Wedding Theme

Why develop a wedding theme in the first place? Theme weddings tend to improve your overall event for you and your guest. A wedding theme will help focus attention on a main topic and provides a unifying factor which will pull the whole event together. The use of a wedding theme will keep your affair from looking disjointed or like it was planned haphazardly. Incorporate your wedding theme into all areas of the event - the invitations, the publicity, registration, food, decorations, entertainment to reinforce the overall effect.

Choosing a Wedding Theme:
An easy way to choose a wedding theme is to shop for the paper plates and napkins first. Build a wedding theme around the picture or print on the plates. This will always give your event a natural tie-in with the coordinating decorations.

There are so many sources from which to draw when choosing a wedding theme. You may want to use a romantic event, hobby,  movie, music theme, special event or place, sports themes, a special song, poem, book, historical eras, foreign theme, just to name a few.

Certain motifs may be more expected, especially if you choose to celebrate around the holidays. Choose wedding theme where you can vary the motif. For example if you choose a Christmas wedding theme, try using angels or bells, if you choose to use Valentine's Day wedding theme, try using a cupids or animal prints.

If you use a nature wedding theme incorporate the use of plants, flowers, trees and include a variety of colors and textures. The use of butterflies or birds brings a lovely touch of nature to a theme. Use geographic regions in nature to pull a theme together such as the beach, mountains, a lake, or an island.

If you have a special place, you could bring items to use as centerpieces or just for display. Ask a friend or family member, with a unique collection, to share their items for a day. Many people have great collections of angels, dolls, bells or other items related to a particular theme. The possibilities are endless.

Creative Elements

Motif:
The motif is the visual representation of your wedding theme, which is created by the use of objects or symbols. If you use the theme "Promises" you may want to incorporate the use of a rainbow to represent love and promises. This symbol may be repeated on your invitations, program, plates, or decorations. Sometimes the use of several different symbols will be used as components of the wedding theme.

A Scottish wedding theme may suggest a family crest, bagpipes, kilts, and Celtic music...

Use of a favorite movie or song may suggest movie scripts, directors chair, old movie posters or comedy and tragedy faces.

Develop your motif using a list of words related to the wedding theme. Brainstorm a list to create your pool of ideas. This list is very important for generating ideas that can be applied to all areas of the event. For a Parisian theme you might come up with words like cafe, arches, artist, Eiffel Tower, springtime, April, showers.

Mood:
Decide on what atmosphere or mood you want to create. This is where you want to refer back to your list of words you brainstormed. Add words to the list that will portray your mood. If you choose a Mediaeval theme you may include rich heavy brocade and velvet fabric, use Gothic lettering on your programs or invitations. Create a feel and a mood that is uniform throughout.

Color:
You'll want to select a color scheme that you will use throughout the wedding theme. Two or three colors work well. Colors will make a big impact so be sure they are ones that will complement your theme. Pastels do well with spring, flowers, garden, or country themes. Mix one or two rich solid colors with a theme pattern for a dramatic effect. Mardi Gras would suggest the use of purple, green and gold. Purple represents justice, green represents faith, and gold represents power. Bold solid colors add to the carnival atmosphere of Fat Tuesday.

Texture:
Incorporating texture will make things look and feel interesting. Using textures will amplify the atmosphere you are creating. For a princess or medieval wedding theme you could use silks, satins, velvet, pearls...nautical wedding themes might be better suited to cottons & linen, beach sand and shells.

Mesh:
Use color, theme, mood to communicate the message....the emotions, the spirit of the event. Again apply the theme, mood, color, texture to mesh your wedding theme throughout your overall ceremony and reception. Courtesy D. Pollitt, PartyMerchant.com