2022 and 2023 Wedding Trends
2022 and 2023 are going to be BUSY years for the wedding industry. We’re still working through the backlog of postponed covid weddings from 2020 and 2021, and then we also have all of the couples who were originally planning to get married in these years anyways.
So what does this mean for wedding trends? I think it means that we’re going to see a lot of creativity, a lot of personalization, and a lot of couples doing things their own way.
I always love forecasting wedding trends, so here we go!
2022 and 2023 are going to be BUSY years for the wedding industry. We’re still working through the backlog of postponed covid weddings from 2020 and 2021, and then we also have all of the couples who were originally planning to get married in these years anyways.
So what does this mean for wedding trends? I think it means that we’re going to see a lot of creativity, a lot of personalization, and a lot of couples doing things their own way.
Before I jump into some of my favourite trends that I hope we’ll see in 2022 and 2023 weddings, here are a few things that are always at the top of my list:
Environmental Responsibility
Quality Over Quantity
Locally Grown Flowers
Doing Things Your Own Way
These are all things that I’d love to see you filter through your entire wedding planning!
And now, let’s get into the pretty and inspirational!
Photo by Natalie Watson / Floral Design by Amy Osaba
Intimate Guest Lists
In my opinion, the greatest thing to come out of Covid’s gathering restrictions is intimate guest lists. Why? Because everyone at your wedding actually KNOWS that you want them there. They’re not just on the list because you’re a co-worker or a cousin. They’ve been chosen by you, to celebrate with you, and the impact that has on the ambiance is pretty incredible. I’ve witnessed such joy, such support, such celebration and it’s amazing — and that’s just from my very behind the scenes view!
Photo by Sophie Epton / Design by Amorology
Broad Colour Palettes
You know I’m a lover of colour. Whether it’s pastels or bright and bold, I just want each of my weddings to feel and look differently than the others, and the best way to do that is with a well-developed colour palette.
I don’t have any key colour palettes that I think are going to be super trendy (though I’m sure we’ll keep seeing more of the warm toffee and terracotta tones!), but overall, I encourage you to broaden and deepen your colour palette. Choose one or two focal colours, and add in supporting colours and shades, metallic and textural accents, and let your palette bring the wedding design to life.
Upgraded Stationery
Detailed stationery is one of my favourite elements of a wedding, so it always breaks my heart when couples don’t pay any attention to their stationery. Whether it’s just your invitations or if you have the budget to develop a fully customized suite, a well-designed piece makes all the difference between an okay event design and a memorable event design.
Don’t forget to layer in colour, play with the weights of the paper and various printing methods, and consider the little touches like envelope liners!
515 Photo Co / Design by Melissa Baum Events
Upgraded Place Settings
Glassware, flatware, layered charger and dinner plates, napkins, menus and place cards, you name it. The details matter, and they matter more than ever in 2022/2023. We’ve entered into a new realm of personalized wedding design, and the basic options that come along with your venue’s package just don’t cut it.
Some of my favourite local suppliers include Planned Perfectly, Collective Event Rentals, Trend Decor, and Union Table.
Pre-Wedding Cocktails
With couples feeling less pressure to do the typical and traditional, brings in more of the opposing desire: to create an ambiance of fun, celebration, and joyfulness. And when it comes down to it, most couples just want to spend as much time as they can with their loved ones. So why not host a pre-ceremony cocktail party? Whether you’re physically at it or not is up to you, giving your guests a welcome beverage that’s delightfully on-theme is such a fun way to kick off the evening.
Stationery by Inquisited
Statement Details
Whether it’s a far more interesting seating chart than the typical, a breathtaking lighting display, or a wedding cake completely surrounded by flowers, adding in one (or a few!) statement design elements to your overall event design plan is highly in demand.
Scaled Back Bouquets
I have nothing against big bouquets. In fact, I love them. But there’s something so chic and current about a scaled back bouquet, featuring ruffled blooms and smaller textures in a more intricate colour palette. Especially when paired with a more streamlined and architectural style dress, the effect is stunning.
Photo by Heather Nan / Bouquet by Tinge Floral
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Get on the 2023 waitlist now! Flowers are the best way to make a statement at your wedding. Whether you already have a specific vision or want me to dream up something custom just for you, reach out to Stone House Creative for stunning bridal bouquets, truly unique ceremony backdrops, and beautiful floral centrepieces to create the perfect ambiance for your wedding!
How to Design a Gorgeous Wedding Place Setting
You want your guest ambiance to be awesome, for your guests to mingle and enjoy themselves.
But you also want them to have a “home base” for the evening, somewhere for the quieter guests to feel comfortable and for the busy bees to drop off their belongings at before they go shake some hands. So why not put a little energy and attention into that home base?
I’ve always been a sucker for a gorgeous place setting. Layering bits and pieces together creates a well-designed element to your tabletop that sets the overall design apart. It can tell a story to your guests, or give them a taste of what’s to come throughout the evening, or combine form with function. Whatever it is, it’s in these little bits and pieces that your wedding design comes to life.
I’m a sucker for a gorgeous place setting.
Photo by Brittany Mahood | Wedding Planning & Design by Feast & Festivities | Florals by Stone House Creative
You want your guest ambiance to be awesome, for your guests to mingle and enjoy themselves.
But you also want them to have a “home base” for the evening, somewhere for the quieter guests to feel comfortable and for the busy bees to drop off their belongings at before they go shake some hands. So why not put a little energy and attention into that home base?
I’ve always been a sucker for a gorgeous place setting. Layering bits and pieces together creates a well-designed element to your tabletop that sets the overall design apart. It can tell a story to your guests, or give them a taste of what’s to come throughout the evening, or combine form with function. Whatever it is, it’s in these little bits and pieces that your wedding design comes to life.
This is probably one of my favourite place settings from a wedding that I’ve designed the flowers for. Emily from Feast & Festivities does a beautiful job of pulling together the intricate details in a clean, modern way. She actually custom-made the napkins and the accent colour thread is AMAZING, as is the way she folded the napkin across the dinner plate. At this wedding, the meal was served family-style, so the plates were all layered together, which looks beautiful but isn’t necessarily functional for every wedding.
Read on for some more inspiration, at different budget points and with different elements pieced together!
Plus, I’ve put together an entire Pin board with some more gorgeous place settings for you to check out, here!
Keep it simple, stupid
Planning: Birds of a Feather Events | Flowers: Bows & Arrows | Photo: Apryl Ann
Or not stupid. Didn’t mean to be rude.
I wanted to start this off with a simple place setting, with budget-friendly pieces that don’t require you to add too much in the way of “extras.” If your dinner is going to be served, then it’s coming on a plate. If you don’t want to add the extra expense of a charger plate, then a flat-folded napkin can easily serve the role of plate setting. Add in a menu or place card to simply make a big impact.
Have some fun with accents
Design: Rhiannon Bosse Celebrations | Photo: Samantha James
A flower, a favour…a mini pineapple?
Whatever your style might be, layering in a fun accent is a great way to bring some personality and design to your place setting. I love this combination of wood charger and smoke grey bread plate because it checks off both the form and the function boxes.
Creative Use of Colour
Design: Amorology | Florals: Siren Floral Co | Photo: Tanya Menoni
You know I’m all about the colour.
No matter what your palette is, extending it into your place settings will make a massive difference. Winnipeg doesn’t have a ton of options for non-white plates, so consider how you can use napkins, cutlery, coloured glasses, and menu to tie your design together.
When paper products make all the difference
Planning: Amorette Events | Floral: Siren Floral Co | Photo: Lucy Munoz
Go the extra mile and further personalize each guest’s place setting with perfect stationery pieces.
When I’m setting up a wedding, my favourite thing to do is read the menu and pretend that I’m a guest. I very often literally start to salivate. If your budget allows, placing a beautifully designed menu at each setting is another way to further tie your design throughout the wedding. Place cards are more than just an aesthetic element, though the soft marbling of the card in the image above is breathtaking. Sometimes guests really do need to be told where to sit — especially when you’ve chosen rows of long tables, and it becomes trickier for couples to find seats together.
Play with the Napkin Fold
Planning: Michelle Lynn Weddings | Photo: Kerry McIntyre
This is another really budget-friendly option.
If you want to add upgrade your place setting without upgrading your budget, simply play around with the napkin fold! Every guest needs a napkin anyways, so even if you’re just using the venue’s basic white or ivory napkin, a knotted napkin can go a long way towards making an interesting impact — as can upgraded cutlery. I love the gold flatware here!
LOOKING FOR A WEDDING FLORAL and event DESIGNER IN WINNIPEG?
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Flowers are the best way to make a statement at your wedding. Whether you already have a specific vision or want me to dream up something custom just for you, reach out to Stone House Creative for stunning bridal bouquets, truly unique ceremony backdrops, and beautiful floral centrepieces to create the perfect ambiance for your wedding!
2021 and 2022 Wedding Trends
The ways we can gather and celebrate weddings has changed, and wedding trends are changing right along with it.
As a result, the way we think about the atmosphere of our weddings has changed. It’s probably one of the only things that I’m grateful to Covid for — with all the shifts in wedding planning, engaged people moved their focus from their original wedding plans towards “how can I make my intimate wedding the best it can be?” and that has resulted in some seriously good ambiance.
The ways we can gather and celebrate weddings has changed,
and wedding trends are changing right along with it.
Photography by Jolaika | From the 2020 Portfolio Builder hosted by Stone House Creative and Feast & Festivities
As a result, the way we think about the atmosphere of our weddings has changed. It’s probably one of the only things that I’m grateful to Covid for — with all the shifts in wedding planning, engaged people moved their focus from their original wedding plans towards “how can I make my intimate wedding the best it can be?” and that has resulted in some seriously good ambiance.
And when it comes to “wedding trends,” this looks a lot more like throwing out the rule book and ignoring what everyone else is doing, and instead focusing on how we want ourselves and our guests to feel and experience our weddings.
So while I normally talk about decor and style predictions, colours that I’m loving, and similar details when I talk about wedding trends, today I’m shifting the focus of the trend conversation towards how we can make our celebrations feel the most amazing, once we’re able to really be back together again.
1) Creative Floor Plans
You may be looking at hosting a smaller-than-anticipated guest list in your larger-than-necessary venue. That doesn’t mean that you need to cancel with your venue and seek out something else. I’d encourage you to view it as an opportunity to get creative!
1) Incorporate lounges to make the space feel intimate and give people options.
Think about your guests and how you want them to experience your wedding. Not everyone likes to dance or listen to loud music — give them a quiet nook to sit and catch up with people they haven’t seen in a while! Image below by Blush Wed Photo with planning + design @petitepearlevents .
2) Creatively Separate the areas of your reception with billowy draping.
Notice how the drapery behind the cake below (Southern Posies) ensures that the cake itself becomes a focal point? Whatever you want the focal point of your reception to be, consider how you can play with the floor plan to give it more attention.
3) Create a canopy for your dinner tables.
Lighting, floral, drapery — there are plenty of options to do something cool and unique here. Take a look at the image above, designed by Always Yours Events. She used drapery to create a dreamy canopy effect with a slight beachy vibe, all within the confines of a typical ballroom. This is the perfect example that, though you may need to reduce your guest count, you can still keep your booking at your now too-large venue, while creating an incredible ambiance!
4) Of course, play with the table shapes and layout themselves!
The more space you have, the more variety in table shapes you can fit. Long, round, square — have some fun!
2) Less “typical” Bridal ATtire
the vibe of your wedding might be changed from how you pictured it — or maybe you’re just not a pouffy dress kind of girl. just because you’re having a wedding, don’t feel like you HAVE to dress a certain way — make your attire work for you. whatever your case, consider a little white (or not white) outfit that’s more to your taste.
My go-to recommendation for something like this is BHLDN. Below are a few of my faves, featuring mix and match separates including sweaters and skirts, jumpsuits, blazers and killer pants. You could also shop locally — a lot of boutiques will carry options that could be perfect for the ambiance of your wedding. Here in Winnipeg, Mad About Style does a white collection every spring/summer that always has gorgeous pieces with a slightly more laid-back, feminine vibe.
3) Live Music
I don’t really know what else needs to be said here: I’m forecasting More live music for 2021 and 2022 weddings, because it really contributes to the ambiance more than anything else.
To further personalize your event, the great thing about live music is that it’s very customizable to the ambiance that you want to create. Looking for a Top 40s dance party? Hit up Big City All Star Band. Want to keep things a little more casual, with an acoustic guitar and folk singer? I always love it when I’m setting up at the same time as Keith Macpherson is doing a sound check (pictured above from one of our August 2020 weddings). Winnipeg is also home to Luminous String Quartet, who are some of my faves to create a unique ceremony ambiance. Karen composes and arranges major hits into pieces for her string quartet, and they’re amazing. Give em a listen on Spotify.
4) straying from tradition and Doing things Your Way
Colour palette. style. forgoing traditions for tradition’s sake.
We’re seeing fewer cake cutting photo ops, fewer bouquet tosses, fewer corsages…if it doesn’t hold importance to you, then don’t spend another moment thinking about it (or another dollar on it).
Here’s some wise advice from Janelle of Lavenders Flowers:
“I knew I wanted our wedding to represent us for who we were in November of 2019, not worrying about what we may like or not like 20 years from now. Sure, future Janelle may or may not regret wearing a hat and having a rainbow color story, but who cares? Could you imagine what wedding my 10-year-old self would have dreamed up?!
My best wedding planning advice is to let go of the pressure to be or look a certain way and start having fun! Focus on what you DO want and ask yourself why certain things are important to you, write them down, then stick with it like a road map to your final destination. After all, it’s your day; make it something you're excited (not stressed) about!”
Forget about what’s “timeless.” In 10 years, will you care? No. So just do it the way you want. Use that vibrant colour palette that you love but scares you. Choose the dress that speaks to you when you twirl in it rather than going for something classic.
And speaking of non-traditional bridal attire…check out that Maison Corazon separates look from a shoot I styled back in the summer. Gorgeous, right? Photo by Esther Funk Photography.
5) Design Details
I said I wasn’t going to talk about the details much…but I had to throw a few things in. Here are some design and decor trends that I’m following and loving:
1) Leather Details
Like the placemat and sweet little name tag in the image above from Fete Collection, I’m finding myself OBSESSED with leather details and finding places to bring it into my designs. I have this idea for a leather envelope…not sure how functional that one is 😂 A much easier addition would be a camel leather chair in your lounge, rentable from Trend Decor here in Winnipeg.
2) Warm Colour Palettes
I used to be a cool tone girl. I loved pastels and lighter tones and have mostly decorated my home with them, but more and more I am finding myself drawn to warm tones, so much so that I included this is in last year’s trend round-up as well (like the bouquet below by Texture Florals — and note that it’s not JUST bright oranges…it’s just warm overall). Candles are a great place to bring this in — check out the toffee taper candles below and tell me you don’t love that touch of warmth!
3) Elaborately Floral-Ized Wedding Cakes
Whether the cake itself is simple or pretty heavily decorated, it deserves to be even more of a focal point than it already is. I’ve been loving seeing cakes be given a major floral treatment — maybe a ring around the cake (like the one below that I designed around a Jenna Rae Cakes confection), or ground-based florals that form the base of the cake table, or even a floral tier!
4) Monochromatic Colour usage
Now, you all know that I will dig into as much colour as you let me. But if you’re a little wary, a monochromatic look is the perfect way to have some fun without needing to be brave. Look at this monochromatic design below from Ashley Fox Designs — it’s simply different shades of the same pink hue. Playing with different levels of the same colour really allows the various elements to soar and I love how the texture is elevated here.
LOOKING FOR A WEDDING FLORAL AND EVENT DESIGNER IN WINNIPEG?
Getting married in 2022? Appointments to plan your dream florals are now available. Click the button below to get started!
Flowers are the best way to make a statement at your wedding. Whether you already have a specific vision or want me to dream up something custom just for you, reach out to Stone House Creative for stunning bridal bouquets, truly unique ceremony backdrops, and beautiful floral centrepieces to create the perfect ambiance for your wedding!
