“The best design projects are the ones where people broke the rules”
Deciding on the perfect wedding decor style for your big day can be one of the biggest and toughest decisions that you will make. There’s just so much to make a decision on – the venue, the flowers, the table settings, the chairs, the cake and… Ok, you get it! First things first, you don’t need to follow the rules. Omit the cake if it’s not your thing, lose the flowers if they aren’t your style and have one massive long dining table in a field if you want. It’s completely up to the two of you.
It can be really hard to initially decide on how you want your wedding day to look – you are not alone. Most brides, and some grooms of course, are guilty of spending hours pinning hundreds of beautiful table settings, drooling over dreamy floral arches and agonising over which colour palette to choose. The gorgeous little details that make your wedding day personal are becoming more and more a priority on every bride’s to-do list. The wedding style stakes are at an all time high thanks to Pinterest.
You don’t need to hire a professional wedding stylist to have a beautiful wedding. With all of the inspirational sources these days including Pinterest, wedding blogs such as The Lane, Instagram and wedding stylist’s websites like Ciara O’Halloran, Pearl & Godiva and Alise Taggart, there really is just so much beauty to choose from. However, spending too much time trawling through websites and bridal magazines can actually cause serious confusion and stress. As a décor-obsessed former bride, I would definitely recommend taking the style of your venue and your dress choice into consideration – choose your favourite colours and things and build your dream day around what you love the most. I love the sea, tulle & lace, pale pink roses, all things gold and candles so I styled my day around my favourite things. My husband loves the colour blue and natural materials, so we added lots of different pieces into our day to make it personal for us both. Once we had decided on what colours we wanted to use, it became a lot easier to plan and I took a step back from Pinterest during the few months before the wedding so I wouldn’t drive myself crazy.
We bought quite a lot of our own styling items and we found them mostly in TK Maxx, flea markets and various websites such as Etsy. We rented some bigger items such as lanterns and chairs from suppliers in Portugal but there are plenty of fantastic people here in Ireland that can provide you with beautiful pieces too such as House of Hannah, Gotcha Covered & Wild Floral Couture. We rented pieces from the wonderful Jill Wild from Wild Floral Couture who has a studio full of beautiful props and accessories.
Talk to your venue too about what they can provide you with as well as your florist. Remember to ask friends and family – you never know what they might have that you can borrow! We used lots of old brass and gold candlesticks. Your parents or grandparents could have some old silver and china that you could use on your special day for the centrepieces or sweet bar. Start collecting the items early so you know what you have and what you have left to get. I spent a whole year collecting delicate pale blue, mismatched glass to hold my flowers… I did say I was obsessed!
The most important thing is that you enjoy the planning process… You won’t enjoy the day if it has been nothing but a burden. If fussy styling isn’t your thing, then go for a chic, minimalistic look to your day. As I said, rules were made to be broken and you two are the only people who will always remember the home-made sequinned cocktail stirrers and the French lace table cloths.
Image Credits: Magda Lukas Photography | Nessa & Denis Wedding
Nessa Cotter is a Lifestyle Blogger at www.lifeslusthaves.com and Wedding Stylist who doesn’t ever need an excuse to throw a great party. She can be found dreaming about beautiful weddings on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook & Twitter. She celebrated her own destination wedding in Portugal in June and has been helping brides to style their own weddings since.
