Wedding Event Design 2.0 - The Reception (and the Frequently Made Mistakes by Brides & Wedding Planners)

When we talk about overall event design and decor planning for a wedding, most of our attention is focused on the reception. This is where you spend the most amount of time, and the most amount of money, so it makes sense to focus on the way your reception looks and feels!

Here are the two biggest mistakes I see brides make (and event wedding planners or decorators!) when it comes to planning their wedding decor: 

1) Not paying attention to the venue and what suits it. 
Every space has a particular style. The architect or interior designer have purposely made decisions to create an overall aesthetic, and when it comes to wedding venues, these aesthetic details are often VERY obvious, and sometimes "theme-y." This might be in style or in colour palette. For example: say you've chosen to have your wedding at a rustic barn. Guess what doesn't belong here? Mod white leather chairs. Crystals and bling. Formal linens and draping. It just doesn't GO. That doesn't meant that there isn't a place for those things; it just means that there isn't a place for these things at YOUR wedding. And that's okay!

Here's another example: we've all walked into venues with carpet, and thought, "what the heck were they thinking with this carpet!?" You know what's way worse than that gold-and-maroon patterned carpet? Textured coral table linens with whimsical light blue flowers on top of that gold and maroon carpet. Guys: pay attention to the space! Maybe gold and maroon aren't your favourite colours - but if you've chosen this venue for your wedding, then your overall event design is going to look the best if you find a way to incorporate the venue's colouring into your wedding's colour palette. 

In the same way, notice the most beautiful aspects of your venue and highlight them with your event design choices. Is there a gorgeous fireplace? Position your head table in front or beside it. Is there a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows that let in beautiful natural light? Don't ever think of covering those up with draping! 

Pay attention to the characteristics, limitations, and features of your venue. 

2) Paying too much attention to Pinterest. 
I recently sat down with a bride and her wedding planner to talk about her wedding flowers. Both the planner and I cringed (inwardly, of course!) when the bride mentioned one specific Pinterest trend that she thought she might like to incorporate (in this case, it was baby's breath - and lots of it). After we explained that it was becoming a very tired trend, nor did it really fit with her personal style in any way, she mentioned: "I guess I saw baby's breath on Pinterest a year ago when I first started planned my wedding, and I think it must have just been starting to be stylish then." This was really interesting to me, because baby's breath started to resurge in 2011! All this to say: remember that when you see something "new" on Pinterest or on wedding blogs, at least 10,000 other brides-to-be are seeing the EXACT SAME THING. That means that anything trending on Pinterest is not in the least bit unique or personalized to you and your style. That's not to say that Pinterest doesn't have its merits, though!

Here's the thing about those pretty little details and touches that you see on Pinterest or on wedding blogs: they're so pretty because they were first designed with one specific, incredible couple in mind. I very firmly believe that a unique design does not come from already completed weddings. If you hope to have a wedding that looks and feels unique to you, then we need to start fresh, WITHOUT Pinterest.  

So what next? If the way your wedding looks and feels is important to you, but you're struggling to figure out what to do or how to make it happen, connect with me. I'd love to help! I get a serious high from working alongside you to design a beautiful, personal, and fun wedding experience. 

PS I loved working with Prairie Film Co on this video. If you're looking for an amazing wedding videographer, contact them ASAP.