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Wedding Trends: Our Celebrants Predict How We’ll Wed Next Year

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The wedding trends of 2023 will be shaped by our recent past, with a focus on sustainability, intimacy, and fun!

It seems strange to be saying that 2023 wedding trends will be a reflection of our experiences during the pandemic, because that’s ancient history now, right? Gone are the tight restrictions, the face masks and invasive pre-holiday testing! We are now free to live as we did before the pandemic. And thankfully that means weddings are very much back on! But that doesn’t mean Covid, and our experience during it, has been forgotten. 2023 will be a big year for the wedding, and after speaking to our team of celebrants in the UK, and across the world, they predict trends next year will be focused on reinvention, and appreciation.

Our expert team of celebrants have been inundated with bookings for UK weddings next year, and beyond. And while discussing the wedding plans of their couples, they began to find trends and patterns in 2023 celebrations. In general, people wanted to use their shared experience during the pandemic, and turn it into something positive. Use what they’ve learnt, and re-invent what a wedding is, and should be about. Creating an experience for their guests, and celebrating those they value the most.

2023 Wedding Trends: Our Celebrant Predictions

Today, it’s our pleasure to share what our team of international celebrants predict will be the major wedding trends of 2023 in the UK, and further afield. Scroll on to discover what your big day might look like next year!

The Destination Wedding

We were all stuck at home during the pandemic, with holidays very much a distant memory. Which made the destination wedding a bit of a pipe dream! But now, free as we are to travel, the possibility of jetting off to some far-flung resort in the sand is back on. And because this reality was stolen from us for so long, it’s meant couples are hungry to tie the knot somewhere exotic next year.

Our team of celebrants are not solely based in the UK, we have a huge team across the world. From Portugal and Malta, through to the US and Australia – plus so many places in-between! And after speaking to these guys across the globe, we’ve seen the massive spike in demand they have for destination wedding services.

Celebrant Wedding Ceremony

Humanist and Independent celebrant wedding ceremonies were already gaining popularity pre-pandemic, so it’s no real surprise to consider them to be one of the major trends for 2023. Especially when you think about how couples have had endless time, during Covid, to think about how they really want their exchange of vows to feel.

According to our celebrants in the UK, and abroad, couples now desire more than ever their wedding ceremony to feel personal. They want the freedom to include poems, rituals, even songs in their vows. And exchange them in a setting that represents them. Which is the beauty of the humanist and independent celebrant wedding, it is inclusive and tailored to the couple.

Elopements

Once upon a time an elopement meant running off to Gretna Green and getting hitched over an anvil. A very clandestine affair, which thankfully is a thing of the past. Elopements were huge during the pandemic, and it is a wedding trend our celebrants do not see abating in 2023.

Hand in hand with the destination wedding, elopements appeal to couples who wish to celebrate in a very personal, and intimate way. With a ceremony that is completely their own, surrounded only by their VIP’s, or completely alone.

This shift is certainly a reflection of our shared Covid experience, and a realisation that spending a lot of money on a big wedding is not always the right thing to do. And in fact, by scaling back the numbers (considerably with an elopement!), you can create much more of a luxury experience for you and your guests. Or use that extra money for a fantastic adventure, or major life purchase.

Sustainability

Couples are becoming increasingly aware of the world around them, and their responsibility to it. And when it comes to weddings, this sense of duty is heightened. The wedding trends of 2023 are dominated by the renewed interest in creating sustainable, eco-friendly events that do not have a lasting impact on our planet.

This could mean really dialling down on your ‘something old, something borrowed’, and using clothing, and accessories either owned or passed down. Renting bridal gowns, this is also seen as a much more sustainable option, as the bride is not instigating more production. Simply using what is already created.

Then there’s the wedding ceremony itself. We’ve talked about hosting weddings abroad, but if couples want to keep things sustainable, that also means local. The environmental cost of air travel will certainly encourage couples to wed closer to home, and therefore balance out our 2023 wedding trends.

Personalisation

If there was one word to describe the wedding trends of 2023, it would be personalisation. The need to curate a day that feels yours. Couples want to feel like every moment of their day is a reflection of themselves, and their uniqueness.

We live in a multicultural society, one where marriages take place between two people of differing faiths, races, and nationalities every day. These beautiful differences were often not celebrated in the past, with one member of the marrying party often taking sole ownership of the style of wedding. But now, as we move into 2023, we’re seeing many more blended celebrations. With experienced celebrants crafting truly personalised ceremonies that touch on every aspect of their couples’ faiths, or cultures that they hold dear.

Outdoor Wedding Ceremonies

The outdoor wedding ceremony was very popular during 2020 and 2021, for obvious reasons. But its popularity has not waned, even after restrictions were dropped. And for us, we’re not surprised! Our celebrants in the UK, and across the world, have been huge advocates of the outside wedding ceremony for so long. So it’s great to see it becoming one of the wedding trends of 2023!

Being able to tie the knot outside, wherever you want, is one of the major plus points of having a celebrant-led wedding. You could marry in a beautiful garden, down by the ocean or in the middle of a wood! You’re free to choose, and gift your ceremony the kind of backdrop you’ve always dreamt of.

We hope we have inspired your big plans for 2023, and maybe one of these trends has transformed your wedding ambitions! It would be a pleasure to help you further, and provide the perfect celebrant to personalise your ceremony. Our global team of experienced celebrants are all equally able to tailor your vow exchange to your desires, and craft a moment that you and your loved ones will never forget.

If you would like to start your wedding ceremony journey, and find the ideal celebrant for your big day, please use our search facility. And if you’re not sure about anything to do with wedding ceremonies, or celebrants, we have plenty of handy guides on our website.

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