Wedding Trends for 2026: Curated Experiences
Over the years, we have seen countless wedding trends come and go. Some we have embraced, while others we kept a safe distance from. To be fully honest, trends have always felt like a copout. A quick way to latch onto a design direction that requires minimal thought, and a guest experience that is far from intentional.
With weddings becoming more intentionally driven, we are seeing couples shy away from these “one size fits all” trendy elements, while taking a turn to plan an event that is intentional, pushes the norms of a wedding day, and represents the love they have for those who love them.
Looking into 2026, there are a few “trends” that we are noticing and seeing talked about that we are fully supportive of, and can’t express how much they could change the mentality of the industry as a whole! The overall tone? Curated experiences.
With many ways to interpret this, here are our top ways to approach your wedding planning in order to allow yourself the time and financial movement to truly create an experience for you and your guests.
Curating Your Guest List Carefully
The guest list is always the first portion of wedding planning to get blown out of proportion. It’s tough to look at all the people who have been so integral in your life, your journey as a couple, and those who are important to your families as a whole and decide who makes the cut. Adding names to an Excel sheet is all fun and games until you put the math to the test. No matter your budget, every name you add to your list begins the diminishing of how far that budget will go per person.
By curating your guest list carefully, you are protecting your vision, as well as preserving the experience you are providing your guests. We always encourage our couples to work out their budget first, then their design/experience vision, and THEN work on their guest list. By knowing your budget and vision, you can work with your planner to estimate a cost-per-guest expectation of your wedding day and build your guest list based on that threshold. This keeps your guest list in line with the atmosphere and experience you are looking to provide while giving you a “no more than” number for the number of guests you can support as you begin adding names to the list.
Investing in Your Vendor Team Intentionally
One of the most overlooked aspects of a truly curated wedding experience is the team that brings it to life. Beyond simply hiring vendors who fit within your budget, we encourage couples to seek out professionals who align with their values, aesthetic vision, and communication style. When your planner, photographer, florist, and creative partners all share a cohesive understanding of your priorities, it elevates every layer of your event.
Investing intentionally in your vendor team allows for trust to flourish — freeing you to be fully present in the process. A cohesive team communicates seamlessly behind the scenes, anticipates each other’s needs, and ultimately delivers a more refined and immersive experience for both you and your guests. Rather than piecing together services based on convenience or price, think of your vendor selections as curating an artistic collaboration — one where each person contributes to the larger story you’re telling on your wedding day.
Layering Design with Purpose
Anticipation is the best play a host can make on their wedding day. Teasing your day with things like a custom stationery suite not only relays the formalities of your wedding day at the hands of your guests, but it is also the first nod to the level of detail you are putting towards the day. A well-designed invitation suite with unique elements woven in will cause your guests to start preparing for an experience as opposed to “another” wedding.
Imagine the anticipation you feel when a beautifully addressed envelope arrives at your doorstep. You can create a micro experience in how your invitation is received and opened, all pulling your guests into the beginnings of a day or full weekend of highly curated moments meant to appreciate who they are in your lives.
Quality Over Quantity in Design
There are endless things you can include, do, and build into your wedding experience. What we find is that some couples can get caught up in having a little bit of, well, everything. This leads to the bare minimum of design, often causing the wedding as a whole to fall flat from a design perspective, which can ultimately lead to efforts that go mostly unnoticed by guests (which is wasted money in our eyes).
Putting intentionality at the forefront, we encourage you to pick what matters the most to you and design it well with your planner. We always emphasize the focus on two key elements — your ceremony and reception spaces. Your ceremony is the first experience of your wedding day that guests will encounter. Your reception space is also the space that your guests will spend the most time in on your wedding day. By focusing on these areas and designing them fully before you start adding little additions here and there, you are ensuring that your design has a high impact and makes a memorable impression.
Focus on the Guest Experience
There is a “traditional” flow to a wedding day, but we are seeing more and more couples challenge this model in exchange for a more experience-driven approach, focusing on how guests move through the day from an enjoyment standpoint. From welcome events to pre-ceremony gatherings, there are so many ways to treat your guests to an experience rather than a sequence of formalities.
We love working with our couples’ favorite things to enjoy and do together, finding ways to weave them into their wedding day design, food & beverage, and guest activities wherever we can. When you narrow your efforts in this direction, you guarantee your guests feel as if they are experiencing a unique event dripping with touches that remind them of you — stories you have together, all ultimately leading to a warm and welcoming atmosphere for two families to come together and get to know one another through joy and shared love.
We would love the opportunity to share this planning and design journey with you! All you need to do to get started is fill out our Contact Form and we’ll be sure to reach out. We can’t wait for all the joy to come this year ✨
