12 Wedding Trends That Are Out For 2023

Pure white color palettes are taking a backseat in 2023, says wedding planner Tehsin Rashid of Shaddinama."Couples are incorporating more colors and experimenting with different combinations to create visually striking wedding aesthetics."

As Melisa Imberman of The Event Of A Lifetime notes, clever hashtags were a must at weddings so guests could post photos on Instagram, but now it’s all about Snapchat & IG stories instead of posts.

Balloons and ballon installations became popular quickly, but the trend is slowly fading away for weddings, says Nora Sheils of Bridal Bliss.

Ombré and watercolor-inspired wedding invitations have enjoyed a surge in popularity, but couples are now leaning towards bold geometric patterns or minimalist designs that offer a unique and contemporary touch, says Marci Guttenberg of An Affair To Remember By Marci.

While rustic and vintage themes have been popular in recent years, they are starting to be overdone, explains Rashid. Couples are now leaning towards more modern and sleek designs.

Ditch the garter and bouquet toss, says Lilia Shatnaya of Plume and Stone Invitation Studio. "Some couples consider this tradition to be out of style or antiquated—to throw a bouquet to see who will be married next," she explains. "Out of all the wedding traditions I have seen, this one is on the decline the most. Not everyone is choosing to get married nowadays, and most couples are not comfortable with this display of jumping for the garter or bouquet."

The signature cocktail has been all the rage for years, but now couples are opting to feature bar carts at their event, says Marley Majcher of The Party Goddess!

Many couples are opting to skip wedding favors. "Some couples feel that your wedding is not the time to send useless items home with your guests that will get thrown away," says Kimberly Sisti of SISTI & CO. "Instead, engaged couples would rather take that money and allocate it to an experience at the wedding that everyone can actually enjoy."

Instead of being on public display in front of everyone to cut and feed each other cake, they are doing the cake cutting on the side or in semi-private, for photographs only, notes Shatnaya. They do not feel the need to shove cake into each other mouths in front of their entire family and friends. 

"We're seeing more creative options for couples in 2023," says Megan Breukelman of Megan & Kenneth. "Rather than a few pages of a big book that get signed, we're seeing couples put their personalities into this. Some of our favorites have been audio guest books with rotary phones, a signature tree where their loved ones wrote notes and hung them on a tree, and a postcard box for guests to write notes on with different locations the couple had been."

Allowing your bridesmaids to choose their own dresses has become increasing popular. "This way each bridesmaid can express their own style, wear a silhouette that flatters them & can actually wear it again," says Imberman.

While an elegant and beautiful cake is still important, extravagant multi-tiered cakes are becoming less popular, says Carissa Kruse of Carissa Kruse Weddings. Instead, couples are opting for smaller single-tiered cakes or cupcakes to save on cost. You can still dress them up with unique decorations or colorful icing.