Arbour or Backdrop
The focal point and the backdrop to almost every ceremony photograph. Sourced to suit the venue scale, from clean modern frames through to fuller structures built with a florist.
Ceremony
Ceremony Styling
The ceremony is the shortest part of the day and the most photographed. It is also the part most likely to be undone by weather, wind or a venue rule nobody checked. Styling it properly means designing for the picture and for the conditions.
Ceremony styling is quoted on its own scope, or included in full wedding styling from $5,000.
Designing the Ceremony Space
Twenty minutes that carry a third of the photography.
Everything in a ceremony points at one place. The arbour or backdrop is behind the couple in the vows, in the first kiss, in the signing, and in the group photographs afterwards. It is the single most reused image of the day, which is why it earns a disproportionate share of the styling budget.
- Scale against the space
- The most common error is an arbour sized for a photograph rather than a room. A structure that looks generous in a supplier catalogue can disappear against a nine metre ballroom wall, or overwhelm a small garden. Shabz specifies against the actual ceiling height and the distance guests will be sitting at.
- Where the light comes from
- An outdoor ceremony at two in the afternoon and the same ceremony at five are different jobs. Direction of light decides which way the couple should face, whether the backdrop is lit or silhouetted, and whether guests spend the ceremony squinting.
- The aisle
- Width matters more than decoration. An aisle narrowed by arrangements to less than about a metre and a half becomes difficult for a dress, and impossible for two people walking together. Aisle styling should frame the walk rather than obstruct it.
- Seating and sight lines
- How many rows, how they are angled, and whether guests at the back can actually see. A slight curve or angle to the seating does more for the experience than any amount of chair styling.
- The signing table
- Small, frequently forgotten, and in a photograph that most couples keep. Worth styling deliberately rather than using whatever the venue supplies.
Outdoor Ceremonies and the Weather
The plan is made in advance or it is made badly.
Outdoor ceremonies in Sydney and the Hunter Valley are worth the risk, but only if the risk is actually managed. The failure mode is not rain, it is having no agreed plan when the rain arrives.
For every outdoor ceremony Shabz styles, three things are fixed in advance. What the wet weather alternative physically is, including whether the styling can move or has to be duplicated. What time the decision is made, which is usually the morning of, based on the install time required. And who makes it, which should be one named person rather than a committee of relatives.
Wind matters more than rain and gets considered less. A lightweight backdrop or a tall floral arrangement in an exposed coastal or valley position needs weighting and structural allowance, or it spends the ceremony being held upright by a groomsman. Outdoor structures are specified for the conditions the site actually has.
Ground conditions decide what can be installed at all. Grass, sand and uneven paving all limit what will stand safely, and a site visit or detailed photographs are worth more than any amount of guessing.
Ceremony Elements
What gets styled, and what each one is actually for.
Aisle
Framing rather than filling. Arrangements, lanterns, petals or lighting placed to keep the walkway generous, with attention to how a dress will actually move through it.
Seating
Chair selection, row count, angle and spacing, planned so guests at the back can see and the couple are not marooned at the front of a long thin block.
Signing Table
A small styled surface that appears in photographs most couples keep. Linen, a considered arrangement and the right chairs, rather than the venue trestle.
Common Questions
Yes. It is common where the reception venue already includes styling, or where the ceremony is at a separate site such as a church, garden or beach. Ceremony only work is quoted on its own scope.
Shabz does not hold hire stock. Ceremony structures, seating and furniture are sourced through the supplier network and chosen to suit your venue and direction, then coordinated as one booking. How hire works.
The wet weather plan is agreed in advance: what the alternative space is, what time the decision is made, and who makes it. Where the alternative needs a separate install, that is scoped and quoted up front rather than improvised on the morning.
Yes, within what each church or venue permits, which varies considerably. Some restrict florals, candles or anything attached to fixtures. Those rules are confirmed before styling is designed rather than after.
It depends on the structure and the access, but a typical ceremony setup takes two to four hours. Where the ceremony and reception are in the same room and the space has to be turned around between them, that is planned into the run sheet as a separate operation.
Let's Create Something Beautiful
Tell Shabz about your event and a considered response follows within 24 to 48 hours.
Prefer to talk it through?
02 9191 7381