What Inspires Me: Throw Pillows

Photography Credit: Jagger Photography via Green Wedding Shoes

I absolutely love pillows. We (that is I) had planned to soften our venue with handmade plush throw pillows in neutral colors (black, grey, and ivory). (If you’re so inspired to make your own pillows instead of buy them, check out Apartment Therapy’s Easiest Throw Pillow tutorial.) When it became time was something we didn't have enough of (and our budget prohibited the purchase of), we jettisoned the pillows.

Are you using pillows in your decor?
What are you planning on doing with them afterwards?

Pillows can add a splash of color to an otherwise monochromatic venue. (I think turquoise, Pantone’s color of the year for 2010, was a tad overused in weddings last year.)

Photography Credit: Gene Ho Photography via Completely Unveiled

Photography Credit: Michele M. Waite via Inspirations & Creations

They can bring together an eclectic mix of furniture for a shabby chic or bohemian look.

Photography Credit: Jill Thomas via Snippet & Ink

Photography Credit: Love Ala via Green Wedding Shoes

They can create a seating area where there was none.

Photography Credit: Amy & Stewart via Snippet & Ink

They can tie seating areas together by spelling out words or the couple's initials.

Via Apartment Therapy

Image courtesy of My Sparrow Stylish Responsibility

Softening Our Venue

In our venue we want to recreate a feeling of home. For the cocktail hour we'd like a sense that our friends and family are hanging out in "our" living room. We'd like people to be comfortable enough to take a seat or peruse a cookbook along the edges of the room. For the dinner hour, we want our guests to see themselves having a family meal with us.

Our venue is very spacious so coziness is a challenge. There are three levels - lobby with coat check and the bridal/ketubah room on the first floor, main hall for the ceremony and reception and hall for the cocktail hour on the second floor, and balconies in the main hall.

People who've attended weddings in the space have commented that the guests tend to spread out giving a sense that multiple parties are going on. We're planning on alleviating this partially by closing Balder Hall upon completion of the cocktail hour.

We'd also like to make the spaces more inviting (something along the lines of Krysta's comfy den in the upper right corner of the image below). We're thinking of adding plush throw pillows and bolsters to the fixed straight back chairs.

Image Sources (from left to right, clockwise): Freja Hall; Plush Fabric Swatches via Fabric.com; Living Room via Evil Chef Mom; Balder Hall.