Seasonal is one Option
There are so many great ways to help your bride and groom create a wedding theme. Consider some of the suggestions below and feel free to come up with your own. The real trick is listening to your bride.
Using the season
If your bride and groom need help coming up with a theme, ask them about their ultimate romantic moment. Is it a winter afternoon in the country? Pine trees and roaring hearth fires, crisp air against their skin, snowdrifts, and delicate flurries that transform the land into a misty netherworld? Or maybe summertime is more their time of year – beach parties, bare legs, tropical drinks, romantic evening strolls. But then there’s fall – the changing leaves, that smell in the air, delicious sweater weather. Spring’s not too shabby either – new beginnings, rose gardens, perfect temperatures. The season can help decide everything from wedding food, music, flowers, favors, decorations, and even the wedding attire.
The holiday wedding takes the idea even one step further and also lets you tap into the sentiment of the occasion. Here are some great seasonal wedding ideas.
A New Year’s Eve bash
Ring in the New Year with the ultimate resolution. Start late on New Year’s Eve – the reception might not begin until 8:00 or 9:00pm. Suggest partying first and then saying their vows at the stroke of midnight. Have the best man toast the couple soon after the witching hour. Invite the guests to wear their glitziest clothes. The bride too can dress in sparkly style; a bridal gown with silver or gold trim; bridesmaids’ dresses shot through with silver thread; groom’s and groomsmen cummerbunds or vests in metallic shades.
A Valentine’s party
For a February wedding, send invites that look like Valentine’s Day cards. Or go with Victoria-style invitations embossed with hearts and flowers. Use a pink or red color scheme, with blush-hued bridesmaids’ and groomsmen accents. For a cute, clever touch, attendants might all wear heart-shaped sunglasses down the aisle. Have the flower girl drop heart-shaped confetti. Hand out candy conversation hearts for favors and choose songs for the playlist that all mention love.
Spring fling
For a springtime wedding, think growth and green. Spring is the season for renewal. Decorate with spring colors – watery blue, light purple, pale yellow, new-shoot green. Use a flower motif for the centerpieces and room décor. Give bulbs or pastel umbrellas as favors. Have classical music playing for the reception. For a twist, you might even consider everyone planting a tree on the grounds together.
Summer lovin’
Make your June, July or August wedding the essence of endless summer. Cover tables with red and white picnic tablecloths. Or go with limeade green cloth and serve food on thick, matte-plastic plates in jewel tones. Serve upscale picnic food (grilled chicken, fish, and steak, along with tons of fresh fruit and vegetables). You can even have Uncle Bob and Uncle George barbequing for everyone on their grills for the reception. What’s more summer picnic? Use sand pails or mason jars full of flowers for centerpieces. Play Gershwin’s “Summertime” at the reception. Or throw a pool party and give guests their own pool towels as favors.
Playing up their passions
What passions or interests really define the couple you are working with? What do they do on the weekends, during the evenings, and whenever else they have spare time? No matter what their passions are, chances are there is something about them that you can use to uniquely accent their big day.
Going green
Whether they’re fervent activists or just Earth-loving nature buffs, infuse their wedding with their passion for the planet. Print the invitation sand programs on recycled paper. Find the bride a second-hand dress and the groom a second-hand tux. Use flowering plants as centerpieces and a variety of live plants and trees as decorations. (These can easily be borrowed, bought or taken from a family member’s home and returned. They can also be used as favors.) Prepare to have all disposable cups, bottles and paper items recycled, or better yet, rent all linens, china, flatware and glassware to be returned. Ask guests to donate money to an eco-organization instead of buying presents. Give tree seedlings or flower seed packets as favors.
Mad for movies
If your couple has seen every movie ever made and have their own parking space at Blockbuster, you can easily incorporate their love of film into the wedding. Do up the reception room like a movie set – hang huge lights from the ceiling, put director’s chairs everywhere, and stack old film-reel canisters on the tables as centerpieces. Or rent an elegant, landmark theatre for the event – guests can sit in the movie seats to watch the ceremony. Run silent films on the screen throughout the reception. Old theatres often have great lobbies (for gifts and greeting guests) and large areas or even a stage in the front of the screen (for dancing and/or dining).
A bibliophile bash (books)
Does your couple spend romantic Friday evenings together each with a book in their lap and Sunday mornings fighting over the book review in the newspaper? How about a literary wedding? Have the invitations read like a story (“Once upon a time, two fabulously interesting people fell in love . . .”) or steal some lines from a treasured book or poem they both adore. Suggest they ask a loved one to read some of their favorite prose or verses during the ceremony. Have the wedding in a grand library hall or used bookstore. Give favorite paperbacks or funky vintage bookmarks as favors.
Wedding colors
Favorite colors can be wedding themes all by themselves. If the bride loves purple, you can incorporate various shades of it into the invitations, flowers, decorations, and of course attire.
Likewise, a cherished bloom such as a daisy or tulip can inspire an entire wedding plan. Think creatively.
