Wedding Trends to Watch for in 2025
Ten Wedding Trends We Love
As one of the top wedding destinations in Central New York – often hosting two to three weddings every weekend in peak season – the wedding experts at Turning Stone Resort Casino are always on the lookout for what’s trending in weddings.
Trends are so fun to watch because they tell us a lot about what people value and how they want their special day to be remembered. The wedding trend now is all about authenticity. From makeup to dress choices (in fact, why choose just one?), extended celebrations to riding the holiday magic, here are our top 10 wedding trends to watch for 2025.
Wedding Venue Trends
1. Big Weddings are Back
This first trend felt like a counter trend at first, but it’s clear that bigger weddings have made a comeback. At Turning Stone, for instance, the average wedding size for 2024 is about 175 guests.
Planning for this can be tricky, so it’s smart to work with your wedding coordinator. Depending on your location, as many as 20% of guests who are invited may decline or not show. Anticipating this, some couples plan two waves of invitations, waiting to send the second set until RSVPs arrive.
2. Multi-Day Wedding Weekends Continue
One of the greatest things about your wedding day is being surrounded by everyone you love. So why bring everyone together for just a few hours? That’s what more and more couples seem to be asking, with multi-day weddings becoming the new normal. And how fun is that? Pre-wedding dinners, post-wedding nightlife for your guests, brunch the next morning or a round of golf before departure are ways the wedding celebration extends all weekend.
This is also when choosing a wedding venue with lodging – or even better, a variety of accommodations to choose from – really makes things convenient for you and your guests. At Turning Stone, for instance, your guests can select from five hotels, including The Lodge, an all-suite Forbes Four-Star resort.
3. Holiday Weddings
The holidays are not only the most wonderful time of the year, they’re also the most beautifully decorated. No wonder that one of the most enduring trends is the holiday wedding. If you have your heart set on the holidays for your wedding, look for places like Turning Stone that love to go all out for the holidays, too. Working with colors that complement holiday décor make your own décor budget go that much further. Consider the beautiful Ballroom, with its festive red carpet and gold accents. Or the Shenandoah Clubhouse with its grand staircase and fireplace, at its finest during the holiday season.
Connect with a Wedding Coordinator
Wedding Décor and Color Trends
4. Ice is Still Hot
Couples may be surprised to learn that one of the top chefs at Turning Stone is also a professional ice sculptor. The most requested figure he’s being asked to sculpt these days? Dogs! And why not? Dogs are often our first “babies” together as couples, and they sure know how to win hearts and smiles. This is part of an overarching trend of couples taking something traditional and turning it into something authentically their own.
5. Wedding Color Trends
Every year, companies from Pantone to paint manufacturers make predictions about the color of the year. Those colors may be fine for your walls, but we’re talking about your wedding. Have fun building a Pinterest board of your personal favorite uses of color – and let what you love lead the way. Maybe you are drawn to blues, but don’t see it as your wedding color. What about the groom’s tux instead? Or the glassware on the table? Perhaps you’re having a holiday wedding. Choosing rich jewel tone colors that complement the season can make the resort’s holiday décor feel like part of your own. No trend is on point if it’s a color you don’t love (we’re looking at you, beige). Have fun putting a color palette together that colors you happy.
Wedding Planning Trends
6. Multiple Day Weddings = Multiple Dresses (woo-hoo!)
Brides and grooms alike are opting for options when it comes to wedding attire. While we’re still seeing the trend toward formal wedding dresses and suits for the ceremony, many couples are changing things up for the reception. We think this is a trend couples will love when they look back at photos years later. Whether the second (or third) outfit is a little sexier or a little more fun, a change of attire is also a great way to signal a change of tone for the next part of the celebration.
7. Makeup Moves to Soft Glam
What a fun trend this is. Taking care of our skin is in, and another trend that is here to stay. When we asked the expert estheticians at Skʌ:nʌ́: The Spa at Turning Stone, 2023’s #1 Spa in New York, to share what they’re seeing, two words instantly came back: soft glam. Obviously, brides want to look their best for their wedding day. But makeup is making way for more “natural glam” signatures like fresh, dewy skin. Dark eyeliners with wings have shifted to softer browns with more of a smudge than a sharp line. The trend is lots of natural colors, including lips, which may even have just a light gloss.
Even traditional Indian weddings are seeing this trend. In fact, many couples now opt for a traditional Indian wedding with traditional attire and makeup, then have a second Western ceremony – some even that same evening – with a whole new look. It’s an exciting time to be a bride.
8. Inclusive Menus are Here to Stay
One of the most thoughtful trends that is clearly here to stay is including menu choices with dietary considerations in mind. Our wedding coordinators noted that nearly every couple is requesting inclusive options for their menus. This is where the world-class culinary team at Turning Stone really shines. There are so many wonderful dishes that can be made gluten free or vegan on request, for example.
9. This Trend Takes the Cake
While the pastry chefs at Turning Stone are seeing more and more couples looking for alternative desserts, the wedding cake appears to be here to stay. Well, most of it, that is.
Couples have figured out that it doesn’t make a lot of sense to cut into something so big – and beautiful – in front of all their guests. Today’s cakes are increasingly more for display. In which case – does it need to be a cake? Shhhh…actually, the bottom layers of today’s wedding cakes are often foam covered with frosting. Not only is this more cost-effective for the couple, it also gives cake decorators a structural foundation to get more creative with the décor. Cake intact, couples then are free to have individual pieces of sheet cake served, or opt for alternative desserts, from cupcakes to cannoli.
10. Weekend Entertainment Includes Clubs – Golf Clubs, Even
While nightlife at Exit 33 at Turning Stone —and the new NY Rec & Social Club – has always been a draw for post-wedding celebrations, having a wedding at a destination resort this size means couples never have to worry about entertaining their guests. According to one of our wedding experts, as much as 85% of wedding weekends include requests for golf: buddies golfing, an afternoon on the greens with the girls before the big day or golf for the parents the following morning. With three championship courses and two 9-hole courses plus an indoor year-round golf complex, golf is a fun way to bring people together to extend the celebration.
Putting It All Together
Each wedding season, trends love to play with something old, something new. We hope this list of trends we love is inspiring you to have fun making your own wedding a reflection of you above all. It may also spark some ideas of things you hadn’t thought of. There’s a lot to planning a wedding – another reason to turn to an experienced wedding team you can trust.
Be sure to check out our article, “Planning a Wedding in One Year: Timelines & Checklist,” a helpful guide for any stage of your wedding planning process. The wedding experts at Turning Stone are here to make your wedding dreams a reality.
.jpg)
