According to fashion gurus, weddings aren't getting any less glamorous with the economic downturn. Instead, brides and grooms are finding creative ways to achieve that same pizazz for fewer bucks.
Glancing at the hot 2009 spring and summer wedding themes makes this clear. The recession isn't stopping couples from celebrating. Brides-to-be instead are becoming smart about how they spend every penny.
Here are eight big trends from the 2009 wedding season.
Green Weddings
The 'green' theme continues to be a hot wedding trend for 2009. While green weddings are on the rise, this year's newlyweds are on tighter budgets than ever, a fact that makes this what will be the greenest wedding year to date!
For a green wedding setup, brides focus on serving only locally grown and seasonal foods at their reception. Planners book wedding locations that can accommodate the ceremony and the reception. Another way to go greener for your wedding is to save paper by sending out invites and wedding announcements via email or on Facebook.
Ball Gowns Still in Style
In recent years, bridesmaid dresses have went from poofy to tighter-fitting and open backed. Brides turned away from this trend in this spring, turning instead to ball gowns. What was true in '09 will continue into 2010 as more brides try to distinguish themselves from their bridesmaids. Popular dress fabrics are satin for autumn, and cozy suedes for the winter.
Creative Wedding Cakes
The wedding cake can be an expensive part of a wedding. Brides and grooms dealt with this in fun and creative ways in the 2009 wedding season. The courageous went for do-it-yourself deliciousness, others saved by opting out of personal delivery or hiring someone to cut the cake at their reception. Weddingstand.com's personal favorite for 2009 summer desserts was the wedding trend of cupcake towers. Easier and less expensive to make than traditional tiered wedding cakes, cupcake towers are a dessert trend we hope carries through into the 2010 season.
Wedding Video Games
More guys who grew up playing video games are getting married. It explains why more Playstations, Xboxs and Nintendos are showing up as wedding entertainment. More spring and summer weddings from 2009 included Wii tournaments and other hi-tech games to keep guests entertained and excited at the reception. Expect video games to take an even bigger role in 2010 weddings as planners get savvy to their groom's World of WarCraft fantasies.
Facebook Engagement Announcements
With more people signing on to Facebook every day, it's not surprising to see more brides-to-be posting engagement announcements and wedding invitations on the social media site. Expect this trend to grow in 2010 as Facebook invitations get prettier and more people sign up for the online platform.
Budget Honeymoons
The extravagant honeymoon in Tahiti is so nineties. For the 2009 wedding season, honeymooners turned to domestic trips and unexpected excursions. Domestic honeymooners save on plane ticket costs and avoid expensive currency exchanges.
Other newlyweds strapped on their backpacks and turned their honeymoon into a chance to fulfill a lifelong journey. A honeymoon touring Napa Valley wineries of California, or completing a lifelong dream trekking the Annapurna Circuit of Nepal? Both were popular options this last year.
Retro Wedding Fashion
The 2009 wedding season witnessed a return to some retro wedding trends. Brides and their bridesmaids sported sweeping updos. Keeping in tune with the beehive, brides opted for heavy eye makeup, utilizing eyeliners and lash extensions. The big wedding colors for 2009 were navy, raspberry, cantaloupe, steel gray, and creme brule yellow.
Weddingstand.com's autumn wedding colors spotlight is a great place to look if you're currently planning an autumn wedding.
Do-It-Yourself(DIY) Wedding Details
DIY took center stage for wedding preparations in the 2009 wedding season. Brides and their bridesmaids crafted their own wedding invitations, favors,centerpieces, even their own flower arrangements. Ceremony and receptions are full of hidden costs, and brides-to-be used crafts and DIY ingenuity to keep their wedding budgets under control in 2009.
Are you in desperate need of last minute wedding essentials like invitations or wedding favors? Have you held off getting gifts for bridesmaids until the last minute? If so, Weddingstand.com is there for you. We make shopping for bridesmaids, and even groomsmen, painless and affordable.
Some of the information taken from The Knot.
