Help with decorations based on wedding dress

[Deleted User]

I am so terrible in picking decorations and making things work together. Everyone keeps asking what's my theme and I have no idea. I just want things to look good with my dress and bridesmaid dresses. Any ideas on what "theme" these dresses could work under? I know it's a silly question I think it would just help me with looking for Pinterest decorations? Our venue is http://www.landmarkweddingsaz.com/. Sorry if this is a weird question but any help is greatly appreciated!

lovesclimbing

Regardless of what people or Pinterest says, your wedding doesn't need a "theme," so you can breathe easy on that front! And I've never heard of matching decorations to your wedding dress.

Since the bridesmaid dresses are a cobalt blue, consider adding blue touches to tie in there. As far as specific decor items, I would do some googling to get ideas. At our wedding, we had cut glass bowls on all the tables with some rose petals and a floating tealight, both in our colors. We also had basic fat white pillar candles with ribbons in our colors tied around them. Simple and cheap (the bowls were borrowed). 

missJeanLouise

It is not a weird question!
I had a wedding themed wedding and that's what I told people when they asked. I drove my MIL crazy because we didn't pick colors for like the first year of our engagement. Even then, the colors didn't matter. We (mostly DH to appease her) chose green, brown, white, and gold because our venue was mostly wood, we were using a lot of foliage in the our centerpieces dotted with white flowers, and our StDs had gold on them, lol. 

I would start with the flowers (or centerpieces in general if you don't want flowers). What season are you getting married (only asking because In Season flowers are cheaper)? What colors do you like? With the blue dresses you could do red, orange, and/or yellow flowers very easily. Shades of purple and white would work too.
Sometimes it is easier to let professionals do the work. Talk a florist, tell them your budget, number of pieces, and wedding date and see what they come up with.

edited to correct grammar.

bleve0821

Our colors were based on our flower selections, which were seasonal. We didn't have a theme, but did make our "guestbook" unique to us.

charlotte989875

Our venue was a renovated 1910s style boutique hotel, so I guess that was our theme? They had decor available that we could choose from (we could have brought our own as well) so we just chose navy & cream linens and decor that they had to match the style of the venue. Does your venue have a coordinator? If they have decor available I'd use that. 

If they don't have pictures online ask the coordinator for photos from previous weddings to see how other events have been styled. It definitely doesn't need to match any dresses, but the color might give you a place to start. 

mollybarker11

Are these guests really expecting an answer like "Under the Sea", "Midnight in Paris" or "Golden-Age Glamour"? My non-etiquette-approved response would be: "It's a wedding, not a high school prom." To me, a theme seems like something for self-conscious hosts to lean on when planning their event. Great when you're in school and just starting to throw your own parties, but seems a bit silly for a grown adult celebratig an important milestone like a wedding.

You chose a (beautiful) dress and venue using your own taste. Choose decor that's within your own taste too and everything will look great together. I second the suggestions to show some pictures to your florist and ask what flowers they recommend to suit the season/colours/styles. If your venue has a wedding coordinator they can tell you what other couples did there to provide some inspiration.

I know it can seem overwhelming, especially when you've got Pinterest and actual human guests filling your head with expectations, but just pick what you think is pretty and focus on the logistics of hosting a comfortable event for your guests. It'll all fall into place!

SP29

You don't need a theme- I agree that "wedding" is the only theme you need.

Beautiful dresses and beautiful venue! Take hints from any gallery photos of your venue to see what others have done. Just looking at the main page, the reception space looks very simple- and it really doesn't need more than that! Pinterest is great for ideas, but keep your budget in mind, don't get hung up on DIY projects and remember you don't need to follow a theme.

We did not have a theme. We used our wedding colours to get ideas for decor. Our wedding colours were navy, plum and lavender. We had minimal decor, and it was all provided by the venue, which was sweet because I didn't care to spend money on decor. We had the table cloths in lavender with navy napkins. Our centerpieces included a square mirror on the table with 3 tall cylindrical vases of different heights with stones in the bottom and floating candles. One of the vases had a dark purple (fake) flower inside. We didn't do chair covers or anything from the ceiling. The room had large windows on 3 sides, and there were candles sitting on the ledge of each. For the ceremony, the venue provided an aisle and simple trellis where we stood to get married.

We used the room for the ceremony and reception and it was really pretty on its own, so it didn't need much, which I think will be the same for your venue.

What other colours are you using in your wedding? What colours are in your bouquets? Use those colours. White is always classic and goes with any other colour too.

redwoodoriginal

I did not have a theme and I did not pick colors to make things match. I just let the venue/restaurant decor speak for itself and added candles along the stairwell to the entrance of the room and had seasonal flower bouquets up by our makeshift "altar" where the judge married us. 

Dont over complicate things! 

MandyMost

I suggest you think of the adjectives you want to describe your wedding, and then pick your decor based on that. It's not a "theme", but an overall vibe you're going for. 

Romantic, ethereal, breezy vs. glamorous, sexy, drama, etc.

climbingsingle

No theme needed. Pick some colors you like, or some flowers and work with that. Or, what season are you getting married in (if you live in a place that has noticeable seasonal changes). Your decor doesn't need to match your dress. Just pick some things you like. 

cowgirl8238

We didn't have a theme for our wedding at all.  My DH picked out sunflowers as our flower (mid-august wedding so in-season) and I liked blue so that was our BM dress color.  Our centerpieces were more "fresh picked wild flower" and the decorations were minimal because I didn't see spending thousands on centerpieces/flowers/etc.  When I met with the florist I said I have X budget, and need Y items.  If you have anything left over, can you add Z items also.

Some things I have seen:
White lanterns with a candle and a ribbon in a specific color/ candles and a color pop.
Books in various shades
Huge "trees" with pearls and crystals as centerpieces mixed with votive candles everywhere.
Nothing at all (no one misses this stuff anyway)

[Deleted User]

cowgirl8238 said:

We didn't have a theme for our wedding at all.  My DH picked out sunflowers as our flower (mid-august wedding so in-season) and I liked blue so that was our BM dress color.  Our centerpieces were more "fresh picked wild flower" and the decorations were minimal because I didn't see spending thousands on centerpieces/flowers/etc.  When I met with the florist I said I have X budget, and need Y items.  If you have anything left over, can you add Z items also.

Some things I have seen:
White lanterns with a candle and a ribbon in a specific color/ candles and a color pop.
Books in various shades
Huge "trees" with pearls and crystals as centerpieces mixed with votive candles everywhere.
Nothing at all (no one misses this stuff anyway)

Yay!  I'm going with option D, above.  I want to spend all my money on food and drink.  Nobody cares if I have flowers or candles or seashells or crystals, as long as they're full and happy.

[Deleted User]

What did you do for a guestbook? 

charlotte989875

briannacoleman said:

What did you do for a guestbook? 

We had a photobooth, so we just used the book they provided. But you can use pretty much anything for a guest book. You can order a pretty standard book online, or get creative and have the book reflect something that you as a couple are in to. Tons of options. What are you in to?

climbingsingle

briannacoleman said:

What did you do for a guestbook? 

I didn't want a traditional book. I found this cool flat board on Etsy and used that. The woman painted on our initials and wedding date. I then bought white pens for people to sign the board. It came out really cool. 

thisismynickname2

I think your venue can really drive your decor the most, not the dress. (Gorgeous dresses, by the way.) Our venue was art deco so I let the existing decor speak for itself, and used art deco fonts and designs on the programs and menu cards and used a vintage suitcase as a card collection box. The great thing about a lace dress is that it's traditional and timeless- I don't think you can go wrong- by that I mean clash- in any venue with any decor.

ahoywedding

Ditto PPs, your venue dictates the theme more than your dresses. We got married in a museum, so I kept our decorations minimal. My BMs had navy dresses, and I used different shades of blue, but mostly because H & I like those colors. I've never been to a wedding and though "hmm the decorations don't exactly match the color of the dresses!" Whatever you like, and is special to you and your FI will be great  

SP29

We had intended to have a photo guestbook, where guests got pictures taken with a chalkboard on which they could write a message, but not a lot of our guests used it.

The venue provided a free guest book, so we had it out, but it wasn't our intention to use it. I would say 75% of our guests signed the book.

I have also seen couples who use a photo that is enlarged with a white matte frame and have guests sign the frame. Or some other piece of decor you would display in your home that your guests sign. Friends of ours bought a globe as a guestbook that is now displayed in their home. I have also seen the couples' initials in something like wood that is signed and then displayed on the wall.

P.S. Please don't use your full name as your screen name- internet safety!

ILoveBeachMusic

DD had a photo book made of their engagement pictures. They used that as their guest book. I have no idea how many guests signed it. 

ernursej

briannacoleman said:

What did you do for a guestbook? 

We framed a picture and guests signed on the mat around the picture. The picture was a Lego bride/groom which if you knew us, was perfect. We did it in black and white and it now hangs above out bed. I love looking at it everyday.

corabee

Like others have said You do not need a theme. Perhaps people asking are just wondering more on attire and what to wear? As in black tie or casual? That is the only reason I can think as to why anyone would ask what the theme is. Honestly I don't think anyone has asked me that question in my planning.

But typically any decor goes with the bride's dress. If you did want to match anything with your bridesmaids dress, I would just consider what colors you think look best with the color of the dress.

If you just start a simply search on pinterest like "Wedding Decor Ideas" or "Wedding colors" So many different ones will pop up. From there you will see what you like and don't like. Get ideas and search from those ideas. If you see a certain color you like, like white flowers. Do a search for "White flower decor at a wedding" or mason jar centerpieces..etc . It is like falling down  rabbit hole of ideas. But nice because you can really see what you would love or dislike and go from there.