Peak inside our process: Style vs. Theme

So, while remarking on the gown worn by the newly wedded Duchess of Cambridge (a.k.a. Kate Middleton) someone said, "I thought it [the gown] was going to be a little more glamorous". Now considering that the Queen of England (her new Mother-in-law) is the head of the Church of England, the etiquette and the style of the occasion (a formal, high-noon church wedding) the drama, flash and bling of a "Glamorous" look just wouldn't have been appropriate. This got me thinking about the roles that "Style and Theme" play in the Wedding or Special Event Design process.

There are a lot of my favorite Planner/Designer colleagues who know how to design beautifully. They know how to create a flawless, consistent and streamline look for their Clients. Their skills and experience come through in every event they create. When I conduct a Design Consultation with a Client I like to take them through a few exercises that I've developed to help us both understand their "Style" as well as any "theme" that may come into play.

Unfortunately, it seems like there's a number of Planners/Designers out there that don't practice this step or have any kind of design structure that takes these concepts in mind. I've noticed a few mis-matched styles desperately (and usually randomly) tossed together with the Theme being the only thing in common. This is done in hopes that the "Theme" would somehow tie everything together. More often than not the result is a slightly off to overwhelmingly disjointed look. An interesting look but lacking a since of linear flow and visual consistency.

Here's the problem.

If you create an overall event design look with a theme but do not take the time to identify and develop a structure involving the actual style, the look is usually not cohesive. With lost of interesting but varying components, the overall look is as if several different parties (with a lot of nice elements) just "crashed together". A bit of a visual mess.

The solution...

Develop an event design and concept using your Theme and Style in mind. Let's start by understanding what a Theme is and then identifying Style.

What is Theme? Well, Theme is easy - It's the broad concept, message or idea of the event. In Event Design, Theme is the "message" or "idea" that will be carried throughout the look and feel of the event. It may be a signal topic, season, element, destination, Holiday, etc. Themes can range from subtle to over the top and there are literally hundreds of Themes to choose from; Winter Wonderland, Alice in Wonderland, Beach or Tropical, Hollywood Glamour, English Garden, so on and so on.

Now for Style. Funny, Style is one of those words that almost everyone has used but very few understand a formal definition of. Style is the artistic category, prevailing mode, aestheic value and/or structural composition in which an idea is carried. It can also refer to the phystical techniques used. It's what I consider to be one of the key developmental steps that some miss during the event design process. Style is the vehicle in which your theme will be delivered. The type of materials, flowers, accents, fabrics colors, etc. can all reflect the Style. In Design there are generally 7 distinct Styles. The type of materials, flowers, fabrics, accents, etc used can all create convey a specific "Style" as it presents a theme. Depending on the type of event, like that of a wedding, we may have to merge more than one style. Here are just a few examples of the same "Theme" (Tropical) reflected in a few different "Styles" ranging from Modern to Eclectic.