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Whether you’re working with a wedding planner or tackling the arrangements yourself, a wedding mood board is the best place to begin. Moodboards help keep the design style consistent so you have a cohesive aesthetic for your big day! Choosing from the many options available for every conceivable accessory from wedding dresses to centerpieces can get pretty overwhelming. But with a mood board as your guiding star, you can stay on track and make better decisions!
Here’s how you can get started on your wedding mood board
Related: 5 Best Wedding Registry Sites To Plan The Perfect Wedding
Source: Unsplash
The goal of this mood board is to capture the feel and mood that you want your wedding day to have. Playful? Fun? Or elegant and sophisticated? Gather the elements that can come together to create the vibe you’re going for.
Mood boards can be a physical collection of images and items or a digital one. A platform like Carrot lends itself really well to this project because you have an incredibly diverse space to choose products from, save collections as a virtual mood board, and share these with others!
Step 1: Zero Down On Your Budget & Aesthetic
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Sit down with your better half and hash out some key details. How involved do they want to be in the planning process? Maybe there are some particular elements that they’d like to have at the wedding. In fact, you should both put down aspects of the wedding that are non-negotiable to each of you.
Figure out a budget that you’re both comfortable with. Then decide how much over that budget you’d both be willing to go if that situation arose. If anyone other than the two of you is funding this event, get those figures too.
Decide on details that will influence your design like location and the season in which you’re planning to have the ceremony. It may be worth it to look at some wedding mood board ideas together or browse some wedding collections to get the creative juices flowing. Are you both leaning toward a rustic wedding aesthetic or a modern, city-sophisticated one? There are so many variations to choose from.
Step 2: Put all your wedding mood board ideas in one place
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Gather every scrap of imagery, keepsakes, colors, or ideas that you have and put them in one place. This part is like the first draft of an article. You put everything down and come back to edit it later. Unleash your creativity, even if you’re not really sure if two things go together, put it on the board.
Moodboards are essentially visual brainstorms. Start with one thing- find a shoe, a dress, a table setting, whatever it is; choose one thing that lights you up and keep building on it. It is wise, however, to keep an eye on the prices. For instance, if your budget is not going to accommodate a luxury venue, it doesn’t make sense to include it.
Pro Tip: At this point, don’t restrict yourself to internet searches. Go and experience venues, and cuisines and try on dresses. You may find that some of these pieces aren’t quite to your liking in reality and may not want them included in the wedding mood board at all.
Related: The Ultimate Bridal Shower Registry Guide
Step 2: Choose an anchor and fit in the rest of the pieces
There’s always that one big piece of the puzzle from which all other elements are drawn. It could be the venue, an element at the venue, your wedding dress, or even the way the ceremony is being performed.
Use this as your central design element, lock it down, and then bring the other elements in to complement it. If the anchor piece is the venue, make sure you’ve put in the deposit and secured the space for your wedding day.
Ideally, this element should be locked in before you begin planning around it. So if you’re still debating between wedding dresses and that’s the anchor of your aesthetic, make that decision first.
Pro tip: The best central elements are often those that are meaningful to you and your fiancé. Don’t forget that this wedding is to honor your story and what better way to do this than to find an element that’s connected to your relationship?
Related: 5 Best Wedding Registry Sites To Plan The Perfect Wedding
Step 3: Puzzle the rest of your mood board together!
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By this stage, you’ll see the beginning of your wedding aesthetic developing. It’s like doing a puzzle; the picture becomes clearer as you put more pieces together. The flowers, the lights, and little accessories for your outfit.
Edit down from all the ideas that you had at the beginning. Many of them may not even go with the aesthetic that you have going now so they’ll be easy to put aside. For those pieces that are harder to part with, remember that this won’t be the only event you plan.
Could these elements be included in your rehearsal dinner? Or your bridal shower? Even if it’s not a wedding-related event, you’ll still need to plan dinners, anniversaries and so much more in the future. Remind yourself that you don’t have to use all your ideas for this one event.
Pro tip: In a puzzle, we’re always told to find the corner and edge pieces first. This gives your picture clear boundaries. It’s advice that translates well to wedding planning as well. The venue, menus, and guest lists are a few things that help you create boundaries for the event and prevent the process from overwhelming you.
Related: Best Things To Put On Your Wedding Registry: Starter Kit
Essential Reminders To Keep The Bridezilla At Bay
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From putting wedding mood board ideas together, finding the perfect wedding rings, trying on wedding dresses, tasting menus, guest lists, and so on; wedding planning can quickly become a barrage of ‘To Do’ lists.
And if it’s the first time you’re going through this process, it could come with an element of self-doubt and anxiety. This often shows up as controlling behavior and the stereotypical ‘bridezilla’ that only keeps you from enjoying one of the best times of your life.
So remember that you’re not alone and these truths can help you stay grounded through the process:
- Some decisions are harder to make than others. If you need help on a particular day or for a particular element, ask for it from the right people
- Your mood boards can be as flexible as you like. Just because it made the cut today, it doesn’t mean you won’t find something you love even more tomorrow
- Moodboard expansions are your friend. Expand on the details wherever you think it’s necessary. You could even create sub-boards to really flesh out an idea
- Just because an element is drool-worthy it doesn’t automatically make it a good fit for them
- Always remember that this is the day that you’re going to look back on fondly and remember the most.
The Takeaway
There are no hard and fast rules about the process. You don’t have to have the perfect wedding mood board locked in before you begin the actual wedding planning. It’s a dynamic process that you’re at the helm of. Go at your own pace and think about how to navigate it in a way that works for you and your significant other.
Create the ultimate wedding mood board with Carrot!
Wedding mood boards are a great way to explain your vision. Not only is it an excellent way to communicate with your maid of honor or bridesmaids but also with vendors. Your future mother-in-law could picture something entirely different when she hears “modern glam.”
But if you send her your mood board on Carrot there’s little room for miscommunication and the associated disappointment! After all, a picture is worth a thousand words!
Carrot makes it that much easier to create and share your collections! It’s available as an app and a Chrome extension. There’s also the added benefit of being able to order pieces directly from your mood board and keep an eye on your budget.
