This Year’s Wedding Trends

Published on 9th February 2017 by Jenny Mason

We were delighted to see our beautiful Aurora Sailcloth Tent featuring on The Metro’s top 10 wedding trends of 2017 last month. Here’s a quick round up of key styles you may wish to consider when planning your wedding this year: from greenery to trees, bespoke cocktails to lighting and mirrors.

When The Metro posted their 10 key wedding trends article a couple of weeks ago, we merrily read it ticking off all the gorgeous ideas that featured in the list – then low and behold, there was our lovely Aurora Sailcloth looking resplendent at Kilnsey Crag sitting proudly at the end of the list!  Thanks to Eden & Eve’s Wedding Planning Instagram page, we were delighted to see such a glowing report about how brilliant Sailcloth Tents are.

Here’s our roundup of our favourite trends to look out for this year – as you’d expect, they all look absolutely gorgeous in any of our tents & marquees..

Greenery

Large scale installations within a venue or marquee are a really stunning way of ‘bringing the outside in’.  We were thrilled to be asked to construct an installation for one of our most lovely couples last year (thank you Ali & Ryan!). After showing us a few images of what they wanted, we spent a bit of time in our workshop working out how it could work, but were blown away when the greenery had been added (by The Country Flower Company) and we saw the finished product! (image below courtesy of Anna Fowler photography).

This also ties in with Alison Laesser-Keck and Bryan Keck’s suggestion (VLD Events, quoted in Vogue) that “People are moving away from stereotypical ‘wedding venues’ in exchange for locations that are more special and rare. Think an alfresco meal at a long dinner table in front of a historic mansion, or tents on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean in Big Sur. These are the types of immersive experiences people now want their guests to have. It isn’t just about having a wedding, it’s about transporting guests to something magical, and allowing them to experience to something once in a lifetime.”

Trees

“Trees! We’re seeing a huge interest in trees of all kinds—from olive to citrus, cypress to birch. I love the impact of their scale in a space, and whether rented or purchased and planted in the ground after the wedding, trees are a wonderful antidote to disposable wedding décor.” David Stark (Vogue)

Cocktails

The rising popularity of being able to offer guests bespoke cocktails has led to many couples incorporating their favourite as a toast (instead of the traditional Champagne), or cocktail hour into their day.   Specialist mobile cocktail bar companies such as Mix & Twist or Jonny Cocktail Bars are experts in providing cocktails to larger parties, ensuring that the bar service is both efficient and entertaining.

Copper & Rose Gold

Copper touches, such as lighting, or rose gold cutlery were popular last year, and this is set to continue this year.  It helps that they complement Pantone of the year, ‘Greenery’, creating an overall feel of quality throughout an event without the ‘bling’!

Crossback Chairs

We are super excited to have our own, high quality range of Crossback chairs arriving very soon.  These beautiful chairs are not only designed for comfort, but they also add a gorgeous rustic charm to any marquee celebration.  They also look really fantastic with our hand made farmhouse tables!

Take a look at our Pinterest board for more inspiration.

Lighting

Lighting is (almost) everything and even more so than when holding an event in a marquee.  There are so many options: from lighting trees surrounding the tent to lining the pathways with festoon lighting or projecting colour or patterns onto the roof of your sail cloth tent, the sky really is the limit!  It’s worth spending some time on this aspect of your event, as the lighting you choose will really set the tone for the evening’s party.

Our team will happily advise you as to how to make the most of your budget when planning your marquee and lighting.  We have a range of quality options, from adding some simple uplighting to your marquee to more elaborate options including lanterns, pealights, festoon lighting and of course glitterballs!

If you’d like to speak to us about holding your celebration with Shades, please do contact us on 0844 880 5445 or complete an enquiry form and we’ll call you back – we look forward to speaking with you soon!