Making a wedding truly personal

Planning a wedding can be overwhelming. Amidst all the shopping, gifting, rituals and logistics, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that this day should be about you and your family, more than anyone else. The focus of the wedding should be on coming together as a family, making memories and sharing the experience. Here at DNC, we believe that the space and the décor should complement the personalities of the bride and the groom, bits & pieces of their unique story must be woven into the design, to make their big day feel even more personal and unique.

To personalize a wedding, it’s very important to understand the people you are designing for. The decor can be inspired from the couple’s story, their hobbies, the places they belong to, their professions or the wedding destination itself. These stories can be interpreted in various ways and incorporated into some sweet little details that will add a certain level of intimacy to the whole celebration. From a custom logo stamp on napkins to personalized menus and thank you notes to hand-painted linens, these elements can help inject a personality to the event.

Here, I’m going to talk about these elements and how they can be tailored to make the event exclusive to the couple and their families.

WEDDING STATIONERY

A great way to infuse the personalities of the bride and the groom is through thoughtfully designed wedding stationery. It includes the wedding itineraries, menus and food tags, the seating chart and the table tags, napkins, coasters, thank you notes and other such elements. The level and style of customization may differ from person to person. It can either be a monogram printed throughout or a colour scheme or a print inspired from their personal lives.

For instance, Apoorva & Phalgun had a welcome dinner for their friends at Chandni Restaurant, Udaivilas, Udaipur. All the prints for the dinner were inspired from the moon and Apoorva’s dog Rafa. The table tags on each table had fun illustrations and quotes from Rafa which added a very personal and sweet touch to the whole set up.

Another way of making the stationery interesting is experimenting with different mediums like seed paper which is eco-friendly and has a lovely rustic texture, or an OHP sheet which is transparent and adds a very elegant look to the table. The medium and style of the prints can be varied to suit the vibe of the overall decor.

PRINTS

The backdrops, photo booths and the stages are some of the most important elements that can make or break the feel of the space. These elements can be masked in customized printed flexes or fabrics. The prints should be designed keeping in mind the overall theme and colour scheme of the décor.

Apart from this, the buffet tables & DJ consoles can also be masked in a printed flex or fabric to go with the whole theme. These prints help in making the décor of the space look more cohesive.

LINEN

The prints can be further carried on to your linen – table covers, napkins, cushion covers and other such elements. You can pick a motif, a colour or a specific kind of fabric, that can run throughout the decor making it aesthetically & visually appealing.

The cushion covers can also have the couple’s monogram to personalize it further. The prints or motifs can be hand-painted or sketched digitally. Even the napkins on the tables can be customized to go with the other linen.

For Divya & Aman’s wedding in Jaipur last year, personalised art was created for all the linen. The patterns were hand-drawn by our team in Mumbai and then carved into individual blocks and hand printed on untreated cotton by local artists.

CENTERPIECES & ARRANGEMENTS

The coffee tables and dining tables can be adorned with center pieces and arrangements which could be flowers, leafy runners, candles, glass shamadaans, fruits etc. Sometimes adding an interesting curio makes all the difference. We added frogs from the MOGs (mother of groom) collection and these adorable shikaras to the coffee table for this wedding in Kashmir. These tiny details help to not only create moments of discovery but also help in telling personal stories.

The containers for the flowers can be customized according to the theme – brass thalis with petals, blue pottery, simple clear glass vases or metal stands for tall arrangements, whatever suits the best. It’s not necessary to have flowers on every table; they can be replaced with alternatives like candelabras, branches with greens, books, games or anything that can become a part of the overall décor of the space.

We did a leafy runner with pomegranates on the rectangular dining tables for Ekta & Raghubir’s wedding in February, this year. The pomegranates added a colour to the table and the menus had a similar print to make the design more cohesive.

FAVORS & GAMES

It’s important to engage the family and guests and make them feel like a part of the celebration. Make the guests feel special from the moment they arrive, by having some favours and activities at the entrance such as boutonnieres for men, hats or umbrellas if it’s sunny, a wishing box or a bucket list for the guests to put in their notes for the couple. By doing this, the guests feel more involved and the celebration becomes memorable.

The activities and games can be designed according to the vibe and the intent of the function. For a beach party in Muscat this year for Palak & Aditya, the design included a life size Jenga and X’s & 0’s for the guests. We had hats and umbrellas, sunscreens & USB fans at the entrance to make everyone feel comfortable on a sunny day at the beach.

Over the years, we’ve realized the importance of these tiny details and the beauty they add to the celebration. These tiniest elements can remind you and the guests of some beautiful moments and take you down the memory lane making your big day special, full of tears & cheers!

Written by Arunika Jain

Jr Designer, Devika Narain & Company