When we said earlier that we’re ready to celebrate, it has become clear that we aren’t the only ones. According to a recent article in Vogue, there are more than 2.6 million weddings scheduled to take place in the U.S. in 2022! That’s a record 40-year high for celebrating nuptials. Event planners say not only are weddings coming back, but they’re also returning bigger and bolder than ever.
2022 WEDDING TRENDS
Guest lists are expanding and so are the parties. Instead of the “micro-weddings” and intimate family affairs, couples are going all out and planning long wedding weekends with multiple events. Packed into the 3-4 days are a welcome party, rehearsal dinner, daily activities for the group, maybe a karaoke night, the wedding and reception, plus a final send-off breakfast or brunch. Luckily, here in the Golden Isles, we have plenty of activities and venues to make a long wedding weekend easy to plan.
Another trend that planners say they’re seeing more of is themed parties that encompass the welcome parties and rehearsal dinners and often incorporate touches in the reception. Some common themes are Old Hollywood, Gatsby, Monte Carlo casino, fairytale, and masquerade on the more formal side. If you’re looking for something more fun for your festivities, themes like carnival, circus, sports, rustic woodlands, and even disco or rhinestone rodeo might be something up your alley. Look to your surroundings or your heritage for inspiration. You’re at the beach; why not a luau? Your grandmother moved here from Scotland as a child and your hobby is caber tossing? Bring on the tartans and the pipes and plan a wee ceilidh and whisky tasting!
Open air venues for weddings are increasingly popular as well, for obvious reasons. Tents without walls allow guests to feel less enclosed and wander freely while still being protected from the elements. Even when receptions are held inside, expanding the area with a tent outside or access to an outdoor courtyard, patio, or garden area where guests can mingle makes the venue more desirable.
Elegant Island Living/Annaliese Kondo
Planning Your Most Special Day
The courtyard at The Westin Jekyll Island makes a picture perfect venue for a beachside wedding.
Hanging florals can help transform your tents into magical spaces, and there’s more demand for elaborate floral installations and hanging displays inside too. Removing the elaborate centerpieces from the tables and suspending them from above gives your guests more room at the tables and they won’t have to peep through the peonies to make conversation. As for colors, of course white and muted pastels are timelessly classic and elegant, but don’t be surprised to see more technicolor displays, where your tables become a vibrant living garden! Lush green jungles and tropical flair aren’t out of place either. Abundant plants and flowers seem to give us all that sense of open air and nature that we all crave these days.
Elegant Island Living/Annaliese Kondo
Hanging Florals
The Straton Hall team is known for creating breathtaking floral displays. For this wedding, they not only suspended a gorgeous centerpiece showcasing blush-colored roses in center of the outdoor tent, but tiny air plants dangled like pendants from large topiaries of white hydrangeas.
HIGH STYLE
After so many months on the couch, wedding guests are excited to have the opportunity to get dressed up again and they’re going all out! Black-tie is back in a big way! Women go for the glamour. Pull out those floor length gowns and gorgeous cutaway styles. No need to shy away from black dresses at a wedding any longer when they exude elegant sophistication. Metallic shoes and glitzy accessories or bright colors elevate even the simplest black dress and add contemporary flair. Touches like embroidered flowers or a chiffon underskirt can give black a softer, more feminine look. And your jewelry can either dazzle or be delicate. Other dark hues like navy and burgundy and jewel tones are popular too, and pink continues to trend. You can never go wrong with a sequined dress at an evening reception!
If you’re not following a black-tie dress code, as always, consider venue and time of day when dressing for the wedding. Cocktail attire generally suits for evening events, while outdoor beach wedding will allow you to be more casual. If you’re attending one of those themed parties we mentioned earlier, feel free to pull out all the stops (as long as you don’t overshadow the bride)!
Turning to the gents, let’s talk tuxes. What does black-tie really mean? Is a tuxedo necessary? While rules aren’t always strictly observed (especially here on island time), when the event specifies black-tie as the attire, a classic tuxedo really is preferred. A formal dinner jacket paired with well-tailored dress trousers is an acceptable alternative. When your invitation indicates “black-tie preferred,” that means you can opt for a less formal suit instead of a tuxedo. Rather than floor length formals, women can then choose shorter cocktail dresses.
Over the years, tuxedos and business suits have both evolved so the differences between the two have become blurry and confusing. If you don’t have a tux hanging in your closet, don’t want to rent, and want to invest in some new wardrobe items that you’re sure will be appropriate for your social event schedule, here are some guidelines to suits, tuxedos, and the ubiquitous dinner jacket.
Most obviously, you can differentiate a tuxedo from a suit by the fact that it has satin lapels and accents. Satin (or occasionally grosgrain) facing is used on a tuxedo’s lapels, buttons, and pocket piping, as well as down the side of the pant legs. The lapels of a tuxedo also differ from those on a suit because they are frequently shawl lapels, as opposed to the notch or peak lapels on a suit. While you can find tuxedos with notch lapels, these general signify a more casual style and are not appropriate for formal occasions. Suit jackets generally have one to three buttons, but a tuxedo has a single closure button to create a long, clean, sleek and sophisticated look. Double-breasted tuxedo jackets do exist, but they don’t fit the bill for timeless classic attire. Tuxedo jackets boast jetted pockets with discrete satin piping on the opening, a subtle complement to the jacket’s clean lines, avoiding the traditional flapped pockets you see on suits and casual blazers.
Suits have the edge on variety of colors and patterns available. If you’re looking to show off your sense of style, tailored suits are a fabulous way to do that. The tuxedo’s appeal is the simplicity of classic elegance. The traditional tuxedo is black, though other colors are certainly available in a more limited range. Midnight blue is also a popular color choice. Regardless of color, the satin facing on the label will almost always still be black. Dinner jackets generally do not have satin facing collars, offer more variety in color and fabric, and, when paired with well-tailored trousers, white shirt, and appropriate tie, can stand in nicely for a tuxedo on formal occasions.
Tuxedo pants do not have belt loops, so you’ll want to make sure that they fit properly. Always wear a white shirt with a tuxedo. Traditional tuxedo shirts have wing tip collars designed to be worn with a bow tie. Spread or semi-spread collars found on typical dress shirts have become acceptable to pair with a tuxedo regardless of style of tie. Button-down collars are too casual.
To round out your look, you may choose to wear a tuxedo waistcoat (essentially a vest with a lower button stance that can be hidden under the jacket) or the satin sash known as a cummerbund. The waistcoat or sash was initially intended to hide the waist of your shirt when the jacket is unbuttoned; however, if you have a clean and freshly pressed shirt, this rule seems unnecessary and outdated. Finally, the tie. Since we live in the South, it’s easy to keep this short and sweet: wear a bow tie. Black preferably. Hand-tied. Period. You’ll make your mama proud.
