Set the Scene

Flowers & Decor

especially if you’re tying the knot at a scenic destination like the mountains or a historic home. Maybe your venue is perfect in terms of location, budget and availability, but lacking in landscape or character – florals and decor can transform the space into your dream setting. Flower costs depend on venue location, season, guest count and the number of people in your wedding party. More bridesmaids equals more bouquets! Decor costs vary greatly depending on venue location, event duration and date, the types of light fixtures, and the time it takes to set up and take down. Start with the decor essentials: tables, chairs, tableware, glassware, china, linens and napkins. From there, elevate your event with drapery, lighting and lounge furniture. You’ll definitely want bouquets, boutonnieres and centerpieces. But don’t forget about corsages for special family members or floral arrangements

Real-life couple Yakima Clifton and Destiny Gyant wear two looks at the North Carolina Museum of Art: a for the ceremony altar and aisle, white ensemble from Bernard’s Formalwear and a sparkly gown from Gilded Bridal. Hair and makeup by Posh The Salon with florals by Bloom Works. Photo by Morgan Caddell Photography escort table or entryway. Lastly, consider adorning statement areas of your venue such as fireplace Set the Scene mantles, spiral staircases, outdoor pergolas or the bar. Let this be your foundation, How to elevate your venue with flowers and decor not your finish line. Our recommended party rental By Marie Muir suppliers have showrooms filled with inspiration and impressive inventories. If the cost of flowers and decor makes you balk, consider their multiple uses – You wouldn’t leave a newly purchased house undecorated, and the same goes for your wedding venue. Flowers and decor are next on the I-do list once you’ve locked in the location and date. Luckily, most venues are versatile – meaning this is your opportunity to take a blank canvas and bouquets could double as table centerpieces, and a ceremony arch could also function as a fun photo backdrop for guests at the reception. Our best advice for selecting flowers and decor: Pick one color palette, theme or style, and stick to it. The season in which your wedding is set to take place will weigh heavily paint it with your story and style. Or, you might want flowers here. Keep reading to see how local vendors elevated four and decor to only lightly enhance the venue’s natural beauty, distinct venue styles with flowers and decor.

Clean and Contemporary

Heart of NC Weddings Vendors Florals FauxReal Flowers / Rentals CE Rental Photographer Fancy This Photography/ Venue The Maxwell Dress White of Raleigh / Hair & Makeup Pinup Studio

One of Raleigh’s newest luxury venues, The Maxwell features modern architecture and beauty in its simplest form. Its minimalist vibe is the closest a couple can get to a blank slate. Flowers and decor of any color or style can be added to The Maxwell’s lounge, lawn, patio and, of course, The Great Room, which can seat up to 300 guests. The possibilities are endless, so let’s see how FauxReal Flowers and CE Rental chose to The Maxwell.

Lisa Smith and Amber Holmes saw a need for affordable wedding flowers in North Carolina, so they launched FauxReal Flowers – a rent-and-return, custom faux flower company. Unlike many flowers-for-rent, FauxReal offers a high-quality aesthetic. Your wedding guests will not know that your flowers are fake! Even at the touch, these silk blossoms feel incredibly real. All FauxReal floral arrangements are completely customizable – couples can choose the color, flower type, style and size of each arrangement they order. If you thought there’s no chance of getting peonies out of season, think again. FauxReal carries all flower types year-round.

Lisa and Amber showcase a variety of floral arrangements in sizes ranging from small to extra large. This table would make for a stunning head table because it is placed perfectly before The Great Room fireplace. Moody florals take the eye on a journey from ground-level to tabletop to fireplace mantle. Champagne roses combined with eucalyptus and Italian ruscus are accentuated by black pampas grass and gold berries. White

dinner plates and gold flatware look striking atop a Casablanca Midnight linen because they are stacked on clear Orizzonte Gold Rim chargers. An 8-foot-long “swag” rests atop the fireplace mantle. FauxReal offers swag floral arrangements that can be draped almost anywhere, priced $50 per foot (2-foot minimum).

The model, Anna Haddock, is a local lifestyle and travel blogger. Raleigh-based beauty salon Pinup Studio gave Anna an elegant updo with soft tendrils of hair on either side of her face to frame glamorous makeup. This wedding hair and makeup pairs effortlessly with a dress designed by Dany Tabet from White of Raleigh, an independent bridal gown salon that has a photo-worthy ambiance. White of Raleigh’s thoughtfully curated selection of wedding dresses come in a wide range of prices, from some of the most sought-after designers.

Whimsical Warehouse

Heart of NC Weddings Vendors Florals & Rentals Petal & Oak Venue The Cotton Room / Photographer Morgan Caddell Photography Dress & Jewelry Gilded Bridal / Formalwear Bernard’s Formalwear Hair & Makeup Posh The Salon

The Cotton Room is a warehouse-style venue on the third floor of a restored textile factory. Located in the historic Golden Belt District in Durham, The Cotton Room can host more than 400 guests. Belt Line Station and Lucky Strike Suite, on-campus sister venues, offer more intimate event spaces for smaller celebrations. Natural light, authentic exposed brick walls, wood floors and timber framing make The Cotton Room one of the most sought after wedding venues in the state. In addition to on-site catering and event staff, The Cotton Room is owned by the same team behind Petal & Oak – a flower and decor company based in Raleigh. This partnership makes styling easy and attainable, as the Petal & Oak designers know exactly what makes the venue shine.

For this styled wedding, Petal & Oak used whimsical gardenstyle flowers and decor to soften the industrial-chic interior

of The Cotton Room. Two asymmetrical floral installations composed of greenery, pampas grass and white and pink blossoms mark the altar. A single gold chandelier adds to the cottagecore design. The sweetheart table is crowned with flowers at the center of two head tables. Petal & Oak set this sweetheart table apart by selecting a textured Eyelash Gipoor Gold linen and two King Louis XVI chairs — named for their oval back, soft upholstery and regal style. The head tables adjacent to the sweetheart table are decorated by Xtreme Crush Ivory linens, greenery, candles and succulents in textured bronze and gold vases. A luxury lounge area for guests to relax and take pictures in completed the design.

Lauren Wilkinson and Everett Pendergrast have been together for eight years. Lauren thought that they were only participating as models in this styled shoot. Little did she know, Everett had a family-heirloom ring hidden in the pocket of his dark navy suit from Bernard’s Formalwear. Everett waited for his queue while Lauren twirled in a WTOO by Watters wedding dress from Gilded Bridal. When the first few verses of “Forever Love” by Dolly Parton played, Everett expressed his love to Lauren and got down on one knee to pop the question. Simultaneously, Lauren and Everett’s moms stepped out from their hiding spot behind drapes to witness the surprise proposal. Everyone toasted Champagne after Lauren said, “Of course.” Morgan Caddell Photography captured it all on camera. Lauren says that Morgan made her feel natural and at ease in front of the camera, “We felt like it was just the two of us in a room because she didn’t make it feel uncomfortable at all.”

Modern Museum

Heart of NC Weddings Vendors Florals & Event Design Bloom Works Venue North Carolina Museum of Art Photographyer Morgan Caddell Photography / Hair & Makeup Posh The Salon / Dress & Jewelry Gilded Bridal Formalwear Bernard’s Formalwear

North Carolina Museum of Art brings modern and ancient art, as well as visitors, from around the world to our state’s capital. Light-filled galleries and outdoor sculpture gardens make the museum a versatile venue choice. Couples enjoy taking wedding portraits in each of the museum’s art-inspired areas. As an added bonus, NCMA’s on-site event staff and partnership with Catering Works make event planning stress-free.

EW Fulcher, lead florist of Catering Works’ sister floral division Bloom Works, added romance and warmth to the museum’s clean interior with a chromatic spectrum of pink, white and green flowers. Floral arrangements with height and texture define the North Courtyard ceremony aisle in clean white boxes. Two ombré hydrangea arrangements placed on gold pedestals mark the altar, set up in front of a lily pad-filled reflecting pool. For the reception, Bloom Works decorated circular tables and the bar with low centerpieces — a classy style that allows guests to easily converse with one another over dinner and take in

the entire West Building Great Hall.

Emerson white chairs enhance the modern ambiance of the outdoor ceremony space, while ghost chairs, named for their transparent structure, complement colorful reception tables inside. These party rentals are from CE Rental and can

be the focal point or easily blend into any space. Blue- and goldpatterned Amalfi China pop against suede Casablanca Blush linens. These decor elements add visual interest to the overall tabletop design. Bloom Works did not need to decorate the walls of the West Building Great Hall because they are already adorned with amazing artwork.

The brides and real-life couple, Yakima Clifton and Destiny Gyant, have been together since 2014. Morgan Caddell Photography captured their love and laughter on camera as they moseyed through NCMA’s indoor and outdoor exhibits / event spaces. Destiny sparkles in a Dear Heart Bridal wedding dress from Gilded Bridal in Raleigh while Yakima sports a chic white suit from Bernard’s Formalwear in Durham. Together they look radiant with hair and makeup by Durham-based beauty parlor

Posh The Salon.

Top-Notch Tents

Heart of NC Weddings Vendors Tent & Rentals CE Rental / Planner C&D Events Florals Sweet Love Blossoms / Lighting Get Lit Event Lighting

Additional Vendors Barn at Valhalla / Photo by Chelsea Collins Photography

Backyard or private-residence weddings require party rentals, and lots of them. Think about it, you’re turning an exposed, outdoor location into a refined event space where people can comfortably eat and dance. By bringing the inside out, tented weddings offer the best of both worlds. They have become an even more popular alternative to enclosed venues due to the ongoing pandemic. Read our tent tips below.

Budget more than you think. A tented wedding also requires lighting, draping, flooring, outdoor catering space, a generator for reliable power access, heating/air conditioning, restrooms and more.

“Expect to pay about the same amount that you would pay for a venue of similar size,” advises Alyssa Ruth, senior sales executive of Raleigh-based party supplier CE Rental.

Book your tent about a year in advance. Find out if you can have the tent set up a few days before / broken down a few days after the wedding. If these dates are flexible, you may have better luck securing a tent on prime dates. Also consider on-site parking, power and restroom availability, and the location’s local sound ordinances.

For smaller events, Alyssa recommends a white-top frame tent for its variety of sizes and configurations. Clear-top or sailcloth tents are more suitable for large-scale events. There are a variety of tents that you can choose from, but be sure to ask your party rental supplier which tent they recommend for the number of guests who are attending: 

• Pole Tent – features unique peaks created by center poles and are vinyl or sailcloth.

• Sailcloth Tent is a type of pole tent that uses sailcloth material - a translucent fabric that adds a unique glow to the tent.

• Marquee Tent or Pop-up Tent has the peaked ceiling of a pole tent without the center poles (smaller, often used to create covered walkways or cocktail hour spaces.)

• Frame Tent is a classic option that comes in varying sizes and can support heavy equipment. It’s freestanding with no poles.

• Clear-Top Tent offers unique views of the surrounding landscape and guests can dance under the stars (unsafe in extremely warm or cold temperatures.)

• Pagoda Tent offers the option of creating multiple “rooms” within your tent.

Your Final Checklist

• Sound check to ensure guests can hear from any point within the tent.

• Create an entrance for your guests to walk through to enter the tent.

• Decorate the poles with draping, greenery or flowers.

• Have a Backup Plan in case rain or severe weather threatens to cancel your tented outdoor event.

Lighting 101

Terri Watson and Dave Watson, co-owners and operators of Get

Lit Event Lighting, have provided luxury lighting and decor to couples since 2007. Shop their inventory of chandeliers (like what you see pictured left, photographed by Fancy This Photography), strand lighting, lanterns and more to find your perfect fit. If Get Lit doesn’t have the lighting or decor that you’re looking for, their innovative team might build it for you! Get Lit Event Lighting services typically start at $1,200. “Create variability in your lighting design,” says Terri. “Have points of interest at different heights and in different areas. This may mean a ceiling installation of strand lighting or chandeliers with spot lighting of floral arrangements placed at different heights and lounge areas washed with an amber glow. I love seeing a dimly lit space with pools of light highlighting the band, wedding cake, food and beverage service areas and table decor. Creating a wall of light can be as much of a wow factor as a ceiling installation. This can be especially helpful in a tent where clients sometimes hope to mask the tent hardware.”

Chandeliers

Create drama with a large statement piece like a crystal chandelier or encourage intimacy under a collection of industrial-chic fixtures.

Strand Lighting

This is the most versatile lighting. Opt for single strands, or a ceiling blanket of twinkling lights.

Lanterns

Line a pathway, showcase a staircase, or use as tabletop decor with live flame or LED pillar candles.

Wash Lighting

Dramatic architecture, glowing landscapes and soft candlelight ambiance are all achieved with wash lighting. Create a mood with colorful wash lights.

Spot Lighting

Flower arrangements and cake displays deserve to be noticed. Spot lighting will help draw attention to the details.

Decor

From functional to fanciful, decor pieces such as signs, screens, stage surrounds and wall backdrops have been designed and fabricated by Get Lit Event Lighting.