Are you looking for some wedding inspiration? When you start with a theme, that informs the rest of your wedding style, from the dress you’re going to wear to the way you are going to decorate the venue.
Maybe you haven’t settled on a theme yet, and if so, then here are some ideas to help get you thinking about how you want your wedding to look and what the experience will be like.
1. Eco-Friendly
It’s definitely on trend to be environmentally conscious right now. Think about the environmental impact of your wedding and use your wedding day to make a statement to friends and family to show them how important it is to you and your spouse that you live a life that is healthy for the earth.
With this trend, you will be thinking about sustainability and be earth focused in all of your wedding preparations. You can reuse old items, perhaps heirloom pieces that were used by family members before. You can always update them and spruce them up to make them unique for your wedding day.
You can go eco-friendly in the décor, using natural items like wildflowers and biodegradable cutlery. Try using items that are sustainable and reusable when decorating or accessorising your wedding, like ribbons, macrame, glassware, and books that have been rescued or used before.
2. Vintage
If you have a vintage wedding, it can look sustainable and eco-friendly, but it isn’t always those things. A vintage theme is more about using antiques and retro styles to create a unique, persistent look.
Vintage can mean you are using items from any period in time and from any country, but it helps to make the theme consistent. So, if you want 1950s Americana for your theme, then you would use cars, clothes, decorations, and even food from that time. Some of this may have to be made from scratch, but you can source used items (think antiques) or by newly crafted items that have a vintage look to them.
There is a big market for vintage items these days, both new and used, so you should have no shortage of options to choose from. If you share your desire for a vintage wedding with a professional wedding planner, they may have some ideas as to where you can get the items you want as well as how to make a consistent, truly vintage look and feel for your big day.
3. Fairytale
A wedding can feel like a fairytale all on its own, but what if you were to make fairytales the theme of the event? You could deck out the bridesmaid dresses with delicate wings, use floral or grass wreaths on all of the ladies’ hair, and wildflower bouquets.
We recommend lots of lacework and plenty of natural, woodland touches to pull off this theme. Any color will work, but traditional fairytale styles usually use greens of all hue, as well as blue, white, and gold.
One of the most stunning looks in a fairy tale wedding is hanging lights, which can be placed throughout the reception venue, along the pathways, and even on the outside of vehicles. If you are taking the wedding reception outside, even partially, go big by decorating the surrounding trees with lights, wreaths, and other accessories to create a fairy wonderland for your guests to explore.Â
Think of the incredible photo opportunities that can be created by having a fairytale wedding. Many of the decorations can be done inexpensively, but not pull off the look, you will need extensive decorations, with fairytale flourishes in as many places as possible.
4. Natural
You could go back to nature with your wedding, which veers off from the fairytale idea with a more laid back, simpler aesthetic. In the natural wedding theme, you want trees, wood, leaves, flowers and grass to all be big parts of the wedding.
Try a barefoot wedding style with fake grass down the wedding aisle for a unique look that will have your guests gasping in amazement. Or you could incorporate twisting tree growths into the walls of the venue, pinning these to the wall and topping them with decorative leaves. This gives the impression of a woodland inside the building. Complete the effect with overhanging vines, perhaps with fairy lights strung through them.
Going natural with your wedding can be very inexpensive, if you have a lot of natural resources to work with and you decorate right before the big day. Wait too long, and your natural décor can start to fade, but when done well, this can be a vibrant look that is timeless and makes for a beautiful wedding experience.
5. Disney
A Disney-themed wedding doesn’t have to be a fairytale one. There are so many Disney movies to draw inspiration from. Try an under-the-sea theme with a Little Mermaid vibe to it, with a matching mermaid dress and red hair for your bridesmaids.
Or you could go in another direction and embrace a Cinderella theme complete with ballroom dancing, glass slippers, and large gowns. Another option for your Disney-themed wedding could be to make it a costume party wedding, with each guest choosing which Disney character they want to dress as.
6. Beach
If you have the opportunity to hold your wedding on the beach, why not go all the way with this theme? You can use beach chairs at the tables, with ocean-themed table cloths, tiki glasses, and lei wreaths for everybody. Encourage your guests to dress down for the beach, with lots of white, loose clothing.
You can go with shorts for the men and beach dresses for the ladies, and the bride and groom can be prepared to make an outfit change for a swim at the beach after the ceremony.
You can carry the theme further with seafood catering and beach picnic favourites. Imagine how beautiful the beach wedding would be with small huts and grassy beach umbrellas set up along the shoreline. You can create a whole vibe that your guests will love, crafting the right atmosphere with a beach-themed playlist for the DJ.
7. Holiday
If you’re scheduling your wedding close to a holiday, you may want to consider incorporating that holiday into the wedding theme. Think about how unique it would be to have a Saint Patrick’s Day wedding, a Valentine’s Day theme, or a Christmas wedding? These are rare enough that your wedding will really stand out, and it will certainly be memorable.
Whether you incorporate a simple holiday inspired colour scheme for the wedding or you go all out and cater the wedding with holiday appropriate foods, it’s up to you how far you want to take the theme.
These are some of our favourite wedding themes, and we hope they give you some inspiration as you plan your wedding. Start off with a theme you love, and then make the wedding truly yours by customising each part to your liking.
