Theme help

[So_happy]

Before I choose flowers, cake style and color, food, my bouquet flowers, and invitations, I''d like to think of a theme for our wedding and would like your opinions Here are my unchangeable "elements" thus far so it seems good to think about this now so the next decisions flow well :

Season/time: End of summer/5pm start time
Ceremony: Flower/Tree/Lake Park
Reception: Historic building on the beach w/ floor-ceiling windows and mahogany floors overlooking beach/rocks/water
BM dresses: Full length organza in Victorian Lilac (to contrast all the gorqeous green in the park)
BMs: carrying sage green silk fans that have pretty v. lilac flowers painted on them
My gown: Maggie''s Pia....flowy sparkly organza overlay strapless aline
Formality: Would be formal if we weren''t having a cocktail reception and Dj instead of a live band. So....semi formal
Guests: 100
Main colors: Vic Lilac (alfred angelo) and Sage green
Accents: crip whites and silver


I like the idea of having a garden/park theme but then the reception is on the beach. And I don''t really want a beach theme. I could do a flower as a theme but I have almost zero money for flowers so I''m gonna be at the mercy of whatever the florist says I can afford for my bouquet and if that means roses, fine........but I don''t want a Rose themed-wedding. I really want to put a design of some sort on my invites that speak to the theme so I want to figure this out now if I can.

Thank you for any ideas!!!! Most of you are so much more creative in this way than I and I can''t wait to hear what you come up with

 

[So_happy]

idea of what bm carrying fans might look like....

 

[So_happy]

except THIS is the fan I bought.....the pretty green one green silk fans (had to do a link because site doesn''t allow right-clicking). i might attach a flowy silver or white ribbon at the ends....i think that''ll look pretty

 

[So_happy]

example of COLOR of bm dresses....altho they are wearing separates in this color and the skirt is a-line and has an organza overlay so it looks more flowy

 

[So_happy]

this is the cake we love so far........but it would only be 3 layers. this will give another good idea of what color green we like........(hope it comes out right)

 

[indecisive]

do you really need a theme? I would just have colors that all coordinate but I don''t think a wedding needs a theme, although there is nothing wrong with having them. It is a marriage not a child''s birthday party.

 

[So_happy]

Date: 3/2/2007 8:35:04 PM
Author: indecisive
do you really need a theme? I would just have colors that all coordinate but I don''t think a wedding needs a theme, although there is nothing wrong with having them. It is a marriage not a child''s birthday party.

I don''t necassarily want a Barney theme, now!! Mostly, it helps me feel organized. Just seeing if anyone here had any neat ideas given that I, personally, like the idea of having a little theme action lol.

 

[akw94]

Not sure if you''ve considered doing flowers yourself but if so, there are many inexpensive sites. One place that has a great selection (more than just roses!) is costco. I was surprised at the variety of flowers and how cheap!
So maybe you could do a flower theme if you found cheap enough flowers.
Other than that, no theme ideas, sorry!

 

[diamondfan]

I agree, a theme is not really needed, just gorgeous colors and nature and flowers and the elements...

 

[E B]

I think your colors (dusty purple and sage green) should be your theme. If you find a beautiful invitation that contains one or both of your colors, it''ll tie everything together (as will your details). If a theme hasn''t jumped out at you and nothing feels right, I think your colors will make the perfect theme.

 

[Kit]

Why don't you use a design element to tie in your colors? For instance, you could have circles as your element and use them on your STDs, invities, programs...you could have china balls at the reception and somehow circular favors...use polka dot prints and other items that come in circles like candles, jam jars, tins, etc...this is one idea that I just ran with but you could also do squares, stripes, various textures.

Also one of your colors is indeed green so perhaps you could do a motif/design element of say a fern leaf (kinda boring but along these lines), or a flower using your lilac color. Print that same flower on all your materials and use them at the reception site. I think overall you need to think less "theme" and more "motif."

Finally I don't know where you're getting married but if it were, say, Boston you could just bring in some traditional Boston/Mass Bay items into your reception and that would be cute too. Like lobsters, clam chower, Red Sox, baked beans, so on and so forth.

HTH

ETA: why don't you use that fan youv'e got as your motif? Use the flowers, or the entire fan...just don't go too Mandarin Oriental Hotel LOL!

 

[Scooba]

I agree with the pps, your great color are enough of a theme or add a subtle geometric aspect themes like circles or squares or polka dots, or maybe a floral print, or ribbons, or a saying you can put on things

 

[So_happy]

Thank you all for these ideas!!

Based on some of the responses I''ve received, it sounds like a theme and a motif are two different things. Perhaps I really meant "motif"?!

........but didn''t think of that particular word. I guess PSers have a more sensitve vocab than I

. So, I really loooooove the idea of circles, Kit!! Now that I think of it, I actually have seen dragonflies, bumble bees, and butterflies that would also be a good option to use Altho bumble bees in yellow and black don''t really compliment lilac and sage so I''lll remove those from the running.

By the way.......what exactly IS the difference between a theme and a motif?

I''m thinking both would indicate the use of a particular symbol throughout the day so is it simply the level of prescence of this symbol? hmmmmm.

 

[E B]

I don't know if you've completely ruled out flowers, but here's a cute invitation style in your colors (at least, I think that's purple!):

Seal n' Send "Jenna"

They don't look like a specific flower (Daisy, maybe?) so I think it could totally work.

Ooh! And cute purple/sage polka dot invitations!

Polka Dot Invitations

Those are both on the more casual side, if that's the vibe you're going for.

You could always do hearts as a theme:

Lilac Hearts

Here are some purple butterfly invitations:

Purple Butterflies

I don't know if any of the above is your style, but if not, hopefully it will inspire!

 

[diamondfan]

Maybe a theme and motif can overlap, but a motif I think of as more generalized, like a floral motif, and a theme is like, well, everything is certain colors or of a certain idea. As in if you did a sports theme, each table could be a team name, all the colors would be your favorite team''s colors, you could name the food and drink items (like the the Colts cheesecake)...I know that sounds basic, but I am trying to come up with a way to make it clear...a motif might be nature, or gardens, so you could be more general, and have things you might find in a garden, etc...

 

[E B]

Another cute butterfly invitation:

Buttefly Invitation Now and Forever

 

[monarch64]

" pale purple colour is generally known as ''lilac'' after the flower. Purple lilacs symbolise first love and white lilacs youthful innocence (see Language of flowers)."

So here''s just an idea...reading through your original post I sensed the common theme of "lilac", lol! I posted above a quote from Wikypedia from the Language of Flowers...is your FI your first love? Could you incorporate the theme of lilacs all around? It seems your colors and possibly bouquet could work into that.

 

[Gypsy]

Unless you are RIGHT in the EXACT correct week in spring and live near the great lakes or other areas where they are easier to come by... Liliacs are REALLLY REALLY expensive. I wanted to order something really WOW for my mother last sping so I ordered a liliac bouquet. 3 stems cost around 75 bucks. And I get a discount cause my cousin is a florist I ordered through his store.

 

[Kit]

My 2 cents:

I think that dragonflies and butterflies, while totally cute, are kind of too cute...think about how often you see this stuff in a children''s a pre-teen context. I think that in order to lend this type of motif enough sophistication for an adult wedding, you''d need to go really modern, clean lines and minimalist.

Floral is always a good idea for weddings, IMO, and can be done pretty subtley. I believe that hydrangeas come in a purple shade, don''t they? These are a great wedding flower and could also be your motif.

Why don''t you get a couple of Martha Stewart Wedding mags or go to her website, they are always going with the motif thing there in a classy way.

For one of my friends'' weddings, they got married in Quebec City which made total sense because she is a major francophile. So they incorporated the fleur de lys (sp?) into all their printed materials and instead of doing royal blue and red as their colors (from the French flag) they did an aqua and a tomato-ey red that were really hip and modern. They incorporated these colors and the motif into all their stuff including thank you notes and OOT bag tags....it was pretty cool without being over the top.