Today's blog is by Charlotte P who writes the Wedbits blog for the Dessy Group. She talks about wedding themes, which are becoming more and more common - but are they really necessary? Back in your grandmother’s day you just got married.
You’d have chosen a fairly traditional white dress, probably with a bit of lace in it. A veil and possibly a tiara if you wanted a bit of sparkle.
Your brideroom would have worn a new lounge suit or morning coat with a smart tie.
Your cake would probably have been a traditional three tier – either square or round, with each tier propped up by decorative pillars.
Flowers? Probably roses, carnations and gysophilia.
In addition, the wedding was likely to have been held in the morning, with a wedding breakfast afterwards and the bride and bridegroom departing for their honeymoon at sometime in the afternoon.
Fast forward to 2014 and it’s all change.
Nowdays more and more brides decide to have a wedding theme and we’ve seen all sorts. Woodland themes, superhero themes, festival themes, Cadbury purple themes… you think of it and a bride has probably done it.
But is all that theming really necessary? Are you as a bride in danger of overcomplicating things when really your grandmother had it just right?
Well, a theme can be as simple or as complicated as you wish. And really, if you have a theme, no matter how basic, it can actually help you with your wedding planning.
To give you an example, the simplest theme you can really choose is a colour you like. It could be a soft blush pink or a vibrant emerald green.
Use the colour for your wedding stationery, your bridesmaids dresses, in your wedding flowers, your table decorations, your table plan, the sashes you have around your chairs … you get the idea.
If you’d like to take matters a little further you could explore a countryside or vintage wedding theme. Vintage could be a nod to the film of The Great Gatsby. Think Art Deco style invitations, a wedding dress with a flapper style, jewelled headbands …
If you’re more of a boho type and you’re having a wedding in the countryside, then you could give it a festival theme. Consider having a live band to play the music at your party afterwards, scatter haybales around for guests to sit on whilst they watch the show, serve a hog roast, place festival flags around the marquee …
Over the last few years, brides have opted to have a wedding theme because in fact, it’s a way to really personalise your big day and show who ‘you’ are. The old-fashioned formal way was fine, but didn’t allow brides and grooms to show much individuality.
Now at a wedding, the bridegroom can turn up in a sharp new coloured suit and it’s par for the course (and if you’re getting married, why not invest in the suit you’ve always wanted, rather than a morning coat you’re unlikely to wear ever again.)
From the moment your wedding invitation drops through a guest’s letterbox, you’re making a statement about who you are and what your big day will be like.
Having a theme doesn’t have to cost you more money either. In fact DIY wedding days are becoming more and more popular. Brides are creating their own table centrepieces, wedding favours and venue decorations. (My only advice would be give yourself plenty of time and not underestimate how long all this will take you).
So – there are pros of having a wedding theme, and not many cons really. Just think of a theme you like, consider how much time and effort you can give it to working it through every aspect of your big day and then just go for it.