Inspiration – be inspired so you can inspire

Recently an AAWEP student who is about to graduate from the Diploma of Wedding and Event Planning course asked me where I find my inspiration.  We were discussing the fact that whilst some clients (whether they be brides or corporate clients) come to you with a theme or a clear picture in their mind of what they want their event to look like, many more do not.  Our job as Wedding and/or Event Planners involves not only interpreting the ideas of others, but also helping them to define their own vision and executing that for them, so inspiration is a key element to the success of any event. 
It is now possible to visualise an event for a client before it happens, using CAD software programs such as Vivien by Event Designer but the question is, where do the ideas come from in the first place?
A good event planner is inspiring to others and to be this they must be creative and innovative.  To be these things you must be inspired yourself and to be inspired yourself you must live within the world with your eyes open, as an artist – taking in colours, feelings and information to store in an inner reservoir to be tapped into when you need it.
There are many ways you can do this.  It can be structured; such as subscribing to industry blogs, newsletters and trade magazines which will keep you up to date about what is happening in the Event and Wedding worlds and give you ideas for your next event.  If you are doing a course this is also a perfect place to exercise your creativity and become inspired by other students and tutors.  The online course at AAWEP certainly encourages this and the work you do can become not only part of your portfolio but also your inspiration for future events.
It can also be entirely unstructured and this is where I tend to become most inspired; by just living in the world with my eyes open and taking in colour, design and style from the movies I watch, the people I meet, places I visit and the things that cross my path in daily life (the way the sun casts a shadow across my land, or the sight of a duck waddling across the road or the way my hairdresser dresses, etc etc).
I devour fashion and home magazines and I am constantly finding things in each which strike a chord with me.  This process should not be restricted in any way.  You may see a beautiful chair with lines you appreciate and this may be inspiring to you –perhaps not now, but in the future.  It may be a painting with an interesting colour combination you have not seen used in décor before.  It may be the way the lights are strung or flowers arranged or the graphics used on your favourite television show. 
When something appeals to you, just accept that the sight opens your mind.  The inspiration may hit later.  The opportunities for inspiration to strike you are endless when you just learn to take in what you see and cast a critical eye over it.  Question why something appeals to you and why it does not.  Keep a notebook where you can record your feelings and thought s about what you see and whenever possible collect pictures to paste into your notebook.   I have many of these notebooks and when I am in need of inspiration I simply pull them out and review them to recall the things that have caught my eye before.  In fact I regularly pull them out anyway and often I don’t need to refer to them to feel inspired by something in there – the feeling of it just stays with me.
A few weeks ago the writer of a blog I enjoy posted a picture of a chair she loved.  When she made this post she referred to the fact that this chair had no place in anything she was doing or about to do, she just loved it and knew she needed to keep a record of its existence for the future.  This week she has posted another blog with a mood board for an upcoming Wedding she is working on and there is the chair.  The couple whose wedding this will be had some vague ideas and could not define their theme, but in her conversations with this couple this Wedding Planner could see the chair – not to be used in the Wedding but as the thing that, for her helped to define their concept. 
I often refer to the Event and Wedding industries as creative industries.  The creativity comes from many sources; designers and decorators for example.  However creativity must also come from the event planner.  That is what makes this such an interesting career and one where you get to you uses both sides of the brain, the organised, detail orientated critical side and the creative side.
Enjoy! Here is a picture I found that also inspired me.