level of pressure to dazzle guests.

A focus on guest experience is a top priority to many couples.

Booking incredible performers and thinking up out of the box surprises and lavish decor is all a must to create a night that attendees will never forget.  
Going along with the wowing of guests is the move towards more unique venues to enhance the special day. More traditional venues like banquet halls and ballrooms are being pushed aside for trendier spaces like city rooftops, lofty warehouses, historic mansions on acres of land, and

even gorgeous yacht weddings on glistening harbors.  

The unique venue adds to the guest experience to make a night no one will forget. Plus it offers opportunities for extraordinary pictures!
Decor budgets are ever changing as well. Spending money on copious amounts of flowers is out and in exchange the money is being spent on unique decor! If you and your significant other met at a Yankees game, expect to see the New York baseball team’s logo somewhere. If Paris is where the proposal happened, then the Eiffel Tower is bound to be incorporated. Keeping it tasteful but adding in personalized elements is growing in popularity in comparison to spending it all on flowers and casual decor.

Even how guests are giving wedding gifts is changing! Registries of home necessities the couple picked out is fading in turn for a different type of registry.  Some couples are opting to have guests give money for a honeymoon activity such as a private wine tasting or gondola ride through Venice, Italy. This can make the attendees feel included in helping the new happy couple make memories they won’t forget, compared to buying them a blender. Other couples are now more inclined to ask guests to donate the money they would have spent, to a specified charity of meaning to the couple. This makes the day just a bit bigger than themselves.  
These trends are just a few that wedding experts and myself have taken notice of and certainly isn’t a rulebook for how your wedding “should be.” The idea of trends and traditions can be confining to some couples so don’t be apprehensive if you want to stick to an older tradition or try something new- maybe you’ll start the next wedding trend! Being an event planner for a unique venue only- yachts- makes this an exciting time to be in the business. Couples are more willing and curious to look into a yacht wedding and all of the unique and unparalleled amenities we offer. Not only that, but couples are realizing the value of having an event planner and just how much support and industry expertise they can benefit from. This ideal time makes an event enthusiast like me very intrigued for what’s to come next in the wedding world!  



Written by Charlotte Lewis. Charlotte Lewis is the Marketing & Event Planning Intern for Golden Knot Yacht Services, a Yacht Event Planning Company for Weddings, Corporate Events, and Special Occasions in New York City, NJ, Philadelphia, DC, Baltimore, Annapolis, Florida, San Diego, Newport Beach, Marina Del Ray, Hawaii, and the Bahamas. Don’t just float through life, catch some waves.
www.goldenknotys.com
@goldenknotyacht

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