Popular Wedding Trends Post COVID That Are Here To Stay

Some of The Good Things COVID provided for Our Couples

Anyone you talk to in the wedding industry will agree how amazingly creative the 2020-2021 engaged couples are. These brides & grooms have been resilient when it comes to planning weddings in the middle of a pandemic. They have risen above the planning challenges and decided to figure out a safe way to celebrate their love. Something other couples have never had to do before. For instance, here’s how one bride overcame the loss of her dream wedding and decided love mattered more than anything else. 

Vendors in the wedding industry have also had to pivot by making changes in how they did business before— to create opportunities for couples to celebrate love while meeting all the imposed restrictions and still manage to serve their clients well while their businesses are on the line and everyone is adjusting. Recent couples have made some fantastic ways to overcome the stress of the pandemic, and we will see these trends going forward in weddings for years to come.  For some, this meant deciding to move forward despite the restrictions but with a smaller crowd. Some couples decided to have a ceremony, but hold a reception later to celebrate with more friends and families when it’s safer to do so.

We will discuss a few trends we have seen at The Postmark that we love and think will also be seen for years to come.

Minimonies and Micro Weddings

Do you know what a minimony is?

A minimony, as mentioned here by The Knot, is “a mini ceremony held with your loved ones, or simply a moment of commitment shared between yourselves.” A minimony is a small ceremony for ten or fewer, including the bride and groom. It allows the couple to celebrate their original date still and commit to each other. Some have chosen to just have a minimony, while others have chosen to celebrate a year later with a more significant reception. We’ve seen this a lot at The Postmark!

A minimony is much different than a micro wedding. A micro wedding is similar to a traditional wedding with a ceremony and reception, but the guest count is much smaller, usually, 50 people or less. One benefit of this is that the wedding budget goes much farther. Some couples who have chosen this option, have been able to splurge on an open top-shelf liquor bar for their 50 guests. They could’ve never done this with the 200 guests they originally planned to invite. We love both the minimony and the micro wedding.

The Postmark has created a variety of options to make these options work for your wedding. We talk about the advantages of micro weddings in another blog we did here; check it out if you consider one!

Live Streaming Weddings.

We have seen couples live-stream their ceremonies to allow guests to celebrate from their homes. Couples have been making their guests’ health and safety a priority. They are still getting married but allowing their guest to zoom in to a link to share their ceremony. 

Some couples are sending celebration boxes to their zoom guests. Some boxes include little appetizers, mini wedding cake bites, and even champagne so their guests can celebrate and toast the newlyweds from their own homes. Here in Chillicothe, we have an epic bakery at High Five Cakes that makes some of these delicious desserts for celebration boxes.  Check out the Cinderella cake they just did for a couple last week! Bluebirds placing the ribbon on the cake? YES, they did that! See it on our Instagram.

Plated Dinners & Multiple Food Stations.

Plated dinners and Multiple Food Stations are great ways to upgrade your micro wedding or minimony. A personal favorite that I’m so excited to see more of is multiple food stations. Many couples disagree about what food to serve for their wedding. Well, I have the perfect solution. Try these stations out. You can have the tacos you want and he can have the pasta station that he wants. You can have both! And your guests will love the variety and options. We have seen many couples throw out the traditional buffet and move to food stations. Imagine Chipotle on steroids, with a table overflowing with toppings for the beef or chicken you have on your burrito. Or dream up any combination with the ultimate pasta station filled with pasta, multiple sauces, and chicken parmesan or meatballs to top it. 

Another trend in the catering world is plated dinners. These can be a little more expensive but are a perfect option for those looking to do a micro wedding with upgrades  

Ever wonder why plated dinners cost more? Plated dinners take twice the amount of labor to create and serve as a standard dinner buffet or multiple food stations. Another reason a plated dinner can cost more is that it is on authentic china dishes. Most have to be rented because most caterers don’t keep these on hand. These are all a part of the cost of a plated dinner. Plated dinners add an elegant touch to your wedding day that helps compensate for the required changes of the season.

Out of The Box Entertainment & Multiple Dance Floors:

Couples have been having fun coming up with ways to showcase their personalities in their wedding by inviting some out-of-the-box entertainment. When there was still dancing at the beginning of the pandemic, couples created multiple dance floors for their guests to spread out. We loved this because couples got creative by providing different color bracelets to display guest comfort levels. Some wore green, meaning they were happy to participate in all the things. Yellow meaning caution and keep safely distanced. Red meaning they were glad to be there but didn’t want to be near other people. When the restrictions heightened, the couples got super creative with entertaining the guests that attended since there was no dancing allowed. 

One couple hired magicians to go from table to table while guests were seated enjoying appetizers and drinks. We have seen caricature artists attending the cocktail hour to draw cartoon-like pictures of guests who came. Couples have also hired live artists who attended the ceremony to paint the beautiful backdrop where they said their vows. The guests enjoyed watching the painter finish the beautiful painting of the ceremony at the reception. The husband & wife then had a canvas of their ceremony to take home and enjoy for years to come.

Photo booths are trendy too. A selfie station is a photo booth that allows the guest to have their three photos go straight to their phone to share on social media sites. It provides something for the couple at the end of the event to look at all the goofy things that went on while talking to others. 

DJ/Emcee & Live Bands:

We always have highly recommended a DJ/Emcee. They are essential more than ever with new rules and restrictions in place. A professional DJ/Emcee will take care of many details most don’t think are needed until they are without one. They are there not just to play music but also to entertain the guests. They will guide the guests through the ceremony & reception timeline, which creates a smooth evening for all. Who doesn’t love an organized event? Josh Staley with Josh Staley Productions was recently interviewed by The Ohio Wedding Collective (listen here) on their podcast about hiring a professional DJ. The Postmark already does this for you by providing a professional DJ from Turn Up Columbus inside all our packages. Read more about this and the difference between our venue and others to help you search for the perfect space to hold your event.

Fun Side Note: Josh happens to be one of our amazing owners, wife Michelle (successful wedding photographer), and parents! Read more about them here.

We love an old trend that is coming back— a live wedding band for entertainment. We have seen these become popular again, whether for just the ceremony or in combination with a wedding DJ and emcee. One of the bands we love to see perform is Big Ray and The Kool Kats, one of the most popular bands out of Charlottesville, Virginia. We have also witnessed Cleveland Keys come in with dueling pianos for cocktail hour. Want an epic band for a reception? Check out Yours For The Taking !

There are many more trends that have come out of this crazy time, and we are so blessed to be a part of it.  Style Me Pretty drops some cool trends they have seen here. Despite all the changes, couples are adapting like champions! Many have decided that even if it’s just the bride and groom with a photographer, they are ok with that, as long as they still get to have that reception later, where they can dance the night away.

Let us know in the comments some other new traditions you love that you can’t wait to do at your wedding.

To view more pictures from the gallery, check us out on Style Me Pretty!