WPCNR'S THE REAL DEAL By The Wedding Jeannie, Jeannie Uyanik. October 13, 2007:  Décor is boring.  It’s become boring.  Couples have allowed it to be boring.  No one is really doing anything new, innovative, wow or amazing.  That’s the conclusion; let’s rewind a bit to see how we got there and how it MIGHT be fixable.

For every area of the wedding or event industry, there continues to be innovation, modernization, new twists on the old styles, old twists on the new styles and overall movement forward.  Food has gone organic, vegan, international; new flavors, novel presentation methods, and tastes for every palette.  Photography has gone from film to digital and in doing so, we see unbelievable new work constantly; album quality and design has been revolutionized and we see development every day

Then why have flowers and décor remained so stagnant? 

If a florist were reading this, I am sure that the first instinct would be to say “absolutely not – we are innovative all the time” – but I officially DARE any designer or florist to show me something new.  Something that really was different from anyone else (and by the way – by new, I mean accessible to the masses – of course, with a million dollar budget for décor, we are all able to achieve greatness). 

Seriously though – think about the last event or wedding that you went to where you were really awed in a way that you had never seen before.  And that’s precisely where the problem lies.  A lay person reading this would probably think of a few examples of an event where the décor was outstanding.  How often are you decorating your home or your office with the same budget that you do a large event or wedding – rarely. 

So when you compare the possibilities, anything that you see looks amazing.  Any picture looks beautiful because its not something with which you are familiar.  And that’s how the industry has managed to creep along.  Without great innovation, without great fanfare and without anyone really noticing the design industry has endured with the same old same old.  If you were to look at pictures of the last 10 large events that you went to, you would begin to see a pattern; a standard; a mediocrity that even large budgets have difficulty escaping.  So, instead of focusing on the negative, let’s be productive. 

How can you escape the décor ennui of the new century? 

 First, do your homework – even if you have NO interest in flowers, décor or design – at least go to meetings with your decorators or designers with a solid sense of what you do and do not like.  Choose the colors that you would like represented at your event and use them to tie the event together (from location, to stationary to the day of).  For a wedding, don’t go overboard in the use of colors; they should be accents, not overwhelming flashy reminders that you like pink. 

Consider that everything in a location is part of the décor; the linens, the chairs, the place setting, the floors are as important to the look of an event space as the flowers.  Even if you can’t necessarily afford to hand pick all of these items separately (especially if you are having an event at a place that provides standard ware already) at least be cognizant that they do play a role in the way a room looks. 

Choose a designer or florist that is willing to work with your whole setting and not just plunk some vases on tables.  I exaggerate of course; rarely do florists plunk anything but be careful not to just pick a florist because you think they have fresh flowers.  For instance, there are some amazing florists in the tri-state area that can make arrangements for retail/carry out sale in unparallel fashion.  But there is not a direct correlation between owning a flower shop and being able to do flowers for a large event. 

There are huge hurdles in designing a room, even if only the flowers are involved.

You have to have a large enough team to set up quickly; you need to have solid connections for large quantities of flowers and back up people if those do not come in and you need to be able to visualize a large space not just a table.  Use elements of an event to your advantage in planning the décor.  The favors that you put on the table are décor.  Don’t just select packaging or a favor that will not fit in with the rest of your design element. 

The Art of Japanese Flower Arrangement

A wedding that we executed with an unsubstantial budget received high acclaim because we implemented an ikebana décor scheme.  Wikipedia describes this Japanese art of flower arrangement in the most precise terms,

 “In contrast to the massing of blooms typical of flower arrangement in western countries, Japanese flower arrangement is based on the line of twigs and/or leaves, filled in with a small number of blooms. The container is also a key element of the composition. The structure of a Japanese flower arrangement is based on a scalene triangle delineated by three main points, usually twigs, considered in some schools to symbolize heaven, earth and man.” 

While the budget for décor was minimal, the result was extraordinary because most people had never seen this style of arrangement and also because we used elements of the bride's South African heritage to personalize every aspect of the design – there was no plunking of flowers at this event!    You have to think outside the box and complacency in simply picking out an arrangement that you see in a book will continue the lethargy that seems to have taken hold of the wedding and event floral industry for the past 8 years. 

And in terms of creativity and innovation for flowers and décor en masse, I will leave this to the design experts.  I simply plan the events, but I am excited and waiting for the next “big idea” in design for events where budgets are not at $250,000 just for the flowers.  I would welcome the opportunity to see something new – and hopefully, this little piece can inspire a revolution.