Tabletop decorations
Top trends for expressing your style
By Vanessa Salvia
Produce crates. Vintage books. Thrifted glassware. These elements are just some of the things brides are using to decorate their tabletops. Local wedding planners say items such as these are not only affordable and easy to find, but add a rustic charm—which is still a popular wedding style— and they can be spiffed up if a fancier look is desired.
“I actually did three weddings last year that used my set of vintage books as decorations,” says Krysta Albert, a Eugene event planner with her business, Imagine! Weddings & Events. When Albert saw the box of vintage Reader’s Digests hardback books, encyclopedias and old books in general, she snapped them up, knowing that she could put them to use.
Kandice Kelso of Green Eyed Girl Productions also sees brides gravitating to vintage books, though in her case it’s books of love. “Romance novels in the canvas binding or romance Latin poetry books or love story books,” she says. “The trend with my 2015 brides and fall brides is antique vintage books piled up.” One of Kelso’s brides who married in late September chose burlap table runners and a teal accent color set off by stacks of old vintage books written in romance languages with richly colored teal spines.
Kelso spends her weekends haunting thrift stores and estate sales to find the affordable accent pieces her brides want. “We start shopping and planning early,” she says. “If you’re dressing 20 tables with 6 books on them then that’s a lot of books. And we’re not doing all matching tables, which is another trend in itself, for affordability.”
Perhaps the wedding party tables all look the same, but the cake table, guestbook table, present table, and guest tables are each likely to be different. “It’s almost like each table is their own little vignette of memorabilia instead of floral centerpieces,” says Kelso.
Kelso also advocates what she calls “shopping at home.” “We have so many people who want to help us with our weddings and every single person you know probably has a basic vase under their sink that they would be happy to give you for your centerpiece.” Gather these donated vases up and paint them. “They are all different shapes and sizes but painting them the same color is very affordable,” she says.
Shannon Kilduff, an event consultant at Parties To Go and a floral designer at Sun Blossoms Floral, says she’s seen floral trends change from “tall and branchy” to “tall, full and dense.” Brides may go fancy for only two or three tables. “The head table, the cake table and the guestbook table are the spectacles,” she says.
Kilduff says her brides are very seasonally aware. “If they’re getting married in the fall, they’re very invested in the fact that it’s a fall wedding. You don’t see anything that feels summery in the fall or winter.” Colors such as aubergine are placed alongside orange flowers and pumpkins, for instance.
Kilduff says she is seeing “pops of color” in florals and linens alongside muted—but not dull—colors such as blushes and peach, coral and gray.
“I do think romance and feminine frills is coming back,” says Albert. “The vintage shabby chic was popular for a long time but I’m noticing more gals are wanting elegance and glamour, a more polished look.”
You can have a rustic wedding that’s still elegant, if you make different color choices and accent choices. “What’s nice about the rustic look is it can be a very affordable way to put your wedding together,” Albert says. “Just go yard saling.”
Green Eyed Girl Productions
Kandice Kelso
(541) 895-3120
greeneyedgirlevents.com
Imagine! Weddings & Events
Krysta Albert
(541) 505-4031
imagineweddingsandevents.net
Parties to Go
2645 Suzanne Way
(541) 485-5587
parties-to-go.com
Sun Blossoms Floral
Shannon Kilduff
(541) 342-6902
sunblossomsfloral.com
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