Why You Should Create a Design Board for Your Wedding (and How To!)
Are you one of those “visual” people?
So many of my clients come to me saying, “I’m a really visual person and I’m having a hard time picturing the wedding.” And a large part of me wants to say “you don’t need to visualize it; I can, and it’s gooood.” But obviously that is completely unhelpful to you 😝
So what do you do? How can you communicate to your vendors what it is that you want your wedding to look and feel like to make sure you’re all on the same page?
A mood board, also called a design board, is the perfect tool for you.
Before we get too far, please know that I don’t expect you have to have a multi-page document outlining every single element of your wedding. That only works for a small segment of the population (I’ve noticed that most of them seem to be teachers!). And to be honest, sometimes those multi-page docs can actually stifle your vendors’ creativity if you’re not leaving any room for our ideas or suggestions (though one of my clients this year created the most incredible multi-page doc to share with vendors as well as her family and wedding party, and it’s essentially everything that a person could need to know about the wedding, including the timeline, contact info, wedding party attire, and so on, along with her design inspo boards!).
Instead, I’m going to suggest you create a single page visual reference to get everyone on the same page. Rather than getting nitty gritty, think of this as a high level overview that communicates a few things:
-colour palette
-level of formality
-overall vibe and atmosphere you want to create
-descriptive words
I always ask clients, “how do you want the wedding to look and feel?” and they often pull up a few images that show a certain design or they use a few buzz words. That’s not really what I’m asking.
I want to design BEYOND what you’ve seen on Pinterest, because that wedding was designed for someone else. If you can find a way to communicate how you want to feel while you’re sitting at your own wedding, that’ll go a lot farther in helping your vendors to get to know you and creating something just for you.
That being said, you’re going to include some images from weddings in your mood board. But take this advice as you do: notice patterns in what you’re drawn to and edit out what no longer is interesting to you! This can be a living document.
A FEW TIPS:
-Canva is so great for mood boards! This is what I build all my client design boards on. Pinterest also has that new collage/shuffle feature which could be very cool for you.
-Turn off AI generated images on Pinterest. Some of them aren’t bad, but I don’t want you to fall in love with a flower that isn’t real (this is becoming SO much more prevalent) or with the scale of something that literally isn’t possible.
-Get specific with the wording of your Pinterest search terms. Sometimes I’ll even add in “2025” to it: “outdoor wedding ceremony with pastel flowers 2025” to get something more recent.
-Look at things other than weddings to inspire you: hotel lobbies or great restaurants are always a go-to for me. Is it art that sparks something in you, or editorial fashion shoots? Locations from your travel bucket list! The dream sunset! These types of images often help to convey the emotions and feelings more than a typical wedding photo.
-Include some colour swatches, knowing that we will likely make additional suggestions for adding depth and visual interest. I also like to talk with my clients about the amounts of each colour that we’ll use — maybe the bulk of the flowers are mauve and lavender, with 15% peach, 10% coral, and 5% chartreuse added in to amp it up.
-I’m a words person, but I generally find it so helpful when people can communicate their style or ideas with a few descriptive words. Often I’ll pull a few threads during our conversations, asking questions to get you there, but if you can have that prepared, that’ll get us where we need to go!
Here’s an example of a design board I created in Canva, based on the most gorgeous church I saw in Rome, Sant’Ignazio of Loyola. The moment I walked in, I was in awe — and that’s saying something, because obviously we were in Italy and every single building is gorgeous.
I started with a photo I took of the interior, which inspired the palette of moody blues and greys, with touches of golden caramel and burgundies. I imagined designing this wedding with velvet linens, in a rich, historic style setting. Then, I added a few images of flowers that I knew would work, this gorgeous light fixture that I’m drooling over for my own home, and a few inspiration images that set the ambiance that I would be going for, if this were my wedding.
once you’ve got your design board, what do you do?
Share it with your creative vendors AND OPEN YOURSELF to their ideas. Let them have some time to think on how they can add to and further your design, tweak elements that may not be realistic in your venue or within your budget, and ask them for their best advice and creative ideas on how to achieve it.
Then? Step away. When you’re confident that everyone is on the same page and working together to create something amazing, hand off the reigns to your creative vendors. Let us work our magic.
LOOKING FOR A WEDDING FLORAL AND EVENT DESIGNER IN WINNIPEG?
If what you’re looking for is a designer to guide the vision for your wedding, come and ask me any questions you want — I might just be your girl. I offer custom designs, creative and unique design boards that communicate the vision, have countless testimonials that speak to the creative trust the client had in me, and I also just love what I do.
Reach out to check your date!
