Marianne Cordillo of Cupa Cabana chats with Steven Sendor of Sophisticated Weddings Magazine about the changing landscape of weddings over the past few years. Today’s weddings go beyond elegant decor and a crowded dance floor. They are about creating experiences that will transport your guests into your story and take them on a journey they will remember forever.
They discuss how personalized touches and a focus on experiences play a major role in tying your theme into every detail of your special day. Learn what details and thoughtful gestures take your wedding from beautiful to extraordinary.
Interview With Steven Sendor of Sophisticated Weddings
Marianne: Thank you for being with us, Steven. We appreciate your time today. Thank you. We’re kicking off our new blog series about the events industry and the special things happening in event trends. Thanks for your time and expertise on some of our questions today.
I’ve seen couples prioritize guest experiences more than ever. And from your perspective, at Sophisticated Weddings Magazine, how has the definition of a memorable wedding evolved in recent years?
Steven: What are we calling recent? Are we saying two years, five years, 10 years?
Marianne: The past two years.
Steven: So I think we’re just coming out of what I would call the post-pandemic period for weddings and events, and I think that what happened coming out of the pandemic was all those micro weddings. Some couples were doing destination weddings. Now, there’s been, and it’s been happening for two or three years now, a leap from the micro wedding to the other end of the spectrum, which is big. So, a couple that might have had 200 people at their wedding last year, I would say, are now having weddings with three to 400 people.
And once you go over the 200, 240 mark, you just have to have more of everything. Just to use what you offer as an example, instead of having the venue or the caterer simply serve coffee and maybe a little plate of cookies or biscotti or something like that- Doing bigger or more, or enhanced means having a coffee bar where you are going to offer at a minimum two or three different types of coffee beverages, if not more.
You know… maybe you’re offering coffees and then also espresso martinis. I know you also offer pastries and similar items. So I think bigger. In terms of the New York area, it has also translated into better, or instead of the word better, enhanced or more elaborate, whatever word you wanna find.
Marianne: Okay, fantastic. Thank you. So you’ve worked closely with top planners, venues and creatives. So what trends are you seeing that truly elevate a wedding from beautiful to unforgettable?
Steven: You know, I’m, I’m always weary of the word trend. I sort of think that trends are, or can be, depending on the trends you’re talking about, a good starting point.
You and I live this, so we’ve seen a million different events, and we’ve seen what works and what doesn’t, and we’ve seen some great ideas and some less-than-great ideas. But for the couple who’s planning their wedding right now, ostensibly it’s their first time ever planning a wedding. So a trend can actually be a good starting point for their wedding planning.
For me, having seen a million-plus weddings and events, I sort of equate the word “trends” with high school yearbooks. Once you’re 10 plus years past your high school yearbook, when you go back and look at it, you kind of cringe a little bit. And there’s that little bit of what were we thinking? And it’s funny ’cause the cringe is so great that you don’t even own it by saying, ” What was I thinking?
You say, what were we thinking? And you sort of assign the cringe to your whole generation. You don’t want that for your wedding. Once upon a time, men got married in tuxedos with giant, wide lapels and ruffles on their cuffs and down their chest, and at the time, they probably thought, well, this is great.
Now, anybody who wore that is looking at the picture and going, what were we thinking? Same thing with the brides. There was a time when brides wore gowns with giant, poofy shoulders and sleeves, and ruffles, and they were in these thick, heavy fabrics that you could see them turning yellow, but from the start of the wedding to the end of the wedding.
I’m sure a lot of those brides are looking at their wedding albums with their faces in their hands. So, to me, I sort of equate that kind of thing with the trend. What’s cool now? What excites you now might not excite you in 15 years when you’re showing your kids your photo album.
So be very careful with trends. That’s, that’s what I generally advise people. Having said that, again, a trend can be a good starting point. Just a month or so ago, Pantone released the color of the year for 2026. And it’s this nice, soft, light green.
For a bride who doesn’t think in terms of color and her wardrobe is mostly black, that color of the year can be a great place to begin.
Marianne: Just on a side note, as it pertains to fashion, and that’s a whole other vertical we don’t have to get into, but would you see, would you say that, uh, less is more when looking at a gown?
Steven: It depends on the bride’s personality. It depends on whether she has her own personal style. A lot of women do, some don’t. Then, in terms, like when you say less is more, it seems like you’re talking about that one dress itself, but there are also the brides that wear three dresses, and then it’s, are we talking about having multiple dresses, or are we talking about having just one dress?
I think personally, you know, if you can afford it, the multiple dresses are a lot of fun, especially with weddings that have a church ceremony. ’cause I, I love the idea of a bride going to the church in a nice conservative, long sleeve high neck gown, and then showing up for her entrance into her wedding and something that is a contrast to the the church gown.
Then, a couple of hours later, just before it’s time to do the cake cutting, changing into a third dress that’s completely different than the first two. Maybe it’s short, maybe it’s a party dress, something like that. So, in that case, if you want to call it “more is more,” I’m all for it.
Marianne: Sounds awesome. So many couples are moving beyond traditional bar service. So in your experience, what does a live espresso bar add to a wedding celebration that other beverage options don’t?
Steven: I like seeing movement in a room in a wedding, it’s when you have a big, full room and all 300 people are eating at the exact same time. That’s fine. It only takes 10 or 15 minutes. But personally, I like it when some people are sitting and eating while others are milling about, and that’s part of the experience of getting up and going to the coffee bar.
It’s also a place to bump into people. You have that fantastic latte-foam selfie you do. And it takes 10 seconds longer than pouring a regular cup of coffee. But in those 10 seconds while I’m waiting for that really cool cup of coffee with my face on it, I’m also interacting with the person to the left of me or a little bit behind me, who I might not have seen.
At that party, there were 299 other people. Odds are we’re talking about that coffee and going, “What’s going on? A latte, foam selfie? Why’d they just take my picture?” And then I hold it, and I don’t just react to it by myself. That person I was just talking to is looking at it also.
I think getting up and going to get yourself a cup of coffee or a martini, espresso, or whatever it might be, is a great thing. Well, I have always thought that it gives people an opportunity to visit with Uncle Joe, who’s sitting across the room, and they wouldn’t have had a chance to talk with Uncle Joe unless they got up and moved.
It enhances- it’s experiential. Experiential should not mean experiencing this alone. I mean, if you go to the movies, you don’t wanna sit in an empty movie theater. You wanna react to seeing Jaws come at the boat with 299 other people.
It’s the same thing with getting that latte foam selfie, just to use that as an example, again, it’s not as much fun if you’re looking at it by yourself. It’s a lot more fun when there are people around you, and then they get excited about getting theirs, and maybe you linger for a little bit to see what theirs looks like.
Marianne: I love your perspective. Experiential sure has a lot of different aspects. You are right on target there, Steven.
You’ve covered countless luxury and boutique weddings. What are some common mistakes couples make when selecting vendors, and how can they avoid them?
Steven: Again, this comes back to what I was saying about how you and I live this.
The couple that’s planning their wedding doesn’t. This is their, their first time out. I think the best thing they can do is get advice from people who have been there. Now, advice is different from opinions. Opinions can cloud your judgment, and people get offended if you don’t agree with their opinion.
But advice is a different story. Advice is from someone who’s been there before, and they can tell you what mistakes they made so you don’t make the same ones. Now the best way to get that advice is just to hire a wedding planner, but short of that, or in addition to that, talk to your friends who have been there.
Marianne: Okay. Okay, great. So how do you see personalization shaping weddings today? What role do niche vendors such as mobile espresso or dessert bars, cigar bars- play in telling a couple’s story?
Steven: I mean, I personally love the personalizations, and a dozen are coming to mind all at once.
There are the big ones, like the monogram that the guests of that particular wedding first saw when they received their invitation, and then, when they show up at the wedding, they see that monogram on the dance floor or a projection on the walls of the venue.
I love that the monogram can also be in the foam of their coffee cup. Then there are even better personalizations. There are the little ones that not all the guests see, or even, if they do, they don’t realize they’re experiencing them. I love the first look, you know, when the groom sees the bride for the first time, and that happens well before the wedding begins, in a quiet area with the photographer.
But then there’s a second thing that can happen just after the first look, which is that the groom has his back to the bride. She enters; he turns around, sees her for the first time in the dress, and, after that initial moment and reaction, opens his lapel, where a message is monogrammed inside his jacket or under his lapel.
Maybe it’s the name of the movie that the couple went to on their first date, or their wedding song, or the date of the wedding itself. That’s a personalization, and it, it makes for a nice moment if the photographer is alerted to it in advance. So he gets the picture of the bride seeing it for the first time and getting emotional.
Another personalization I really love -and again, the guests don’t always realize the connection that the bride and groom have to it- is when guests first arrive, and often this is before the ceremony, there is a signature cocktail. And that cocktail… It’s nice when it has a connection to the couple.
Like maybe it’s the drink that the bride drank when they went on their first date to, some lounge or bar or restaurant, and that’s why they’re serving it. There are brides and grooms who, during their wedding planning, do activities related to their wedding just to break up the stress of planning that big event.
A very common thing they do is go to a cocktail-making class, learn how to make a bunch of different cocktails, and then, at the end, pick their favorite one. And that can be the cocktail that’s served as a signature cocktail at their party. So that’s another personalization that I like a lot.
Marianne: Very cool. Thank you for that. From your vantage point in wedding media, what advice would you give couples who want their wedding to feel both timeless and on trend?
Steven: Well, I mean, this gets back to what we were saying with trends. A trend can make it difficult to be timeless.
It’s very tricky to achieve both, because trends, by definition, are what’s happening now. You know… what’s happening this year. Maybe a trend can last two years.
I think that you can’t go wrong when you borrow inspiration from old movies. Classics, they’re classics for a reason, and if you take a look at what they’re doing. That can inspire you, and you don’t even have to go that far back. I mean, look at the Steve Martin Father of the Bride. I mean, everything in that movie is just so tasteful and well done.
You know, not just the bride’s dress, but what the men wore, the look of the tented wedding that they created in the backyard. All that stuff. I think it’s really wise to draw inspiration from classic movies.
Marianne: A great idea. Love that. And now lastly, looking ahead, what do you think the next few years hold for the wedding industry, and which experiences or services do you believe will be must-haves?
Steven: It’s an interesting question because the New York area, and when I say New York area, I’m including New Jersey in it, because in the last six or seven, or even eight years, New Jersey has really just stepped up as a phenomenal wedding market.
When we started our magazine, we started working on our first edition in 2012, and the first issue came out in 2013. I remember that the following year, 2014, we wrote an article in the magazine about what we called extras, and one of the extras was the photo booth. Because at the time, that was an extra. Not every wedding had a photo booth. It was sort of a luxury thing. Now, I can’t remember the last time I’ve even heard of a wedding that didn’t have a photo booth.
Right. So I think the same can be said for what you offer. The larger bands, now I’m speaking specifically to the New York area and New York weddings, New York area weddings, spend a lot more. Once you leave the New York area, they don’t spend as much. Again, going back to when we first started in 2012, we saw a lot of weddings with bands of about six, five, or maybe eight pieces.
Now, you go to Gotham Hall, Cipriani, the Plaza, or the Pierre, and it’s rare to see a wedding band with fewer than 14 pieces. That’s not a bigger-is-better kind of thing. It’s just an enhanced entertainment experience in terms of what’s up on that stage. Motivating the crowd and being with them as they celebrate.
There was one thing I saw happening quite a bit around 2019 that I’m shocked didn’t become more common: a hybrid of bands and DJs. I do see it sometimes, but when, and we did it at our 2019 release party. I expected to see more of that, and it’s fun.
Marianne: I love it. So, yeah. Yeah. I probably should have started with this, but what was the driving force behind you and Samantha starting this magazine?
Steven: We had this notion that we could really embrace specificity in terms of the content of the magazine and still have 175 to 200 pages of content to offer. Very, very often, when you go after a specific or niche topic, you run out of steam quickly.
Our specificity was the top tiers of weddings. Weddings at a place like Gotham Hall, where they do have enhancements like a Cupa Cabana Espresso Bar, and all the other stuff, and because again, the New York area is such a phenomenal market for weddings, we don’t run out of content.
Even though we are so targeted and so specific our magazine still, all these years later, is still between 180 and 200 pages because of everything that happens within the wedding, I hate to use the word “industry,” but for lack of a better term, within the wedding industry in this area.
Marianne: It is the most phenomenal magazine for that specific group that I’ve ever seen. We really appreciate that you took the plunge, so to speak, and followed that train of thought. So, thank you so much for your time today, Steven. It’s always a pleasure.
As Marianne Cordillo and Steven Sendor make clear, the most memorable weddings are the ones that balance timeless style with meaningful, personalized experiences. From interactive espresso bars and signature details to elevated entertainment and thoughtful guest engagement, today’s celebrations are being shaped by moments that feel both distinctive and lasting. Their conversation is a reminder that exceptional weddings are not simply planned—they are carefully curated to reflect the couple, delight their guests, and leave a lasting impression.