THE ENGINE WORKS - BLANK CANVAS WEDDING VENUES SCOTLAND

Welcome to my new blog series, giving you tips and ideas around how you can work with your suppliers to decorate some of the very best blank canvas wedding venues in Scotland.

I’m starting with one of Glasgow’s most iconic wedding venues - and one of my favourites - The Engine Works.

This is such a great versatile venue, it’s dry hire and a blank canvas giving couples and their suppliers lots of scope for design and personalisation. Mixing Glasgow’s industrial past with really fab modern design, think warm brickwork, lots of concrete, interesting architecture, bare floorboards and soaring ceilings.

One of the real bonuses of the Engine Works is that so many colours look amazing in the space, and you really can go wild with your ideas. That might seem a little daunting at first but is actually really liberating.

Wedding ceremonies in the Outhouse

The majority of couples who get married here choose to hold their ceremony in the Outhouse, a separate building at the back of the main Engine Works.

The huge barn doors of the Outhouse open out into the Hidden Garden, so it always looks brilliant if you ‘bring the outside inside’. Loose runners of foliage down the aisle are popular, or bunches of wild flowers or foliage tied to chairs look great too.

There are barrels dotted around the venue. These make great pedestals, providing staging for dramatic arrangements. In the past, I’ve put together big, wild floral arrangements which can sit atop the barrels; these could stand alone or be clustered in groups with candles. Post ceremony, the arrangements are easily moved by the venue staff into the main hall for the rest of the wedding.

I love creating floral designs that can be repurposed as your day goes on. Small vases work really well on the signing table, or foliage and / or a few bud vases dotted about. These are all so versatile and can quickly and easily be moved through to the main Engine Works to decorate other tables.

A quick note here, flower arches look stunning and I love coming up with designs for them. However, they can be tricky to repurpose in certain venues. There are some steps between the Outhouse and the main Engine Works so keep in mind the practicalities of moving bigger installations like arches and make sure you know who will be doing this on the day - venue staff or will you be delegating it to some friends and family?

Wedding receptions at The Engine Works

The main Engine Room is huge and takes some filling to create impact.. The high vaulted ceilings always remind me of decorating churches, you want to do something fairly big and dramatic so it doesn’t get lost. Think tall centrepieces or organic, free flowing installations. That said, to create a sense of intimacy, it’s nice to have smaller arrangements too on the tables and you can create specific areas like a “chill out zone”, “photo op space” etc. In these areas you can add little bud vases to the tables, or touches of greenery to soften the space. This will also carry your colour scheme through the venue.

When the ceremony is held in the Outhouse, tables can be set up in the main hall meaning minimum disruption once the wedding has started. The venue staff can draw a curtain across the hall meaning you essentially get two spaces. It works really well as guests arriving for the ceremony won’t see what you’ve got planned for the reception. Then, once the curtain is opened, guests get a lovely surprise.

I always love getting my hands on a blank canvas wedding venue like the Engine Works, there’s so much I can do in there. It’s great to bounce ideas around with couples and see what we can come up with. It’s really nice to dress the drinks area, which is the first space guests see after the ceremony. This is often the place guests walk through to get to the Outhouse so it can really set the tone for your wedding decor. Flowers soften that stark, industrial vibe and adding other decorations - bunting, vintage furniture and props, or fairy lights - looks so good. I once decorated the black iron railings in this area with branches of seasonal foliage, almost a woodland feel. Guests loved using it as a backdrop for photos and the fresh flowers and foliage smelled amazing.

Beautiful floral installations for your wedding reception

The large bricked in windows are a nod to the venue’s history and are perfect for floral installations. I don’t tend to use every single window (there’s a lot of them!) but every other window has a real impact. I’ve even had couples who go all out on one window - behind the top table - that can look so dramatic and is a great way of creating a beautiful backdrop that will feature in the photos taken during the speeches. The windows create a lovely frame, a living artwork feel if you like! Those windows are a striking feature so dressing them, even a little, really makes them stand out. The red of the bricks works really well as a backdrop to any colour too so you can’t go wrong.

There’s another room downstairs that couples often use as a chill out area, go wild here! The world really is your oyster and you can create all kinds of wonderful organic natural shapes and features. I once put together an amazing installation with flowers and foliage ‘growing’ up the walls. It was a real talking point and the couple loved it.

Colourful table decorations at The Engine Works

The Engine Works is so versatile and I’ve seen the tables set up in various ways depending on the couple’s ideas and the number of guests.

The venue is fairly minimalistic which gives us so much flexibility with adding colours. You’ll see from these images that I’ve used all kinds of shades and tones in previous weddings. From muted pastels to bright summery colours, warm autumnal tones and even all white.

More traditional setting

Round tables, with a more traditional top table, can be dressed with white or black or even coloured linens. I love using groups of bud vases or mason jars filled with wild flowers for pops of colour in the centre of the tables. They’re a really lovely little detail. Couples can rent bud vases from me or collect their own. Empty gin / whiskey / beer bottles work really well too. If you go for small vases on the tables, think about grouping differing heights together, along with candles, for a bit of variety.

A shareable feast

Long, banquet style tables work so well, especially if couples will be enjoying sharing platters for their wedding breakfast.

I often do a loose foliage runner to dress trestle tables, dotting bud vases all down the centre to carry on a colour theme. Those vases look fab and can be shifted easily to accommodate sharing platters.

Just a wee note on the difference between runners and garlands, as I often get asked this. A runner is very light and flexible, it’s easy to put something (a platter of food for example) on top. A garland is much chunkier, around the thickness of a feather boa. It can look pretty hefty and you shouldn’t be putting things on top of it. Both runners and garlands look fab in the Engine works, but it’s worth thinking about how your tables will be used and what other items need to go on them before deciding on a runner or garland..

I’ll leave you with a quick tip for those bud vases…after the wedding you can give your vases and flowers away to guests. It makes for a fab wee gift and stops those beautiful flowers going to waste. Another suggestion I often make to couples is to organise in advance to donate the flowers to a hospice. Residents can enjoy the flowers and nothing goes to waste. This is especially good if you’ll be going away on honeymoon straight after the wedding and can’t take many flowers home with you.

In summary - my top tips for amazing wedding flowers in The Engine Works

Anything goes! So go wild with your ideas, with colours and remember to add a touch of drama

Think about flexible arrangements that can easily be moved between the spaces
Use flowers and foliage to soften the stark, industrial vibes
Remember those supplementary areas - cake table, chill out areas etc.
Dot vases around for lots of floral, colourful goodness

The Engine Works is such a versatile venue and there is just so much you can do in the various spaces. Hopefully these ideas and photographs will spark some creativity!

Head to our Flower Ideas page if you’re in the mood for more inspiration or get in touch if you’d like to talk about plans for your wedding flowers.