In contrast to the modern-minimalist style, wedding professionals are also predicting a return to formality and dramatic opulence. “Say goodbye to Mason jars and burlap, and say hello to caviar and elegance,” says South Florida-based party planner Sara Renee Lowell of Sara Renee Events. “Wedding vendors are sick of couples bringing in the same rustic, vintage inspiration photos. Opulence is in.”
Which means the return of dramatic floral arrangements on pedestals, gleaming candelabras, and loads of professional lighting (translation: no more simple strands of café lights). For a recent wedding, New York event designer David Stark of David Stark Design and Production created a luxurious reception with a formal French garden theme: Sculpted hedges around the perimeter of the venue and structured dinner table centerpieces were juxtaposed against a lush, romantic canopy of flowers and glowing lanterns suspended overhead.
Pictured: David Stark created a formal French garden theme for a recent wedding reception.
After an abundance of rustic-barnyard and vintage, Anthropologie-esque weddings, event planners are anticipating a wedding-style movement in the complete opposite direction. “We’re predicting less D.I.Y. and more clean, modern lines and color palettes,” says Tara Maxey, co-owner of the Los Angeles-based catering company Heirloom LA. “With all the D.I.Y. wedding details out there, expertly styled minimalism feels like the sophisticated alternative.”
Wedding planners Maria Cooke and Kelly Seizert of Ritzy Bee Events in Washington, D.C., agree: “We’re seeing more couples focusing less on dramatic color and more on classic combinations such as black and white, gray and white, and navy and cream.” The modern-minimalist theme will be reflected in the wedding menu, too: Instead of lavish buffet stations or decadent entrées, couples are moving towards healthier choices and smaller portions. Maxey says, “Gluttony has been overdone.”
Pictured, clockwise from left: Ritzy Bee Events created a reception lounge setup with a clean, neutral color palette; a wedding catered by Heirloom LA incorporated crisp, all-white decor; shooters of vegan carrot panna cotta were served during cocktail hour at a wedding catered by Heirloom LA.
With a smartphone in nearly every guest’s purse or pocket, wedding-day photos are almost guaranteed to appear in real time on social media sites. But more and more couples are politely restricting smartphone usage during the ceremony using cleverly worded signage (displayed at the venue’s entrance or printed in the ceremony program), as well as verbal reminders from the officiant.
“We’re going to see more and more ‘unplugged’ ceremonies in 2014,” says Renny Pedersen, owner of the Chicago-based wedding planning company Bliss Weddings & Events. “Nothing is worse than seeing a beautiful photograph of the bride walking down the aisle marred by a bunch of cameras and iPhones. This way, the wedding photographer is able to get the most important shots, without any unobstructed views.” Bonus: Guests will also be more present during the ceremony.
Pictured: A printed chalkboard sign by DesignSmithPaperArts asked guests to keep their smartphones and cameras in check.
For the rehearsal dinner, Sterling worked with the culinary team at the Ventana Inn to develop an unusual breakfast for dinner concept. The Sunday brunch-inspired meal included Bloody Marys, omelets, and eggs Benedicts. A relevant quote from one of the couple’s favorite shows, Parks and Recreation, hung over the dining area.
The Sterling team built a framed house with no walls or ceiling along the coast of Big Sur and covered it with trailing greenery.
For a wedding in Stowe, Vermont, Helmstetter built a reclaimed-wood structure in the middle of an open field to create a hidden-garden feeling for the ceremony.
For a wedding at the Amangani Resort in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Helmstetter brought in benches, sheepskins, and white blooms to complement the site's backdrop of the Grand Teton.
A bride and groom flew from Mongolia for their wedding at the St. Regis Princeville hotel in Kauai, Hawaii, where Belle Destination Events hung strands of white flowers from trees.
