How to Make a Killer Wedding Vision Board

It's a fun creative project, sure, but it's also a springboard to your wedding style.

Photos: Stocksy, Getty, JLB Wedding Photography,Design: Tiana Crispino

Updated Dec 11, 2024

Wedding editor confession: I don't have a Pinterest wedding vision board that I've been slowly curating (and culling) since I was 13. But for lovebirds fresh off of a proposal, it's essential to assemble a wedding mood board before you begin any other tasks on your wedding planning checklist to figure out exactly what you do and *don't* like. Nailing the right look and energy for your nuptials is key in defining the wedding you want, and there's truly no better way to make a game plan than to craft a collage of interesting elements and vibey visuals that you can refer back to as you plan and share with your vendors. (Trust us, they'll appreciate it.)

Stop What You're Doing and Find Your Wedding Vibe

Whether you plan to go digital with a Pinterest wedding vision board or kick it old school with poster board, scissors, glue and the latest issue of The Knot Magazine (which is full of inspiration and practical ideas to get your creative wheels turning), assembling an aesthetic "getting married" vision board is so worth it. After you've pulled your ideas together, look for wedding vendors on The Knot Vendor Marketplace that match your wedding vibe and scope out some The Knot wedding website designs that suit your wedding theme.

In this article: Definition | Ideas | Examples | How to Make a Vision Board | What to Include

What's a Wedding Vision Board or Wedding Mood Board?

A vision board for a wedding is a collaged collection of wedding-related photos that depict elements, aesthetic touches and details that you'd like to replicate (or come close to replicating) at your own nuptials. A mood board for a wedding, on the other hand, might combine inspirational images that aren't necessarily wedding related, but emulate the mood or vibe that you're seeking to capture for your wedding. Do note that the terms "vision board" and "mood board" are somewhat used interchangeably, especially in the case of wedding photo boards, so you could combine the two definitions. For example, you could include images of tangible wedding elements as well as quotes, close ups of textures, architectural details and so on.

Wedding inspo boards are great tools to consult as you figure out how to plan a wedding, since you can see how the details that you're drawn to work together and note if a common thread emerges. Plus, you can gather visual examples of all of your ideas in one place and then narrow them down to what really resonates. When you put all of your ideas side by side, it's easier to distinguish what works together and what doesn't, which will help the rest of your decisions fall into place.

Wedding inspiration boards are also super helpful when conveying your ideas to a team of expert wedding vendors, because you'll be asked frequently for examples of what you like. The phrase, "a picture is worth a thousand words" rings true here—it's one thing to describe what you envision for your wedding day, but real-life examples of what you're trying to achieve will eliminate confusion.

Wedding Vision Board Ideas

Nothing is off limits when it comes to creating a mood board for wedding planning—get as heady as you'd like. Most importantly, it's okay to use a mix of wedding and non-wedding ideas for your vision board (especially when thinking of unique ways to personalize your day). Still not sure where to begin? Try these mood board wedding photography and non-wedding image ideas.

Color Palettes and Patterns

Using paint chips or fabric swatches might seem like an old-fashioned way to figure out your wedding color scheme, but both options can be helpful in your initial planning stages. Head to a local home improvement or craft store to browse through wallpaper samples, paint colors and upholstery fabrics to see what speaks to you. Most stores will let you purchase samples for a small fee. Additionally, look around your home to see what color-pairing common threads emerge, then take snapshots of any hues that resonate and add them to your wedding vision board template. Because chances are, if you keep combining pink and purple in your home decor, the pairing will make for stellar wedding colors.

Decor and Interior Design Details

Wedding decor trends often stem from whatever is en vogue in the interior design world. When you're trying to nail down your style for the wedding day, home decor can be a great place to get ideas for wedding rental furniture, tabletop details and more. Spend an afternoon flipping through interior design magazines (hit up your local Barnes & Noble if you're wondering where to get magazines for your wedding vision board) or rewatching movies with amazing interior sets (hi, Nancy Meyers) to pick up some unexpected ideas.

Fashion Runways and Red Carpets

We've got you covered when it comes to wedding dress trends and wedding dress code basics, but you can also turn to celebrity fashion, retro style and couture runways to inspire your wedding wardrobe. Even if you don't end up replicating the actual looks, including outfit ideas as vision board inspo will help you determine whether you're going for a classic approach or breaking the mold with fashion-forward attire.

Typefaces, Fonts and Logos

Whether it's a box of matches from a trendy cocktail bar, a motivational quote you found while scrolling through Pinterest or an envelope with handwritten calligraphy, interesting examples of paper products and graphic design are worthy wedding planning board ideas. You can use these to inspire your wedding invitations and stationery items like bar signage, place cards, menu cards or a custom wedding monogram.

Locations or Settings

Do you envision your wedding unfolding alfresco in a flower-filled garden or in an opulent, upscale ballroom? Add photos of places you love to travel and locations that inspire you—whether that's the beach, the mountains, the city or something in between—to set the scene for your marriage vision board. It's a helpful step if you're deciding where to get married and struggling to choose a type of wedding venue.

Flower Arrangements

Flowers evoke emotion, so they're key to include as you create a wedding mood board. Add examples of arrangements to help translate your vision to your florist. Photos of English gardens and wildflowers convey a laid-back, countryside vibe, while ikebana-style arrangements convey a sense of whimsey, and stately callalillies or orchids skew minimalist.

Real Wedding Photos

Take a look through our Real Wedding galleries to source ideas from other couples. The best part? You can instantly save each photo to your own wedding vision board on The Knot by clicking the small heart in the upper right-hand corner. Your favorites will be organized by category, and you can edit them anytime (and even upload your own ideas) to a shareable online wedding vision board template.

The Knot Magazine

We saved the best for last. Call us biased, but we'd argue that The Knot Magazine is a prime source for wedding board ideas. Every issue is filled with thought starters you can incorporate into your special day, plus helpful tips to support you through the planning process. When you're finished flipping through the latest issue, cut out your favorite pages or photos and pin them up on your IRL picture board for your wedding.

Wedding Mood Board Examples

Now that you've got a good understanding of what to add to your wedding planning vision board, it's time to see what your finished product might look like. You can have a single or many wedding mood boards (perhaps one dedicated to each aspect of your day), and they can be as large or as small as you see fit. Though, we would recommend piecing them all together eventually if you have a few. See below for some wedding vision board examples inspired by popular wedding themes.

Beach Wedding Mood Board Example

example of a beach wedding mood board to inspire your vision board

If you're saying "I do" in the summer months, you might consider a beach wedding. As you start to create your wedding mood board, you should first think about what kind of seaside vibe you're after. There's a big difference between the craggy Cali shoreline, a classic New England beach, the dramatic Amalfi Coast and a tropical island. Set your setting, then dive into the details. Look for coastal colors that fit your desired seaside locale, then consider the objects and textures that would help drive the theme home, like strings of pearls or elegant silver shell-shaped dishes that appear plucked from a pirate's treasure chest.

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Vintage Wedding Mood Board Example

example of a vintage theme wedding mood board to inspire your vision board

If you follow Pinterest wedding trends, you've probably seen your fair share of kitschy, vintage-inspired weddings, whether it's heart-shaped lambeth cakes or Gatspy-esque champagne towers popping up on your feed. As you assemble your mood board ideas for your wedding, note the type of vintage images that speak to you, because the term spans decades. Disco balls are vintage (or retro, if you're stuck on semantics) as are motifs like swans and cherries. An old money vintage wedding might pull inspiration from the '20s, while moody nuptials at an NYC martini bar might feel more '40s or '60s coded. The time period you choose will definitely inform your color palette, and feel free to mix and match wedding mood board ideas from different eras to make a look all your own.

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Green Wedding Mood Board Example

example of a green wedding color mood board to inspire your vision board

If you're still unsure of a theme or vibe as you hash out how to create a wedding mood board, focus on a color to start. For example, green remains a super popular wedding hue and if you're also into the color, assemble a collage of green elements. Feel free to mix shades or nail down a favorite and create, for instance, a sage green wedding mood board. If you're going the multi-shade route, you'll be able to identify if one or two hues prevail the most in your wedding decor mood board. Those are your most-loved shades. Play around with some accent colors too. Red is complementary to green, so you might add pink or burgundy touches for some interesting contrast. And keep your color preferences in mind as you peruse wedding website examples.

Excellent Green Wedding Ideas

How to Make a Wedding Vision Board

Consider this list of steps your go-to guide on how to make a wedding mood board. So read these instructions, queue up your podcast du jour and don't forget to have fun during the process.

1. Get a Sense of Your Style

Not sure where to begin when it comes to how to create a wedding vision board? Take The Knot Style Quiz to find your wedding vibe. You'll select from a series of Real Wedding photos (amongst other prompts) to narrow down the wedding details that feel most like you. By the end of the quiz, which is honestly so fun to take we wouldn't mind if there were a few more questions, you'll have a wonderful jumping off point to assemble your vision board.

Identify Your Wedding Style

2. Choose Your Canvas

The next step in how to create a mood board for a wedding is to decide if you want to use a physical or digital canvas. If you enjoy crafts and working with your hands, we love the approach of using a cork board with push pins and thumbtacks to piece all of your ideas together and move things around as needed. Creating a tangible mood board also comes in handy for physical items you want to add, such as fabric scraps, pages torn from magazines or paper samples. When it's time to meet with vendors, you can bring the board itself or simply snap a few photos. On the other hand, a digital vision board may feel more seamless and easier to share—plus, you can instantly save ideas that you come across while browsing the internet, which is helpful if you want to bookmark specific vendors or product pages.

3. Collect Your Inspiration

Don't worry about picking ideas that do or don't "work" together as you muddle through how to make a mood board for your wedding—just start saving things that feel like you, that feel like your love. It can be tempting to crank out the finished product in just a few hours, but we recommend slowly gathering ideas from a range of sources over the span of a few weeks. This will help you figure out what you subconsciously gravitate toward rather than whatever is most appealing or available at the moment or at the top of your algorithm.

Look at photos from travel blogs, browse through fashion magazines, visit an art museum, stop by the flower section on your next grocery store trip or scroll through your camera roll to find anything that sparks a feeling. Don't trip over trends and remember that inspiration can come from anywhere. Maybe you come across beautiful skincare packaging with an example of a font or color palette you'd love to use. (Add it to the board!) It doesn't all have to make sense just yet—trusting the process is all part of the approach. There will be time to curate everything when you're finished gathering ideas.

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4. Keep an Eye Out for a Common Theme

Once you've added a few dozen ideas to your wedding mood board, take a step back and try to pick out any recurring elements or motifs. Is there a specific color that keeps showing up? Or a certain type of flower or decor detail that you've saved over and over again? Look closely for patterns, similarities and an overarching energy throughout your ideas, then make a list of the most prevalent details to then identify a few buzzwords that describe your style. You might be surprised by what you find.

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5. Edit and Organize Your Ideas

To make sure that your wedding inspiration board is well curated and intentional, challenge yourself to remove some things. That's right—you should eliminate a few of your ideas during the process of how to make a wedding mood board. To quote Coco Chanel: "Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off." The same concept applies to your wedding vision. If there are too many things going on, your inspiration board might overwhelm you (and the vendors you work with) rather than help you hone in on a cohesive design or theme.

Start by removing anything with a duplicate, such as two similar versions of a wedding dress or near-identical examples of place settings. Aim to only include things on your wedding mood board that you genuinely love—and the best version of them. The end goal isn't to create exact replicas of the ideas you save, but rather to find your overall style and vibe.

Give yourself a round of applause for working so hard on your vision board. Now, it's time to share your ideas with your vendors, especially those who will have a hand in the visual details of your wedding day, such as your planner, florist and photographer. You can add or remove some ideas here and there, but you should generally avoid making drastic changes to the vision board once you've passed it along to your wider circle. And when in doubt, don't be shy about asking your vendors' opinions. Their professional input can be a huge help if you're torn between ideas.

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What Should Be Included on a Wedding Vision Board?

Your wedding board can include photos, magazine clippings, sketches and artwork, color swatches, fabric samples or any other objects that resonate with you. You can even include your wedding mission statement if it feels right to nail down your overall ethos along with your aesthetic vision. It can be an actual board with tangible objects (think old-school bulletin boards) or a virtual creation, like a Pinterest board or Canva illustration. Your vision board doesn't need to be overcomplicated, so don't worry about making it perfect. Even if all you do is tape a handful of photos to a piece of posterboard, you've got the right idea.

Additional reporting by Samantha Iacia.