What is Wedding Design and Do You Need It?
Not sure what a wedding designer actually does? You’re not alone. For most couples, planning a wedding is a crash course in new roles, unfamiliar terms, and decisions they didn’t see coming. You’ve probably heard of planners, stylists and decorators but wedding designers focus on something different. A wedding designer combines parts of all three.
A wedding designer will create the visual style, plan the layout, design the atmosphere, and, when needed, build custom décor or installations to make your wedding truly unique. The biggest difference? A wedding designer uses design to create the ultimate guest and couple experience, making sure your wedding isn’t just beautiful, but feels exactly how you want it to from start to finish.
If you care about both how your wedding looks and how it works for the people in it, a wedding designer can make a massive difference.
What does a Wedding Designer actually do? And is it the same as a Stylist & Decorator?
These three roles often get mixed up, but they aren’t the same. Here’s a simple breakdown:
A Wedding Decorator
A Wedding Decorator focuses on the setup. Their job is to install the wedding hire items you’ve chosen such as things like furniture, lighting, and draping. Their job is to make sure it all looks presentable and set up as per the plan.
They don’t usually get involved in the creative direction or design planning. You tell them where things go and they set it up. The wedding decorator is great for couples who know exactly what décor items they want and where they want them to go.
A Wedding Stylist
A Wedding Stylist focuses on the look. They help choose colours, décor, and layout using mostly pre designed or hireable items. A good stylist will create a cohesive look that fits your wedding ideas and look.
A wedding stylist is generally working within standard hire ranges, existing wedding props, and common design templates. An example of this might be that they recreate an image you have found of a certain style in your wedding venue.
A Wedding Designer
A Wedding Designer does everything a stylist does and more. They start with your story and vision, then design the full experience:
- The visual style (colours, textures, décor)
- The layout and flow of your ceremony and reception
- The guest and couple experience ensuring comfort, atmosphere, and energy are right at every stage
- And, when needed, custom décor or installations created just for your wedding
Where a planner focuses on managing timelines, suppliers, and logistics, a designer focuses on shaping the environment so your wedding feels connected, personal, and effortless for everyone there.
Think of the designer as the creative director of your wedding. They’re not just putting things together, they’re building something unique, from the ground up, just for you. Most Importantly they are creating an environment through styling and other things that enhances the wedding experience.
Custom Wedding Design vs. Off-the-Shelf Wedding Styling: What's the Difference?
Most wedding styling falls into one of two categories:
Off-the-Shelf Wedding Styling
This approach uses pre-selected items from standard hire ranges such as chairs, linens, centrepieces, props which are then arranged to suit a chosen wedding style or colour palette.
Pros:
- It’s quicker
- It can look beautiful
Cons:
- It’s not as personalised and customised
- It can look similar to other weddings at the same venue
Custom Wedding Design
This is where we work with you to design something truly unique and not just choosing from what’s available, but creating new, bespoke décor soultions that reflect your story and suit your venue perfectly.
Pros:
- It tells your story visually
- It transforms the space in ways you haven’t seen before
- It allows for venue specific design solutions
- It makes your wedding unique and unforgettable to you
Cons:
- It costs a lot more money
- It requires a lot more lead time to create custom décor
- It requires a lot more time to set up/pack down
At Feel Good Events, we offer both, but our design clients usually want more than just a look. They want a feeling, a mood, a unique wedding experience, and often, something no one’s seen before.
Why Most Weddings Don't Feel Quite Right Without Design
It’s easy to focus on how a wedding looks, but the experience is what people remember. A wedding can look beautiful yet still feel off. If the room layout makes conversation awkward, the lighting is unflattering, or the energy dips between key moments, guests will notice this even if they can’t explain why.
When no one is looking at the bigger picture, your wedding can feel disjointed. The space might be decorated but lack warmth, or the styling might suit Instagram but not the people in the room.
Common signs of missing or poor design:
- A room that feels empty or cramped
- Guests unsure where to go or what’s happening next
- Long pauses or clunky transitions between ceremony, reception, and dancing
- A quiet dance floor that never really kicks off
- Styling that looks nice but feels generic or disconnected
- Seating layouts that make mingling harder than it should be
Good design fixes all of this. It’s not just about spending more, it’s about thinking and planning intentionally. Layout, styling, and thoughtful timing work together to create a wedding that’s relaxed, engaging, and full of the right kind of energy.
Here are some signs that your designer may be focused only on the look and not the experience:
A well styled wedding might impress at first glance, but it won’t carry the event if the energy feels off or the atmosphere feels flat. Great design isn’t just about what people see it’s about how everything works together to shape the mood, movement, and connection throughout the day. If your designer isn’t thinking that way, there’s a good chance important details are being missed.
- They never ask how you want the day to feel
- They only talk about “the look” never about layout or guest experience
- They don’t ask about your venue’s timing, access or restrictions
- They don’t consider how the mood shifts throughout the day
- They don’t talk about lighting, energy, or atmosphere
- They suggest items just because they look good on Instagram or are on trend
- They leave layout decisions entirely up to you
- They never mention your guests at all
Is Wedding Design Right For You?
Not every couple needs a wedding designer, but every couple does need a clear plan. At Feel Good Events, we work with two types of clients.
One is those who just need to hire décor and have everything already figured out on where it will go.
The other type of client is those who want expert help pulling it all together and care about the overall wedding experience. Here’s how to know which one you are:
Option 1: You Already Know Exactly What You Want
Hire Clients Only
If you’ve already made all the styling decisions, know exactly what décor items you want, how many, and are confident managing your venue logistics, you probably don’t need our wedding design service. You just need to hire the items and have our team deliver, set up, and pack them down. This is where you just need our wedding decorating service.
Here’s what a hire only client is responsible for:
- Choosing all products and quantities yourself from our hire range
- Making sure everything fits within your venue’s layout and size
- Providing a detailed floor plan showing where each item goes
- Making sure all your items suit your venue’s rules e.g. no open flames, weight restrictions, anchoring limits, height restrictions etc
- Organising and managing all communication with your venue
- Confirming access times for delivery and pack down
- Ensuring bump in/out is possible within the venue’s timeframes
- Deciding on furniture and décor placement, spacing, and layout
- Coordinating how all your hire items will work with any other suppliers e.g. florist, caterer, band, photo booth, etc.
- Managing the overall look and making sure it all ties together
- Taking responsibility for how everything looks and feels on the day
This option works well if you’re confident, hands on, and have a clear styling plan. But if even a few of those things feel overwhelming, you’re likely better suited to our design service.
Option 2: You Have Ideas, But Need Help Bringing it All Together
Design Clients
If you’ve got plenty of inspiration but no clear direction, or you don’t want the pressure of working out all the details on your own then you’ll benefit from our wedding design service.
This is perfect for couples who:
- Have saved lots of images, but feel stuck translating it into a real plan
- Don’t know what hire items are actually needed to create the look
- Are unsure what will work in their venue or how much is too much or not enough
- Don’t want to create floor plans or manage item placement themselves
- Don’t want to liaise with the venue or solve logistics problems
- Feel overwhelmed and just want someone to take it off their plate
With our wedding design service, we help you develop a clear vision, create the plan, choose the right items, and handle all the setup, layout, and styling on the day. We charge a design fee based on complexity and scope, but it saves you hours of stress and ensures your wedding actually feels like you.
Hire Only vs. Design Service: Which One Fits You?
| Category | Hire Only Client | Design Client |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Already know exactly what décor you want | Have ideas but no clear plan |
| Décor Choices | You choose all products, colours, and quantities | We help choose products, colours, and quantities |
| Layout | You provide a detailed floor plan | We create a layout that suits your venue and guests |
| Venue Coordination | You handle all venue communication and logistics | We liaise with the venue and suppliers |
| Custom Design | No custom pieces, only standard hire items | Can include custom décor or unique installations |
| On the Day Styling | We install what you’ve specified | We style and arrange everything to match your vision |
| Your Role | Full responsibility for planning and decisions | We guide you through the design process |
| Best For | Confident planners who enjoy managing the details | Couples who want a stress free, cohesive, and personalised wedding |
What Wedding Design means at Feel Good Events
At Feel Good Events, wedding design is about more than choosing décor. It’s about shaping the atmosphere and making sure your wedding works for the people in it from the couple, your families, and your guests.
We start with our Feel Good Formula, built around one essential question: “How do you want people to feel at your wedding?”
From there, we design everything to match that vision from mood, layout, lighting, styling, and party energy. It might mean creating a dramatic first impression, transforming a blank venue into something intimate, or designing a feature that becomes a talking point.
This approach blends creativity with practicality. Every choice is made to suit your personality, your venue, and how you want the wedding day to unfold. This is so the whole day feels natural and connected from the first guest arrival to the last song.
To us, this is more than just styling. It’s the difference between a wedding that looks nice and a wedding that feels how you imagined it.
The Feel Good Wedding Design Formula Involves:
- Designing a mood that matches your personality and wedding goals
- Stimulating the senses through sight, sound, texture, taste, and movement
- Creating custom layouts and installations that suit your venue
- Planning the guest experience from start to finish from the party energy, comfort and natural progression of the night
- Taking the mental load off you, so you can enjoy the process and the day
This approach allows us to build weddings that feel personal, purposeful, and completely unique. Whether that means creating a one-of-a-kind ceremony setup, or just ensuring your furniture, lighting, décor, and layout all work beautifully together.
What Does Wedding Design Cost at Feel Good Events?
At Feel Good Events, our design pricing is simple and transparent. We offer a base design fee of $990 (including GST), which covers everything needed to create your custom styling plan, including:
- A 30-minute discovery call
- Custom mood board and visual concept
- Tailored layout or venue floor plan
- Up to two design revisions
- All venue communication and logistics
- Full installation and pack down coordination
We call this the Feel Good Standard design fee which is the foundation that ensures your wedding looks and feels together, styled, and effortless.
Optional Design Service Add Ons
If your wedding requires extra work (like site visits, working with other wedding suppliers, or custom built decorations, we’ll quote these upfront. Some examples:
- Site visits: $150 per visit
- Coordination with external suppliers: $330 per supplier
- Custom décor builds: Price on application
- Extra design revisions: $110 per revision
You’ll only pay for what you actually need with no bundles full of stuff you don’t want. To get an accurate quote on your wedding design fee, contact our office with your requirements.
What Will the Total Cost Be?
The total decorating investment depends on three main components:
- Design Fee (as above)
- Décor Hire – the products and styling elements used for your wedding.
- Delivery & Installation – professional setup, pack down, and transport
Most of our wedding design clients start at around $10,000 which includes the design fee, décor hire and installation.
What You Gain by Investing in Wedding Design & What Wedding Design Really Saves You
We get it, when you’re planning a wedding, every dollar counts. And on the surface, a design service might sound like something you can skip to save money. But here’s the reality, most couples who try to do it all themselves end up spending more. It costs them in time, stress, and last minute fixes than if they’d just had someone guide the process from the start.
Hiring a professional wedding designer isn’t about doing more. It’s about making better, smarter decisions and having someone who can pull everything together in a way that actually works in your venue, your budget, and your timeline.
Here’s What You Really Gain:
- Avoid wasted spend on the wrong hire items — no more over ordering or choosing things that don’t suit your venue
- No time lost researching products, colours, layouts, or how to make it all fit
- Confidence in your plan — no second guessing whether you’ve forgotten something important
- A smoother wedding day — everything flows better because it was designed with your guests and venue in mind
- One team, one plan, no last minute chaos — no juggling suppliers or trying to be your own creative director on the day
- Less emotional stress — we take the mental load off so you can actually enjoy the process
And yes, there’s a design fee based on the scope and complexity of your wedding. In most cases though, that fee saves you time, stress, and budget blowouts that cost far more in the long run.
Think of it this way: you can either try to DIY a design process you’ve never done before or you can hand it over to people who do this every week, know what works, and care deeply about making your wedding feel like you.
Final Thoughts: It's More Than Just Décor
You get one shot at this day. And while the flowers and furniture matter, what people will remember most is how the day felt the atmosphere, the laughter, the energy in the room.
That’s why we don’t just style weddings. We design the atmosphere. We create weddings that aren’t just beautiful, but emotionally memorable.
If that’s the kind of day you want, we’d love to help you bring it to life.
Hiring a professional wedding designer isn’t about doing more. It’s about making better, smarter decisions and having someone who can pull everything together in a way that actually works in your venue, your budget, and your timeline.
Author – Marcus Prentice – Partyologist, Wedding Planner & Designer
Book a design consult to starting planning your dream wedding!
Wedding Design FAQs
Still not sure if it’s right for you?
We get a lot of questions from couples who are unsure if wedding design is something they need or if it’s just a nice extra. Here are some of the most common questions we hear and honest answers to help you decide.
Do I need a wedding designer if I already have a planner?
Not necessarily, but they do different things.
A planner focuses on logistics like timelines, run sheets, supplier bookings and management, and making sure the day runs smoothly. A designer focuses on how the day looks, feels, flows, and functions from a visual and guest experience point of view.
If you want someone to take care of both the aesthetics and the emotional atmosphere, a designer is essential.
Can I still use my own décor if I hire you for design?
Yes. We’re happy to work with some select items you already have, especially if they’re sentimental or important to you. Our job is to make sure they fit seamlessly into the overall look and layout.
If something doesn’t work well with your venue, we’ll let you know and suggest better options from our range.
What if I don't have a huge budget?
Wedding design isn’t just for big budget weddings, it’s about making smart, intentional choices so your money goes where it matters.
We help you avoid unnecessary spend, reduce hire wastage, and get the most impact from your budget. We’ve worked with all kinds of budgets and can scale the design based on what’s realistic for you.
Will you work with other suppliers?
Yes, that’s part of the service.
We’ll coordinate with your venue about floor plans, access times, and styling restrictions. We’ll also work around your florist, entertainment, or any other suppliers to make sure the design and logistics run smoothly.
How much involvement do I have in the design process?
As much or as little as you want.
Some clients want to be hands on with mood boards and colours. Others just want to hand over their Pinterest folder and let us take it from there. We’ll check in with you throughout the process to make sure it still feels like your wedding.
What does the design fee cover?
It covers everything from concept development and layout planning to product selection, venue coordination, and styling supervision on the day.
It’s tailored to each wedding and based on scope and complexity and we’ll always give you a clear quote upfront.
