Helpful Lingo You Should Know When Planning Your Wedding
As with any other industry, there’s a lot of wedding-specific jargon that can be confusing if you’ve never been exposed to it before. Maybe this is your first rodeo in the wedding world, and the language vendors use sounds as exotic as ancient Latin. Before meeting with a florist or wedding planner, you might want to brush up on some wedding lingo so that you understand what they are saying. Studying up on these terms will also help you to express your needs clearly. Your florist and planner will be sure to notice you know what you’re talking about, and will be happy that everyone is speaking the same language! Grab a pen and paper, put your studying cap on, and take note on these helpful wedding lingo terms:
Boutonniere: A cluster of floral elements wrapped in ribbon, usually pinned on the lapel of a suit. Grooms and groomsmen typically wear these on a wedding day.
Bud vase: A petite vase that holds only a few blooms. These are great to sprinkle throughout long tables in between compotes.
Compote: A footed vase- usually low to the table, that allows for the flowers to sprawl and be slightly elevated. Great for long or round dinner tables.
Escort card table: This is how guests find out which table they are assigned to. Usually you will see little tented cards displaying names with the table number inside.
Personal Flowers: Any flowers that are held or worn by a member of the wedding party, as well as your family members. Pieces that fall under this category are things like the bridal bouquet, bridesmaid’s bouquets, boutonnieres, wrist corsages, and hair flowers.
Place cards: These are typically at the tables already- showing people which seats are theirs. Usually place cards are only for small weddings or for the guests at the head table.
Room flip: This is the process of transforming the ceremony space into the reception space. This typically takes place during cocktail hour, and requires the vendor team to move and situate tables, chairs, decor, and more quickly and efficiently so that the room is set in time for the reception to begin.
Seating chart: This is an alternative to the escort card table. Instead of little cards for guests to pick up and take, the names and tables are simply written on a board.
Taper candle: A tall slim candle- usually seen with a glass shield over it (most venues have this regulation for fire safety). We love these candles- they come in all different colors and create drama and height variances.
Meg Adamik Creative; Rachael Kazmier Photography
Votive: A short candle holder- usually sprinkled throughout your tablescape to create great mood lighting.
Great job for making it through our vocab list! Which terms did you just learn, and which did you already know? Just make sure to brush up on these terms once again before meetings with your vendors, and you’ll be golden! It’ll make planning things a million times easier since everyone is speaking the same language. Share this blog post with your partner so that they’re up to speed, too (and make sure to quiz them so you know they did their homework!).