In this post we’re exploring the 2025 wedding trends that are influencing decor, themes, accessories and more this year. From ideas on how to style your venue to ways to entertain your guests, we’ve brought together seven of this year’s most popular wedding trends to inspire your planning.
Of course, weddings are all about celebrating your unique love story, so these are just helpful suggestions. Whether you use them or not, your wedding is definitely going to be one of the best days you’ve ever had.
This is one of the 2025 wedding trends that’s really taking off. A content creator is someone who’s on hand to capture behind-the-scenes photos and videos from your wedding day, so you wake up the next day with high-quality photos and videos ready to share with friends, family and social media.
“Many couples wish they had captured more video memories from their wedding day,” says Liv from One More Shot, a content creator from East Sussex. “The beauty of hiring a content creator is that you can be assured every special moment will be documented through both video and photography from a guest’s perspective, capturing those behind-the-scenes moments to relive the very next day.”
Liv highlights that a content creator can help you get even more photos and videos while staying within your budget. They work in tandem with your other vendors, complementing traditional photography and video. “We’re a beautiful addition to your wedding to ensure no moment is missed!”
What’s also new on the wedding documenting scene is having a live artist to capture moments from your wedding. With a variety of styles available, from watercolourists to caricaturists and even silhouettists, a live artist is a lovely way to add a personal touch to your wedding. The art they create also makes wonderful favours for your guests and provides a unique memento of the day.
Chantel Coles is the artist behind Illustration by Chan, who offers her amazing live illustration services at weddings and events. A trained fashion illustrator, Chantel takes photos of guests and then speedily turns these into beautiful portraits using Copic markers and watercolours.
“I draw people in my unique style, capturing their finest outfits and creating the most talked-about and remembered favours,” explains Chantel. “People are always touched by the sentimental element it brings, as it’s not only entertaining to watch, but it gets all your guests talking and admiring their own artwork.”
As well as individual portraits, some artists capture a scene from the day to create a unique piece of art based on your wedding. Jacob Gurley is an artist who works in acrylics and oils, and travels all over the country to create live paintings at weddings. We’ve seen him in action here at Alfriston Gardens and were stunned with the piece of art he created for our wedding couple Selina and Phil!
The inclusion of outdoor and garden weddings in 2025 wedding trends is likely linked with the rise of celebrants, as a celebrant-led ceremony isn’t bound by the need to be in or under a licensed structure.
“Outdoor and garden weddings are made for celebrant-led ceremonies!” says celebrant Sam White. “We can lead your ceremony anywhere, often in places where registrars can’t, giving your guests the most amazing experience.”
This is one 2025 wedding trend we’re definitely in favour of! As you can tell from our name, our stunning gardens are an important part of our venue, and have been beautifully created by award-winning garden designer Juliet Sargeant. They’re the perfect setting for a completely al fresco celebrant-led ceremony, or can also be used for your reception after a registrar-led ceremony in our licensed barn. You can have your day, your way – a completely bespoke wedding.
We’re delighted to see sustainability making the wedding trends 2025 list, as it mirrors our own ethos and what we’ve also noticed in recent weddings. Sustainability is becoming increasingly important as people grow more aware of the environmental impact of weddings and strive to reduce their carbon footprint and waste by embracing eco-friendly practices.
“Couples are definitely bringing this up more and being aware of reusing, repurposing and buying second-hand items,” says wedding stylist Kirsten Butler. “I’m seeing a rise in couples using Vinted, Facebook Marketplace and charity shops to source decor, accessories and clothing.”
Kirsten has also seen couples start to use plants for their decor, rather than cut flowers. “These serve double duty as they can then be given away as gifts to guests.” She’s noted a drop in table favours, too, as more couples decide not to buy or make extra items that their guests may not want in the first place.
Sustainability is something we’re very conscious of here at Alfriston Gardens – you can read here about the steps we’ve taken to make sure the venue is eco-friendly and how we’re minimising our environmental impact.
Whether they’re adorning the back of a dress or a shoe, fastened around candlesticks, festooning your venue or fashioned out of fondant and found on a cake, bows are everywhere, and definitely one of the key 2025 wedding trends.
Loren from wedding styling company To Have and To Hire suggests diagonally styled bows along your ceremony chairs to add a feminine and playful touch to your decor. “For a more modern take on this trend, we love the idea of black bows to add an element of drama to your day,” she says. “Having recently styled a wedding where we used black draping, we loved how the colour juxtaposed with the softness of the fabric.”
Kirsten has some advice for those wanting to incorporate bows into their decor. “Tying the bow is crucial. It’s not a shoelace bow that we can all do – decorative bows are tied differently. Think about getting the loop in proportion, too, otherwise it may look odd and flop down.”
Kirsten enjoys styling bows around candlesticks for a dainty finishing touch, and is also loving the trend for bridesmaids to have bows on clips in their hair, rather than flowers or headpieces. “They look so pretty!”
This was a style that was seen all over the bridal catwalks. A drop waist dress extends below the natural waistline, which means it elongates the body and creates a very flattering silhouette. This is proving to be the most popular 2025 wedding dress style, especially as a basque waist where the drop is shaped like a V.
A drop waist is often paired with a full skirt and detailed bodice, creating a romantic and dreamy look. The Cordell dress from Watters features an incredible ballgown skirt in jewel satin, while Mori Lee’s Mattea gown takes a similar silhouette and adds pearl and crystal beading onto the bodice.
You can also opt for a drop waist on A line skirts for a look that’s more sleek but no less striking. We also love this stunning mikado silk dress from The Own Studio, which gives this trend a contemporary edge, and the Lori dress from Wed2B with its lace-up back. For something with a twist on the trend, check out Maggie Sottero’s Paris – a beautiful asymmetrical basque waist dress.
This gorgeous orange shade has been declared as the wedding colour of the year by Brides magazine, so if you’re looking for a decor colour we can definitely recommend checking this one out.
It’s a colour that would work well for a wedding of any season, providing warmth and energy to your colour palette for the day. It can make a bold statement in bridesmaid dresses or floral arrangements, or be used to introduce pops of vibrancy through accessories like shoes, ties, or jewellery.
If you’re a newly engaged couple and looking for the perfect place to say your vows in 2025, we’d love to show you around our luxury Sussex barn venue. Please get in touch to book a visit with our friendly wedding planning team.
