Top Five Wedding Ceremony Trends of 2025
When searching for “wedding ceremony trends,” you won’t find much about the substance of ceremonies. What you’ll find are a couple of blogs about ceremony decor — alternative florals, hand painted details, curvy aisles, dramatic drapery and garden venues, but nothing about the content of the ceremony itself. So I thought I would share some ceremony specific trends with you here.
#1
The Ceremony Actually Matters
Quick and painless, generic, “get it over with so we can move on to the party” wedding ceremonies are a thing of the past! Couples understand that the ceremony matters, a lot. They have woken up to the fact that the ceremony is the emotional, communal (and in some cases spiritual) heart of the wedding… that it isn’t something to be rushed through… that it can set a mighty tone for the rest of the wedding, and even more importantly, for the rest of their marriage. Couples caring about the actual contents of their wedding ceremonies is now in vogue. They know that the words matter, the delivery matters, and how present they are during the ceremony matters. Their first question is no longer “How long is the ceremony?” In fact, they leave ample space in their wedding day timeline for a rich and robust ceremony. They are as excited about their ceremony as they are about other aspects of their wedding day, and, when it’s all said and done say things like “Our ceremony was, far and away, the highlight of our wedding day.”
#2
Unplugged Ceremonies
Our days are a blur. We are plugged in, but tuned out. We depend on our devices for dopamine. But we miss so much when we witness life from behind a screen — as if real life only happens if we capture it and then post it and pin it... Thích Nhất Hạnh said “to love is above all to be there.” Couples have caught on and in 2025 they prioritize presence. They insist on unplugged ceremonies. And their guests actually respect their wishes and put their devices away when asked. No longer are ceremony photos obscured by a bunch of hands holding phones in the air. Instead guests’ heartfelt reactions are quietly captured by professional photographers while they actually experience the ceremony.
#3
Hiring a Professional Officiant
Technically anyone who has an online ordainment can officiate a wedding ceremony. But anyone at all can apply makeup, style hair, take photos, and prepare food (sans ordainment,) and yet couples make sure to hire pros for those services. Couples have come to appreciate the many merits of having a professional officiant who knows how to write an eloquent and cohesive ceremony, command a crowd, and create a true sense of occasion for them. Couples are budgeting for their officiant the way that they budget for their venue and other “big ticket” wedding items. Unlike in the past, couples are now booking their officiant first among their vendors instead of last. Appreciation for their officiants’ hard work, dedication and professionalism is shown in the same ways that appreciation for other professional wedding vendors are shown. This includes tipping and tagging them on social media. Wedding magazines, wedding podcasts, and big name wedding markets like WeddingWire, Zola and The Knot are publishing more content about the importance of a great wedding ceremony and a super skilled officiant. These wedding websites now reflect accurate, modern day pricing for officiants, too.
#4
Nature, Sustainability & Non-Appropriation of Native Symbols
The natural beauty of outdoor ceremonies adds so much to the experience. Not only are couples choosing to have their ceremonies outdoors, they are also taking time to express gratitude for the earth and the ecosystem. They recognize that we humans are not the protagonist, but part of a vast web of inter-connectivity. Their ceremonies reflect this in a myriad of ways, like adding earth honoring poems and making more sustainable and eco-conscious choices throughout the wedding planning process. As well, couples have finally stopped using native inspired wedding decor like tipis, dream catchers and antlers in their ceremony design. They now understand that it is offensive and appropriative, and does nobody any good.
#5
Inclusive Ceremonies
Couples and their communities unanimously agree that love is love. That black lives matter. And Asian lives. And Native American lives. And Jewish lives. And transgender lives. There is no more selective acceptance of difference. Diversity is truly a source of celebration and not an excuse for divisiveness. They emphatically believe that anyone at all (of any shape, size, income level, ability, skin color, neuro-type and sexual orientation) has the unequivocal right to get married, be outrageously celebrated, and be represented in the wedding industry. In 2025 everyone experiences love fully, equally, without shame, and without compromise. Catholic parents joyfully attend the weddings of their atheist children, and pro-Palestine progressives show up to celebrate their Jewish and Israeli friends with just as much love, support and passion!
Real talk!
Trends are entirely fabricated to keep us humans on a hamster wheel of craving and longing and wanting more. And when you want more, you spend more! Trends are random AF. They are invented to keep you consuming and spending your hard earned money on things that are - for the most part - frivolous and unimportant. They’re created by people who have vested interest in pocketing your dinero. This blog post is currently more ‘wishful thinking’ than what is actually trending IRL. But since trends are made up anyway, I thought I’d invent some trends that are useful and beautiful and change wedding culture in a way that adds more substance and soul.