From Film to Secret Menus, we're unpacking 2024's wedding trends.
Whether you're planning your own wedding or just curious about the trends that real couples are adopting, this episode is a fun exploration of what's hot in the wedding scene this year. Join us as we peel back the curtain on 2024's wedding trends — because weddings are not just about dreams; they're about creating memorable moments that reflect who you are.
00:00
Hey Ringers, welcome to the Put A Ring On It podcast where we are all about sharing helpful and practical tips for anyone and everyone that is planning a wedding. I'm Danielle Pasternak, wedding planner of DPNAK Events. And I'm Daniel Moyer, wedding photographer of Daniel Moyer Photography. What are we talking about today, Dan? Today we're talking about the wedding trends we're seeing in 2024.
00:35
So listeners, normally when we go to record an episode, I truly don't know what Dan is going to throw at me. Yeah, but because he knows me so dearly at this point, he knew that if he threw this question at me off the cuff, I would seize up and not be able to answer it without me. Yeah, I would be angry. I can't do this one without a list. Okay. Yes. So this is not an exhaustive list. But this is like
01:05
some some ones that we're feeling, I feel like you, you will see more of these because I think you see a wider spectrum of events and you're more plugged in to maybe what's happening. So I'm really excited to sort of like pick your brain on some of these and you know, sprinkle in some of the things that I'm seeing as well. So to get us started, can you just like brain dump word vomit, like all of the things that you're seeing? It doesn't have to be fast, but just like
01:32
throw them all out there and then we'll, I'm going to write them down and then we'll go through and sort of pick about, pick apart the ones that I think are interesting or maybe have more to talk about. How's that sound? Sure. Yeah, I think that's great. And I want to start with another, oh, so many disclaimers at the top of this episode, but it is what it is. I don't believe that like, doing these things, not doing things makes your wedding successful, not successful. Like all of that is just poo poo garbage. I think it's fun to kind of have an idea on
02:02
some interesting things, what may be, where the industry is kind of trending towards so that then you can decide, does that feel good or does that not feel good? And you get to kind of decide and do from there. But sometimes it's just hearing a thing that you might not have thought about before that's like, oh, that would be fun to do or, oh, I really didn't think about that. Or I didn't realize that was even a thing. That could be fun to incorporate. So that's the point of this episode, not to say whether your wedding is like on trend or not. Oh my gosh. And these always...
02:31
Historically, these episodes have gone well for us. They're most popular or very popular. So, I don't know. They're fun ones. I think it's interesting to keep tabs on what trends we have and all that stuff. And everybody out there listening right now is like, get to the trends already, let's go. Stop talking. And like those on the West Coast, you're way ahead of us over here on the East Coast. So it's all regional too. But here we go. You ready, Dan? Get your pen ready. I'm gonna count you down. I'm gonna count you in. Ready? Five, four.
02:59
321-99-98-97. Build the suspense. Okay, so this year's trends are peach fuzz, film photography, no wedding party, scene of wedding party, supplemental entertainment, secret menus, mini moons now, honeymoon's later wedding websites, digital RCPs and sustainability. Oh my gosh. I didn't even get a chance to write. I wrote that down so fast. I got it. It was so fast. I'm an extremely fast writer. Did you not hear me typing really fast in the background?
03:29
Yes. Yes. Okay. All right. So I heard let's just go through. I heard the first one was peach peach fuzz peach tone peach. Tell me about that. What? Dan, I feel like you were on trend for peach fuzz. Thank you. If you can't. So all right. I don't have hair right now. I shaved it all off. And I will not have hair anymore. Because I saw so I'm pretty tall, six foot three. And I do not often get views of the top of my head. And I was photographing the wedding.
03:59
like a month or two ago, two months ago now. And I saw a view of the top of my head from my second shooter who was taking some behind the scenes pictures. And I did not like what I saw. So there it went. And so Daniel's making fun of my lack of hair. I'm not making fun of it. It is a goal of mine to eventually do the same. So to my own peach fuzz, I'm gonna pull Liz Gilbert and gone. Okay, so no peach fuzz is Pantone's color of the year this year for 2024. I don't
04:29
significantly know how it's different from the peach it was a little bit ago, but peach fuzz, I guess, tends to have a softer tone to it. And I think it's going to lend to the idea that as we sort of look at different decor styles and themes that the 70s and 80s are supposedly going to start coming out a little bit more, which is, I mean, right. Exactly. I think we've been seeing that in like interior design and weddings always tend to follow suit right after that. So.
04:55
Yeah, peaches are peaches are one of my favorite fruits and Rachel's really so yeah, I love all the fruits pretty much except mango or not mangoes cantaloupe cantaloupe and I like cantaloupe good cantaloupe honeydew just tastes like green. I mean, I also like a lot of green things too. So and I don't mean that flatteringly cantaloupe or honeydew if you're listening.
05:20
Next, you mentioned film, photography and video. This is an interesting one for me. And this is one that I'm, I'm excited and concerned about. Okay, say more. I'm excited about it because I love film. I love the idea of there being one of something that is completely unique and original. One of the things that has happened over the years with digital is that
05:48
you know, on wedding days, I take 10,000 pictures. Because I'm just capturing lots of stuff. And I'm, it's called like shooting through a moment where it's like, all right, if like, somebody and their mother is hugging or a bride or groom are hugging, it's like, all right, I'm gonna like, work that I'm going to try to get the things to line up. And if there's a background element that like adds to the story of the, the, you know, them hugging or whatever, great, I can like work those things in. So I'm shooting a lot with film, you have to be very intentional. And if you know anything about me,
06:18
I love that. But I'm concerned if photographers who do not are not trained on film or have not had a long enough time to play with it and understand it's like I learned on film. So it's different, right? It's not forgiving. So it's like, is there is the film like
06:40
part of the process? And do you like getting film because it's like this one of one thing, and because it's beautiful pictures? Or is it because it's like, like, it's trendy? Do you know what I mean? Right, right. It's tricky. I agree. I'm definitely seeing more of a hybrid offering of that where it's digital and film and there's like a film. It's not 100% film in most cases, from what I'm seeing. I do know that
07:06
Well, actually, I was going through a bunch of photos that we got back from a wedding yesterday. And there is a whole folder of just the film scans because this photographer was based in LA. She did both of them. And it was so interesting going through them. This photographer is incredible. Her work is incredible. And looking at it, I was like, these remind me so much of the photos that my mom would take when I was little. And that's- Yep.
07:34
Like, and also like my mom's not a photographer and I don't mean that from a like technical standpoint but just the overall vibe and nostalgia of it. I was like, oh, this is so interesting because we were a group of people who were like we took these digital cameras or film cameras and then we made them digital cameras. And then they got like so many megapixels and better and better and better until these incredible cameras that y'all rock today. And now we're kind of going back to those old school things or what feels like old school to us.
08:03
It's interesting. And I agree with you that I don't know how much of this is just going to be and feel trendy, but there is that intentionality behind it that I love. I like the hybrid aspect of it, for sure, because I think then you're able to kind of get the best of both worlds, but I just, I've never seen it more than I have over these last probably few months and definitely going into 2024, 2025. Yeah, I love how
08:30
the imperfect is is part of it. Like you cannot retouch it, you cannot alter the the lighting situation or you can't edit it in a way that like a lot happens with editing on digital photos like an insane amount of work goes into editing digital pictures and creating a style and all that stuff. When you have like these film photos, it you're right, there's this there's this Oh, this is what these are the pictures that I grew up with. And I'm curious to see
08:59
like our young people who only know digital phones and and cameras on phones like, do you did you have a razor? A razor force? Yeah. Do you remember the like, I wasn't laying down? Oh my gosh. Yeah, maybe we'll just start with that. Maybe that'll be the next trend is like going back to like crappy like digital phone cameras. But anyway, or just dumb phones would be kind of cool, right? Yeah, there are there's a big resurgence of dumb phones happening. Yeah.
09:26
But anyway, yeah, I love the the imperfectness imperfectness of of the film photography. There's a there's a this couple who's been doing it for a really long time, longer than I you know, than any trend, their twin lens photography, Kitty and Craig fritz. And they had done this. They photographed for a lot of wedding photographers, they that became like part of their thing where a lot of wedding photographers hire them because they have that dual
09:55
approach and, and looking at their photos, they're all square. And it's just this really beautiful quality that I think that I'm hoping that continues to move past just the trend of like, let's get let's get film because it's cool and more like, let's do this because it's, it's really real. Right. And that's what I think as a couple if it's something you're looking for.
10:21
it's gonna get a little bit tricky to navigate because it's becoming so trendy. There's gonna be some photographers jumping on that, quote unquote, bandwagon that maybe haven't done the due diligence. And that's okay, everybody starts somewhere, but you wanna know what you're signing up for going into it. And you wanna understand what their experience level is and what their comfort level is with that. Because like Dan said, it's not, it's nowhere near as, it's unforgiving. Yeah. Like if you expose that roll of film to light, all of those pictures are literally gone.
10:49
And there's no backup, right? Like all of our cameras have two card slots in them. So if one of them gets lost or crushed or errors out or whatever, you still got the pictures. But there's there's no do overs with film. Like one of my old bosses before I was self employed stuff talked about how he shot like a whole day. Like film like way back in the 80s or whatever shot like a whole day and realized like I haven't changed my this was not a wedding. This was like a like a sporting event or something. I haven't changed my film at all.
11:19
Oh, no, it looked he's like I shot like six hours without filming the camera. But yeah, so like, that's part of it. I think what you said was really well put. And and I don't think we need to say anything other than that. But like, yeah, I love asking that question about what experience level you have and just like, thinking really about why you're doing it. So okay, next thing you said was no wedding parties or seated wedding parties at the ceremony. I think I think we said
11:49
Talk to me. Yeah, so the idea of the wedding party, it's the honorary attendance, maid of honors, best men, best people, bridesmaids, groomsmen, groomsmaids, bridesmen, flower girls, all the roles that we see where you're telling a person, this is what I want you to wear, this is what I want you to hold, this is what I want you to look like, this is kind of what's involved, there's a lot of photos, there's all these things.
12:12
I think the idea of the traditional view of that is really starting to morph, which I think is very long overdue, into something that is a little bit more achievable and comfortable and enjoyable for everybody involved. So I think there's going to be and has been a major swing towards just not having wedding parties with an asterisk after that, which I'll come back to, or the kind of...
12:38
dip the toe in is not having wedding parties standing during the ceremony where it's just the couple and the person officiating at the altar and everybody else is seated. So you don't really have the row of humans on each side of the couple that are kind of just standing there having to stand and hold a thing or put the hands in the pockets or whatever it is for the length of your ceremony. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that now you have to spend the morning getting ready by yourself.
13:06
that you can't have batch parties or showers or things like that. You still have people in your life and you still have these friends or cousins or siblings or childhood friends, college friends, roommates, whatever it is. You still have these people probably in your life to some degree. You can still invite them to be part of the things that you want them to be part of without necessarily having to throw a specific title or roll onto it that then means all these other commitments.
13:35
so many times this past year especially, I had a couple who opted not to have wedding party, but they're like, yeah, but if it was a bride, she was like, I have some friends that I just want to kind of get ready for it with me. And it was like, yeah, that works right. And then later in the day, they all got like a nice photo together and that was it. The friend didn't have to worry about the color they were wearing, what they were wearing. In some cases, they did say like, just wear like solid colors or just wear something blue. But even then it was like...
14:03
where, wherever you want, for the most part. So it was really, it felt like it took a lot of pressure off those people and a lot of like the expectations of things off of everybody involved. I like it. I really, really like it. Yeah, it's it's a lot to be like a part of the have that like official title. And that official title comes along with a significant investment to Yeah. Also, the idea of bridesmaids from what I know,
14:31
if I remember the last Google I did, the idea of bridesmaids came when the idea was that they wanted to trick the spirits into not knowing who the actual bride was. So there was a bunch of people dressed up as brides. So if any type of like ill will or evil spirits were going to come in, it wouldn't affect the bride because it would be confused by all these bride like people walking around. So yeah.
14:56
I don't think I'm explaining it 100% accurately, but it's something along those lines, okay? That's wild. What if that was the whole wedding, where it was just like the whole wedding, guests and everything were all just dressed in bride's dresses. They're like all the men were dressed in suits. Just no... Yeah. Confuse the spirits. Confuse the spirits. That's it. So wild. Where things come from. Right? Speaking on that same...
15:25
sort of like the same vein where maybe that's like you're seeing less of something. I feel like we're also seeing you mentioned seeing more sort of outside the box entertainers rather than just like here's a DJ, here's a band, and he was like a photo booth. What else do you see in? Right. I think of it as like supplemental entertainment, right, where it's probably not the main source of entertainment that people are enjoying. But it's things like and things we've mentioned in other episodes when we talked about like the pillar of what is entertainment.
15:52
things like live painters or people that are doing, writing haikus on site or doing, you know, tattoos on site. It's these little things, face painting, like all these little things that- Face painting, awesome. Yeah, yeah. It's like, we did one once where it was just like fake tattoos and it was so fun. Like everybody was just covered in like fake tattoos by the end of it and it was a really great time. It's those little extra things that-
16:21
people enjoy people don't expect. Not to say is that takes away from a DJ or band you want that doesn't compete with that you want it to supplement whatever's going on. So yeah, I'll tell you what there was earlier this year. The couple had like a wedding at a brewery they did their ceremony like that was like a smaller version of the ceremony on site but then they had a cocktail hour where like everybody came and it was it was pretty low key there was a DJ and people were dancing a little bit but it was at a
16:50
there was that distillery. So it was it was more chill, like people were just drinking and talking. It was like a very actual literal cocktail hour feeling cocktail, like everybody just, that was sort of like the whole dinner. And then there was a, it wasn't a sit down dinner, sort of like pastor derves, and they had a buffet, people could just kind of go and eat and whatever. But they had this. It was like a portrait artist, where instead of doing like a live painter of the whole entire wedding, or like a moment from the wedding, she did these
17:18
individual portraits of people like you'd walk up in line and she'd put you into a pose and she'd do these like five minute little paint sketches of you. And it was the coolest thing I've ever seen. Then she would have to like, she put them all out on this table to dry and you could pick them up later. It was quite literally one of the coolest things I've seen to watch her actually paint. And, you know, they're sketches. So they're like, imperfect and and there's a vibe to them and it feels very old timey. It was really cool.
17:46
Because it was so unique and all the guests were like, this is amazing. It was really cool. It's one of those things that then also doubles as like a favor where then you're not like taking home something that has like person in person's name from that wedding with that date like it's a cool now there's anything wrong with that. Sure. I don't know. You want to think what is the what are most of the guests going to do with this thing if they're just going to throw it away, then don't is that worth your spend of money if it is great if not switch gears.
18:16
But yeah, it's a cool thing that they can take home, frame, put on the fridge, gift to somebody. I just think it's a cool thing. I've seen that as well too. We've had that at a wedding and it's so fun to watch. It's so fun to watch, mainly because I can do stick figures. Speaking of another in the wedding kind of fun surprise thing, you mentioned a secret menu. I have not seen this or heard of this, but tell me about it, because it sounds so cool.
18:43
Doesn't it sound so cool? Okay. So the idea is that, I don't know if you've seen the, you know, Tiki talks or whatever it is that talk about like how the Starbucks and McDonald's and all these places have like secret menus that if you say this thing, then you get that it's not on the menu. Well, you can do that for your wedding too. Obviously there's some logistical stuff that needs to happen on the back end, but one of the easiest way to do it is have a secret menu drink item for your bar so you could give it like a fun name. You don't advertise it. It doesn't go on your signage, but you kind of get your VIPs or.
19:13
whoever you need to kind of spread the word. And then you could just walk up to the bar, say I wanted this thing. And the bartender's like, got you. And suddenly it's like, well, what is that thing? And everybody's like, say this at the bar and this is how you get it. It becomes this fun thing, right? Or you could like put it on a decal in the bathroom mirror or like in the ceremony part. You could like make it a little like scavenger hunt. A little, oh yes, that's a better word. A little Easter egg. And it's just a...
19:40
It's this, I don't want to say dumb fun thing, but that's what like it does it is right. Like it's just, I don't know. I, I love it. I think it's so it's like, and it's like low cost. Like there's, you're not adding anything. It could just be something simple that has a fun garnish. You know, it doesn't need to be complicated. It's just fun. I love it. Yeah. You know, like I often think that, you know, we're moving in this direction of like having to have like big things, complicated things and
20:08
At least that's what I've seen over the last couple of years. And I'm wondering if maybe there will be this balance, like we swung in one direction for a while, and maybe we'll swing back in the other direction where it doesn't need to be so much money on florals and a complicated timeline of going all over the place for this and that and, you know, maybe it's just these like little fun touches that are, are so meaningful and speak to who you two are as a couple. I don't know. That just seems to be like, we've all been to weddings.
20:37
So many of us have been to weddings before. And it's like, I feel like it's really easy to be like, well, you know, what can we do for our wedding that's like different or fun? Or why do we need to have this? It's like one, it's the two of you and just let it like you guys are enough as it is. But also like it doesn't have to be anything wild like this. You can just say what's unique about us. What do we love? And then just go from that. Like it's about the two of you. I think people will like that. Yeah.
21:05
Who's that super creative guy, Rick Rubin? Do you know who that guy is? Not if he's like this producer of like all these crazy records. And he's this weird, long white flowing hair guys always got like rosy glasses on a big white beard. He's been on all he wrote a book recently, like the artists way and he was on a bunch of different podcasts. But he talks about like, you know, you you do it for you, like you make art for you. And you don't make art saying like, I'm going to make this so other people love it.
21:36
because then you're like misguided. So it's like, yes, you know, we talk on this podcast often about, you know, creating a guest experience and all that stuff. But, you know, do things in the style of you don't do it because you're gonna be like, Oh, these people are gonna love this. And it's gonna be awesome. And everybody's gonna think it's worth the greatest and whatever. Right? Thank you. Stick true to yourself. Feel I'm saying, feel it, feel it. Okay. Mini moon now honeymoon later.
21:58
Y'all, weddings are expensive. That's all I'm going to say. Yeah, I'm seeing that one a lot too. Weddings are expensive. Big trips are expensive. And I think gone more so now are the days where somebody else is funding most of the wedding so that then you or maybe somebody else is gifting you a honeymoon. I think a lot of that is sitting on the couple-to-be shoulders of funding all of that and it gets expensive. Not only that, it's really stressful to be.
22:22
to go on a trip. And then when you're like, I also have this really big project that, 200 people are coming to attend the night before I go on the trip. Just feels like a lot. Though I do think time to reset, step away, reconnect in on a just.
22:40
base level relationship form, you're going to be coming down off of this high after your wedding. And that's not a bad thing. Life is about those ebbs and flows. We cannot stay in one, you know, we cannot stay in the super highs just like we cannot stay in the super lows, but you are going to start climbing down a little bit of that mountain that once that wedding is over. So planning something for yourself, I do think is nice, which is where this like mini moon idea comes in. And that's, you know, means different things to different people that might be, you know,
23:08
one day overnight in a hotel, it might mean like three days in a cabin by a lake. There's all these different things, but I think it's good to say like, what is a low key something that refills our tanks that would make us feel really good for a few days so that we can have something exciting to look forward to after the wedding to kind of ease back into quote unquote normal life, but without it being the full-fledged honeymoon because then maybe
23:31
in six months in a year and for your five year anniversary, whatever it is, maybe that's when you can splurge a little bit more and do the big honeymoon like you want to do it then because you've had time to put the money's back into the savings account and save back up again for it. So I feel that I feel that I'm seeing a lot of this one too. And I love that so many individuals are going after wedding websites and digital RSVPs. Talk to me. Yeah, I can't even say that this is a trend. This is almost a must.
24:00
do for 2024 and beyond if you're looking at having more than 20 people attend your wedding because your wedding website is sort of your hub for where all the information lies. If there's questions, that's kind of the place to go. What time is the shuttle? That's where to go. What do I wear? That's where you go. So all of those questions that kind of were floating around or needed to be on an invitation suite or whatever it is, that can all be kind of directed to your website.
24:29
I'm a big fan of receiving a paper invitation. I think digital invitations are gonna become more popular, but there's still a lot of controversy maybe sitting over that, but I really like the idea of digital RSVPs. We're moving into a time where just about every generation has some sort of comfort level with using a computer and going on and doing it, or they have somebody in their life that can kind of help navigate through that.
24:56
You can still do a hybrid of like a paper RSVP that someone wants to send it in. But as a couple, it is making the job of managing RSVPs so much easier. Things aren't getting lost in the mail when couples are, or when, um, guests are going online to RSVP. Like there's no, there's no waiting for it to come back in the mail, getting lost in the post office system. It's all just a little bit more seamless and whatever system you're using, whether it's Sola or all the other ones that are out there.
25:23
They just make it easy to kind of keep track of it. You can keep track of like what meals they want, if there's dietary restrictions. So from using technology for good instead of evil, right? Like that's the whole idea. I think it's a really great way to use it. And I think it's a way that makes it easier for both parties. One person isn't having to like fill out a thing and then, you know, put it in their mailbox and do all that. And, you know, it's just so much easier for everybody involved, I think.
25:51
I feel like it's this is in the same vein of this last one, which is more sustainability and less like sort of unnecessary waste. And I'm not saying that that's definitely where it comes from. Because, you know, there's something to be said about like, we have our invitation framed, you know, my one of my good friends is designer and he you know, he did it and we've made it letterpress and it's beautiful. But weddings do have a significant amount of waste and there's a you know, a footprint to them.
26:19
whether it's you know, quite literally, if you're in the middle of the woods somewhere, and all of a sudden, 100 and some people show up and you have to bring in bathrooms and whatever, like it's it's a lot. And even, you know, there's arguments to be made about flowers and, you know, paper and leftover food and, you know, just all that stuff. So you're seeing a big push towards sustainability, less than necessary waste, that kind of stuff.
26:46
Yeah, I mean, and that's a good thing. I think that goes far beyond the wedding world. I think it's actually just probably arriving a little bit late to the wedding world, to be honest. But there is, there is a ton of waste involved. There's a ton that gets thrown away. And that's, you can only take away so much of that within most people's capabilities and within reason. But if you can kind of say to yourself, okay, well, is this important to us? Maybe you work with a caterer who composts.
27:13
the, you know, any food scraps or things that can be composted after the event, or you do things that are, you know, washable, reusable as opposed to disposable throwaway. And if you are doing throwaway, then it's, you know, it can, it can break down a little bit easier than plastic does. And it's, there's no, there's no perfect, I don't think it's, I think it's really tough to attain that. But those little things I think can help when it comes to really seeing the overall impact that your day can have. I, no matter what you do, there's so much.
27:43
trash and things that just come with having a wedding. Even if you were to rent all of the flatware and dishware and glassware and stuff at the bar, guess what? It all comes in crates that are wrapped in plastic wrap and then that plastic wrap has to get taken off and thrown away. So you still have that weight. It's inevitable to a certain degree, at least right now in the current times, but there's little things that you can do that kind of make it a little bit less than I think is great. Yeah, I love it. And that's it.
28:13
That's all you have to know. To be cool. It's just a couple of little quick things to be reminded about and to look out for when you're heading into weddings in this year, 2024. And there's likely a billion more. I took some of my favorites that I thought would be fun to talk about. Of course, there's so many other things, especially when it comes to like decor and styles. To me, those things are a little bit more personal preference. But I thought these were like fun things to chat through. So.
28:39
Yeah. Okay. Thanks for letting me in on the on this on this episode. Yeah, just a little something something I figure I'd throw you a bone and let you do something. Yeah. Okay, you want to take us out? Put a Ring on IT Podcast is hosted by wedding planner Danielle Pasternak and photographer Daniel Moyer, both based out of the Greater Philadelphia area. The show is produced by DPNAK Events along with Daniel Moyer photography. You can find us on Instagram at Put a Ring on a Podcast.
29:04
And don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Finally, thank you so much for all of your messages. Love, your support. We are and have always been cheering for you every step of the way. Until next time, Ringers.