Modern Trends & Millennial Bride – Shaking Up Weddings

Today millennials make up approximately 80% of marrying couples and are changing how weddings are planned and enjoyed. More and more brides are ignoring old-school traditions such as tossing the bouquet, not seeing each other before the ceremony and wearing white.

The millennial generation are people that were born after 1981 and when it comes to wedding they are dreaming, designing and planning their weddings to look less like a magazine photo and more like it came straight from Instagram, Pinterest or Etsy. Adding unexpected details to their décor and putting more of their personalities into the design are allowing millennial couples to design truly unique wedding “experiences” that everyone will remember.

In case you didn’t know millennials are more in love with experiences than any other generation. Their sense of adventure far exceeds previous generations like baby boomers and generation x’ers. We are seeing more young people get out and travel than ever before. They are marrying later in life which allows them time to cultivate a career and accumulate some money which presents them with opportunities to travel the world.

When it finally comes to planning their wedding this sense of adventure and love for experiences is front and center.

Millennials Are Shaking Up Wedding Planning

Wondering how millennials are doing it different? Check out our top 5 ways millennials are putting their own spin on their wedding day.

Mobile Wedding Planning

Yep! You got it! This is an easy one as most people today cannot put down their smart phones. So yes, millennial couples are planning a majority of their wedding details from their mobile phones. In fact 80% of their wedding planning is done online of which almost 40% is done on their phone. The convenience of mobile devices allows couples to plan their wedding from anywhere.

As soon as a thought enters their mind, they can search it out online.

Planning Begins Early

Ever since Pinterest was born most women and young girls started planning their weddings long before they met their Prince Charming. Ok, maybe not really planning their wedding but the majority of them created inspiration boards to save photos of ideas that they like for the day that they do get engaged. In essence they are beginning the planning stages before the engagement.

All Day Events

Wedding typically last around 5 hours. You spend your entire life dreaming of your fairytale wedding day and then when it finally arrives it is gone before you blink. We are now seeing couples wanting to extend the “wedding experience” and are doing it by creating pre and post wedding festivities. The groom may organize a golf outing with his groomsmen before the ceremony and the bride a spa day with her girls. And 25% organize after parties to continue the experience. Not wanting the experience to end is a wonderful feeling. Cherishing your wedding day with your family and friends are memories made for a lifetime. So, do it up! Brunch after the wedding then head off to your honeymoon!

Customize & Personalize

Open bars and wedding menus have a new face. Millennial couples are opting for more “experience” driven events so they are incorporating D.I.Y stations such as draft beer bars, food trucks, food stations and more. This is allowing their weddings to be less of a “sit down and wait” event but an interactive social experience. Signature drinks, skipping the seating chart, cakes that are not cakes but cupcakes or macaroons, and bridesmaid dresses that are not the traditional bridesmaid dresses. All of these things allow millennial couples to add their own personality and flare to their weddings.

Multicultural Weddings

Millennials are placing more emphasis on education, career and travel so we are seeing the average age of engaged couples increase to 33. Their love of travel is opening their minds and allowing them to meet a more diverse group of people. Understanding different cultures, religions and ethnicities is generating a wonderful blending of nationalities. It is no surprise that 58% of couples are marrying outside of their race, ethnic, religious or political backgrounds.

Making memories is what it is all about and millennials are nailing it on the head with “experience” based weddings. Cheers to millennial couples for shaking up the way weddings are planned.