The Big Fake Wedding came to Seattle this past fall, the first time they have been in Washington. Held at the iconic Space Needle, the event is an alternative to the traditional wedding show. Instead of vendors having booths, they stage a real wedding! Guests experience a wedding ceremony, reception and dancing, which allows them to see all the vendors in action. I was fortunate enough to be invited to participate, providing bouquets, boutonnieres and two table designs for the event.
We were given a mood board to work with, titled The Fair Isle. This helped keep the wedding look cohesive while still allowing each vendor to showcase their styles. Color palette was neutral: sage, moss, ink, thistle blue, browns. The images that stood out for me on the board were tweeds, wool yarn, forest, thistles and candlelight. From there, I crafted some items for the table designs and gathered all kinds of fun flowers and bits from local growers. Here’s a look at what I designed:
Creating the brides bouquet is my favorite part of designing for a wedding. And this bouquet was so much fun! I was so happy to locate a few vines of porcelain berry, who’s berries were the perfect shade of blue for this event. Other flowers were garden roses, dahlias, thistles, herbs and skeleton leaves.
The boutonnieres were kept small and natural, featuring feathers, herbs and grasses. The stems were wrapped in wool.
The first table design was meant to be a bit masculine, with tween chargers, metal vases and darker tones. The flowers continued the blue and ink colors, set against a mixture of greens and herbs. I made the chargers out of tweed fabric and the table number with wool-covered wire. Fresh chestnuts and Tennessee spinner gourds were scattered about. Letter and Line Studio paired menus and place cards with the blue tones and fabulous antler detailing.
The second table was meant to be more feminine and romantic. I wanted to play with the tones of candlelight, using champagne and peach toned flowers. The greenery and vines added a lacy texture to the design. The vase was covered in wool yarn. Instead of chargers, I used skeleton leaves to circle the plates. Each plate was accented with a butterfly I made from lunaria pods. Letter and Line Studio also provided the paper details. The menu card was a beautiful water color wash of subtle peach tones. This was by far my favorite table to design!
The Tunnel of Love is an area set aside for the vendors to meet and greet the guests. We were give small tables to hold our info and goodies. I decorated my display with vines and flowers and attached my business cards to the chicken wire. My give away were small sachets of lavender, with smaller cards attached. Sure smelled good!
Thank you to the fabulous photographers who shared their images from the event: Gina Paulson Photography, Amanda Photographic and Tammy Dahlquist Photography. And thanks to Letter and Line Studio for collaborating with me on the table designs!
