8 Ways to Personalise Your Wedding Decor

When your guests walk into your wedding venue, you want them to feel like you have put a lot of thought into the decoration, the planning… all right down to the last detail. This may sound like a colossal project to take on board, but it can be made simple, easy and still look elegant. For most of us on a budget, DIY is the way to go and we love a personalised, hand made decorative piece. At Workshop Weddings we specialise in workshops of bespoke decorations, but here are a few ways for you to get started…

– COLOUR PALETTE: pick a colour palette before you start thinking about decorations. This will give you a point of reference and make sure you stay on theme. Remember: colours don’t have to be exactly the same as your initial palette as long as they match. If you are hesitating, choose your wedding colors according to their meaning: white for perfection and innocence, red for passion, pink for an unconditional love, green for eternity, etc. Play with it!

– FLOWERS: Ask your maid of honour, your bridesmaid, your best friend or even your mother to make the bridal bouquet for you. They can then deliver it to you on the morning of your wedding, giving your bouquet a sentimental, emotional dimension. You can even ask your groom to take care of your bouquet for you – this will be his very special way of contributing to your gorgeous, final look.

– WEDDING FAVOURS: Pick a favour that represents you and your partner best. If you can’t think of anything within a reasonable budget, distribute fans, parasols, pashminas, slippers, heel stoppers and other props throughout the day. These can be much more memorable and re-usable, which is much nicer than a mediocre wedding favour.

– HIDDEN MESSAGES: think of sweet or fun messages to print and hide throughout the wedding. You can, for example, print lines of your wedding song and place them behind place cards or at the back of the menu. It could also be several verses of your favourite poem, love quotations from philosophers or even common phrases you always say with your partner and that represent you as a couple.

– KEY ELEMENTS: Pick one or a few key elements to decorate your wedding.  If an olive green is part of your colour palette, use jade as your key element and add little jade charms to your decorations. You can, for example, hang the jade off of paper fans and parasols, or tie them to the Order of the day cards, reminding your guests of the soft, unique theme throughout the day.

– LIGHTING: If you do not have time to DIY pieces yourself, try to focus on the light as it is an essential element of your wedding decor (and wedding photos!).  You can place candles pretty much everywhere, on the reception tables to enhance the atmosphere, hang paper lanterns and string lighting to the ceiling. You can even add light installations, such as wooden or metal marquee signs with letters that can be your initials or a meaningful word, symbolising you and your partner: Dance, Rock, Mr&Mrs …

– GUEST BOOK: Instead of asking guests to sign a guest book, ask them to sign a piece of fabric which can be made into cushion covers or an artifact, like a dragon boat oar for you and your husband-to-be to frame.

– MEMORIES: Your wedding day will go by so fast that you will wake up the next morning wondering whether it really happened.  To keep a memory of the most wonderful day of your life, what better than to ask you guests to help.  Offer them polaroids with suitable markers for them to write messages for you.  You can also place vintage post boxes in various locations of the venue, for your guests to place their messages and pictures throughout the evening.

Our last piece of advice goes out to all brides: make sure you start planning in advance, especially your decorations.  You may think that a venue has a lot to offer on its own, but there is nothing like a bit of table decoration… so trust us, you will be glad you have them on the day!