6 Unique Wedding Trends for 2026

Over the nearly 20 years that we’ve been photographing weddings, we’ve seen too many “wedding trend” lists to count. And the only thing that all of those lists have had in common is that we’ve never been able to relate to any of them. So, we made our own! Read on for our list of 6 unique wedding trends for 2026.

1) The people > the stuff.

Ten years from now, you won’t care about the centerpieces. But you’ll always remember your dad walking you down the aisle.

And your niece sneaking a piece of pie even though she was told she couldn’t have any because she didn’t finish her dinner.

And your grandma humping the best man on the dance floor after one too many shots of Tequila.

Don’t get us wrong. Decorations are nice. But it’s the unscripted moments that matter the most.

2) Less time posing, more time partying.

This is the only day you’ll have all of your favorite people together in one place. You don’t want to spend the entire time posing for photos. You want to be able to have fun and spend time with your friends and family. Be sure to hire a photographer who is good at capturing real moments, not one who’s going to spend the entire day directing you.

3) Not stressing about “bad” weather

It won’t do any good to agonize about the weather leading up to your wedding day. Either it will rain, or it won’t. If it doesn’t, then there’s nothing to worry about. And if it does, there isn’t a single thing you can do about it anyway. But guess what? We’ll get some killer photos out of it!

4) Not worrying if your dress gets a little dirty

We have a handful of wedding tenets here at J. La Plante Photo. One of them is as follows: If your dress is pristine at the end of the night, you didn’t have enough fun.

5) Not following wedding trends in the first place

Have you ever seen a photo of yourself from the past and thought, “Wow, this is so 2007” because you were wearing bug-eyed sunglasses, a studded belt and Ugg boots?

If you follow all the current wedding trends, that’s how you’ll feel about your wedding photos 20 years from now. Your photos should age like a fine wine, not a jug of milk.

6) Doing whatever you want.

Everyone has an opinion. Maybe your mom is pitching a fit because you want to have small desserts instead of a big-ass cake. Maybe your maid of honor is insulted that you didn’t want to use her wedding photographer. Maybe some of your guests are complaining because you want to have a kid-free wedding.

Whatever it is you want to do, somebody ‘s going to have something negative to say about it. That’s just the nature of planning a wedding. If there’s one thing you take away from reading this post, let it be this: Everyone has an opinion, but the only one that really matters on your wedding day, is yours.

If you’ve made it this far, thanks so much for reading our list of 6 unique wedding trends for 2026. As always, feel free to reach out and let us know your thoughts.

Cheers to a “trendy” 2026!