Over the past decade the wedding planning boundaries have moved dramatically, from traditional to personal. This shift has changed the dynamics of planning your wedding day by allowing more freedom and creativity. Now, with "an anything goes" attitude Brides and Grooms can design extremely personal events that reflect their personalities and interests. Not to mention, selecting a scheme or theme will give an upscale and chic look without being fabulously expensive. 

So, how do you do this? Well, first we need to define the difference between a Scheme and a Theme. While many people use the term interchangeable, each has a subtle difference. The dictionary defines a scheme as an elaborative systematic plan of action. This is true. However, in the world of event planning, a scheme is usually related to a chosen color palette and a theme is a unifying idea with reoccurring elements. Such as, tropical paradise, east meets west, down home country, etc.          

Now that we understand the difference, let’s outline a few easy steps to help you create your own personal color scheme or theme.

1. Create a budget. – Try not to groan. As I know this is not the most fun part about planning your wedding, it is extremely important. The more detail the better, but don't worry is you don't think of everything. So, why is a budget critical to selecting a scheme/theme? We need to have a general idea of how much you can afford on your event. This budget will also help you from overspending and will help you focus on your selected decorative elements later. Set up general categories: Ceremony, Reception, Bridal Attire, etc. and assign costs to them. You may ask, "What if I don't know how much I should assign to each category?" Just answer this question. "How much can I comfortable afford on my whole event?" Then breakout categories by average percentage cost. ( I.e. Reception is typically 45% of total budget)  
2. Envision your ideal wedding day. – If you had an unlimited budget, imagine what your perfect wedding day would be like. Would it be a country affair, complete with the steeple church on the hill, an chic uptown wedding in a loft overlooking the city or a private party down by the beach? Once you have the big picture you can start to break down the little details into manageable pieces. Here's a great exercise. With your fiance, friend or other family member helping you, close your eyes and answer the question aloud, "What would your ideal wedding day be?" Have your helper, write down your answer. Then continue the exercise by going back and elaborating on each section of the wedding...getting dressed, the ceremony and the reception. Ladies, don't forget about your fiance.
3. Infuse your own style.  – This is where you can reflect the personalities of you and your partner by taking your ideal day and personalizing it. For ideas on how to add personality to your wedding day, ask you and your spouse the following questions.  Then select the answer that means the most to both of you. Notice I did not say answers. A word of caution here. A single theme/scheme is easier to plan and will create better cohesiveness, then the attempt to interject too many themes.
   1. What are our hobbies?
   2. Where did we meet?
   3. What are our favorite colors?
   4. What profession are we currently in?
   5. Do either of us have a nickname?
   6. What is the season we are getting married in?
4. Prepare a “Storyboard”. – A story board is a collage (grouping) of ideas representing your envisioned wedding day and your infused personalization selections. Create several headings on your storyboard to group ideas together. Such as attire, flowers/decorations, food, music, and stationary.  Attach items such as ribbon samples, tiles, a silk flower, or any object that reflects your selected theme? Look through magazines, newspapers & websites, cutting out ideas that fit your color scheme/theme. Paste them to the board.
5. Select your color palette. – Review what items are on your story board and look for reoccurring color combinations. Just remember this basic formula when selecting your colors: A dark color, a medium color, a light color and an accent color. So for example: Let’s look at a theme of “The Orient”. Dark color – Black, Medium Color – Red, Light Color – White and Accent color – Gold.  
6. Create a List of selected ideas. – This list will become your action plan. Go through storyboard and select final ideas. Research their costs. Add costs to budget. Implement with normal timeline and track actual expenses. Revise as necessary. Remember, your wedding will continue to evolve through each of the planning stages.

TIP

As a general rule of thumb, select one 1-3 ideas to be implemented at each phase of the wedding planning. This will help create a unified feeling throughout the whole event. In some cases it may be necessary to give explanation of a theme. This can be done on a program or announcement board.

BIO: Kristi Richardson has created more than 12,000 floral arrangements in her years as a professional bridal/event consultant and silk floral designer. Visit www.BloomedToLast.com to learn more tips, see floral examples, or to read more wedding planning articles.

Back to Wedding Articles