“A wedding is a once in a lifetime event,” said Bob Levine, President and CEO of Bob Gail Special Event Planners. “People in this economy will still pay for the best wedding because they don’t want to look back and wish they had done more for their special day.” However, because of the recession people want more for their money. “Weddings are just as nice as ever, but people shop around a lot more,” said Cassandra Santor Wedding Consultant and Coordinator of Beautiful Day.
Consequently, weddings take longer to plan and are more last minute. “Traditionally weddings would be a single day event, but now people make weddings into an entire weekend affair. For example, if a wedding is in Los Angeles, the bride and groom may want their guests to spend time in Malibu and Santa Monica for planned weekend events and site seeing throughout their stay. It is a growing trend for couples to have a beach party on Friday, the wedding on Saturday, and brunch on Sunday,” said Santor. A destination wedding allows for a more intimate event where family and friends can spend quality time with each other while enjoying their surroundings.
Not only is the destination wedding popular this year, there are also several new fashion and decor trends that create a traditional yet modern wedding. Unique head pieces crafted out of jewels and precious metals replace prom-like tiaras.
According to Santor, it is also in style for the bride to wear a fancy gown for the ceremony and change into a more casual dress for the reception. Brides adorn their dresses with flowers and accessories such as sashes or broaches to add a current trend to a classic look.
“It is helpful for brides to look for a wedding dress based on what they know looks best on their body type,” said Santor. Finding a dress that elaborates a basic line the bride feels comfortable with can help her to avoid any fashion faux pas.
When choosing color schemes for a wedding this year “design tastes correspond to the typical colors of the season. For example you wouldn’t use dark colors in the summer,” said Levin. This summer “people are going for really bright colors such as orange and yellow contrasted with a dark purple.” said Santor. Sharp differentiation between colors makes them stand out and sets the tone for the wedding.
“In planning a wedding, it is helpful to pick three elements that are most important to you and focus on them,” said Santor. For example, if you are passionate about food, making the caterer and menu a main priority will keep you focused on what is important and avoid obsessing over minute details.
Even though people don’t have a lot extra money to spend, they are still willing to put in the time, effort, and money to create an event that will be remembered for their lifetime.
