When planning a wedding, it is remarkably easy to get carried away with the details. Flowers, furniture, lighting, stationery and countless decorative elements all compete for attention, and before you know it, the budget has been stretched in every conceivable direction.

But if there are two areas where I would encourage couples to invest a little more of their décor budget, they are the ceremony setting and the bridal table.

Think about the moments you will remember most vividly from your wedding day.

Standing together as you exchange your vows, surrounded by the people you love. And later, sitting beside one another, listening to the speeches, the laughter and perhaps a few rather embarrassing stories from friends and family.

These are moments that deserve a beautiful setting.

The ceremony arch or backdrop provides a natural frame for one of the most important occasions of your lives. Whether it is an elaborate floral installation, a simple architectural structure or a carefully considered arrangement that complements the surroundings, it should enhance the moment rather than overwhelm it.

The same thinking applies to the bridal table.

Traditionally positioned at the heart of the reception, this is where you will spend some of the most memorable moments of the evening. It is also where countless photographs will be taken, capturing everything from the speeches and spontaneous laughter to those quieter moments shared between the two of you.

For a wedding at Netherwood, we created a dramatic floral backdrop that transformed the bridal table into a feature in its own right.

Of course, the finished photographs don't always reveal the work involved. Behind the flowers and carefully considered proportions was a rather less glamorous combination of chicken wire, creative problem-solving and some very late-night construction.

But the result illustrated something I have always believed about wedding design.

You don't need to decorate every corner of a venue to create a memorable celebration. By concentrating your budget on the areas that matter most, you can create a greater visual impact while allowing the rest of the setting to remain beautifully understated.

And when you look back at your photographs years from now, those are the moments you will return to.

The vows, the speeches, the laughter and the people who shared them with you.