Top 5 benefits of a 3D wedding render (Fixer Upper style)
Photo By: Larsen & Talbert Photography
Two months ago I watched Fixer Upper for the first time and I feel like I’m way behind the times but I’m now a huge fan of everything Magnolia and Joanna Gaines and have even taken to pausing the show to take screenshots and add them to my ‘Ideal Home’ Pinterest board!
My favorite part is when Joanna sits down with the homeowners to show them the 3D rendering of what their new home will look like. It made me realize that I’ve actually loved 3D designs for a long time, even as a child, it was always my favorite part of any home makeover show.
Maybe I was meant to discover my love for 3D rendering way before I actually did!!
When Joanna sits down with her clients and shows them the 3D rendered walkthrough it makes me feel so excited for them, so in awe of how she comes up with such beautiful concepts and I always think “Oh my, that is the dream home”!
Since I discovered Fixer Upper I now understand what my wedding planner clients mean when say ‘there HAS to be a way to get wedding renderings just like interior designers do on HGTV’!
Here are my top 5 reasons that 3D Rendering is as beneficial for communicating wedding designs as it is interior designs.
- Building Creative Trust
Joanna Gaines has a design style that has been refined over the years and is well documented. If you were to hire her as your interior designer, you would trust her to decorate and style your home but she still presents her concept in a 3D format. Why is this?
As much as each interior designer and wedding professional has their own style, you still have to build each design based on the character, likes, and requirements of each client.
A comprehensive 3D design shows your client that you understand them and their vision for their wedding whilst giving them a 5-star experience.
Most people learn better when they can visualize something and being able to communicate all the different aspects of your design such as the flow of a room or how a daytime area will be transformed after dark really helps to reinforce your value and expertise in the market.
When working with high-end couples these are things that they expect (especially if they have also worked with an interior designer in the past).
Presenting your design in a way that creates a deeper emotional response is a great way to build a creative connection. Saving the lengthy descriptive verse of how each table linen is paired with each charger and napkin style allows your couple to experience the mood of the event you’re creating for them and their guests.
2. A Valuable Marketing Tool
The interior design industry uses 3D rendering to present buildings and décor before they are even built. When Joanna Gaines works up her design, she can envision in her mind how each space will function, what décor and architectural elements will be the feature in each room and even how natural light will play a part.
This is the same for wedding and event venues in the pre-construction or renovation stages but want to book clients in advance. I’ve worked on many 3D designs creating concept ideas for new venue spaces from a rooftop event space in Hollywood, oceanfront ceremony space in Florida and luxury reception ballroom in Texas.
Even before “demolition day’ or the concrete being poured we can create visuals to showcase a venue’s outstanding features or illustrate how a new outdoor space will look within the landscape settings utilizing actual location photography or google earth imagery.
This is also a great tool for marketing to remote couples or for designing destination weddings. In a tech-savvy world, being able to ‘sell’ your venue or design to a couple is now easier than ever and with most of a couple’s buying journey being digital it’s perfect for the future generations.
3D rendered design of an outdoor private residence reception in the daytime.
3D rendered design illustrating how the scene transforms at dusk.
3. Standing Out From The Crowd
Elevating your design presentations and creating a unique experience for every couple can help you stand out from the crown and adds additional value to your design service.
I’m pretty sure Joanna Gaines could sketch her idea for my dream home out onto a beer mat and I’d love it but she excels herself in confidently presenting detailed visuals and letting her clients imagine themselves in the space.
Tailoring your services to every couple is part of your standard offering and by adding unique experiences and more creative visuals you align with a more luxury client.
4. Time & Money Saver
I always cringe when Chip gets the sledgehammer out and starts demolishing walls only to discover unforeseen design challenges. For the most part though issues and solutions can be uncovered and solved early on in the design process limiting any costly issues further down the line.
Having a set of design visuals to hand at any time is great for communicating with vendors and clients instead of attending numerous site visits and allows your clients to stay informed with any design changes. An informed customer is much more likely to make a decision quicker.
So much time and effort go into the design phase of a wedding and it’s essential that we don’t waste time spending lots of effort presenting formats that don’t fully convey your vision.
Design for The Island wedding venue in Florida depicting their new green space for ceremonies and receptions.
Hollywood Boulevard Rooftop Venue Render.
5. Easy Communication
3D rendering is a valuable communication tool that allows you to convey the vision you have in your mind and it’s your responsibility as a designer to make your vision as clear as possible to your clients who may have many conflicting ideas and inspiration ideas in their minds (or none at all).
Presenting detailed designs like those on Fixer Upper leaves no doubt in the clients’ minds that the concept will come together and they don’t have to rely on their imagination.
Providing multiple design options is a great way to refine the design with your couples’ input and working on the design iterations together reduces the chance of any misunderstanding.
You may also have noticed that during construction they’ll pin up the design images on the walls for easy reference and a lot of my clients will print their 3D rendered outputs and use them for seamless set-up and as a visual reference for vendors.
Taking the lead from my new business inspiration, Joanna Gaines, I cannot wait to get started on some of my upcoming wedding rendering projects but for now, it’s re-runs of Fixer Upper for me. Who’s in?