Wedding Ideas and Planning Tips from Industry Professionals here at Ybarra Events

Wedding planners are more than just event planners. We're designers, problem-solvers, coordinators, budgeteers, part-time therapists, and friends to the couples and families who are entrusting us to help them with their events. Since we're on friendly terms now, here are some tips and tricks to the trade of navigating wedding planning! 

The Best Forest Wedding

Decor Ideas to Try

By Wendy- CV Linens

updated: 03-10-2023

Weddings are primarily held indoors, but there are many perks to bringing a wedding outdoors, from stress reduction to an increased romantic vibe. No wonder couples who want something different and magical would experiment with a forest wedding decor and concept. It could be a wedding in an actual forest or an outdoor venue filled with faux greenery wall panels and a scattering of trees. You can give your clients a better idea of what might unfold during a forest wedding if you offer several ideas.

Like many other wedding concepts, it helps to plan every detail of a wedding ceremony and reception. It means thinking of the table setting, centerpieces, bridal look, floral setup, entourage’s look, venue lights, wedding cake decor, and more. Run these by the couple to ensure they will be on board with the forest wedding of their dreams. Then, start looking for a reliable supplier where you can get as many wedding decorations as you can to avoid the hassle of jumping from one store to the next.

What do you mean by a forest-themed wedding?

Forests are beautiful and mystical, so couples who want something unique on their big day are drawn to these natural settings. They make people feel like they are in a different world, where time runs differently. Couples who want this atmosphere would tell you they want to tie the knot in the forest or at least get a forest-y vibe through their wedding decors.

A forest-themed wedding may look laidback, using what nature provides with a few enhancements like fairy lights, drapes, and backdrops. Or, it may go all-out magical from a fairytale. Whatever the couple chooses, a simple or an enchanted forest wedding decor, it will benefit them in the following ways:

Romantic

Nothing beats having the sky as the venue’s canopy. If the couple plans to host a reception at night and the weather is nice, all the guests need to do is look up at the stars in the sky.

Spacious

Outdoor weddings have the advantage of space. A forest wedding is perfect for couples with an extensive guest list.

Less formal

Holding the wedding outdoors means the couple and their guests can be less formal. Everyone can look casual, but if the couple decides to go the other way, they must spell out what they want the guests to wear.

Natural lighting

Wedding photos will likely look stunning with all the natural lighting bathing everyone. If the wedding is in the afternoon, think of all the sunset’s warm color tones. Assist the couple in coordinating with their photographer to establish their desired photo concepts.

Kid-friendly

Guests who are parents bringing kids over to the wedding can breathe a little easier because, provided there is a guardian, the kids have space to roam around.

What forest wedding decor ideas should you use?

Be as detailed as you can be when you ask questions about the forest wedding decor the couple wants. Here are a few design ideas to consider:

• If the couple chooses to hold their ceremony in the middle of the forest with thick foliage around, the first thing to do is to mark the entrance. The spot should be cleared. It might help to put a wedding arch, which can be filled with more foliage or faux flowers.

• Mark the aisle. Again, you may use foliage along with a few faux flowers. The forest is lush, but the aisle will appear a lot in the photos. Another look would be to use candles along the aisle’s length. Elegant candelabras can make the aisle seem like a part of a fairytale.

• The trees look great as they are, but you can dress them up a bit to make them stand out even more. Remember that these trees are the ultimate backdrop to the wedding. You can tie a cluster of flowers to the trees, especially the ones close to the altar.

• Give the altar some special treatment. It could be an elevated wooden platform, a whole wedding arch backdrop with lots of leaves and flowers, or even a chandelier.

• Many weddings involve chairs with chair covers and sashes, but some setups may require bare seats. If the couple wants the chairs to look like a part of a color scheme, especially if they want more white against the lush background, chair covers are easy to acquire from a trusted wedding supplier.

• At the reception, the tables may be covered with crisp white linen or brown ones, whatever complements the wedding theme. You can add glimmering candelabras and blooms as the centerpiece and complete the table setting with napkins and gold linens.

How do you organize a wedding in the forest?

Organizing a wedding while incorporating enchanted forest wedding decorations is far from your typical wedding. It takes dedication to pull this off because you have Mother Nature to consider. Even if you choose to hold the big day at a venue far from the forest, you still need to source faux trees and lush foliage to complete the look.

But first, help the couple choose a venue. If they want an authentic forest feel, look for a spot with many trees but enough clearing where everyone can sit to watch the exchange of I dos and have a festive meal afterward. If the weather permits, you don’t need a canopy over everyone when you have the tree leaves taking care of that. But you can spruce the place up with modern neon signs or event drapes.

Let the couple pick a color scheme. The forest setting in itself is already filled with green, so contrasting colors might be a good idea. Why not use cream-colored tablecloths and deep colors of burgundy faux flowers as the centerpiece? You can also combine soft pastel colors with brown, tan, and mossy gray.

As mentioned earlier, there is lots of room to move around regarding forest wedding decor. You can play around with the lush foliage and trees as your natural background and spruce things up to achieve the enchanted look the couple wants. There are flower wall backdrops, candelabras on the aisle, drapes hanging from tree to tree, a wedding arch at the altar, white tablecloths and linens, and more. Now, all you need to make this enchanted forest wedding come to life is to find a reliable provider for all the wedding supplies you will need.

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About Tara: 

Tara Ybarra, Co-Owner and Event Planner for Ybarra Events, has been in the Wedding Industry for over 20 years. From Photographer, to Wedding Cake Artist, to Florist, to Officiant, and now Wedding Planner, her accumilated experience, paired with her College Courses in Event Planning, have given her the experience she has today. Blogging gives her an opportunity to share that knowledge with her readers. 

Ybarra Events is located in California’s spectacular Napa Valley. Ybarra Events are the pièce de résistance of wedding planners. Run by the dynamic duo of Tara and James Ybarra, they help couples organize, design, and plan their nuptials at some of the most fabulous and luxurious wedding venues in Napa, Sonoma, San Francisco, and Beyond. Chat with them today to start planning the wine-country wedding of your dreams.