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theme using the Alice Cocktail.

Ready to shout it to the world, I chose the Ultimate Wedding Magazine to launch the Alice Cocktail! And I’m so proud to introduce it here on Alice In Weddingland!

The Alice Cocktail

I created the Alice Cocktail to help Brides design their wedding using a theme in three easy peesy steps. It’s just like making a cocktail; you choose the three ingredients, shake it all up, and pour!

After hearing from so many Brides asking ‘How do I know how far to take my wedding theme idea without it turning into a mess and I was compelled to give them the easiest route to doing it. I’ve seen a myriad of themed weddings and some of them were OTT and they lost their idea amongst too much detail. It’s like art and fashion; there are boundaries to what looks good and what doesn’t. If we throw everything in, nothing stands out.

The article:

Designing your perfect wedding theme in 3 easy steps using the ‘Alice Cocktail’

I’m going to show you how simple it is to make your wedding personal, younique and spectacular using a theme for your wedding but without going OTT. And it’s sooooooo easy! In fact, it’s kind of like making a cocktail so if you find that easy, you’ll love this!

Having a wedding theme not only makes planning your wedding easier, it creates a story; an intimate adventure that you and your guests share on your big day, and it makes your wedding uniquely personal which, makes it memorable.

What is a wedding theme?

A wedding theme is simply a style that you use to create your big day. It creates a statement of who you are, what you love; your story. You incorporate your chosen wedding theme by reflecting it in your invitations, your dress, your decor, your music, anywhere and everywhere!

But be warned… it’s pretty easy to churn out what everyone else has done before you because there is so much inspiration out there from wedding blogs, magazines to friends and colleagues. And all this consumption of information can quickly become overwhelming, costly and drive you bonkers well before the big event.

So how can you plan your wedding using a wedding theme to create your perfect wedding; your spectacular day that resonates personality, is intimate, younique and memorable, easily?

I’m going to show you in 3 easy steps? Yep, just 3. And it will take you no time at all to do. In fact, grab a cuppa, that’s probably all the time it will take.

The most critical thing to consider

Before we start, there is one really, really important thing to do. That is, you MUST think outside the box!

Why? Because otherwise your wedding will lack personality, youniqueness and you simply end up regurgitating what has already been done many times over.

So how do your plan your wedding theme easily?

Simple!

There’s an old ‘designer’ rule that has made it’s way into many cultures when using colours whether in fashion, textiles, photography, painting or more that is: group in threes. The general idea is that information, objects and colour that appear in threes are more appealing, memorable, and effective – and it works. So now I want you to start thinking in threes.

So, are you ready? Let’s do it!

The Alice Cocktail: Planning your wedding using a theme

Step 1: It’s all elemental my dear

Once you have chosen your theme, on a separate piece of paper (one piece per theme if you’re still undecided which to go for) consider the following and then write it down.

Identify three elements of your theme that you love. ONLY three. For e.g. I love Steampunk but I really don’t like those weddings that have everything done in Steampunk as it is overpowering and you lose the sophistication and romance of what a wedding is, but that’s just me.

So I would pull out those elements of Steampunk wedding theme that I am attracted to, remember, only 3: 1. Corsets (my ultimate must have), 2. Colours (rusts, golds, royal reds, browns) and 3. Accessories (pocket watches, antique jewellery, Steampunk goggles etc.). By considering the top three elements, I now have a great start to designing my wedding theme; I know what to look for by using these three elements.

Step 2: Creating youniqueness

To create the you-niqueness, that is, to put the ‘you in unique’ and to add the personal touch which creates your story you simply have to add three elements that describe your personalities as a couple the most: e.g. fun, extravagant, retro, geeky, modern, simplistic, vibrant and so on. For us it would be Down to earth (which helps me keep things simple), Fun (which matches our sense of humour) and relaxed (which stops me going overboard)

Can you see what’s happening? We’re beginning to create a visual story that reflects who you are, what you love and shapes the fairytale that you and your guests will experience.

Step 3: Mix it up

This is easy part! Now write down your three personality traits and your three wedding theme elements and voila! There you have your perfect wedding theme list. This is the list that will help you choose all those wonderful details of your wedding, from your dress to the invitations, to the music and all those wonderful accessories and will keep it sophisticated, reflect your personality and create one hell of a memorable day!

But be warned

Your list is personal! Keep it and treat it as the most important part of your wedding planning. And although the list is flexible; If you find along the way that one or more of the elements on the list aren’t quite right, simply change them. However, the most important thing you need to remember is to stick to this list. DO NOT add any more!

A beautiful example of theming your wedding

The most stunning example of theming a wedding that I have seen just happens to be a Steampunk wedding that I featured on my wedding blog, Alice In Weddingland, last year. It was a huge hit. The couple loved Steampunk however to create a sophisticated yet fun version of the wedding theme they had to ensure they didn’t over do it. This is the risk when you use a theme to design your wedding.

This particular couple used the elements that they loved (colours, mechanics, corsets) and injected their personality and created what I personally consider to be a benchmark to creating a spectacularly themed wedding. It was absolutely stunning – every little detail. It was an elegant, sophisticated and fun wedding.

If you’d like to see their wedding theme, do check it out here on the blog https://www.aliceinweddingland.co.uk/a-unique-steampunk-wedding/ where you can see loads of photos and details of their wedding using the Steampunk theme.

You can recreate the kind of spectacular no matter what theme you’ve chosen be it ‘white’, retro, a Jamboree or even Alice In Wonderland. Simply follow the 3 steps.

1. Choose your three (ONLY three) ingredients that you love about the theme.

Inject 3 characteristics of your personalities

3. Mix it up – Voila!

Happy planning! And do send me a pic after the big day, I love themed weddings!

The Ultimate Wedding Magazine Article:

To view my article and more brilliant wedding inspiration, read the wedding magazine online now.

Some of the best theme examples I’ve seen of a wedding theme:

Steampunk wedding theme  – this blows it out of the park. Taking Kirsty’s three ingredients she designed one of the most stylish, fun yet still sophisticated Steampunk weddings I’ve seen.
Great Expectations (vintage/retro) – a photo shoot showing just how contemporary wedding dresses and the finer details can work to creating a spectacular wedding theme.

And to help inspire you do check out my article on How to style your wedding using fashion as your influence as well as my post on What Really Defines a Unique Bride.

I’m on the lookout at the mo for spectacular themed weddings so if you’ve seen one or are having one, Alice calls 🙂 I’d love to hear about it.

Zarn x

P.S. What do you think of themed weddings? What defines the line between going overboard and keeping it stylish? What do you think of the Alice Cocktail?

Featured image by the spectacular Aussie wedding photographer, Angie Peady.