Petals & Plans: Crafting Your Vision Board

Planning an event can be both exciting and overwhelming. Whether you’re dreaming up a romantic wedding, a dinner party, or a grand celebration, one of the best ways to turn your ideas into reality is by creating a vision board. At Willow & Thistle, we believe that every memorable event starts with a clear and beautiful vision. 

Let’s explore how you can use a vision board to gather inspiration, spark creativity, and set the foundation for your event's floral and design concepts, including insight from Sales Manager, Kristen Montgomery.  

Why is it helpful when clients come in with a vision board, and how does this make the planning process easier? “A vision board is used to highlight key elements or the event’s floral arrangements and design. This makes it easier for you to understand exactly what the client wants, rather than relying solely on verbal descriptions. By offering immediate insight into the client's taste, style, and aesthetic preferences. This is particularly helpful in creative fields (like floral and event design), where visual cues are crucial to aligning the final outcome with the client's vision.” 

What Is a Vision Board? 

A vision board is a curated collection of images, colors, textures, and words that visually capture the essence of your event. It’s more than just a collage—it's a tangible representation of your ideas and aspirations. Whether you’re planning an ethereal garden wedding or a chic corporate event, a vision board helps solidify your aesthetic and guides your decisions throughout the planning process. 

Why Create a Vision Board? 

1. Clarify Your Vision: It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by endless Pinterest boards and social media inspiration. A vision board helps you focus on the themes, colors, and elements that truly resonate with your vision. Ultimately, this helps in prioritizing what elements are truly important.  

2. Enhance Collaboration: Sharing your vision board with our team allows us to work with you toward a cohesive design, ensuring that your ideas are brought to life just as you imagined (or even better). 

3. Make Confident Decisions: When you’re confident in your vision, decision-making becomes a breeze. You’ll feel more assured when choosing floral arrangements, linens, décor, and other elements. 

Ultimately, our job is to make you happy by designing the event of your dreams. With that said, the more inspiration that you are able to show us the better. 

An example of a vision board that incorporates bright pinks, oranges and yellows. Showing floral designs, invitation designs, and bridesmaid dresses.

How to Create Your Vision Board 

1. Gather Your Inspiration: Start by collecting photos, fabric swatches, color palettes, and other materials that capture your aesthetic. Think about floral arrangements you love, unique décor ideas, and ambiance styles. As designers, we gather inspiration everywhere, and you should too!  

2. Choose Your Medium: A physical vision board made with a corkboard and pins can feel tangible and personal, while a digital version on platforms like Pinterest or Canva allows you to easily edit and rearrange ideas. Any medium works for us, as long as you are able to share your inspiration with us. Feel free to share a link to a Pinterest board or snap a photo and email us a physical board.  

3. Curate with Intention: Be selective with your choices. Focus on colors, textures, and floral styles that align with your vision. But remember, we’re here to help.  Once you have a color palette and some examples that you like, we are able to meet with you and share options that would bring your vision to life.  

4. Add Personal Touches: Incorporate words or phrases that capture your vibe, such as “elegant garden,” “vintage romance,” or “modern luxury.” Adding handwritten notes or personal sketches can also make it feel more tailored to your style. You may also choose to add feelings to your vision board by answering the question, “how do I want my event design to make people feel when they look at it?” This is where the art of color theory can apply.  

Bringing Your Vision to Life with Willow & Thistle 

Arriving at your consultation with a vision board allows the Willow & Thistle team to get a glimpse into your inspiration. The clearer vision that you have, the better we are able to create an event design that you will love. Whether you're planning an elegant wedding or a vibrant celebration, we’ll work with your vision to create stunning, cohesive designs that exceed your expectations. 

After we discuss some of the details that you like (and don’t like) our Sales Manager, Kristen Montgomery, will sit with you to discuss all of the different ways that our team can bring your vision to life. Utilizing the Curate Software, she will deliver you a clear picture of the elements included in your proposal while ensuring budget-friendly pricing.  

How does curate allow clients to get a better visual representation of how their vision board will be brought to life? “Curate allows planners to create digital mockups of the design elements and ideas that align with the client’s vision board. By uploading images or creating visual designs, planners can provide clients with realistic visual representations of how their ideas will be executed. This makes it easier for clients to visualize the final look and feel of their event or project.” 

How does Curate give clients a better idea of budget-friendly pricing? “Curate integrates budgeting features that allow clients to see the cost breakdown of each design or item they choose. This helps them better understand how their vision can be translated into reality within their budget, providing a more complete picture of the planning process.” 

Ready to get started? Reach out to us to schedule a consultation and let’s turn your vision into reality with breathtaking floral artistry and inspired event design. “Overall, a vision board acts as a powerful tool to align both the client's expectations and your strategy, ultimately leading to a smoother, more efficient planning process.”  Creating a vision board is not only fun but essential in bringing your ideas to life. Let Willow & Thistle help you make those dreams a reality with custom floral arrangements and expertly styled decor. Happy planning! 

Willow & Thistle Floral & Event Design is a boutique studio specializing in floral designs and event styling for weddings, corporate events, memorials, and social gatherings of all kinds. From bouquets and elegant centerpieces to custom installations and full-scale event decor, Willow & Thistle’s experienced team is dedicated to making every event memorable.