Keeping the Theme

I've always felt that when planning a theme wedding there is a fine line between charming and cheesy. Too much, and the atmosphere begins to feel more like a child's birthday party than a wedding. Done right, it can be both memorable and magical. My intent is to offer you some planning tips that will help keep you focused in planning your themed wedding, without veering off-course only to find yourself with a mess instead of magic.

First and foremost, chose your theme before beginning any wedding planning. This might seem like I am stating the obvious, but choosing or changing themes after planning has begun can result in putting you back at square one and can be costly as well. Before making any decisions, I would challenge you to think through your entire event with your theme in mind, beginning with your ceremony and reception venues. These locations will be among the very first decisions you will make with regard to your wedding. If you've decided on a Victorian theme for your wedding, perhaps there is a historical property nearby that will prove the perfect setting.

Themes will be most effective if incorporated consistently throughout your event.

Decide what colors you would like to work with within your theme, and keep them consistent. Decide what key decor elements you would like to use, and use them throughout. For instance, lets say you want to have a beach inspired wedding. What colors and elements speak to you most with this theme in mind? It can be anything that draws you to this theme, beach glass, sea grass, aqua colors, white powdery sand, just for example. Take these colors and elements and string them through your event. Being consistent with colors and elements will keep your event looking and feeling cohesive. If you have thought this process through, you will see that adding a random item into the mix that doesn't fit your color/decor criteria will ultimately throw the whole 'look' off.

If, at any point, you feel like, hmmmm, maybe I've gone too far with this-you probably have. Its very easy to over dose on a theme. Excited friends and family will probably bombard you with ideas and the internet will provide you with endless options. This is where you will need to learn to edit those thoughts and ideas, use what works within your specific criteria, and discard the rest. Don't let yourself get carried away with every cute idea that might work. What you'll end up with is a bunch of ideas that, while good individually, don't collectively add anything to your theme, except to clutter and confuse. If you can't see the forest for the trees, ask a friend who has a good eye for detail to help.

I would not recommend combining themes. I can't think of any instance where I think this might work. However, I do think you can introduce another idea without destroying the overall established theme. I recently planned a wedding where the bride wanted a deep fall color palette of eggplant, olive and espresso. She wanted a 'woodsy' and natural feel to her event. Her groom was a huge boxing fan...how to make the two work...? We ended up naming the tables at the reception after boxing greats i.e. Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson, etc. So while the overall look and feel of the event stayed intact, the groom was able to infuse a bit of himself into the mix. The groom's cake is also a great place to let the groom's personality shine through-a replica of Wrigley Field comes to mind for one Cubs fanatic.

Be creative, but also have an overall vision that you've mapped out from the beginning, and stick to it. Make magic.