Creating an authentic wedding experience

Designers have a common purpose, and it is to curate a narrative through a multi-sensory approach that feels authentic and true to our couples.  Often times, the seed of inspiration stems from a life experience our couples encounter together, which is fused with their personalities and unique traits. As a creative house, our role is to orchestrate all five senses to provide a single message about our couples. But how do we do so? Does it mean creating something that looks, sounds, smells, feels–possibly even tastes–good? The good news is that we dive at a much deeper level!

Prior to searching for visual inspiration on Pinterest  and within our surroundings, we dive deep into the initial phase which encompasses a series of one-on-one exercises crucial for the project’s success. (Yes, we LOVE curating moodboards, but first we must know who’s story we’re narrating.) In this blog post, you’ll learn about the steps we take during the initial stage to curate an authentic wedding experience that reflects our couple’s best selves.

Step 1: Uncover

Our discovery phase is similar to researching, yet MUCH more exciting because it entails meaningful conversations with our couples. (Yep, that’s right! There is no google or search engine that can point to answers during this stage; only our couples can. ) We start the project by establishing an ongoing conversation with our couples to understand who they are, what brings them together, and what’s most important to them in their current lives and for the years to come. Throughout the discovery phase, what we’re trying to understand from our couples is:

-What are their unique traits as individuals and as a couple.

-What are some of the best lifetime experiences they’ve had together.

-What inspires them every day.

-Which setting brings their best selves to life.

Not only can answers to these questions inform creative solutions, but having this information to reference, is our best insight throughout the design and planning process.

Step 2: Define Space & Emotions

Once we’ve uncovered our couple’s voice, we assess the couple’s relation to space and emotions. We search for words to describe how they want to feel on their special day. We do this exercise to define what kind of connection they would like to have with themselves, their guests, and their surrounding environment. We believe in the power of words at this early stage to describe the desired mood; feelings; the storyline.  We usually want to know our couple’s thoughts in regards to the following,

-What kind of emotions do they want to sense upon making the grand entrance. 

-Are these emotions linked to a particular space or time. 

-What kind of environment do they want to create socially and culturally. 

-What are the top three elements that look for in engaging experiences.

-What kind of memories would they want to take with them from their big day.

Step: 3: Narrate Concept Statement

Similar to an elevator pitch, a design concept is a few sentences long that describes what we’re going to do and how we’re going to do it. The concept statement is all about the how we will translate our couple’s story through our own skill and methods to create something that will adhere to the couple’s needs and dreams. If you are bidding on a project, the design concept statement lays the groundwork for the visual components of the presentation.

-In an essence, the concept statement should address the following points,

-The couple of the project we are serving

-Specific needs from the couple

-The wedding vision of the couple

-Particular objectives of the wedding experience

Step 4: Create Mood board

As most says, we save the best for last. A moodboard is our last aid in defining the overall experience for your day. We feel this last phase is just a ‘breeze’ when we first define the message that we’re going to narrate.  At EL, we look at multiple sources of inspiration to pull our couple’s story together, while keeping their personalities at the forefront. Some of our favorites sources of inspirations stem from art installations, eclectic furniture designs, seasonal changes, flora, trending & (also non-trending) fashion, architectural forms, and much, much more. (We’re lucky to live in era where we have all the resources at our fingertips!)

In the end, finding someone capable of overseeing all stages of the wedding experience at every touchpoint, and for every sense is just key to creating an authentic wedding experience. 

Visit The Youngrens blog post – ‘How We Capture Authentic Emotion on the Wedding Day’ to get tips on how they capture the best authentic moment

Get in touch!

xoxo,

Claudia

Tags : #Wedding Planner