Before you lift a pencil to plan your upcoming nuptials, make sure you meander through our top 2019 wedding reception décor ideas to spark unique designs for your own special day.
Texture
One way to create an elegant décor scheme for your wedding is to incorporate plenty of texture into your reception area. Avoid mixing too many colours to create visual interest; rather limit your wedding colour palette to two or three tones; then bring in a variety of flowers, materials and greenery within that limited colour palette for the most striking effect.
Custom-designed hand printed fabrics are another way we brought texture into our events in 2019. Whether as tablecloths, napkins or suspended ceiling drapes, our clients delighted in being able to take these unique table linen sets home, or to gift them to friends and family after their weddings.
While most event designers treat the floor as just the space you have to walk on to get from installation to installation, in 2019 we jazzed up our bridal couples’ floors by hand painting them to look like murals, colour blocking them throughout to catapult our clients’ weddings into the next level!
Tropical vs Rustic
With South Africa’s mix of climates and the fashion and interior world’s obsession with tropical leaves, incorporating tropical leaves into your modern wedding décor scheme is one thing we are happy to take with us into 2020. Whether monstera, areca palm, bird of paradise or banana leaves, adding some tropical foliage can add an exquisite touch to your wedding day.
Playing with organic detail, we also brought in potted plants, herbs and sustainable installations. 2019 was the year of the terrarium, while in 2020 we expect to see this theme get even bigger. Growing up alongside the tropical trend we enjoyed seeing foraging making a comeback, while we’re expecting a new focus on the ‘feast of foliage’, combining the fresh, lush and tropical or merging rustic, dried and gnarled, which make for amazing wedding design schemes. Which would you prefer?
Flower Crowns & Headpieces
Made mainstream in South African as the quintessential Garden Day accessory, it’s no surprise that flower crowns for brides, bridesmaids and even wedding guests picked up momentum in the year that was 2019. Flower crowns can be designed to suit virtually any theme or style, just make sure your florist designs them to last all day. In essence, summer 2019 (and 2020!) were / are all about accessorising the head!
Flower Ceilings & Accessories
2019 was certainly the year of flower ceilings! Whether draped in wisteria, orchids or greenery, the brides and grooms of 2019 were spoiled for choice when it came to this runaway wedding trend. Flower ceilings can a dash of glamour to the reception room, so if you’re looking for an extravagant way to spoil your more aesthetically minded guests, you may want to explore adding some vertical décor to your floral designer’s brief.
Don’t be tied down to something fresh or organic – the roof is a magical way to transform a space, whether through lighting features, patterned fabrics or lanterns. Variety and layering are essential to turn the ceiling into a magical feature point.
Eclectic Vases
Matchy-matchy is so 2005. Last year we played with tall vases, short vases, skinny vases and chunky vases – all at the same wedding! The varying heights and sizes of the flower arrangements helped to create a more spontaneous and free feeling in the space, instead of the very controlled, regimented atmosphere created by too much uniformity.
Exotic Flowers
While roses are eternally romantic blooms, more consistent and advanced cooling methods during the shipping process means access to a wider variety of flowers from around the country and even around the world! Last year saw our events team playing with everything from tulips to hyacinths and lotus flowers, which made for some truly unique wedding days. In some cases, thing got ‘fruity’ – incorporating fruits and vegetables amongst the blooms created a feast for the eyes!
A Touch of Quirk
2019 weddings were all about standing out from the crowd. What better way to do that than to gift your guests with unique, locally produced wedding favours. One of our bridal couples left handmade African animals made from repurposed tin at each guest’s place setting. An unusual wedding favour is one way to make sure your guests never forget your nuptials.
Similarly, we wove quirk into décor features that were artfully and carefully curated and placed throughout the surrounds of venues, marquees and gardens. These bold, yet intrinsic, statement pieces are one way we like to pull out all the stops!
Whether we printed on large plexiglass panels, built 12 metre wooden trees or hand-painted murals, we used quirk to layer these spaces and give them that special Petals touch!
Delicate Decor
Many a trend is born in reaction to a previous one, which is why we are not surprised that some of our weddings featured more delicate floral designs compared to the 2019 uber-trend of enormous amounts of flowers on every surface.
