Ceremony Styling Concepts
Your ceremony setting is one of the main first impressions for your guests- how are you going to WOW them?
We design for a living . . . and we think coming up with something fresh and lovely (and not 80s!) for ceremony and altar settings is next-to-impossible. Hope you enjoy our latest ideas below . . . and that they inspire you to new heights.
Sketch paper, my trusty colored pencils. I spent a half hour ruminating over the “wreath”, and how to design something that wouldn’t be dwarfed by these grand doors. I wanted them to reflect the crisp white detail of the interior and exterior . . . they had to be formal, elegant, refined. I love that we had our florist tuck the magnolia leaves behind the hydrangea, as well; I didn’t want that dark peppered look in the whites. They made a great backdrop for the wedding party shots!
It doesn’t get any better than white French tulips, a little branching bittersweet, and votive light from sweet glass piecrust votives. Remember that odd numbers are good- things in threes . . .
A lot of our girls ask us for “something that looks like it belongs”, especially when they can’t be directly under a grand live oak on a property like Lowndes Grove. I get it- but almost anything we do can look contrived- like a bad high school play stage + set. Yipes!
I sourced these patinated metal trees at Market and had our florist flood them with string smilax, carnations (gasp!) for filler, and glamorous Phalaenopsis orchids. We flanked the aisles of benches with them and centered three on the water view for a backdrop for the wedding party. Dig?
Same live oak, same venue, same dilemma. We don’t like any of our weddings to look like twins (maybe long lost cousins, twice removed!) so we dreamt up a ribbonerie treatment. We used the bride’s colors of yellow and gray (with a titch of navy) and had our florist string the ribbons from the oak. Confession: they fluttered (ahem) in the breeze- right into our faces! The fix: we secured them to the grass and covered the reinforcements with white blooms.
Digging up ideas for this couple, we researched a bit on the groom’s Indian heritage and discovered that mango leaves are considered good fortune. We asked our floral designer to implement these leaves and summer dahlias in gate “flats” that we think could make awesome ceremony decor as well, if you have an anchor or wall.
K.I.S.S. is an acronym for a reason! Sometimes just doing an oversized wreath (this one was at least 3 feet in diameter) with high-end fleurs (cattleya orchids here) and classic greens is the answer.
A manicured lawn and dramatic ocean backdrop already provided a great juxtaposition here. We didn’t want anything we styled to detract from the beauty of this location at the Sanctuary at Kiawah Island. Insert my pencils and me again. I asked for abundant curly willow to look like it was beechwood/driftwood-aged. Our floral designer bleached and stripped fresh curly willow to rid it of its green-ness. Oh the tricks behind the scenes! They anchored the branches in river rocks within the crisp white custom wood planter they built, and we think the effect was natural and lovely.
Hope you enjoy what we shared today!
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Molly McBride said,
Calder, you may remember me, I’m a friend of Chaunce’s (from Charlotte.) Anyway, I’ve gotta tell you, I read your blog and LOVE it! Just when I think that you and your team can’t come up with anything cuter, more original, more fabulous, you do! In fact, all of the above are just a few prime examples! So, please keep posting and I’ll keep reading.
shannon said,
I sooo dig. love the fact that you try not to duplicate ceremonies.
Calder Clark Designs said,
Grazie, my friend. Thought of you today when I was scouring a local antique shop for demi-johns…i thought, “bet Shannon has 99 cool ones in her life”!
Calder Clark Designs said,
Girl, of course I remember thee! So great to hear from you, and thanks for you kind words. Promise to be one of our brides one day? With a name like McBride, you HAVE to.
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