How To | Create The Initial Vision

Image sourced from Pinterest

Before doing or planning anything past the venue I sat down and really thought about my wedding. Going around having people continually ask you what you want for X, Y and Z does help with this, but it also shows that you really do need to have quite a solid idea in your head of what you want. Be it the look, feel, theme or entertainment - before you plan anything else sit down and imagine your wedding.

For some people this is super easy as you've been planning your day in your head since you were a little girl. I was never really one of those people. I never had a definite picture in my head and I never had definites. So when it came to decided what I did and didn't want, well, that was a bit trickier. There are a few things I did to help me come up with an idea of what I actually really wanted at my wedding, and what I really did...

Talk to the Groom

I know right - actually use the groom! For me, our wedding is about us, and I want him to be as much a part of the day as I am, and as much a part of the overall feel as I am. It is the start of our lives after all. Firstly I asked him what type of things he really didn't like in terms of wedding decorations - we went through pinterest and he basically bitched about a LOT (he's quite fussy this groom of mine). However, having his go through and tell me what he didn't like was great cause I now know these can be taken out of the equation. I also spoke to him about anything he really wanted to do or anything he really wanted at the wedding. There were a couple of things so obviously, they go into the consideration pile. Don't just do this for the decorations though, use it for everything. Cake design, photographer, music, venue... He is there. He wants to enjoy the day as much as you, so don't include things you know he'll hate.

Online Tools

As I said above, use pinterest. It is an AMAZING tool for finding things you like and don't like. I have boards for a few themes (check them all out here) including dresses, flowers, hair and make up, decorations etc. This helps you to formulate an idea in your head of exactly how you want your wedding to look. Also, I spent a lot of time browsing through websites such as notonthehighstreet.com and their wedding sections so I could pick up on different elements I really liked. Once you've done all of this it really helps to focus a theme of some sort - nothing rigid, but a basic idea.

Real Life Experience
Pull from your own experiences of weddings and even parties. Was there anything you really liked at another wedding you've been to, or anything you really hated? Was there some entertainment at a party you loved? Take all of that and collate it, put it in the brainstorm to save for later.

Your Relationship
So, it may be obvious, but think about your relationship. Is there some hobby or activity you both share? Is there a common interest? Even an inside joke. We actually considered having our table names as pokemon - really. But we are putting in some variations on games we play, and things will be related back to us, as a couple. Fred, our ginger cat, will have some sort of feature (not the physical cat, but a model/cake topper type idea). Anyway, you get the idea. It's your wedding, feature you.

Once you've gone through these stages you should be in a much healthier position to start really thinking about thinks like colour schemes and themes. It makes it much easier to plan once you have these I promise. Put everything into a brainstorm and pull out some common threads and ideas - if something has come up more than a couple of times you know it's probably a good idea to put it into the planning "brief". Again, talk it all through with your fiance in terms of what they like and also budget. Once you're happy you have a good idea in your head of what you want, then get started - happy planning indeed!