How have weddings changed in the last 15 years? Observations of PEOPLETALK columnist Anna Gorodzhay, founder of wedding agency SVADBERRY

Anna Gorodzhaya is the owner and founder of the Event Gorod group of companies and the wedding agency Svadberry, author of the book “Wedding Without Marriage”, The Fashion Vibes columnist.

You can’t repeat a wedding a second time, this is not a birthday. Everything must be perfect. I fall asleep with this thought and wake up every day.

Working with people is always difficult. The secret in our case is that as organizers we have no right to impose anything. We can beautifully and competently present ideas, give professional advice, talk about trends, convey our experience, but the final word will always be the future newlyweds. Of course if this is something critically important we will provide reasons and try to convince you that we are right, otherwise we can only give advice and recommendations. Svadberry has been in the wedding services market for more than 14 years and they trust us because our projects speak for themselves.

Therefore everything goes perfectly and our projects or individual elements are constantly copied. By the way, I am personally glad that our ideas inspire millions of people in Russia and abroad. The photos we share on social networks are viewed millions of times, which means that our projects resonate with people’s hearts.

When I was in college, I could never have imagined that one day I would be a wedding planner. At that time, the wedding events industry was not fully developed, and the vast majority of holidays were not distinguished by beauty, style and taste. I remember almost being a witness in the school cafeteria at my friend’s wedding, balloons hanging crookedly in the hallway, and me wearing a red ribbon that said “Witness.” I looked at it all and thought: “Why is all this necessary?” Remember the movie “Gorko”? That wedding went pretty much the same way. But one day I went to the Volgograd Wedding Palace to pick up some documents and was amazed at how incredible the place was. That’s when I thought a wedding could be beautiful.

Since the founding of Svadberry wedding agency, a lot has changed in business processes, organization and decoration of weddings and scaling of the team.

Today I propose to talk about how to always be in trend and how constant changes in the world affect trends in wedding organization. Fashionable venues and their decor, images of the bride and groom, entertainment for guests, invitations – literally all details and organizational aspects are influenced by modern realities.

We live in turbulent times, as they say, and this is not a problem, it is part of life with an asterisk. Our long-term plans often do not come true due to constant changes in external conditions. You need to be able to adapt to the situation and take into account what is happening. Nowadays, more and more people prefer to delegate various issues of their lives to professionals in order not to waste time on tasks that they do not want or are not capable of understanding. For example, newlyweds have a lot of options on how and where to hold their wedding celebrations to make the holiday truly unforgettable.

That’s why couples are increasingly turning to professional wedding planners who offer an up-to-date celebration format and choose something unique to suit the couple’s wishes and budget.

I will share with you modern trends in organizing beautiful weddings to tell about to children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as well as fashionable finds that will make the celebration remembered for a lifetime.

premium wedding

The premium wedding trend reflects the desire of newlyweds to create an extraordinary and luxurious celebration that will emphasize their status and individuality.

The design of premium events involves expensive materials, individual design solutions, unique floral arrangements of fresh flowers and designer decorations. All this creates an atmosphere of unique elegance.

One of the couples whose wedding we organized this summer wanted an organization dominated by light colors and a sea of ​​fresh flowers. The venue was covered in flowers and scented with the aroma of White Ohara, the bride’s favorite variety of rose. It was important for her to share the beauty and scent of her favorite flowers with those present.

Another important aspect of top-notch weddings is location selection. Newlyweds often choose extraordinary and prestigious places for their celebrations, such as historical castles, villas, five-star hotels and resorts in exotic parts of the world. Personalized service plays an important role, including personalized menus from chefs, expensive drinks and special entertainment for guests.

Nowadays, many couples want a cool, atmospheric and fun wedding abroad, where everything will be under control and there will be no need to worry about organization.

In September, we organized a wedding concept called “Between Heaven and Earth”. It is based on the couple’s history and warm temperament. The wedding took place on the shores of Bodrum Bay, Gökova Bay, Aegean Sea. The design featured lots of mirror surfaces, fresh flowers and floating airy structures. The couple contacted us only 1.5 months later, worried that we would not have time to fulfill all their wishes. We managed to implement it, all photo and video materials can be found on our social networks and public pages that republish our project.

The all-Russian fashion trend is to turn to Europe. According to statistics, 54% of couples choose the traditional European style for their celebration. 69% register at the civil registry office and 31% hold an outdoor ceremony.

Of course, much attention is paid to organizing wedding show programs with the participation of famous artists and musical groups, emphasizing the exclusivity of the event. Such ceremonies often become not just a family holiday, but an event in which every moment is thought out to the smallest detail. In addition to famous guests, newlyweds and their guests are increasingly shining on the stage of the celebration. They prepare, rehearse, worry so that everything goes at the highest level, and our team helps them with this.

As SVADBERRY, we not only organize premium ceremonies, but we are also considered the founders of this format. Weddings performed by our agency stand out with their perfect service level, exclusive details and attention to the couples’ wishes. We take into account various personalized elements in the decor, created individually for each celebration: monograms, initials, important phrases of the couple. We make sure to include subtle but important accessories that will be useful to everyone at a wedding: comfortable slippers, blankets for a cool evening, umbrellas in rainy weather, phone chargers.

Chamber ceremonies for the elite

The trend of intimate weddings is gaining popularity among modern newlyweds who are looking for a more intimate and personal atmosphere at their celebrations. Couples increasingly prefer small celebrations with a narrow circle of guests – only close friends and relatives, which allows them to create a warmer and more relaxed atmosphere. Room weddings give the bride and groom the opportunity to take care of each guest, which is not possible at large-scale events.

Fewer guests also reduces the stress that comes with planning a wedding and gives you more control over all the details, creating a more personalized celebration.

Intimate ceremonies also allow you to choose more original venues, such as secluded country houses, small restaurants and even natural areas. This helps create a unique atmosphere that emphasizes the couple’s style and character.

Often, to inspire and develop a unique wedding concept, we use information that the bride and groom tell about themselves when filling out the brief. One of the concepts of this wedding season was the celebration called “Light”, which is within all of us and lights our way. The couple wanted to convey to others the idea that we can lose our light, but if we meet our soul mate, this light can no longer be contained. It captures us, we see and feel.

Our team embodies any ideas of newlyweds, whether it is a large-scale incendiary party, an intimate celebration just “for our own people”, a holiday in Russia or abroad. This year, we organized events of different formats and scales in many cities of Türkiye, Dubai, Italy and Greece. And regardless of the location, the wildest ideas are formalized in a single concept for a beautiful wedding that reflects the uniqueness of the couple.

Confidentiality or non-disclosure agreement

There were many projects during this year’s wedding season that we cannot talk about. We sign a confidentiality agreement with someone when no information about the event should go to the outside world and someone only allows us to show the design of the site and the show schedule. We value our customers’ wishes and that is why we are not talking about the many projects that remain only in memories and photographs. After all, when you sign a confidentiality agreement (NDA) with the organizer, you keep your event to yourself. And only you decide whether to show your wedding story to others. For example, we had two events in Europe in the last three weeks, but we will not talk about them at all. After all, our real value is our customers. We respect your decisions and wishes by staying true to our principles. Your event should be exactly as you imagined it, and we’ll take care of the rest.

The main thing to remember when studying fashion trends is the special and unique style inherent in your couple. The SVADBERRY team and I help make the ceremony sophisticated and modern by combining your ideas with a professional approach to detail and carefully telling your story to your guests.