How Gen Z is changing weddings

Gen Z isn’t the baby on the block anymore. Though some of them are still in their early teens, the eldest of this generation are in their late 20s and they’re starting to get married. And of course, as you would expect, Gen Z is changing weddings.

Every generation puts their mark on weddings. If you just look at wedding fashion, that’s obvious. But there are so many wedding traditions that we’ve simply come to take for granted because they’ve been around for so long. Like, really long. You can read what we’ve already written about classic wedding traditions that go all the way back to Ancient Rome and Egypt.

Different generations, Different weddings

Boomers

Boomers got married younger than the rest of us. Early 20s was common for both the bride and the groom. And they did big weddings in churches followed by traditional receptions.

Gen X

By the time Gen Xers got married, they were still getting married relatively young. But second wave feminism was a big influence on how they approached the wedding itself. They also were often children of divorce so they were more cynical about marriage. And often they lived together first. That was definitely new.

Millennials

Millennials have gotten married less and older. This generation came of age with apps like Pinterest and were avidly planning weddings before they were in relationships. Another big change? A good chunk of them met their spouses on dating apps. This was no longer considered “outlier.”

Gen Z

And here we arrive at Gen Z. This generation is highly influenced by influencer culture. You might already imagine that they place a huge amount of importance on uniqueness. They don’t want anything to look like it looked before (even though they mistake a lot of their trends for unique, not understanding that things were done before but that’s another topic and we’re sounding like the old man who yells “get off my lawn!”).

For marriage and weddings, it’s all about personal expression and being free of what they would see as “boxes.” Don’t put them in a box and don’t put their relationships there either. (Makes us think of this because… well, Gen X writing here.)

How Gen Z is changing weddings

How they meet

They have been trying to do things the “old” way. They actually are meeting partners in 3D spaces like in a bar or at a party or they are introduced by a friend. This emphasis on “in person” might be a result of the pandemic lock ins that they experienced at crucial times in their lives.

But, still, this generation uses dating apps so heavily that one of the biggest apps has coined a term to describe how they use the app. They rely heavily on reading the subtext of emojis and often decide if they’ll meet someone based on their emoji usage.

How they propose

Because they are prioritizing self care, Gen Zers, in general, are getting married later than other generations.

And when it comes to proposals, they are definitely picking up where Gen X left off. Some Gen X tried to take the gender bias out of proposing and it shocked the world when a woman would be the one to propose to a man. No more shock.

Gen Z is changing weddings first and foremost by changing dating and changing proposals. They are trying to bring gender neutrality to all aspects of their relationships.

Wedding content creation

Because much of their lives are online, there’s no surprise that the entirety of their wedding would be there to.

They take a very behind the scenes approach, creating content during every step of the way. And as always, trying to create something new that no one else has created before. (The pressure of this must be immense.)

The wedding trousseau

No more just a wedding dress and a tux taking you from the ceremony to the rehearsal. Nope. Now there’s an entire wedding wardrobe to create.

And this is no small job considering that they’re also adding more parties than ever to their weddings — before and after.

(This, of course, is a major trend. As always, there are people who buck the trends. A lot of Gen Zs are going for small and low key and very private.)

Bach parties

As this Gen X writer was researching, the word Bach kept coming up and… well, what does a classical composer have to do with anything!? But Bach as in BATCH. Again, taking out the gender.

And these bach parties are now themed to the max. What’s the point, they think, of a party without a theme? How would you know what to wear or how to act? ((Teasing))

Post wedding ceremony interviews and confessionals

This one sounds… emotionally precarious to your writer, but Gen Z was raised on so much reality TV that it makes sense. They have their videographers go around asking people to talk about the wedding, what they thought, if anything exciting or weird has happened. They ask them about the food and the music and other random questions to get the stories flowing.

Weekday weddings

Some of the first wave of Gen Z weddings were affected by the shutdowns of the pandemic, and when things started to open back up, it could be hard to get a date. Gen Z was fluid and started getting married more during the week. This trend hasn’t stopped. Now if a particular date has meaning to them, they go for it regardless of where it falls in the week.

Little or no flowers

Gen Z brides are tending toward very small bouquets (think about how big some of these have been in the past at weddings you’ve attended; it could be like bouquets were walking down the aisle) or no bouquet at all. First, it leaves their hands free. Second, it decreases cost. And third, they don’t want to block the view of their wedding attire.

Different wedding vendors

Gen Z have brought circus and party and carnival to their weddings in ways no one else ever has. From tarot readers to aerialists to live painting, they want their weddings to be full of memorable experiences. (And, well, “content.”)

Getting ready together

No longer bound by some (truly silly if you think about it) superstition based traditions, Gen Z are no longer hiding from one another as they get ready. Instead of hiding from one another and having serious nerves, they spend quiet time together and have some emotionally intimate time before the big event. Makes sense.

When this Gen X writer started to research this piece, they were convinced they’d be annoyed ((again with the old man yelling “get off my lawn!”)), but in the end, so much of this feels smart and sensible and fun.

We are big proponents here at Matt Mead Photography that your wedding is for you and should reflect your unique relationship. We approve, Gen Z, well done.