Online Wedding Trend Predictions for 2015

With 2014 in the history books, it’s time to reflect on an innovative and exciting year in the movement to make events digital, and thus much less frustrating for all of us. With the year debuting everything from event social media campaigns (those couples who asked you to share every pic you took with their Instagram hashtag) to online RSVPs to comprehensive wedding websites and registry services, 2014 was a big year for the wedding planning industry to jump into the 21st century.

But, time rolls on and as 2015 kicks off, we thought it would be a good time to predict a few new trends that may (or may not, but we hope may) become the new hallmarks of the online wedding industry in the coming year. While it’s foolish to even try and predict the many new services and features that will inevitably be introduced this upcoming year, we focused on three big social trends that we think will make 2015 the Year of the Online Wedding (yeah, it’s a corny title):

More Specialized Online Wedding Services – The Knot is perhaps the best example that digital wedding planning sites already exist in pretty great form on the web today. However, while The Knot can take care of many of your planning needs through its various services, many couples still wish they had a one-stop-shop that would include external services like info for the caterer, music requests for the DJ (or the ability to create a wedding playlist), and better web integration. We think 2015 will see sites like this and other newcomers continue to innovate – offering more specialized services to suit your every wedding-planning need.

More People Bringing Their Weddings Online – In every metric, digital event hosting and planning exploded throughout the past year. With everything from the invitations and RSVPs moving online, to the thrill couples get from collecting pictures from every single one of their 200 wedding guests for a photo collection that simply wasn’t possible before, the appeal of the digital wedding has grown. As more and more guests see their friends and family use online wedding tools as a unique and creative approach to planning their event, we expect the community to grow larger still.

The Online Wedding Will Become A Norm, Not a Fad – As with most new technologies and advances, some people are more than a little hesitant to embrace the digitalization of one of the oldest human traditions. The idea of merging web and wedding strikes some as tacky, or disrespectful, especially given the nature of the events in question. However, the convenience and savings that come with moving your event online have started to outweigh the social fears, and with anything else, as more people do it, the more normal it becomes. We think 2015 will be the year you won’t have to apologize about hosting your event online (not that you probably have to much now).

Happy New Year, all you expectant couples and wedding planners. We look forward to seeing the new looks of online weddings in 2015 as much as you do!