Wedding Trends '05: Making It Yours
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Once again, the major trend in weddings this year is making the Big Day as personal and unique as possible.
FOXNews.com asked two wedding know-it-alls, Modern Bride magazine features editor Betsy Goldberg and New Jersey wedding expert Sharon Naylor, about what's hip, cool and beautiful this year. Here's what they said:
Betsy Goldberg, Modern Bride features editor
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Wedding Colors: We're seeing a lot of trends based on what's happening in fashion: chocolate brown with pastels, pinks, light green, light blue, bright hues like corals, turquoise, lime green.
Dresses: Vera Wang is big, Monique Lhuillier — she did Britney Spears and is big on the red carpet and for celebs. Reem Acra is popular with brides who want a glamorous, ornately intricate gown. Popular bridal gowns have bright color in the sash or details, or silver or gold — some sort of colorful element.
Food: The emphasis is on creative presentation. For the main course, one trend is four or five little dishes, sample plates like restaurants are doing.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bouquets: Brides are adding feathers for textures or crystals, so when they walk down the aisle, they sparkle.
Favors: Edible favors are still the most popular — often tied into the colors or theme of wedding.
Dancing: People aren't feeling like they need the first dance to be slow and traditional. They're choosing high-energy songs to get the party going. A lot of people are dancing throughout the reception — there is another room for dancing decorated differently. The feel is more after-hours club.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Vows: A lot of people are writing their own vows, and facing the group or doing it in the round where everybody has a good view.
Sharon Naylor, New Jersey wedding expert and writer
Video: Edited video segments showing the bride and groom separately and then together — this opens the reception. This gets everybody very excited and sentimental right at the top without stealing from the toasts. This also tells your personal story.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Transportation: Limos are still big — so are stretch Navigators, Cadillacs, convertibles. Cars for just the bride and groom are popular, like Aston Martins, Bentleys, Rolls-Royces. These make for great, fairy-tale pictures.
Dance lessons: Couples want to do something other than just swaying. It's a performance. Tango is especially big. Waltzes and traditional dances are still big, or starting off traditional and seguing into a tango. This reflects the couple's personality.
Destination Weddings: These are still on the rise — the travel industry picked up on it. They are creating amazing packages, a lot of adventure packages, like swimming with dolphins.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Honeymoons: Doing something that's unique from the vacation they've always taken together — if they've gone to the shore every summer, they're going on safaris or on really unique cruises. Wildland sets up these really, really exorbitant honeymoons — not the usual thing. There's privacy — it's not a resort with 10,000 other honeymooners all doing the limbo. It's a bungalow over the water — something out of a movie, not something they'd do again.
Entertainment: They're hiring a D.J. and a soloist — guests are getting a show. MusicInTheAir has cello players, other musicians.
And start saving now: Naylor says bigger weddings are coming back.