Tara Melvin March 22, 2022
Tara Melvin
One of the top 2022 wedding trends that I’m loving is INDIVIDUALITY! Increasingly, couples are casting aside traditional wedding conventions, making their own mark, and placing greater emphasis on customizations that are unique expressions of their love. This compelled me to write today’s blog, “Say I Do” to The Top Wedding Trends for 2022: Style, Decor and Entertainment Trends that Celebrate Individuality.”
This year, it thrills me to see an emergence of couples choosing progressive, extraordinarily imaginative themes, and incorporating engaging activities to make their wedding a truly inclusive, guest-centric experience.
These bold statement makers are breaking the mold and making 2022 somewhat of a “non-trend” trend year. I say, “Permission granted: your wedding, your way. Don’t think outside the box. Think like there is no box.” From the overall theme, style, decor and entertainment to the tiniest details, such as menu and place cards, your wedding should look and feel like you – and only you.
Ultimately, the top wedding trends for 2022 are originating from couples focusing on what truly is important to them and being more intentional in the planning process.
Feel free to take creative cues from my list of top wedding trends that you can expect to see more of in the year ahead. You’ll find that my 2022 wedding trends are less about “must-dos” and more about new and exhilarating ways to envision celebrating your special day!
Culture is taking center stage in wedding entertainment. A prime example comes from the West African culture-based/New Orleans phenomenon, First or Second Line Bands. The brass band introduces couples to their guests as a part of their newlywed debut. The band leads the way, while the wedding party and guests strut and dance to the beat. Similar to Line Bands are Junkanoo performers like the ones I implemented into my birthday celebration, escorted my guests down the street into the party to get everyone exhilarated about the evening’s festivities. Junkanoo is a street parade with music, dance, and costumes of mixed African origin in many islands across the English speaking Caribbean. Besides the Caribbean, Junkanoo is notably found in Miami and Key West, Florida.
This high energy and engaging activity is sure to get any wedding celebration started. Couples can easily do so by parading around the venue at the end of the reception, using the Second Line or Junkanoo as a way to end the night on a high note.
Another tradition seen at African American weddings to represent their heritage is interpretive/liturgical dance performers. Interpretive dance is vastly articulated at many Black churches during worship services.
Couples are now incorporating this experience into their weddings with crowd-pleasing dance routines to popular cultural hip-hop and R&B music, during cocktail hour or during dinner hour. While it may seem like a daunting task to perform in front of potentially hundreds of people, hiring a professional instructor can empower couples with choreography to embrace and enjoy their dance experience.
Hip Hop violinists are on the rise as a top wedding trend for 2022. They are not only jazzing up wedding ceremonies and cocktail hours, they are defying stereotypes by merging classical music with hip-hop vibes, changing perceptions of the violin and hip hop culture.
I remember witnessing my first Hip-Hop violin performance approximately six years ago by the duo, Black Violin (performers, Wil Baptiste and Kev Marcus). At that moment being engulfed by the energy of their performance, I knew that this was going to be a trend.
Of course, the dynamic duo are Black Violin are now national superstars who have performed on major stages and for top celebrities, but if you research your local area, you will find talented artists who are capable of the same style of high-energy experience. In the Washington, DC market, some of my favorites are: JEN VIOLIN, CHELSEY GREEN, and JOHN RANDOLPH, or strings trio ROCKVILLESTRINGS, just to name a few.
Another rising 2022 wedding trend in entertainment, that’s always a hit at weddings, is oversized nostalgic games. From retro arcade games, Connect4 to Chess and Checkers, to miniature golf – guests get to re-experience childhood all over again. Oversized nostalgic games bring out the inner kid in everyone as a throwback to simpler times. These games serve as fun conversation starters and encourage guests to roll up their sleeves and let their hair down.
Individuality being a top 2022 wedding trend, it has inspired me to take nostalgic wedding games to another level! This summer, I’m designing a wedding with a groom that is a Chicago Bulls fan. I plan to incorporate an arcade style basketball hoops game, customized with the Groom’s name and the Chicago Bulls logo.
After two years of uncertainty (and pandemic-era wedding delays) couples are ready to venture out again. There is a renewed interest in destination weddings, with 2022 style and decor trends steering toward more refined reflections of individual style.
If travel is not an option, no worries! The ambiance of the desired destination can be recreated stateside by imbuing the mood, atmosphere and flair of your favorite places in the world within the details of your wedding decor.
From the romance of a tropical paradise to the sublime grandeur of Rome, Italy, or Greece, couples are mimicking nuances of these locations throughout their wedding décor; even setting their sights on venues that best portray their favorite destination location.
With a focus on individuality, one of the most popular trends for 2022 is the enhancement of wedding style and décor found in brand customizations. From the overall look and feel of the entire venue, all the way to monogrammed stationery, couples are investing in highly personalized elements to differentiate themselves through stand-out design. As their guests walk into the venue, at every turn, they will experience the uniqueness of “their wedding”.
“Very Peri” (a subtle shade between blue and purple) is officially the Pantone color of 2022 – and quickly becoming a trend in wedding hues. With a new color comes a new vision.
Bold and vibrant will be the color trend for 2022. Gone are the days of pastels and all white wedding décor. Artistically designed, you will see a trend of either a monochromatic tone-on-tone Very Peri palette or a juxtaposition of the tranquil blue against the vibrancy of higher energy colors, such as yellows, reds, greens, and pinks incorporated into wedding décor.
Intentionally oriented individuality will lead the way in wedding trends for 2022. Couples are listening to their own inner voices and allowing themselves to be bold and take risks. Their design choices are personal reflections and speak to what will bring them joy and fulfillment.
With a sense of freedom that embraces creative approaches, these top trends for 2022 are ideas that anyone can incorporate into their wedding. In doing so, couples will confidently break boundaries, to not only follow trends – but set them.