You’ve chosen and booked the perfect location for your wedding. A very important part of your work is now done, so take a breath. Now comes the fun part! How will you be dressing your wedding venue? What are the little touches or extravagant expressions that will enhance this location that you’ve picked from a cast of thousands, and turn it from being someone else’s venue into your venue?
Begin With Your Theme
You may already have a theme or colour scheme in mind, driven by the flowers of the wedding party perhaps. This can provide inspiration for dressing your wedding venue, influencing arrangements, table linen, chair decorations and much more. Reflecting the colours and motifs of the season is another way to get inspiration for dressing your wedding venue. In Spring you might use soft pastels, with details like quirky birds nests or eggs. In Winter, perhaps a beautifully decorated Christmas tree in the venue with glittering baubles as place name holders, or to display menus.
Think Like A Guest
Of course, the most important people at the wedding are you and your partner! But thinking about your guests’ experience throughout the day is a wonderful way to make sure that you create a vision for them as well as the whole space; so don’t just focus on obvious elements like table decorations.
A good place to start is to ask yourself, what will your guests see as they enter, and how will everything flow? How will your guests find out which table they’re seated at, or where the the buffet is served from if you are offering something less formal? A stunning statement arrangement or a cluster of old family photos in an unexpected location can define certain areas, as well as surprising and delighting your guests.
Rise To Great Heights
On this theme, think about the scale of your wedding venue. You needn’t limit yourself to placing your decorations at table height. If there are pictures hanging, can they be festooned with garlands? How about hanging installations from the ceiling bedecked with flowers?
By the same token, remember that if you provide places to sit then perhaps you can dress the floor. Rugs, scatter cushions and throws combined with eye-catching table ornaments all ensure beauty at the lower levels, and contribute to a truly glamorous theme.
Light The Way
Lighting really can create a beautiful mood. So don’t just think about the main lights but also how accent lighting could enhance floral arrangements and food tables. Don’t forget how you’ll transition from day to night. Candles, fairy lights and tea lights, as well as carefully positioned spotlights, can create dramatic effects.
Create Joy
Flowers create joy: the scent, the sight and the feel of them. Don’t limit flowers to bouquets and buttonholes, instead work with your florist to explore the possibilities your wedding venue has to offer. You might be surprised!
Talk It through
Many of the suppliers who will help bring your wedding vision to life have been doing so for years, so take their advice! They’ll be able to work with you, bouncing ideas around and making suggestions for little touches or dramatic statements that you had perhaps never thought of. So do take advantage of their expertise, but above all enjoy bringing your vision to life.