Why Not Every Wedding Needs to Be ‘Soft and Romantic’
When you type 2027 wedding into Pinterest, this is what you get:
Fairy lights
White and beige
Spring color palettes (think peachy orange, pale pink, lavender, matcha green, baby blue)
What if I told you that your wedding doesn’t need to look like a selection of gelato flavors?
For decades, wedding trends have leaned toward pastels, twinkly lights, and brushed-gold accents. But in the era of social media, when everyone is curating their own personal brand, shouldn’t your wedding reflect that personal style?
If my whimsy-goth friend, who’s committed to jewel tones and combat boots, asked me to design a pastel palette for her wedding just because it’s ‘trendy,’ I would think she was out of her mind.
Your wedding should be an expression of your style, your culture, and your aesthetic preferences.
If soft and romantic is your vibe, I’m with you all the way. But twisting yourself and your taste to fit a box you were never meant to fit into does a disservice to yourself, your future spouse, and your wedding.
Variations on a Theme
Let’s revisit my whimsigoth friend, we’ll call her Sabrina. She loves patchwork, deep reds, browns, and blues. She accessorizes with tights and tiny sunglasses; she is the embodiment of the 1990s and Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
When Sabrina is invited to a gala with the Roaring Twenties theme, do you think she’s going to dress like Daisy Buchanan? Or do you think she’s going to find a way to incorporate her personal style into a 1920s-themed outfit? Spoiler: it’s the latter.
The same rules apply to a wedding.
Man-on-the-street-style, if we asked ten women how they’d describe their personal style, they would all say something completely different. Maybe two or three would say clean girl aesthetic, soft and romantic, etc. Meanwhile, nine out of ten weddings have that exact style. The math isn’t mathing.
Case Studies on Personal Style
For this fall equinox wedding at Napoleon House, despite the still-sweltering New Orleans day, we leaned hard into fall colors-- deep burgundy, burnt orange, yellow leaves, and dark green foliage.
This rich color palette reflected the couple’s personal style and taste, and it worked double duty to accent the dark wood floors and blank-canvas beige of this space inside Napoleon House. The floral design for this wedding prioritized the richness of color, evocative of autumn, and whimsical movement, which can be felt in the UVA grass in the background and in the natural, wild arrangement of the blooms, echoing how they’d look growing in the wild.
For Mary and Andrew’s wedding, Art Nouveau and moody jewel tones were the main inspiration.
From Mary’s pink, floral, sequin wedding dress to the deep scarlet, aubergine, and fuchsia blooms that trailed through The Columns Hotel, nothing about this wedding palette was ‘traditional.’ And let me tell you - I was riding the high from this wedding for a long, long time!
The beautiful blooms chosen by the couple and I lead guests from the grand entryway into the romantic corners and alcoves throughout The Columns Hotel. At this wedding, florals did more than just elevate the space. They reflected Mary and Andrew’s eclectic style and transformed The Columns into a fantastical setting that could’ve come straight from a movie.
All this is to say that sacrificing your personal style for a “trendy” wedding may lead to regrets, and embracing your personal taste never goes out of style.
I'm ready to plan my offbeat, totally-me-wedding!
📞 Call me: (504) 315-5607
