As with most aspects of our lives, weddings have also been changed by the pandemic. Weddings will need to be smaller, guests need to adhere to social distancing, as well as wear face masks to help protect all those around them.

But many couples have managed to make it work by having small and intimate ceremonies, or ‘minimonies’ in the past year, and according to Sharon Sever, the head designer for US-based bridal boutique Galia Lahav, these new ways of celebrating a union have had a positive effect on wedding fashion, reports Insider.

Smaller ceremonies mean that brides have not had had as much focus on the ceremony and reception, as well as not having to fork out as much to cater for large wedding parties, which means their focus and budgets have been invested in their wedding gowns.

“We started having smaller weddings, and then backyard weddings were becoming the big thing, and they became more and more lavish,” said Sever.

He added that Galia Lahav had received many more custom requests, with brides wanting their outfits to look ‘unique and out of this world.’

For many brides, there was a realisation that with a smaller ceremony, the only way for all their friends and family to be able to see what their big day was like was through photography and videos, meaning it made sense to ensure their fabulous dresses, a symbol of the day, stood out.

As well as being able to invest more in a beautiful wedding dress, Sever said that many brides were looking to explore styles that they might not have done before the pandemic, adding exotic elements, colour, and embroidery.

There was also a shift in the shape and silhouette of wedding dress designs, with brides “asking for blushers in the veils because they want to cover up or have it act as sort of a replacement for a face mask,” according to Sever.

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