Theme Ten~Beach

So we live in a landlocked state, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a breezy island themed wedding! I recently had a Bride who went to Mexico for the ceremony, and had a reception at home that went with the theme of the wedding.  Of course there are many great reasons to have one! So whatever one may be yours, here are some pictures of the very wedding for you to check out.

 

The lovely intimate ceremony…

The cake/cupcakes. Love the seahorse cake topper!

 

And the reception tables. I love how they mixed the informality of the cupcakes with the formality of the reception set up. It makes it feel laid back and sophisticated all in one.

 

This is a wonderful theme that can work wonderfully for any couple!

This was part 10 of this series. Thanks for reading this series, I had so much fun writing it for you! I hope the ideas in these posts were as unforgettable for you as they were for the Brides we originally gave them to!

 

Things to do in your life together #12

Drag your bed into the living room for an at home movie date night 

Theme Nine~Rockabilly

So this is a pretty fun theme! Some couples may choose it just for their wedding day, while some live the lifestyle. Either way it’s a great way to have a totally different wedding than the norm. This post I’m using an actual wedding entirely instead of pics of random stuff that fits the bill for the theme as I do half the time, so you’ll get to see this lovely couples gorgeous outdoor wedding!

 

 

 

This is a great representation of a classic Bridal Party for a Rockabilly wedding. Black and Red are the typical colors you see, and this Bride took a spin on this and used gray. Notice how she uses light colored airy small flowers to balance the strong shades of the structured flowers, a good thing for Bride’s making their own flowers to take note of. 

 

 

We love the teal accents and the hairstyles! Refreshing after seeing so many of the matching chignons and french twists. (Which we do love, we just like to see mixed up once in a while!)

 

Love the lanterns on the iron archway!

 

 

They added a guitar into the decor, which I think is pretty cool. Especially since it’s a coordinating color! The yellow in the napkins makes for a fun pop that makes this wedding feel more summery.

 

I love how the they use old records as chargers! It carries on the music theme.

And finally the cake…. Isn’t it just to die for? It just fits so perfectly, it mimics the pattern of her dress!-and it looks delicious.

 

So all in all, I think this is a pretty nifty way to go for your special day!

 

This was part 9 of this series.

 

Things to do in your life together # 11

Visit the touristy spots where you live

 

 

 

Theme Eight~Afternoon Tea

This is a lovely theme for an afternoon wedding, especially if you have a modest budget but don’t want it to show.

Something that is unusual and fun is a tea bar! Of course you are going to be serving tea, but, you can make it interesting and fun. Offering a variety of teas, some special blends and herbals can give your guests an opportunity to explore some new teas. Get some jars or bowls you love and put little flags in them of what flavor they tea bags inside are.

Set up a steeping station for those that want to enjoy the traditional hot tea to chat and enjoy exchanging stories about the bride and groom while waiting for their tea to brew, and throw in some fresh springs of herbs to be added in.

 A good way to have an impressive centerpiece that your guests will undoubtedly love, is simply take a tiered tray and line it with cupcakes and petit fours decorated to match the Bridal Party flowers. You can even pick up some specifically for the theme, like below. Talk about some considerable savings!

A fun idea for a favor is taking a box of tea and placing a thank you for attending card just inside, and arrange them by flavor near the exit for your guests to choose the one they want. Think Raspberry, Mint, Jasmine, Vanilla, Orange. Then take a few of the containers emptied for the tea bar and fill them with flowers and place around. Voila! Beautiful decorations that fit just perfectly.

You can’t forget about the cake!

Don’t you love the tea cup topper?

All in all, you can’t go wrong with this theme. It’s fun, different, unforgettable, and it’s inexpensive!

This was part 8 of this series.

Things to do in your life together #9

 

Snuggle up on a rainy day.

(Old movie marathon, anyone?)

Theme Seven~Romantic

Candlelight… Rose Petals… Soft Music…

For a romantic wedding, it’s all about setting the mood. Think small intimate tables, and low lighting.

The great thing about this theme, is it’s super budget friendly!

Sound like your kind of wedding, but not sure how to make it happen?

A great place to start is with your venue. Think a mansion, Bed and Breakfast, or by the water at sunset.

Next, the dress. You can go a few different ways with this one. You can go opulent….

Or you can go flowing and dreamy…

The next step, flowers. For a Romantic wedding, roses and feathers are a go-to. Color wise, anything in the red, pink, or purple families will flow perfectly.

Here’s a good example in the form of bouquets:

As for your surroundings, you want the feel of the ceremony to carry into the reception effortlessly. Basically, lots of candles and flower petals in shades of one of your colors! LED candles are a great option as a lot of venues don’t allow open flame, and you don’t have to worry about wind blowing them out if you’re outdoors. They aren’t expensive, as in we rent out 4 LED tealights with 3 lighting effect settings for .50, and you don’t have to worry about the wax getting on your linens! (Talk about an easily avoided cleaning fee!)

This is a theme that is surprisingly small budget friendly for the visual impact you get.

 Some ideas for the ceremony…

Gorgeous, right?

As for the reception, it’s pretty easy to carry this theme over. You want to keep your color palette simple, and make the lighting effects and flowers plenty. The great thing about using this theme, is how much you can save on decorations. Because you’re using lighting effects like candles, twinkle lights, and lanterns, you can use artificial flowers everywhere and nobody will be the wiser. The only area I personally think real flowers are a must is petals used outdoors. A lot of Brides don’t realize most venues will make you pick up every single one, or you get charged a hefty fee for clean up. So it’s worth the splurge here!

 At The Party Loft, we make custom floral arrangements. So we can do anything you want, and as many as you want. Our centerpieces generally run $3-$6 per table. Just for the simple fact you don’t have to worry about finding a place for all those flowers and vases after the wedding makes it worth it to rent!

Now for the reception, the best part!

Just keep it simple with the linens and the centerpieces. Small is better here, you don’t want to overwhelm the smaller tables.

The other area that is good to splurge in is the chairs. You want to have some that are elegant and clean lines. The ones in the above pictures are “Chiavari” chairs. They are a bit more, but dollar per dollar, you’re going to be spending more on what isn’t going to be seen at your wedding when you use inexpensive chairs and cover them with chair covers and ties since you’ll need  to hire someone to do it for you. Please don’t ask your guests to do it, either! This isn’t an area to ask for  them to lend a hand. And trust me, you don’t want your family and friends to do them. They’ll just be agitated after doing 250 chairs all day for a 4 hour reception, and you’ll have some weird-looking bows!

Hope this post has helped you in the planning of your own wedding.

This is part 7 of this series.

Things to do in your life together #8

Go skinny dipping (discreetly!)

Theme Six~Country Chic

So around here we have a lot of country girls with big city style.

Thus, we get to see lots of gorgeous Country Chic weddings! Basically when you’re doing a Country Chic wedding, you choose a location that is either outdoors or in a barn or similar building.

 Then, you tent the place with beautiful fabric, lanterns, or lights, and put in some wonderfully chic chairs and linens of your choice. Generally your flowers are fresh, and in cutesy containers like mason jars.

Here are some pictures of a classic country chic wedding. Enjoy!

The reception is set up with a “ceiling” of lanterns with classic white wooden chairs.

The “flower bowls”  at the start of the aisle.

The Bride’s bouquet  and the cake. They really looked beautiful!

And the lovely couple making the grand entrance to the reception!

This was part 6 of this series. I hope I left you inspired in the planning of your wedding!

Things to do in your life togther #7

 

Watch the stars.

Theme Five~Victorian

A great classic theme!

One thing I like about going with a Victorian style wedding, is the tussie-mussie’s. What is a tussie-mussie? It’s a cone shaped holder for the bouquet. They were considered an art form, as each one was made differently, thus they were all unique. They can be made from many materials, so you can find one to fit just what you want pretty easily.

I personally had a Victorian inspired wedding. It’s theme was ” A Night at the Park”. I had street lamps, cute wooden park benches, a long sleeved family heirloom lace gown, and lighting effects at the reception of the moon and stars. So this theme is close to my heart!

I personally chose this theme because of my close personal connection with it. The house I grew up in was built in the 1800’s, so my Mother decorated with the style of the home, Victorian. I always feel at home with that style and I felt it showed the real me. I’m not the typical kind of girl, so why have a typical kind of wedding, right?

Now down to some pictures…

This is a typical tussie-mussie. Isn’t is so neat? A great way to make your bouquet totally different and a fantastic keepsake.

A staple of the Victorian era was hats. All kinds of wonderful hats! You can find an amazing antique one, or have one made.

I love this gown. It’s Victorian and Modern!

I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I did, and I’ve inspired you in the planning of your own wedding!

This is part 5 of this series.

Things to do in your life together #6

 

Hide love notes around the house for your significant other to find.

Theme Four~Kids in a Candy Store

What?! A candy themed wedding?

Yup, THAT’S RIGHT!

Embrace your inner child. Make your special day super special for you by being true to yourself.

Love sweets with a passion? (This Bride would crawl onto the counter to eat straight out of the sugar jar as a kid!)

Are you and your groom just kids-at-heart?

Don’t worry, this theme can be classy and fun.

Each table had candy jars with different flowers and candies on each table. The candy the table had was the name of it. This was the gumdrop table. Sweet!

The Bride and her bridal party had glass candy pieces in their updo’s. Great way to carry the theme into their outfits! (She gave fake moustaches to the Bridesmaids for the reception, too. So funny!)

They had an inflatable at their wedding! Made for some adorable pictures.

At the reception, the theme was fun and candy! The Bride has gathered up all kinds of fun stuff (She wore a jersey over her dress, and a fake moustache for some of the reception!). Crazy hats, feather boas, glow sticks, anything to make it blast! She had the guests take home their favorite stuff from the evening as a reminder of the event.

I hope after seeing this wedding, you’re a bit more inspired than before!

This was part 4 of this series.

Things to do together #5

 

Kiss in the rain.

Theme Three~Moroccan

Isn’t it awesome when a wedding just has all those great colors and that vibe that makes you feel like it’s the best party you’ve ever been to?

 Well this is one of them! It’s so laid back and fun and bright all in one. This Bride’s style is just as boho as it is Moroccan, so it has a great twist to it.

This is the lovely lounge area. I love incorporating the tree into the decor!

The tables were super fun! Tons of layering of the colors. You can go so much brighter when you’re outdoors. Nature will ground the colors. No need for doing it in your decor!

Her dress was so gorgeous. It fit her personality perfectly! We think this pose is great. It shows you what the feel of the entire wedding was. Laid back. Comfortable. Colorful.

And the Bride walking to the groom, and them walking away as a married couple! Love the set up for the ceremony. So simple, but embodied the theme as a whole at the same time.

Hope I’ve left you inspired on the planning of your Moroccan themed wedding!

This is part 3 of this series.

Things to do together #4

 

Go for a walk at midnight on a beach.

Theme Two~Vintage

This theme is…. Vintage!

 I especially love this one, because you can make it so personal.

 You can carry a brooch bouquet made of brooches from your Grandmothers.

You can wear your Mothers wedding day shoes.

You can do a family heritage table of pictures of your parents and grandparents on or around their wedding days, with mementos from their weddings, a Party Loft original we like to do for our Brides! This one has the grooms mothers dress on display.

I absolutely love using old luggage and typewriters for decor. Look under the cake… What do you see? A luggage cake stand! Awesome, right? After day in and day out of regular ‘ol cake stands, I love coming up with totally unique ideas for it.

Hope you enjoyed part 2 of this series!

Things to do in life together #3

Cook Together

Themes~Fairytale

More and more we see Brides that aren’t just choosing colors, they’re choosing themes. So we’re going to use our next 10 posts just for this subject, each one a different theme! Our first one will be Fairy Tale.

 This is our Fairy Tale Package at The Party Loft:

A pic of our Fairy Tale Package in action.

Basic Trellis ArchwayDeluxe Window Archway

 

Vines and flowers for both structures

4 sets of columns

8 glass vases for flower arrangements

Program and guest book table

200 chairs (black, white, or brown)

$500.00

Isn’t it gorgeous? And the price just makes it fantastic! Just add your flowers to the vases and guests in the chairs, and you have your very own Fairy Tale wedding!

Below are some great pics to get those creative juices flowing!

 

 We heart this dress! You’ll feel like a Princess.

 

 

 

 

 This would be the icing on the cake of your special day!

 

 This is an enchanted forest brought indoors. Wow, right?

So I hope I’ve inspired you just a tiny bit in the planning of your wedding. I had tons of fun pulling up old photos and researching it. Just look at this fairytale wedding I found!

Yikes!

Hope you enjoyed part 1 of this series!

 

 

Things to do in your life together #2

 

Take a surprise weekend vaca (Amusement park or a  Bed and Breakfast would be so sweet!)