Can you believe we are coming up on the year 2024? A lot has changed in how weddings look since 2020 when the pandemic hit. As a new wedding season approaches, let’s talk about some wedding trends we can expect to see this coming year.

1. Small or no wedding parties

Couples are starting to do away with wedding parties, or just having a maid of honor and best man, and keeping focus on them as the couple. There will still be plenty of couples who will choose to have larger wedding parties, but more and more couples are starting to have smaller or no wedding parties. We are also seeing more seated wedding parties during the ceremony than we have in the past.

I find that a lot of couples want to eliminate the obligation of their closest people to spend all day in hair and make up or stress over toasts or other elements. Additionally from a budgetary standpoint the more people in the wedding party the more costs add up from things like bridesmaids bouquets and dresses to even more people at the rehearsal dinner.

While I still find that couples have their closest people around them and give them special roles to be near them on their wedding day, I think alleviating the role of “person of honor” or wedding party removes an element of obligation and pressure that modern couples don’t really like as an element of their wedding day. 

2. Non traditional dresses

Gone are the days of pure white long wedding dresses. Dresses are such a personal choice and really reflect the style and feel of the overall wedding but I am seeing less and less obligation to wear traditional wedding gowns or even white dresses. This was long seen as something that was more common in second weddings but now I think all “rules” are out the window. Wear what you want, be confident, and feel like the best version of yourself on the wedding day and that will be the winning style. 

I have also seen an uptick in brides wearing vintage or “recycled” wedding dresses. As more and more people make moves to be more sustainable and eco-conscious, the wedding dress and wedding attire is one place that they can show their sustainable style. It’s also fun to see how couples are taking vintage or recycled styles and making it their own now.

Photo: Shannon Cronin Photography

3. Color Explosion

While classic white and green weddings will never go out of style and will always be perfect for some couples, more and more couples are embracing colorful color palettes for the wedding. Whether that looks like tonal color or an explosion of color the days of muted palettes seems to be coming to an end. Along these same lines I have seen an uptick in couples embracing texture and movement in their wedding florals opting for less traditional arrangements and styles and wanting to use more fun florals or greens that have a lot of funky textures or natural movement in the arrangements. I think it’s been really fun to see couples explore with non-traditional flowers and plants to bring creativity and uniqueness to the florals incorporated in the day. 

4. The Color Blue

In my personal opinion blue has never gone out of style nor will it ever. But since the color of the year was just announced more than ever couples are embracing blue as a main feature in their celebration. I see blue being incorporated in more than just bridesmaids dresses and suits now, but also in linens, stationary, pottery, drinks/glassware. In many cases blue is such a beautiful and complex color, it can almost be used as a neutral in the day.

Photo: Shannon Cronion Photography

5. Wedding weekends

Why celebrate for a few hours when you could celebrate a whole weekend? Traditionally, there was the rehearsal followed by the wedding, but in more recent years couples are celebrating with their loved ones for a whole weekend. Starting with a welcome party the day prior to the wedding and then celebrating with either an after party or farewell bunch the day after. Couples are choosing this route to spend more time with friends and family as they come from out of town to celebrate.

6. No Toasts at the Reception

As a planner we hear a lot of great toasts, on the flip side we also hear a ton of bad ones… One trend that we fully support is couples’ decisions to have very few or even NO toasts at the wedding reception. Many of our couples ask during the process if they HAVE to have toasts at the wedding because sitting through toasts is not something they typically enjoy at weddings. Since one of our biggest beliefs is that you should never do anything you don’t want to do, we fully support couples choosing not to have toasts at the reception. Maybe they have one or two but nothing beyond that. Do they allow anyone to do toasts over the course of the weekend? Sometimes! This is another great argument for why the rehearsal dinner and welcome party are such great events to host through the weekend, they are great opportunities for toasts so you don’t have to have them at the wedding reception. 

7. Experience over ostentatious details

We are seeing more couples focus on the overall guest experience versus focusing on the smaller details of their wedding. Whether it be with photo booths, late night snacks, or fun welcome bags, couples are considering the guest experience more and creating unforgettable, wow moments that their guests won’t soon forget.

8. Smaller cakes with dessert bars. 

                        Wedding cakes are certainly not going away any time soon, but more couples are opting for a smaller cutting cake and then incorporating a variety of bite sized desserts for their guests, creating a sweeter experience. 

Photo: Jenni Chapman Photography

9. Staying local and sustainable

                         More couples are finding the value and sticking with local vendors, or going with preferred vendors from their planners. Supporting local businesses has become more important for couples and we expect to see more of that in the coming year. Couples are also finding more ways to be sustainable and cut waste, such as digital invites instead of paper or locally sourced food and flowers. Couples are also renting more items instead of buying new, which is helping to cut back on waste. 

10. Shorter engagements

Traditionally, couples have taken between 12-18 months to plan their wedding after getting engaged. More recently, engagements have been shorter and couples are taking less than a year to go from engagement to the altar, with some couples planning weddings in under 6 months. Not gonna lie, we are here for it, it’s been really fun and challenging to plan weddings on a shorter timeline but I feel like we get to really knock it out of the park and hyper focus on the couple! 

No matter how you choose to celebrate your wedding in 2024, Pocketful of Plans would be honored to help bring your vision to life. Our team offers a range of planning services to help guide you through the process.