Today on our blog we welcome Lucinda, The Balloon Lady, with some advice on venue decoration as well as some gorgeous photos of her work.
Decorating a room for a wedding
Decorations for your wedding reception are essential – they set the mood for the day and if done correctly will bring your colour scheme and theme in to the venue and transform it making it unique to you.
Your florist/balloon decorator should always be able to advise you on what works best in any room, as they will have worked there in the past, and they should be able to make suggestions of various styles and designs that will suit both the room and you.
After 17 years in the business I find the following advice essential when working out how to decorate any room and I do hope it helps you.
If you are in a tall room I would always recommend using tall arrangements – whether you want to have flowers or balloons – as these will fill the ‘empty’ space above peoples heads and draw the eye through the room. There are so many styles that you can chose from, including tall candle sticks, cocktail glasses and vases filled with masses of blooms – or even displays of tall balloons in your colour scheme – which can look very elegant – but also add a slightly more relaxed atmosphere to the day.
In rooms with lower ceilings it is important not to over fill these – as they can then end up feeling cramped and over decorated. Perhaps look at lower arrangements of flowers – such as the popular gold fish bowls, cubes filled with roses and traditional round arrangements of flowers – and in balloons look to the smaller designs, such a pretty topiary trees, or single balloons with little balloons inside – floating on pretty tulles.
Colour schemes are also very important to consider. Many venues keep their walls to neutral colours, which means that you can chose any colour scheme or theme and it will always go in the room. However there are some venues that have very distinct wall colours, such as dark reds, or browns and in these rooms, I would always advise you to either chose your colours to match – or have the bridesmaids and accents in your chosen colour scheme – but include lots of neutral creams and whites in your centrepieces so that they don’t get over powered by the room.
With colour schemes remember that some colour schemes are very easy to co-ordinate with in flowers, such as shades of pinks, purples, reds, oranges and yellows – where as greens – turquoises – blues and browns are more difficult, as there aren’t as many flowers available in these colours. With these colours its worth either considering a contrasting flower colour or using balloons that are made in hundreds of colours and can be custom matched in thousands more, these will really pull your scheme together an should blend your dresses and the bridal bouquets to create one overall theme.
Have a think about all the areas you want to decorate, and make a list to discuss with whoever is decorating for you. Don’t forget the entrance, this is so forgotten and over looked, but it is the first impression visitors will get of your day, so something simple like an arch of matching coloured balloons will lead guests in.
Everyone remembers their guest tables – but don’t forget yourselves, so often the top table is looked at as of secondary importance– but so many pictures will be taken here that you need to remember to frame it beautifully – weather you have balloons floating over it or at either side, or ribbons or fresh flowers swaging the front of the table.
Finally you must consider your budget, it’s very easy to get carried away decorating your wedding and you really must prioritise the most important areas first. Remember that tropical flowers will always be more expensive, where as seasonal flowers will be more reasonable and that balloons will always give you more impact and inject more colour in to a plain room than a simple floral arrangement.
Many thanks to Lucinda, take a look at her
website for more inspiration and ideas, and follow her on
Twitter.
