First things first, what exactly is an ‘inspiration board’? Some of you may be picturing the collages you used to make with photos cut out of Seventeen Magazine…
An inspiration board is simply a collection of photos that include elements you’d like to see in your event. While a physical board is nice to touch and feel, we see inspiration boards most commonly on Pinterest and Instagram.
When event designers look at your inspiration board, there are a few key things they are looking for to drive design.
Identify your key elements: color and tangible inspiration.
Color will be the engine that drives everything else! Whether you come to a consultation with a full palette or one main color, this is a huge help to any event designer.
What is something physical that drives your inspiration? What’s that one thing you saw that made you decide to go in a certain design direction?
This could be a swatch of a dress, a nursery item, wrapping paper or wallpaper, or really anything you find yourself drawn to.
A physical item isn’t necessary for an inspiration board, but it’s fun to hold something that represents your event. Don't feel pressured to find something - only if you have it.
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Whether you come to a consultation with a full palette or one main color, this is a huge help to any event designer.
Choose 3 of your favorite bouquet pictures and know what you like about each.
At a Miss Milly’s event consultation, we always ask to see three different bouquet pictures that you like so we can fully understand your floral style. What to look for in narrowing your inspiration down to three:
1 - One bouquet with a shape that you love (Round, fluffy, cascading, etc.)
2 - One bouquet with an overall style you love (Greenery, wild, full, etc.)
3 - One bouquet with colors you love
As you begin adding floral inspiration to your board, start to ask yourself some questions to understand exactly what it is you like about the photos you’re drawn to.
Is there a specific flower you notice in each photo you like?
Can you find a common factor in the photos you love?
Can you identify trends you gravitate towards?
Use our tried and true Pinterest hacks 👑
We’ve been around Pinterest a time or two…
When we’re looking for inspiration for an event or just browsing for fun, we always do these things:
If you’re looking for baby shower inspiration, try adding the words “celebrity” or “upscale” to your search. Otherwise, all you’ll find is paper plates and diaper games. (No hate to the paper plate and diaper game community.)
Utilize captions so you can write down what you like about a certain photo before you send it to your design team or forget about it.
Use detailed keywords: baby shower florals, organic brides bouquet, pink florals, etc.
Search outside of your event. YES!! Certain styles are not tied to specific events. We can easily take a picture of an upscale baby shower and make it a gorgeous wedding look.
V IMPORTANT: Please don’t bring us the inspiration board you’ve been building since you were 15!
Okay yes, you’ve likely been adding to your wedding Pinterest board since you were in middle school…but your style has probably changed since those awkward days of gauchos and infinity scarves. 😬
Try grabbing the few photos that stuck and using those to start fresh.
Be careful not to put too much on your inspiration board because what you find evolves - go back and refine as you go.
If creating your own inspiration board feels overwhelming, that's what we're here for.
With just your colors and overall style direction, we love to run with it!
The inspiration board is the launching pad for your event, not the blue print. We’ll never copy your inspiration exactly, because this is where we begin to make your event your own.
BROWSE OTHER BLOGS FOR MORE INSPIRATION AND TIPS
