Tired of looking through the same old themes for your wedding? If you’re a bride that wants to stand out, you’ve found the right place. For everyone from book lovers to Bohemian gypsies, we have 10 unique ideas for creative brides that will leave your guests talking long after the ceremony has ended!
1. Travel
Who doesn’t love to travel? Exploring a new place with the one you love is always an adventure! Bring some wanderlust magic into your big day with this thrilling wedding theme.
Photo Credit, A Guy + A Girl Photography
Color Palette: Find inspiration in old-world globe colors, with muted taupe, light green, mustard yellow and faded red.
Decorations: Use old suitcases, vintage postcards, passports, maps, globes, and steam trunks. Have guests fill out postcards for you instead of the traditional guestbook.
Favors: Classy luggage tags or personalized compasses.
Extras: Incorporate some wordly culture with French or German music, or other music and entertainment from around the world.
Find more inspiration at our Travel Inspired Wedding board on Pinterest!
2. Coffee
Do you and your significant other love sharing conversation over your morning coffee? Is your favorite date at the local coffee shop for some lattes? Bring your java obsession into your wedding for a surprisingly elegant theme.
Color Palette: Cream, rose quartz, taupe, chocolate brown
Decorations: Mason jars filled with coffee beans, copper vases or cans for flowers or candles, and burlap runners. Incorporate a coffee bar with biscottis, flavored creams, syrups, and toppings.
Favors: Small burlap bags of coffee (try having a local roaster make a specialty blend just for you), chalkboard coffee mugs, or cellophane bags filled with pirouettes.
Extras: Hire a barista to create latte art for your guests and an acoustic guitar player for your favorite coffeehouse tunes.
Find more inspiration at our Coffee Themed Wedding board on Pinterest!
3. Bohemian
Maybe you’re a bride with a gypsy soul? Embrace your free spirit with a rich and eclectic bohemian wedding.
Photo Credit, Semper Fi Events
Color Palette: Jewel tones like fuschia, deep blue, purple, emerald
Decorations: Take advantage of the diversity that a Bohemian theme allows. Visit local flea markets to mix and match colorful tablecloths, napkins, plates, and more. You can keep the color scheme cohesive but feel free to have fun with textures and patterns! Add in vintage candlesticks, wildflowers, and other natural elements to tie it all together.
Favors: Small succulent plants, small dreamcatchers, smudge sticks, basket of flowers for guests to pin into their hair or on their shirt, wands with streamers.
Extras: Incorporate an artist to do a live painting, totally inspired by the vibe of your ceremony, or bring in a folk band to keep your guests clapping along.
Find more inspiration at our Bohemian Wedding board on Pinterest!
4. Bali
The Balinese believe they live in heaven on earth, because it’s such a fascinating and vibrant place! Having a bit of Indonesian flair will definitely keep you from being another boring bride. Try a Bali theme to bring paradise to your wedding.
Photo Credit, Justin Lee Photography
Color Palette: Hot pink, orange, purple, bright blue
Decorations: Colored bottles, strings of lights or colored lanterns, lace table runners in bright colors, flower petals, or long silk scarves.
Favors: Colored fans, carved soaps, essential oils, tea bags.
Extras: Sitar player, belly dancers, or henna tattoo artists.
Find more inspiration at our Bali Wedding board on Pinterest!
5. Wine
There’s nothing better than visiting local wineries (or grocery stores) to unwind with a glass of pinot noir with your significant other. Imagine you’re in Napa Valley and relax with this wine-themed wedding idea. Your guests won’t have any complaints with this one!
Photo Credit, Katie Lewis Photography
Color Palette: Cream, blush pink, ivory, burgundy
Decorations: Start saving your wine bottles to use as table number holders, or you can spray paint them for elegant vases and candle holders for centerpieces. Fill empty wine bottles with white or copper string lights for more ambiance. Use wooden crates or barrels (if affordable) to bring in elements of a winery.
Favors: Wine glasses, wine stoppers, coasters, wine keys.
Extras: Add some class and ambiance with a string trio or harpist.
Find more inspiration at our Wine Inspired Wedding board on Pinterest!
6. Old Hollywood
There’s nothing quite as glamorous as old Hollywood, and this idea lends itself especially well to evening weddings. Recreate the romance of classic movies like Casablanca or An Affair to Remember at an Old Hollywood wedding.
Color Palette: Black, white, deep red
Decorations: Use large ostrich feathers and pearls to create simple yet striking centerpieces. Don’t forget the jewels and crystal to add beautiful accents! Create signature cocktails for guests served in martini glasses. Use vintage frames to hold black and white pictures of Cary Grant, Marilyn Monroe, Greta Garbo, or your other favorite actors and actresses.
Favors: Ostrich feather pens, small picture frames, or bow ties for the guys and sparkly headbands for the girls.
Extras: Set up a “paparazzi” photo booth for guests to have a fun take-home souvenir.
Find more inspiration at our Old Hollywood Wedding board on Pinterest!
7. Eco-Friendly
Maybe you’re a “green” bride and want to make sure your wedding doesn’t hurt Mother Earth. Going eco-friendly can be a gorgeous wedding idea, on top of helping preserve our precious planet!
Photo Credit, Magpie Paperworks
Color Palette: Natural colors like ivory, sage green, taupe, and light yellow.
Decorations: For centerpieces, use found branches or natural elements. Use soy candles for a cleaner burn, and use recyclable materials when possible. Or even more fun, upcycle old pallets, mason jars, doors, window frames, and other “trash” into something beautiful. Rather than using cut flowers (that may be covered in chemicals), use potted plants to decorate. Or get crafty and make some lovely bouquets and boutonnieres from recycled paper.
Favors: Try plantable seed favors, jars of local honey or jam, birdseed favors, or let the guests take home some of your potted plant decorations.
Extras: Skip the iPod and choose music that doesn’t need electricity, like an acoustic band or ukelele player.
Find more inspiration at our Eco-Friendly Wedding board on Pinterest!
8. Sugar
Nothing is sweeter, so why not create a wedding around it? Indulge in your big day by surrounding yourself with you and your partner’s favorite treats.
Photo Credit, Simply Sweet Photography by Nomo Akisawa
Color Palette: Cream, light pink, light teal, and yellow
Decorations: You can keep decorations simple with white tables and add pops of color with lace runners, tissue paper pom poms, and varying vases filled with candy. Make your wedding a candy shop by providing small “crystal” bowls with scoops near each centerpiece and allow guests to help themselves. Candy and dessert buffets can all be customized with your colors. Gourmet cotton candy is growing in popularity, so be one of the first brides to hire a cotton candy machine for your wedding!
Favors: Rock candy suckers, petit fours, or French macaroons can all be adorable favors when displayed in clear cellophane bags with ribbons. Also homemade sugar scrub in small jars is another cute gift.
Extras: Cotton candy or snow cone machines.
Find more inspiration at our Sugary Wedding Inspiration on Pinterest!
9. Romantic Literature
The greatest tales of love ever told are found between the pages of old books. Tap into the great romances past with a romantic literature theme for your wedding. Skip the romance novels and stick with the classics instead.
Color Palette: Muted colors like dark ivory, rose quartz, baby blue
Decorations: Pile old books under vases or mason jars with flowers for a rustic, romantic centerpiece. Use phrases from your favorite books on chalkboard signs or have them printed and framed. Use brown butcher paper and letter stamps in an old typewriter font for seating name tags or to label the food and desserts.
Favors: Bookmarks or small journal/pen sets
Entertainment: Hire a singing pianist to sing all of your favorite love songs.
Find more inspiration at our Romantic Literature Wedding board on Pinterest!
10. Vintage Circus
Looking for something beautiful yet out of the ordinary? You can’t go wrong with a Vintage Circus theme. Don’t think clowns and glitter, instead imagine a classic 1930’s Barnum and Bailey circus full of wonder and amazement!
Photo Credit, Kaylee Eylander
Color Palette: Faded colors such as ivory, teal, and red
Decorations: Hang alternating sheets or scarves of 2 colors of fabric along the walls for a striped “inside the tent” feeling. (Twin-sized bed sheets can be a more budget-friendly alternative, or try renting linens.) Use strings of white lights with large bulbs to add some romance, or hang large round paper lanterns in alternating colors from the ceiling. Use metal buckets to create centerpieces, filled with peanuts, lollipops, or other circus “treats.”
Favors: Glass bottles of soda with custom labels, large striped lollipops, personalized bags of popcorn or small burlap bags of peanuts.
Extras: Circus entertainment like acrobats, jugglers, or mimes.
Find more inspiration on our Vintage Circus Wedding board on Pinterest. And be sure to check out your local wedding entertainment options on GigSalad!
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Megan is the Director of Customer Experience at GigSalad and has gained 9+ years of insight on what makes a great event on both sides of the booking process. Her favorite things include books, true crime podcasts, coffee, hiking, puns, and making people laugh.