2024 was a wonderful year filled with love for me. It was the year I hit and exceeded goals, my first year of being a wife, and a year I threw myself into truly being there for my couples. Here are the trends I’ve noticed are going away and coming into the new year!

Goodbye Garter Tosses

Every single wedding I captured in 2024 did not have a single garter toss. I personally am happy to see this trend go away! I have seen and captured a garter toss before and I couldn’t help but see all the awkward expressions from groomsmen and family members watching the groom go up the bride’s dress to get the garter. It can be awkward, especially if your family is on the conservative side! This year I did have a bride incorporate her grandmother’s garter into her day of attire. The garter had been tossed at grandmother’s wedding, and was held onto for mom. Then tossed at mom’s wedding and held onto for daughter. That was a really sentimental element I loved that was still included, but my bride opted out of tossing it at her wedding. I know she’ll be hanging onto it for her daughter when she grows up, and I love how special that will be for them.

Bouquet Dedications

Just like the garter, I didn’t have a single bride this year toss her bouquet. They each did different things with it, but no tossing. I’ve seen bouquet dedications done a couple different ways and each was special. The first I captured this year was a bride who dedicated her bouquet to those not able to be present at the wedding. The had a special table set up with photos of loved ones who had passed well before the wedding day. During a moment of silence, the couple went to the table together and dedicated the bride’s bouquet to their loved ones. I thought this was sweet, and at the end of the night she was able to keep and preserve her bouquet.

The second bouquet dedication I captured this year was equally as sweet as the first. For a really long time, it had just been mom and daughter on their own. To commemorate her mom, the bride dedicated and gifted her bouquet to mom. It was a sweet way to involve mom- I don’t think mothers of the bride are incorporated into wedding days as much as dad sometimes and this is going to be the year to change that!

Dances

At the end of 2024 I really noticed a change in how parent dances are done. I saw a lot of brides bring their mom in for a surprise mother and daughter dance. Each time I saw it, it was so sweet. Mom was totally surprised but they had such a special moment with each other that usually doesn’t happen during the wedding day. My favorite wedding this happened at was my day at Impression Farms! The bride also included one of her sisters and watching the three of them dance together was so special. You could tell they were a close-knit family.

Reception Outfit Change

This is one I’ve heard a lot of controversy on! I hear people say “you spent so much money on your dream dress” and “you really should wear it the whole night”. Wedding gowns, while absolutely beautiful, can be uncomfortable to wear for the entire day. Sometimes they are heavy with beading and lace. Sometimes big skirts can be a nuisance to walk around in all night. Sometimes it’s just really hot out and you’re sweating underneath. Your dream dress can still be your dream dress even though you have a second outfit to change into. I’ve seen so many cute second outfits this year. I’ve seen mom’s wedding dress repurposed into a little white dress, I’ve seen jumpsuits, I’ve seen sweatsuits, and more. Don’t limit yourself to just your wedding dress if you want a second outfit. Do it! We can even snap some photos of the outfit change.

I had a reception dress for my wedding and I’m so glad I had one. While I loved my big, long dress, it was heavy and hot. There were times even when getting it altered that I would start sweating because of how big and hot it was.

Film

I’ve always have known film is a popular medium- and I know lots of photographers that use film on wedding days! I’ve noticed an uptick in couples asking for film add-ons when talking to them about what they want for their day. Sometimes I have couples really just want polaroid prints taken throughout the night, and sometimes they really want the full 35mm film roll. There’s a lot to consider when asking for film, and I like to remind my couples that film is imperfect. Sometimes you’ll get sun flares on the photo but to me that’s what makes film so cool. My husband and I had film photos taken of us for our anniversary- very vintage and nostalgic feeling!

Content Creation

2024 was the year we started to see content creation take off, and it rocked the wedding media industry. I worked with more content creators than I did videographers, and I even played around with capturing content myself. I love videography and I in no way think content creation is replacing it, but choices were made when it came to budgeting and what sort of content couples wanted. Content creation is more short form whereas videography is long form. Think about the short, reel type videos versus a longer full ceremony video. Both definitely have their place and I can’t even say I prefer one to the other.

What I will say though, is that I love the little highlight reels of people’s day. Our own videographer did this- it’s basically your wedding day condensed into a one or two minute video. We loved ours and watch it more than we do our full ceremony video.