4 Tips for Crafting a Wedding Theme

The extent of my artistic ability is scrapbooking.  My personal interests include everything from Jane Austen to Indiana agriculture.  During my college years, I had purposefully NOT made an extensive Pinterest wedding board because I didn’t want to jump the gun.

Suffice it to say, I was a bit overwhelmed when thinking about a what I wanted my wedding to look like (a.k.a: the wedding theme).  A theme for your wedding is important because it keeps you focused on what’s important to you and minimizes following every whim you have about your wedding.

Here are four things that I learned about a creating theme that can guide you in making decisions about your wedding.

1. Pin away.

Pinterest can be your best friend.  Create a board for your wedding, search colors and wedding elements (cakes, dresses, etc…), then pin until your heart’s content.  Wedding photographers’ websites are a great resource too.  Important note about Pinterest: Make sure Pinterest is serving you, and not the other way around.  Don’t let Pinterest define what your wedding looks like or distract from the purpose of the wedding.*

2. Ask yourself what you want people to remember.

In reality, people won’t remember the decorations down the aisle, the exact flowers in your bouquet or the favors.  They will remember the way they felt at the wedding.  So think about how your decisions will make your guests feel.

3. Think about what you value as a couple.

When I think about myself and Mr. M, two important elements of our lives are our Christian faith and community of family and friends.  These are the things that will be front and center throughout our wedding.  We’re also pretty low-key, so we want the event to feel relaxed as well as celebratory.

4. Let yourself be confined.

May is a crazy month, especially in Indiana.  In addition to Memorial Day, weddings and graduation parties, the Indianapolis 500 and the Mini Marathon are two big events we were up against when selecting a date and venue.  When we found a venue that was within our budget and open on a date we wanted, we snatched it up.  Is it perfect?  No.  Will it work?  Most definitely.  The venue, however, puts some limits on the wedding.  It’s definitely not modern, nor is it rustic.  Our ceremony will be in a chapel with stained-glass windows, and the reception will be in a banquet hall.  These two components dictated that our wedding will be traditional and classic.

Like I wrote in my bio below, Mr. M and I want our wedding to be a classy and relaxed affair that celebrates our marriage covenant and community.  As far as details go, this wedding of a friend (which was photographed by another friend) has been a tremendous inspiration.   I’ll look forward to hashing out the specifics of these points in some of the posts ahead.

Are there any tricks you’ve learned to crafting a wedding theme?

*If you need some help on thinking well about the relationship between Pinterest and your wedding, here are two articles that have helped me: In praise of my unspectacular, pre-Pinterest wedding and Taking back my wedding from Pinterest.