Discovering Your Wedding Style
DISCOVERING YOUR WEDDING STYLE
Venue | Maysara Winery
Floral | Sweet Posey Floral
Captured as Second Photographer | Christa Eans Photography
When it comes to a wedding day, we all envision something altogether unique. We may not feel like our ideas are all that unique. But if we were to sit with our closest friends and asked to close our eyes and picture our dream wedding, we would find that all of us picture something different. Sure, there may be some similarities but the feel and look would be personal to each of us. What I hope to pass on to you is a few tips to help you discover and harness your vision for your upcoming day. The first of which, I mentioned above.
TIPS FOR CLARIFYING YOUR WEDDING VISION
1. Close your eyes and picture your wedding day
This may seem super obvious and silly to say but just in case you haven’t stopped to really envision your day, please take a moment and dream a bit. Sometimes weddings can bring on a lot of opinions and unnecessary stress. So this is my encouragement to give yourself a moment and just be you and dream of what you would like to see and experience. There is a difference between envisioning your day how someone else expects you to do it and not actually getting to what you want it to be. So give yourself freedom and dream like it’s truly just you and your love coming together in the best way.
Venue | Foundry at Oswego Pointe
Captured as Second Photographer | Christa Eans Photography
2. Analyze and ask good questions
Take time to talk to your partner and ask yourselves things like:
Do we picture a big wedding or a small wedding?
What about the setting? Indoors or outdoors? In a distant destination or close to home?
What do we think about attire? Black-tie, semi-formal or casual?
How do we want to feel and why?
What emotion do we want to evoke in our guests?
What words do we want associated with our wedding?
Venue, Table & Dishes | Tendue Portland
Place Cards | KGC Design
Photo | Christa Eans Photography
All of these answers can give you insight into your personal wedding style and show you some of the key things that are most important to you on your wedding day. Now take things a step further and…
3. Create a mood board
This can be physical project board or a digital board like the ones on Pinterest where you can save pins that catch your eye. As I photographer, I consistently love using Miro’s online whiteboard. The main point though is to get the majority of your ideas in one place. Seeing it visually helps bring clarity and harness the vision in your head. It should also help you see what kind of style you are leaning towards. Don’t feel like you need to limit your pins to wedding related content only. Consider colors, textures, style of clothing you are into, home decor, stationery, flowers, wedding attire, etc. Once you’ve done this, you should be able to see some similarities in what you like and a theme should begin to emerge. If there are some odd things you notice that don’t really fit into the vibe or theme you can always delete those pins or images. But the main point of the exercise is to get an idea of the look that suites you and your partner.
Dress Designer | Wtoo by Watters
Dress Shop | Ania Bridal
Photo | Christa Eans Photography
4. Establish a budget
After having your dream session, be sure to also discuss your budget. Things like approximate guest count, type of venue, and reception meal are all things to get clear on - as well as, anything else that’s a high priority for you. Of course you will be allotting money to other areas, but these are definitely ones you’ll want to discuss early on. The next tip is not for every couple but I would highly suggest looking into it.
Venue | Maysara Winery
Rings | Alexis Russell
Captured as Second Photographer | Christa Eans Photography
5. Consider hiring a wedding planner
With your vision, your budget, and your story, you could think about hiring a planner to help execute. Having a planner takes a considerable amount of pressure off of you and allows someone who coordinates for a living to help bring your vision to life. I can tell you from experience that at a certain point in the process you will want (nay, NEED) to be able to let go and be fully present, enjoying your wedding day. Having a planner will enable you to do just that. Not to mention these professionals can save you time in research and money in the long run. They are familiar and have a relationship with local vendors and are great for recommending suitable ones based on your vision and needs.
Venue | Tendue Portland
Floral | The Joyful Farm
Dress Designer | Wtoo by Watters
Dress Shop | Ania Bridal
Hair | Shy Love Hair
Makeup | West Coast Makeup & Hair
Photo | Christa Eans Photography
6. Analyze the specific components of your wedding
Regardless of whether you hire a planner. You can begin digging deeper into each aspect of your vision. Obviously the venue has already been mentioned, but you can also start to look at the typefaces you like for save-the-date cards and invitations. Other ones to cover are, floral arrangements, dress and attire, photography style, entertainment, and food and drinks. As mentioned above, a planner can be a huge help at this stage and beyond, as there is a lot of time and energy that goes into the various components of your day.
Invitations & Place Cards | KGC Design
Rings & Jewelry | Ken & Daughter Jewelers
Floral | The Joyful Farm
Photo | Christa Eans Photography
I hope these tips were helpful and gave you some clarity on your wedding vision. Obviously the process continues beyond what I’ve shared here, but my hope is that the exercises serve as a place to begin to dream and discover your unique wedding style.
Venue | Maysara Winery
Floral | Sweet Posey Floral
Captured as Second Photographer | Christa Eans Photography
