Our Favorite Wedding Decor Trends for 2023

The top wedding experts seem to be on the same page when it comes to forecasting wedding trends for 2023 – it’s going to be an incredible year to say ‘I do.’ Extravagant welcome and after-parties, mismatched bridesmaids dresses, regal bridal attire, Art-Deco style engagement rings, and cash registries were repeatedly mentioned in conversations about ‘what’s in’ for 2023. Reading through the various lists, we placed our focus on flowers and decor. What struck us about these ‘trends,’ a term we use very loosely, is that they are not trends at all. By this, we mean an ‘of the moment thing’ that looks cool on Instagram, but has no hope of aging well. Rather, these ‘trends’ point toward a collective shift in couples’ perspectives regarding how they want their wedding to look and feel in a ‘post-pandemic’ moment. Our lives have been forever changed. Naturally, the way we approach major life events will be different too. Pomp and circumstance give way to authenticity and sentiment revealing the current mood for 2023 – weddings are to be joyful celebrations bursting with unfiltered love and emotion.

Bold Big-Day Color
After Pantone announced Viva Magenta as its 2023 Color of the Year, the first wedding trend we are about discuss should come as no surprise. Color is intrinsically tied to emotion and feeling. Navigating the waters of wedding planning after COVID, couples are incredibly excited to finally be getting married and embracing bold, expressive palettes like never before. What’s so great about vibrant florals and decor is how they work with just about any type of wedding aesthetic, venue, and season – it’s just a matter of design and styling. For outdoor summer fêtes, a myriad of bright hued blooms in various textures celebrates the beauty of the season. For formal indoor gatherings, we suggest focusing on an eye-catching monochromatic scheme and using gold elements such as vases, candle holders, cutlery, and dinnerware as a balancing accent. You can’t go wrong with sunny pastel shades of pink, yellow, orange, and green for spring.

Sensational Ceiling Decor
Nothing transforms a room like a high-impact ceiling installation. From a venue’s entrance to the aisle way to the dining room, hanging decor can be used to elevate any focal point of your wedding. No one will be able to resist taking a twirl under a dance floor ceiling dripping in ribbons, crystals, balloons, and whimsical blooms. For more traditional and intimate parts of your wedding such as the ceremony and dinner, consider using suspended florals with a cohesive color scheme that tie into the rest of the decor.

Intentional Details
While this trend wasn’t mentioned on any of the wedding expert lists that we came across, we are still going to take a moment to highlight the use of intentional details in decor. Now more than ever, couples are peppering thoughtful details throughout their weddingscape to express their love story, relationship, and shared interests.

Real BB Weddings couple Caroline and Ben honored the memory of family members by incorporating special keepsakes into their ceremony decor. “We strung Ben’s grandfather’s tobacco pipe, his grandmother’s handkerchief, my uncle’s pocket watch, and my grandmother’s thread and needle into the chuppah,” Caroline explains. “These heirlooms paid remembrance to our loved ones who had passed on.”

Even though their wedding took place at the stately Oheka Castle, Caroline and Jonathan made sure to show their humorous side with personalized cocktail napkins highlighting the fun facts of their one-of-a-kind relationship.

When Real BB Weddings couple Lauren and Patrick began dating seriously, they were living on different continents. “We incorporated elements and personal details that made the day feel true to us,” Lauren says. Instead of a guestbook, the couple had everyone fill out post cards from places around the world in homage to the international start of their long-distance relationship.

Real BB Weddings couple Melanie and Nick married at the iconic Suffolk Theater in Riverhead, NY. A nod to their shared love of cinema, they designated dinner tables with signs featuring their favorite movies such as Indiana Jones, The Princess Bride, and The Incredibles.

Real BB Weddings Couple Christina and Ben celebrated their marriage with a timeless fairy-tale reception at the University Club of New York. Underscoring the ‘magic-in-the-air’ feeling was a magnificent card table featuring a ‘tree’ adorned with lush florals. “There were ribbons hanging from the tree with guests’ name cards at the end. Since we were getting married on the first of May, the ribbons alluded to the Maypole tradition, which is celebrated on May Day,” Christina explains.

Show-Stopping Wedding Cakes
The great wedding cake debate on whether or not to go big has been answered – shows-stopping wedding cakes are in for 2023. This is one area of your wedding where going over the top in beauty, humor, and sweetness will entice the eye, heart, and taste buds. From towering confections adorned with exuberant fresh flowers to exquisite sugar blooms created by the likes of master cake designer Ron Ben-Israel to personalized cake-toppers of beloved pets, the possibilities of making your special day dessert stand out are endless.

If you should you find yourself held up on deciding whether or not to carry a punchy pink, lemon, and tangerine floral bouquet or cut a 5-tier rainbow cake decorated with your grandparents cake-topper, we hope these ideas inspire you to just do it. Because if there is a moment in life to go big and hold nothing back, it is the day you get married. By staying true to your heart (as cliché as it sounds), you and your partner will be able to design a celebration as unique and beautiful as your love.