colours

Wedding Decor – The New Neutrals

When you think of neutrals your mind generally goes immediately to a series of creams and whites. But today, the new neutrals have a much more subtle variety to them, all of which lend themselves extremely well to wedding décor.

The thing about neutrals is, they are a universal. They go with most themes, venues and seasons. You’ll also likely find an array of items more easily in neutral colours, than say if you were tracking down a more specific shade. But just because something is a classic, doesn’t mean it cannot be reinvented.

So for the new neutrals think a little wider with subtle hints of greys, taupe’s, dusty rose and accents of metallics. It’s still very much based around the tennets of creams and whites, but now there’s more inflection and depth in those creams.

With all of that in mind, here’s some visual inspiration for you to get the ideas flowing. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with me directly if you wish to chat about any aspect of your wedding planning and décor.

 

Ceremony

Flowers will play a big role in the overall look of your ceremony be it in a church or another venue. But there are others ways to make a big impact with neutrals. Why not have white or cream blossom trees lining the aisle? Have a neutral aisle runner and don’t be afraid to use some draping in key places.

 

Table

Your wedding table centrepieces and overall décor will really set the tone of your reception and when it comes to making impact with the new neutrals, it’s all about subtle pops of colour. Think accents of pinks, greys, burlap and taupe with flashes of metallics. Be creative with it and use a range of pillar style candles in differing sizes on metallic stands, small lanterns, wooden slices, pink paper pom poms, gold cutlery or wine goblets. White table clothes with grey or taupe runners and sprinkling of glitter.

 

Room

Draping is one of your best allies when it comes to room décor. Draping interspersed with fairy lights in key locations, such as backdrops or on doorways will add a major wow factor. But think about placing other elements in the key colours, be it lanterns, vintage luggage or antique finds. Uplighters can work really well to set the tone as can hanging tea lights and Chinese lanterns or pom poms again in the key colour palettes.

 

Cake

Go for ‘naked cakes’ with a cascade of blush, cream and tope roses down the side. Or go for buttercream finished in an ombre effect with the same colour palette. Use little touches like blush or metallic macaroons or cakepops scattered with glitter for that extras bit of sparkle.

Ice Cream Dream Wedding Pastels

Pastels are the epitome of romance. They bring with them a subtle hit of colour and can work with all types of wedding themes. For a modern twist though, don’t be afraid to intersperse a hot pop of colour in between the subtle ice cream dream hues of greens, canary, blush and pale blues.

There are so many ways to bring pastels to life on your wedding day. From bridesmaids dresses and groomsman’s ties, to using the dreamy colours in your venue and even having some fun with your food and drinks, pastels are the easy, beautiful colour selection that is always a hit.

Here’s some visual inspiration for you, to get the ideas flowing. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with me directly if you wish to chat about any aspect of your wedding planning and décor.

 

 

Attire

Pastels are a perfect choice for bridesmaid’s dresses. Bring a modern flavour to the look though and consider getting dresses in different colours or lengths instead of all matching. Why not get the guys in on the action and add pastel pops in their ties, shirts, waistcoats or socks?

 

On the table

If the thoughts of bright colours on your wedding tables is making you nervous, then look to the understated beauty of pastels to save the day. Think pastel flowers, chalk painted mason jars and lots of stunning hydrangeas in rustic style boxes. Wooden accents work really well with pastels too. Go for pastel table runners or table cloth and why not and contrast with accented napkins or chair sashes/draping and don’t forget the lanterns filled with everything from pastel florals to pastel tea lights.

 

Around the room

Don’t forget to add a splash of pastels around your venue too. Think pastel coloured paper goods like lanterns and fans that look ideal strung from the ceiling. Pastel streamers make fabulous backdrops or look stunning on the backs of chairs. Pastel and white draping will give the room an ethereal quality and don’t forget simple additions like giant balloons.

 

Food

You can have lots of fun with your food and drinks with this colour scheme. Cakes look amazing in these colours and there’s huge scope for creativity with everything from dripping icing, to naked style cakes and lots of pastel embellishment. Beyond the cake, what about having pastel macaroons and cake pops? Don’t just limit it to the food though, why not have pastel inspired cocktails with cotton candy or just pink bubbles. Create a minty cocktails and some pink lemonade for the kids and non-drinkers would be ideal. And it wouldn’t be pastels without ice cream, so why not consider getting in an old fashioned ice cream stall for the reception?

 

Images via Pinterest

Non White Wedding Dresses

While many women will confess to having dreamt of walking down the aisle in a white dress at some point in their lives, not every bride wants to wear white on their big day. Indeed, today’s modern bride has a myriad of beautiful choices for what to wear on her wedding day and the traditional white gown is now only one choice in a varied field of options. Catwalks are now often full of alternative wedding dress colours, from pastels, to off whites, to blush, blues, canary yellows and much more. And even if you’ve never really considered anything but white or ivory, it’s nice to know that you’ll have the option of trying on something different in many bridal boutiques around the country.

Finally remember that your wedding day is a really special one and hopefully you’ll only be walking down the aisle once in your lifetime, so you need to make sure you are wearing the dress you want. Not the dress someone else wants you to wear. So if you’ve always wanted to have a blush pink, or champagne coloured dress then make sure you follow through and try to find the dress of your dreams.

If you’d like to chat about any aspect of your wedding planning or room décor, then please get in touch today.

 

Off White
Off white might not sound like a massive deviation from the traditional white wedding dress, although as you journey through your wedding dress search you’ll begin to realise that many dresses which appear white, are indeed ivory. That said there are a few off white colours to consider that will give a little inflection of colour difference. Think champagne, ivory, eggshell and true cream.

 

 

Blush and Pale Blue
Blush has seen a rise in popularity in recent years, Jessica Biel famously donned a blush pink gown for her big day and it’s a colour that’s certainly becoming a very real choice amongst brides. This year expect to see some pale blues making an appearance. The beauty of both of these colours, is that they are light injections of colour, rather than a deep, rich, bold colour, so that if you do fancy something different to white, but don’t want to stray too far, both of these pale inflections of colours are worth considering.

 

 

Watercolour Gowns
A big trend for this year is a move toward watercolour style dresses. Think elegant prints and florals with an almost painted feel to them either as a pattern on the dress or as the entire colour. What’s great about these dresses is that, again, they aren’t too overwhelming in terms of bright colours, yet are still feel individual and unique.

 

 

Daring colours
Choosing a red, yellow, green, purple or even black wedding dress may be far from the norm, there’s absolutely nothing to say you cannot choose to have a more vivid colour for your wedding dress. Indeed, if it’s always been your dream to walk down the aisle in red, then do it! Never feel under pressure to wear white because it is your special day and you want to make sure everything is as you want it to be.

Wedding Trends 2016

Happy new year one and all and if 2016 is the year you and your husband-or-wife-to-be, are set to walk down the aisle then congratulations, this year is going to be extra special for you both. Now is a great time to start thinking about your wedding décor in more detail. There’s lots of helpful wedding in fairs taking place around the country packed with fantastic ideas on how to make your wedding look and feel just the way you want it to. This year there’s lots of continuing and new trends to look out for in terms of almost every aspect of your day. A sense of mixing themes is set to be high on the agenda. Why have just retro chic, when you can have retro meets glam for example? From centrepieces, to colour themes, to cakes and general décor, there’s plenty to think about.

As an award-winning wedding planner, I’ve got the inside scoop on all the latest trends and how to make them work for your wedding day. If you’d like to get in touch to discuss how I can help plan any aspect of your wedding, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. In the meantime, here are some top 2016 wedding trends to get your creative juices flowing.

 

Colours
With Rose Quartz and Serenity being Pantone’s colours of the year, expect to see their influence in lots of nuptials in 2016. These are such pretty colours to have fun with and you can add plenty of accenting shades to them like greys, greens and pops of metallics. Speaking of metallics, expect to see them paired with pretty nudes for another must have colour palette this year. Twilight greens infused with woodland earth and tree tones are another sure hit for this year too.

 

Seating
There’s been a real shift in the way in which wedding venues are set up for seating. This year the trend has moved toward breaking the old worn routine of round tables and a long top table. Instead, couples are opting for a combination of long, rectangular tables or a mix of long tables surrounded by smaller square and round tables for a much more personable and intimate feeling. Lounge areas, complete with comfortable seating options are set to be bigger than ever this year too.

 

Flowers
Look for that wild, just-picked feeling for bouquets with lots of wildflowers, greenery, tone-on-tones, as well as edible herbs being included in bouquets and centrepieces.

 

Centrepieces
There’s a feeling of going back to basics on the centrepieces this year, with low potted mis-matched arrangements taking over from the more traditional, taller arrangements. Cloche or bell jars are also set to be big, with personal touches such as family photos inside each jar, as well as books, woodland moss and even desert-style blooms along with mini cacti.

 

Lighting
Lighting is so important to any wedding day, but expect it to be centre stage for 2016 with big bold lighting coming to the fore. Think a mix of vintage and modern style chandeliers, Edison bulbs and candelabras to create an incredible mixture of lighting effects.