A THEME COME TRUE

www.jamesandkerriephotography.co.uk for Ambience Venue Styling Bath VENUE STYLING

The ultimate guide to styling your venue

Join us for a stroll through the wonderful world of wedding venue styling. It’s all too easy to carried away, but when a simple idea is executed to perfection, well, that’s when you have a theme come true!

CHOOSING A THEME Settling on a theme can be a tricky business, so the best way forward might be to consider your common ground. Karl Shoemark at Glastonbury-based Themes Inc says, “Why not find a wedding quiz or use your venue to make the decision for you? You might choose a theme inspired by where you met, a holiday you spent together or a dream adventure.” Alternatively, you may both decide to influence different areas. Wedding planner Samantha Smart from Wedding Regency says, “If the couple have different ideas then it may be worth combining two themes for example Harry Potter and Star Wars – it could be fun!”

The key thing to bear in mind when you’re at this stage, to avoid getting carried away, is whether it’s realistic. Can your budget accommodate your grand plans for example? As Bath-based event stylist and floral designer Lauren Alexander points out, “The likes of Pinterest and Instagram are wonderful ways to glean inspiration, but often images are of carefully-curated styled shoots rather than real weddings, and it’s so hard to gauge the cost of their contents. Therefore, I spend a lot of time researching with my couples and finding out what floats their collective boat. What’s important though is to do something really well, rather than stretching your budget across the entire venue and making it less impactful.”

PICK A PALETTE One of keys to settling on the perfect colour palette for your big day is the time of year. Holly Allman-Lopez of Ambience Venue Styling Bath explains, “Different seasons naturally lend themselves to certain palettes. Spring and summer tend to suit lights or the brights, with an abundance of fresh flowers to choose from; whereas autumn and winter weddings work well with warm, rich tones with lots of lovely dried textures.”

The other most important consideration, aside from simply what you like of course, is your venue. Lauren tells us, “Choosing your colour scheme before your venue can be a little dangerous! What if you’re adamant on a palette, but your surroundings completely clash? There’s something to be said for working with what the venue can offer rather than trying to pigeon-hole it into anything else. I love to work with couples to build a gorgeous palette, which complements not only the venue, but also the bride’s dress and the bridal party attire, as well as having fun and being a little playful. Over the past few years we’ve seen a huge trend for pastel tones, but pops of colour are starting to come to the forefront now.”

If you’re still undecided Karl has some further pointers: “What about your home? Take a look around, maybe these are the colours that best represent you. The most popular hues for weddings at the moment are champagne, white and ivory – these classic neutrals work as a base to support other colours, pairing well with any theme, style and venue.”

“Choose a maximum of three colours for a rustic, vintage look.” – Karl, Themes Inc

THE VENUE SPEAKS VOLUMES It doesn’t pay to ignore your setting when it comes to the styling, not only when picking a palette, as practicality is crucial. So, there are some important points to bear in mind. Karl has some advice: “Think about your vision for the day and look for a venue that fits. If a rustic vibe is for you, perhaps a barn would be best. If you have your heart set on a fairytale of a big day, what about a castle or an abbey? You could chat to a planner before you start the search as they may be able to narrow your ideas down, less is more.”

Lauren says, “Choosing your venue is like choosing your other half! There’ll be things you love and that’s why you picked it, but there’ll always be things that niggle.” On the topic of venue styling, the best thing you can do, as is the case in all other areas of planning your big day, is to quiz with as many questions as you can, both of the venue staff and of yourselves. “Will everything be in one room or are there multiple spaces available? Does the venue provide any décor?,” Samantha suggests asking. While Lauren reminds us, “Things can be changed or upgraded and you can rent plenty of different props to make the space more personal. So, don’t be afraid of a venue that might not be 100 per cent to your taste.”

LOOKING AFTER THE PENNIES We’d always recommend that you sit down together and agree on a budget at the very start of your journey to W-day, before you do anything else. Deciding how much you want to devote to the venue styling will be 49

an important part of that, not least because it’s in area in which you can all too easily get swept away. This way, when you’re looking at venues you can get an idea of whether you’ll be able to achieve the look you want within budget given the blank canvas you have in front of you. Lauren says, “If you need to revamp the room to suit, you’ll be thinking about spending quite a bit of money. Bringing in outside suppliers who specialise in rentals or venue design can be a really helpful tool when trying to keep to a budget.

“Hone in on what elements really make a difference and budget smartly. Start with the things that are a no-brainer to you. Ideally, these should be the things that make an impact when you walk into the reception space, such as gorgeous palette-matching linens as far as the eye can see. Work with what you have to spend but add an extra 20 per cent as there’ll often be something you haven’t accounted for that just makes your heart smile. It’s also worth investing in someone to pull everything together on the day too as they’ll remove a lot of stress and bring a sense of calm to the whole process.” CHECK OUT LAUREN’S DOS AND DON’TS THE DOS ❤ Hire a venue stylist to help you in the lead up, or at the very least on the day. ❤ Think about what makes you happy and work with that. Don’t worry about what other people might expect from your wedding. ❤ If you’ve spent on lovely elements ask your photographer to capture them. ❤ Ask about delivery of props and styling items as well as collection straight away as this can be a make or break for your budget.

THE DON’TS ❤ Don’t get too bogged down with Pinterest or set on a single image you want to replicate. Work with your suppliers to create something unique that works for you. ❤ Don’t go into debt or get yourself into state over finances for the sake of making your wedding look a certain way. Often it’s the little touches that are appreciated and remembered by guests.

HOLLY ADDS... “Try not to underestimate scale and proportion. It takes a surprising quantity of décor to dress most wedding venues and a table runner that’s too short, laid out with a handful of tea lights or vases that are far too low for the height of the space isn’t enough to make any real impact.”

Themes Inc.

“Carrying the visual language throughout all wedding spaces will ensure everything ties together nicely. While re-using ceremony décor later in the reception space offers you the best value from your venue styling.” – Holly, Ambience Venue Styling Bath

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We have always had a passion for weddings and planning weddings. The look on the couples faces when they have the wedding of their dreams is priceless and helping them to reach their vision is very rewarding for us. We enjoy getting to know you and finding out your likes and dislikes so we can help you to have the special day you deserve. We can help you with full planning or managing the day only. We offer a free, no obligation initial consultation so we can get to know each other and see what we can plan together.

“Earthy tones are looking rather beautiful, as are monochrome hues.” – Lauren, Lauren Alexander Blooms

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▲ “I’ve seen lots of pastel tones, clean palettes and lots of texture with greenery still a huge focus.” – Lauren, Lauren Alexander Blooms

▲ “I’ve got some weddings which look minimalist, but the styling budget is huge as we are transforming a space into an Ibizan style night-club, whereas I’ve also got a lower budget wedding which is going to be amazing, filled with colour, flowers and amazing small touches.” – Lauren, Lauren Alexander Blooms

Themes Inc.

▲“We’re seeing a lot of rustic hires and earthy colours of dried leaves, rust and bronzes, chic colours that add a touch of class.” – Karl, Themes Inc

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“We’re seeing an interest in minimalist white schemes with luxurious white blooms, natural tones and dried textures. This is an elegant and contemporary look, which can be adapted to work brilliantly across all seasons looking equally at home in a light and bright summer marquee or an atmospheric mansion house.” – Holly, Ambience Venue Styling Bath CONTACT OUR EXPERTS Ambience Venue Styling Bath, www.ambiencevenuestyling.com Lauren Alexander Blooms, www.laurenalexanderweddings.com Themes Inc, www.themesinc.co.uk Wedding Regency, www.weddingregency.com