If you’re busy planning a wedding for 2024, you may wish to have a sneak peek at what our team of wedding professionals have predicted will be the most popular wedding trends for the coming year.

Perhaps some of these incredible ideas could influence how you design your wedding day.

1. A colourful affair

Neutrals and pastels have been a prominent feature in the world of weddings for as long as we can remember. However, with couples now looking at local, seasonal flower options as well as ways in which to inject individuality into their big day, colour schemes are starting to look a lot bolder.

Couples are also set to start looking outside of the wedding industry for inspiration, which is why we’re expecting to see a lot more of Pantone’s Color of the Year 2024 – Peach Fuzz, alongside oranges and an array of pinks and reds, as well as purples and blues.

We’re also expecting to see more colourful wedding dresses floating down the aisle at Combermere Abbey next year. At 2024 Bridal Fashion Week, designers showcased a range of colourful wedding gowns including pastel pinks and blues.

2. Bridal style

Floral appliqués are in! Designers at Bridal Fashion Week 2024 used appliqués to create 3D floral moments from sweet rosettes at bustlines to textural white and light green petals scattered across skirts.

Bridal suits are another popular choice. Having emerged on Bridal Fashion runways back in 2020, the popularity of elegant, white or ivory suits seems to be continuing to rise each year.

We’re also expecting to see more brides including bows in their attire. The impact of balletcore has led to the rise of petite ribbons and dramatic looped fabric in designs for the coming year.

3. Strike a pose? Absolutely not

Couples and photographers alike are expected to continue to lean toward candid and unposed wedding day photography to capture the essence of a day, moving away from staid group shots and fixed poses.

In fact, we may also start to see an increase in the popularity of artistic, blurry photographs that capture movement and emotion rather than perfection and stillness. Film photography is another increasingly popular choice that delivers a romantic, vintage effect with added texture and grain to photos.

First looks are set to increase in popularity over the coming years, with photographers tasked with capturing the emotional moment that a couple sees each other for the first time, either before the ceremony or as they walk down the aisle.

4. Outdoor weddings

One of the few good things brought about by the pandemic is the fact that couples can now legally get married in any location outdoors, providing the venue has a wedding licence.

This has opened up plenty of opportunities for couples to personalise their wedding ceremonies with different backdrops – marrying in forests or beside water.

As searches for outdoor weddings are on the rise, we are expecting more couples to further personalise their wedding day and explore gardens and grounds for wedding ceremonies, reception drinks and even wedding breakfasts.

There has also been a marked increase in the trend for twilight weddings, which offer stunning photo opportunities for autumn / winter weddings, as evenings get darker earlier and cold skies are often clear, crisp and star-filled.

5. Sustainability

Sustainability is an important factor that is now interwoven throughout many aspects of our lives. As such, minimising waste, sourcing locally where possible and eradicating single use items wherever possible is something that couples are taking increasingly seriously, as well as wedding venues and suppliers.

Wedding favours with a purpose and use, such as seeds, candles, and soaps, will become more popular, and couples are likely to expect wedding flowers to be in season and ideally sourced locally rather than being flown or shipped across the world.

Couples will continue to reuse their flowers throughout the day, deconstructing arches or installations and using bouquets as table centrepieces.

Dried and preserved flowers have become a fast-growing trend in weddings this year, and we expect their popularity to continue rising throughout 2024. Dried flowers give a vintage feel to floral centrepieces and installations, and a boho feel to bouquets. The incorporation of dried flowers enables textures and shapes to be used in floral arrangements alongside seasonal flowers, for added interest and unique personalisation.

Will you incorporate any of these predicted trends into your wedding day?

If you’d like to find out more about our award-winning wedding venue, based on the Cheshire/Shropshire border, you can get in touch with our team on [email protected].

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