Whether you are a wedding venue or supplier/vendor looking to get ahead of what is on the horizon for your 2024 couples, or you are a couple getting married in 2024, and want to know what is hot right now, we have this guide from wedding industry visibility specialist Pamela Rae-Welsh – with the twist of how to make these trends more sustainable.
Hey, I’m Pamela – visibility specialist to the UK wedding industry and passionate believer in the sustainability movement. I’m here to look at the 5 key trends that are emerging for 2024 weddings gleaned from the catwalks, the planners and the musings of couples already planning! Taken from my article on the 2024 wedding trends, this blog comes from the angle of how to make them more sustainable (number three is pretty obvious and simple to be honest!)
5 key wedding trends for 2024:
1 – Hedonism
2 – Escapism
3 – Sustainable
4 – Hollywood Glamour
5 – Elopement
Let’s dive in and look at each one in more detail:
1: Hedonism
Hedonistic weddings are all about the OTT – bringing the big party to the wedding celebration and leaving no detail unturned. The whole experience is about indulgence, which you may think would be a challenge if you are trying to be more sustainable with your choices, but actually it is possible. OTT does not have to equate to excess waste, and it doesn’t have to mean that everything is new or throwaway. To follow the hedonistic trend from a sustainable angle, the key things to consider are recycling, repurposing and reuse. Hiring the décor, using repurposed items and donating items not used after the wedding can mean that you can have a hedonistic wedding without the compromise, and without the huge negative impact on the environment.
2: Escapism
Escapist weddings are all about the takeover – the full weekend, the long weekend – and in some cases the full week! This trend is about creating a haven for your wedding celebration where there is no rush and no carriages at midnight.
Having a more informal, communal vibe this trend is perfect for couples that want to bring people together and have enough time to enjoy the event without it flashing by. They are looking for documentary style, journalistic photography, relaxed entertainment and sharing food that goes on forever.
To make this trend more sustainable here are some options to consider:
- Group transport to and from the location. This can save on cost as well as carbon if group or public transport is used.
- Ban the single use. Having reusable crockery for people to use for the duration of the event can save a lot of waste – and there is a cute opportunity to personalise the settings so that guests feel special.
- Leftover magic. Make an actual thing of the leftovers at the lazy brunch the following day. Enjoy the grazing boards over and over again, and make up delicious dishes to take on a zero waste approach to the food and catering for the event.
3: Sustainable
Taken from the article “2024 wedding trends” from Worsley Creative:
“More and more couples are becoming conscious of their carbon footprint and are looking to incorporate sustainability into their celebration, and for 2024 this trend is one that should definitely be on your radar as a wedding vendor.
The sustainable wedding in 2024 is all about consciousness without compromise. The experience of the wedding has to be maintained and just as instagrammable – but with decisions made that are planet friendly.
Conscious swaps including locally sourced food and drink, seasonal, organic floristry and hired wedding decor rather than single use, are the emerging trends in the sustainability space that couples are proactively pursuing.
Fashion is repurposed, hair and makeup is ethically sourced and choices are made with the wider impact in mind, not just for the aesthetic on the day.
The developments in the sustainability movement, driven by activists such as The Sustainable Wedding Alliance, mean that weddings that are eco-friendly don’t come with a prescribed aesthetic or styling. Couples are able to have their hedonistic celebration, embrace the Hollywood glamour or create their quintessential English country garden wedding, whilst looking at reducing waste and harmful emissions which are damaging the planet. “
4: Hollywood Glamour
The resurgence of the sexy siren and all things Hollywood is one that I am totally in love with as a 2024 wedding trend. Embracing those curves with stunning dresses from the likes of Eva Lendel, candlelit décor and perfectly posed photography to capture those ultra sultry moments between the couple.
To make your 2024 wedding bang on trend but also sustainable consider:
- Sourcing vintage fashion to have that truly iconic look
- Swapping candles for eco-friendly alternatives – such as soy wax candles or battery operated re-useable ones
- Ditch the champagne tower (which is a waste of the booze to be honest!) and instead do a champagne toast in vintage champagne coupes that you source as you plan your wedding (this could look completely epic. Charity shops have some incredible finds, and then afterwards you could donate them back and you will be doing good too! Or – why not make the champagne coupe the wedding favour?! Everyone *loves* to steal the glasses – why not let them!
5: Elopement
The elopement wedding is a 2024 wedding trend that perfectly lends itself to being sustainable. There is no unnecessary travel for your third cousin from America that you haven’t seen since the last family wedding. There is no need to invest in wedding favours that will be left on the table. The elopement wedding is your opportunity to make it all about you – and save the planet at the same time.
Watch outs for elopement weddings:
- Elope creep – what is the “trusted circle” starts to widen to every Tom, Dick and Harry coming to your intimate event. Make sure you keep that circle tight or suddenly you have a lot of people travelling.
- Unnecessary Gifting – this may sound churlish but well meaning people sending gifts because they want to wish you well in your marriage can mean a lot of stuff, and a lot of carbon generated giving you that stuff. Make it clear in your announcement how you want to handle this.
- Your own footprint with the elopement. The carbon impact of eloping to Gretna Green will be a lot different to eloping to Las Vegas to have Elvis conduct your nuptials. If you want to be sustainable then make sure you consider your footprint that you will generate.
2024 Wedding Trends – How to make them sustainable
2024 is looking to be an incredible year for some beautiful wedding celebrations. Hopefully this guide will help you to have a wedding bang on trend for the year, whilst being conscious of the planet. Which trend do you think is your favourite? It has to be Hollywood for me… quite fancy myself as a modern day Greta Garbo…
Author Bio: Pamela Rae-Welsh is an online visibility specialist that helps the wedding industry with brand, web design and authentic visibility strategy. Living in rural Oxfordshire, Pamela cares deeply about the impact of our society on the environment, and is making intentional moves to be a more sustainable brand. Find out more at www.worsleycreative.co.uk
