Meet the newest wedding trends
Doughnuts, tater tots, indoor fireworks, gift rocks gain popularity.
Rahmie Santoso and Zack Baumel wanted a wedding that showcased their personality. That meant incorporating their love of gemstones and rocks.
Their September wedding reception featured tables where guests could paint rocks and create necklaces made from gemstones. Their cake was decorated with edible crystals and a gigantic candy amethyst.
“The guests loved that,” said Baumel, a Baltimore native who co-owns a Washington, D.C., software start-up with his wife. The couple hands out crystals instead of business cards. “It just felt like us. The whole party was a celebration of the love that we have together. The first thing that people said was, ‘That is so you.’ Everything was hand-crafted — other than the cake. It was the most fun wedding they had because it was interactive.”
Including natural, outdoor elements like stones, foliage and fresh-picked flowers are just some of the fun, new wedding trends. Couples are ditching traditional elements while incorporating new aspects such as having indoor fireworks; carrying a wreath instead of bouquet or serving doughnuts as opposed to a traditional tiered cake.
At the Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore in Harbor East, a number of weddings there reflect the newer trends.
“I can’t even tell you the last time I saw someone throw a bouquet or cut a cake,” said Melinda Redling, director of catering and conferences for the hotel. “I’m kind of seeing more of that casual approach with how they are decorating the room.”
Couples are taking a less traditional approach to weddings and receptions — even when it comes to bigger-budget nuptials, according to Elizabeth Bailey, owner of the Cockeysville-based Elizabeth Bailey Weddings.
“So many of our couples are going to so many weddings that they have a desire to just make the wedding different than all the others that they have attended,” said Bailey.
The next wedding you attend will likely feature at least one of these trending options.
360 photos
Genevieve Grossmann wanted a wow factor for her wedding last October in Philadelphia.
She knew a 360 photo booth would accomplish that.
“I’m pretty sure I saw it on the Oscars, and there were probably some celebrities doing this technology,” she recalled. “I Googled around and (OrcaVue) were the first people I was able to find. It was amazing. Our guests still talk about it, and every once in a while they’ll post it on social media.”
Daniel and Jonathan Rosenberry are the founders of Silver Springbased OrcaVue (it stands for Orbiting Camera Vue) and inventors of the patented technology that allows for those sleek slow-motion photos that were popularized on the red carpet and have popped up at sporting events and now wedding receptions.
A camera is set up on a long metal arm — think a selfie stick that you don’t have to hold — that spins around a foot-high platform where the photo subjects stand. The camera, pointing inward, takes a series of photos that creates a slowed-image finished product that shows every angle of the subject.
“People are really awestruck. It’s like they haven’t laughed before in life,” said Daniel Rosenberry. “Seeing themselves in that shot — in slow motion holding a pink flamingo or wearing a funny hat — people lose their minds.”
Tater tot bars
Christina Eichenmuller, owner of Annapolis-based Creative Cuisine Catering, has been offering a popular mashed potato bar for seven years. But she’s upped the ante with tater tot bars.
“I think it’s one of those things that as an adult — you may or may not want to admit you want it,” she said with a laugh. “And it meets some dietary needs because it is gluten-free.”
Eichenmuller serves up an array of toppings including cheese sauces, gravy, chives, bacon crumbles and sour cream for about $6 a person. More elaborate toppings, including sauteed crab or shrimp, can range up to $10.
Indoor fireworks
Indoor fireworks mimic the look of a sparkler, are non-combustible and produce no odor and little smoke.
“This is ground-breaking in the industry,” said Nick Pignetti, founder and president of Event Pro, a design, production and entertainment company in Glen Burnie. “They don’t fall under the pyrotechnic law because they are not combustible.”
Doughnuts
First cupcakes, then macaroons. Now doughnuts are the latest dessert to dethrone the classic wedding cake.
In addition to doughnut walls, where doughnuts are hung on hooks, hot doughnut stations are a new craze, according to Bailey.
According to Bailey, “There is probably no other dessert station more popular than a doughnut station.” There, a chef grills doughnuts and serves them with all the toppings of an ice cream sundae bar — and that includes sprinkles, whipped cream and caramel sauce.
Wreaths instead of bouquets
Bouquets appear to be losing popularity — especially with the introduction of wedding wreaths.
“We started seeing this more in the last couple months,” said April Lichtenberg, director of business development for Owings Mills-based Flowers & Fancies. “Not everyone else is using it. But everyone is looking to be the next trend setter.”
These wreaths, which are mostly made of twigs and branches, can be decorated with leaves, blooms of pampas grass, ribbons and a sparse amount of flowers.
Wreaths ($65 to $125) are considerably cheaper than traditional bouquets, which range from $125 to $300.
Natural decor
Santosof and Baumel’s wedding epitomized the natural approach couples are taking for their wedding.
In addition to all the gemstones, rocks, fresh-cut flowers and herbs they incorporated throughout their ceremony, there were also little touches that drove home the trend.
Their cake stand was made from a sliver of a tree trunk. They gave out basil seedlings as favors.
“We really wanted to do something that celebrates the way that we like to live our lives — something that you can’t fit in a box,” said Baumel of Suitland.