It is your choice of a primary theme that makes your wedding a Theme Wedding. Your primary theme sets the tone for your whole wedding. What makes a theme wedding different from your standard wedding is that it  involves the guests throughout - from when you send out your Save-the-Dates to and through the actual day. Theme weddings also deliver loads of other benefits which might not be immediately apparent when you make the decision.

While wedding stylists talk about themes in terms of style - formal, rustic, boho, vintage etc - and/or colour, these do not impact in any meaningful way on the content of the ceremony.  They are secondary themes. Important for how your ceremony and reception spaces look. Great for photo details. Minimal impact on how your ceremony feels.

A Theme Wedding ticks all the boxes.

Theme Weddings are fun

Theme weddings integrate the ceremony and the celebration to get the party vibes ramped up from the outset. Everyone loves a good dress-up party. (PS that's me, channeling Minerva McGonagall while officiating a cosplay wedding). Photo by Edge Photography GC.

Theme Weddings simplify decision-making

When people talk about how overwhelming planning a wedding can be, what they are acknowledging is that the amount of choice, and how many choices you have to make, is astonishing, and it seems that, as the wedding industry expands and thinks of new things to add, the options are infinite. Of course it is overwhelming. By choosing, at the outset, to go with a theme immediately gives you a road map, a direction, limiting (in a good way) your options and therefore simplifying the process. You don't need to consider anything that doesn't fit with the theme. And that means everything. What you wear, where you have the ceremony and reception, styling, even to some extent your ceremony content.

Theme Weddings open up options for the unconventional

There are plenty of places to hold a more conventional wedding. Dedicated wedding venues, commercial or public spaces that specifically offer premises for weddings, restaurants that will happily host a wedding, private homes or backyards are all out there. But finding the right one, and one that is both available and compatible with your vision of your wedding, can be quite difficult. On the other hand, if you do some out-of-the-box thinking, you may find somewhere that is not a conventional wedding venue, but is a perfect background for your Theme Wedding

This is what you need to consider before making your final choice

• On site help and guidance
  If a venue is not in the business of hosting weddings there may be little or not expert help available on site. This can be a positive (no-one trying to "guide" you into choosing their preferred way to run a wedding) or a negative (you're on your own and may have to deal with people who find it difficult to understand your needs).
  
• Parking and accessibility
  No matter how perfectly the space fits your theme, if it is difficult to access, and parking is limited or non-existent, it is not going to be a good choice
• Power, water, and amenities
  No power for the ceremony shouldn't be a problem given the fact that I, and most celebrants, have battery operated PA systems. No power, water, kitchen facilities, or toilets are a whole other issue. It is costly to hire and bring in generators, portable kitchens, and portaloos.
• Decor/Styling
  What will you need to enhance your theme? Will you be allowed to decorate in this way? Will you need to bring in the basics - chairs, tables, etc. How much will that cost?
• Setup and Cleanup
  When can you get access to set up. When does the cleanup need to be done by? What about garbage disposal?
  
• Legal issues
  Is is legally possible for a ceremony and/or reception to take place in this space? While there are fewer legal issues surrounding a ceremony but once you start talking about food and alcohol it can be a different story.
  
• Bylaws and Regulations
  Is there a curfew? Noise regulations?
  
• Permits
  Do you need a special permit for the ceremony/reception to be held in this space?
• Insurance
  What insurance will you, or your vendors, need? Do existing policies cover this space?
  

A Theme Wedding expresses your values

Theme weddings are usually inspired by a story, a book, TV series, movie, even a historical era. One of the biggest, though rarely articulated, benefits of a Theme Wedding is that guests are usually familiar with the story, and therefore with the values that underpin it. For example, one of the most popular themes at the moment is Star Wars, at heart, a struggle to overcome forces of fascism. Star Trek, another popular theme, expresses humanist values of equality and respect through and through. Harry Potter encompasses values such as friendship, doing good for others, making unselfish choices. Various fairy tales, Disney-themed or otherwise, all end with "and they lived happily ever after", itself an expression of hope and commitment. Dig a little deeper and you find values galore, kindness in particular.

When your ceremony is built around your theme, readings and quotes all derive from the source. What you choose for those will further highlight your values, and your expectations for your marriage.

A Theme Wedding can be budget friendly

Two words. Costume hire!  Compared with the cost of buying wedding-specific clothing, you can save a bundle.