Top Tips for Styling Swancar Farm
Fine & Dandy’s Top Tips for Styling your big day at Swancar Farm
1.Create a Vision Board
A vision board is always a good starting point, and a handy tool to refer back to during the wedding planning process. Try to include a colour palette, floral design, table décor, stationery and any key details within your board. A Pinterest board is a good way to create this, or you can make a scrapbook-style board. Whichever you decide to use, it is great way to communicate your ideas and style to your wedding suppliers & venue, so they all have the same shared vision.
2. Cohesive Colour
A cohesive colour palette will create design synergy throughout your wedding, however this doesn’t mean that you have to pick one key colour and stick with it.
The perfect way to create an elegant and luxurious feel, is to use ‘tones of colour’ within your design. If you love the colour burgundy for instance, try also using tones of ivory, champagne, blush, and antique gold within your décor, so it doesn’t look too flat or dark.
3.Enhance Features
You chose Swancar Farm as your dream wedding venue because you loved it… So consider the features within the venue and enhance them. Feature fireplaces, statement windows and exposed beams are all great focal points to add those finishing touches, such as candlelight and florals. And don’t forget about suspended décor!
4.Think outside the Box
The beauty of Swancar Farm is that it is the most perfect rustic wedding venue, whilst also being timeless, modern and elegant. Often our Swancar couples feel that they have to go with a true ‘rustic theme’ for their styling, when in fact a more contemporary and refined look can work beautifully, to enrich the rustic aspects of the venue itself. Glass charger plates, draped silk table runners, contrast linen napkins, and sumptuous candlelight, can all add a luxurious and timeless feel to the overall décor.
5.Create Zones
Focus on key areas within Swancar Farm and create zones. These might include a welcome area, cake display, chill-out area, or kid’s corner. And don’t forget to utilise your venue décor & props wherever you can. You might only be spending half an hour in your ceremony, so if you’re using lanterns down the aisle and flowers on your ceremony table, ask your wedding planner or stylist to repurpose these on the fireplace in the Oak Barn for your wedding reception.
6.Remember Outside Spaces
The courtyard at Swancar Farm is so stunning, and it’s easy to forget outside spaces when planning your wedding décor. Think about the time of year that you’re getting married, and how your guests might use the courtyard. If it’s Winter, why not add more candlelight and lanterns, and to keep guests cosy add baskets of blankets and umbrellas. During the Summer months you might want to add wooden garden games to keep your guests entertained.
7.Acts of Kindness
Guests always love a wedding with personal touches here and there. A simple way to add personal influences is within your on-the-day stationery, such as seating plans with table names rather than table numbers. The aftermath of COVID has also meant that couples are taking it a step further, and are showing their love with acts of kindness. Personal thank you cards on the tables, live stream videos for loved ones who can’t be there, bespoke wedding favours, & memory tables are great ways to add warmth and gratitude.
8.On the day Stationery
Stationery & signage are often an afterthought, and can look mis-matched with the rest of your wedding décor. Try writing a stationery wish-list for your wedding and consider what your guests might need to know whilst enjoying your day at Swancar Farm. Things to consider are Welcome signs, Order of the Day and Seating Plans, and you might also need signs for your gifts & cards area, cake display, and even a bespoke sign post for guests to navigate their way around the venue. Try to keep your signs and stationery in the same style, colour and font, to maintain design synergy.
9.It’s Your Wedding… Do it Your Way!
It might seem obvious, however this is so often forgotten. Your wedding day is your day, and should be all about you! Try not to get swept away by wedding trends, and focus on what you love and your style. For instance, if your vibe is more relaxed and laid back, then style your tables with lots of foliage and lower centrepieces, to give a more informal dining experience.
10.Seek Help from the Experts.
Your key wedding suppliers are all experts within their own field, so lean on them for advice and support. We’re all here to help, and to make your wedding planning process as easy and stress-free as possible. And you wedding planner and suppliers will know what works well at Swancar Farm, and also what might not be needed too. So don’t be afraid to ask questions, and trust in them.
Fine & Dandy’s Favourite Looks for:
Rustic / Festival
‘70s vibes’ is one of the biggest trends for the season, and this works perfectly when trying to achieve a rustic and festival style for your big day. Think warm colour palettes of oranges and ochre, with earthy tones, styled with raw, sustainable and natural materials, such as rattan, seagrass and macrame. Throw into the mix some dried florals and disco balls, and you are festival wedding ready!
Dark Romantic
There is definitely a shift in couples moving over to dark side with their wedding colour scheme, especially for Winter weddings, and we’re loving the rich jewel colours such as claret and emerald. Black and gold candlesticks with deep coloured candles, work so well together if you’re going for a dark, gothic vibe.
Brights
We love a vibrant wedding which is full of colour, and our favourite way to inject these colour pops into your styling, is with flowers and candles. And if you’re feeling the brights, but don’t want it to over-power your day, why not go for a neon sign which can be used as a ceremony or photo backdrop?
Neutrals
There is nothing more timeless than a neutral wedding. We love using tones of neutral colours within our weddings, such as white, ivory, champagne, oyster, taupe and greys. And introducing a bit of black also works really well, and looks elegant with a modern twist. Stoneware and ceramics are also a big trend for 2021 weddings, and we’re really feeling stone candle holders, ceramic bud vases, and earthenware crockery.
Romantic
Shouldn’t all weddings be romantic… we certainly think so! And for us, the key ingredient when going for a romantic vibe, is tonnes of candlelight! Regardless of the time of year, or the style of wedding you’re going for, glistening candlelight throughout your venue instantly adds warmth and a sense of romance and ambiance. Think chunky pillar candles for your ceremony, and tall dinner candles on your wedding tables, and for extra measure add votives and lanterns to your fireplaces. We’re also seeing a trend in fairytale lighting, so try adding twinkly drapes & festoon lighting to ensure your venue sizzles with romance!
Image Credit: Chris Snowden