Shabby Chic Weddings - a how too guide

The origin of the “shabby chic” trend came from England. Originally Inspired from cottage style furnishings, like the use of everyday objects as centre pieces, flower arrangements in old milk jugs, home made throws from pieces of discarded materials, the trend has found its way from home furnishings to fashion and now to weddings.
With an added touch of bohemia the fashion industry started to include, soft neutral colours teamed with antique lace and soft sateen materials to their floaty, “English summer” style dresses. It is a popular feminine look, and one that has found its way into many a brides colour and material scheme, Particularly in venue dressing, "Shabby Chic" table decorations and chair covers are becoming more requested.

So, how do you create the "Shabby Chic" look, or, if you do not want it as a whole theme, how do you incorporate it into your wedding? keep on reading below......

This table set up, shows Shabby Chic being used in the form of the table lanterns.

The key to creating the “shabby chic” look is in the colour choice and the detail. For colour choice, mostly muted colours are used, for example white, ivory and cream, but pinks, cappuccino and greens are also used if colour is wanted . The detail comes from the types of material and the accessories that can be used.

Below is an example of a chair we did for a bride, who choose to have white as her main colour, but added the lace sash for a feel of femininity coupled with the hand made wicker heart for a touch of "Shabby Chic".

Of course if you are wanting to use colour, below shows you how we transformed the Great Hall at Mains with the theme, flowers where added to the chairs to give them an extra touch.

To highlight the "Shabby Chic" theme to this wedding, Birdcages where used along with wicker style furniture. The flower arrangements featured are the beautiful creations of Jane at Flower Design, you can view her creations at her website or check out her own blog.

In the pictures above, lace has been used to create a different dynamic to the sateen material of the sash, below you can see how our new textured materials are adding dimension and a " Shabby Chic" theme all on their own, the sash colour shown is our classic pink.

Below is a card deposit that we created for one wedding, using a birdcage instantly gave a feel of "Shabby Chic" without going for the whole theme.

And finally, handmade style hearts can be added to finish the look. Comment with your own ideas for "Shabby Chic" weddings below.

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