In 1967, one of the top choices for a first dance song was a classic, Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World,” but today many couples are choosing slightly more contemporary tracks from the likes of Ed Sheeran and Bruno Mars.
With the rise of social media, weddings have become more of a performance than ever before, and plenty of father-daughter duos are now choosing to perform epic choreographed routines rather than a quick box step.
In the 1960s, many receptions were held at home. As the wedding industry has grown, most receptions are now held at venues, which has increased overall wedding costs by thousands of dollars.
In the 1960s cake and punch receptions were a popular way to celebrate new nuptials, but full sit-down dinners were becoming more popular. Today, it’s almost the reverse. Full dinners are the most popular way to celebrate a wedding, while cocktail and cake hours are less frequently chosen options.
In the 1960s a majority of weddings were held indoors at churches. However, the 1970s saw a huge surge in upscale outdoor wedding venues with more couples hoping to exchange vows in the open air, a trend that continues today.
The growth of the wedding industry changed what used to be couple-oriented, often-religious commitment ceremonies into full-blown, magazine-worthy productions. A perfect example of this is the rise of destination weddings in the 1990s.
In the last decade of the millennium, they became more popular with couples looking to skip the entire expensive affair or to have a much more intimate celebration.