Choosing and planning your wedding theme is one of the most fun and creative parts of wedding planning.

Wedding themes can express the imagination of the bride and groom (or wedding planner) and can re-create any setting, from ancient Greece to an underwater paradise.

While most wedding themes are less extravagant than this and usually reflect a color scheme or perhaps a season, we have seen some fabulous and original wedding themes over the years. For brides looking for creative ideas, here are some to get you started:

Fairytale: While a Cinderella theme is most common in this category, there are plenty of other options. Cinderella themes can be carried out with such ‘props’ as glass slipper favors, a carriage wedding cake and a horse and carriage to draw the happy couple away to their honeymoon or from the church to the reception.

Color schemes: From black and gold to silver and white, or even red and pink for a Valentine’s theme, color schemes are a fairly easy and effective way to create a theme fro your wedding. You can color co-ordinate your bridesmaids’ dresses, the flowers and ribbons, and even the table decorations and confetti.

Tropical: Whether you go with gorgeous tropical flower arrangements or a sandy beach theme, a tropical wedding theme allows your guests to feel as if they’re being whisked away to a tropical paradise. Add some bamboo torches and a calypso band and the illusion is complete!

Mediterranean: Turquoise and shades of blue, with shimmering candles and all white linens…can you picture it? Add some belly dancers for entertainment and you have a Mediterranean-themed reception your guests will never forget.

Underwater: Hang fishing nets with shells and sparkly fish…offer water-related favors and give bubble-blowers to the children, and you’ll have a lovely and fun underwater theme. There is lots you can do to create an ‘under the sea’ feel, so just get creative!

Fantasy: Weddings are occasions where a bride can indulge the little girl inside, wearing a fantasy dress and planning a magical celebration. Many brides create a fantasy wedding, and there are endless possibilities here. From hiring a magician to adding sparkles or rainbows, you can do anything in this category, as long as it fulfills your fantasies!

Butterfly: From confetti to favors, from napkins to centerpieces, incorporating a butterfly theme is whimsical and enchanting. Pin little butterflies (not real!) on the walls or on linens, offer little butterfly pins. We’ve also seen this done with dragonflies or fairies.

Hawaiian: Hibiscus flowers, laeis and tropical Hawaiian music floating on the air…aaah, your guests will love it! Hire some professional Hawaiian dancers and the mood is complete. Tuscan: Rustic yellows, wine and grape vines, and sunflowers are just the beginning. Research Tuscany and Tuscan décor and you’ll come up with plenty of ideas for this theme.

Diamonds are forever: Add some sparkle and pizazz to your celebration with a diamonds theme. Little diamond-shaped sparkly confetti, diamond ring charms or key chains for favors, and a champagne fountain will help you get started. You can also do this with other gems or with pearls.

There are so many ideas and possibilities this list cannot possibly be exhaustive, and we hope we’ve given you a great start. You’ll find even more ideas at Wedding-Planning-Makes-Perfect.com, and be sure to check out the recommended Wedding Planning Guides. Happy wedding planning!

Your wedding is often one of the hardest events to plan in your life as it’s the one day of your life that you want to go without any problems so to ensure this you have to start planning for your wedding well in advance of the big day but before you can start planning you need to choose the theme of your wedding.

Beach, traditional, black and white, Hollywood, fairytale, the perfect pair and Las Vegas are just a few examples of some of the wedding themes that are becoming highly popular for couples; however one of the fasting growing themes, popularity wise, is a love and hearts theme.

The exchanging of vows demonstrates a couple’s ever lasting love for each other and the wedding rings are symbolic of this. This is why many couples are now looking towards the idea of having a love and hearts themed wedding.

There are many ideas surrounding a love and hearts themed wedding when it comes to the style and elegance involved as there are numerous decorating designs available; you may want an endless love theme, which will be classic and revolve around the idea of red roses or you may want a key to my heart theme with will focus on using hearts a lot in the design as well as placing keys around the room. Another hearts and love theme idea that you may want to look into is a fall of love theme, which will be a hearts and love theme focused around the season of fall. You may prefer to look into the idea of hearts intertwined, which again will focus on hearts as being the main design but these hearts will be interlocked, representing the bond of marriage. One last example of an idea surrounding a hearts and love themed wedding is oceans of love, which basically represents the hearts and love theme mixed in with a beach theme.

Whatever way you want to go with a hearts and love themed wedding you will be overwhelmed with choice when you are purchasing aspects to decorate the reception room with as there are so many different products to choose from.

Classic red roses, royal red seat covers, heart shaped wine bottle stoppers, alphabet blocks that spell out love and I do, white cake with red jam filling, rose petals scattered on tables, sweeping red bridesmaid gowns and heart shaped place card holders are just a few examples of the aspects that you can get when it comes to your hearts and love themed wedding.

As well as sorting out and pulling together the decorations for your hearts and love themed wedding you also need to consider what wedding favors you want to be present as a thank you to your guest for sharing your big day with you.

There are numerous hearts and love themed wedding favors available, so many in fact that you are going to be spoilt for choice! With a hearts and love themed wedding your can thank your guests in style and elegance with keepsakes they will appreciate. Some examples of the hearts and love theme wedding favors that are available are as follows:

Heart Calculator
Wine bottle stopper
Love design place care holder
Love coaster set
Personalized wedding mint tins
Porcelain heart dish
Key to my heart keychain
Heart candle holder

Heart and love theme wedding favors are so vast that you will find numerous items that all of your guests will love so all you have to do now is decide which ones you want that best reflect your wedding day.

Step 1 in any wedding planning should be selecting your marriage theme. The wedding theme that you at last decide on will make the remainder of your wedding plans and preparations far easier as it narrows down the decisions you need to make for stuff like table favors, decorations, flowers and anything else that you need.

Most couples will work together on deciding what the theme of the wedding is going to be and if they both have a typical interest or pastime it can be reasonably simple to decide on the theme. The bulk of themes are decided on straightforward stuff like color or picking a specific season of the year, but if you need something more flamboyant and strange like a Viking wedding theme then planning would be much more complicated and costs definitely higher. Before you decide on a wedding theme there are a couple of things that you need to consider.

One of the major influencing factors for your wedding theme is the time of year that you need to have your marriage. Many themes aren’t weather dependent, but if your heart is set on a beach theme then you would either have to make a contingency plan in case the weather turns bad or consider a destination wedding in a land like Bali or Philippines where you are guaranteed wonderful bright weather during set times of the year. This can work out more expensive depending on the scale of your guest list, but is unquestionably something to think about when choosing a beach wedding theme.

Cost is also a major consideration when planning your wedding theme. If you are set on a theme which will involve special costumes for guests then you could be in a position to get friends and family involved in giving help with the preparations. Flower arrangements, decorations, catering could be done with assistance from close friends and family to chop the expenses down and give you a bigger budget for props.

Whatever theme you decide on you want to plan it well for it to be unusual. Just because you spend a large amount of money on a wedding theme does not guarantee that it is going to be any different from the other weddings. The key to making a personal marriage theme that’ll be unique is to narrow everything down after you have selected your main theme. Take a forests theme as an example, why are you wanting a forest theme? What interests you about the forest? Is it the trees, the butterflies or the mystery that’s associated with forest life, the fairies, imps or even the mushrooms?

Can you imagine a wedding that uses butterflies as the main theme, the bright colors, and the rounded edges of their wings? The velvety feel that a butterfly brings to mind already magics up thousands of ideas. Being specific at this time will make a fabulous, unusual wedding that’ll be really enjoyed by everyone.

If you are going to have a complex marriage theme, you need to make sure that you debate this with your wedding videographer as they will need to know in advance if they have to bring any special gear or provide extra lighting. Even though your wedding looks great when you’re standing there, making sure that your theme is captured by a professional marriage videographer will ensure that your marriage video comes to life as you watch it over and over again.

Most of the couples are planing the wedding having the their celebration and party in springtime. When the flowers are blooming and the plants are growing, that is the right time to get married.

In any case you can not rely on good weather in springtime. The reason for choosing spring for a wedding it might be that this season is full of spirits and energy.

The nature is awake and most of the flowers are starting to bloom. This gives the wedding a natural charm.

Amazing ideas for your spring wedding day:

Indoor or outdoor wedding?

If you are planning your wedding outdoor, spring will be the ideal time, when the weather is good. However, you can not trust the weather or weather forecast.

Of course, springtime is the best time of the year for having an outdoor wedding, because of the fresh growing green and flowering plants. The wonderful flora will give you the nature decoration for an outstanding romantic outdoor wedding.

The location for your wedging can be in your parent’s garden, a public park or any beach. The best planned outdoor wedding is, when you have an indoor alternative on hand.

Which color?

The color is an essential part of spring. You can make spring part of your wedding theme. Use spring flowers for your table decoration; send invitation cards with spring design to your guests.

You can use bright colors. Also the combination of yellow and green is getting more popular. The choice of the right color will make a spring wedding memorable.

Today’s some brides a not aware to have a hint of color in their wedding dress – be it a light green sash or an allover hint of yellow. Colorful dresses look great on a spring day.

What to wear? For springtime you will find a lot of classic pastel bridesmaid dresses. Choose spring flowers for your bouquets, which are matching the spring theme.

Men are looking smarter in tan suits, a colored shirts and well styled ties. The bride should choose a wedding dress with long sleeves, because it can be colder on the day, then expected.

When dressing for a spring wedding, keep in mind that the weather can be tricky. You may have the plan for temperature extremes.

What to cook?

Your menu can be also stay on the spring theme. A light spring soup with rice and seasonal vegetables will be a fantastic starter.

Fish or chicken breast with young vegetables such as baby carrots, asparagus and new potatoes, are the best for a light wedding meal.

End your Menu with fresh seasonal fruits, such as strawberries, rhubarb and apricots are delicious at this time of year.

What favors are the best?

If you consider giving favors on your wedding day, look to buy seasonal spring gifts. For example give favors of seed packets, with words on: “Thanks for supporting the growth of our love.”

If you want to get some cheap wedding favors, shop at the stores. There you have a large selection of seasonal items, which are useful gifts for your guests.

Spring is a wonderful time for the new adventure that a wedding brings. Spring is the time of rebirth and renewal.

Enjoy your marriage in the most exiting time of the year, by having a spring wedding.

Okay. You’ve got the ring, you’ve got time to plan, and you’ve got…no clue where to start. Your mother-in-law is telling you to have a Hollywood themed wedding, and your best friend is telling you to theme it for the beach. All that is well and good, but neither of those ideas is of interest to you. You want a theme that matches your personality, not theirs.

Where do you begin? Well, you could spend a lot of your budget on hiring a wedding planner, who’ll spend all your money for you. Or, you can hit the books and have a look at what’s out there! If you want something more original, and not mainstream, try eliminating what is mainstream. Ask the married women you know what their wedding themes were. Not only can you find out what someone else has done, but you can use it as a way to brainstorm for your wedding. If you really like Shelly’s theme of Water, but also like Anne’s theme of gardens, try combining them! What do you get if you mix Water and Gardening? Tropics, Ponds, Gardens, Ocean, Parks! They are both unique and easy.

If that idea doesn’t appeal to you, just look around you. What kind of decor does your home have? Is it more traditional, or is it more modern? Do you decorate with tiles, or paint? What colors do you like? If your home is more modern, think about what reminds you of “modern”. To me, when I think of modern, I think about what’s in style – Retro! If your home is more traditional, do the same. What reminds me of traditional is the old life. Farms, small towns, rural living, old sporting – Rodeo!

If you’re still reading this, then you probably still need ideas. If your friends didn’t help, and if looking around you didn’t help, maybe mainstream is a good idea. There’s plenty in that idea bank! You can always add your own spin to it. What are mainstream favourites? Seasons. Things like a Spring theme, or a Fall theme. My sister’s wedding was an Ocean themed wedding; and since then, it’s become quite a popular choice. I’ve also heard of many Sunset themed weddings. How do you put your own spin on these popular favourites? Instead of having a spring theme, why not pick a certain flower that you love? Or, instead of Ocean theme, pick a certain beach you like, and hold the wedding there!

Still no ideas? Well, if all else fails, there’s always wedding magazines. Wedding magazines always have fresh, new, and unique ideas. They’re all over the big book stores, and sometimes you can find them in second-hand stores. Who wants to pay full price for a magazine when you can get another one for 1/2 the price? Keep those in mind when you’re doing decor shopping for your wedding as well. Second hand stores can have just what you’re looking for, and are usually a lot less then the brand new stuff.

If you’re fresh out of ideas still, try thinking of colors, and what they remind you of. Red reminds me of cinnamon, of spices, and things like that. Herbs! Orange reminds me of fire. Campfires, bonfires, hula dancing. Hawaii! Green reminds me of mint. Mint is in breath mints, in sweets, and cooking – candy! Think of any color you like, and think of what it reminds you of. You can try this with smells, too! Bread reminds me of bakeries, flowers remind me of gardens. Sooner or later you’re bound to stumble across something you like.

If you want to be more outlandish than all that, why not have a theme based on another country’s traditions? Have a Chinese themed wedding, or a Dutch wedding. Maybe Italian or African. Many of earth’s cultures have unique styles of wedding, and would be fun to plan out. If you cant pick one country or culture, you could always pick your favourite bits from many cultures, and have a mosaic wedding.

If that isn’t enough for you, there are always modern subcultures. There are Goths, hip-hops, rap lovers, sport heads, TV heads, gamers, school kids, and many more. You could have a Gothic wedding or a wedding themed with your favourite video game, or your favourite genre of music. Its a broad world out there, fit with many subcultures just waiting to be picked!

How about copying the set or scene of your favourite TV show or movie? Lord of the Rings has the Shire, Soaps have the almost too-perfect city scene, and 24 has the big city panic. Any of your favourite things to watch have a certain scene, feeling, or set. If you like it, copy it! You’ll be flowing with ideas!

Maybe this is all a little too much for you, and you’d like something a little more basic. Well, how more basic can you get than industrials? Iron, steel, glass, stone, gold, diamond. Those things are easy to find and easy to base a theme around. It gives a strong look, and can be fun to plan with. There’s brushed metal, stained glass, candles, wood, brass, and tons of other things in this category. Go wild!

If even that is too much for you, then there are every day common items that could prove to be a lot of fun. A rainbow, clouds, leaves, chairs, numbers, phones…There’s a whole list of basic, everyday things that could very well be your theme. Just because you see them every day doesn’t mean you can’t make them a unique and successful theme idea!

Well I hope I’ve helped you pick out your theme, and I wish you a happy, successful wedding and marriage! Remember, planning can be fun, but planning with a few extra hands willing to help you makes it a lot more fun, and a lot faster!

Elegance is in the details, and providing a theme to tie the details of your wedding together can create beautiful results.  Here are some themes to consider when choosing a wedding theme for your wedding and reception.

Period:

Depending on the time period you choose, a period theme can make for a very stylish and formal wedding or an eclectic and fun one.  Choose a Victorian wedding theme set among gazebos and rose gardens with lots of lace and gilding.  Try a fifties wedding theme with hoop skirts, bobby socks, and old-fashioned rock and roll.

Country:

This theme can be in decor or fashion.  Choose butter yellow, cornflower blue, and maroon for colors.  Put stylized chickens on everything from the invitations to the tablecloths to the cake and favors.  You could even host the reception at a farm or in a barn.

Butterflies, unicorns, and stars:

Take any pretty animal, icon, or image and make a theme of it.  For a butterfly wedding, stitch butterflies into the bodice of your gown with gold or silver thread or wear gossamer wings, emblazon the cake with sugar-crystal butterflies, and release live butterflies after the vows and rings are exchanged.

Cultural and Ethnic:

Weddings that are very religious or ethnic take on a theme automatically.  Play it up by threading it throughout the entire wedding process from invitation to reception.  Put sacred herbs in your wedding invitations, layer the ceremony with bible verses, and serve foods from your homeland at the reception.  Weddings for people that are very political or dedicated to a cause might take on natural themes.  Gay marriage ceremonies might be laced with rainbow colors or other cultural elements that are important to the wedding couple.

Candlelight and fairies:

A night wedding could become a fairy’s paradise with fairy lights, tulle, and floating candles.  Flickering fountains, lanterns, and crystals could decorate tables.  The wedding couple could pass under a lighted arbor amid the tinkle of wind chimes.

Sand, waves, and fairy tales:

Destination and fairy tale weddings can create their own themes.  Beach weddings or even weddings where the couple plan on honeymooning at the beach can have a beach theme throughout the wedding experience with sand or ship-in-a-bottle favors, Hawaiian pizza appetizers, fruity drinks, and wave sounds.  Fairy tale weddings are often held at amusement parks.  The bride can choose to be Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella for a day and find Prince Charming in her groom.  Carry the magic by designing fairy tale invitations and favors and inviting guests to come costumed as their favorite characters.

Masquerade:

Add drama and intrigue to a wedding by throwing a masquerade.  Invite the fantastical by requiring guests to attend in masks, ball gowns, and tuxedoes.  Instead of raising a wedding veil to kiss the bride, the bride and groom could remove their masks.

Any wedding theme adds a continuity of experience to a wedding and reception.  It can release a sense of play in attendees and bridal couple both.  With a theme, it is important to remember that elegance may lie in the details, but joy is in experiencing them.  Pick a theme, have fun implementing it, and enjoy your special day.

      Here is a wedding planning count down checklist. This is a general checklist and it will help with your planning of your beach theme wedding, but you will want to flesh it out a bit by adding the extra items pertinent to a beach or destination wedding. You will get the extra needed information from purchasing one of the wedding planners that I mentioned in my last article about  wedding planning where they mention added things you need to know about planning a beach theme wedding.  You can add these items to your planning checklist so that you will not forget important things to do.  You’ll definitely want to include what to do about the marriage license if you will be having an out of the country wedding. This will make planning a beach theme or destination wedding so much easier!  So then, here is the basic wedding planning checklist.

 9-12 months before the wedding:
   Announce your engagement to friends and family.
   Pick your wedding date.( If you will be having your wedding at your local beach, make sure of all the rules and reserve and if you want a out of country destination wedding , check and reserve before setting your wedding date in stone.)
      Arrange for parents to get together and meet each other if they haven’t already.
   Discuss what your budget will be and who’ll be contributing what to the event.
   Interview wedding planners if you’re using one. (Or use one of my recommendations from my previous post on wedding planning like Amazing Wedding planning- great for info on destination and beach theme weddings.)
   Meet with the officiant.
   Work on the guest list to get a rough head count.
   Visit reception sites and reserve one. (This will be hard to do if this will be an out of the country destination wedding. You might want to actually go visit the island of choice and take care of some of these things at this time, then the rest can be done from home.)
   Begin shopping for your wedding gown. If you want to drop a few pounds this would be the time to start.
   For an out of country destination wedding this is the time to start checking into the details of your marriage license.

 6-9 months before the wedding:
   Choose the members of your wedding party.
   Select a caterer. (This might be included in your destination site, so check)
   Enroll in a bridal registry.
   Order your wedding gown.
   Shop for bridesmaids dresses.
   Pick a photographer and videographer.
   Hire a florist (or look into do-it-yourself flower arranging DVDs on my site and practice also wholesale flowers)
   Start thinking about where you’d like to go for your honeymoon.
   Send out save-the-date cards, especially if your wedding is on a holiday weekend. (check my post on wedding invitations for some great beach theme wedding invitations and save the dates.)

4-6 months before the wedding:
   Order wedding stationary (place cards, thank you cards, etc.).
   Shop for the perfect wedding cake. (this could be tricky if you want a special wedding cake and you will be having a beach theme or especially an out of country destination wedding, so check out Amazing Wedding Planning for help with this)
   Hire your wedding-day transportation (carriage, limousine, etc.)
   Book your favorite hair stylist and makeup artist. (special planning for a destination wedding)
   Check on hotels for any out-of-town guests.
   Finalize the guest list.
   Get definite plans for your honeymoon, make airline and hotel arrangements.
   Plan the rehearsal dinner. (Special planning for a out of country destination wedding)
      Compile a list of all your wedding vendors, their phone numbers, the details and keep a list with you at all times for reference.(I would make two lists and give one to someone else like mother or maid of honor-someone who can help with the details if needed and so that if you were to loose your list, there will be another one handy.)

 2-4 months before the wedding:
   Purchase the marriage license from your cities county clerk.( I already commented on this earlier, you’ll need to plan this much earlier for an out of country wedding, making sure that it will all be legal)
   Order tuxedos for the groom and groomsmen.
   Meet with the caterer to go over menus, wine selections, etc. (or for a destination wedding, you’ll need to communicate by email)
   Order the wedding cake.
   Select wedding ceremony and reception music.
   If you plan on writing your own vows start writing them now.

 4-8 weeks before the wedding:
   Mail wedding invitations 6 to 8 weeks ahead of your wedding date.( probably more time needed to give guests extra time to plan or make special note of it in your save the dates)
   Do a hair and make up run through with your wedding veil on.

2-4 weeks before the wedding:
   Work on the seating arrangements for the reception.
   Confirm details with the photographer, florist, and other vendors.
   Have your final wedding dress fitting.
   Write your rehearsal-dinner toast.
   Purchase gifts for the wedding attendants.
  
 1 week before the wedding:
   Place any amounts due on the wedding day in envelopes for easy distribution.
   Give the caterer a final head count.
   Find a trustworthy person to take the cake knife, toasting glasses, etc. to the reception.
   Get final beauty treatments (manicure, facial, massage, waxing, brow shaping, etc.).
   Pack for the honeymoon.
 

 The day before the wedding:
   Get something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a silver sixpence in the shoe(a penny will do).                       
    

 The day of the wedding:
   Relax and remain calm.
   Remember to eat something. You may be so busy with things that you forget or just not get the time once you are in the midst of your reception.
   Allow yourself at least two hours to get dressed.
   Enjoy your dream beach theme or destination wedding.

      So as you can see, this is a general checklist and there are many extra things to be considered for a beach theme or destination wedding, especially if it will be out of the country. May you have many wonderful experiences on planning your dream beach wedding.

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Every bride-to-be must come to the part of the wedding planning process where they must decide what kind of wedding theme they would like to have for their wedding. A wedding theme encompasses the entire wedding, from the wedding invitations to the reception wedding cake. It also represents the bride, groom, and their personalities. This article presents just a few inspirational small wedding theme ideas.

Wedding themes are contingent on many things including the bride and groom, the season of the year, the wedding location, and many more things.

Depending on the bride and groom’s personality, their wedding theme will represent them in a number of ways. Wedding guests will be able to see the bride and groom in the wedding theme.Winter weddings tend to have wintry themes associated with them, the same applies for summer, spring, and fall weddings. The destination of the wedding will influence the wedding theme. A wedding at the beach will more than likey have a beachy theme. Weddings held in victorian style houses or mansions will have more elegant themes. There are many more factors that influence a couple’s wedding theme.

Many times a wedding theme will just be based on the bride’s wedding colors. For instance if a bride chooses to have pink adn brown as her wedding colors, she and her bridesmaids will have pink adn brown flowers, wedding jewelry, bridesmaid jewelry, wedding decorations, and pink and brown reception decorations. The applies to all wedding colors as well. To add to the theme, a bride could have pink and brown polka dots all through her wedding decorations.

To incorporate your wedding theme and destination wedding, include souveniers and designs in your wedding invitations and thank you cards. The wedding cake can be decorated representing your destination wedding as well. The location of your wedding can inspire your wedding theme no matter where the location is. A garden wedding can be represented by butterflies.In all weddings, your wedding theme will also influence the type of wedding jewelry you and your bridesmaids will wear.

Wedding theme ideas are important to a bride and groom and hopfeully this article will inspire you in choosing your wedding theme.