Some Ideas and Inspiration

Wedding Theme Ideas And Inspiration

It’s a new year, and what a better way to start it than by planning your wedding. However, before you can start planning for your big day, you need to know what kind of wedding you want. You need to consider all aspects, such as colour scheme and running themes, and before you can decide what these will be you’ll want to put together a folder of ideas and inspiration. By making different collages of images cut out from magazines and print outs, you can easily see all the different styles and themes you like. Once you’ve got a collection of collages with ideas and inspiration, you can decide for yourself how you’ll want your wedding to look and all the little details that will be included. The following ideas will hopefully inspire you and could even be added to some of your collages. For more information, wedding ideas and inspirational moodboards, visit: http://www.hitched.com.au/

Colour Schemes

Lots of brides already have a favourite colour that they want to have as their colour scheme at their wedding, or perhaps you have a dream venue in mind that might influence your colour scheme. However, here are some popular choices of wedding colour schemes and what they represent:

Blush Pink

Blush or dusty pink is a popular choice amongst brides who want a subtle sweet and feminine touch to their special day. Flowers in pink shades are Sweet Peas, Siam Tulips, Ranunculus and Roses.

Orange

Orange colour schemes can vary from a soft autumn tone to a spicy orange. Orange themes are trendy, boisterous and quirky, and can even be perfected with orange flowers, such as orange Gerbera or Ranunculus.

Yellow

The colour yellow has strong connotation with happiness, calmness and sunshine, making it a great colour scheme for an outdoors wedding. It has also been interpreted as the colour that is linked to enlightenment, which means it perfectly suits the day of matrimony.

Alternative Centerpiece Ideas

Rather than the same old flowers on the table, young brides and grooms are being more creative with their centerpiece ideas and coming up with more alternative table decorations.

Little Wedding Cakes

Instead of having the conventional tiered wedding cake, why not put a single wedding cake on each table as the centerpiece, which means each table have their own cake and can cut it themselves. Each colour or design might be slightly altered in order to differ from each other, or perhaps the table number or name could be printed onto the cake. This is an upcoming new trend this year, and is already gaining popularity with young and adventurous couples.

Food Centerpiece

Socialised catering is on the uprise, and instead of individual food orders, couples are ridding of centerpieces altogether and having banquet styled food platters put out as replacements for centerpieces. This simple yet ingenious idea is like a buffet that comes to you, and is looking to be increasingly popular in the upcoming year.

Creative Table Numbers

Rather than having an ordinary table number, creative brides are creating table numbers out of different materials and placing them into a flower arrangement making a popular idea into a unique detail. The 3D number itself could be make from twister wire, beads, painted wood or coloured foam.

Decoration Ideas

First Impressions

The entrance to your venue should be impressive since it will be the first thing your guests experience. Make a good impression by welcoming people into the venue with signposts inviting them inside, or even put up posts like a timeline about how you met. This could include photos and dates and could be chalked onto blackboards which could be displayed along the path leading into the venue or dotted around inside for guests to find.

Decorate The Bar

People tend to spend a fair amount of time at the at weddings, which means you’ll want it to be attractive. You could personalise it by putting up photos of you and your partner when you first met, or displaying funny facts or moments that have happened to you both that you can share with your guests. Or you can simply make it prettier by adding tea lights or mini flower displays.

Glam Up The Bathroom

Your female guests will be trying out the bathroom in hope of fancy hand soap and soft towels, so don’t disappoint! Dot around some scented candles and perhaps some rose petals along the back of the sinks. You could include mini flower arrangements and pretty soap and hand lotion, and you can be sure that your lady guests will appreciate.

Advice on seating arrangements..

Seating Arrangement Guide

Putting together a seating chart may take some time, but thoughtful table arrangements will heighten your guests' experience.

Setting up a seating chart can be a tricky job, but you can get through this tedious task with your sanity intact. Guests generally like pre-arranged seating assignments for sit-down dinners. It shows you thought about whom they'd be best seated with, and it cuts down on confusion when it's time for the meal to begin.

No Regrets: Satisfactory Seating Arrangements • Remember, you're not going to be able to make everyone completely happy. Do the best you can, avoid major political blunders,and hope your guests have the good grace not to complain. • Do ask your parents and your fiance's about any potential family minefields. There may be old wounds you're not aware of, so enlist their help to avoid unfortunate groupings. • Build a little flexibility into your seating plan. Inevitably you'll have a few no-shows, and you just might have a few attendees who neglected to RSVP. Your catering manager should be able to squeeze a couple of extra seats in if necessary.

The first thing you need to do is talk with your fiance and decide if you're going to take requests from your family and friends or determine between the two of you where everyone will sit. Then remember the following guidelines.

The head table can be just for the two of you, if you like. Or you can add your maid of honor and best man, or include the entire wedding party. Traditionally the bride sits at the groom's right, with the maid of honor on his left and the best man on the bride's right. The rest of the party follows suit in an alternating male/female pattern. You may include child attendants at the head table, too, but if they are young, they may behave better and feel more comfortable seated with their parents.

If you are having a small wedding party, you may want to include their spouses or dates at the head table. Or, you may choose to spread your wedding party around at the guest tables, which would also allow them to sit with their partners.

The table of honor—located near the head table—is where the parents of both the bride and groom, the wedding officiant, and sometimes grandparents sit during the reception. If there are several people you would like seated at this place of honor, you may have two tables—perhaps one for the bride's family and one for the groom"s. Divorced parents should be seated at different tables of honor with their partners and close family and friends.

Always seat married couples at the same table. Younger children should be seated with their parents or, if you have a lot of children attending, you might want to have a "kids" table"—strategically placed near their parents—with some crayons and paper or other games and toys to keep them busy.

If you have a large group of friends you need to divide, split the group down the middle and fill each table with other people. That way no one feels completely left out. For single friends, judge which seating situation will make them happiest—a table of unattached counterparts or a few couples mixed into the scene. Never, and we do mean never, seat only one or two singles at a table full of couples, and try to avoid tables of all strangers.

Younger people—or people who love music—should be at tables close to the music makers, while older guests may want a quieter table.

Guests should be informed where they will sit by table cards that are placed on a small table outside the reception room: Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Table 5. You can also get creative and choose an alternative to traditional cards. For example, for a beach-theme wedding you could write names and table numbers on shells or smooth beach stones with an indelible pen.

Within the dining room, the tables should be prominently marked in an easy-to-follow order. You may also use place cards to notify guests about specific seats at their tables. They should have names on both sides (so other guests at the table can see them as well), and should be positioned above the plate. This is a good way to help guests become acquainted. Alternatively, many couples now combine place cards with favors, using small picture frames or other gifts marked with a guest's name both to indicate the seat and provide a keepsake.