I don’t know about you guys, but where I am going to put my bum for at least a solid half hour {minimum!} at weddings has typically been an uncomfortable affair. Now I understand budgets are not endless, but so often I think ceremony seating is literally the ugly stepchild at the wedding. Here, just throw some chairs over there, people can hang out in them while we go through the most important part of our day, say ‘I do’ & actually get married……. Hear me couples?? Yes yes people get excited to go to weddings to let loose & dance, but let’s get real, the big event here IS the ceremony, so treat all aspects of the ceremony with equal importance, non?? I am not saying to break the bank on seating, but what I am saying is to carve out a spot of time to actually think not just about the backdrop/arch/chuppah you name it, but the seating options that you can give your guests & special elements that can come into play to make it not just better to sit in, but look lovely too! After all, your ceremony spot is another place to flex your decor muscles!
Now before I dive down the rabbit hole on this one, I am calling myself out on the ceremony setup that I am sharing today. For the life of me, I can not find the actual post it came from and I am so so sorry for that. I am huge on properly crediting everyone under the moon so do know I am not doing this on purpose. IF you know what post this seating arrangement came from, please please tell me and I will straight away update this post! I am fairly certain it has come from a Style Me Pretty feature, unfortunately due to some bad pinning, its a dead end tracking it back and lost in the SMP abyss. I have tried searching the web for it and have come up with surprisingly little, so please forgive my lack of crediting for now….. perhaps the masses will let me know where its from!
Ok so let’s get into today’s WIWW feature shall we! We are focusing in on a super gorgeous seating arrangement {trust me it is an arrangement!} from what I am pretty sure is a European wedding. This stunning place of rest is a wonderful mix of benches, chairs & love seats adorned with lush greens, pillows & throws, but its never quite that simple….right!?
Spaces Filled With Places– I have a major big time crush on indoor set ups, outside. There is something so truly juicy about seeing a giant open space, filled with an indoor collection of trinkets. I actually curate a board exactly called Spaces Filled With Places devoted to collecting these gorgeous outdoor arrangements! There is an almost naughty feel to bringing gorgeous furniture outdoors and this setup is certainly no stranger to playing this way. Naturally the giant wood benches are certainly the hallmark for the design, but it really is the rows upon rows of simple dinning chairs that truly bring everything together. If you look more deeply into the set up you’ll even notice that some love seats made it out to the party as well. The mix match of furniture give a more bohemian organic vibe to the group, not to mention a more true set up from home feel. While uniform chairs certainly have their time and place, there is a lot to be said for a grouping that looks like it came from your place and maybe the neighbors! Creating an environment that looks like it should be in a contained space {typically indoors} out in a airy open space, gives a sense of purpose to an area, filling it, making it a room without borders!
Stained By Desire– Not to harp on color every week, but let’s face it, color is just about everything when designing. For this arrangement however, we are speaking in a neutral tone & worrying more so about wood stain. What makes this grouping work oh so well together is the similarly stained woods of each of the pieces. Neither strays too far from the fold bringing an immediate harmony to the group. Even though the seating is wildly different, it is their colors that tie them together. What’s more, a few of the chairs have neutral fabric seating to them. Cleverly, the design team placed beautifully harmonious throws for guests to keep warm, in patterns that compliment yet are different enough from the fabric in the chairs, much like I discussed last week. Form AND function, offer your guests comfort while furthering the decor package!
Where The Billowy Things Are– Finishing touches are where a lot of couples can really make their ceremony seating something special. No matter your budget there are tons of ways to dress up and up the comfort level for you guests, all it takes is a bit of planning & creating. You’ll notice that along with the fabric throws that the team hand selected, billowy pillows to eagerly greet guests and make their time with them that much more pleasant. Not only are they decorative and lovely, but you can bet your sweet bottom dollar that whatever guest had the good fortunate to seat near one, they were incredibly thankful for it! The last touch that I have purposely left until now are the greens! Yes, they offer nothing of comfort to the guest, some guests might even have questioned whether they were meant to actually sit on them, but man’o’man do they up the gorgeous ante! Best that we can figure {thanks to my green thumb of a hubby!} they are some form of Exochorda x macrantha, also known as ‘The Bride’, so how do ya like that! I wont lie, perhaps some guests didnt get it, how were they supposed to sit?! However where there is suffering for fashion, sometimes we need to be a touch uncomfortable for decor!
These entire arrangement is so incredibly gorgeous and I imagine whomever the couple was, they were most certainly had to catch their breath when they saw this for the first time. I should hope the guests at this outdoor fete were equally struck, not just by the design, but the areas of comfort for their convenience. What are your favorite elements to this design? Are you as much of a fan of bringing indoor furniture outdoors like me?! Be sure to send along anything that you would love to have design explained, you never know it just might appear as inspiration!