Full Wedding styling case study 2024
If you’re umming and ahhing about Wedding Suppliers and want to know how working with a wedding stylist works, I thought I’d share the story of Mel & Justin’s 2024 Autumn/Winter wedding to paint the picture.
I only take on a limited number of full wedding design and styling clients each year - if you’re looking for a beautifully curated, modern, non-trad, stylish event then we might be a good fit. Credits at the bottom.
HOW TO FIND A WEDDING STYLIST, AND HOW THEY FOUND ME!
I met newly-engaged couple Mel & Justin on a Zoom discovery call in 2022 after they found me on a directory website that’s actually no longer running - Mel was in London, and Justin still in the US.
They’d had a browse of my Instagram and website and were drawn to my aesthetic and style so decided to get in touch.
Next they booked a free wedding styling consultation call on Zoom so we could meet and see if we clicked - spoiler alert - we did and they booked me as their Wedding stylist 🙌🏼
DO YOU NEED A WEDDING STYLIST? HOW IS IT DIFFERENT TO A WEDDING PLANNER?
What I loved about this couple is they knew they needed a wedding stylist over a wedding planner before they even got on our discovery call. Mel was one of the most organised brides I’ve met and was happy doing some of the admin - booking things like the DJ, dealing with the caterers and venue accommodation etc etc.
Because having a stylish, beautifully-curated wedding was really important to this couple, they knew that investing in a full wedding styling and design package was a better investment than booking a wedding planner who would be doing a lot of the bits Mel felt comfortable doing anyway.
MY WEDDING STYLING PROCESS AND HOW I WORK WITH COUPLES
Booking a wedding stylist means your wedding can be bespoke, tailored and unique to you. You don’t need to roll out what your chosen venue does for every couple. Just because your venue says ‘the caterer provides white tablecloths and silver cutlery’ doesn’t mean you have to stick to that!For M&J’s wedding we brought in our own crockery, cutlery and chose dark grey table linens and lilac napkins!
I was lucky to be the first supplier that M&J booked, even before their venue so I could suggest London venues but ultimately they found somewhere themselves (out of London) that really brought a heck of a lot of atmosphere, plus it matched their values, so I agreed to break my rule and do a wedding outside London…
the wedding design process
For a lot of couples, having a completely blank slate in terms of design possibilities can be the most daunting part of wedding styling. A good starting point is to break down your venue into different activities for different parts of the day. Alongside this, I worked with the couple - using my questionnaire and a face to face meet up, to nail their overall aesthetic vision, likes, dislikes and ideas.
The starting point for all of our subsequent design choices was developing a colour and texture palette. Next came research to find specific hire suppliers to match that aesthetic that delivered to Berkeley Castle. Normally for London weddings, I would call on my black book of suppliers, but as this was out of London, I had to do a lot more admin and research to find those right suppliers for a new venue.
In the end we had a great team of external suppliers, including linens, crockery, cutlery, furniture, props and decorative props. We even switched out the venue’s dining chairs for a darker, more classic version so the final design was really different to anything the venue had had in there before.
During the two years we checked in regularly so I could update them with the progress of the wedding design and sign-off on things like bespoke wedding signage.
how does a styling budget work? who pays for stuff?
As this was a full wedding styling package, I normally come up with a materials budget that I manage for the couple. I keep track of every expense and a running total to make sure the budget stays on track. If any item is more than expected, it’s always signed off and agreed with the couple and tried to balance out elsewhere if possible.
I’m always endeavouring to get the best deals and save my couples cash where I can.
All the hire amounts are included in this master budget, but the contract and payments are made with couple as ultimately they are the ones responsible for things like damages on the day etc.
diy wedding decor elements
Mel was a very creative bride so she wanted to do some of the making elements herself. She had very specific ideas about fonts and loved using a Cricut so we worked together to make sure all the handmade elements in the wedding including Table names, Signs, Instructions etc were cohesive.
As an event designer, I like to keep a lot of the wedding design elements in-house (things like signage, wedding props and decor) so I know it’s all going to work really well together - plus it’s just one less supplier and bill for the couple - so as part of the couple’s package I included some time for making all the bespoke sign boards they wanted, including a Welcome, Order of the Day, Table plan and various direction signs. They all used the visual palette we’d come up with including fonts, colours, graphic shapes and hand drawn elements.
BESPOKE IDEAS SPECIFIC TO THE COUPLE - FORaged garlands
When you book a Full Wedding styling package we can really dream big when it comes to your wedding because we’ve got time and space for that creativity, paired with site visits and often, appropriate budgets. Because the couple were Norse Pagan and wanted that element to be strong throughout the day, bringing nature into the wedding was important so I incorporated a foraging element that allowed us to create beautiful handmade greenery garlands the couple and guests walked through as part of the ceremony, and at the entrance.
ON THE DAY WEDDING SET UP
(currently for London only but this was an exception!)
This wedding set up unfolded over a whole weekend as it was outside of London. Friday involved dropping all of the wedding decor at the venue, Saturday was an early 8 am start with a Styling Assistant. After we unpacked numerous items in the right rooms, we got to work styling and dressing all the different spaces, including entrance, gift station, wedding ceremony room, wedding welcome drinks area, post ceremony drink area then tablescaped the wedding dinner tables and dressed the bar with some handmade bespoke stars.
To help the space work even harder we had a few space changeovers on the day itself; so the ceremony room became a space for mead tasting, gaming on old school Sega Megadrives and Nintendos, plus general chilling by the open fires. I stayed around on the wedding day until about 5 pm when the final changeover had been made.
On the morning after the wedding, I arrived at the Castle at 9 am to pack everything down and make sure the couple didn’t have to worry about a thing, this included meeting all the hire suppliers who came to collect their bits. After a final recycling round up plus making sure each space was clear without anything being left behind, it was job done!
If you’re keen to have a wedding that isn’t just what a venue ‘normally does’ and you’re excited to have something that a) reflects your personality and b) looks gorgeous and gives you butterflies, then let’s chat. Just like Mel & Justin - it all starts with that discovery call. There’s no obligation to book and it’s a good chance to see if we’re a good fit for each other.
WEDDING CREDITS
Wedding Stylist - The Joy Eclectic
Floral Design - Filth
Photographer - Adam Drake
Venue - Berkeley Castle
Table stationery - The Bride