New trends and some old themes highlighted the year in weddings in 2025.
From multi-day, more intimate celebrations, changing ceremony traditions and more involved couples, the wedding industry continued to evolve. The year also saw some shifts to more minimalist and sustainable decor, vintage touches and emphasis on social media and technology.
Kimberly Richmond, Vice President of Sales for Associated Luxury Hotels International (ALHI), said demand for destination weddings in 2025 was strong, especially for luxury weddings.
“Some properties specifically in the South that are saying demand is so strong in 2025, 2026, specifically for the spring-fall budgets,” she said in September during a State of the Wedding Industry 2025: Hard Truths and Honest Insights, hosted by Sam Jacobson, founder of Ideaction Consulting and Duet Social Media.
“Those mid-level priced weddings are holding back a little bit where it hasn't really affected more of the high-end weddings,” she said.
Bookings all over the map amid economic uncertainty
Oniki Hardtman, Founder and Creative Director of Oh Niki Occasions, said she is seeing inquiries for weddings six to seven months out, but more bookings for 15-18 months to give couples more time to make decisions.
“I'm hearing from all of my vendors that they're getting tons of less inquiries, and their reactions are like, ‘What has everybody been waiting so long for?’” she said. “But I think we all know the answer, just uncertainty with everything going on in the world.”
Megan Lentz, Founder and Lead Planner of Vida Events, agreed. Couples are tending to delay big decisions, either deciding at the last minute or delaying weddings a year or more, sometimes due to economic uncertainty.
“The world we live in right now has kind of pushed pause on people making big decisions, but we are seeing a lot more of the late, kind of full-service weddings for spring,” she said.
Richmond noted that for hotels, booking patterns are becoming shorter.
“Typically, the booking pattern has been 12-18 months,” she said “What I'm seeing in terms of leads coming in, it's more six to nine months. Sometimes I've seen three months specifically for couples that have seasoned planners that know how to move quickly.”
Budgets holding steady
Richmond said clients didn’t necessarily decrease budgets in 2025, but were conservative.
“They're being more sort of mindful in terms of how they're spending, wanting the experience overall to be amazing for their guests,” she said. “They're willing to sacrifice certain things like maybe flowers or other areas so that they have more to spend for their guests.”
Couples often are starting out with smaller room blocks and then adding more rooms or scheduling ancillary events later, closer to the wedding day.
“I feel that the hotels that are open to that and not necessarily discounting their pricing per and just kind of finding ways to be more flexible and actually hearing the client and working with them, those are the ones finding the most success,” she said.
Multi-day celebrations
Friday-Sunday celebrations gained traction in 2025, Lentz said.
“We saw a lot more people doing multi day celebration, versus just the standard kind of wedding day,” she said. “And I think that's also going to extend into 2026.”
With the rise of the three-day celebrations, Hardtman said wedding weekends now often feature fewer traditional events like large brunches in favor of unique group experiences like food tours, fitness activities or city walks.
“Less people are opting for the brunch,” she said. “Couples these days are looking for planning experiences with their friends.”
The rise of couple input in planning
Photo: Landré Carroll of Maetog
A huge new wrinkle in 2025 is the rise of couple participation in the entire planning process, planners and vendors said.
Couples are becoming more involved in wedding planning, researching vendors, and creating unique ideas. TikTok and Reddit being used by couples to find vendors and plan their wedding, especially among younger generations. And of course, AI is beginning to play a role.
“We're definitely seeing a trend of people taking longer to book vendors, doing a lot more research into who they're hiring on their wedding day,” Lentz said. “There are a lot more questions on portfolio work and background checks on vendors. “In the past, we've just given our kind of expert advice, and they're good with it.”
Daniel Kim of Daniel Kim Photography said couples absolutely are researching vendors.
“If you are not putting your face on your socials or participating on Reddit, you're missing those people,” he said on the weddings webinar. “They're checking threads on Reddit for feedback on photographers. They're looking for more. They are super educated and so I'm toeing the line. They want to spend their money with someone they like.”
Social media has helped fuel the unique wedding ideas sought by couples, said Laura Ritchie, Principal Designer at Grit and Grace.
“There’s less repeating what's on Pinterest or what's already been seen or been done, " she said during the September webinar. “That creative factor pushed by social media and the compare and contrast of your friends and other vendors is a major player here.”
And finally, Hardtman said that AI use is trending.
“They’re doing a ton of research,” she said. “On my most recent consultation call, the clients said they found me from ChatGPT because I was one of the top rated. So, I am thankful to AI.”
More trends
Here’s a quick rundown of five other interesting trends.
Ceremonies without a wedding party: Hardtman said she’s seeing more couples opt not to have the wedding party stand with them during the ceremony. The solitary couple often creates a more striking effect in scenic outdoor locations or historic buildings. It also simplifies logistics and personalities to manage.
Combined bachelor/bachelorette parties: Couples and their wedding parties are going to the same destination, staying in separate locations. Most activities are separate, but they come together for a few events, allowing friends of both parties to get to know each other better, Hardtman said.
Vintage attire: Couples are creating one-of-a-kind wedding outfits from thrift or resale shops, mixing classic and modern elements, Lentz said. Emerging concepts included the "Frankenstein goth era" theme inspired by the latest remake of the movie classic, Hardtman said, and growing influence from western and vintage fashion.
Fruit centerpieces and custom designs: 2025 saw the rise of the fruit centerpiece instead of flowers. Other organic elements like spices graced tables. Lentz said the ideas played into the continued move toward sustainability as couples try to locally source and reuse pieces.
Drones: In a nod to sustainability and sensibilities, there’s been a movement toward drone shows instead of fireworks.
Many of these trends are likely to carry over into 2026, Hardtman and Lentz said.
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