Back in 2018, I first wrote this post exploring the question: should you follow wedding trends or not? A lot has changed since then. While much of the advice still rings true, the wedding landscape itself has shifted, dramatically influenced by the rise of social media.
Platforms like TikTok and Instagram have become the go-to source of inspiration for couples, with endless streams of wedding content at your fingertips. On one hand, it’s brilliant: you can access fresh ideas from all over the world, discover suppliers you’d never have found otherwise, and see a huge variety of styles in action.
But there’s a flip side. The sheer volume of curated, “everything is content” wedding moments can sometimes make it harder to separate what you genuinely love from what you’ve simply seen go viral. I’ve noticed couples making decisions with the camera in mind, choosing details because they’ll look great in photos, or because they’re the thing “everyone’s doing”, rather than because they feel meaningful. Sometimes that can even work against practical planning, like couples prioritising a decorative detail that looks incredible online but doesn’t quite work logistically in real life.
That’s why it feels more important than ever to pause and ask yourself: are we choosing this because it excites us, or because we’ve been influenced by the algorithm? Trends can be fun and inspiring, but at the heart of it all, your wedding day is about marrying the love of your life and celebrating with the people who mean the most to you. It’s about joy, not just likes.
If this resonates, you might also enjoy my post on “How to create a meaningful wedding“, where I share ideas for focusing on what really matters.
To trend or not to trend
The wedding industry is full of imaginative, driven suppliers who are dedicated to staying ahead of the curve and creating truly modern weddings. These planners, stylists, photographers, florists, bakers, dressmakers and designers are always on the lookout for the next big thing; keeping abreast of what’s hot in weddingland across the globe to keep their work feeling fresh and on-trend. And that little word ‘trend’ is a thorny one, which can elicit some pretty strong feelings among couples-to-be.
So, here’s where the question: ‘to trend, or not to trend’ comes in. Do you listen? Do you follow the in-crowd to bring in some seriously beautiful, undeniably Pinterest-worthy styling to the table? Or do you strike out on your own and steer clear of wedding trends entirely to do your day completely and unashamedly your way?
DO YOUR RESEARCH
This is where it gets tricky. Because, while you don’t want it to be a cookie-cutter affair, of course, you want your wedding to feel contemporary. Of course, you want to work with suppliers who are at the top of their game, and of course, you want your wedding pictures to consistently give you that ‘jaw-on-the-floor, my god our wedding was GORGEOUS’ feeling each time you get out your album.
Planning your wedding in line with trends might, then, seem like a good option, with stunning results guaranteed. As with any big project, the first job on your list is one of research. Get out there and have a look at what the trends are shaping up to be and what your initial reactions to them are. Check out real weddings and, crucially, styled shoots featured on big blogs and social platforms in the UK, US and Australia (try Rock My Wedding, Love My Dress, Ruffled and Hello May as your first ports of call).
The key here is noticing what you’re consistently drawn to. If a trend catches your eye once, scroll past. If it keeps tugging at you, even when it’s not front and centre on your feed, that’s a sign it’s worth exploring further.
BE YOUR OWN TRENDSETTER
It goes without saying that your wedding is about celebrating you as a couple. And while subscribing to style and wedding trends doesn’t change that, there’s always a risk it could dilute the personality of your day.
Hitting a certain social media app hard has become synonymous with the first flushes of post-engagement inspiration hunting, but you really can plan a wedding without Pinterest or TikTok! If the key thing for you is that your wedding is a distilled expression of your style and personality as a couple, then your lifestyle is influence enough.
Draw on what you’re loving in your life for inspiration, and trend reports be damned! If the ‘in’ style is for muted florals and trailing foliage, but your house is always filled with vases of sunflowers, then sunflowers it is. Who cares if Pantone think Ultraviolet (or Peach Fuzz, or whatever comes next) is the colour of the year? If you’re a Farrow & Ball colour-card couple, then stick with the palette that makes you happy.
But more than that – look to your favourite books and films for inspiration, think about the last really great date the two of you had, the atmosphere in the restaurant where you had your last ‘wow’ dinner, or a place you’ve visited that captured a little bit of your heart. I often find my inspiration when creating lookbooks for my couples from seemingly unlikely sources. I’m regularly to be found trawling interiors and fashion magazines, and taking cues from travel, art and architecture to help me brainstorm.
FIND A MIDDLE GROUND
The lovely thing about lots of the wedding trends out there is that they’re quite loose and open to interpretation. You can use them as a basis for your styling, and add your own brilliantly creative, personal and sometimes downright bonkers spins on them to make them all your own.
Trust me when I say that I’m as anti-cookie-cutter as they come, but I do believe there’s a place for trends when planning your wedding. They can be a fantastic springboard, as long as you make them work for you.
So, to trend, or not to trend? That is the question. And for me, a healthy serving of both is the answer. Beautiful, modern and up-to-the-minute design that also perfectly represents you as a couple? Now that sounds like a pretty fabulous wedding to me.
All images from Bodleian Inspiration shoot
