Georgina Clatworthy

By Georgina Clatworthy

This year seems to have an abundance of trends set to dominate weddings. My look at 2011 wedding trends continues with another 8 trends to delight and inspire you. This time there are budget saving flowers, retro menus and the end of seated receptions.

• Baby’s Breath: for brides on a budget flowers can be a significant cost so this year could see the return of wedding favourite Baby’s Breath or gypsophila. This was once a common sight at weddings but fell out of favour some years ago, now it set to become one of 2011’s big trends with brides opting for arrangements of the inexpensive flowers to create big white clouds throughout the wedding reception and decorating details like wedding favors.
• Seasonal Scents: coordinating your flowers to the season of your wedding has been a trend for the last couple of years and is set to continue in 2011. For spring use blossom, in summer and fall choose colourful dahlias and white snowball chrysanthemums in wintertime.
• Monochrome Magic: this year’s big color trend for flowers is for black and white. Choose anemones with black stamens, black berries in a black vases is fabulous for an upmarket city wedding and white frosted branches with crystalline flowers adds some glamour and sparkle to a winter wedding.
• Retro Menu’s: one of the big trends in restaurants at the moment is for retro food such as prawn cocktails. Create a menu which revives many of the sixties and seventies favourites and send many of your guests back down memory lane!
• Dishy Desserts: after a stunning meal should come a fabulous dessert so create a pudding station to tempt your guests. Rather than hearty gateaux’s and heavy puddings, create delightful canapé style desserts which can be dressed luxurious finishes such as edible gold leaf and arranged on clear Perspex plates. A dessert station where your guests help themselves is also a good way to get them mingling.
• Up Standing Receptions: one of the biggest trends of the last few years has been for weddings to become less formal and for many of the traditions to make way for modern customs. For 2011 standing receptions are set to be a big trend where guests can stand, mingle and eat at the same time. This is a budget saving way of feeding lots of guests but it can also be a delightful culinary experience. Instead of formal multi course dinners or extensive buffets, have sophisticated canapés passed around which provide small, intense bursts of flavour.
• Green Afternoon Tea: say goodbye to rock cakes and scones and instead create a menu of eco-cool food to tempt your guests. Couples marrying in 2011 are asking where their food is coming from and how it is produced leading to many creating menus which include dishes from local suppliers and sustainable sources. So if the menu is eco-friendly make sure the rest of your reception details are too.
• Fresh Flavours: One of the biggest trends for wedding drinks in 2011 will be fresh flavours with a natural taste. Champagne cocktails will be popular with added ingredients like elderflower, raspberry, rum and lemon and all cocktails will have a seasonal taste like chestnut, cinnamon and vodka for a true winter warmer.