Weddings: they’re just so exciting, aren’t they? 

It may just be one day, but there’s so much to think about. The overall look, the food, the decor, the dress (the dress), the make-up – it’s all up to you. But although your wedding day should be a reflection of your relationship and what you both like, there’s no harm in checking out the latest wedding trends to help your creative process. 

And 2019’s wedding trends are looking, well, pretty fabulous. From kitsch hair styling and bow-adorned wedding dresses, to vegan food menus and custom wedding invitations, we’re seeing some themes of playfulness, sustainability and less-is-more coming through for the year ahead. 

With help from B Wedding Invitations, and a whole host of wedding industry experts, we present to you the ultimate guide to 2019’s wedding trends. Go fourth and be fabulous. 

Paired back floral displays

There’s a certain look that ‘Insta-worthy’ weddings often subscribe to. A mixture of millennial pink, flower walls and glitter table cloths come together to create a spectacle so Pinterest, it could be a professional photoshoot.

Well, according to Colin Cowie, the party and wedding planner for celebrities like Jennifer Aniston and Oprah Winfrey, from now on the rules say less is more.

“Keep an eye out for the return of modern, contemporary, minimalist looks this year,” Cowie says.

According to the expert, over-the-top floral installations should now make way for chic, paired back decorations using more minimalist blooms, like “non-traditional florals composed of wheat or grass.”

Metallic hot stamp foiling on invitations

Foiling on wedding invitations is always a popular look, but Giant Invitations (one of the leading luxury wedding invitation companies) says it will continue to grow.

“This year we will expect to see a higher demand for copper foiling, followed by the popular rose gold foiling,” the company says.

We love the personalised and glamorous touch foiling can give, especially when used specifically on a customised emblem. 

Natural bridal make-up

Bridal make-up needs to take the bride from day to night, so it’s not unusual for make-up artists to create a look that feels natural and true to the bride, but with more coverage than your average day.

And according to celebrity make-up artist Melissa Sassine natural wedding make-up will continue to reign supreme, in an even more paired back way.

“I definitely feel that for 2019, less is more,” she says.

“What I mean by this is in the relation to the colour palette. Even though they want flawless long-lasting bridal make-up, they still want to look the best version of themselves, without overly dramatic eyes and harsh contours.”

Giving her top tips on the type of make-up to use for a wedding beauty look, she says: “Go for beautiful neutral tones and light champagne shimmer on the eyes, fluffy lashes, natural bronzers to warm up the skin, soft highlighters, with pink/nude lustrous lips.”

Bridal bows

This winter we’ve seen the bow take centre stage of the hair accessories game, a trend that has continued into spring and shows no signs of slowing down.

Well, it looks like the bow isn’t satisfied with taking over your barnet, it wants your wedding dress, too.

Alin Le’ Kal (the celebrity couture designer who just debuted his collection at Paris Fashion Week) lists bows as one of the big wedding dress trends for 2019, revealing that playful adornments will be big news in many forms.

As well as cute bows, Le’ Kal says that feathers, crystals, sparkles and statement sleeves are all ways to attain a high-fashion wedding look. 

Vegan wedding reception menus

We don’t have to tell you that veganism is on the rise. It feels like there’s a new vegan restaurant popping up every other week, and even traditional foodie pastimes like afternoon tea have had the meat-free treatment.

This, combined with our growing consciousness about the environment, is causing more and more brides to pick sustainable, vegan-friendly meal options for their weddings.

Not only does it cater for a (generally) more healthy, nutritious meal, it means everyone can eat it.

Sustainable, seasonal bridal bouquets

As we see eco-friendly wedding dresses and vegan food menus become more popular, sustainable flower bouquets are also being given more thought.

Multi-award-winning flower farm Floret agrees that “locally-grown, seasonal flowers” will be the biggest floral wedding trend for 2019.

Floret comments: “For brides, there is nothing quite like clutching a bouquet filled with fresh, fragrant flowers grown with love and harvested by hand by a local flower farmer or from a floral designer’s own cut flower garden. Thankfully, this trend is becoming more and more common, as awareness and interest in local flowers continues to grow and the number of new flower growers specialising in seasonal blooms expands around the world.”

The Flower Appreciation Society agrees, saying: “In 2019 we are seeing the move away from larger bridal bouquets to smaller, more delicate ones. Seasonality and locally sourced flowers are becoming extremely important with issues of sustainability and the environment in mind.”

Round ceremonies

This isn’t a completely new trend, but Cowie thinks that this intimate approach will continue to grow in popularity in 2019.

Most typically a couple will have their loved ones sat in rows during their wedding ceremony, with the closest relatives sitting at the front, while friends at the back  struggle to see what’s happening, but this approach sees all the guests gathered around the couple in a circle.

By taking a 360 approach, all of the guests have a better chance of seeing these magical moments close up, and the couple are literally surrounded by the people that love them most.

Cowie says: “Round ceremonies are something I’ve always enjoyed designing because they ensure friends and loved ones are no more than a few feet away from the couple, creating a more intimate atmosphere.”

Limited screen time

Some couples are keen to harness social media to document their wedding, creating their own hashtags to follow what their friends post throughout the day and getting access to a whole vault of photos taken by the unofficial photographers (aka drunken selfies and dance floor shots). But another school of thought would argue that in a phone-obsessed world, a wedding day is the one time that we should be in the moment, connecting with those around us and appreciating this one special day for what it is.

Although mobiles allow us to feel close to friends and family that are far away, it’s a good point that on a day that will (hopefully) only ever happen once, we should enjoy every single moment of it.

So it makes sense, then, that some couples have started putting a phone ban or limited screen time rules on their big day, to stop guests sitting in silence, tapping away.

Hair bows and ribbons

Remember what we said about hair bows not going anywhere? Well it turns out they’ll be staying put, not just for trying out cute styles at the weekend, but for wedding hair too.

Nicole Kidman’s hairstylist Kylee Heath is a big fan of kitsch hair accessories, and thinks the more bows the better. She says: “With ribbons and bows being a huge trend throughout award season, I think it will carry over to wedding hair. I love the idea of a low ponytail with a ribbon tied in it or a bow to finish off the look.”

Custom illustrations on wedding invitations

Of course, every couple wants their wedding to be unique to them, and one way of doing this is enlisting an illustrator to customise a design especially for you.

Whimsical illustration styles with pastel colour palettes are most popular, with many designs featuring the couple themselves or the venue where the wedding will be held.

By adding this level of personalisation to the first thing your wedding guests see, it sets your wedding apart from the rest and creates a tone from the beginning of your celebrations. 

Playful wedding cake designs

No more naked cakes, cheese stacks or rustic desserts – for 2019 more is more. Multi award-winning cake designer Faye Cahill says that having fun is the aim of the game when it comes to designing sweets this year, using as many colours and interesting techniques as possible.

“Think painted watercolour finishes, palette knife textures, fondant ruffles, drippy icing and abstract sculptures of chocolate and isomalt (a technical clear sugar).

“You will also find fun and optimistic cakes. Following the announcement of living Coral as the colour of the year, I think we will see a move away from dull neutrals to more vibrant hues.”

Images: Pinterest / Instagram