Wedding Reception Forum

Non-themed 4th of July?

I am in the process of planning my wedding for next summer.  I come from a military family and my brother will be getting home from deployment in June 2014. I am thinking of having the ceremony and reception on July 4, but don't want it to be too "theme-y".  I want to be able to look back at pictures and see a wedding, not a party that I just happened to get married during.  So my question is - how do I have a wedding on the 4th that includes some "americana" but isn't all red white and blue?  My current thought is to have everything as normally planned (rustic, with lots of browns, greens, and a little peach/coral) but have the desert table all red, white and blue, and have a craft table with flag-themed crafts for the kids.  My prospective venue is quite close to where my city sets off fireworks, so we will be able to go outside and watch those as well. 

Re: Non-themed 4th of July?

  • Holiday weddings can be very tricky. Please be prepared for a lot of people to decline attending so they can spend time with family. Also keep in mind that airfare and hotel rates will be much higher over the holiday - meaning your guests will have to spend more to attend. If you can rethink your date, I would. 

    That said, please avoid "themes." A rustic-ish wedding with random flags here and there could be very awkward. I think you either have to embrace the red, white, and blue or you leave it alone entirely. What about going for a 1940's All American feel? - a little throwback to the WWII era. 


    Also, I'd skip the kids craft table. 
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  • What you have sounds fine. Just b/c it's on the 4th doesn't mean you have to do a 4th theme. 


    What did you think would happen if you walked up to a group of internet strangers and told them to get shoehorned by their lady doc?~StageManager14
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  • Almost all of our guests are within 2 hours (and most within 1 hour), so flight prices and hotels won't be an issue. We are also pretty confident that most will be alright with us having it on the 4th, as most have family that are close and could spend time with family and go to the wedding one day.  It is on a Friday next year, so people would still have time to recoup. 
  • bitney17 said:
    Almost all of our guests are within 2 hours (and most within 1 hour), so flight prices and hotels won't be an issue. We are also pretty confident that most will be alright with us having it on the 4th, as most have family that are close and could spend time with family and go to the wedding one day.  It is on a Friday next year, so people would still have time to recoup. 
    The fact that the 4th falls on a Friday was part of my point - I know I personally will be taking the long weekend to visit family. You'd have to be one of my closest friends or my sister for me to attend. But if you've checked with your VIP's and they don't have an issue, that's just fine. 
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  • bitney17 said:
    Almost all of our guests are within 2 hours (and most within 1 hour), so flight prices and hotels won't be an issue. We are also pretty confident that most will be alright with us having it on the 4th, as most have family that are close and could spend time with family and go to the wedding one day.  It is on a Friday next year, so people would still have time to recoup. 
     
     
    actually since it's a holiday weekend I would assume MORE people will stay over than you expect. it's a notoriously big weekend for drunk driving. people may want to stay over.
    also fridays are not the best for weddings because people work. if you have people who are an hour or 2 away they will ahve to take the day/leave really early. schedules with their coworkers may create a conflict.

     

  • My friend got married last 4th, which is also her birthday. They already planned on red and blue as their wedding colors so that worked as a theme I guess. They did the desert table in "American Pride" but other then that it felt like any other wedding I had ever been too.
  • I think your idea of having a rustic theme with some all-American touches is nice. You know your friends and family best and whether this will be an inconvenience to them. Most people have July 4th off because it is a federal holiday. I would love to have free fireworks at my wedding!
  • If you do decide to go with a little red white and blue, Joann's has burlap with red white and blue stars stamped on it.  It was perfect for pillows.
  • Our post-wedding reception is going to be July 6th, and because my husband and I are/were Navy, our colors are navy and white. The actual theme is "tying the knot". But since it is around the 4th, I am going to have small touches of red such as in the centerpieces. I'm still not sure about using flags because I don't want the holiday to take over the theme, but I may still have sparklers as party favors!
  • my wedding is next July as well but at the end of the month. we could have done it the 5th of July but we thought that it was to much for family and friends. they do have some do's and don'ts for summer wedding on this site.

     

  • My aunt and uncle were married on July 4 (he was in the military at the time).  I don't know that there were any Americana elements to the wedding other than that, though, but they've been married some 45 years now.

    Anyway, I think what you have planned sounds fine-you don't have to make your wedding red, white, and blue or do anything else for a "theme."  But I agree that you should be prepared for invitees to decline your invitation and to make sure that there is sufficient parking and that any fireworks nearby won't disturb your wedding.
  • I'm getting married next year on the fourth of July as well. My fiance and I both wanted fireworks and our venue is downtown where there will be a nice display. ALL of our guests are looking forward to it, and don't pay too much attention to people canceling because it's a holiday weekend or what have you. People will cancel on any date that is an inconvenience to them, and besides it's you and the grooms day, I'm sure the people who matter most will arrive. 

    My fiance and I are going totally against an Independence day theme. Ours will be more of Breakfast at Tiffany's Meets Dinner at Kate Spades. Pops of color along with black and white stripes because this is what we want. I think the rustic theme will look great, especially in photos. Go for whatever you want and have fun in the process. 
  • We are also getting married on July 4, 2014.  I decided to go with a variation of red, white and blue with coral, cream and turquoise.  Otherwise, we are not really playing up the 4th too much.  Since it's a Friday and guests can make a weekend of it, I don't think the holiday should be an issue.  Besides, the people who should be there will be there, despite what scribe95 says!

    The majority of our guests have been thrilled with our date.  We are getting married in southwest Michigan so it's a perfect spot for a long weekend.  We are making some accommodations though by having my 18-year-old niece available to babysit some of the kids during the reception, not having a rehearsal the night before, etc.  Remember...it's YOUR day!
  • My fiancé and I are getting married July 3, 2014 and our venue is 3 hours away from where most of our guests live.  So far everyone has been very excited for us and they are more than willing to commit to a little weekend getaway AND take a couple of days off from work to share the day with us.  We called about a dozen people in advance of booking the date to get their opinions and they are all fine.  My favorite quote was from my brother who said "you can get married on the moon on July 3rd and I'll be there."  There's not a wedding in the world that doesn't inconvenience some people, so you really can't worry about that.  

    My family has always had a huge July 4th party and it's my favorite holiday.  We didn't want it to be too tacky, we wanted to pay tribute to the holiday, and we're having about 20 kids so we wanted to make it fun.  So we're doing a red, navy, and white pinwheel theme.  No American flags, just the colors.  Our welcome dinner is at an outdoor pizza pavilion and we're going to have sparklers and a fire pit with s'mores.  We also found some adorable paper fireworks decorations on pinterest we're going to make.  Basically our welcome dinner will be a little more fun and hokey and the actual wedding will be a little more classy.  I hope that helps and I would love to hear your ideas and ideas from fellow 4th of July brides!
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