Tattooed rings, Tuesday ceremonies and mash-up themes: Trends emerge as weddings return

WOODLAND PARK, N.J. – Weddings are back, bigger and more expensive than ever.

The Wedding Report, a market research firm, estimates 2.5 million weddings will be held in 2022, the highest in the United States since 1984.

And couples are spending more to get the wedding of their dreams, with a lot of that money going toward nontraditional themes, over-the-top florals, one-of-a-kind cakes and highly personalized elements throughout the celebrations.

From bouquets to venues — and everything in between — here's what's in and what's out for weddings this year.

Tuesday is the new Saturday

Paula Bernstein remembers that weekday wedding bookings “used to be an absolute never-in-a-million years.”

Bernstein is vice president of sales and marketing for David Burke Hospitality Management, which manages Orchard Park by David Burke and provides food and beverage for events at Château Grande Hotel, both in East Brunswick, New Jersey.

Weekdays are viable alternatives for many couples otherwise struggling to find available venues, many of which are booked years in advance. The backlog of countless postponed weddings from 2020 meant that in 2021, venue and vendor availability on Fridays and Saturdays was scarce.

According to Wedding Report, 1.27 million weddings took place in 2020, nearly half as many as usual. Then, in 2021, 1.93 million couples tied the knot. And, according to a Zola report, 20% more weekday weddings are booked for 2022 than in 2019.

“The weekends are booking and booked, so if you want to get married and your favorite Saturday night in October is not available but that Thursday night is, you’re heavily considering that more so because of COVID,” Bernstein said. “The reality is, couples are going to have many more options available to them if they choose those midweek days.”

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The biggest weekday wedding "con?'' Keeping guests happy, stress-free and in attendance, said Bernstein.

“Brides and grooms do have some nerves about who is going to attend and what kind of challenge that is going to provide to their guests,” she said. “They don’t want to put guests in a position where they have to make choices, so they struggle with that.”

Weekday wedding attendance is typically smaller, Bernstein said, but widespread remote work opportunities also have made weekday weddings more doable.

“Everyone’s work schedule has completely changed,” Bernstein continued. “Now everyone can work from everywhere, so to go to a wedding on a Monday or Tuesday night is not so farfetched because you can work from your hotel room all day and still go to the wedding that night.”

Personalized themes are big

Devon Mendoza and her fiancé Andrew Savage will marry at Cedar Mahantongo Lodge in Dalmatia, Pennsylvania, on Memorial Day weekend with a theme that is dear to both of them — a Jurassic Park/Notre Dame mashup.

"I am a massive fan of 'Jurassic Park,' " Mendoza said. "My bridal shower theme was 'Our Love is Dino-Mite' and I wanted to have those elements in the wedding, too."

Mendoza's husband is a huge Notre Dame fan, so they will have navy blue and gold as their wedding colors and their guest book will be a nod to the "Play Like a Champion Today" sign Notre Dame displays. They also will have gold-painted dinosaurs.

She wanted to have lots of greenery for the ceremony and reception to bring the 'Jurassic Park' theme to life, but she chose to go with all fake florals to save money and avoid triggering any allergies.

She confided that her theme has not been well-received by some people, but she thinks guests will be pleasantly surprised when they see it all come together.

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Unexpected elements delight guests

Krystyna Amalfe, however, said her guests did enjoy her not-so-common choices.

She and her husband, John Amalfe, married at the Ryland Inn in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, in September 2021 and chose an “Amalfi Coast'' garden theme, a play on their last name.

The Amalfi Coast is known for growing lemons for limoncello liqueur and for beautiful gardens.

The Amalfes also incorporated elements of a fairytale wedding, such as flowers woven into her hair, as a nod to Krystyna’s love for “Cinderella.”

Krystyna said she normally has traditional tastes, but she has always liked over-the-top florals and wanted her wedding and reception to be something people would remember.

"Our guests are still talking about our wedding. Everyone appreciated the attention to detail and the overall experience that we were able to create," she said.

Part of that experience was horses that greeted guests as they arrived, and an artist that guests were able to watch paint throughout the wedding reception.

“I loved seeing how this blank canvas transformed over the course of the reception, and it was something that everyone of all ages could enjoy,” Amalfe said. “It made a really nice insert for ‘thank you’ cards and we have a beautiful piece of art that we can look at every day.”

Over-the-top florals take center stage

Traditional weddings always included bouquets for the bride and attendants, as well as corsages and table centerpieces. But 6-foot-tall floral structures, greenery cascading from the ceiling, and banisters, fireplaces, bridges and fountains engulfed in lush flowers?

“Now, floral décor is bandied about much more, whereas before you would just hit the salient marks,” said Michael Bruce, a florist for four decades, who owns Michael Bruce Florist based in Haddon Township, New Jersey.

“I think people are just ready to kick the doors open and have a party,” Bruce continued. “They weren’t traveling and going on vacation during COVID-19, so they were saving money. Now as we open back up, they have that money, and they want to celebrate, be awed and get excited.”

More money is needed, as floral prices are up 30 to 50% nationwide, Bruce said. But that doesn’t seem to be deterring some couples.

It’s worth it to florists, too, most of whom thrive on creativity and the ability to create show-stopping pieces.

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Saving money with live plants

While big florals are making a statement, live plants and greenery also are trendy, especially for those brides who want to save money.

Brina Williams-Jones, owner of Plant Box Co. in York, Pennsylvania, said she is seeing a lot of brides ask for over-the-top bouquets, but simple and understated florals elsewhere.

"Brides are still doing elaborate dresses, so they want the focus on them," she said. "We are seeing a lot of lace and a lot of details in the bridal gowns."

Plant Box Co. is a "houseplant boutique" that specializes in designing centerpieces, arches and other floral decors. Williams-Jones said they are seeing a lot of lower-profile table settings.

"We spent so long not being able to see one another because of the pandemic, so I think a lot of people want lower centerpieces in order to be able to see and talk with everyone," she said. "Boho is definitely the vibe right now, but we are also seeing a lot of lush greens with blush, or brighter colors and tropical plants."

When advising brides on a budget, Williams-Jones said she tells them to spend their money on their theme and splurge on arches.

"People aren't looking at the flowers along the aisle as much as they are looking at the bride and groom in front of the arch, so we advise brides to save money by focusing on their theme and ditching aisle flowers to spend more on the arch,'' she said. "Corsages may also be skipped in favor of posies, instead, that way people continue to enjoy them after your day."

She added that dried florals are more expensive than live plants or fresh flowers, and when decorating for an outdoor wedding, lush greens hold up better than forals.

A lot of brides are asking for flowers in their hair or floral crowns, Williams-Jones said.

"We are getting a lot of requests for flower crowns, and many brides are asking for simple bouquets for their bridesmaids," she said. “There’s really a trend toward natural, earthy, but whimsical and fairytale weddings that we are seeing.”

'Big weddings are back'

Speaking of bridesmaids, Plant Box Co. has handled many weddings that have huge bridal parties.

"Big weddings are back, and particularly big wedding parties," Williams-Jones said.

Plant Box Co. handles two weddings a weekend, and 2023 "already feels crazy" she said.

"We are already getting inquiries into 2024, which isn't too unusual, but the truly unusual thing is the number of brides calling for bouquets with only six weeks' notice. That is generally not heard of in the floral industry, but many people weren’t sure they would be able to get married because of the COVID surges and when they realize they can, they plan quickly.”

Boho is the trend that offers it all

Boho style is known for being eclectic, carefree and unconventional. It features rustic, natural and vintage details, and highly customizeable, which is one reason so many brides are choosing it.

In fact, it's so popular, one bride recently started a business from her wedding decor.

Maria Samrineto and her husband, Chris, married on Halloween 2021 at the Farm Bakery & Events in Quakertown, Pennsylvania.

The couple had to postpone their wedding twice due to the pandemic, and that is how they decided to open a business.

Sarmiento said it was somewhat difficult to find a boho decor vendor that fit with their wedding vision.

"We had a wonderful vendor that was, understandably, not able to accommodate our third new wedding date ... So, we just started to purchase instead of rent. As we started collecting all of our boho decor, we realized that this is the niche and we didn’t have this in our area."

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That is how Boho and Magnolia was born. Chris has a background in web development and Maria has experience in web design, so they were able to create their own web-based business in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, offering decor rentals and styling.

The response has been incredible.

"It proved to us that there was a need in our area for what we offer. We’ve been really grateful and we feel blessed that so many people have shared our vision and applied it to their own events," Maria said.

Untraditional is the new normal

Miranda Koons from New Oxford, Pennsylvania, said circumstance dictated her upcoming nontraditional wedding, to be held in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Her children will be her bridesmaids at her August 2022 wedding, which will be held on the beach on a Tuesday.

Koons saved money on her wedding by keeping things simple and small.

"I bought my wedding dress from LuLu’s online. It’s a simple, white lace-up in the back maxi dress that I think is perfect for a simple beach wedding. My shoes will be barefoot sandals, and I found those on Etsy," the bride-to-be said. "I spent less than $500 for everyone’s attire that is in the wedding."

Probably the most nontraditional thing about Koons' upcoming nuptials, though, is that she won't be exchanging rings. She and her fiancé Devon May had rings tattooed on their fingers.

"We chose tattoos to be different, and it’s also saving us money," she said. "I have a 'D' tattooed on mine and he has an 'M' tattooed on his. I’m good with not having a big diamond, and if I ever change my mind, then there’s opportunity to buy one, but I honestly don’t think I will."

Brides want simple, classy looks

Devon Mendoza said she's also seeing a shift in what brides want for makeup and hair, with most of her recent clients opting for "classic, timeless looks that enhance their natural beauty" and not so much the dramatic, dark looks from just a few years before.

"They want dewy, radiant skin, not matte, and they are keeping it simple and classy," she said.

According to makeup artist and hairstylist Lindsey Forbes, this year’s brides-to-be have been requesting more nontraditional looks with hair and makeup, too. Big this year is the half-up/half-down hairstyles involving pearl hair accessories. Makeup is being done in warmer tones to accommodate moodier photography.

"Veils are getting shorter, or nonessential anymore. Pearl accessories are big thing, like pearl bobby pins and pearl barrettes," she said.

Forbes, who owns Fades Beards and Beauty in Pennsylvania, has been a makeup artist for seven years. She said that 2021 ended on a decent note for her, but 2022 was totally booked by February.

"We have nothing available the rest of this year, and we have seven weddings booked for 2023 and one for 2024 already," she said. "Booking is 16 to 24 months in advance because it’s a fight for popular dates."

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Forget chicken & steak: Catering gets creative

For a long time, it was likely you'd get a piece of beef or chicken for a wedding guest entrée. These days, thanks to an over-abundance of food TV, social media and rapid recipe swaps, food matters.

It’s not an afterthought to an experienced DJ or a beautiful dress – it’s the main event. Just read any venue’s review on Google, Facebook or wedding planning sites such as The Knot – nowadays, food often is the first item reviewers critique.

At century-old Perona Farms in Andover, New Jersey, an event venue that offers three spaces including a barn, a refinery-style structure and a rustic estate, food has always been a big reason for booking.

Prices per person at Perona Farms range from $165 to $235, not including tax and gratuity. However, as spouses-to-be Sonie Maikami and Ian Cartwright have found, you don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars per person on wedding food if you’re willing to get creative. And, you can still enjoy a mix of cuisine to satisfy any picky guest.

The self-proclaimed foodies got engaged in November 2021, and decided to spend their nest egg on their dream home, and host a micro wedding in the backyard of their new house in September 2022.

They plan to offer a smorgasbord of dishes from their favorite local spots, including appetizers and entrees from a Thai restaurant, vegetarian options from a Spanish catering service, sushi from a nearby sushi eatery, and pizza thanks to the brick pizza oven in their backyard. They may hire a few food trucks and enlist a few more restaurants, too.

“Our family loves to cook and eat, and we love all types of different food,” said Maikami. “But traditional catering at a venue would cost at least $5K to $6K for a two-course meal for our 50 guests. With this mix, we have a variety of food, but we are only spending $2K to $3K at most.”

Their guests are excited about it, too – Maikami said it doesn’t seem as if anyone is lamenting the loss of traditional wedding entrée choices.

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Tradition gets tech-savvy

The world was tech-savvy before COVID-19, yet the convenience and seamlessness of virtual elements were long left out of wedding customs. Pricey invitations made their way through the postal system, paper programs and signage were common and an inability to make it to the ceremony meant you could only hope to hear couples’ vows via a produced video.

But like many things, that changed drastically after March 2020.

“In 2018, if you sent someone a virtual save-the-date, it would be a faux pas,” said Cydney Appolito, a Roseland, New Jersey, resident whose wedding is planned for next February. “I would say if COVID-19 didn’t happen, virtual invites would not be a thing. It gave the OK to lose that formality since now, we’ve had two years of virtual weddings.”

Virtual invitations quickly caught on due to their ease, affordability, eco-friendliness, cleanliness, and ability to circumvent an unpredictable postal system.

Appolito and her fiancé Matthew Kmetz are using WithJoy for guests to RSVP. They’re sending virtual invitations to the majority of guests, but paper invitations to some older guests who will appreciate the tradition and may not be so tuned into tech.

Appolito also said she simply doesn’t trust the mail. In March, she finally received a Christmas card from one of her friends.

“You are spending all of this money on the food and everything, and imagine someone isn’t coming because they simply didn’t get the invite or you never got their response,” she said.

Appolito said the only complaints she has gotten about the virtual invitations are family members who want the tradition of paper invitations.

One of the cons, said Björn Van Wyngaardt, Manhattan-based wedding planner and owner of Björn VW Events, is that a virtual invitation can feel less formal than a paper invitation, and a paper invitation also can better convey the style of the wedding based on factors including the weight and texture of the paper. He recalls receiving an invitation to an event last year that epitomized an invitation’s potential.

“I opened the door, and there was a model in a tuxedo delivering my invitation,” he said. “That set the tone to me of what the event was going to be, because it started with class from the minute the invitation arrived.”

Virtual invitations aren’t the only ways couples are bringing tech to their wedding planning. Zoom and other livestreaming platforms have proven themselves to be more than a way for people to connect on a personal and professional basis, as some couples are livestreaming their ceremonies.

Van Wyngaardt has seen this a lot in his business, too. When weddings were limited in capacity, many of his clients chose to livestream their ceremonies to what would have been their complete guest lists.

Now, he has noticed videography teams have added livestreaming to their offerings. Van Wyngaardt recommends that couples interested in livestreaming hire a professional to do so, rather than rely on questionable internet connections, smart phone video and sound quality, and possible login issues.

“People can FaceTime with their phones, but it won’t have the same quality, sound or effect that a professional videography company will have,” he said. “With livestreaming, people can witness the ceremony from around the globe and no one will feel like they’re missing out.”

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Wedding trends emerge in 2022 — the biggest year for weddings