Minimalism is not the absence of decisions. It is a small number of decisions made very well, which is why it is harder than it looks and cheaper than it appears.
In this guide
- The principle
- Palette
- Flowers and foliage
- Table and room
- Attire and stationery
- Where minimalism saves and where it costs
The principle
One material, one shape, repeated. A minimalist wedding achieves impact through scale and repetition rather than variety — thirty identical candles down a bare table, one enormous arrangement instead of six small ones, a single typeface used at three sizes.
Every addition has to earn its place, and most do not.
Palette
Two colours maximum, one of them a neutral. Ivory and black. Bone and olive. White on white with texture doing the work. If you want colour, put all of it in one place — the bouquet, or the napkins, or nothing else.
Flowers and foliage
- One variety, in volume, rather than mixed arrangements
- Structural stems: calla lily, anthurium, single-stem roses, branches
- Bud vases in a repeated line down the table
- Or no flowers at all: candles, glass and linen
- A single-stem bouquet, which photographs beautifully and costs almost nothing
Table and room
Bare timber or crisp linen, no runner, no charger plates, no confetti. Clear or smoked glassware. One printed menu per setting and a place card with the guest's name — in a minimalist room, paper is the detail, so it has to be right.
Empty space is a design choice. Resist filling it.
Attire and stationery
Clean lines, no lace, no embellishment, excellent fabric. For stationery: one sans-serif or one high-quality serif, generous white space, single-colour printing, heavy uncoated stock. Blind debossing or a single foil detail is as decorative as it should get.
Where minimalism saves and where it costs
It saves enormously on decor, flowers and hire. It costs on quality, because with nothing to hide behind, cheap linen, thin paper and bad lighting are visible. Spend the decor budget you saved on fewer, better things — and on lighting.
From Sagevow
Pick a palette once and every piece — signage, menus, numbers, place cards — arrives matched to it.
