One of my favorite parts of being a wedding planner is designing beautiful, functional spaces for guests to enjoy. You want your wedding to be not only visually stunning, but welcoming and comfortable for your friends and family. In the spirit of true Southern hospitality, you want your guests to sit and stay awhile, have a bite to eat, and kick off their shoes to dance the night away. Here’s a few ways we combine style and function for seamless guest experiences.
1. Start with inspiration photos
You probably already have a few ideas of what you envision for your day, but visuals are incredibly powerful when it comes to design. Having a variety of images to share with your creative team helps everyone align on the specifics like shades within a color palette, flower varieties to incorporate, and overall style. Don’t be afraid to pull inspiration from other sources; I often reference interior design, architecture, and fashion when dreaming up luxe spaces.
2. Put yourself in the guests’ shoes
Once you have the look and feel nailed down, the second most important aspect is guest experience. You want your guests to fully enjoy and appreciate the hard work you put into the design, and that all depends on how they move through the space. During your venue walkthrough, pay attention to things like the width of walkways, the distance between each area of the venue, and the size of each area to help determine placement.
This is where a wedding pro is especially helpful! We have experience working in a variety of venues and have learned what works and what doesn’t. We’ve also had the benefit of watching the way guests interact with different spaces, and we’ve learned the patterns and tendencies that are unique to weddings.
3. Be open to last-minute shifts
Whether it’s an unexpected rainstorm or a last-minute RSVP, there will always be things that don’t go exactly the way we envisioned on the day-of. Our job as planners is to anticipate as many scenarios as we can and work quickly to come up with unique solutions to unique problems. We create layouts using a variety of tools to be as accurate as possible, and then we work with vendors to place everything accordingly. On the day-of, we take a step back to see how everything fits together and make adjustments as needed, ensuring a flow that feels natural and comfortable for your guests.
