Decorate your chosen reception venue in a style that infuses lush green ferns, soft mosses, pheasant feathers, natural linens, tall vintage candles, warm glowing tea lights and modern design to create a feeling of enchantment and romance. This warm, inviting style creates a relaxed ambience where guests feel comfortable and want to stay a while - as if in your own home. Create it yourself with our simple instructions and tips! Tablescaping

Start with texture. The mellow colour and texture of a timber table is the perfect canvas for a woodland-inspired table setting. The fresh moss table runner, pots of ferns and bracken, immediately creates an inviting woodland feel. Two elegant metal candle sticks take prime position while cosy amber tea lights are tucked amongst the moss adding warmth and colour. Natural linen napkins embellished with pheasant feathers and hand-written place cards are tied with jute. A discarded needlepoint holder, normally used for flower arranging, is used to display table numbers. Tubes of found tree bark hot-glued together and tied with string make a natural holder for the table menus.

Pheasant feathers available from www.feather.com.au Calligraphy by www.callinstyle.com

Construction of the Tablescape

Prep the surface: Begin by making a runner from heavy-duty plastic to stop any moisture from the moss damaging the surface of the table. Cover the plastic with a runner of Hessian or linen.

Coordinating the table: Start the table styling by placing the biggest items in position first, for example, the candle sticks and the dinner plates, to get an accurate idea of how wide to make the moss runner. Follow this by placing the biggest potted ferns in position. To achieve a modern cohesive style to the table, it is best to place the plants evenly down the centre. Once you are happy with the position of the plants, start filling in the gaps with fresh moss making sure you cover the plastic pots completely. Finish the display by adding smaller pots of maiden hair fern and tea lights in between the bigger plants. Replace the dinner plates with fresh plates and finish setting the table.

The beauty of using potted plants is that they can be recycled and given to friends for their garden. Large and small potted ferns can be purchased from nurseries; bags of moss from flower markets or ordered in advance from your local florist. Wedding Favours

For cute favours that will grow on your guests, and in keeping with our woodland style, potted seedlings can be given as gifts. Wrap plants in Kraft paper cylinders and tie with hand-written thank-you-tags. They look lovely lined up ready for guests to receive. Hand written tags by www.callinstyle.com

Keep the family and friends who can't make it to the wedding up-to-date with the day's happenings by encouraging Instagram photos. Make the Instagram sign by hot-gluing a wreath made from vines to a piece of plywood painted with chalkboard paint.

The clean lines and simple colour palette work beautifully with the three-tiered cake, the fresh ferns giving a novel approach to an otherwise traditional design. When displayed on a slice of wood, the texture of the tree bark works harmoniously with the softness of the ferns.

To make the cake topper you will need a handful of ready-made fondant icing and some ferns. Knead the fondant until soft and pliable and shape into a mound that can sit on top of the cake. Insert the ferns into the icing until no fondant is visible and the desired effect is achieved. Add a little royal icing to the top of the cake and place the fern display in position. Once in position, add a few extra stems to cascade down the sides of the cake.

Add extra ferns to the base of the cake, holding them in place with royal icing. An added touch is writing the couple's name on the cake display stand using a white ink pen.

Set the Scene

With the current popularity of anything retro, the revival of ferns as a decorating feature is back in fashion. Popular in the 70's and used widely in interior design, they look beautiful and elegant when arranged with candlesticks and table accessories and add a harmonious green vibrancy to the softly coloured room. Using them in lieu of flowers, petite potted ferns bring a welcome touch of the outdoors inside and effectively turn an understated room into an enchanted forest. Moss has been used to hide the containers and give the impression of the forest floor. Amber tea lights are randomly scattered amongst the ferns and the moss adding a warm seductive glow to the table display.

When it comes to contemporary styling, simplicity is the key. Keep to monochromatic hues for the table centrepiece, uniform textures and clean lines, to create a very chic, elegant and sophisticated statement. Get your guests talking with an unusual table number holder and menu presentation.

Set up a corner for after dinner drinks for lovers of sweet dessert wines. A timber slab has been used instead of a tray for the display. Second-hand decanters found in a charity store look inviting when filled with coloured liqueurs for guests to sip and enjoy after dinner.

Ambient Candlelight

The gentle radiance of candlelight brings a simple vignette to life creating a romantic atmosphere. Simply arrange an assortment of candles on a large tray. At dusk, light them and leave them to glow into the evening.

Vignettes

Create vignettes in empty spaces or corners for visual impact. A decorative display within themselves, vignettes can be made from a selection of inexpensive pieces. A random selection of items has been collected and grouped together to create an interesting visual effect.

Shot on location at Watsons Bay Boutique Hotel Photography by Gui Jorge

This is an adaptation from Modern Wedding DIY magazine 4th Edition. For more styling inspiration, creative ideas and easy projects grab a copy of Modern Wedding DIY magazine 5th Edition at your local newsagent or purchase the latest edition as well as back issues through our Modern Wedding magazine shop.

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