We talked to Brisbane, wedding photographer, Kelsea Midson about planning an ‘on trend’ wedding and what’s hot or not. 

D.I.Y Weddings – Not.

With the onset of Pinterest, DIY quickly became a huge trend in weddings – with every bride looking for that personal DIY touch. While it was great while it lasted, putting down the hot glue gun will give you so much more time (and space) for other activities! Venues such as Hotel Urban put a lot of emphasis on beautiful, creative styling, and they can help bring your vision to life. There are also a lot of wedding stylists out there that are able to style everything to perfection so that you can sit back and relax without having to lift a finger. Take it from someone who DIY’d almost every part of her wedding, the multiple trips a day to craft stores honestly doesn’t save you that much money.

Watercolour – Hot.

Whether it’s your wedding paper, your cake or even your dress! Watercolour is very much on trend. Keep it pastel & feminine and it will 100% hit the spot. It’s incredibly versatile and lends itself very well to the likes of boho, glam, beach, country & even English garden styling!
Pro Tip: Tie it in with some beautiful gold foil lettering and accents for a stunning glam look. 

Silk Flowers – Not.

Real flowers are so beautiful and so readily available, it’s hard to imagine why anyone would want to forgo the real thing for something synthetic. With the one big plus to silk flowers being that they last forever, you might be interested to know that there are so many suppliers these days that have wonderful ways of preserving your real flowers so that you can always keep them as a memento. You can freeze dry them, frame them in a shadow box or even get a beautiful one-of-a-kind painting done of it. If, however, your heart is set on silk, get the ones that look as real as possible. Cameras these days are able to pickup a lot of detail, and fake ones that look great in real life, might end up looking totally different in your photos.

Unplugged Weddings – Hot.

I have to admit, at my wedding I had a hashtag that I asked guests to use when uploading images to Instagram. In hindsight I wish I had of told people to put their phones away and be present in the moment. The majority of the photos on that hashtag ended up being unflattering, and in our wedding video all we can see are guests looking at their phones! It’s becoming more and more popular to have an unplugged wedding & it’s a trend that should definitely stay. Also, as a side note, it’s a massive faux pas to upload a photo to social media before the bride & groom! Let them have their moment and announce the big news, don’t ruin that for them.  

Small, Intimate Weddings – Hot.

Gone are the days of inviting second & third cousins you’ve never met in your life. More brides & grooms these days are self-funding their weddings and it’s much easier to say no when parents tell you who you need to invite. Keep it small and intimate and only the best people in your life. They’re the ones who actually want to be there & are not just in it for the free food. In years to come you’ll be thankful you saved the money and kept it more personal. If you don’t know their full name, or you’ve never met them – cross them off. 

At the end of the day, these are really all a matter of opinion. Weddings are best when they’re personal. If you love silk flowers, get silk flowers. If you want to stay up late removing glue from your fingernails, then DIY is definitely for you! Wedding trends come and go, and places like Pinterest can get you into a flurry and make you think that you have to have this and that for the perfect wedding. But, when it all comes down to it, the most important thing about a wedding day is that you get married to your best friend. Really, nothing else matters!

Kelsea is a portrait & wedding photographer based in Brisbane, Australia. She is a massive fan of cake, cats, family, travel & her husband. She still hasn’t forgiven the (thankfully no longer hot) burlap trend for making her itchy. Visit her website here. 

Find out about weddings at Hotel Urban Brisbane here.