A wise woman once said, “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off.” Coco Chanel hit the nail on the head with her less is more approach. Wedding styling is constantly evolving – from the days where couples simply went with the mere basics provided by the venue, to the era of over-styled cluttered receptions (albeit pretty clutter), and now a more minimalistic yet beautiful approach is emerging.
We are seeing Tiffany and Americana chairs replace boldly coloured sashes, small clusters of tea-lights replacing their heavier candelabra counterparts, and softly textured frosting adorning cakes which were once suffocated by a fondant rose army.
Less is definitely more, and the way forward for wedding styling. It allows the detail of what is there speak for itself instead of getting lost in a jumble of ‘stuff’.
Image by Wanderer Photography
Newly-wed Rebecca Gundelach certainly took this onboard when planning her own wedding, “After working in one of Brisbane’s busiest function venues for over three years, I had a very clear idea of the kind of wedding styling I liked and didn’t like. When it came to styling my reception venue Mirra, it was actually the styling of private and corporate events that appealed to me the most and so I asked my stylist Nicole Shield from Events of Design, to make my reception look more like an elegant dinner party than a wedding.”
Image by Wanderer Photography
Bec’s 150 guests were seated over three long banquet tables lined with round vases of multi-coloured roses and hundreds of tea light candles. Reflecting on her big day, “the bright roses and candlelight made the reception feel more like a big party than a wedding and we couldn’t have been happier with that!”
Image by Wanderer Photography
According to Nicole of Events of Design, showing restraint in styling can easily be achieved by following these few simple rules:
- Decide on your theme and stick to it. Don’t assume you need to have everything there is available to achieve that specific look, choose a few simple details and execute them in a way that creates styling of class and beauty. Achieve this by using good quality products and trimmings, these certainly don’t have to be expensive or brand new – I love to upcycle items.
- Be careful with colour. If your colour is red, you don’t have to have everything red (chair sashes, flowers, card stock for name tags, table numbers, napkins, candles, bridesmaid dresses, flowers!) This only creates a chaotic look that may often lack class. Subtle touches are all you need.
- Maintain consistency across all styling. This starts with your invitations as they set the tone of your theme and style, and flows through to your ceremony and reception design.
- Trust your stylist. If on the day something doesn’t quite look ‘right’, trust your stylist to make that call. I ask all of my clients to understand that if something doesn’t look and feel right on the day then I will add or take away in order to achieve something beautiful.
Image by Wanderer Photography
The less is more approach doesn’t need to stop with the ceremony/reception either. It can be carried across into everything from stationery design, to classic hair and makeup, to a statement piece of jewellery, to a fresh and simple bouquet. It’s time to plan and design, and then pare back a little. Good luck!
Love this – it is so easy to become carried away with all the things we see that we love, lose sight of what we are trying to achieve, and try to include them all, making for such a mishmash of styles it becomes confusing. Edit, edit and trust your wedding stylist!!