When your planning your wedding there are so many elements and details that will contribute to the overall style of your wedding. From the invitations to the flowers and your dress to the furniture, every element of your wedding will come together to create the overall look of your wedding styling. When making these decisions, most brides ask questions such as, “What type of flowers do I want?”, “What style of chairs should I have?” and “What can I put on the reception table to decorate it?”.
It’s so much fun to start to answer these questions and bring together all of the elements of your wedding, however in the excitement of it all some brides can get carried away and end up with elements that are all beautiful in their own way, but they don’t always all work together well. That’s why I would love to share with you some of my top tips for creating consistency in your wedding styling so that you feel prepared and equipped to style your wedding like a professional.
- CHOOSE A COLOUR PALETTE AND STICK TO IT
Deciding which colours you would like your wedding to have is one of the first decisions you need to make when styling your wedding. Think about what colours you and your partner love. Do you like lighter, soft colours or darker, strong colours?
Choosing the right colour palette for your wedding will determine the overall look and style of your wedding. Some brides find it easiest to choose one colour they love and then choose complementary colours to pair with it. Another way to find the perfect colours for your wedding is to look at wedding inspiration on blogs or in magazines and try to find a colour palette you like.
When pairing colours, make sure you think about the tones of materials as well such as metals, stones and woods. Where possible, try to incorporate only one tone of wood (dark, mahogany, light, pine etc), one type of metal (rose gold, silver/steel, copper) and one type of stone (granite, marble, sandstone) and stick with that material throughout your wedding styling.
Some examples of colour combinations include:
– Soft pink, white and rose gold, natural light wood
– Dark blue, white and silver
– Mint, grey, white and silver
– Burgundy, black and emerald green, natural dark wood
– Marble, white and black
Remember to consider the contrast of tones in your colour palette. We’d recommend having at least one darker colour in your palette which will bring a beautiful focus and attention to the darker elements and bring the lighter elements to life. It’s also important to ensure that you look at the colours of the venue you have chosen to make sure they will work well together well. Whether your venue backdrop is tree’s in a forest, a mosaic wall in a church or corrugated iron in a warehouse, it’s important to note all of the colours and materials at the venue to ensure there aren’t any conflicting tones.
Finally, it’s important to let your colour palette guide your final decisions on ALL the elements of your wedding from floral arrangements to furniture and decor and stationery design to your jewellery. Before deciding on any element of your wedding, put it through the filter of your colour palette to ensure there is consistency in your wedding styling.
- CREATE A MOOD BOARD
A mood board allows you to see how every element of your wedding will work together. It can be created digitally on applications such as pages, word, photoshop or (for those of you who aren’t as technically inclined) on a physical board with printed ideas and magazine clippings. A mood board can change and develop as you begin to understand more of how your wedding is coming together and what vendors/supplies are available in your area.
There are two main ways a mood board can help you when styling your wedding:
1. It helps in the initial stages of dreaming of and creating the look and style of your
wedding.
2. It can ensure consistency in your wedding styling.
The first step to creating a mood board is to get a picture of your ceremony, reception and any other spaces where applicable. Use the images of your spaces as the backdrop of the mood board, add in your colour palette onto the board and then start adding in all of the elements of your wedding styling. For example, find an image of your arbour and put it onto your ceremony mood board. Add all of the elements you can find a representation of and add them onto the board such as your flowers, invitations, bridesmaid dresses and chairs.
Then take a step back and ask yourself “Is there anything here that doesn’t quite work?” Do this for all of your spaces and make changes where necessary. Then look at all of your spaces together (e.g. your ceremony and reception) and make sure that they have the same styling. Using a mood board in this way will allow you to see the bigger picture and see a representation of what your wedding will look like when it comes together on the day.
- INCORPORATE SIMILAR DECOR ITEMS IN YOUR CEREMONY, COCKTAIL AND RECEPTION STYLIN
Consistency in wedding styling is all about looking at the tones, shapes, colours, angles, and textures of the entire wedding. One way to ensure you have consistency is to choose a few elements that will appear in all spaces of your wedding. For example, a wedding might have macrame used in their arbour, the back of their reception chairs and on a feature wall, or pampas grass may be used in the isles of the wedding ceremony, in the bouquets and in a hanging arrangement at the reception. By using details as a common thread to tie your wedding together, you will create a greater sense of consistency.
- CONSIDER YOUR VENUE
Your wedding venue will largely determine the style of your wedding. Whether your venue is at the beach, on a farm, in a warehouse, or in the city, each location brings with it a unique feel and style. Let the location inspire you for the theme of the decor and furniture. If you’re at the beach, choose light colours and soft tones with beachy/boho furniture, or if your wedding is in the city why not go for something a little more unique and industrial? Whatever you choose it’s important to ensure that your furniture and decor is consistent with your setting and venue.
- STAY COMMITTED TO YOUR MOTIF OR THEME.
If you’ve chosen a theme or motif (recurring feature element) for your wedding, stick with your decision. With so many beautiful furniture pieces, details and decor to choose from it can be easy to see something and feel like you just NEED to have it at your wedding. If it is super important to you then hey, why not add it (it is your special day after all), but if you want to keep your wedding styling consistent, we recommend making sure that any furniture piece, decor item or detail is consistent with your overall theme.
Overall you want your theme to be clear and evident through every detail of your wedding. Before making the final decision on an element of your wedding ask yourself, “Does this fit into my overall theme?”.
Motifs can be used to create consistency. A motif could be anything from a leaf design, the use of glass/perspex, geometric shapes, marble. If you are using a motif to be a recurring feature of your wedding styling, make sure you don’t leave it out of any space. If you feature your motif in your ceremony and cocktail but don’t add it in anywhere at your reception, your wedding styling won’t be consistent. So look at every area of your wedding and check to see if you have featured your motif element in all areas.
*HOT TIP* If you really want to go the extra mile to style your wedding like a professional, try to have all of the typography for your wedding the same. This means your save the dates, wedding invitations, menus, programs, welcome signs, bar signs, anything that includes text will have the same font used. This will add a WOW factor to your wedding styling.
Styling a wedding is all about the details, so never underestimate looking into the fine print and ensuring that every element of your wedding works together. If you want to have a wedding that looks like it’s been styled by a professional, just apply the above 5 tips and your wedding styling will be more stunning than you could imagine!
This is a guest post by Bronte Dwyer, a wedding stylist from Foreva Events.
Credits:
Styling Foreva Events // Photography Ivy Road Photography // Furniture & decor The Wedding Shed // Stationery Little Duck Calligraphy // Flowers Akirah Collective, Harbinger of Spring & Loco for Koko // Cake Macarons by Monika // Donut Nodo // Venue Summergrove Estate
