Brides tossing wedding traditions along with bouquets

Weddings these days are much ado about nothing - as in nothing traditional, nothing classic, nothing orthodox.

Think neon-colored cakes. Two-piece wedding gowns or pantsuits. Hashtags on invitations so guests can tweet the wedding.

As the season of matrimony draws near (June is the most popular month to tie the knot, followed by September and October), we went searching for what's trending in weddings in 2014.

Some of them get a big "I do." Others? Well, they're kind of like the in-laws. We're going to have to warm up to them.

"Clearly, most of these things would not have been done nor expected at weddings 25 years ago," said Leslie Swathwood, owner of Circle City Expos, which recently put on the Indianapolis Bride Expo.

Swathwood, along with plenty of others in the business of brides, filled us in on the latest and greatest when it comes to the road to marital bliss.

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TECHNOLOGICAL TAKEOVER

This @wedding is fab #johnandjennysbigday.

OK. Not everyone wants their wedding broadcast to the world. But in this day of social media, many couples adore the idea of having memorable tweets and Facebook posts from that special day.

Brides and grooms are creating blogs and Facebook pages to fill people in on everything related to their wedding. Some couples include hashtags on their invitations for guests to use when uploading photos or tweeting.

The more serious social media types are installing cellphone charging stations at tables or behind the bar, "displayed creatively, of course, throughout their reception," said Swathwood.

Couples are also live-streaming weddings so loved ones not able to make it to the ceremony can see it all.

"On the flip side, there's also a trend for those couples who truly want their guests to go unplugged for their reception," she said, "even asking guests to leave their phones at a device drop-off station when they enter."

SAVE-THE-DATE CARDS

Nope. It's not quite time to send those official wedding invitations. But the bride and groom want to make sure the valued people in their lives show up for their big day.

Enter the latest trend in wedding stationery: A pre-invitation or save-the-date card.

It's usually a fun postcard that couples send to their invitees, asking them to save their wedding date on their calendars.

Many of these cards give guests wedding websites, blogs and Facebook addresses to check in for further details.

And many are packaged in a fun (albeit expensive) way, coming as a message in a bottle or with a photo collage of the happy couple.

The cards also help with long-range wedding planning, said Scott Aldridge of Card Ink Wedding Stationery in Fishers, Ind.

As for the actual invitations?

"The vintage look," said Jennifer Aldridge, of Card Ink. "Brides are using lace and romantic touches mixed with rustic and burlap. It's a mix of the classic with a modern touch."

CAKE CONVERSION

Cream-colored and round. Adorned with icing of lace, roses and strings of pearls. That traditional wedding cake's time has passed for some.

Variety is in: colored cakes, themed cakes, box-shaped cakes, staggered in tiers. Even cakes based on interior designs for the home.

Jill Gosnell of Indy Cakes is consuming the latest confection trend. She recently created a wedding cake based on a design by famed New York cake designer Colette Peters. It featured seven tiers of various-sized cakes, ranging from 6 inches to 14 inches round. The colors were dark brown, various orange hues and white.

Then there was the cake Trish McGath of One Eleven Cakery recently concocted: a $1,000 brightly colored masterpiece with a bride and groom sitting under a shade tree, a waterfall running down the tiers of the cake and a cobblestone pathway.

The couple wanted their cake to match the venue where they were married, McGath said.

"I thought it sounded a little crazy for a wedding cake," she said. "But once it was completed and delivered, I thought it fit the nature of the venue very well."

ORGAN BE GONE

Let's be honest. This instrument conjures up sounds of a funeral. And who wants that on their wedding day?

Replacing that keyboard of pipes and pedals is the elegance of string quartets and brass groups.

"The strings' great strength is the grace, elegance and sheer beauty of sound that can only come from a group of live musicians," said Larry Powell, owner of Powell Music in Indianapolis. "There is also a highly artistic element."

Powell, who plays the trumpet, and his wife, Jenny, a violinist, have played professionally in Indiana for more than 20 years, performing at hundreds of weddings, cocktail hours and receptions.

Many couples are asking for contemporary music rearranged in a more elegant style suited to the harp, said Elizabeth O'Meara Ahlgrim, with indyharpist.

"That way, the music that is important to the couple can be used, but still sounds like it fits in at a wedding," she said. "Many guests still recognize the melody but appreciate the elegance the harp brings to the music."

HALF UP, HALF DOWN

The wedding hair style question used to be a no-brainer. Why, of course, sweep that coif off the neck into an up-do.

But flowing hair from those romantic-looking woodland weddings has taken over, with a twist.

Keep those locks down, but pin a few strands up. It's called the half up, half down style. It's a perfect solution for the indecisive bride.

The new hair style goes along with a broader trend in weddings - to look natural, to look like yourself on your wedding day, said Will Turpin, owner of Whiskey & Honey Salon in Carmel, Ind.

"Most brides I talk to want to look at their wedding pictures and see themselves, not someone who is so made up they don't recognize them," he said. "I don't know any woman who walks around everyday in an updo."

DISCO FEVER

Reception dancing used to begin with that sweet father-daughter number.

Oh, what simple times.

These days, wedding reception dancing is a production in itself. Many wedding parties are opting to kick off the boogie time with their own version of the Harlem shake.

Others have choreographed entire disco routines that even include grandma getting down with a move or two.

At Midwest Sound DJ Entertainment, wedding disco has become huge. The company provides all the music and lights needed for the wedding day, along with plenty of disco balls.

AND ... THERE'S MORE

-- Radiant orchid is the color of the year, according to the Pantone Color Institute, so expect to see varieties of this beautiful, rich purple in all aspects of weddings, as well as in fashion and interiors.

-- Chop that dress in half. Two-piece wedding gowns with cropped tops that show a little midriff are popular.Some brides are opting for shiny white pantsuits.

-- No more black and white tuxes. Think of this get-up, recently featured at the expo: a charcoal gray tux, satin turquoise vest and a black-and-white checkered bow tie.

-- Food stations have been the trendy way to dine at weddings, but 2014 will see more couples asking for family-style dining at their receptions.

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