Our design process at Resource One is pretty much the same, whether working directly with a bride or through a wedding planner or event designer.  We must first have a clear understanding of the venue, time of year, and personal style of the the couple.  This will help us guide the bride in the right direction. All fabric compositions, styles, and weights will each have the most appropriate time and place for best utilization.  For example, a lightweight pastel fabric, best suited for an outdoor wedding,  would not be appropriate for a black tie event in October or November. Other examples of no-no’s for black tie events would be burlap, checks or themed style fabrics.  On the other hand, you would not want to use heavy fabrics like tapestries, velvets, vinyls or suedes in spring or summer.  Also important is the decor of the venue.  Since the linens are a critical focal point, they must also not “fight” an existing environment, so we try to keep this in mind too.

Leather Embossed Velvet and Faux Fur Trim Tablecloth are both heavy elements in weight and look. These should be used for indoor, ballroom or tented environments, and not for outdoor weddings.

Then we try to get as much information about the couple themselves.  First marriage?  What do they do for a living?  This will often tell us a lot about what their personal style might be. People involved the creative arts ( fashion, music, design ) world will probably want something designed more out of the box.  An accountant, engineer, school administrator may tend to be more conservative in their taste and expectations.  We then send them samples designed to work with their personal style.  Or, they may have already seen some of our linen styles at another friends wedding or on line, and know exactly what they want.  Either way, it is essential that they see the samples in person to make sure they are comfortable with their selections.

The Versailles Table can be used for indoor or outdoor events, but should only be used during the summer or spring because it is a linen fabric.

I think the best way to help a bride who doesn’t really know what she wants, is to spend the extra time speaking to her about her life, her color preferences, her home environment, hobbies.  And don’t forget to ask about the groom!  He should have an important stamp on the wedding also. Ideally, the date and venue should already be in place before we discuss linens and decor.  Also important would be the participation of the floral designer.  This is a critical  relationship that can definitely either make or break the aesthetic of the entire wedding.  Poorly designed floral arrangements can ruin even the most elaborate or elegant table linen design, and vice versa.  Even if we don’t usually work with the brides floral designer, we try to cement a relationship to ensure he/she understands our product line.

Gold Petal Taffeta paired with Moss Green Velvet chair covers for outdoor fall wedding event.

Equally important is the venue.  Without a venue, we don’t even have a blank canvas to work from. We do often get excited brides to be, newly engaged, who start calling for linen 2 years away from their wedding date.  We encourage them to look around, gather photos of things they like and come back to us approximately 6 months prior to their wedding date.  This way we eliminate rounds and rounds of indecisive choices, revisions,  and time consuming meetings that are apt to confuse the bride and apt to change anyway.

Cultural weddings are actually fairly simple in the fact that they each follow basic traditions and aesthetics.  These weddings are typically very large in scale, and follow definite color palettes.  They are usually multi -day events/dinners.  These weddings are very much “statement” weddings , which means they are important from every aspect; personally to the family, community,socially and religiously.  This is when everyone pulls out all the stops!

Best,

Roberta Karsch, RESOURCE ONE