5 Simple Wedding Themes To Base Your Colors & Decorations Around

Many couples these days are striving for both frugality and style for their weddings.

One of the ways you can save money and still have a stylish wedding is by picking a good theme for your wedding.

Once you pick a theme, then you will find it easier to select your wedding colors and decorations.

Your theme will ultimately influence everything else in the wedding planning process.

The great thing about wedding themes is that there are literally hundreds to choose from.

And you can personalize each of those themes in your own special way — so that your wedding will be fun, beautiful, memorable, and unique just for you!

Here are 5 simple wedding themes that you could use at any time of the year. And each can be uniquely personalized to meet your needs…

Holiday Wedding Theme Ideas

Simply pick your favorite holiday!

This is actually one way you can save a lot of money on wedding decorations and food. If you choose to have your wedding near a major holiday (such as Christmas or Valentine’s Day), then you can use the same colors, decorations and foods that are traditional for that holiday.

For example, for a Christmas wedding theme, you can have poinsettia plants for your flowers, and even a fully decorated Christmas tree, if you want! You can also use all the same types of decorations as you would use to celebrate Christmas. As far as clothes for a Christmas wedding, you don’t have to pick the traditional red and green. You can choose icy blues and whites, if you like.

The best part: no matter which holiday you choose, lots of fun holiday-themed items will be readily available to you as your wedding date nears. So it will be a cinch to decorate your wedding to match your holiday theme. And if your wedding date is set far enough in advance, then you could even find some great bargains on decorations at post-holiday sales the year before your wedding!

Cultural Wedding Theme Ideas

If either you or your spouse comes from a different culture (particularly one where there is a popular costume or regalia), consider having your wedding theme match the customs of a particular country.

For example, I’m Native American and one of my sisters had a Native American theme for her wedding. We all wore our traditional clothing. Of course, my sister made her own buckskin dress complete with beadwork for her wedding dress, but you get the idea. She even made a beautiful ribbon shirt for her fiancé to wear.

This could work for just about any culture. Often, family members will be more than happy to help, since it’s a great way to pass the culture on to the next generation.

Seasonal Wedding Theme Ideas

Either choose your favorite season (Spring, Summer, Fall, or Winter) and pick your wedding date around that, or base your wedding theme on whatever season your wedding date happens to fall.

For example, with a Fall wedding theme you can use warm eathy colors and use lots of rustic, outdoorsy things for your decorations. All sorts of fun seasonal decor will be readily available in the days leading up to your wedding.

You can even collect Fall leaves and use them to make your own fun decorations. (Just wash them first!)  Squash, pumpkins, and Indian corn are also great decorations for a Fall wedding theme.

While you and your guests probably won’t want to wear orange or black for wedding colors, you could have your bridesmaids wear darker jewel tones (such as topaz yellow or forest green) for their dresses to match your Fall theme.

MONEY-SAVING TIP: Fall weddings are cheaper because most people don’t get married at that time of year!

Vintage Wedding Theme Ideas

Simply select a decade, and then fit your wedding theme around it!

Remember when you were in high school and they did 1950s day, or 1970s day? What about using the same strategy to come up with a fun period of time, based on clothing styles, music, and your ability to get fun props and decorations.

For example, with a 1920s wedding theme, you might consider bobbed hairdos and flapper dresses. It’s not that difficult to get your hands 1920s decor and clothing these days. (Hint: thrift stores, party stores, and vintage costume stores.) Or, you might consider having everyone rent 1920s costumes for the wedding! That would save money all the way around.

For fun decade-specific decorations, just do a little research online to see what the styles and decor were like back then. Framed photos of old movie stars and old magazine ads are a good place to start.  You could also play music from that particular era. You may want to try to find old records from that time period in thrift stores (or in family members’ attics!).

Fantasy / Fairytale Wedding Theme Ideas

When you think of a fantasy or fairytale wedding theme, you probably think of a Lord of the Rings wedding or even Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. Yes, those are 2 possible ways to organize a fantasy or fairytale wedding, but you could even do a generic one such that you and your fiancé are the prince and princess. You dress the parts, and your guests come as various lords, ladies, and even villains if they want to!

The nice thing about a fantasy or fairytale wedding theme is that it’s easy to have your guests visit a costume shop for their attire. This saves on the cost — for both you and them.

As for decorations, if you have the wedding outdoors then you can choose a wooded area which happens to fit the theme. If you have your wedding indoors, the sky is the limit. You could put fantasy art on the walls and place all sorts of props on the tables.

Well, as you can see, it’s not difficult to come up with a fun wedding theme to suit your personality. Believe it or not, if you do it right, your wedding won’t be as costly as some weddings without themes can be!