With modern weddings being held everywhere from wineries and beaches to industrial spaces and private gardens, brides and grooms have a chance to take a blank canvas and fill it with a very personal expression of their love. While the tables, altars and grounds are automatic focuses, we think the air up there offers an equally enticing chance to get creative and colourful and inspire a sense of breathtaking whimsy.
Here are 10 great ideas…
You need glasses
It’s a chandelier, but not as you know one. Glass vases and globes filled with flowers and candles hang from pale pink ribbon and twine looped over a wooden beam to create the ceiling for a gorgeous rustic setting.
Photo: Birch Blooms
Pretty in pink
How does your garden grow? Upside down by the looks of it. You’ll be tempted to crane your head for a different perspective when you’re sitting down at this table, but that would spoil the painstakingly created effect of the tableau, which is a beautiful ceiling of lush pink blooms.
Photo: Wildflower Linens
Citrus dreams
Citrus accents look great on a table, such as when you fill vases with a bounty of oranges, limes or lemons. But the magical colour combination looks just as great in floral form, especially when flowers on the table are echoed by a display of vibrant blooms, forming an unusual overhead square that helps to frame the guests.
Photo: Sebrell Smith
Silver linings
Are they bee hives? Are they silver? Are they glass? Are they actually lanterns? None of these questions have an obvious answer at first glance – and that’s exactly why this is a perfect example of what suspended décor can do – look pretty AND create a sense of interest and curiosity among your guests.
Photo: Revelry Event Designers
Spinning around
They say a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet, but as this floral chandelier shows, sometimes there’s no substitute for the best. While many decorative blooms find their heart in being unstructured, this one is all about precision. Intricate in a way that looks effortless.
Photo: Couture Florals
Roof over your head
All eyes should be on the bride and groom during the ceremony, but when you’ve built such a gorgeous enclosure in which to say your vows – and then used it to anchor an equally gorgeous floral display – you have to expect a few people to look up. At least it gives them a moment to blink away their happy tears.
Photo: Paige Jones
Less is more
Sometimes a story is more notable for what you leave out than what you put in. And so it is here. Yes, there’s a distinct lack of flowers, but when you look at what has been suspended – a gorgeous display of foliage and some warming tiny lights, it quickly becomes clear that simple can sometimes be spectacular.
Photos: Amy Osaba
More is more
You could just have one chandelier. But why would you do that when you could have them all? OK, that might be a slight exaggeration, but this stunning image shows how overkill on bright lights can be classy and elegant, especially when used to bring attention to a cake that thoroughly deserves the spotlight.
Photo: Xsight
Circle of love
This beautiful escort card holder would be absolutely perfect for a wedding that leaned towards a vintage or romantic feel. Instead of leaving cards on a tray for guests to sort through, it turns the seating chart into a real work of art. Classic and oh so chic.
Photo: Annie McElwain
You’ve been framed
This one is a bit unusual, but we love that. You see, empty photo frames would normally feature at a photo booth or someone else where guests could use them as props, but this couple decided to make use of them as a backdrop to their ceremony, and we have to say the results are kind of stunning
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