Tartan Wedding Inspiration - Chairs

The Chair Hood or cover is a very simple yet effective way to create a stunning wedding table. We used the Gordon Red Ancient tartan and created simple pull on chair hoods with a matching table runner. If your budget doesn't stretch to hoods for every chair you could mix and match with plain colours or make the top table the feature. We also thought it would look fab if the bride and groom had their own tartans. We also thought that after the wedding you could easily transform the chair hoods into cushions by adding a zip along the open end so then you also have a memento of your special day.

The Chair Hood or cover is a very simple yet effective way to create a stunning wedding table. We used the Gordon Red Ancient tartan and created simple pull on chair hoods with a matching table runner. If your budget doesn't stretch to hoods for every chair you could mix and match with plain colours or make the top table the feature. We also thought it would look fab if the bride and groom had their own tartans. We also thought that after the wedding you could easily transform the chair hoods into cushions by adding a zip along the open end so then you also have a memento of your special day.

Tasked with creating elegant, curling, cascading frills initially seemed a daunting task. However it is not as difficult as it appears. Watch out for our separate blog post on how to make your DIY tartan chair frills if you fancy creating your own. Emily is busy putting together a little video for us now! The Young Weathered tartan was our chosen colourway and we picked an ivory chiffon and polyester satin fabric to co-ordinate. We used an extra strip of chiffon to very simply knot the frills to the chairs and pinned giant tartan flowers to the centre to finish them off. Quite stunning yet very simple and a lovely subtle touch of tartan. The beauty of these was that they didn't use nearly as much fabric as you would imagine and you could mix lots of different scraps if you wanted to create an eclectic mix of colours and patterns.

You could of course use any colours to create your frills and if tartan isn't your thing imagine how gorgeous these could look using two or three different coloured fabrics.

Thanks to Wedding Dates in Ireland and Green Wedding Shoes for use of their inspiring non-tartan photography.

If you don't like frills then you could always just use ribbon or strips of fabric looped round the top of the chair and trailing to the ground. We loved the way this had been done below and just imagine if you mixed a little tartan into the plain coloured ribbons? It has been an exciting project dreaming up what you can do with plain old chairs and we are discovering that there are endless ideas, many of them simple and cost effective, to create some really stunning effects.

Simplicity is key and chair sashes are such a simple way of making very plain chairs look very special. We combined the gorgeous lilacs and greens of the Taylor Ancient tartan with bunches of lavender and greenery. Also of course a clever way of hiding where we knotted and pinned the sashes! Chiffon is very popular this year and you could of course pick out the other colours in the tartans and do some chairs with plain colours and some with tartan for a more subtle effect. The sashes were so easy and quick to tie and of course you could let your guests take them home at the end of the night as a keepsake of your wedding day. Now that would be a novel wedding favour!

Our final tartan inspired chairs were so much fun to create. Often brides do not necessarily like their family tartan or the version of the tartan the groom wants to wear so we have combined three variations of one tartan into our wedding chairs. We found some old battered chairs of all shapes and sizes, painted them bright yellow to pick out the stripe in the tartan and covered the seat pads in the Gordon Clan Ancient, Modern and Weathered tartans. The colours blend beautifully and the yellow makes a traditional pattern look a little bit wacky. We were imagining then taking the chairs home with you and using them round your kitchen table or in the garden as a memory of your wedding day. Recycling is very on trend so we are sure your guests will approve. We just staple gunned the fabrics onto the seat pads but you would of course have them done more professionally if you wish.

Tartan is of course our thing but really you can apply any of these ideas to any combination of fabrics and colours. This is why it is so much fun. We have to thank Lindsey from Get Knotted for inspiring us. Once you get started dreaming up colours and themes the ideas just keep flowing.