WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF WEDDINGS 2025
As peak wedding season heads towards its close for 2024, wedding couples across the land are already making plans for their special days next year.
But look no further, because here, Beth Greenan, Galgorm Collection’s resident wedding expert, who has been helping loved-up couples create their dream big days for 20 years, is on hand to share her insights into what the country’s coolest couples will be doing in 2025.
Here’s what to expect:
Multi-day Events
“More and more couples are thinking of a full experience for their guests, rather than just the wedding day itself,” says Beth. “If guests are travelling, they want to spend quality time with them, not just grab a quick chat outside the church, so multi-day events are huge.
“There could be a rehearsal or welcome party the day before as the excitement builds and a brunch or more informal event the day after. For example, some of our guests would have the wedding at Galgorm then go to Parisien the next day for lunch. It’s all about the “experience”. This used to be the reserve of destination weddings abroad as guests made a holiday out of their trip, but now the multi-day, “destination feel” event is something couples are doing closer to home.”
Social Media Generation
“We all remember the standard was to have a photographer, and maybe a videographer to capture the big day,” says Beth. “Now there’s a third to factor in, and that’s the social media content creator. We’re seeing them more and more across all our venues as couples want to capture every moment – often putting them out live on the day on the couple’s social media channels.
“And this isn’t just for the well-known, or for major social media influencers, this is just couples who have grown up with high-quality online content, and really value it.”
Cakes and coupes
“The wedding cake, or perhaps a “cake tower” is still a big factor for most wedding days,” says Beth. “But not for all. Increasingly we’re seeing the “cut the cake” moment being swapped for a Coupe Champagne Tower, where the couple pour champagne down the tower of glasses, which makes for an incredible picture – and gorgeous footage for socials. The “back-drop” for the cake or coupe is also a must, making pictures really pop.
Animals welcome!
“Years ago, it would have been really unusual for a couple to have a pet at a wedding,” says Beth. “But now, it’s 100% accepted and I’d say we’ve got a dog at a wedding nearly every week. To have a pet featuring in pictures, or even taking part in the ceremony itself in some way, is not a strange request for us at all anymore. We have even welcomed a horse!”
Gender fluid
“Wedding parties are really mixing it up at the minute in terms of who does what,” says Beth. “We’ve got flower boys coming down the aisle, we’ve got best women, men in the bridal party, brides and maids-of-honour doing fantastic speeches. As with most other things, the fundamentals are there in terms of traditions in that the same things are happening, but couples are doing it their own way and choosing precisely who they want for each role.”
Table Plans 2.0
“Back in the day, a table plan would consist of names listed out on a printed piece of paper,” says Beth. “Couples would often come up with quirky names for the table to give guests a giggle, but the ante has been well and truly upped here, like it has been everywhere else. Now, we’ve got table plans presented on photographs, on records and on vases of flowers.
The Walk In
“This was always a lovely part of the day, when the couple walked into the room to a tune they loved after the wedding,” says Beth. “But while it used to be a pretty small part of the day, now it’s a major moment of the day for lots of couples. Guests are encouraged to swing those napkins aloft while the turns are pumping. We’ve had one couple led in by their little son who was driving a remote-control car, we’ve had grooms dancing their way in, we’ve had big elaborate moments involving the full wedding party.”
Multi-cultural celebrations
“Couples are getting more confident in incorporating different cultures into their celebrations,” says Beth. “We have lots of people who are getting married close to home, but their partners are from different backgrounds or parts of the world, and more and more those varied traditions are being embraced. At a recent wedding the bride was from Northern Ireland and the groom was from Nigeria, and we had this amazing moment when they did a full Nigerian walk in, where they danced into the room and did a traditional Nigerian ‘money spray’ where guests shower the couple with money. It made their wedding so special and personal to them, and that’s what we want to help couples create.”
Gorgeous groomsmen – and multiple dresses for the bride
“While women’s wedding dresses are still as incredible as ever, and really there’s a huge range of what people now choose, it’s the men we’re watching now,” says Beth. “Gone are the standard suits and one-colour ties for the groomsmen, now they’re really going for it with their fashion choices. It’s great to see because it’s a chance for the groom and his party to really have fun with fashion on such a huge day in their lives. On the bridal front, it’s really not unusual for the bride to have another dress to change into in the evening. One wedding dress no more!”
To find out more about weddings across Galgorm Collection visit https://www.galgorm.com/galgorm-collection-weddings.html
