When you are newly engaged and can’t stop staring at your left hand, the questions people ask can be overwhelming! Date? Location? Are you having a theme? What venues are you looking at? Colours? Dress? If you aren’t careful, questions like these can send you into complete overwhelm! When planning your wedding, it helps to make a decision on the general style and direct you want to head in. When you have a style in mind, you are able to plan with purpose and the many decisions you will need to make will become easier.

Determining the style of your wedding is easier said then done! Here are a few ways that may help you determine your wedding style.

1) Location. The venue of your wedding plays a huge part in determining what sort of atmosphere, look and feel your day will have. It’s important to get this right! Are there any special places you go for holidays? Or perhaps there is a specific location that holds lots of memories for you? You don’t necessarily need to have your wedding at a traditional reception venue, marquees can be put up almost anywhere (but also require a lot of extra planning)!

Jono & Lisa | Private Property, Mahia NZ.

2) Season. Which part of the year are you getting married? Most of my brides have summer weddings, but I also love photographing outside summer too. Poppy & Hugh were married in April this year and had an autumn inspired wedding style, with bright orange bridesmaids dresses, autumn leaves and rosemary in the bouquets and printed on the stationery. Poppy & Hugh | Port Phillip Estate.

Elissa & Lane were married in August (their gorgeous day is also in the current issue of NZ Weddings Magazine!) and chose to style their day around a beautiful winter inspired colour palette. Elissa wore a gorgeous silver dress by Collette Dinnigan and the girls were wrapped up in cardigans and fur stoles. Elissa & Lane | Northern Club, Auckland.

3) Colour. Do you have a favourite colour you could style your wedding around? You don’t need to have matching colours, an unexpected pop of colour on your lips can look amazing! It’s quite traditional to style your wedding around the colour of your bridesmaids dresses, but even these can be different colours and still work really well. You may also love neutral colours which can determine the style of your wedding too. Amy & Shane | Yering Station.

4) Dress/attire. Do you lean towards more structured dresses or flowing, floaty ones? Do you love lots of sparkle and jewelled details or do you like simple lace or silk? Your wedding attire compliments all the other elements around you, and your wedding dress is often one of the first things chosen for your wedding day so it can be really helpful for determining your style. Jenna & Mike | The Wharf, Auckland.

5) Flowers/bouquets. It’s no secret I love to photograph flowers! I always make sure they have a portrait of their very own on a wedding day. There are so many amazing talented florists, and they don’t just work with flowers either! I love seeing herbs like rosemary in a bouquet, or succulents, or berries – Sarah’s bouquet below had unripe blackberries amongst the wildflowers. When else in your life do you get to carry a bouquet of beautiful blooms around for a day? Sarah & David | Weddings at Suttons, Hamilton.

Determining the style of your wedding day is huge, and can be overwhelming. Sometimes themes and style will emerge organically throughout the planning process, which is great! You don’t need to follow any strict rules. I hope this post has helped give you some direction to know where to begin! And remember, you don’t have to do this yourself! There are some amazing professional wedding stylists out there, that love this and want nothing more than to make your wedding dreams come to life in easiest, stress free way possible.

Remember, whatever the style of your day – no colours, flowers, dresses will be more important than the love and promises you make to each other, in front of your family and friends. This is what matters most. I absolutely love beautiful weddings, but the prettiness needs to be built upon a firm foundation. I love the quote, “I want a marriage more beautiful than my wedding”. If you keep this in mind while planning your wedding, you are sure to plan an amazing day no matter what your style. xx