So … whenever I design a set of stationery, whether that be for a client or for a new range for the website, I create a set of drawings of how I would like the stationery to look but then I also put together a Pinterest board so I can really see a visual representation of how I imagined that range sitting in a real wedding and whether the look I had visualised in my head really works in reality. I use this to make sure I’m putting together a cohesive look that will work for my future stationery range and that also helps me when it comes to styling the stationery for any future photo shoots I might do. Sometimes I keep these boards ‘secret’ and just use them as a tool for myself to work from but more often than not I turn them into a ‘public’ board so clients who are looking to order a stationery range can use these boards as inspiration for their own wedding – such as this one which I created for my ‘China Blue’ range of wedding invitations https://www.pinterest.com/knotsandkisses/wedding-themes-china-blue/

This is an incredibly useful tool when you are planning your own wedding too. Creating a visual representation of your wedding can be a fantastic thing to send to suppliers so they get a really good idea of how you want your wedding to look. Remember though you are after creating a ‘feel’ not a ‘list’ of things you want in your wedding. Often couples will use Pinterest to essentially create a shopping list of ideas for their wedding, which I have to be honest isn’t the best use of the tool. You may also often find yourselves pinning things which may be impossible to recreate in your own wedding venue or just totally out of your budget without you realising it. There is nothing worse than setting your heart on an idea because you love the image and then finding out it is way out of your reach.

Instead try and create a mood … use the board to get a feel for how your colours might work together, whether the rustic wood items you have found yourself drawn towards really sit well with the sparkly dress you had your heart set on. Below I’ve created 2 moodboards from my Lavender Pinterest board https://www.pinterest.com/knotsandkisses/wedding-themes-lavender/ to show you how one item in a scheme if it doesn’t ‘fit’ throws the whole moodboard off and jars with your theme. The first is the ‘cohesive’ moodboard and the second is the moodboard which doesn’t quite work because of that very modern looking cake which just doesn’t fit with the rustic feel of the rest of the board.

My other advice when creating a feel or moodboard for your wedding is to pick more than 2 colours to create a scheme. Much as only picking 2 colours for a room scheme in your house just doesn’t work and looks very ‘flat’ it is the same with creating a wedding theme. Using the analogy of the Lavender boards you can see that as well as a couple of different shades of lavender and purple you also have the background ‘neutrals’ which in this case are green foliage, rustic wood and ivory. When creating any colourscheme you need to have some base neutrals to ground it and then use a couple of accent colours to create the highlights … just as you would with cushions for example in an interiors scheme.

Here is an image of a fairly standard wedding room to illustrate how flat a colour scheme with just two colours and no neutrals can be – purely using the same shade of purple and white gives no contrast or depth and ends up with the room looking pretty boring despite the obviously strong colour choice!

If you are struggling to come up with a theme for your wedding then stationery can be a great starting point! I know I would say this as a wedding stationer but I work with a lot of couples who really don’t know what they want as an overall colour scheme or theme when they initially talk to me but they know that they like a particular stationery design. Use this as a starting point of a scheme for your wedding. Another great option is to use your venue as a starting point … is your venue particularly rustic and therefore would work well with natural colours, wood, creams and then one or two accent colours ? Or is it a slick city venue where neutrals of black or white with an accent colour would work well ? Find your ‘neutrals’ based on your venue and then look for stationery which has an accent colour you like and then you can work on a Pinterest board to combine the two!

I really hope this helps any of you out there who are struggling with the early stages of planning and deciding on a scheme for your wedding … and remember that even more important is that the wedding feels like it represents you as a couple … so really anything goes!

Nikki x