If you are considering having a full-blown theme wedding, the most important aspect is the location. Choose a site that goes along with your theme or create a theme because you’ve chosen a location that lends itself to one. For example, a tent is a perfect venue for a Moroccan-style wedding, whereas a city loft might evoke a theme based on art or artists. With rare exceptions, however, the most successful wedding themes are the most subtle.
Below are a couple ideas for décor, props, foods, and entertainment to get your creative juices flowing:
Country and Western: Serve down-home barbecue ribs, chicken, beef brisket, cole slaw, beans, and corn on the cob. After dinner, have a band come in for a set accompanied by dancers who teach the Texas Two-Step and line dancing. Consider changing into “western wedding garb” for this part of your reception – a fringed gown for the bride and large buckle belt for the groom.
Perhaps take your leave in a hay wagon wearing ten-gallon hats! One couple created this theme “whole hog” and got married in a barn. A country and western theme also works well for a rehearsal dinner.
For campy cacti to decorate tables or buffets, set watermelons on end (cut off the bottoms) in terra-cotta planters and poke wooden skewers into them to simulate the plant’s needles.
Holiday: Valentine’s Day, the Fourth of July, Christmas, Halloween, and New Year’s Eve all make for spectacular theme weddings. The possibilities for creative décor are numerous, and because the day is already imbued with a festive atmosphere, getting your guests into a partying mood is easy. Two caveats, however: Many people reserve certain holidays for close family gatherings, and paying holiday rates (usually time-and-a-half or double-time) for staff wages may be excessive.
On the bright side, some spaces may already be decorated for the holiday, so you’ll need only minor additions.
