5 Alternative Places to Find Extraordinary Wedding Inspiration

If you're getting your inspiration from the same places as everyone else, your wedding will feel just like everyone else's

When people attend events that are outside their ordinary lives, they have a deep desire for experiences that take their breath away, those magical, wow moments that inspire awe and wonder. Awe can shift our mindset from a narrow, self-centered one to a more expansive, connected one, perceiving that we are part of something bigger than ourselves.

Emotions transform how we perceive the world. Awe is a feeling that transcends our current understanding of the world. So in the way that the fear, for example, attunes us to danger, feeling awe attunes us to expansiveness, connection, and meaning.

Collective Awe is a feeling of wonder and amazement felt simultaneously by a group of people that inspires a more expansive and connected way of thinking. When people attend weddings, that experience becomes part of their shared history with that group, a powerful memory that lingers well beyond the event itself.

An extraordinary venue or stunning natural setting can do a lot of heavy lifting here, but here are five of my favorite places to find outside-the-box ideas for creating those wow moments of collective awe at your own wedding:

1) Museums & Art Installations

Immersive art exhibitions are a great place to look for ideas to incorporate into your own wedding, from using projection, to soundscapes, to sculptural elements, there are countless ideas here for creating gorgeous worlds for your guests to lose themselves in.

2) Retail Displays

Window displays have long been a source of incredibly surprising creativity and artistry. Back in my 20s when I was still in grad school, I was actually a display artist for Urban Outfitters, where I traveled around the States decking out new stores for their grand openings, designing and fabricating window displays, painting murals, and creating gorgeous art pieces to stand alongside their retail displays. Urban Outfitters, and their sister company Anthropologie, are great places to get inspiration for decor installations that will wow guests and stand out from traditional wedding deco.

3) Theater

Another place to find dramatic ideas is the theater world, especially modern, immersive theater, where the lighting, sound, and ambiance all work together to create immersive worlds of collective awe.

4) Interior Design

When I was planning my own (first) wedding back in 2006, I was pretty uninspired by the stuff I was seeing in wedding magazines, so I actually designed my centerpieces based on something I saw in an interior design magazine, a sculptural vase with long branches that had leaves cut out of Japanese paper tied to the branches. Interior design magazine and websites are great sources of ideas you won’t find in wedding magazines, and using everyday materials, such as fabric, blinds, or plants, in alternative ways can make your wedding stand out from the crowd.

5) Hospitality Industry

The hospitality industry—in particular modern hotels—is rife with creative ideas for amplifying guest experience. One of my favorite ideas I saw was make-your-own guide book where you could take just the pages that are relevant and interesting to you, which would make a great guest gift for destination weddings.

To spark your inspiration, I’ve put together a Pinterest board with some of my favorite ideas and moments from each of these categories, so check it out: