At VIP Weddings we believe that each couple is unique, and each wedding should be as individual as the couple themselves, and reflect their own personalities. This is why we tailor an individual styling to suit each couples needs, venue, tastes and budget.
“Be Yourself. Everyone else is Already Taken”
Oscar Wilde
However, we also appreciate how busy life can be for our couples, so we have put together a single pre-defined package, one which encompasses all your Fresh Flower and Styling needs for your day, while giving you lots of choice to tailor it to your own tastes and needs, with no compromise on quality or service.
For full details of our ‘Exclusive All Day Wedding Package’ download the brochure below
f you are interested in VIP Weddings helping you to design your Dream Wedding contact us on info@myvipwedding.ie or fill the enquiry form http://www.myvipwedding.ie
VIP Weddings is a Wedding Florist and Styling business based in Mayo, in the West of Ireland
We’re Unique, because You are Unique!
What makes VIP Weddings is different is our Couple-Based approach to your Wedding Flowers and Styling. We design every wedding based on the Couples’ tastes, needs and vision, reflecting your Individuality and Personality.
What do we do?
VIP Weddings is a professional, trustworthy service who you can rely on throughout your Wedding Planning Journey. From initial inquiry, we are there to answer all your design questions, be on site with you on your special day, even through to preserving your wedding bouquet after the event. Our inventory includes Flowers and Bouquets (fresh, silk or dried), and church or ceremony styling including lanterns, arches, personalised signage & more. For your venue we can supply room draping, backdrops, seating plans, table centres and specially designed floral installations.
From humble beginnings at the kitchen table, VIP Weddings has grown into an established and experienced Wedding and Event Styling business, and now has the largest range of options in the West of Ireland, with something to suit all styles. We specialise in Fresh Flower bouquets, installations and one off designs.
The VIP Weddings motto is that every Wedding should be “Vibrant, Individual & Personalised”
Designing each Wedding to a couples own vision, personality and tastes means we have never styled two weddings the same. Working with such a huge range of ideas, venues and couples has given me a lot of varied experience, challenges to maneuver around and is a constant learning curve.
The objective of the VIP Weddings blog is to share tips and inspirations about Wedding Styling from someone who is passionate about, and in the heart of, and experienced in the Wedding Industry.
If you are interested in VIP Weddings helping you to design your Dream Wedding contact us on info@myvipwedding.ie or fill the enquiry form http://www.myvipwedding.ie
To see some of our previous work please see the 2019 highlights video below
This was a very special wedding, the one where my little brother got a wife, and me a new sister!
More through coincidence than any grand plan, the three siblings in our house were married in the same church, Ardagh Church, between Ballina and Crossmolina, Co Mayo. Just over four years ago my older brother married here, and almost twelve years ago, I myself took the walk up the aisle here, so it was not only sentimental to style the church, but also very exciting on this occasion, as I was double-jobbing as Bridesmaid.
Emma and Tom had a lovely natural, pretty style in mind, with a romantic ambiance, given that it was Valentines day. Lots of pinks, mauve tones, and the warmth of candlelight. Needless to say there was plenty of fresh flowers involved. As it was a cold and very windy week, we kept the Church door minimal, so guests were met inside with a welcoming and charming display, leading to a flower filled aisle. Having the same flowers throughout from the door to the Altar gave a real sense of continuity and flow from one end of the Aisle to the other. We used our tall aisle stands with fresh flowers to create height and frame the Aisle and Emma’s entrance, but kept them spaced well enough apart not to block guests views. Lower trailing arrangements of matching flowers filled the lower view
Peter Bell Photography
Peter Bell Photography
Peter Bell Photography
The Altar area was kept very classic with lots of fresh flowers, and a feature treble length Altar Spray
I am a firm believer in doing things well and making the most use out of them, so all the fresh flowers were moved, as we always do, to the hotel, The Ocean Sands. The all white, bright room allowed the colours of the flowers and the warmth of the candlelight to pop, creating a warm, romantic ambiance, while keeping the look clean and classic.
One of the key songs of the wedding was Dolly Parton’s ‘From here to the Moon’ , which inspired this ‘Love you to the moon and back’ seating plan. A one-off, original, designed and built by us, seating plan, with backlight which lights up the moon (Now part of the the VIP Weddings inventory).
Wishing these two a wonderful and happy life together, and thank you to Steve & Keith for keeping VIP Weddings show on the road while I was off getting my glam on 😉
Flowers, church & reception styling ; VIP Weddings
If you are interested in VIP Weddings helping you to design your Dream Wedding contact us on info@myvipwedding.ie or fill the enquiry form http://www.myvipwedding.ie
Making the decision to postpone a Wedding in light of the current pandemic is testing, but will become that bit more difficult when we reach a stage where weddings are allowed again, but with limited numbers. However limited numbers doesn’t mean you cant have a dream wedding. Understandably it means there may be less of your family & friends there than you would like, but here are a few tips to help you find the positive side to your more intimate wedding.
The Ceremony
Just because you may have less guests than originally planned, don’t compromise on the dream location. Whether in a church or a venue, or outdoors, your ceremony is one of the most special moments of your day. You can adjust your styling, flowers or decor to suit a smaller ceremony. You will still walk up the aisle so don’t lose the magic here, but if in a bigger church, create more focus at the front of the aisle where all your guests sit, rather than the end as you wont have guests sitting for over an hour looking at the pew ends at the back. Marie & Darren had an intimate ceremony with just twenty or so of their closest family, so we kept fresh flowers towards the front of the church only.
I love the feeling of anticipation in this photo by Angela Farragher photography. St Muredachs Cathedral, Ballina, Mayo
Any of our venue ceremony couples will have heard me talk about creating an aisle (which already exists in a church) and a focal point where the ceremony is. If having a smaller wedding, I recommend not to compromise on this area. While you may have a smaller number of people in the room with you on the day, there are a lot of people who will want to see your photos / video afterwards. Make it magical. Photo: Fokiss photography
Choosing a Venue
Smaller, more intimate Weddings allows for more choice of venues as there is a range of venues that can cater for smaller numbers that you may not have considered before, including restaurants, independent halls, marquees etc.
Crockets Ballina Restaurant
Crockets styled for Intimate Wedding
After Party Welcome – Marquee Door
Garden Wedding Ceremony at Jackie Clarke Gardens, Ballina
Glasgow Kennedy House Ballina – Before
Glasgow Kennedy House – After
If you have already chosen your venue for a bigger guest list, there are still lots of ways to adapt to a smaller wedding reception. Many hotels have a smaller more intimate room or separate restaurant which they can use, which can be easily styled to create a magical wedding atmosphere. For bigger rooms, we can divide it or section it using our blackout draping to close in spaces.
Draping used to create a new space in the Diamond Coast Hotel, Enniscrone
The stunning large Ballroom as it is at full size
Create amazing detail
Having fewer guests presents lots of opportunities to create amazing styling details, that you otherwise may not be able to do for larger numbers. Fewer tables, or one large table can allow for much more lavish and detailed table styling.
Intimate Wedding Table Setting at Belleek Castle, Ballina-Picture: Fokiss Photography
Smaller guest numbers also allows for more creative and unusual seating plan options which are logistically more difficult for bigger weddings. They also allow for the use of an Escort Seating Plans where each guest has an individual name card or tagged object with their table number inside/on the back, as opposed to the usual table listing style.
Some of our seating plans for smaller gatherings, a classic escort card seating plan, a detailed listed table plan, and a fun escort style seating plan for a teachers wedding for which we had personalised pencil favours used here instead of left on tables
Make a weekend of it
One of the most difficult aspects of choosing a wedding venue is being considerate of guests that will be travelling from all different directions. With smaller numbers having to travel, it can be a perfect opportunity to have a destination wedding in Ireland. I see more and more couples coming not only from abroad, but from larger Irish cities, to the North-West for destination wedding weekends.
Not only is there a range of venues from authentic Castles such as Belleek, country houses such as Mount Falcon Estate and small to large hotel venues, there is so much to see and do. One of Ireland’s most beautiful beaches in Enniscrone, Co Sligo, is home to two fabulous hotels, The Diamond Coast and The Ocean Sands, and there is a long list of heritage sites, scenic drives and lakes, and cultural hot-spots such as museums along the Wild Atlantic way. I can only speak for this area as this is where we are based and see the beauty every day.
Making a weekend or a mini-break of your wedding allows close friends and family to really relax and enjoy each others company (No need for the typically Irish House-revamp before the wedding), and lets face it, we could all do with plenty of that family quality time after this spring.
All styling work pictured is created by VIP Weddings. If you are interested in VIP Weddings helping you to design your Dream Wedding contact us on info@myvipwedding.ie or fill the enquiry form http://www.myvipwedding.ie . Feel free to contact us also if we can be of any help in helping you to organise you North-West destination wedding
The word ‘rustic’ gets used a lot in the wedding arena these days, but what exactly is meant by a Rustic Wedding?
VIP Weddings Rustic Card Box
One of VIP Weddings Rustic Seating Plans
Rustic Welcome details by VIP Weddings
Rustic Countryside Church Entrance by VIP Weddings
The Oxford Dictionary describes the adjective ‘rustic’ as “typical of the country” or “made very simply of rough wood”
A rustic wedding is one that takes it’s inspiration from earth, from the great outdoors, from the beauty of the nature itself. Typically wood is used a lot in Rustic weddings, but fresh flowers, lush fresh foliage and greenery, wildflowers, nods to country-life, and natural, non-contrived installations are also key elements of a well-designed rustic wedding styling.
The key to well designed rustic styling is to keep it very simple looking, like things almost naturally appeared or grew in-situ, which in actual fact, is one of the more difficult things to do.
This asymmetrical rustic flower entrance was designed to look non-contrived and natural, as though it naturally grew creeping up the wall
Again, very natural, soft looking flowers added to a rough wood, antique ladder. With a very special horseshoe to represent a loved one not present
Natural, ‘just picked from the garden’ style bouquets and flowers are a popular choice for a really authentic, rustic vibe in your wedding styling details
Using lots of fresh foliage is another great way to create the look. In fact fresh foliage and candlelight is one of my favourite styles
Tips to get that Perfect Rustic Look for your Day:
*Don’t over-complicate your styling, keep it simple and understated
*Keep everything natural and loose looking, don’t over-think it, and don’t have every little detail perfectly matching and symmetrical
*Take inspiration from nature. There is lots more shapes, textures, and colour palettes out there than just brown wood
If you are interested in VIP Weddings helping you to design your Dream Wedding contact us on info@myvipwedding.ie or fill the enquiry form http://www.myvipwedding.ie
Staying safe indoors doesn’t mean you cant be excited for your upcoming wedding. In fact its a perfect time to do some research, get things organised, and put a plan in place for your dream day. Here are some tips to help you
Using Pinterest
Pinterest must be the ‘cant live without’ tool in Wedding Planning these days. There are so many ideas and pretty inspiration pictures. Having an account is one thing, but are you using it to its full potential?
Create different boards for different elements of your wedding, one for bouquets & flowers, one for ceremony styling ideas, one for your invitations, one for your make up inspo etc. You can then ‘invite’ (button on top right of page) your other half, your bridesmaids or even your relevant suppliers to view that board to get a feel for what you have in mind. We use this a lot with our VIP Couples as it saves them emailing 100’s of pictures to us. You can also set your board to ‘secret’ so that you can plan without any of your invited Pinterest friends or guests knowing what’s in store for your day.
You can follow us on Pinterest, “VIP Weddings” or follow us to invite us to your board.
You can also scan or Pincode to find us
Create Moodboards
Moodboards are a great way to put together a vision for how you want your day to look. Gathering ideas and putting them together in a way that you can see how the whole look come together will give you a much needed lift.
While I love Pinterest, I still like to collaborate my main ideas all in one board to see the overall look. PicCollage is my go to as its free to download, very easy to use, and boards can be edited at a later date. I popped together a sample mood board of one of my favourite looks from our VIP Weddings stock below using PicCollage.
Research your suppliers
When you have an idea of what you want or a vision of your wedding, its much easier to narrow down suitable suppliers. Now is a great time to start researching and contacting suppliers. When things go back to normal we will have twice as many weekly bookings to cater for and will be out of office a lot more, but for now we are mostly working from home and on admin.
Compare what different suppliers offer in terms of costs, quality of product, reliability or experience, and the service included as well as the product e.g, is delivery included? Are flowers fresh or silk? Are they there to take care of things on the day? How many other bookings do they take on a day?
A great resource for checking out current and experienced suppliers is the weddingsonline.ie directory. One of the bigger directories in Ireland, it also runs the popular ‘Help I’m Getting Married’ page on Facebook, an advice and sharing platform for Couples & suppliers.
With the current crisis there are approx 4 months weddings being re-allocated to the latter half of this year and next year. Dates are being closed off quickly with popular suppliers. A lot of these suppliers, ourselves included, can book in the time for your wedding and you don’t have to make any final detailed decisions until nearer the date. This flexibility doesn’t apply to every supplier, dependent on type of service & how many weddings per date they take.
Write your reviews
So your day has come & gone, your excited about getting away on honeymoon, & by the time you get back you are getting ready to go back to work. All of a sudden sitting writing reviews seems like a big task, but you are then an experienced customer with lots of information & knowledge to share. These real reviews are worth so much to your suppliers, and to future couples, who want to hear from real couples experiences. Take the time now to make a list of your suppliers and draft a review for each & save them. Its just a case of editing them after the wedding.
Of course, if you are recently married and haven’t written your reviews, there is no time like the present!
DIY
DIY Weddings are not for everyone. If you cant sing, you wont sing at your own wedding, so if your not creative, don’t put yourself under huge pressure to DIY. Planning your wedding is something you should enjoy, so if the thoughts of cleaning & painting 200 mason jars is breaking you out in a sweat, don’t do it. There are plenty of smaller, easier and more relaxing things you can do in preparation. Ask your local printer to do some decals for you so you can do your dress hangers, the bottom of your wedding shoes, or your Bridemaid’s gifts. Start collecting the photos for your memory table or if you are having a photo collage prop. Making a small ring box is also a nice little DIY that wont put huge pressure on you, but is a special little detail of the day. Link below to a little DIY video I made a few years back (excude the typos! )
If you are interested in VIP Weddings helping you to design your Dream Wedding contact us on info@myvipwedding.ie or fill the enquiry form http://www.myvipwedding.ie
Aoife and John opted to exchange vows in a beautiful Venue ceremony in The Coachhouse in Castle Dargan, Co Sligo.
Churches generally tend to have an Altar area that creates a background, whereas venue ceremonies sometimes need a focal point at the ceremony area. What better than something like this stunning fresh flower moongate Aoife & John choose for their special day.
Keeping the aisle quite simple, with lots of candlelight created a warm, romantic ambiance as guests arrived at their Christmas wedding. We wanted the focus to be on Aoife and her Bridal Party as they entered, and on the ceremony itself. The moongate was designed to frame their most special moments, their vows, candle-lighting & first kiss as Mr & Mrs.
John Reynolds photography
All other floral details such as the unity spread, chair decor, memory candle area etc were in the same style, creating a beautiful flow to their floral styling
Aoife choose a blush and burgundy mix for her bouquet, with lots of texture. Deep red berries, with cool grey and blue tones of foliage and eryngium added a winter feel. The prettiness of the blush roses, mixed with the velvet smoothness of the burgundy black baccara rose giving her bouquet a very luxurious look. The style was carried through to Johns buttonhole, with a matching mini buttonhole for their little boy.
The reception styling was designed to replicate the warm, romantic ambiance of the ceremony with lots of candlelight. Tablecentre details were kept striking and uncomplicated, a subtle nod to the winter season. We then moved the feature fresh flower moongate to behind their cake table to provide a cake backdrop and photo frame for guests to use for the evening.
Celebrant: Enda Harte, Registered Solminiser – Spiritual Ceremonies
Cake: Kake Kreationz, Sligo
If you are interested in VIP Weddings helping you to design your Dream Wedding contact us on info@myvipwedding.ie or fill the enquiry form http://www.myvipwedding.ie
Planning a wedding is always exciting, but a spring wedding brings an extra air of anticipation with it, an end to the long, dark winter days, the emergence of brightness and colour in nature, and a time of new growth and fresh beginnings.
The use of a strong, vibrant colour is a popular choice for spring flowers and bouquets. Don’t be afraid to make a statement with a block colour that really ‘pops’, or mix colours to create an energetic and fun tone to your Wedding
While roses and the traditional wedding flowers are always beautiful, don’t underestimate seasonal spring flowers like daffodils or tulips. Not only are seasonal flowers easier on your pocket, it can be chance to create something more unique or distinctive to think outside the ‘classic wedding flower’ box
The ‘picked fresh from the garden’ look, which is trending again for 2020, is all about texture and having a good mix of flowers in the bouquet. Spring is a great time to go for the soft, dainty version of this style with lots of small headed flowers in season, and natural garden looking flowers such as clematis and veronica in season
If you are interested in VIP Weddings helping you to design your Dream Wedding contact us on info@myvipwedding.ie or fill the enquiry form http://www.myvipwedding.ie
We all love to look at the amazing, out of this world weddings on Pinterest, but the reality is, few of us could afford such grandeur. Or is it?
We see these beautiful stylings on Pinterest, and we think “I could never afford that” but in actual fact, we are seeing just the few key features of a wedding.
A common mistake in trying to create the fairytale wedding is trying to cover every little area with flowers and decor, thus spreading it very thin, and it being lost. By concentrating on a few prominent areas and doing them well, they become the memorable features of your styling.
Make a list
Begin by taking a walk around your venues and making a list of the areas you most want styled. This may be a welcome area or drinks reception, an entrance corridor, the top table, or the cake table. Prioritise these areas in two ways.
Firstly according to what is most important to you to look well. Some people prefer to have their cake table styled over an entrance, or vice versa. A lot of this depend on the characteristics of the venue as well as your own ideas.
Secondly, consider the value you will get out of the money you will invest in styling certain areas. For example, if you are going to spend a lot of money styling a staircase with fresh flowers or candles, consider how many key moments of your day will be photographed on that stairs.
Cost vs Value
An example is the beautiful Wedding of Sophie & Damien in the stunning Mount Falcon Estate, where they made a lot of use of the feature staircase. Sophie got ready that morning in the hotel so had her photos of her leaving with her dad, their drinks reception was held in the reception lobby at the base of the stairs where guests had lots of time to appreciate the flowers and take selfies, and the couple made their entrance to their reception via the same stairs
Discuss the list with your stylist and don’t be afraid to ask for their suggestions or opinions in how to best allocate your spending. At VIP Weddings we have worked with couples who have had weddings in the same venue but decided to allocate their budget differently, by paring back on the staircase and creating an additional wow factor at the entrance to the ballroom.
Staircase design by VIP Weddings at Mount Falcon Estate
Ballroom Entrance design by VIP Weddings at Mount Falcon Estate
Once you have your priority list, then allocate your budget from the top of the list downwards. Having 2-3 key features done well will have a bigger impact than lots of smaller lost details. These are the features that, done well, will become the Pinterest Pin of a future Bride
Featured Venue: Mount Falcon Estate, Ballina, Co Mayo
Photographer: John Reynolds Photography
If you are interested in VIP Weddings helping you to design your Dream Wedding contact us on info@myvipwedding.ie or fill the enquiry form http://www.myvipwedding.ie
Sarah and Connors colour scheme was decided when at a consultation Connor fell for a particular buttonhole from a previous wedding, an orange calla. From that we built on their hope to have something natural, rustic and Autumnal.
vip weddings
vip weddings
To give it a rustic feel, lots of different textures were used to create the bouquets and buttonholes, from the softness of the roses and callas, to the striking blue eryngium and orange leucos. The mix of oranges, burgundys and deep reds were contrasted with the blue and mixed green tones to add more depth.
Using wood or natural material accents as a base for rustic style weddings is nearly always a given. We used wood at Sarah & Connors wedding as a background on some features, keeping the personality and vibrancy of their flowers and personalised details to the forefront. We even designed a table plan that incorporated their love for TV without losing the consistency of their style .
Pink Lime Studios
Sarah & Connor’s feature piece was a specially built alternative to the traditional entrance arch. To keep the more natural, rustic feel, it was designed asymmetrically to reflect the unstructured and unique beauty of nature’s own arrangements. We then moved it to the Diamond Coast Hotel where it framed the cake table.
The rest of the Church styling was kept quite simple and understated, accentuating Sarah’s entrance but not overwhelming her, all the while allowing the vibrant colours of the fresh flowers make their own statement.
Too see more of Sarah & Connors Wedding Day Styling click on the video highlights below by Pink Lime Studios.
Church: St Therese’ Church, Ballintogher, Co Sligo
If you are interested in VIP Weddings helping you to design your Dream Wedding contact us on info@myvipwedding.ie or fill the enquiry form http://www.myvipwedding.ie
The Wedding Styling Blog 