 Tropical
Wedding Ideas
I'd be delighted
to share my ideas for a tropical themed wedding. It would be nice to
know many others are benefiting from my ideas. I know it would have
made it easier for me had I found this type of info last year!! We
got married in Jamaica, and then had our reception when we returned
home, so I wanted a reception with a "tropical" theme. Here
are the ideas I came up with for my reception:
First , I had a
guest with us in Jamaica who had a digital camera. Many photos were
taken and displayed on a laptop computer in the entrance of the hall
at the reception. Also, we displayed the video from the wedding on a
T.V. in a different area of the hall. Collages of our trip and
wedding ceremony were also posted on walls.
I lit a couple of
pineapple scented candles in the entrance by the guest book.
I rented 3
nine-foot artificial palm trees at a local party store and displayed
them at each end of the head table, as well as one directly behind
the middle of the head table.
I bought green
fishing nets and draped them at the front of the head table. I also
found small colorful artificial glass-like fish and suspended them in
the net.
For the
centerpieces, I rented 9” diameter glass bowls. I put one in the
center of each table, filled them ¾ full with water, and added
blue food coloring to it. I put 3 colorful fish candles in each bowl.
Around the bowls, I scattered tropical confetti (there were suns,
starfish, palm trees, fish, octopus, etc..).
From the ceilings
of the hall, I hung miniature white lights. Each strand of lights
started from the center and made its way away from it. There were 6
strands. (I wrapped the strands in tulle for a more elegant effect).
At the center where all 6 strands met, I hung a large, bright sun.
There are many tropical cardboard decorations at party stores. I had
cardboard pineapples scattered here and there.
Another neat ideas
is to play Bob Marley music during cocktail hour.
Also, our
reception was a little “different”. We sold tickets instead
of preparing invitations&ldots;kind of like a Jack & Jill, plus I
felt this was NOT intended to be a “formal”
reception&ldots;so we had a little fun with the planning.
We therefore had
door prizes such as baskets filled with Jamaican flavored rum, fish
napkins and colorful pitcher and glasses; and we also raffled off
other bottles of liquor.
Our favors
consisted of 5 tealight candles wrapped in white tulle which was tied
with rafia and a little label (with a palm tree on it) Each tealight
had a label around its aluminum base with the words “LOVE”,
“JOY”, “HAPPINESS”,, “MARRIAGE” (in
different colors).
Cari
I am having a late afternoon candlelight military wedding in April
2002. Because my fiance and I are such romantics, we want everybody
to feel the love we have for one another. My church has a very good
speaker system throughout it, and we will both wear cordless
microphones. When it is time, my fiance will say "Baby will you
marry me?" and I will say, "Yes baby, I will marry
you." His back will be to the door the entire time. His bestman
will then signal him when the doors have opened, and I have entered.
At that point my fiance will say "Meet me at the altar" and
I will be standing at the door and I will say, "Here I come
baby" before making my way up the aisle.
Because there are always male ushers escorting the female guest to
their seats, I am doing something different. I am asking some some of
my female friends and family to be ushers; to escort the males to
their seats.
I will be having some older guests from out of town. To save them
from the bother of driving on my wedding day, I have made
arrangements to use both of my church's vans to take them to the
church, to the reception and back to the hotel.
It pays to know people...so the more people you know who can assist
in some way with your wedding, the cheaper it will be for you. I have
family doing the catering, family doing the music, family doing everything!
Carol and Michael
April 2002
North Carolina
A real Tear Jerker...
If you don't know how to include
all your female friends and relatives in your wedding, this is the
way to do it. Have all the women you want included to sit on the ends
of the pews, and when you go to enter, they all stand up in the
aisle, holding a flower. As you walk down the aisle, they each hand
you their flower, making up your bouquet. When you reach the end of
the aisle, have your mother and the mother of the groom come forward
and tie a big tulle bow around the flowers.
- Submitted by Anonymous
Suggestions for fall weddings: For centerpieces: Small carved out
pumpkins with flower arrangements placed inside. Instead of throwing
regular birdseed, let your guests throw pumpkin seeds instead!
Beth Richardson
Centerpieces
- We had beautiful french-country style flower topiaries. Not huge,
but about 18" tall including the base. They were exquisite, and
we received many compliments on them.
Florist
- Look for a new flower business. We hired someone we saw at a bridal
fair who was new in the business, and worked from home, but her
samples were gorgeous! Because she was new, her costs were EXTREMELY
low, and the flowers were amazing! Still get referrals, but if they
are good, don't hesitate to work with someone new who doesn't have
all the overhead of a store (adding to your costs!).
Reception Decor -
We hired a silk flower company to accentuate the reception location.
The room already had a garden theme, with painted garden murals on
the wall, and lattice-work on the ceiling. The silk flower company
came in and I asked them to draw attention to the center of the room,
where the dance floor was (the guests tables surrounded the dance
floor.) They put four 6' (six-foot tall) grecian pillars at the four
edges of the dance floor, and twined them with ivy and tulle. At the
top of the pillars were cascading flowers, and hanging between the
pillars were greens and berries. They also hung tulle with twinkle
lights (inside the tulle) between the four pillars. Ferns were added
in the corners of the room with twinkle lights. The room looked
absolutely magical!!
Cake
- Our cake had frosted fruit and leaves instead of traditional
flowers surrounding the base and layers. It was beautiful and got
lots of compliments!
DJ
- Instead of
having the guests clink glasses to get us to kiss, any time someone
stood up to sing a few lyrics from a love song, we had to kiss. The
guests really got into it, and whole tables of guests would sing
together. Lots of fun!
Favors
- We bought the little bubble containers in the shapes of wedding
cakes. But to make them more personal, we tied little ribbons around
the tops and had small pieces of paper attached to the ribbons with
quotes about marriage that I got from a little book at Barnes and
Noble. It made a cheap little favor a topic of conversation as people
shared their quotes. And it was extremely inexpensive! Also, I bought
a deck of Monet Garden Cards, and placed one card at each place. This
kept with the garden theme.
Guest
Book - Instead
of the traditional boring guest book, I bought a blank pages book
that had a cover to go with the feeling of the wedding. As people
arrived, I had a friend at the sign-in table, where she asked them to
sign in the book, and then she directed them to their table. After
everyone was seated, the book was passed around the room for people
to write personal notes to us. It will be a nice keepsake.
Hope these ideas spark some ideas
for your wedding!
Catharine and Dan Shepard
Married in Rancho Santa Fe, California
November 5, 2000
I am planning to ask each of my guests to send a favorite family
recipe with the reply card when they respond to our wedding
invitation With the recipes I am going to make a recipe book, with a
handwritten thank you note inside for each guest.
For our first dance as bride and groom we will be doing a slide
presentation of pictures from each of our childhoods, as well as
including wedding pictures of both of our parents. My fiancée's
both parents have passed away and I thought this would be a
wonderful way to remember them.
Between both of us we have a total of 6 children. Rather than doing
the 'traditional' unity candle, we will be having our children light
candles on each side, then me and my fiancée with light the
center candle together.
When my soon to be step daughter was married a year ago, she asked me
to help her out with the wedding plans. We found a unfinished oval
platter and had each guest sign their name on it. After the wedding
we had it glazed and fired - It looks wonderful, and the best thing
is that is set out to enjoy everyday!
Hope you like
these ideas!
D. Morrison
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I have been
extremely blessed through out the planning of my August wedding. Just
to share a few ideas:
For the invitations, I used the paper that some may use for wedding
bulletins (programs). It was quite beautiful with blush roses as the
light background. I downloaded a rather professional free front from
the Internet on my computer and then went to the local college and
uploaded for a laser printed copy. I went to Kinkos and the guy there
was a busy bride's dream: Quick, efficient, perfect printing. On the
inside of the "invitation bulletin", I included the
reception info with my home number so guests could rsvp by phone, and
there's no need for additional postage.
For the three flower girl baskets, I went to a second hand store and
purchased each for under a dollar. I went into the formal fashions
section for a dress with satin and sheer fabric which I could cut to
cover the baskets. I got the ballroom dress for about $2.00. I cut
that baby to shreds to create the most adorable baskets this side of
the Mississippi!
For my flowers, I went to the local Hobby Lobby store. I
purchased 5 bushes of silk white roses for 50% off. That adds up to
about 175 flowers for ONLY $50! This was an absolute dream because my
wedding theme is based around a White Rose Garden. Every single
flower in my wedding is a white rose - real and faux.
For the ring bearer pillow, my Mom bought a embroidered pillow from
one of the local dollar stores. I bought a remnant of elegant white
fabric and I am going to cover the pillow then put a white corded
rope to outline it. To top it off, I'm going to put tassels on each
of the four corners to produce a rather regal look.
My advice to any
bride is to by all means buy everything on sale. DON'T go with the
first thing smoking. I understand the excitement, but don't allow the
bridal industry to take advantage of your lifelong dream. By all
means Save, and Save Big!
Sherecka Moore
My name is Tamara (Ohio) and my fiance and I are planning a June
wedding in Gatlinburg, TN. Close family will be attending
(approximately 30 people) and we wanted them to have something to
take home. In searching the internet and many stores, I found the
price of everything was so high. Especially personalized items. As we
are on a tight budget, I thought I would try to paint my own candles
and glassware for the wedding guests. Needless to say, I'm no artist
and my first attempt was a complete nightmare. So here's what I did.
We purchased: 10 candle globes (one
for each family), 28 wine glasses/seven 4-packs (one for each person
attending), 10 beer mugs...for the guys...and an enamel paint kit at
Wal-Mart in the craft section (Delta brand for painting glass). About
$60 in total.
On our computer we found a Font
(letter style) and size that we thought would look good painted on
our glassware.
We typed up all the first names of
our guests on the computer and ran them off in the font & size we
wanted to use on the drinking glasses.
We also typed up, for each family
coming, their last names in the same font and but a larger size for
the globe candles.
With scissors, we cut out
everyone's name. (Not detailed)
With tape, we taped the names on
the inside of the glasses and candles placing it where we wanted it
painted on the glass.
With the surface condition (that
came with the Delta paint kit) we brushed the surface to be painted
and let the glassware dry.
With the paint (that came with the
Delta paint kit) and a small tipped brush, we painted the names on
the glasses tracing the design throuEach families glasses and candle
was done in a different color of paint (glasses match the candles)
...except...we did ours and the bridal parties in gold paint.
Once dry, you coat the painted
section with a sealer and you are done.
The package of Delta paint says
that the paint has to dry for 10 days...but then you can microwave,
dishwash, etc. the glassware.
For about $60 we did some really
neat keepsakes for everyone to take home and they look like they were
professionally done.
Tamara from Ohio
June 2001 Wedding
in Gatlinburg, TN.
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Bridal
Party Invite...
My fiance's groomsmen live out of
town (NY). We wanted to be creative in inviting them to be in our
wedding. Instead of a phone call, we made each intended groomsmen a
video of my fiance dressed as a hillbilly from the South. He is from
New York and pretended to be a "red neck". He wore a
coonskin hat, bubba teeth, and sat in front of the GA State Flag. You
don't have to do a video as outrageous as ours but you can do a video
for bridal party members who you do not have an opportunity to invite
in person. Imagine their surprise when they view the video! We
labeled the outside of the video tape with an email address and phone
number so they knew to contact us right away. Everyone is talking
about the video and how funny it was.
Renee & Chris
May 2002
Atlanta, GA
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