How to Plan the Best Themed Wedding!

Are you doing a certain theme for your wedding? Need some guidance to get your ideas organized? Well let us take the time to go over the basics to help sort things out for your special day!

Pick your Theme

I know that this step seems the most obvious, but it can also be the toughest.  Your theme should be something that both you and your groom love.  If you need help thinking of different possible theme ideas for your big day, ask yourself some of these questions:

• What is something (or even somewhere) that you both enjoy?
• Do you both love a certain time of the year? Or even, would you like to plan your Wedding around the season that it’s in?
• Did you meet in college/high school?
• Have the same favorite author/book/movie?

Your answers can lead to mounds of possibilities! You can have a Winter Wonderland theme, a Christmas theme, a Carnival theme, a Beach theme, your College colors (or Fraternity and/or Sorority colors) could be the inspiration, or you can be captured by popular novels & movies such as The Hunger Games and The Great Gatsby, and turn it into something classy for your wedding day!

Once you have chosen the perfect theme for you, you can then go ahead and choose the perfect venue, invitations, favors, décor & so much more! 

 

Pick your Date & Venue

Depending on your theme you may or may not have to focus on a certain time of the year.  For example, if you chose a Fall theme or even a Halloween theme wedding, then sometime in October/Early November would be the best date for you. However, if you are doing a College theme wedding for example, the time of the year may not be as important. Brainstorm together and really think of a venue that will really transport you and your guests into the atmosphere you were dreaming about!  

Also, if your venue depicts a certain theme, such as a library, a literary theme wedding may be a great choice!  Or if you would like your event on the beach, the “beach theme” or a “tropical theme” would probably be your best choice.  Remember however, if you choose a venue first, this will more than likely depict your Event Date. 

It's All In The Details

The Colors:

• When you picture your theme what colors stand out the most? You should at least have 1 primary color, 1 Secondary color, and an Accent color.
• Some ways to help you pick these colors are:
• Complementary Colors (these colors are opposite each other on the color wheel, such as blue and orange, or red and green.)
• Analogous Colors (these colors lie next to each other on the wheel, such as green, lime green, blue-green.)
• Monochromatic Colors (these colors have variations of the same tone, such as bright red, dark red, etc.)
• Once you have picked these colors please keep them in mind when making your decision for the other details of your wedding. For example your table clothe colors, napkins, centerpieces, flowers, and even for some brides, makeup and nails should be taken into consideration.

The Attire:

• Your theme will also directly affect what you & your bridal party will be wearing on the big day!  If you decide to go with a beach theme & your Wedding will be on the beach in the middle of July, you do not want to be wearing a large “Cinderella” gown, filled with tulle & layers.  You will want a light, flowing dress that is perfect for a warm summer day!  This goes for your Bridesmaids, & even your Groom & his Groomsmen as well!  They will want something flowing, something light & something they can breathe in.
• Also, think about your colors as well!  If you are planning a Christmas Theme wedding for example, having hot pink dresses may not be your best option.         

The Food & The Wedding Cake

• The Food & the Wedding Cake can also be an intricate part of your theme for your event!  The time of year, the temperature and the location itself can determine what you would like to serve, and what the flavor and the look of your cake will be!  If you are having your wedding on a hot summer day, try not to serve as many hot items… if at all, or just the opposite for a cold winter’s day! 
• Also, don’t forget to incorporate your colors, flowers & intricate details to your Wedding Cake! 

   

The Flowers:

• Your colors will have a direct effect on your flower choices and your flower options will vary depending on the time of the year.
• Get creative with them! Add fun materials to your flowers or even have them created with different materials.  For example, you can have some flowers in your bouquet made out of the pages of your favorite book (a great idea if you’re doing a literary themed wedding).

The Invitations:

• Set the mood of your theme right from the beginning!  Incorporating your theme to your invitations will allow your guests to know what your event is all about and possibly what to wear!   

The Tables:

• Now there is nothing wrong with just using numbers to label your tables!  But if you would like to do something unique, you can label your tables in a way that correlates with your theme.  For example, we planned a Wedding that had a “Chicago” theme this past summer.  To incorporate their theme in their table numbers, they named each table a restaurant that brought them fond memories of their relationship that you could only find in Chicago: The Signature Room (where they got engaged).  It was a very cute idea that all of the guests adored! 

The Wedding Favors

• Giving out Wedding Favors is not a required detail, but it could be a nice enhancement to your tables, it is a very nice gesture for thanking your guests for attending, and even better… it could incorporate your theme in a very cute way! 
• Looking for unique & cute favors to give your guests? We love www.etsy.com!

 

These are just a few of many details that you can incorporate your theme into!  When you decide on your theme, remember to encompass all of your event elements with these details so that your atmosphere on your Wedding Day is exactly what you envisioned! 

 BBFN (Bridal Bliss For Now),

Olivia

A New Spin on Old Traditions

Ever heard of the saying “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed & Something Blue”? Of course you have!  Keeping with tradition is important, but why not put a new & unique spin on it!  Here are some ideas to keep these traditions alive in a creative way!

Something Old

To help keep the memories of loved ones close to the Brides heart, Brides are now placing pictures of their loved ones in lockets and even pinning them to their bouquet. It is a nice and memorable touch to incorporate "Something Old" for your wedding day.  If you would like to share in that moment with your guests, the growing trend right now is creating a collage of all your departed loved ones and putting it out on display for guest to admire.

Another beautiful way to keep a piece of your loved ones with you when walking down the aisle, is to collect meaningful fabric (from mom’s or grandmother’s wedding dress or from father or grandfather’s shirt) and sewing it into the lining of their dress. 

Something New

The biggest item that is usually ‘something new’ is the bridal gown, but if a bride would like to take that a step further, some great ideas would be buying some new make-up, jewelry, or lingerie (who says it has to be something seen?) Even a new perfume would be great as every time you smell that scent you will be reminded of your wedding day!

If you are a bride that is taking your soon-to-be husband last name you can always get your soon-to-be new initials monogrammed on a necklace or even have it sewed on your veil! It will be your new name after all!

Something Borrowed

Usually something borrowed would be family jewelry, the dress, or even the veil. However, we have noticed a new and creative twist that brides are doing for this tradition! Why not rent a stunning hand bag for the day? There are a lot of websites to checkout to find a gorgeous handbag that you will use on your special day. The same can go for jewelry. By renting it for the night you can get a striking piece of jewelry that will compliment your wedding dress.

If you would like to do something more meaningful with your ‘something borrowed’ you can always borrow the jewelry that your mother wore on her wedding day. Or a sweet gesture would be to include your future mother-in-law and wear something of hers too!

And remember, it doesn’t have to be something that the bride has to wear… why not ‘borrow’ the First Dance song of a couple you admire? The couple would be so surprised and honored that you thought of them on your wedding day!

Something Blue

For the most part, a lot of brides will make their garter blue for this tradition, but the new twist popping up everywhere is taking that pop of color and putting it on their shoes!  We cannot get over how beautiful a blue show looks against a white or ivory gown!

Another stunning way to incorporate something blue would be to get blue stitching on the inside of the dress embroidered with your wedding date.

If none of this sounds appealing to you –or perhaps you just do not want the color blue on you for your big day- why not create a signature blue drink? That way you and your guest could enjoy this old tradition together!

 

Here is an added bonus:

The Groom

            Let us not forget the groom… It is his special day too! Some subtle but creative ways for him to participate in these traditions could be to wear heirloom cufflinks or even a tie from a close friend or relative that he admires (something borrowed or something old). Another sweet gesture would be to include his past loved ones in the collage table or even in the photos attached to your bouquet, I am sure your groom would appreciate the thought.  Something new could be a new tie, new shoes, or even new cologne.  For the Something Blue, he can incorporate this color with his boutonniere, in his cufflinks or as a fun pop of color in his socks!  No one said that the Bride had to be the only one participating in these traditions, so why let him have a little bit of fun too!

 

I hope these little tidbits of advice can help inspire you for your big day! What other ideas have you done to update these old traditions? Any past Brides out there that would like to give some creative ideas to what they did for their wedding day? I would love to hear from you so please leave a comment below!

 

BBFN (Bridal Bliss For Now), 

Olivia

Building Your Wedding Bar

No matter your wedding vision, you will at some point need to make decisions on the beverages you will serve your guests, otherwise known as the bar. In the past five years there has been a boom in brides and grooms customizing their bars, and looking at different options than just the standard packages included at many traditional wedding venues (hotels, banquet halls, etc.). Give some thought to your drink selections, and make your bar a reflection of you as a couple.

If you are looking to keep costs to a minimum, here are some options:

• Keep it a dry bar, only offer sodas, waters, iced tea and lemonade
• Serve only beer and/or wine
• Add just one signature cocktail
• Eliminate the champagne toast (many people don’t actually drink it anyway)
• Ask to bring in your own alcohol and pay a corkage fee

Looking to spice up a non-alcoholic bar, here are a few of our favorite specialty stations:

• Bring in flavored Italian sodas, it may even be able to be mixed onsite
• Upgrade your coffee bar to include various flavors, chocolate shavings, whipped cream and more
• Getting married in a warm month? Look into a fruit smoothie or milkshake station

If you are going to utilize an included bar package our advice would be:

• Talk to the venue about which types of alcohol you know your guests will consume the most of, so they can stock their supply appropriately
• Ask about having your favorite spirits/brands available, you may be able to substitute an item
• Avoid the urge to pay on consumption, if guests think it is an “open bar” you will be paying for a lot of half-finished and forgotten drinks

Building your bar isn't just about people getting rowdy. You will be providing your guests drinks, so give some thought to your guest list, and budget, and bring on the fun!

BBFN (Bridal Bliss For Now),

Olivia

The Modern Day Mandap: How to Personalize it

What do you imagine standing under while taking your vows to your future Husband/Pati?  Do you see crystals?  Or maybe flowing drapes with floral elements?  When it comes to the modern day Mandap, there is not a set of rules Indian brides are following anymore.  Sure you want to follow some of the traditions of the Mandap, like what it symbolizes for instance, but you also want to make sure it symbolizes who you are as a couple.  Maybe you want your wedding to be clean cut and extremely modern and go towards a crystallized Mandap.  Or you want a romantic and whimsical feel and want to go with a fabric Mandap.  The Mandap is one of the most important ingredients of every Indian wedding ceremony, so make sure the Mandap you choose fits who you are and the style you want to accomplish during your big day.

Decorating Your Mandap:

Cultural traditions are very important when it comes to decorating the Mandap.  Traditional Mandaps are usually made of wood, have four pillars, and are decorated using kalashes, garlands of mango leaves, coconuts and banana leaves.  Also, traditional colors in the past have been more in the red and yellow families.  But with today’s modern Indian bride, she tends to go a more modern route while incorporating traditional elements as well.  From past events we have worked on, Mandaps have come in every shape, size, color and material you can imagine.  The below photos show some examples of different types of Mandaps we have done in the past.  The photo on the left incorporates the traditional colors and shape of a Mandap but also has the floral and fabric elements that give it a modern twist.  The middle photo really shows how to turn a traditional Mandap into a classy and whimsical one that truly showed the bride’s personality.  The blue fabric is something we are seeing more and more of lately, and the addition of the flowers and chandelier truly make this Mandap one of a kind.  And last but not least, one of the most unique Mandaps we have had, is the last photo on the right.  From the use of just crystals, the up lighting, the three pillars and the shape, all make this Mandap different from the rest.  Today’s Indian brides are not afraid to make a bold and modern statement when it comes to the centerpiece of the ceremony, and all examples definitely look sensational.        

The Mandap is a sacred place where all the rituals take place and is where the couple takes a vow to be together as one.  When it comes to choosing the style of Mandap you would like, make sure to choose carefully and make sure it is exactly what you would like.  The Mandap is in the center of all the activities on your special day, so remember to have it represent who you are as a couple and the love you have for one another.  Just most importantly remember there are no limits when it comes to decorating your Mandap, be as modern and out there or be as traditional and conservative as you would like, after all it’s your big day.  

Bridal Bliss for Now (BBFN),

Olivia