PHOTO: Her World Brides September – November 2015
Weddings are happy, joyous affairs but there are some brides who prefer a stylish, elegant celebration instead of a colourful, raucous and fun party. If you’re planning for something more intimate and chic, but still pretty, here are some decor essentials to bear in mind:
Soft & gentle
For your colour palette, pair whites and cream hues with the softest pastel shades – lilac, pink or baby blues. You can mix different colours together but make sure they are all from the same tone and shade – avoid brights with pastels.
Always have a solid neutral base like white, ivory or pearl grey, then add in a maximum of two other colours. Never have more than three colours in total as the whole setting can look like a kid’s party and/or sweet. The feel has to be more sophisticated. A modern and stylish option for the colour base is black or deep navy blue, then match cream with black or navy and add in an accent colour like pale pink or a matte gold hue. Very classy!
Charming Blooms
Flowers are always a great way to pep up your venue. Consider these ones (roses, peonies, dahlias, eustomas, freesias, calla lilies, hydrangeas and matthiolas), which come in a variety of hues, rich, pastel, or otherwise. And most of them (except peonies) are available all year round.
Get a monogram
What can be more elegant and grand than a personalised monogram with using your initials? Avoid overly designed monograms with crests and elaborate border: go for simple, beautiful designs using calligraphy and cursive fonts. Besides your wedding stationery, you can use your monogram for your stage backdrop, printed on table runners and even embroidered on the napkins if you can afford it.
Sheen, not shine
A shiny accent can look too flashy and brash for an elegant colour scheme. Opt instead for a matte gold or silver accent for that gleaming touch – you can get ribbons, tableware or even beautiful matte napkins and place mats in metallic colours.
Lacy details
Nothing is more elegant than lace motifs and patterns, you can have place appliques added to your floral decorations or place settings, or hand even lace trims and ribbons around your space.
Cakes with intricate lace patterned detailing are beautiful when paired with soft satin ribbons. Just remember to select intricate lace patterns that feature art decor motifs of crests, rather than pretty floral versions that are more suitable for ‘rustic’ decor themes.
Pearly extras
To match the creamy hues and matte accents, long strands of faux pearls are a great option to sparkly sequins and trims. You can have pearly whites or gold, silver and pink strands to drape around your floral centerpieces, tables and chairs. Or have some strands ‘streaming’ out from the centerpieces onto your table for that beautiful, luxe feel. Think also of adding pearl accents to your cake, desserts and even wedding wardrobe.
Bows please
Loose, streaming ribbons can look messy and a little too ‘fun’. If you want to have ribbons as part of your decor, choose matte satin or grosgrain versions instead of the shinier ones. Use the ribbons to create pretty details like satin ‘ribbon’ flowers or oversized bows, which you can use to dress up the venue, chairs, candle holders and even your wedding cake.