Theme? Err&#8230;

Theme? Err…

May 31st, 2010 @ 10:55 am by Mrs. Thimble
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I’m not a huge fan of super themey things. Unless, I suppose, it’s a pretty generic vibe of a theme - like “afternoon tea” for example. Small sandwiches, china, pretty day dresses: you have a lighthearted affair for the ladies. But two main colors for my wedding? A one-word description? Too limiting. Themes I’ve seen on wedding shows like “Vegas”, “Medieval”, “Diamond White” (wait, that’s just an object and a color…)? Dear me…. thank goodness these brides had television wedding personalities on hand to help soften the edges of their cherished day. (In my opinion… err.. sorry anyone.)

My general design sense, I have found, is an organic process of grabbing things I like as I see them with an overall feeling or story in mind. And then they usually (so far) end up working together. This has worked for me in my limited costume design experiences as well as my recent living room revival… I try to find the essence of what I’m feeling in the pieces I pick. My instincts have also (again, so far) served me well in choosing vendors with the same vibe, but I’ll get to that.

So… If I had to put the Thimble “theme” into words, it goes something like:

So… what is a nostalgic vintagey formal family-tree picnic harvest? Well, it’s how you feel when those words and images wash over you. The colors are simultaneously rich and soft. The love of family and friends is smiley, warm, enveloping. And apparently, it’s fancy black-tie-maybe while somehow floating in the whimsy of a picnic. It’s also original to me while being amazingly on-trend (how does that always happen!?)

I’ll get into the details of how this whole clusterfluff comes together bit by bit, of course. I just wanted to offer up a teaser of where I’m headed before getting into the nitty gritty.

How did you come up with a theme? Has it made your planning easier or harder?

Tags: decor, philadelphia |

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30 Responses to “Theme? Err…”

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Member

Rgeddy (message) 2,186 posts, Buzzing bee

I love it!!!

5/31/10 @ 11:05 am (reply)

Member

sammerz (message) 113 posts, Blushing bee

I’m the same way.. everyone asks me what our theme is, and because I too am an October bride I usually just shrug it off by telling them it’s “Fall” and “Earthy” but really, I haven’t figured out how to incorporate a theme.

5/31/10 @ 11:13 am (reply)

Member

smith207 (message) 415 posts, Helper bee

Our theme is MINT. It came out organically during the planning process.

Our invites ended up having a nice mint color design on them, and then came bridesmaids in light, subtle mint (J. Crew Dusty Shale).

I always knew that our signature drink would be a mojito (my favorite)- which, whada ya know, has fresh MINT in it.

Now our catering manager is adding a few other elements of mint to our menu. Lamb with mint sauce will be one of the appetizers and one of our cake flavors will be mint chocolate chip.

5/31/10 @ 11:29 am (reply)

Member

SoontobeBoswell (message) 25 posts, Newbee

I love the way you put it!!
We originally started with a beach theme because we are having our ceremony at a yacht club however it slowly evolved into a beach/travel/journey theme… we are still having beach colors.. blue and yellow.. with beach looking centerpieces but we have old vintage maps on our invites and our favors are pilot wings. My FI is a helicopter pilot and so is a few other people within our family, so we are giving everyone their wings for beginning this journey with us. I think it goes together since most people travel to go to the beach.
Cheers!

5/31/10 @ 12:00 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Scissors (message) 7,343 posts, Bee Keeper

yeah, our theme has become cranes + hearts + cmyk + well, whatever the hell we want. :p i’ve learned to live with it being a hair on the random side.

5/31/10 @ 12:33 pm (reply)

Guest

Anna

We are doing an Alice in Wonderland theme - but it’s not so it screams wonderland everywhere, it’s more of a direction to have a whimsical, vintage feel. We came too because my FH and I are both huge Tom Petty fans and wanted to incorporate it somehow. Different ways we are using the theme is we did our Save the Dates as a tag with a wooden heart hanging from it, we are doing playing cards as favor, the escort cards are tags attached to skeleton keys and the are all hanging on an old door. The theme has helped us stay in one direction so hopefully everything will flow together.

5/31/10 @ 1:02 pm (reply)

Member

VagabondGurl (message) 1,024 posts, Bumble bee

What a wonderful theme! The whole theme thing is tricky, I agree. It can quickly become something tacky or overdone - especially at a wedding. Our theme is Rustic, Country, Folksy which is basically we’re low budget, DIY and natural folk. It happened much the same way as yours. An organic process. We started our with a tree on our STD postcards, then I realized how cheap burlap was and figured I could make cute ruffle table runners with them. Then mason jars being so inexpensive… well, you get the idea. Our theme is a lot like our apartment (and our registry) natural colors, informal and personal. I can’t wait to see where you’re headed with yours!

5/31/10 @ 1:07 pm (reply)

Guest

sambycat

i see someone got caught up in the david tutera marathon yesterday, hmmmm? i’m never quite sure of the word “theme” myself, as i think a color scheme does not a theme make, and sometimes i think that a “logo” or something might be more of a motif?

anyway, we are also having an “alice” theme and it does give us some direction for all the wedding doodads. but all in all i’d say the feel would be a bit like how you describe your event.

5/31/10 @ 1:13 pm (reply)

Member

Sea Glass (message) 27 posts, Newbee

I had the same issue–I ended up with “French-country-chic, Nautical-meets-English Garden Elegance” for our wedding. I know exactly what that means to me, and that’s all that matters! Due to extensive pestering about my “colors” I ended up making a color palette for my FMIL with several paint chips from a hardware store. It helped quiet everyone on the topic and solidify the vision!

5/31/10 @ 1:34 pm (reply)

10.

Member

hitchedinhawaii (message) 140 posts, Blushing bee

My theme and inspiration boards have changed, at least a little bit, every week since I put them together. I like to think planning a wedding is a lot like my relationship with my fiance, always evolving.

5/31/10 @ 1:36 pm (reply)

11.

Bee

Mrs. Spaniel (message) 6,792 posts, Bee Keeper

We sort of developed “theme” in the same way. I actually really like the way it all came together–cohesive, without being too matchy-matchy or obvious. It has the feel we were going for.

5/31/10 @ 2:07 pm (reply)

12.

Guest

Rocio

I think i’m gonna love your style!!

5/31/10 @ 2:45 pm (reply)

13.

Member

veganglam (message) 2,267 posts, Buzzing bee

Heh–yeah I know just what you mean! We have five-six colors we’re working with, and if you asked me to describe our “theme”, I’d throw out a bunch of confusingly bunched together adjectives too. Something like “Victorian elegant storybook/Rococo playfulness (those two together alone are a bit confusing, since one period was all austere and the other frivolity and excess)/quintessentially old world-glamour New York City, with a modern color twist. Meh.

Can’t wait to see how your wedding turns out! I love it when people work organically to create something very them instead of picking a precise theme and working down from there.

5/31/10 @ 4:59 pm (reply)

14.

Guest

Imperfectly Perfect

love it! ours is vintagegardenteapartymexicanpicnic
sort of
with a hippy Beatles vibe

your wedding is going to be great. And Im not just saying that because ur awesome like me and doing a picnic sort of thing too

5/31/10 @ 5:35 pm (reply)

15.

Member

Marinara (message) 392 posts, Helper bee

We’re in a similar situation. I don’t call it a theme, I call it “points of inspiration.” It’s going to be Victorian garden party meets Midsummer Night’s Dream at the intersection of the delicate and the wild. hah!

5/31/10 @ 8:23 pm (reply)

16.

Guest

zarie

Oh, I love the idea of coming up with a colour palette by getting paint sample cards.. I’m so going to do that! they’re so portable for taking to planning meetings etc!

5/31/10 @ 8:24 pm (reply)

17.

Member

tea (message) 7,288 posts, Bee Keeper

ooh, a picnic? that sounds like it’ll be great! my theme came about on its own as i was talking to my aunt and sister about it.

5/31/10 @ 8:36 pm (reply)

18.

Guest

Jamie

I am getting married in less than two weeks! The first vibe I wanted was super fun and colorful, …. then i evolved into vintage and colorful… Now its ended at Vintage, rustic, and whimsical… my two main colors are Plum and Ivory… I am doing Mason Jars on moss with candles in them for centerpieces!!! Cant wait!

5/31/10 @ 9:59 pm (reply)

19.

Bee

Miss Giraffe (message) 4,216 posts, Honey bee

I still have no idea what our theme is. . . and we’ve been engaged a year and a half lol.

5/31/10 @ 10:13 pm (reply)

20.

Member

KayMeiBee (message) 156 posts, Blushing bee

@smith207 I LOVE your mint theme! I think we’re looking at travelartnouveauredandgoldquirkyfun as our theme, but we’ve got almost a year and a half before the big day, so I bet it’ll change a million times before then.

5/31/10 @ 10:43 pm (reply)

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