Vintage, dark romance, colour: Wedding trends move away from tradition

Kitsch weddings are as popular as ever on Pinterest, with an increase in searches of 200% in one year. Photo: AFP

Wedding season is just around the corner, and already, Pinterest has shared details of its report on the year's hottest wedding trends.

This year, forget tradition, and aim for a vintage vibe, a gothic aesthetic or the opposite effect with a splash of colour.

For future brides and grooms, especially those from the Gen Z, weddings in 2024 will be all about originality.

In its latest report on 2024 wedding trends, Pinterest revealed an increased interest in colourful ceremonies.

Searches for burnt orange and sage green wedding decors rose by 450% between February 2023 and February 2024, worldwide. Ceremonies in colourful gardens also appealed to internet users (+650%).

Read more: The XXL scrunchie, once popular in the 1980s, is fashionable again

And Gen Z brides and grooms are seeing red, literally, as searches for brides in red have increased by 120% for this generation alone.

The latest trends, such as "dark fantasy" are also making inroads into wedding themes. In fact, searches have soared (+1,650%) in the space of a year.

The gothic trend seems to be continuing, reflected in searches for dark colours (+260%) and Victorian gothic weddings (+170%), with a focus on dark romance (+144%) among Gen Z.

Even black dresses for bridal parties were in demand, with searches up by over 200%.

Timeless classics

But if originality is the order of the day, the classics persist, even among young people.

Searches for vintage lace wedding dresses show a 200% increase among Gen Z, as do vintage 1970s wedding dresses (+42%) and vintage wedding rings (+430%) among the general population.

Read more: Humorous or snarky? Slogan T-shirts are making a fashion comeback

While "earthy" wedding dresses (+50% among Gen Z) may have always been a classic, the report notes an increase in interest in small forest weddings (+170%), as well as natural wedding hairstyles for curly hair (+280%) and soft makeup (+410%).

In terms of decoration, vintage Mexican (+390%) and vintage Italian (+310%) weddings charmed internet users.

In one year, more than three billion wedding-related searches and over 10 billion wedding ideas were saved worldwide on the platform, according to the 2024 Pinterest Wedding Report. – AFP Relaxnews