Day 6: Choosing Your Wedding Style

A wedding style is something that every wedding has. No, it’s not “stylish”- it is a style. I like to define a wedding style as something that describes a wedding’s look and feel. Often times a wedding style is an adjective- modern, elegant, vintage, rustic, etc.

When you hear those words, you think of a certain aesthetic, right? It’s because a wedding’s style is what defines it- plain and simple. A wedding style is a necessary part of wedding planning because it helps you to define all the other elements of your wedding- venue, decor, type of reception, and on and on. Your wedding style will also help you when trying to convey to others what your wedding vision is. Trust me on this- you absolutely WANT to define your wedding style!

How should you go about deciding on your wedding style?

To get started you need to ask yourself a few questions that will help you define your wedding style. Below I am sharing the actual Style Questionnaire that I use with my clients to start narrowing down their wedding style. Start by complete this questionnaire, it is a great guide in helping you narrow down your style.

Your Wedding Style

Once you’ve answered all of the questions or at least most of them), you should be able to start defining what your wedding’s style is going to be. It can be one style, or it can be a combination of styles. I actually prefer a combination of styles, because it creates more unique vision for the overall wedding design.

How to Styling “Your” Wedding

INSPIRATION & VISION

Inspiration is the key way to start styling your wedding. Spend some time on Pinterest and/or wedding blogs and save the things that you like. You don’t have to have anything in particular in mind at this point, just gather inspiration. Save what you like and what resonates with you- even if it’s not wedding related! There could be something that you have in mind, and you don’t even realize it yet.

Next, think about and write down things that would tell the story of your relationship. Do you love cooking together? Did you meet at a brewery? Do you both love video games? Even if you think that it couldn’t be translated into your wedding style, don’t hold back! Tell your story-you never know what could end up creating a fabulous wedding style. Plus, if you’re working with a wedding designer or planner, they can create something amazing out of something you might think is crazy!

*Note: Please remember- styling your wedding is about inspiration, not replication! Being inspired by something doesn’t mean that you have to replicate it for your own wedding. It’s okay to think something is awesome, but not include it in your own wedding design.

FOCUS

After you have LOTS of inspiration, it’s time to focus! Go through everything that you’ve saved/pinned, and pick out what REALLY speaks to you. And don’t forget to keep in mind what your own personal style is too. Once you’ve whittled down your inspiration, you should see a trend appearing. It could be colors or even a general style emerge.

DEFINE AND DESCRIBE

This is when it’s time to define and describe your wedding style. I highly recommend giving your wedding a “title” that describes it. This will help you when working with your vendors, and also help you to keep things focused. For example, something like “Modern rustic pink and white wedding” or “Romantic and colorful garden inspired” is perfect. And of course feel free to get creative with the definition/description of your wedding- think outside of the box!

DECIDE

This is hands down my favorite part of styling a wedding. You have your inspiration that you’ve pulled together, and you have defined the style of your wedding. Now it’s time to decide on the specific design elements for each item of your wedding.

What do you want your reception to look like? Will the centerpieces be tall, short, or perhaps both? What about the ceremony- is it going to be in a church or outdoors? Here are the things that you should be designating:

Paper elements (Save The Dates, Invitations, Menus, Signs, etc) ● Attendant florals
Ceremony design/decor/details
Cocktail hour elements
Escort card/seating display
Linens
Reception florals
Table numbers
Cake & cake table
Sweetheart/Head Table
Dance floor
Rentals
Food
Entertainment

Once you know these elements, you will have your wedding style!

EXECUTE!

Of course you still have to execute your wedding style- this is what makes all of your planning come to life! The key to executing your wedding successfully is to work with a great team of professionals who can make your style a reality. I of course highly recommend working with a wedding planner or designer, as they will most definitely ensure that you have a great team to make everything happen.

"The thing about the style of your wedding is that it’s what makes your wedding *your own*. The way that you infuse your personalities into your wedding is with design and decor, which also clearly includes details."

Marsha VanArk

Day 6: Conclusion

Remember to keep things organized. Make lists, label things, and keep your details together. There’s nothing worse than handing over your design and detail elements to someone, but yet they have no instructions on what is what, and what goes where. Be sure to communicate the style elements of your wedding to whoever is helping you to execute your wedding.

If you’re still totally clueless about your wedding style (which you might possibly be), enlist the help of a professional. Perhaps you’ve always wondered what exactly a “wedding designer” does- this, my friends, is one of the things that they do!

If you have any questions or need some guidance with your wedding planning. Please contact us below.

Happy Planning,

Marsha