There’s hardly a more romantic season than springtime. We’ve seen wedding trends like bold flowers, bright color palettes, and towering cutting cakes in the past. Now, in 2023, we’re going to see the opposite side of the spectrum — intimate weddings with a larger focus on the smaller things, like welcoming boxes and wedding arrangements.
While the presence of COVID-19 altered the ability to host gatherings over the past few years, 2023 is allowing more possibilities, and new wedding trends are emerging as well.
Here’s a look at some of the latest 2023 spring wedding trends.
1. Outdoor Wedding Venues
With springtime comes blossoming flowers and a return of greenery, like budding trees and vibrant grass fields. Take advantage of nature’s beauty by moving your wedding outdoors.
For your wedding, find a wedding venue with a beautiful landscape and view. Host your wedding ceremony outdoors and your wedding reception under the safety of an event tent.
For your outdoor wedding ceremony, imagine:
- A wooden wedding arch overflowing with flowers and greenery.
- Matching seating, separated by a flower-lined aisle.
- Fairy lights lighting your way down the aisle.
And, for your reception, you might consider adding:
- A tent made of satin fabric, with draping fabric lining the walls and support beams.
- Glimmering chandeliers and hanging Edison bulbs lighting the tent.
- Greenery and flowers intertwined with the chandeliers and draping fabric.
- Tables lined with white linens and adorned with lavish flower arrangements.
Having an outdoor wedding under an event tent provides protection from the elements, including unforeseen rain. But, when looking for venues, choose one that has last-minute indoor arrangements if Mother Nature doesn’t agree with your plans.
2. Escort Cards and Display Walls
When creating the seating chart during the initial planning process, you might consider crafting a corresponding set of escort cards as one of your spring wedding ideas. These escort cards can help guide your wedding guests to their assigned tables at the reception, so it’s important to create one for every guest who will be attending. Each card should include the guest’s full name and their assigned table number.
These cards can be both functional and decorative, so this is an opportunity to get creative. You can design these escort cards to incorporate your wedding theme — think flowers, color schemes, and fonts that encapsulate your unique taste and style.
In addition to printing the cards, you’ll want to think about how you will display them. This is where a beautiful, elaborate card wall or board can come into play. There are endless possibilities for creative ways to display escort cards at your wedding reception.
Credit: Brian Dorsey, Jennifer Miller, JZM Events, Monique Banks, Monique’s Party, Jeannie Uyanik C&G Weddings
3. “Unplugged” Wedding Ceremonies
Cellphones and other electronic devices can be incredibly distracting and could take the focus away from a beautiful ceremony. For this reason, 40% of couples have started to hop on the trend of “phoneless” weddings, requesting that their guests refrain from cellphone use for the ceremony’s duration.
When your photographer captures the two of you walking down the aisle, you don’t want to risk having this sweet memory riddled with guests snapping photos on their cellphones — which could show up in your professional photos. An unplugged wedding is guaranteed to eliminate this risk.
4. Intimate Weddings
Another trend flowing into the new year are intimate weddings. This is much different than years prior, when bigger weddings were all the rage. Intimate weddings allow newlyweds to celebrate their love with the people they care most about, saving wedding pictures for distant friends and family to see on social media.
A huge benefit of intimate weddings is the money you save. A smaller guest list means saving money on food, drinks, tables, chairs, and other items. An intimate wedding also means fewer people in your wedding party, saving you more money on bridal and groom trends, dress and tux costs, and hair and makeup.
With the money you save, you have a larger budget for the little details, which are making a huge impact on 2023 weddings.
5. Destination Weddings
Moving into 2023, the destination wedding trend continues growing in popularity. Though a getaway wedding adds the additional expenses of traveling, getting married at your dream destination can be so worth it. Avoiding some hometown competition is also a nice perk to having a destination wedding.
If you and your partner are thinking about a getaway wedding, here are some great locations to consider:
- Mexico
- Napa Valley
- Florida Keys
- Colorado
- Dominican Republic
- Hawaii
- Aruba
6. Welcome Boxes
As guests leave a wedding, they grab a wedding favor as the newlyweds’ way of saying “thank you” for attending their wedding. But, in 2023, wedding trends are switching it up with wedding boxes — gift boxes guests receive as they arrive at the wedding venue.
Each box is outfitted with things that guests can use during the wedding. In 2020, welcome boxes had face masks, hand sanitizer, and other health care-related treasures. For your 2023 welcome box, consider gifting:
- Sparkling water
- Tissues
- Sweet or salty snacks
- Lotion
- Teas
- A thank-you card
Welcome boxes are usually petite because you don’t want guests lugging around colossal gifts throughout your wedding ceremony and reception.
One way you can distribute welcome boxes is by integrating them into your wedding reception table plan. For example, place a welcome box next to your table setting toward the center of the table. Consider placing nametags on each welcome box, so guests know where to sit, and leaving unnamed welcome boxes for any surprise or last-minute guests.
7. Natural Color Palettes
One of the first things you want to do when wedding planning is to choose a color scheme. For 2023, spring wedding color trends lean toward a nature-inspired palette, with colors like:
- White.
- Cream.
- Taupe.
- Lilac.
- Blush.
- Peach.
- Baby blue.
- Sage green.
- Mustard yellow.
The Top 2023 Spring Wedding Colors
When choosing your color palette, also take inspiration from your wedding venue. Most natural color palettes work with indoor wedding venues, and they all work with outdoor tented weddings.
Start by choosing a focal color, then choose two or three accent colors. Some examples of complete color schemes include:
- White, cream, and blush.
- White, taupe, and baby blue.
- Cream, sage green, and blush.
- White, cream, and rust orange.
For a clean springtime look, choose white, cream, or taupe as your base color. Then, choose a brighter color — you’ll want to stick with pastels — to incorporate in ways like filler flowers, table settings, and miscellaneous decor.
The Top 2023 Spring Wedding Flowers
8. Charming Lighting
Lighting plays an important role in every wedding. It sets the ambiance, transforming any wedding venue into a dreamy, romantic fairytale. Your wedding venue will supply basic lighting, but you will want to work with wedding rental vendors for specialized lighting.
Some ways you can incorporate light into your wedding include:
- Candles and smaller lighting on tables, like colored taper candles.
- Candles or fairy lights lighting your way down the aisle.
- Vast chandeliers hanging from the ceiling of your venue or tent.
- A sea of fairy lights strung from the ceiling of your venue or tent.
In 2023, we plan on seeing rustic and bohemian approaches. Take some lighting inspiration from wedding trends like:
- Medieval-inspired chandeliers, which are noted for their metal craftsmanship and rustic bulbs.
- Edison string lights strung along the top of your wedding tent along with draping greenery.
- Bohemian basket weave chandeliers, either clustered together or hung in varying heights along the top of your venue.
Another trend we’re going to see a lot of in 2023 is neon signs. Newlyweds are ordering neon signs that spell out a quirky catchphrase, like “happily ever after” or “better together.” These neon signs make for great contemporary backdrops and memorable photographs.
9. Live Acoustic Music
It’s traditional for there to be music at a wedding. After all, what’s a celebration without music? In past years, many newlyweds hired a DJ to handle the music. In 2023, newlyweds are taking a more intimate approach by hiring live musicians.
Live music isn’t new to 2023, but it is becoming more of the norm. Start searching for bands nine to 12 months away from your wedding date. Some bands — especially the good ones — are highly sought after and may not have your wedding day available.
If you have a wedding planner, use them as your resource to find a great band. Other ways you can find a band that will be ideal for your wedding is by:
- Thinking back to past events you’ve visited and noting any of your favorite bands.
- Asking your friends and family for their suggestions.
- Visiting an acoustic band’s showcase before booking them.
Ask your band what songs they enjoy performing. If you have a specific song you would like played at your wedding, like during a father-daughter dance, make sure they can play it before signing the contract.
10. Mismatched Seating and Decor
In the past, weddings took a more modern approach to seating and decor. In 2023, that trend is shifting to a “homier” environment, especially in terms of seating.
The biggest trend for 2023 weddings, especially in the spring, is mismatched seating. Think about the seating you have in your house — armchairs, dining chairs, love seats. Break the home boundaries and incorporate these seating elements into your wedding.
Some ways you can have mismatched seating at your wedding include:
- A cluster of decorative seating and armchairs for photo ops.
- Mismatched dining chairs on either side of the aisle.
- Mismatched dining chairs in your reception’s dining area.
Mismatched table settings are trending, too, with varying cups, napkins, and place settings. If you like the idea of mismatched wedding decor trends, talk with your wedding planner. They can help you find tasteful mismatched decor that coordinates well with the rest of your decor and the venue.
11. Lavish Flower Arrangements
Flowers, quite literally, bring your wedding to life. Flowers are intertwined into your wedding, from the bouquet you hold to tabletop arrangements. With trends for spring weddings in 2023, expect lavish flower trends, like:
- In-season blooms: Certain blooms, such as roses, never go out of style. This year, florists are making arrangements with plenty of textures using in-style filler flowers like pampas grass and other greenery.
- Dried flowers and greenery: Another flower trend is dried flowers and greenery. You can incorporate dried flowers on your wedding cake, in your wedding favors and invitations, and anywhere else you can think of.
- White and neutral flowers: As we mentioned, neutrals are all the rage this year, including in flower arrangements. Florists use textured flowers, including camellias, baby’s breath and bouvardia to bring depth to arrangements.
- Statement backdrops: You can rely on your flowers when deciding on photo ops, too. Florists love getting creative when designing statement backdrops, like a flower wall, for example.
- Spray-painted flowers: A trend we’re bringing into 2023 is spray-painted flowers. Some practical examples of spray-painted flowers are golden or metallic filler flowers.
You’ll want to book your florists at least five to six months before your big day. Talk with a variety of florists before booking one you love. Discuss your goals and visions with each florist, and choose the florist that can best bring your visions to life.
12. Single-Tier and Miniature Cakes
In recent years, we’ve seen lavish tiered cutting cakes. Multi-tiered statement cakes are things of the past, with more subdued cakes trending now. Talk with your cake baker about designing a single-tiered cutting cake, featuring 2023 trends like:
- Dried, edible flowers.
- Translucent isomalt designs.
- Three-dimensional brush strokes.
- Gold foil detailing.
- Seas of pearls.
You and your fiancé can share the dramatic single-tiered cake. For your guests, have your baker create personal-sized cakes to distribute to your guests.
Have each miniature cake embody the larger cutting cake. As an example, if your cutting cake is full of decorative dried flowers, your miniature cakes can have the same, smaller-scale decorations.
13. Miniature Hors D’oeuvres and Cocktails
Food is one of the best parts of weddings. In the time between your ceremony and reception dinner, your guests will appreciate miniature hors d’oeuvres and cocktails to keep them energized.
Some miniature hors d’oeuvres your guests will likely enjoy include:
- Gourmet meatballs.
- Grilled cheese and tomato soup.
- Fruit skewers.
- Stuffed mushrooms.
- Marinated shrimp.
- Sliders.
- Pretzel bites.
As a good companion to your hors d’oeuvres, serve some miniature cocktails like:
- Bloody Marys.
- Margaritas.
- Martinis.
- Mojitos.
Talk with your caterer about possible hors d’oeuvres and drinks. Your wedding venue or caterer will supply staff members to walk around your reception and serve the hors d’oeuvres and cocktails.
14. Hairstyle Trends
Choosing the perfect hairstyle for your big day requires just as much thought and care as your wedding dress does. While you should ultimately pick a hairstyle that reflects your personal style and preference, you can use current hair trends to gather some ideas.
Some wedding hair trends of 2023 include:
- Natural waves, curls and texture
- Curtain bangs
- Short hair with clip accessories
- Soft low buns
15. Modern Wedding Dresses
Finding the right wedding dress is a memorable moment for every bride. We’ve seen many wedding dress trends over the years. In 2023, we’re going to see wedding dresses like:
- Short dresses: Long gowns are the norm for weddings, but brides are breaking that tradition for a more comfortable alternative — short dresses. Short dresses allow you to show off other traditional aspects of wedding attire, like your shoes or statement jewelry.
- Pants: Another comfortable alternative to a long gown are pants. If you’re a bride who loves a statement moment, pants offer an elegant look that can give you the “wow” factor as you walk down the aisle.
- Ruffles: An underlying trend we’ll see a lot of in 2023 is ’20s-inspired attire and decor. When you’re searching for your perfect dress, don’t be afraid to exaggerate the ’20s with dramatic ruffles!
- Bishop sleeves: Another decade wedding dresses are taking inspiration from is the ’80s. In 2023, we’re seeing brides adorning exaggerated bishop sleeves. Bishop sleeves are large, airy sleeves, usually with sheer fabric.
- Crepe: Perhaps the largest 2023 wedding trend is creped dresses. Creped wedding gowns are smooth gowns that are clean-cut and modern-looking. They don’t typically involve other three-dimensional fabrics and are known for their modern appearance.
- Layered skirts: Oppositely, if you want a textured, three-dimensional wedding dress, then choose one with layered skirts. A layered wedding dress can be layered with the same fabric, or with layered sheered and embroidered fabrics.
- Square necklines: Square necklines flatter almost every body type. And, they’re a great option if you have a necklace you want to show off.
Schedule an appointment with more than one boutique and try on a variety of wedding gowns until you find “the one.” Place an order for your wedding gown about nine months in advance, and allow time in your schedule for a handful of fittings and alterations.
Dreaming About the Perfect Wedding Flowers? Let Ode à La Rose Make Them a Reality!
At Ode à la Rose, we have a team dedicated to making your dream wedding a reality. We’re loving this year’s springtime flower trends! Whether you daydream of timeless arrangements or enjoy the current trends, our team can make it happen. Tell us about your goals by contacting us online and beginning your order today — we look forward to working with you!
