Long tables are being favoured more than the traditional rounds, and are actually much more sociable.

Outside venues are becoming increasingly popular, from marquees in the garden to teepee tents in the woods. Big, old houses are very much desired, as such venues allow couples privacy as well as a canvas to express their own style, as opposed to the hotel offering. Lots of winter weddings are also on the cards this year – a winter of log fires, slow-cooked beef ribs, candles and fur-trimmed elegance.

Couples are putting as much thought into the day after celebrations these days. This is an Olympic year, so don’t be surprised to be invited to a mini Olympics.

A sign of the times, perhaps, but DIY touches are a little less popular now than before. Gone are the days of making your wedding dress, bridesmaids’ outfits and going-away suit – my mum made all of the above for my own wedding.

But these days brides – and bride grooms – often make their own cake, and sometimes the wedding favours. See my recipe for a gorgeous DIY wedding cake opposite. This cake is a light Genoise sponge with rich, dark chocolate mousse lying beneath a vanilla Swiss meringue icing. It can be made and frozen weeks beforehand and iced a day or two before the big day.

The recipe was given to me 20 years ago by my neighbour, wonderful baker Mary Curran. This cake is fool-proof, robust and delicious, and it travels well. Mary brought it to the UK in her car, to her son’s wedding and it survived the journey unscathed.

We rarely, if ever, see wedding gifts being brought to weddings. It’s all envelopes now. More often than not I meet the red-faced best man asking, “Did you see a bundle of envelopes? I can’t remember where I left them.”

Source: 2016 wedding trends: Botanicals, birds and Irish booze