How to style your wedding

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This guide will help you style your wedding so it looks and feels amazing. Getting it right though takes a lot of planning and great attention to detail. It’s not to be rushed. What I see is couples going to wedding fairs booking chair covers and centre pieces and then filling in the gaps afterwards. This is completely the wrong way to go about styling your wedding. By doing it this way you often have a look that is disjointed and incohesive.

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Finding the right Venue

First things first you need to work with the venue you pick. Early on you need to decide which is more important the actual venue or a specific look you had in mind. Whichever you decide will set the agenda for creating a beautiful and cohesive look. A classic example of this is that you might have a minimalist style of wedding in mind but the actual venue you want is a stately home with real character. The two styles are going to be at odds together and it will be incredibly difficult to achieve the look you want to style your wedding. Therefore the venue choice and style is important. Perhaps you feel more flexibility for the colours and look but it’s the venue of your dreams and your mind is set on this. Alternatively you want an all white dreamscape wedding so having a blank canvas will be vital for this look. Now you can see how important these early decisions are. Taking your time to consider styling alongside your venue choice is vital for success.

STEP 1:

Short List your venues and brainstorm words that describe the look of the venue and room you would be using to help you focus on the styles, colours and vibe you can create. When you go to see your venue it may not be set up for a wedding which may not help you visualise how the room could look. However many venues have special open days where the room is set up with a variety of different looks.

Try and do you site visits on these open days.
I would also scope out the venues chosen or recommended stylist to see what set ups they have done for past couples at the venue. This could shortcut some key decisions if you instantly see something you like.

STEP 2:

Describe the Look of your perfect wedding. It may be that you are not sure of this yet, in which case just move on to starting brain storm ideas on Pinterest. It may be you have a few different ideas that you will need to narrow down.

What is your Wedding Style

A clear vision of how your wedding day will look is very important for creating a cohesive wedding theme. The ability to communicate that vision to suppliers is critical, in order to bring it all together on the day. Therefore, prepare in advance and leave nothing to chance for the best solution.

The best place to start is by creating a wedding moodboard. This is a process that will gradually evolve and take shape again planning and preparation is key so my number 1 mantra is don’t rush this.

To start a moodboard for your wedding, we suggest using Pinterest. If you are already using Pinterest for collating ideas you will need some organisation. Pinterest allows you to create boards so you can pin ideas to these but also will allow you to have subsections of boards so you can organise the details more collectively. There is nothing worse that pinning super cool ideas and then having to sift through hundreds of boards to find the one idea you were trying to recall. At this point you really only need one board with subsections to organise

Begin by creating one board and dividing it into sections, this way you keep your thoughts and ideas organised.

Have fun to start with playing around with different looks and ideas.
Formulate one moodboard with all your final decisions. It is really important when discussing your vision with suppliers that you narrow your focus. Showing suppliers a Pinterest board full of random ideas, will leave a lot of room for interpretation which may mean you end up with something unexpected.

Decision Time

Once you have shortlisted some venues and got some idea on their look, style and character and you have also perhaps shortlisted some looks then you can see which matches best.

Set a Budget

Arguably setting the overall budget should really happen at the beginning as this could influence your choices of venue and decor. For those on a budget, set a budget and stick to it. Decide on what elements are the most important and prioritise those first.

Be mindful that a blank canvas venue may need more decor expenses, so factor this in to your budget.
Consider the venue decor when choosing your colour scheme. Many grand buildings are decorated with strong colours and therefore soft natural colours may get lost.
A wedding theme such as a Doctor Who themed wedding, Harry Potter, Alice in Wonderland could get expensive unless your a super fan with cupboards full of props.

Decide on the Details

Once you have your vision, make a list of all the elements you need to be able to achieve this look. For example you may want a hot drinks station, a candy buffet and an entertainment area or something different altogether. All of these need to carry through your signature style. If you decide your having a white wedding but your photo booth is neon pink it’s going to spoil the whole look.

Make a list of the areas you will need to style.
Make a list of the props and decor related items you will need.

The style of your wedding is not simply about chair covers and table centres. Your wedding style will naturally contribute to the overall vibe and therefore enjoyment your guests will experience.

The food and drink you choose, the entertainment the details such as table plans and memory tables all contribute to the style of your wedding.
Stick to your plan and resist the temptation to keep adding. Remember, not to overdo the theme.

Getting the right Suppliers

Choose suppliers wisely, as this is where your theme can unravel before your eyes. Less is more but you may be looking at a venue stylist, rental companies and a florist. All of which will need clear and precise communication.

Do not assume that suppliers have worked with each other before. Drop them an email to let them know who the team is and provide contact details.
Encourage them to discuss details with each other but run final decisions by you.
Suppliers will expect to be told about set up times, points of contact on site and collection arrangements.
Try to stick with one florist and one stylist. Flowers can difficult to match in as colours and shades and varieties can vary so much.
Suppliers have been known to take flowers from the floral arrangements if they have been short make sure you have given your approval for this to happen and your suppliers know what is acceptable.

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