Wedding and event planners Jodi Cohen and Sarah Lowy, co-founders and owners of LA-based JOWY Productions, have produced gorgeous weddings and celebrations for clients around the world. From a royal wedding in Qatar to Oprah Winfrey’s Leadership Academy Opening in South Africa, these two lovely ladies have delighted clients and guests with their uniquely elegant and creative style. For 2013, Jodi and Sarah put together a list the hottest wedding trends. Here, their top picks:

Pattern
We are going to see a lot more patterns and prints being incorporated into wedding décor, invites, tablecloths and bridesmaid dresses. Chevron and stripes were big last year, but we think more whimsical prints are going to start to make an appearance in 2013; think polka dots, florals and maybe even some gingham.

Small, Intimate Guests Lists
There seems to be a move away from large wedding parties to a more intimate, smaller guest list. Couples are having weddings with just family and close friends. Big receptions are being replaced with dinner parties. We have a handful of weddings this year that are 60 guests or less.

Most of our wedding-planning tasks have been exciting and fun; however, one area we've struggled with is our guest list. Both Rigo and I come from huge families and have a close group of friends. We both work at the same hospital, so we have many co-workers that we consider to be pals, too. (They've indicated that they're "expecting" an invitation to the wedding—some have mentioned this subtly, while others were quite forward.) Our large circle of loved ones became even bigger when we factored in all of their children.

These contributing factors raised the following questions: How many people should we invite total? Can we invite some-coworkers and not others? How do we ensure that the reception doesn't turn into a daycare center? Can we prevent invited guests from bringing "extra" guests with them? With some planning, research, and creativity, here's how we dealt with all of these challenges.

Photo Credit: Photography by Jen Philips

Do the Math to Come Up with a Reasonable Limit

Each week, we feature music recommendations from Scratch Weddings, the nation's leader with the best wedding DJs at affordable prices. This week's post comes from DJ Kraff, a Brooklyn native who rocks dancefloors with his impressive skill and charms guests with his infectious smile. Kraff learned at a very young age the timeless value of great music, drawing inspiration from his father's extensive collection of raggae vinyl. "I find it fun to play for a wide variety guests at a wedding. The best is when you look out in the crowd and see people in their 80s dancing with people in their teens."

Photo Credit: Shawna Yarbrough & Damion Hamilton

The post-wedding brunch is usually the last event of the wedding festivities (sniff). With close friends and family surrounding the newly married couple, it’s a moment to rehash, relive and reflect on all those wonderful moments from the wedding itself. Please and soothe all age groups with a playlist built around love and togetherness. Music is the perfect cure for the figurative (and for many guests, literal) wedding hangover!