The willow pattern is a beautiful and elaborate chinoiserie pattern in striking tones of blue. It adorns many ceramics, but it’s such a beautiful and unusual pattern, I love it as a luxury wedding colour palette. Here’s some ways to style willow pattern and include it in your wedding.
Image: Ilaria Petrucci PhotographyBut first… here’s the willow pattern story
The legend that evolved from the pattern is a romantic fable, a tale of rich heiress falling in love with a poor boy and angering her father who built a tall wall around their palace to keep them apart. Instead she was to marry a rich duke who arrived by boat bearing a gift of sparkling jewels. The night before the wedding, the poor young man slipped into the palace and the lovers escaped with the jewels to an island, living happily together for many years. However eventually the duke found them and, taking his revenge, put them to death, but the gods transformed the couple into a pair of doves.
Mix with natural
Bringing in wooden elements, natural tones and plenty of pretty flowers really accentuates the beauty of willow pattern. The greenery of the foliage and bright blue of the pattern make a really fresh combination.
Images: Ilaria Petrucci Photography, Wisteria.comMake it modern
Taking apart the pattern and focussing on individual elements is such a clever idea, and we love these modern designs by Louise Wilkinson. Adding spots of colour gives a chance to add a bright burst to your palette as well – but keep the base clean and white to make the colours really pop!
Louise WilkinsonBring in some bold
If bright’s really your thing, add a super vibrant accent colour – I love the added interest of these cute orange pumpkins! Or go bright with the flowers – orange and blue are gorgeous together, with flashes of pink. And, of course, you know we love a metallic, so why not make it part of your decor? You can get huge stencils to decorate any surface, but this metallic feature wall is gorgeous!
Dress it up
Fancy a little willow pattern in your outfit? Add an accent, or just go for it – but make sure the rest of your day is very simple and chic!
Image: Lisa Devlin Photography (left)See our colour palettes pages for more luxury inspiration.
