What Is A Wedding Stylist And Do I Really Need One?
If you’re in your wedding planning era, it’s very likely you’ve fallen down the Pinterest rabbit hole and have 4 colour combos that you love, 100 saved Instagram posts, a Pinterest board called ‘Wedding’ that has somehow turned into ‘Wedding 2’, and absolutely no idea how you’re going to make it all work together to create the beautiful wedding you know that you want.
And then someone mentions a wedding stylist…
And you’re left thinking: What do they actually do? Do they do the flowers too? Is that a separate thing? Will they put some of my own items out? Will they collect everything the next day?
So, what actually is a wedding stylist?
In very simple terms, I take all of those ideas you’ve been saving and turn them into an actual wedding design. I make everything work together and transform your wedding into a calm, considered vision, while taking all of the stress from you and your guests.
Saving ideas is the easy part, but understanding the logistics and the vision is something else.
You might love one table design you saw on Instagram last week, the colour palette from your friend’s wedding, the flowers from a TikTok post and the draping from a Pinterest board you found at 11pm.
And individually, all gorgeous. But, they don’t match.
They won’t create cohesion within your wedding space, which means it won’t feel elevated on the day.
That’s where the stylist comes in.
I look at the whole room. Your venue, your colour palette, your tables, linen, napkins, candles, flowers, stationery, furniture, textures, lighting and all of the design details that make the difference.
I’ll talk you through design options, share ideas and inspiration until we come to a design that feels personal to you. Something that you’ll love forever, not something that you’ll look back at and regret in years to come.
Aaaaand, what does a wedding stylist actually do?
For me, it starts way before the wedding day.
When you first book a consultation call with me, you don’t have your entire wedding worked out. You know some things that you love, some things that you don’t love and it’s my job to dive into your ideas to find out exactly what you’re all about.
We’ll talk about the colours you’re naturally drawn to, how you want the room to feel when you walk in, what you want your guests to notice and what you definitely don’t want.
Then we look at your venue and discuss the logistics of your space, guest numbers, seating plan and talk through what actually works within your wedding venue and how we can enhance it without over styling it.
Then there’s the mood board…
Once we’ve worked out what you actually like, I’ll turn all of that into a bespoke design.
Within a week, you’ll receive a bespoke proposal and moodboard that shows how YOUR wedding is going to come together.
This is where you get excited because you can finally see everything coming together how you imagined.
The proposal gives us something to keep coming back to throughout the planning process because, let’s be honest, your ideas may change over the two years you have before your wedding and that’s absolutely fine!
What about the flowers?
This is where things can get a little confusing because everyone works in a different way.
I personally work with luxury real touch faux flowers, which means I can bring florals into the overall styling design rather than treating them as a completely separate thing.
I love garden style arrangements with movement and texture. And no, I’m not talking about the plastic looking faux flowers you might be picturing 😂
I’ve had three different florists mistake mine for fresh flowers, so I’m pretty confident in them.
But I also love working alongside fresh florists. Their work complements mine so much and I love to recommend florists so we can work together to bring the whole wedding to a beautiful, cohesive vision.
I know many of my brides have wanted to have faux florals throughout their wedding but fresh bouquets too, so this year I have started working with fresh florist Silvertini to provide this seamless service for my weddings.
Some stylists work on styling alone and some work with faux or fresh florals, and the same goes for florists. A fresh florist may also offer some minimal styling options for your day too.
My top tip would be to find suppliers who you connect with, whose work you love and find out what they offer. Book a call with them and see which fits you the most.
So what's the difference between a stylist and a florist?
The easiest way to explain it is this:
A florist is primarily looking at your flowers. A stylist is looking at the whole room.
Think about your wedding breakfast table.
You’ve got your flowers. Then you’ve got the linen, the napkins, the glassware, the stationery, the candles, the charger plates, the spacing, the height, the vision.
It’s how all of those things work together that creates the finished look.
The big question: Do you actually need a wedding stylist?
Here’s how I think of it.
A stylist isn’t for every couple out there.
If you’re sat feeling like all of these decorative details are a waste of money and the styling isn’t going to impact your day, maybe you want to spend your budget on entertainment instead, then no, a stylist isn’t for you.
But if you've spent the last year saving weddings on Pinterest and Instagram and you know you want your wedding to feel a certain way but you can’t quite work out how to get there, that’s different.
If you’ve got loads of ideas but no idea which ones actually belong together, or you simply don’t have the time or desire to make it all happen yourself, a stylist can make a huge difference.
Especially if walking into your wedding breakfast and seeing the room completely finished is one of the moments you’ve been dreaming about.
And especially if you’d rather spend your morning drinking champagne, taking selfies in matching pyjamas and actually enjoying it with your bridesmaids than setting 120 place settings yourself 😂
If you’re planning your wedding and have absolutely no idea where to start with the styling, send me what you’ve got so far.
Even if it’s just a very chaotic Pinterest board. I’ll help turn it into a wedding that feels cohesive, considered and completely you. And with 80+ reviews from past couples, I’ve got the proof to back it up.