I'm so pleased to welcome the lovely Louise of b.loved onto Bridal Musings.
Louise is a talented wedding designer, stylist and blogger based in London whose middle name really should be ‘attention to detail'.
She designs and styles some of the loveliest weddings and shoots you ever did see and today she's sharing some of her insider wedding styling tips with us. Yay!
1. Create a brief
You can't design anything without a proper brief! Sit down with your fiancé and write down all the words that describe you as a couple. Next, write a list of all the words you want your wedding to be, how it looks and most importantly how it should feel.
2. Collect your ideas
During the early stages of your planning you should collect everything you like! Try and cover all the different elements of your day, from dress and accessories, to ceremony details, flowers, stationery, reception décor and cakes! Online resources such as Pinterest and Loverly are brilliant for this as you can collect all your ideas onto different boards – and always find where they came from! Pinning from other blogs is great too, Style Me Pretty and Martha Stewart Weddings are two perennial faves! Collecting from magazines is great too! Just gather all your cut out's safely in a file.
3. Refine your ideas
Take all of your images and separate them into piles of different styles or colour palettes. You'll quickly be able to determine if one style is in the lead! If you're taste is more eclectic and you end up with more equal piles, go back through the images and try and remember what you loved about them. If you still can't decide, don't be scared to combine two or more different styles. Vintage boho? Modern eclectic?!
4. Create an inspiration board
Don't be too specific about the actual elements that go into this board, it's more about communicating the colour palette and mood. Use swatches of fabric or lace, beads and ribbons to bring it to life! Use this to explain to your suppliers (or curious friends and family) about your chosen style.
5. Source the right suppliers
Finding the right people to help create your dream day can make all the difference. Perhaps an online retailer who's product line really suits your style, or a hire company who can supply all the perfect little details. Floral designers and cake designers are perhaps the most important of these, especially as the flowers will have the biggest overall impact on your day. Find people who you can trust and who you like! Ask yourself if you'd like to be friends with them. If the answer's yes you've probably found your match!
6. Buy or DIY?
Many brides are choosing to personalise their day with handmade details, which is one current trend I absolutely love. But before you get stuck into 101 projects, ask yourself if you really have time. On average, planning a wedding takes 250 hours (that's six weeks of full-time 9-5!) before you start with the DIY details, can you afford it?
With plenty of reasonably priced places online retailers to find chic and unique wedding details from local crafters, such as Not on the Highstreet and Etsy, you can have all your personal touches without the DIY heartache! And you can sell them on afterwards to help your budget.
7. Preparation
Well before your wedding day, gather all your props, DIY projects, decor and accessories together and have a play with how you want them to look. There are two easy rules to remember here, things look good in three's, and place taller objects in the middle of
displays to create a balanced ‘pyramid' effect.
Charlene Schreuder Via b.loved
8. More preparation
If you have specific displays you want to create on your day (perhaps a guest book table, or candy bar) set it up at home, take a photo and stick it to a storage box. Place everything for that display in the box, and voila…ready to go.
9. Make a styling kit
On the day whoever is setting up will need at the very least a pair of scissors, sellotape and sticky fixers, ribbons in your wedding colours and a lighter! When I style weddings, I bring along a huge kit of all the items I've discovered are useful on the day – from duct tape to hammers, sticky labels to cable ties!
10. Don't be afraid to ask for help!
On the day you should be relaxing with your best girls and enjoying the excitement of getting ready. Find a great planner or stylist, or enlist the help of a friend or friends who you absolutely trust to understand your vision, who can set up your ceremony and reception venues on the morning of your wedding.
After all that planning you want to make sure everything is just perfect, but it really shouldn't be up to you to check the flowers match the napkins, and those DIY favours you spent hours making have actually been put on the tables!
Thanks so much to Louise of b.loved for sharing these brilliant tips.
Did you find any tips particularly helpful? Do you have more to add? We'd love to hear from you!
If you're looking for help designing and/or styling your wedding, from developing your ideas to helping with the details ‘on-the-day', be sure to check out Louise's wide range of services on the b.loved website, and, for lots more loveliness, visit her blog too!
