How to Choose a Wedding Theme

Recently a bride asked me how to go about designing her own wedding theme as she had no idea where to start. When I begin working with a client I spend a lot of time finding out about their personal style, from the music they listen to, the hobbies or activities they do in their spare time and even how they choose to decorate their home.  Choosing your perfect wedding theme design isn’t just about picking your favourite colour, it will greatly depend on the atmosphere you wish to create on your wedding day too. Here are some pointers to help you on your way…

The Starting Point

Choose one item as your inspiration, for example my wedding design initially stemmed from a delicate blue glass vase I bought from an antique shop.

Think about the kind of day would you like. Is it an evening or morning wedding? Would you prefer a spring wedding or an autumn wedding? Will the majority of your celebrations be held indoors or will the outdoors feature heavily?

Cut and Paste

If you stumble across an image in a magazine, paper or online that really draws your eye, save it. Don’t be limited to wedding magazines that are of course a constant source of inspiration, but look to home interiors, crafts, art and design, fashion and even food publications.

Keep your cut outs in a box or folder, sit down with your fiancé and work your way through it, discarding any you don’t like or can’t agree on. You should eventually find they’ll start to share a common link to each other, for example, city glamour with white flowers, crisp white table cloths and coloured glassware on the tables.

Be Moody

No, I don’t mean turn into a raving Bridezilla - I’m talking about creating your wedding mood board. Take the images you’ve saved and work them into a collage. You can really go to town on this and frame it so that you have it to refer to at home, or just pin them to a memo board. You can also put something together using Photoshop or other programs. I find the best way is to keep it simple and portable so you can take it with you to your supplier meetings to illustrate your vision.

It’s All in the Detail

Once you have a basic idea the details will come naturally - this is the fun bit! I am a sucker for details and a strong believer that it’s these elements that really set a memorable wedding apart from the rest. There are some great wedding blogs out there that focus on certain aspects you might overlook such as non-floral décor, treats or favours and table dressing.

Useful Tools:

Create your mood board here -

Polyvore

Experiment with colour here -

Preston Bailey

Find inspiration here -

The Wedding Community Blog

The most important thing is to stay focused. It’s too easy to get distracted with all the beautiful ideas there are available and before you know it, you’ve become confused. Concentrate on what you both like and forget about everything else!

Article by London Wedding Planner Tiffany Grant-Riley

Images Courtesy of –

Blue Glass Vase with Peacock Feather - Matt Faber Photography

Floral collage - Lobster and Swan

French Provencal Mood Montage - Grant-Riley Weddings Blog

Paper fans by Rifle Design via Ritzy Bee

Read more Wedding Theme and Trends Advice articles

Read other Wedding Advice articles