Carisa and Richard: Decor Planning

This is part 11 of the new blog series about Carisa and Richard's wedding planning process up until their wedding on August 31, 2013. In addition to sharing with readers their love story and wedding planning adventures, insights and tips for brides and groom's planning their own wedding will also be shared!

Wedding decor is very important (in my mind) because it ties together all the elements of the wedding and is presented to all your guests. Sometimes my clients get overwhelmed with where to start with decor. Often they have many ideas they would like to incorporate but they are afraid it will look like it is all thrown together in a not so good way.

Here are some suggestions on how you can start to design your wedding decor:
1) Choose your wedding colors (main wedding color, secondary color, and accent color);
2) Decide the formality of the wedding (black tie, formal, informal, casual);
3) Think of the descriptive words you want your guests to use when they see your wedding (stunning, classic, fun, unique, out of the world cool);
4) Look through magazine, websites, pinterest for decor ideas you like;
5) Start putting the ideas together and be very strict with meeting your criteria of: wedding color, formality, and descriptive words.

It might take a couple of tries but building your wedding theme can be that easy.

When I initially met Carisa and Richard, they had some decor ideas they would like incorporated. Carisa said she wanted the colors: mint green and white; a rustic wedding; and peaches (the fruit). Richard threw in that he wanted some traditional Chinese elements too. In summary, they wanted to have a rustic mint green wedding with peaches (the fruit) and traditional Chinese elements. Not an easy task but I think we are going to pull it off.  Can't give away too many details yet!

~Monica
Owner and Lead Designer @Wishahmon

If you missed the first couple of blog posts on Carisa and Richard's wedding planning adventures, you can catch up on how they got engaged, set the date, found a venue, found a marriage commissioner, found a photographer, sent out invitations, took care of out of town guests, found a DJ, found a wedding gown, and found a wedding cake.



Photo Credit: Green Wedding Shoes

Wedding Reception Place Settings

If you think about it, your guests will be spending a lot of time at their table during your wedding reception. Sure, the focus will be on you and the groom, but they will also be looking at their table quite a bit. (Especially, when they have their heads down and eating a great meal.)

Having great table decor really transforms the reception venue. It is the element of the room that gets multipled. Imagine one great table design times 20. It makes for a stunning reception room. I often hear from guests that they didn't even notice the chairs they were sitting on or the color of the table cloth. I always answer that it was probably nothing exciting. If it was, you would remember.

Table decor consists of many elements: table linen, napkins, centerpieces, candles, glassware, tableware, cutlery, table numbers, place cards, and menu cards. You ask where can you possibly start when decorating your guest tables, I just did. Just follow the elements in the order that I had outlined. Start building your table decor and just have fun with it. It will look great! Don't be afraid to mix colors and textures too! (Oh! maybe that can be my next blog post!)

~Monica
Owner and Lead Designer @Wishahmon
















Photo Credits: 1) Colin Cowie Weddings 2) The Caketress 3) The Bridal Detective 4) Stellarsky 5) Karen Tran Florals 6) , 7) Style Me Pretty 8) Preston Bailey

Industrial Wedding

After doing renovations in my home for two years, I have learned: Whole bunch of new places to shop (mostly for tools), the names and how to use a bunch of tools that look very "manly", and to be creative with new materials. Now to be totally honest, these materials are just new to me because I don't really know what they are for.

One time I went into a metal shop and was immediately fascinated with a brass stick. The employee saw how excited I was, came over right away and asked me what I was using it for. I told him that it was perfect for this metal tree that I want to hang pink paper lanterns on. His jaw dropped and said that is not what that piece of metal was for. He also said it was not brass. "shesh!"

I always see different uses for materials and I almost always think about how they can be incorporated into a wedding. I absolutely loved the pictures I found of this industrial wedding. It is totally something I would love to do. Love the work light chandeliers and the "groom" sign made of light bulbs! If you are thinking of doing an industrial wedding theme, give me a call. I will be right over with my pink tool belt!

~Monica
Owner and Lead Designer @Wishahmon

Thin wiring


Work Light Chandelier


Duct Tubing


Light Bulbs




Photo Credits: Jessamyn Harris via Green Wedding Shoes

DIY Wedding Ideas with Wallpaper!!

Wallpaper is not what it was before. I remember ripping off the horrible stuff when I got the ok to decorate my own room. It was a lot of work. For about 15 years I didn't think twice about wallpaper again. Then, all of a sudden, wallpaper was IN. It was featured in all of my home decor magazines, usually as an accent wall. Loving this look, I planned my new home with wallpaper in mind. I was determined to create an accent wall in my living room. And then, I realized the price of wallpaper had gone up and it was no longer the 1980's (or the prices in the 80's to be more accurate.) Totally bummed, I put this decor idea out of my mind.

Then suddenly one day, I learned from Martha (Stewart) that you can decorate your wedding with wallpaper. In a value sense - the price of wallpaper is now a great deal considering how much you get and how expensive wedding "stuff" is. In a creative sense - wait, what? wallpaper? genius idea!!

Here are some ideas that Martha had on DIY wedding projects using wallpaper! I am totally stoked and can't wait to find a gorgeous roll of wallpaper to decorate a wedding. Any takers? Email me!

~Monica

Vow Decor

Wedding Stationary

Reception Wraps

Picture Areas

Photo Credits: Martha Stewart Weddings

Long Rectangular Reception Tables

I was totally flattered when I met a bride that pulled inspiration from my blog  to design her wedding. (Honestly still very surprised that people other than my family read my blog!) I thought everything she said was familiar but I didn't really realize it until she said: "I got these ideas from your blog!"

She had pulled together a lot of the decor elements beautifully and had a nack for DIY. (I totally want her on my team after her wedding!) The only thing she struggled with was how to put her guest tables together. All the weddings she attended had round tables of eight guests. Her venue has long rectangular tables and she was at a lost as to how she can fill the tables with centerpieces. She couldn't quite figure it out but felt one centerpiece per 12 foot table is a little odd.

I gave her some ideas including using several smaller centerpieces at different heights and a long table runner to pull all the centerpieces together for a cohesive look. Knowing that she is very visual and now knowing she reads my blog, I dedicate the inspirations in this blog post to her. Good luck K!

~Monica















Photo Credits: 1), 6) Style Me Pretty 2), 7) Wed Lux 3), 5) Karen Tran 4)  Destination I Do

Venue 1008 Wedding Reception



This blog is part two of Anila and Stefan's wedding - the reception. Anila and Stefan's reception was at Venue 1008. Honestly, I had no idea where it was when Anila told me about it. When I pulled it up on google maps, I learned that I went by it a ton of times! It is a very unique venue with lots of musical influences and inspirations all around. (We even found a guitar that matched our decor!)

Throughout the wedding planning process, Stefan had very little to say. The only time he spoke up was when he said he wanted the color blue at the wedding. He didn't really know which venue, how much blue, or even which shade of blue. One thing for sure, he wanted the color blue. Anila interpreted what Stefan wanted and said a turquoise blue for the wedding reception as an accent. They wanted to incorporate a beach element like Trindad (where Stefan is from) and peacock feathers (which is a must in East Indian wedding themes.) As a result, we made two different centerpieces. A lower centerpiece with sand and seashells, and a taller centerpiece with peacock feathers.

Once again, I would like to congratulate Anila and Stefan on their wedding union! I wish them a lifetime of happiness together. I absolutely adore you both!

I would also like to do a shout out to my decor crew. We worked till 9:30pm to decorate this venue and then woke up at 4:30am the next morning to decorate the ceremony venue at Canada Olympic Park. I can't do what I love without your support and assistance! Hugs!

~Monica 



All White Wedding

As a wedding  and event designer, the first thing that I usually ask my clients is whether they have a color in mind that they want to see at their event. Usually my brides would have a favorite color they want as the main wedding color. Sometimes my brides would pick several colors and want them all incorporated. On some rare occasions, brides have no idea what color they want.

This blog post is dedicated to the last group of brides. If you have no idea what color you want, why not just have an all white wedding? White is a classic wedding color and literally goes with everything. These pictures prove that white is not bland or boring, rather stunning!
~Monica











Photo Credits: James Christianson Photographer | Via: Style Me Pretty

Dressed Up Wedding Chairs

I have to admit, I have a fascination with chairs. I know it is just something that I sit on but I really like good design, good color, and of course a good amount of "prettiness." It shouldn't be any surprise that I always suggest to my clients that we must put some attention to the banquet chairs.

Decorating the chairs immediately transforms a room to something special. Here are some suggestions on how you can decorate your wedding chairs in a style other than a white banquet chair and colored chair sash. ~Monica

Sashes are always a popular and inexpensive way to add some color to your wedding. Rather than tying the sash around the chair with a bow, maybe you would want to try to tie the sash differently or embellish it with a sparkly brooch.

Chair covers has slowly become a wedding decor staple. Branching out from the white chair cover, there are also options in colored chair covers and textured chair covers. Check out this beauty!

 

Although you might not embellish the banquet chairs with flowers (primarily due to cost), you might want to consider them for your ceremony chairs. Having flowers only on the chairs on the end creates a wonderful aisle for the bride to walk down.

 

Fun signs are a wonderful way to make the bride and groom's chairs special. Afterall, they are the main stars of the day! 

Lastly, what about combining a couple of decor embellishments? Cute chair + flowers + signs = wonderful picture of the bride and groom!



Photo Credits: 1),4), 5), 9) Style Me Pretty 2, 3) Grosgrain Fabulous 6) Kristin Newman Designs 7)  Wedding Window 8) Jose Villa Blog

Thematic Thursdays: Wedding Furniture

With more couples planning a wedding that suits their personality, style and budget, we are finding a lot of different configurations for wedding receptions. Rather than formal sit down dinners, cocktails and lounge receptions are becoming more and more popular.

Having lounge furniture at your wedding allows you to have a lot of versatility to fully utilize the venue space. The idea of having lounge furniture may sound too informal and not-very-wedding-like but you can have sleek, vintage, or rustic furniture to really pull off your wedding theme.

Incorporating wedding furniture is not just for outdoor weddings. It can also be used for indoor weddings as well. Keep in mind if you do want to have wedding furniture brought into your venue, it will cost more because rather than using the venue's table and chairs, you are now renting and bringing in your own furniture. One way to save some money and to still incorporate wedding furniture is to have a couple of pieces as statement pieces. You can have a piece of furniture at your sweetheart table, photo area, or near the bar area!

I absolutely look forward to seeing more weddings with unique configurations! Do share if you are doing something different for your wedding!

~Monica

Photo Credits: 1) Fete 2), 3), 4) Trendsetting Weddings 5) James Christianson Photographer | Via: Style Me Pretty