Event Styling Tips (Part 2): Non-Floral Decor

Hope you're enjoyed our previous post on event styling tips. Today, we'll be covering non-floral decor and how these elements play a huge role in transforming your space.  Non-floral decor refers to all of the elements that contribute to the overall esthetics. This includes, but is not limited to lighting, draping, tables, chairs, candles, unique furniture pieces, paper goods and etc.  
Before I continue on with this post, here's a before & after picture which may shock you! :)

BEFORE

AFTER

J & J's wedding was back in 2009 at LA Congregational Church and they had hired me to transform a typical church function into an elegant reception space. We had a few different companies come in to cover draping, lighting, linens and chairs and the result was breathtaking.

Via Martha Stewart Weddings

Please don't misunderstand me. I LOVE flowers and I get extremely picky whenever we have floral mock up meetings but I do believe that flowers alone won't do the magic.  If you rely solely on flowers, your only option to make your decor more impactful is to keep making your flowers bigger and bigger. Not only does that look often become heavy and overwhelming, but it becomes expensive.

Again, here are some few examples to show you why rentals play a huge role in changing the aesthetics of your celebration.
Adamson House Outdoor Wedding: Instead of going with the chiavari chairs, we used rustic tables & natural wood folding chairs to keep the natural/casual ambiance.

Photo Credit: Sarah Yates

Casa Del Mar Wedding:
We had all white flowers and gave a little contrast by using charcoal gray linens and silver chiavari chairs. We carefully placed each gardenia on silver beaded chargers to complete the look.

Photo Credit: Taek Photography

This ballroom was completely draped in white fabric for a clean, sophisticated feel. Tables were a mix of rounds with gray linens and white lacquered rectangles. NOTE:  JL Designs was the creative brain behind this gorgeous event.

Photo Credit: Meg Perotti

A Winter Wonderland theme photoshoot designed by Couture Events. Again, they kept the flowers to a minimum and let non-floral decor shine. So in love with these clear ghost chairs!

Photo Credit: Scott Lawrence Photography

Craven's Estate Wedding:
Due to our budget, we only rented 8-9 vintage pieces from The Found and they were worth every penny! We later moved some of the couches to create a beautiful sweet heart table for the couple.

Jonathan Club Wedding:
What about adding some chic white lounge furniture during cocktail hour for your guests to mingle?

Photo Credit: Taek Photography

I stumbled upon this image from Apartment Therapy a while back and took my breath away. It's elegant, dramatic and just simply gorgeous.

Ok.  These examples are nice but Esther, what if we're on an extreme tight budget? We can't afford to rent these items for our wedding. Any other tips you'd recommend? Part 3 is coming up for all you savvy DIY brides! Stay Tuned!