DAY 4: Choosing Your Wedding Theme
FORMAL/INFORMAL OR NOT Are you planning on having a formal, informal wedding or something in between the two? Do you want to bare your midriff and make a fashion statement or do you want to take a trip into medieval times. Do not laugh. You may remember from Chapter One that Celtics and Renaissance weddings are among the most common theme weddings. Some people have wonderful wedding celebrations of this kind. Getting back to you. You may not know what kind of wedding you are going to have just yet. After all, we are just in Chapter Two. By Chapter Six, I am confident you will have it all figured out. You may not know what kind, but you have a good idea of how you want it to look. I believe you will also know the general vicinity of where you want it held. You may even have your guest list sketched in your brain. Whatever is the case, it is a thin line between a formal versus an informal wedding. Let us look at the two.
A formal wedding requires the bride to wear either a white, or off-white floor length gown. The train should be cathedral or chapel length with a train about the same size.
Semi formal weddings take place at either a chapel, garden, scenic or private home. A semi formal reception can take place at a variety of buffet style or it can be catered under a tent. The bride’s gown can be white, off white, or pale pastel. The length of the dress can vary from ankle length to knee length. The bride can skip wearing a train with a semi formal wedding. You can wear a long or short veil depending on the style of the dress. The groom can dress in a tuxedo or suit. The groomsmen must wear matching clothes. Semi formal wedding skip traditions like a receiving line and announced introductions.
An informal wedding is basically any wedding that is not formal or semi-formal. It can happen anytime, anyplace. You set the stage to make the wedding out of the norm. I know a couple that got married in the living room of their parent’s home on Thanksgiving Day. I also know another couple that got married with flowered bouquets in their shorts in the Bahamas. The informal wedding is usually short, sweet and very, very, personal. Sometimes no one else is there but the bride and groom. As you can see, it is very important to decide what kind of wedding you are going to have when you are looking for a gown. THREE TRADITIONAL THEMES A budget may be the first thing a wedding coordinator will want to go over with you. But, a wedding theme is the second. You don’t have to have one, however a wedding theme can give you some direction with your planning. For instance, I recently attended a theme wedding where the couple played out Cinderella complete with glass slipper and horse drawn buggy. None of the bridesmaids could fit the glass slipper. It was really cute. Take a look at these themes and let me know what you think!
As it’s name suggests, roses, roses and more roses make up the theme to this wedding. The idea is to buy as many as you can afford, then fill in the gaps with lots of greenery. I’ve known people to beg, borrow and steal from relatives to get the potted plants out of homes and backyards. You’ll save a lot of money that way. You can also use ribbons in the color scheme that you’re using to tie around the plants. You can even add silk plants in with the live ones to add a dramatic effect. You can add wrought iron benches to create the garden affect as well.
This theme is as its name suggests. You can pick a park to get married in and ship in more and flowers as needed. I’ve known couples that added everything from candle towers to portable streetlights at night to create the desired affect.
You’ll want to use lots of hearts all over the place with this theme. You can buy many different kinds of heart shaped items in your local party store. If you’re really looking to save money, you can make your own. I know a couple that made hearts out of construction materials like poster boards. My favorite hearts shaped items are thrown on tables for decoration. The pink, red, gold and silver like hearts are about the size of a flat pea. You throw them on the table and they sparkle.
Non-traditional theme weddings often have one thing in common. Elaborate costuming and dramatic effects. Let’s take a look at eight of the most common nontraditional weddings.
Halloween is a favorite event for a lot of people including kids. It’s not odd that once your grow up that you’d want to get married on one of your most favorite occasions, right? Halloween weddings include costumes and a masquerade ball type of event. You can downplay the harsh orange and black colors of Halloween by mixing in other colors like grays, silvers and white. I’ve also seen people use pumpkins with smiley faces as table decorations. Orange and black candles also create a lively affect.
Balloons can create the same dramatic affect that flowers cans. You can hang them in the doorway to the reception or wedding hall. You can tie them to chairs. You can even use the bouquets on the tables as centerpieces. You can take your pick, cover the ceiling with a helium blown balloon or cover the floor with a hot air blown balloon. The idea is to have balloons everywhere! This is a very cost effective theme.
Celtic weddings are booming right now! They are similar to renaissance weddings in that you’ll need an old castle or outdoor setting in order to pull it off. The bride wears an ivory satin gown and a flowered wreath. The groom wears plaid tartans, kilts and kneed high white socks.
Get your blue jeans and line dancing shoes ready. You’re in for a foot stomping, hand clapping good time. The food for the day is barbeque and potato salad. The reception hall is lined with red and white-checkered tablecloths. You can pull this theme off on a real life ranch or outside in a big backyard. Let your imagination run wild as far as decorations is concerned. You can use anything from cowboy hats to red bandanas. Let’s move from the old west to the south of the border.
Have fun planning a Mexican fiesta! This theme is for people who enjoy the culture and the people. You can enjoy authentic Mexican food including tacos and burritos. You can also have fun decorating using piñatas and paper crepe flowers. Perhaps the warmth of Mexico isn’t your only option. Try a wedding them that takes you across the Pacific.
Okay, so you may not be able to duplicate the Pacific Ocean for a Polynesian wedding. Any body of water will do! All you need are authentic music, tiki torches, flower leis and crepe paper flowers to get you in the mood here. The food is relatively inexpensive including from roast pork to fresh fruit.
Renaissance weddings are similar to a Celtic wedding in that you’ll need elaborate costuming. They also take place outside or on the grounds of an old castle. The bride wears a heavy gown similar to what they use to wear in the 14th century. It has bell shaped sleeves and a V back line. The groom and his groomsmen wear velvet doublets and shirts with billowing sleeves. A feathered hat and sword tops off the man of the hour’s wardrobe.
This is another wedding theme that takes place mainly outdoors. You’ll need a beautiful mansion or plantation to help pull this theme off. The bride wears a southern belle wedding dress complete with parasol. The bridesmaid’s dresses are also ball gowns. The groom and his groomsmen wear white dinner jackets and black pants. I hope you have some idea of the kind of theme wedding you’d like to have now that we’ve run through the most popular ones.
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