20 Hot wedding trends for 2008

From The Sunday Times
January 20, 2008
20 hot wedding trends for 2008
How to make your wedding one to remember

IMAGE :1 of 9
Deborah Joseph
1 Black orchids
Are you over boring white ones? You should be. This year, it’s all about the black orchid. At £400 per table centre, from the florist Jamie Aston (020 7387 0999), it’s the rarest and most exclusive breed. It isn’t cheap, but boy, does it have impact.

2 Red
If you’re searching for passion, “make your day full-on red”, says the Alist wedding planner Liz Taylor, of Taylor Lynn (www.tlc-ltd.co.uk). Red marquee? Check. Red tablecloths? Check. Red lips? Check, check, check.

3 Couture cakes
In black and white icing, or white with dark chocolate, designs become nipped and tucked, neat and flawless. Look for gilded chocolate patterns with hand-piped black pearls, or black and white polka-dot frills, for a flamenco feel. Sequins, pearls and frills will also be big this year.

4 Marquee villages
Marquee mania has taken over. This year, marquee villages are big news, says Simon Sinclair of Berry Marquees (www.berrymarquees.com): “Multiple structures, combining smaller intimate areas with larger reception spaces, rather than traditional tents, will become de rigueur.”

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Purchase books from Sunday Times Books First
5 Imaginative favours
Forget the sugared almonds, buy each of your guests the ultimate favour – an iPod Nano preloaded with your and his favourite tunes.

6 Extreme dancefloors
If you want red-hot feet, rent the Savoy’s dancefloor, on which Fred Astaire and Frank Sinatra dazzled on their many visits there. Bentley’s Entertainments (www.bentleys.net), which did the planning for Posh and Becks’s wedding, has just bought it; it’s available for hire from £500.

7 Monogramming
Monomania is huge in the States, and it’s heading here, too – everything from monogrammed invitations and dining plates to favours and wallpaper. Check out Wonderful Graffiti Wedding (www.wonderfulgraffitiwedding.com), which will monogram anything and everything. Wonder Walls (www.wonder-walls.net) does personalised wallpaper.

8 Bespoke honeymoons
Want a luxury igloo in the Canadian wilderness? Or perhaps a mud hut in the Kalahari is more your thing? Either way, no problem. Based on a True Story (www.basedonatruestory.co.uk) is a bespoke holiday company that will make even the wildest honeymoon dreams come true.

9 Sweetheart tables
Can’t be bothered with the emotional minefield of planning who sits where on the top table? Forestall the family feuds by seating just your two selves at the best idea we’ve ever heard: a sweetheart table.

10 Chandeliers
So flowers aren’t your thing, but you want to avoid that conference-room feel? Go for bling instead, by hanging chandeliers above each table for guaranteed wow factor. Or just put a big one in the middle of the room. To hire them, visit Glory Chandeliers (www.glory-chandeliers.co.uk). If that’s too expensive, opt for cool lamp shades instead.

11 Orchestras
Full-on concert-style entertainment is where it’s at this year. Fly in your band from the Continent and your DJ from America. Check out Swan, a sensational 19-piece ensemble from Paris who are a favourite at footballers’ weddings. They come dressed in white and include an electric violinist and Ibiza-style podium dancers (available through www.tlc-ltd.co.uk).

12 Grazing
Forget the usual three-course sit-down do. Instead, mingle while you munch, thanks to the trend for grazing. Set up food stations around the room: think sushi bars, canapé kitchens and a pudding bar. “For one wedding, we took in Yo! Sushi – the belt, the stools, the high-top tables, everything,” reports the London-based caterers By Word of Mouth (www.bywordofmouth.co.uk).

13 Superstar arrivals
Craving a grand entrance? Do it Moroccan-style by entering the party on the shoulders of your best men, as they carry you on ornately painted wedding chairs.

14 Eco-weddings
You do your recycling. You offset your carbon emissions. Now it’s time to go the whole hog and have an eco-wedding. Arrive on a rickshaw, use an electrical generator and grow your own flowers. Oh, and don’t forget to recycle Auntie’s wedding dress by wearing it.

15 Hand-delivered
invitations With the post being so unreliable these days, more and more brides are opting for their wedding invitations to be delivered by hand. Just remember to use the ordinary post for ones to Australia.

16 Woodland fantasies
Love magic? Then follow one bride’s example and create a purple forest wedding. Spray trees purple, and mass purple and lilac flowers around the trunks. Make each table centre look like a scene from the enchanted forest in the Harry Potter books.

17 Brights
It won’t be all white on the night if you’re getting married in 2008, as flashes of hot colour are set to become the latest trend. Think turquoise and icy blues with a shock of orange or purple.

18 Multiple themes
Difficulty choosing your theme will no longer be an issue, according to Kelly Chandler, director of The Bespoke Wedding Company (www.thebespokeweddingco.com). “We’re currently planning a wedding with four themes: a Russian drinks reception, with vodka cocktails and caviar; a lunch with an Asian theme, featuring bamboo mats and oriental flavours; then a circus school for after-dinner entertainment. We’re finishing with a Moroccan afternoon tea – mint teas and sweets, with guests seated on low cushions.”

19 Black wedding dresses
“Turn the white wedding on its head and wear a black wedding dress with your bridesmaids in white,” says the London-based designer David Fielden (www.davidfielden.co.uk). Sarah Jessica Parker did the black meringue years ago, and look – she’s still married.

20 Small, decadent weddings
Got a £30,000 budget, but like only 30 people enough to want to invite them? All the better. Small, decadent weddings are increasingly popular – imagine paying for everyone’s flights to Italy, hiring a yacht for you all to lounge on, then buying everyone’s spa treatments, champagne breakfasts and personalised menus. Start married life as you mean to go on.

Deborah Joseph is the editor of Brides magazine Photographs taken from Unbridaled – The Marriage of Tradition and Avant Garde by Swarovski (Thames & Hudson £32). Order it for the special price of £28.80 (inc p&p), through The Sunday Times BooksFirst; 0870 165 8585email ian at ianjohnsonfoto@telia.com