Tips from the Industry Experts
We are part of a network group of wedding industry experts, who with the direction of the amazing photographer that is Ian Bursill, have helped put together a PDF booklet containing hundreds of priceless wedding tips.
The booklet is FREE to download, and you can access it here:
Here’s our top 5 priceless wedding planning tips to help stamp your style into the day!
Tip One: Your chosen venue.
Hopefully the room you are using for your
event is decorated in a style that you like,
and something that goes with the theme
you are hoping to use. Take a good look
at everything in the room and figure out
exactly what and doesn’t for you and work
with what you have to enhance.
For example, if your venue is a barn and
the beams are relatively low; adding drapes
to an already low ceiling and walls can
make the room feel quite claustrophobic.
By adding fairy lights or festoon to the
beams instead will enhance the room
whilst creating the illusion of a lower more
intimate feel to the room. Work with your
space, not against it.
Sometimes everything about your chosen
venue is perfect (the location, outdoor
views, the food…) but you hate the
reception room; and your budget won’t
stretch as far as to decorate the entire space.
This is where the trick of ‘distract the eye’
comes in to play! If it’s the ceiling you’re
not a fan of, you don’t have to cover it all
up, just have some ceiling swags that will
focus the eye before you see the ceiling
and then make a feature area to the back of
the room so the eye is also drawn to that.
This also tends to be where your head
table and DJ may be, so a drape along this
wall will have various purposes.
Blank canvasses are a stylist’s dream as
you can literally make them what you
want – however, they can also be costly.
To keep costs down, think about adding a
couple of key elements to transform the
space. A few key elements are much better
received than decor overload, so pick a few
things that reflect the style you want for
your wedding. Add key feature points in
key areas such as entrances, behind your
head table, even make a lounge space that
combines as a great photo opportunity.
Tip Two: Figure out your style.
There are 101 trillion décor options out
there to make your wedding look amazing
and it can sometimes be quite daunting
where to start. Have a search on the
internet and start pinpointing images
that catch your attention; a lot of these
pictures are almost a ‘Hollywood Model’
version and may be quite out of reach to
achieve, but don’t worry, it’s a start and
you are starting to develop an idea of the
sort of things that you think look pretty
as everyone has completely different tastes.
To narrow down your search ask the
venue (or dig deeper on the internet)
for pictures of the room you have hired
dressed for various events. These can help
guide you in what you might do for your
event based on your likes and dislikes.
For example, these pictures might show
that low floral arrangements are lost in the
room as the ceilings are so high.
Make it personal to you. What have you
both experienced and have a passion for as
a couple? Is there a way to incorporate this
in to your theme?
Finally, don’t worry what other people’s
opinions may be; the day is about
celebrating you as a couple!
Tip Three: Explore options.
Often your ‘big-day’ props will only be used
on your wedding day and you’ll have no use
for them afterwards. You can always sell
these on eBay after, but who wants to do that
when you have a honeymoon to whisk off to?
Consider hiring even the smaller items
such as vases, hurricane lanterns and
tableware to cut costs. You can even use
these to decorate in a DIY way instead of
blowing a load of money in The Range.
Tip Four: Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Make sure there’s enough time for
everything to be set up at the venue on
the big day. When booking your venue ask
them what access times you and suppliers
will have to set up and remove.
If your venue says everything has to be
removed on the night of your wedding,
this can be stressful for you. Do you really
want the stress of this as your amazing
day comes to a close? Secondly, suppliers
tend to charge slightly more for working
unsocial hours, so this may cost you more
in the long run.
Tip Five: DIY.
DIY homemade aspects on your big day
makes your wedding more personal and
it may save on some costs. However; just
because you can do it yourself doesn’t
mean you should. Wedding planning itself
can be demanding enough with so many
aspects to cover, catering, guests, the
dress! Take the stress off and don’t try to
take too much on. Enjoy the lead up to the
big day and be excited!
Trust in your suppliers and their experience,
explain your budget and you’ll find they will
always to do what they can to help you!
