As Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez prepare to take over Venice for their June marriage, the UK is also gearing up for wedding season. Being in my early 30s, I am no stranger to a wedding – but while Jeff’s inner circle can expect luxury hotels and a fleet of water taxis costing £250,000, British guests are more likely to find themselves jostling to get a good seat at the ceremony, drinking too much warm fizz and enjoying a drunken disco on the wonky floor of a wedding marquee. It is, however, always interesting to see what strange and curious trends have emerged from year to year. From the bride’s attire to first-look moments and flashmobs, here’s what to look out for in 2025.
The artistic cake
Wedding cakes have indeed come a long way from white-on-white tiers. According to the experts at thewed.com, the artistic cake – and by that, they mean something ‘sculptural’ – is perfect for couples seeking an ‘unconventional’ centrepiece. Wedding cakes are no longer just desserts, they say – they’re bold statements that showcase the couple’s personality and the vision behind their special day, blurring the line 'between cake and installation art’. Hmm, call me provincial, but I like my art to be non-perishable. It seems strange to spend thousands on a centrepiece that everyone’s going to ingest and what happens if the servers get confused about what is cake and what isn’t? Who is liable if they slice open a decorative sculpture in lieu of your surrealist sponge? This feels like unbridled chaos waiting to happen.
The wedding weekender
Yes, like the days-long hen do, weddings are now often not just an afternoon and evening affair. According to bridalbuyer.com, the wedding weekender is on the rise, incorporating welcome cocktails, post-wedding brunches and multiple ‘fashion moments’. For the happy couple, this shift reflects a growing desire to create meaningful memories and a wedding journey, not just a day. For the guests, this equates to financial misery as they head to John Lewis & Partners cursing the three new outfits they’ll have to buy (that’s not to mention how much a three-day party would cost the hosts). I do, however, welcome the opportunity to be able to fully develop wedding friends over a multi-day event. One of the heartbreaks of weddings is that you do much bonding with your wedding table between glasses three and four of house wine – trading hopes, dreams and aspirations. The night ends and you never see your midnight soulmate ever again. I still lie awake at night thinking about my last one. Whatever happened to the groom’s cousin and was she able to successfully set up her Japanese ski resort? If only I’d had a few more days, maybe we’d still be in each other’s lives.
Wedding dress upcycling
There’s something abundantly charming about repurposing an ancestral wedding dress and wearing a piece of family history down the aisle. It’s usually some amazing 1920s slip or a simple, elegant dress the mother just ‘found’ in a charity shop 15 minutes before her wedding, and I’ve always been deeply jealous of women who could boast this as the origin story of their wedding gown. Alas, my mother dressed like a meringue at both of her weddings, rendering this choice inaccessible to me (and I suspect, many others).
The wedding flashmob
While not strictly new, this trend deserves a mention for still going strong. As flashmob site whoisclubmob.co.uk suggests, why not enjoy ‘a bespoke surprise where the waiting staff that have been serving all evening suddenly burst into a perfectly choreographed dance ? Wedding flashmobs handily make the perfect bridge between first dance and floor-filling disco – all you need is a bit of courage.
For the lucky few who don’t know about flashmobs – it’s when a crowd of people learn some choreography and then scare everyone with it at random. I watched one and it’s an experience I won’t be forgetting soon. All the wedding guests were chaotically flailing around in the background like fish on land, while the groom aggressively completed his choreography mere feet away from his bride. Her expression was priceless. Does everything really look better in formation? You decide.
The first-look moment
As a superstitious person with a husband who wouldn’t bat an eyelash if a donkey started talking to him, breaking tradition to share a pre-wedding moment together to capture his reaction to my outfit wouldn’t have been a prudent use of time. But, if you have a husband-to-be who is effusive and gets excited about dresses, then this could be a good option for you.
Hailed by brides.com as a ‘modern wedding tradition’, the first-look moment occurs AFTER couples have changed into wedding attire, and BEFORE the official day begins. The couple agree on a designated location, one partner heads over first, and when the second arrives the first will turn round to enjoy the look in all its glory. A photographer then captures this on film.
For those who want to explore this idea but are concerned that your fiancé’s reaction would be underwhelming, then I’d consider hiring Phil Foden for a day and having him appear just out of shot. If you stand in the same general direction, and stage everything correctly with the photographer beforehand, you’re probably going to get a photo worth framing.
The ‘do not play’ list
According to the New York Times, ‘do not play’ lists are becoming popular and usually feature a variety of songs banned from the wedding for reasons varying from personal to thematic to political. They also serve to help couples swerve problematic popstars (of which there are many). I have heard of people banning everything from Michael Jackson to dance tracks, football-team songs and Abba. Cross-generational music is, however, being fully embraced by Gen-Z as nostalgia reigns supreme, thanks to TikTok trends, streaming and old songs featuring on new films (think the Stranger Things-induced resurgence of Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush). Among the top 10 most-requested tracks by Gen Z? Valerie by Amy Winehouse, No Scrubs by TLC and Young Hearts Run Free by Candi Staton.
The heartfelt speech
While the emergence of the groom’s partner-in-crime with a microphone in hand used to signal an incoming onslaught of raucous, raunchy and rowdy tales, it’s now equally as likely that the guests might be taken on an emotional meander down memory lane by not just one, but several of the groom’s friends. Instead of jeers, there might be tears, and in lieu of banter, a flood of candour. In years past, we might have learned about the groom’s university misadventures and evenings spent passed out in hedges, but now we can look forward to gentler anecdotes regarding the groom’s kindness, grit and companionship in the face of adversity. One can only hope that another speechmaker picks up the slack and comes prepared with wisecracks, as there's only so much earnestness you can take in a day.
Sentimental personalisation
I went to my cousin’s wedding over Christmas and, at every single table setting, she’d placed a picture of the guest with either the bride or groom, or both. She’d also written a heartfelt one-page letter to them. Just remembering it makes my cold, black heart warm. The time and dedication that must have gone into this is remarkable and it’s the kind of thing that I’d say I’d do after a few glasses of wine – and then immediately forget about. It’s a lovely touch that most of the guests don’t deserve, and a trend that I hope continues.
