Nova Scotia, will you marry me? Yes!

The number of Nova Scotians getting married isn’t changing too quickly, but wedding trends change all the time.

4,272 couples got hitched in 2016. That’s 16 fewer weddings in the province than in 2013, according to the Nova Scotia Vital Statistics Registry.

Between 2011 and 2013 the marriage rate was stable, hovering around 4.7 for every thousand people in the province. The marriage rate for 2016 hasn’t been released yet.

Nova Scotians have some consistent wedding preferences: They don’t seem to like snowy days to get married (who does?). Between 2013 and 2016 most weddings took place on August, during the summer. And the median age for Nova Scotians to get married — 31 for women, and 33 for men — also hasn’t changed since 2013.

The Signal asked three wedding planners in Halifax what’snew this year for those who are tying the knot. Here’s what they shared:

Mixing modern, rustic and vintage elements

People are mixing old and new things together, says wedding planner Stephanie Brown, who runs Sky’s the Limit Weddings and Event Design.

“I found there is a rising popularity with taking things that are meaningful to a client — like their grandmother’s china plates, or things like that — and mix them with new materials,” she says.

Supporting local

“I have a lot of clients now that are really conscious of where everything they get comes from,” says Brown. “They want to make sure that all things that they get are locally sourced like the flowers,  and arranged here, even favours for the guests that come are locally made.”

McAllen’s wedding is coming soon and she is trying to buy items made in Halifax.

“I know how hard it is to be an entrepreneur, but also it’s a nice touch because we are from here,” she says. “There’s people traveling to come to our wedding and having things where we are from shows our guests who we are a little bit. It makes the event more personal.”

“A local artist is making custom hairpieces for my bridesmaids made from silk flowers,” says McAllen, when asked about her favourite detail for the wedding. “I’m hoping that this is something that they will cherish and maybe pass on to somebody later on.”

A new colour scheme for 2017

Claudia Habib, a wedding planner with 14 years of experience and owner of the company Simply Weddings, says that for this year, the trend will be getting away from the rustic wedding.

“Greenery is the big colour of the year,” Habib says.

Between the dress, the flowers and the honeymoon, there are many decisions to make when it comes to planning a wedding. McAllen’s big day is coming and despite of the stress and mixed emotions, she is counting down the days for one specific reason.

“What I’m looking forward the most is being able to call Andrew (McAllen’s fiancé) my husband,” she says. “That’s the nicest part of it for me. Being able to call each other husband and wife.”