Wedding Trends for 2012

With fall weddings becoming more and more popular, here are a few ideas to keep you and your wedding on trend.

Weddings used to be a stuffy and formal affair, but that has been changing these last few years with more casual weddings, including the attire. A lot of  grooms are opting to ditch the tux. Grooms instead are opting to wear just a regular suit with an accessory that matches the overall color scheme of the wedding such as a vest, tie or pocket square. If you're planning on doing this, just make sure that they all match.

Wearable gifts for brides and grooms are a fun and personal way that they can remember the special day. If your groomsmen wear a suit and tie to work everyday, monogrammed cuff links are perfect. Personalized pens are also wonderful gifts that they can use again and again. For bridesmaids, personalized jewelery like a necklace is pretty or an engraved picture frame for their desk would work well, too.

Nontraditional wedding gowns are huge lately. The all white or ivory look is perfectly acceptable, but colored sashes are big as are colored wedding dresses. Designer J. Crew is launching a line of colored wedding dresses for the bride that wants to stand out. If it's a second marriage and the bride feels odd wearing all white, a colored wedding dress is a fantastic option.

More brides are purchasing more than one dress for their big day. There's a more formal one for the ceremony and a more relaxed dress for the reception.  According to two fashion studies done by TheKnot.com and WeddingChannel.com, most brides described their dresses as "elegant, romanic, feminine or classic" but more often than not, they're looking for something "flirty and fun" to wear at the reception. A-line and strapless dresses are becoming more and more popular, too.