Design Inspiration: Vineyard venue, couples love of wine and food, winery setting

At the fundamental core of your wedding Design/Theme/Style is creating that "je ne sais quoi" that "indefinable quality" that is your unique vision of what is evocative of your own love story. Create a look, a feeling, and an experience that reflects who you both are as individuals and as a couple. Have you ever walked into a room that is perfect? Where all the elements go together seamlessly to achieve a strong emotional impact? Your wedding is much like that room - it's about finding a style that really represents your true personality in all its wonderful facets, and putting it into every part of your wedding celebration.

From entering and opening the door, the guests begin to see colors, personality and style. Style affects all the senses and that's why it is so powerful. Design isn't making everything match; it is coordinating elements that will touch all your senses. Matching tends to be aesthetically boring. There is a rule in design accessorizing - - use odd numbers. "No way do you have to have two matching candles on the fireplace mantle", nor in your wedding design elements. Whatever you do, don't make people want to fall asleep. And, don't forget to inject whimsy and fun to make the design uniquely your own.

Design inspiration: Lavender flowers, color lavender, outdoors, summer

The entryway into your wedding, your guests' first inkling and first impression, will be from your invitations, which is why they should embody your personal aesthetic. On your wedding day, your guests will get an initial impression when they first enter your wedding location. Will they be excited or bored, amused or awed. Your choice of colors, style and/or theme, music, florals etc. needs to be coordinated to achieve the overall feeling you want to convey. From the invites through to your ceremony and reception, food drink and style go together to help set the mood for your entire day's celebrations. Is it the gorgeous flowers, the fun music, the terrific food, your drunken Aunt Suzie dancing on the table during the reception? All of these elements, except Aunt Suzie perhaps, should be tied together in an overall design for the greatest emotional impact.

Design Inspiration: Hot bold color combination, outdoors, summer

As a Wedding Planner I am also a Designer. We think about color, images, tone, feeling, words. We focus on ceremonies, vows, invitations, digital media, cards, menus, signs and of course the occasional ring pillow. We also have lots of ideas about flowers, dresses, location and ways to bring the look of your wedding together. During our consultation it's about finding the fundamental core of your wedding design....themes, colors, concepts, tone, mood, central ideas. We help define an aesthetic that will act as a guide when you're pulling together all the pieces and parts. Of course some couples come in with their style all mapped out.

Recently one of my "Day Of" wedding clients came to me with their theme fully intact. This couple lives in an urban city environment but love the outdoors and get away to the country at every opportunity. With a true outdoors theme, they created a logo of two owls sitting on a branch. This logo wrapped itself through all aspects of their wedding, from their invitations to their cake design of a tree trunk with a hollowed out niche for two (he and she) owls in it, to their wedding favors that were custom created again from their logo. Girl owl cookies with an orange bow and boy owl cookies with an orange tie. Keeping to their outdoor theme they chose a non pretentious, comfortable outdoor farm/garden setting at Falcon Ridge Farms and are offering their guests Echinacea tea and homemade packaged,chocolate chip cookies after the ceremony. Again the reception venue chosen is a west coast glass and wood themed banquet room at the Harvest Golf Club. With lots of natural elements such as the massive river rock stone fireplace in the room. Views across the city and over the orchard/lawns of the golf course. Extraordinary gardens, man made pond and waterfall surrounded by nesting water fowl and grasses. This compliments further the brides natural look and feel bouquet and table top decor of mason jars with grasses and wheat, green lily grass, yellow crispidia, orange germinis, brown hypericum berries, green poppy pods, yellow daisies and natural raffia bows and binding. So what started as a couple who love the countryside and created an owl motif logo for themselves, had all the design elements to follow through into a style evocative of their personalities and interests. Fabulous!

Theme Inspiration: ORCHARD, outdoor, summer, relaxing, modern country

Theme Inspiration: A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM - outdoor summer whimsical party



Theme Inspiration: BACKYARD, outdoor summer, upscale modern home, family, friends


Theme Inspiration: VIBRANT COLORS OF PEACOCK - jewel tones, feathers

Theme Inspiration: VINTAGE GARDEN TEA PARTY

Theme Inspiration: COUNTRY BARN

Wedding Design is a flexible concept and starts by finding the central, core concepts on which to build your wedding theme/style upon. Think images, concepts, colors, and passions. Maybe your ideas will merely become inspiration but perhaps your vision will translate into a wedding ceremony and reception theme -- something that gives a tangible feel to your love.

Wedding design means finding the common threads that will run through your wedding, the essential elements of your personal aesthetic. Think of your special day as a two-act play of performing art, and design it thusly for maximum audience appeal then wait for those oohs and aahs. You've found that "je ne sais quoi" element to your wedding celebration and yours will be unique and unlike any other. It will be remembered with happiness, joy, magic and love. Savor the moments. This is your day, and you've made it your own.

Be inspired!

Agatha