The Monthly Slice: 2025 Event Trends and the Case for More Parties
What's trending this year, artistic table settings, and how parties can help you live longer...
I’ve been in the event space, showcasing inspiration and highlighting wedding creatives for 16 years this month! And events keep getting better and better.. more creative, more luxe, more celebratory... always pushing the boundaries between celebration and art. Entertaining and throwing well-considered parties for loved ones seems to be in the zeitgeist now, more than ever.
I saw an article in The Atlantic, titled “Americans Need to Party More”, and perhaps obviously, I couldn’t agree more. Over the past decade, spending time with friends in person has taken a serious nosedive, while anxiety and hopelessness have been on the rise. About one in eight Americans says they don’t have any friends, and the rest of us barely see ours because juggling schedules in today’s chaotic world is just so hard. And little do we know, the main key to living a long life is quite literally… being with loved ones.
Yet as bleak as that sounds, it feels like we’re turning a corner. People are craving connection again—and events are rising to meet that need in bold and imaginative ways. From weddings to dinner parties, celebrations are becoming more creative, meaningful, and downright artful.
2025 event trends are full of surprises. Unique and unexpected venues, vibe stations with tattoo artists, portrait painters, and artistic food styling with fruit, veggies, bread and even butter sculptures are dominating the scene. Heck, even table shapes are getting in on the action. Who knew there were that many ways to gather around a table?!
Decorative table art designers like Omer Gilony are becoming household names in the event world. Designers like her constantly push the envelope when creating extravagant and artistic tables for brands of all kinds, inspiring wedding and event designers everywhere, and even those of us hosting everyday parties.
Naturally, these trends are making their way to at-home entertaining, with a plethora of content creators like Isabel, Dena and Camille dreaming up creative dinner party themes, adorning their tables with sculptural fruit arrangements, creative draping, butter molds, unique guest experiences and the like. I don’t know about you, but I’m here for it.
Do you need to go all out to have a party? Certainly not. As chef and artist Julia Sherman says, modern gatherings are less about “getting it right” and more about getting your hands dirty, building community, and taking risks in the kitchen and beyond.
Entertaining at home doesn’t have to mean spending a wad of cash, or countless hours. Grab a couple bunches of flowers at Trader Joes (there’s no shortage of content creators out there with tips on elevating those grocery arrangements), put a cordless table lamp or two on your table for mood, and you have instant cache.
You can even put effort into making one element unique…like serving some butter on a scallop shell with a sprinkle of flaky salt, for an instant conversation starter. Or print a menu for each table setting. It’s really, truly, all in the details.
Of course, dinner parties needn’t only be at the dinner table. Host a cocktail hour with friends—perhaps for an Oscars viewing party (which air in one week, btw!).
Years ago, I invested in some coupes and appetizer plates for larger gatherings and I’ve used them countless times since. To round it out, all you’d need are some cocktail napkins, a few platters and bowls (or a seafood tower and champagne bucket stand, if you’re fancy!) as a base for any glamorous party. Oh, and a printable ballot.
Download and Print your 2025 Oscar ballot here
Whether you’re fancy or frugal, polished or DIY, any celebration you throw is bound to be worth it, because it’s time spent with people you love. So go ahead, throw that party — for your health. Now, we want to hear from you…