Out with the old and in with the new–it’s a saying that has likely been true for most of our lives. You’ll find that it applies to virtually everything in life. Old traditions and rules tend to die out for modern takes that tend to be more practical and appealing to a younger audience. This idea has mostly stayed true for weddings as well. A traditional wedding tends to have activities that modern couples find to be a little boring or outdated. As time goes on, these outdated wedding trends tend to be replaced with something more modern and exciting, thus changing the way we plan for our weddings.
So in this post, we’re going to take a look at some of the modern wedding trends that have been drastically changing the way we plan our big day. Whether you’re a young couple looking for interesting wedding ideas or an older couple that wants their big day to be more modern, you’ll find something helpful in this list we’ve compiled.
Sustainability in everything–including weddings!
Sustainable weddings is a huge talking topic nowadays. Since more people are becoming aware of their impact on the environment, sustainable weddings are starting to become a popular choice for the environmentally-conscious.
This is something that you’ll need to plan in advance. It’s not something you can do on a whim and your wedding planner will need to speak with specific vendors if you want to have a wedding that focuses on sustainability. This might also affect your venue choice, so make sure it’s something that you’re willing to invest in from the start.
Adding more dietary options
As more people explore different dietary options, it’s become important to try and cater to as many people as possible to make them feel welcome and comfortable on your big day. This is why it’s important to ask your guests about the dietary needs when sending invitations, and it’s also important to speak with your vendors or the venue to see if they can accommodate those dietary needs.
You might find yourself struggling to cope with certain kinds of dietary needs and your cooking team might need to create a handful of dishes for specific people with strict dietary requirements. This can sound like a pain at first, but as long as you give the cooking team enough warning they’ll likely be more than willing to accommodate you.
Extravagant wedding venues
When planning your wedding, most people would use something like MagnetStreet’s wedding planning checklist to help keep track of the steps they’re on. Arguably one of the most important steps is picking a suitable wedding venue for your needs. This can be incredibly expensive depending on the time of year and location, hence why many couples look around for deals or book months in advance to ensure they get a good price for the day they want to get married.
However, modern weddings as of late have mostly been in extravagant wedding venues that defy reality. In the past, it was all about picking a rustic location with a lovely green lawn and wonderful architecture. Nowadays, you might find weddings taking place in ultra-modern churches, palaces or even castles.
Incorporating social media in your big day
Social media has become a huge part of our lives. Whether you keep up with friends and family members or matched with your partner on social media, there are plenty of reasons why you might have a special attachment to things like Facebook and Twitter. Given that social media is accessible virtually anywhere if you have a smartphone, many modern weddings actually have support for some kind of social media integration.
For example, some weddings will have a hashtag dedicated to the big day. This will help everyone keep track of the wedding, it allows them to post pictures throughout the day and share them with other wedding guests, and it can also be used to look for friends and family members and meet up with others. Social media is becoming an integral part of our lives and it’s no surprise that it’s seeing more use in weddings.
Modern online-focused wedding services
There are a surprising number of wedding services that now use online-focused features. For instance, if you hire a photo booth with fancy dress-up items, they might save all of the pictures your guests have taken and list them online so that they can pick and choose which ones to save or print out. This makes it easy for them to pick the best pictures they’ve taken and it also allows them to see what the other guests have been up to.
This is also the case for some modern-focused wedding photographers. They might share an album with you and your guests so that everyone can view the photos and request to print specific ones in various sizes.
Inner-city wedding venues
Many couples are adamant about going to extravagant outdoor venues or rustic locations for their weddings, but there are a growing number of couples that would prefer to have a convenient location inside the city to get married. This could be a fancy restaurant, a church or even a unique building that has been decorated for the purpose of marrying couples.
Inner-city wedding venues are becoming more and more popular simply because they’re more convenient. It’s much cheaper for people to get to your location, they have lots of hotel choices and they don’t need to worry about staying overnight in an expensive hotel in the middle of nowhere. It also means you have access to more services since you’re in a city, and you’ll typically have more culinary options too.
Tech-savvy additions
More and more weddings are starting to adopt tech-savvy additions to make their wedding more accessible for a young and modern audience. We previously mentioned the use of social media, but that’s not all wedding planners are doing to make a wedding more modern. For example, one unique idea is having QR codes posted around the wedding venue. When scanned, these might show a map of the venue or even lead to the wedding’s main website which has a timetable and list of entertainment options for the evening.
Another tech-savvy addition includes drone photography. Having a camera high in the sky allows for some unique shots that wouldn’t be possible without something silly like a helicopter. It’s a great way to take sweeping shots of your venue and can make for some beautiful images.
Modern alternatives to confetti
Confetti has long been a staple for weddings, but we’re starting to come up with more unique ideas that are simply different and more interesting. Instead of buying regular confetti, why not add some of these alternatives to your pre-wedding shopping list?
Some ideas include balloons, blowing bubbles, paper airplanes, ribbons, scented confetti or even small bells. If you’re looking for eco-friendly options, you could pick real flower confetti petals that are biodegradable, or you can throw birdseed which is typically eaten by birds after the wedding is over. While not the most modern and unique trend on this list, it’s certainly something that you can get creative with.
Unique wedding invitations
Wedding invitations are starting to get a bit more attention these days. While they’re typically very boring and standard, people are starting to get creative with what they add to a wedding invitation. For instance, a wedding invitation nowadays might be carved or burned into a thin slab of wood, or they might use different material such as linen, leather or silk.
Creating a unique wedding invitation doesn’t mean you need to be extravagant or use different materials. Some couples opt for hand-written messages to each of their guests and a small gift such as a keychain. Personalized messages are usually a huge hit with guests as they help create a personal connection between the couple and their guests.
Live streamed weddings
Recording your wedding is something that has already been done and remains a popular option. With today’s technology and powerful computers, a wedding video could be edited during the morning and afternoon and shown to guests during the evening dinner. However, if your wedding is in an area or venue with a fast internet connection, you might even be able to live stream your wedding to a live online audience. This is something that requires a lot of technical expertise and a dedicated broadcasting specialist to help. However, if you have knowledge on how to live stream and broadcast, you could actually set this up yourself.
Just remember that live streaming a wedding is a lot of work and it’s best to have dedicated people that are willing to help you manage it. This can be a wonderful thing to show on your social media pages and it can be a brilliant way to show your wedding to people that couldn’t make it in person. Live streamed videos are also saved, meaning you can get a copy of the entire broadcast later on to save your memories and share them with friends and family members.
Have you tried these modern wedding trends for your big day? Let me know in the comments below!
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