Montreal Wedding Planning: An Unconventional Glossary for Memorable Celebrations. Letter D: Design and Decor
La Bullerie Vineyard in St. Joseph du Lac
Design and decor sets the stage for your Montreal Wedding
The decisions we make regarding the design and decoration of our chosen Montreal wedding venue greatly influence the atmosphere of the celebration. With countless beautiful locations and creative ways to enhance spaces, it’s easy to get lost in a Pinterest rabbit hole! While it’s wonderful to draw inspiration from various sources, not every idea will resonate with our personal style. It’s essential to stay true to ourselves in our choices, ensuring that our event is both meaningful and visually stunning. Here are 3 things to keep in mind when choosing spaces and designing your Montreal wedding:
Pre-designed or create your design
Preceding design and decor of a space comes selecting the space, because the venue itself will influence the design elements that will follow. Some Montreal wedding venues are a blank canvas, such as Polo Parc Farm’s reception tent - waiting for a wedding planner and/ or a couple who will make the space their own. You start with 4 (soft) walls and a floor! Some venues give you a standard and nice event room with tables and chairs and basic lighting, and it’s up to you to glam it up. Some venues are already magnificent in their architectural and aesthetic design and need only the barest of subtle touches so as not to overpower the grandeur.
One deciding factor is how much you wish to contribute to the design. Are you DIY or are you hands-off? Another deciding factor is the setup and takedown. The more you bring, the more to take home! You can hire out for setup and takedown with most venues, but to save on costs couples often engage their own “wedding squad” to help with this. Check with your venue. In some cases, all items have to be at least out of the room when the event finishes (and stored for pickup next day), and some may allow takedown and clean up the next morning.
In terms of photography, architectural details do tend to come with a built-in WOW factor, such as the Oka Abbey in the photograph below. The design of just the space itself, even when empty, makes a statement and photographs beautifully with lots of natural light. These kinds of elements - ornate windows, vaulted ceilings, crown moulding and columns add textural elements where light and shadows play and which create depth and richness in photographs over flat walls and ceilings. If you do have a room that’s a standard box, then give yourself creative license to design to your taste and we’ll make those details come to life in the photographs with their own WOW factor!
Oka Abbey/ Abbaye Oka wedding. The architecture in the chapel is stunning and needs very little added. Simple white tables and chairs and minimalist orchids as centrepieces matched the calm and serene feeling of this space. The balloon arch created an intimate spot for the wedding ceremony, and that was the extent of the decor for this minimalist wedding.
Venues such as Café de L’Horloge offer a signature feature. Remaining decor decisions are made as a complement to the main. This can give a starting point for couples who may have more trouble designing an empty room.
The traditional interior of the Forest and Stream Club in Dorval needed no added decor save for the flowers on the ledges.
2. Do some reflection
Note: The section below was taken from another blog post of mine: Your Ideal Wedding Vibe in 3 Steps: The Ultimate Wedding Venue Guide for Montreal Brides. I’ve added it here because it touches upon the same subject of looking inwards for clues to your venue and the design and decor of that space. If you are seeking a venue for your wedding, I make several local recommendations you can check out!
Some couples know exactly want they want from their wedding venue. For others, defining a vision for the day can be more challenging.
One of the best ways to determine what kind of wedding design and decor reflects your style is to think about other major decisions you have made in the past. Some key questions to ask are:
What do you like about your house or apartment? What does it say about you?
What did you do for your last vacation? Go camping in the backwoods? Kick back at an upscale boutique hotel?
Do you like DIY home renovations or prefer the full service option?
Do you like to socialize in big groups or prefer more intimate gatherings?
All of the above questions can give clues about what kind of venue will suit your preferences. For example, if you aren’t the DIY type, a wedding at a quirky location with limited service options maybe isn’t for you.
Family-dining style and statement floral arrangements against the industrial-chic backdrop of Entrepot Dominion created an intimate yet elegant atmosphere. Remaining decor on the table remained subtle and remained at the height of the stemware to really bring attention to the centrepieces. These wedding florals were the highlight of this article on the Elegant Wedding Blog.
The simple design of the arch behind the table of honour, embellished by minimalist florals is a perfect backdrop to this elegant yet relaxed room. This is the large event room at the Auberge Des Gallants. The white curtain wall brings a minimalist cohesion with the white table linens and chairs.
Article continues after the cut…
Lucy is a
Montreal WEdding Photographer
I’m here to photograph your joy, and [hopefully] make you ugly-cry (even if in private or just on the inside!)
My mission is your dream wedding.
Photo Credit: Talia Dezso Photography
3. Memory Lane or a journey of a thousand miles
Some couples revisit who they were before the relationship, taking a trip down memory lane and the path that lead to the union. They may display childhood photos and bring sentimental objects to decorate with. Some are highly into trends, and some prefer timelessness.
Some create a personal theme and that’s an easy way to plan when there are so many great ideas floating around. Some may reflect a predominant identity theme of one or both partners, such as their career choices, their favourite sports teams, or hobbies they have together.
Some couples feel a wedding is less about the walk down memory lane and more about the new journey they are taking together. Less nostalgic, the decor may still centre around a theme that defines them as a couple, or forego the theme altogether and simply decorate to suit the venue and ensure the decor and design is festive, elegant and beautiful. Flowers are a great way to keep things neutral, as are candles.
When you choose your venue and your decor and details, less is often more. Too many elements can make a room feel busy and tables to feel cluttered, but if a lived-in feeling is what you’re after, then this would be right on the money. To decide how much to decorate, fast forward years from now when you and your partner are snuggled on a couch somewhere and flipping through the wedding album. Think about what you might see. Would you kick yourself for overdoing it, dating the event strongly with trends of yesteryear, or would you smile as the memories come flooding back? Let your gut be your guide to make a memorable celebration that stands the test of time.
Recently I photographed 2 weddings where the grooms were both traffic engineers (and yes, they are friends!). At each wedding they created iconic Montreal street names as part of the centrepieces. One had an ode to construction cones with his sock design!
This couple loved music and incorporated it into their wedding; even exchanging meaningful song lyrics during the ceremony! To complement the old records and music notes, they added disco balls and that influenced the design of the candleholders - reflections and shimmer!
