Gloria & Han | Shinola Hotel, Detroit, MI
Modern and Chic - utilizing timeless colors with modern design makes Gloria and Han’s Wedding one that can be featured for years to come
Wedding Day - December 19, 2021
Top Sources of Inspiration for Planning a Wedding
Planning a wedding has countless details and pieces to remember. It can be a bit overwhelming at first, but once you have a vision in mind, you can start creating a mood board filled with wedding inspiration.
Most people create their mood board on Pinterest. You can follow my Pinterest boards here. However, you can create your mood board filled with your wedding inspiration on multiple platforms such as a series of folders on your desktop, a wedding website, or kicking it old school with a physical board.
Look for images that showcase the overall sense of what you’re trying to create (modern, chic, bohemian). Then, as you get further along in your planning, you can fine tune specific elements such as table settings and flowers for inspiration which can help you when briefing suppliers and sourcing elements.
What is important is that you compile all of your inspiration onto one organized platform. Do this so you have something to reference when you’re actually executing tasks and ordering items for the wedding.
As we said, it can be overwhelming to start and actually find something that will be perfect for you and your future spouse’s wedding. So today we will start with where to find inspiration for your wedding.
Where to find inspiration for your wedding
Your lifestyle
Your wedding is a reflection of your fiancé and you after all! Look to see what you and your spouse enjoy and find inspiration from that!
Whether it is hiking, going to the beach, or watching movies, you can incorporate those themes into your day.
Think also of your home/bedroom and the textures, fabrics, and colors you enjoy. If you are planning a black and white traditional wedding, but your bedroom is full of bright and bold style, is that really a reflection of you?
Photography by Abby Rose Photo
Your venue
If you already have your wedding venue picked out, it might be easier to walk through and see what design elements and architecture are already present that you can surround your own decor and theme around.
You can also often view past weddings that were held in your venue. With this, you can see what past brides have done that have or have not worked.
It is so much easier to work with your venue’s design and enhance it’s beauty than work against it.
Family Wedding Photos
I am sure your grandmother or aunt or mom would love to walk through their wedding album with you. If you are looking to incorporate more traditional elements into your wedding, it may be a good idea to see what your family did that you can modernize and personalize to bring into your own day!
Craft or Hardware Store
Make a date of it! This is such a fun one for me personally. Take your future spouse to a craft or hardware store and make them really feel a part of the planning process. This is a great idea for a DIY wedding. Just walk around Hobby Lobby and soak in all the different types of fabrics, decor, colors, etc.
Sometimes just touching the fabrics or physically holding paint swatches together can really start to bring your ideas to life!
Make sure to really take note of the variety of colors and textures found in your favorite pieces. Use these paired with your mood board to really bring your inspiration to life!
Design experts
Personally I follow experts from all around the design world, not just the wedding industry. There is so much insight to gain from those who dedicate their livelihoods to modern and innovative design.
Perhaps there is an interior designer who showcases earthy yet modern design you adore. You can shift that same design into your wedding with earthy florals and modern tablescapes.
I also follow Pantone for inspiration on popular colors and how they can be used. Pantone is really one of the best when it comes to how to appropriately and beautifully use color for any use, including weddings! They also have a style trend report that shows all the most popular colors that have been and they project for the upcoming seasons.
Another favorite is Pantone’s color of the year.
Photographers
Whether you have or have not chosen a photographer, they are the ones who have some of the best eyes for a wedding. They are trained in knowing what does and does not look good in a wedding, and are experts in capturing the mood and beauty of each event.
Follow what your photographer and other wedding photographers have captured. Maybe your photographer is really good at capturing bright bold colors and you love the way those look. Maybe you love the images a photographer captures of the dramatic black and white moments.
Use these images from the professionals as inspiration for your own day. What’s even better is you know they have expertise in the mood you’re aiming for if you decide to book a photographer based on those inspiring photos!
It is important to remember that inspiration does not just come from wedding decor or other weddings. It can come from EVERYWHERE.
Incorporate pieces from outside the wedding world into your vision board to help drive that mantra!
Wherever you get your inspiration for your wedding, ensure it is an authentic representation of you and your future spouse - and keep it organized!
Any other ideas on where to get design inspiration?
Let me know in the comments below!
Love,
Sam
How to Create a Wedding Vision Board
Begin to organize your thoughts and visions into your own mood board in this detailed “how to”!
Vision boards are a perfect and clear way to show your wedding party, vendors, and even your fiancé, what you want your wedding to look and feel like!
A Romantic and Elegant Fall Garden Wedding
What is a Vision Board
A vision board, also often called a mood board, is a visual tool to compile all the colors, moods, and themes that will be the essence and design of your wedding day. It is an organized presentation of all the concepts and design you would like your wedding to be centralized around. It should be organized enough that anyone viewing it from your grandmother to florist can understand what your wedding should feel like.
This is not a cut and dry exact depiction of your actual wedding, it is simply to showcase the vibe you are aiming for. It will not necessarily have the exact dress you will be wearing or the exact bouquet of flowers, it will simply show a collection of what you are visualizing.
For example, you may be imagining an intimate and romantic fall wedding, yet you are also visioning classy elements. You may gather a collection of delicate and simple flowy dresses and bouquets filled with bold florals such as roses and white poppys. You may also have silk ribbons and silver/gold touches in the centerpieces.
Whatever it may be, your mood board will showcase the essence of what you would like your wedding to visually look and feel like.
Where to create a mood board
Many people, including myself, use Pinterest. It is user-friendly and filled with ideas from thousands of creative brides and vendors.
BUT there are SO many other fantastic places to create a mood board!
However, Pinterest is really only the start. It is possible to simply save a collection of photos, but I highly suggest you put it somewhere online where other people such as bridesmaids or your wedding coordinator, or even your fiancé can easily find it and know what your specific goals are.
I have seen other brides use a variety of other methods to create their mood board!
Canva
So many free resources, and super user friendly (this is not sponsored - I swear!)
Powerpoint or Adobe InDesign
Super easy to input photos in a clear and concise manner!
iCloud or GoogleDrive folder
Give your partner easy access to it as well as important vendors.
Physical poster board
I love this idea to keep it old school and print out images and pair them with dried florals. This is a super cute keepsake to save after the wedding!
I have also seen brides create vision boards on a wedding website such as through Zola, TheKnot, or Squarespace.
Wherever it may be, I cannot stress enough to organize, organize, organize. It may be one month before your wedding and you need to finalize your order with your florist. It is imperative that you know exactly what you are envisioning and where your inspiration board is.
To start your vision board, follow the below process.
Identify Mood Words
Perhaps you have heard that most communication is about 93% nonverbals? That means only 7% percent is about the actual words! This statistic is typically referring to spoken communication, but it can refer to the communication tool for your wedding vision too!
Junebug Weddings shared the awesome idea to use this in assisting with your wedding vision!
When starting your mood board, it is important to start with some words to express the vibe you are trying to create. When starting to consider what you want your wedding to feel like, start identifying and noting key mood words. This isn’t just what the wedding will look like, but what everyone will feel when they’re experiencing it.
The first step in making a wedding mood board is identifying guide words that describe how you want your day to feel. Here are some words you may use:
Intimate
Down to Earth
Adventurous
Nostalgic
Cheerful
Cozy
Bright
Carefree
Light-Hearted
Romantic
Poised
Wild
Once you have a feeling, you can start crafting that into an actual look with a second set of words. Pair them with a one or a couple of the below words:
Elegant
Classic
Bohemian
Quaint
Whimsical
Minimalistic
Modern
Colorful
Lush
Glamorous
Industrial
Vintage
Rustic
Lastly, add some context to the above words.
What season is the wedding taking place?
How will this season affect the feel or look of your wedding?
This may cool your wedding down or warm it up.
Where is the wedding taking place (venue, region, landscape, etc.)?
What does that location look like?
How can your wedding compliment the look and feel of its location?
Once you have selected and organized words for what your wedding will look and feel like, you will have a much easier time finding photos and further inspiration for your mood board. It’ll turn your planning experience from finding a group of pretty photos into a thought out collection of what your actual goal is.
Develop Colors and Textures
After you have curated themes and words for your wedding, add some color! This will help guide your planning even further. What colors and textures fall into that feeling you’re trying to create? For example, if your guide words are: Breezy and Cheerful Bohemian Summer Garden Wedding, what colors do you envision with each word as well as the theme as a whole?
What textures make sense in the context of these words? What kinds of plants, materials, and fabrics help tie the look of your day and the feel of your day together? What colors do you associate with this mood? Gather photos and inspiration that capture that.
This doesn’t have to be wedding photos of tablescapes and wedding gowns. It could be any sort of design photos! You can gather inspiration from a whole slew of interior designers, musicians, graphic designers, and other artists.
Of course your wedding will be a depiction of you and your spouse’s personal goals.
Searching for alternative forms of inspiration can help you achieve your unique and personalized vision!
Synchronize Big and Small Details
Now is when you can start adding your elements and details to start making things more real and tangible.
Big elements can be anything physically big like your ceremony arch or wooden tables, or more overarching pieces like fresh olive branches throughout. These elements can help pin-point more precise overall pieces to execute your wedding vision.
Then you can start considering small details to fill in those gaps. This can be anything from gold dinnerware to cozy blankets as wedding favors.
Adding these big and small pieces is extremely helpful for your wedding vendors (like your wedding coordinator 😉) or wedding party. They can use these more specific examples when considering exactly what needs to be ordered or styled around. This can be anything from your rentals to particular florals that will execute the mood you are envisioning.
Photography by Tauri Baum Photography
Don’t get lost in the small details
When focusing so heavily on planning details, it can be easy to get lost and sidetracked. It is important to often to take a step back and look at the big picture.
Is everything flowing smoothly?
Does this vision board as a whole accurately represent the guide words you first developed? Are things sporadic or cohesive?
Doing this early and frequently will ensure that when it is time to execute those details, both you and your vendors know what the goal and mood is.
Remember, this is not a cut and dry exact depiction of your wedding, it is all about the mood and vision!
Started making a mood board, but a little stuck on inspiration for your goals? Check out my post on Top Sources of Inspiration for Planning a Wedding.
Any other tips on how to create the best cohesive wedding mood board?
Let me know in the comments below!
Love,