You’re looking down your checklist. Flowers, check, lighting, check, tables, check, but wait…what about the stuff that goes on the tables!? We know that sometimes, in the midst or preparing your wedding dinner, the hardest part can be choosing what you actually eat off of! Whether you’re new to the industry or a regular visitor, creative block can hit us all. Take a deep breath. If you feel like your vision is going fuzzy from looking at millions of tablecloth swatches, floral designs and charger plates [which, after a google search, you have found out are purely decorative] Whitehouse is here to make your day easier.
We’ve compiled 5 *incredibly* easy ways to decide on your tableware, taking at least one thing off your shoulders and helping you to actually enjoy the planning process! [Photo credits at the end of the post]
Most people can picture their flowers as the first step when they’re planning their wedding (after the dress, of course). What bouquet they’ll hold when they walk down the aisle, what will be at the center of each table, what will adorn the backs of chairs and entrance ways to their reception etc… If this is something you’ve already decided on, then your crockery choice is simple! Just look at the colours of your florals, or choose one colour within a bunch, and base your table setting around it. Easy enough!
Whitehouse Products: Sienna baby pink/Eliza clear charger plates, Grace cutlery, Amy glassware
This amazing event at The Ritz in London matched our pink plates to the wonderful array of pink roses that adorned the centre of this table. Accompanied by gold pieces, this beautiful setting matched their flowers in an obvious, yet stylish, way, choosing one of the many pink tones to keep to the theme and round off the event exquisitely.
So, if you were rolling your eyes at our first idea because it was so obvious, we’ve gone completely off the rails with our second idea. Clashing! For some brides, this is their worst nightmare, however if you’re tired of trying to match your menus to your tealight holders, then this is the idea of you. Any colours that take your fancy, put them into your plates, flowers and decorations, just go all out with it! If you opt for this, however, you can’t half-ass it. It’s all or nothing, so you have to be absolutely sure before you commit.
Whitehouse Products: Mia emerald charger plate/ Harper red/Amber goblet
This gorgeous photoshoot took the idea of a rainbow and made it into a reality, using a range of our colourful pieces with different types of flowers and an outdoor setting. The bright, natural light catches the colours beautifully, mixing them together into a kind of delicate watercolour. We would highly suggest having a plain table with this idea, like this white wooden table, to keep it looking charming rather than ostentatious.
Okay, time to take it down a notch, especially from the last concept. You may be feeling more overwhelmed than you did at the start, [which isn’t what we want!] so this next idea can be used no matter the bride. If you are looking for something traditional yet unique in their own way, then a mix of neutrals and pastels is the perfect option. Hard to get wrong, yet so satisfying when you get it right, we would highly suggest taking a look through Whitehouse’s pastel items to get inspiration.
Whitehouse Products: Caterina 12 and 10″ plates/Rosana cutlery
Neutral plates and pastel decor are a match made in heaven, as shown with this exceptional table setting. With delicate wildflowers, placed in milk bottles and jam-jars, weaving across a river of blue material, our indented porcelain plates and rose-gold cutlery add the necessary touches to this quintessentially ‘English summer’ photo-shoot. The idea of all this is to make the final look feel underdone yet curated – as though you just decided to throw it together [although you probably spent months planning it.]
Take idea 3, give it a strong coffee and a long, hard day, and you’re left with idea 4. If you love the thought of keeping you colour palette simple, but feel like your wedding deserves more than just white, then adding a dash of darkness sounds like the perfect idea for you. Ushering in the necessary additions that are hard to find with the lighter tones, without having to start from scratch with a totally new concept, this idea is bound to have you thinking different about having black in your wedding.
Whitehouse Products: Simone 8.5″ plate/Victoria glassware/Blair cutlery
A real wedding! But the wedding of an event designer, so it’s basically a photoshoot… This beautiful day was dappled with greens, dusky pastels and…black! Though it is an unconventional choice, the use of our dark stoneware and black cutlery added a pop of intrigue to her table, matched by elegant, tapered, black candles and black vases. If the idea of all one colour is just too monotonous for you, but you’re also bored of trying to think of tones that complimenting each other, then throwing in a dark ‘wild-card’ is the idea for you.
And finally, to round off this whole post, we have the most classic and immutable option: gold. Is your wedding filled with colour? Gold will work. Are you trying to find art-deco tableware options? Go for gold. Do you want something that will look fabulous on a simple wooden table? Gold’s your guy. Simple yet effective, gold is bound to look fantastic in any venue, will impress your guests and will keep your nerves within a respectable level of insane since Whitehouse has so many gold options. Let’s keep that heartbeat below 100bpm.
Whitehouse Products: Daisy gold plates/ Grace cutlery/ Amy glassware/ Cara tumbler
This final wedding used all of our favourite items, as well as our no.1 setting [a wooden table], to bring out the best of gold. Our beaded charger plates are especially popular among brides due to their malleable nature within any kind of scenario, adding a spark where necessary, but also fading beautifully into the background if they need to.
Credits:
Idea 1: Florals: @yourflowerstory_london – Styling: @memories4uweddings – Cakes: @teesbakeryuk – Planner: @byavecreations – Photography: @tellyourstory.photography – Venue: @theritzlondon
Idea 2: Venue: @eastriddlesdenhallweddings – Styling: @oakleafweddings – Photography: @caitlinandjones – Flowers: @stemsdesign – Cake: @whiterosecakedesign – Stationary: @eyilovestudio – Furniture: @all_things_borrowed – Make-up: @sarahisaacsmakeup – Model: @tasha_safiya – Hair: April Howe
Idea 3: Photography: @emilyoliviaphotography – Flowers: @francesandrose – Silk runners: @cfleursdesign – Venue: @walledgardenatbeestonfields – Light installation: @fabrictheatre – Tables: @beeventhire
Idea 4: Styling: @styletocherish – Table cloths: @just_4_linen – Flowers: @markhoweflowers – Stationery: @quintsofjersey_weddings – Images: @hollysmithweddings
Idea 5: Styling: @midlandsweddings – Flowers: @lilifloralart – Venue: @themaltshovel – Marquee: @westcountrymarquees
