I’ve learnt, finally, that most things are best done gradually. My youthful, let’s just do this today attitude has begun to realise that the very best things in life take time. Gaining new skills and friendships; growing a beautiful garden; becoming fit and healthy; enjoying the truly contented supportive partnership of marriage; they take longer than the initial joyful crush of ideas and enthusiasm. And so it is with planning a wedding. If you are recently engaged, or have been engaged for a while but now is the time to start your planning, please enjoy this romantic time. Take things slowly and let them gradually evolve. There is no pressure to know how you want your wedding day to look right at the start. Do not let the world of Pinterest or the questions on a contact form make you feel you need the answers straight away.

How to find your wedding vision

Have you had a vision for ever?

Some people have dreamt about their wedding day for literally years. They can picture it in their mind and have a clear idea of the feeling, the emotions, the colours, the time, the light, the memories before even considering the details to bring that vision to life. If this is you, celebrate and enjoy that magic. Try to capture it in words or your own images. There is a tiny danger that your beautiful vision will become lost in the overwhelm of other people’s ideas and images. Stay true to you; you already have something very special.

Do you have a date?

Deciding your date is an important and exciting milestone. It sets the season of your wedding. It sets the season of your anniversaries for the rest of your life.

Winter

Winter is the time of stillness, of crisp clarity, of reflection and of new beginnings. Winter has its own celebrations and is a natural time of joy. Winter is beautiful time to get married, and although not the most obvious choice, I think a very special choice. Just as a Winter garden is a blank canvas of structure, your Winter wedding palette can be anything you love, from warm toffee tones, clear, clean whites and greens or deep luscious burgundies and rich jewel tones.

Soft romantic grey and mauve bridal bouquet with glittering wedding shoes and trailing silk ribbon — Soft winter wedding bouquet

Spring

Spring carries bright, fresh, abundant energy. The world spins at such a frantically beautiful pace as everything springs forth from the quiet of Winter. The colours are vibrant, zingy and fresh: yellows, whites, lime greens and playful reds in a joyful mix of bright and beautiful.

Vibrant peach lark ascending rose bud vase

Vibrant spring bouquet of pink peach and mauve peonies and roses

Summer

Summer brings a more delicate softness and warmth. A luxurious gentleness, with long warm days. Colour palettes are often more muted with soft lavenders, sunset oranges, dusky pinks, warm creams and delicate foliage. The uncertainty of the weather may be on your mind, but everyone in the wedding business is there to help your day go perfectly and whether unexpected rain or the hottest day of the year, it will turn out to be absolutely wonderful.

Dreamy peach and pink bouquet of exquisite flowers

Summer purple and white flowers growing in a garden with natural supports

Summer wild natural bouquet of whites and purple with silk ribbon

Autumn

Autumn brings a wonderful mix of the dramatic and the mellow and is the perfect time for your wedding. Often warm and sunny but with a richness unmatched in other seasons. Autumn is a time of gratitude and comfort, a time of plenty and of celebration. The warm, rich colours of Autumn in nature create a truly memorable season for a marriage.

Autumn bouquet of toffee roses and white O'hara roses in a vase

Consider your own colours

This may seem an obvious question, but what is your favourite colour? What are your own colours and season. If you have yet to have your unique colouring analysed, it is a wonderful thing to do as you plan your wedding. Your colours can them help define the colour vision of your day. It can easily be done at home with just a little research and thought. Look at the colours you love to wear, your favourites that always bring compliments. Look at the colours you choose for your home and your surroundings. Look at what brings you comfort and happiness. They are your colours and are beautiful to incorporate into your wedding day.

Have you chosen your venue?

Your venue plays a vital part in defining your vision for your wedding day. Whether you choose a romantic home wedding, a decadent grant setting or a relaxed barn wedding, running that theme throughout your day can help create that cohesive vision that truly tells a story. On the other hand, the rule that overrides all else is to do whatever makes you happy. We had a romantic micro wedding on the beach and I wore the most exquisite, gorgeous silk gown. Cohesive? Not in the slightest. Perfect for us? I think so.

What is your style?

What is your style as a couple? Are you modern and vibrant, exuberant and outgoing, quiet and refined? You love and you are loved. That is the most wonderful thing in the world. Celebrate the unique qualities that you love about each other and share them with your favourite people on your special day.

What or who do you love?

Bring those special interests, people and places into your day. Adding more of these little touches of you into your day makes it personal and memorable. Add elements of your families’ history, of your work and hobbies, of your favourite places, travels and people. How did you meet? I bet that could spark a story and what better time to celebrate it than on your wedding day.

Oia Santorini white and blue sea wedding venue

Feminine mood board of romantic purples pinks and peaches

Top Left Bridal Image used with permission. Credit: Jen Huang Bogan Photography

Bringing it all together

Think about all these elements, gradually, not in a rushed way. What sits comfortably over time and what starts to feel a little out of place. Find images on Pinterest that reflect you, your loves and values, not someone else’s wedding. Pin images other than those of weddings. The places, people, interests and the little things you notice and love. Stay true to you. Your wedding is one of the top times in your life to do what you want, what reflects your genuine, authentic desires, not what other people expect of you; definitely not what you think you should be doing. Be selective and pin only what you truly love. Then select the best 10 or 20 of your favourites to create a mood board. Do that a few times over and you’ll soon find your true vision.

Happy planning!