601 - 2026 Weddings Trends and Tips

**SPEAKER_1** (0:01)
Welcome to Modern Mindset, the show that picks the brains of the world's leading minds to help you unlock yours. Decoding the beliefs and strategies of global experts to give you an updated mindset to make the most of modern life.

**Rory McGowan** (0:20)
This is Modern Mindset, the show that picks the brains of the world's leading minds to help you unlock yours. My name is Rory McGowan, and today I'm catching up with Zoe Burke, one of the UK's leading wedding experts, to talk about some new data around this summer's wedding trends. And as we head into wedding season, how this year's soon-to-be-married couples want to do things.
I'm joined by Zoe Burke from Bridebook. Zoe, it's lovely to have you back.

**Zoe Burke** (0:47)
Thanks for having me.

**Rory McGowan** (0:48)
No problem. And yeah, as we said in the intro, you have done some research about kind of how 2026 weddings are going to be going. What's it looking like? What are this year's kind of big highlights?

**Zoe Burke** (1:03)
Well, this year was really exciting. We actually launched our Gen Z wedding index because believe it or not, Gen Z are old enough to get married now. And we're seeing a real shift in weddings. They are becoming smaller, they're becoming more intentional. And we're seeing the rise of the church wedding as well, which is interesting.

**Rory McGowan** (1:21)
The rise of the church wedding? Forgive me, Zoe, but I'm surprised that ever went away.

**Zoe Burke** (1:27)
It did, yeah. I think, you know, particularly with millennial couples, they were very lured into the idea of having your wedding all in one place, you know, choosing your really gorgeous venue and spending the whole day there. But yeah, the younger generation are going back to church.

**Rory McGowan** (1:42)
So then, I mean, what are the motivations behind this? I mean, we're talking a lot about Gen Z here, but why are we seeing weddings getting smaller? Why are we seeing weddings go back to churches? Why did they leave? Forgive me for being a little bit, you know, not as knowledgeable as yourself on this, but I feel like these are a lot of questions the listeners might have.

**Zoe Burke** (2:02)
That's okay. That's why I'm here. Weddings are getting smaller for a few different reasons. Basically, the cost, cost of living crisis, you know, we know that it is expensive to get married, and actually each guest costs couples on average £278. So it's not a small amount to pay if you want to invite, you know, 100 of your closest friends.
The other thing is that COVID really sparked a shift in weddings. This is something I've seen in my 15 years of doing this. So weddings were very, very standard before COVID. They followed a very set template. And then obviously, there were a lot of restrictions and things during the pandemic. And I think it really broke something in weddings. Couples suddenly realized, hang on a minute, I don't have to do x, y, z, and I can still be married, I can still have a wedding.
And ever since then, we've seen smaller guest lists. People are much more intentional. They won't invite people out of pressure or for the sake of it, or because they feel like they have to. So yeah, it is a big shift and couples are leaning into that.

**Rory McGowan** (3:07)
Yeah, no, that is interesting. Because when I think of smaller weddings, I'm thinking about, oh, like abroad weddings, when people expect only a few people to be out there, but that's because they understand that the cost is much higher and therefore, you're not going to get your uncle's second cousin down to make it. But it's interesting that smaller weddings are happening domestically. Who's getting dropped off the guest lists, I guess?
What average do you think?

**Zoe Burke** (3:39)
Evening guests are in decline. We keep seeing this year over year. They were down about 10 percent year over year this year alone. And I do think in a few years, the evening guests will be obsolete. I already think it's quite a strange concept. It's a very British concept, not really any other cultures or countries do this.
And I think the idea that you're not coming to the day, but you're all right enough to come to the evening, is a bit of a strange concept in itself. So that they are becoming obsolete. And your evening guests tend to be like, your colleagues, maybe your neighbors who live on the same road, maybe your mum's neighbor who knew you as you grew up, that kind of thing. People are now saying, no, actually, I just want the really cool people in our lives there, and that's it.