planning your dream wedding

Because Every Bride Deserves a Prince Charming... And a Designer Wedding

Unlike celebrities and the über wealthy, most of us don’t have designers like Vivienne Westwood or Vera Wang throwing their designer bridal couture our way. Thankfully, a designer dream wedding complete with personal wedding stylist is no longer a luxury reserved only for the rich and famous.

Wedding planners and stylists, such as Trudy Croad from Events by Design, are making fully styled weddings a reality. “For most brides, the difficult part is getting started. Every wedding must have a vision. After that, the rest is easy”, says Trudy.

Here are Trudy’s top tips on how to kick start your dream wedding:

• The average wedding takes 250+ hours to plan, coordinate and style, so start early! This also helps avoid disappointment, as many wedding venues can get booked out up to a year in advance.
  
  
• Start by building a template of what you want your wedding day to look and feel like. Ask yourselves, how will our day reflect the unique characteristics of our relationship? Perhaps you met while travelling in a foreign country? Perhaps you live a rock n roll lifestyle? Maybe you both appreciate the style of the 1950’s? Try to find a common thread.  Once you have agreed on a style, everything else will just fall into place.
  
  
• The most fun and memorable weddings bring out the best in the bride and groom. Don’t be persuaded by how other people are styling their weddings. Create your own unique experience. I’m not saying go overboard on the ‘theme’ of your day, as you don’t want it to look like a fancy dress party. However, a few little details that bring out the personalities of the couple won’t go unnoticed. 

One of my grooms was a surfer, but didn’t want the cliché of a surf-inspired wedding. To bring in a bit of surf culture without going overboard we designed 8 menus, each with different vintage surf images on the reverse side. Some guests collected all 8 to take home and frame as a set.

Once you have agreed on a style, start collecting images. Go broader than wedding magazines – consider Interior Decor, Music, Art, Travel and Food magazines, as often the common thread starts here.

I have a bride & groom who are both from Italian descent. They have also spent a significant amount of time travelling through the Middle East. We are working on an Italian Bedouin theme for the day, incorporating the relaxed style of the Bedouin traveller with the rustic traditions of Italy.

Create a colour palette to reflect the style you have agreed on.  I recommend choosing of 3-4 colours to use throughout the wedding.  Think of how colours can layer to create a designer feel. These days using one colour throughout everything is a bit passé. Have fun with different colours, and don’t be afraid to try out new ideas. If you’re not confident with this, consider hiring a wedding stylist, or an artist/graphic designer to help you. A divine colour palette helps create a truly magical wedding experience, regardless of budget.

I recommend waiting until you have your style and colour palette, even before you choose your venue and design your wedding invitations, as I always feel that once you have the vision, decisions on where, what and how just seem to fall into place.