Choosing Wedding Themes and Designs
Brandi Barela, a wedding consultant with years of wedding planning in Colorado, shares some valuable insights into planning a wedding that will blow you and your guests away.
In a recent conversation with my friend Brandi, we delved into the world of wedding themes and design, uncovering some key elements that can make your special day truly unforgettable.
Have a Plan: Planning is the backbone of any successful marriage. It's crucial that you start with a clear vision of how you want your big day to look and feel. Brainstorm with your partner, jot down ideas, and create a mood board to bring your vision to life.
Listen to yourself and your partner: Your wedding should reflect your unique personalities and love story. Take the time to understand each other's preferences, interests, and styles. By incorporating elements that resonate with the two of you, you'll create a celebration that feels authentic and true to who you are as a couple.
Build a support system: Surround yourself with a trusted team of professionals who understand your vision and can help you make it a reality. From wedding planners to decorators, photographers to caterers, having a strong support system will relieve stress and ensure everything runs smoothly on your big day.
Create a timeline: Time management is key! Establish a realistic timeline that outlines all activities and deadlines leading up to your wedding day. This will help you stay organized, prioritize tasks and make sure nothing gets lost. Remember, a well-planned wedding is a stress-free wedding!
Embrace DIY delights - Infuse your wedding with personal touches by incorporating DIY elements. From handmade centerpieces to custom party favors, DIY projects add unique charm and showcase your creativity. Plus, they can be a fun way to involve friends and family in your wedding plans.
Choose an eye-catching theme: A well-executed wedding theme can transport your guests to a world of enchantment. Whether it's a rustic country event, an elegant black tie event, or an extravagant garden party, selecting a theme that resonates with you will set the tone for the entire celebration.
Pay attention to the details: It's the little things that make a big difference. From carefully selected table settings to thoughtfully designed invitations, paying attention to detail will elevate the overall mood of your wedding. Remember, it's the intricate details that leave a lasting impression on your guests.
Let the love shine: Amidst all the planning and preparations, don't forget the very essence of your wedding day: love! Let your love story be the guiding light throughout the whole process. Fill your wedding with sincere moments, personal promises, and authentic emotions. After all, love is what brings everyone together on this joyous occasion.
As you embark on your wedding planning journey, keep these invaluable tips in mind. By having a clear plan, staying true to yourself, and infusing your celebration with personal touches, you'll create a wedding that not only reflects your love but also leaves a lasting impression on all in attendance.
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Colorado Wedding podcast. We hope you found our tips insightful for planning your Colorado wedding.
Don't forget to rate us on Apple and Spotify and be sure to follow us on Instagram @COweddingpodcast
This week’s guest: Brandi Barela from Day of Your Dreams
Instagram: @dayofyourdreamsbybrandi
In this conversation, Brian and Brandi discuss the topic of wedding themes and decorations. They stress the importance of having a plan and not forcing anything. They suggest listening to yourself and your partner to determine what is speaking to you. They also mention the value of having a support system and helpers on your wedding day. Brian and Brandi stress the need for a timeline and not overloading the bridal party with too many activities. They also mention the importance of DIY items and how they can add personal touches to a wedding. Overall, they provide tips and ideas for planning a successful wedding.
Transcript:
Brandi: Too much of anything is not always a great thing, so even with a theme. Okay. They're fun, they're great. But if you don't have a theme and you feel like you really want a theme, there's a couple things you can do. The best way is to like go to your partner and kind of discuss, you know, how did we meet and what do we love to do together and what speaks to us wholeheartedly.
Brandi: Welcome to the Colorado Wedding Podcast, the ultimate place to plan your Colorado wedding.
Brian: From luxury weddings to intimate elopements, we'll guide you through planning your wedding in the beautiful state of Colorado. We're your host, Josh and
Brandi: Brian, and we're here to give you insider tips and advice from all kinds of Colorado wedding
Brian: experts.
Brian: Join us and discover the best ways to reduce wedding stress and design your unique wedding day. Hey everyone. Welcome back to the Colorado Wedding Podcast. I'm Brian from Bookend Photography and I. We, this is the ultimate place to plan your Colorado wedding. So we have Brandy back again who is amazing.
Brian: Um, she is a wedding consultant and had years of wedding planning experience. We've worked together quite a few times, and one of my favorite people to work without a wedding and thank you. Anything that she says, just do it because. She knows what she's talking about. Don't, don't listen to your instinct.
Brian: Just go to do what she tells
Brandi: you. No, no. Now we did tell them to follow their gut, so we'll, yes.
Brian: Follow your instinct with Brandy's permission. There we go. Um, but yeah, today one thing that we really want to cover, we get tons of questions on that and I'm not an expert in this area, and that is wedding theme or wedding wedding decorations.
Brian: And. How you approach that. You know, there are infinite options. People see stuff on Pinterest and Instagram. Yeah. And the things that get popular just look like, oh my gosh, I couldn't do that. Like, we're gonna have our wedding swimming on dolphins, or scuba diving or something, or whatever that thing is.
Brian: Right. It's, oh, that sounds cool. We're not really into scuba diving, but I want to do that. So some of the questions are, you know, how do they, how should they approach that? Right. And kind of what is the thought process on designing
Brandi: a wedding? Sure. Sure. And that, that's a very loaded question. Right. There's so much there.
Brandi: So, um, one of the things I wanna kind of differentiate between is theme versus decor. Okay. Right. So theme is very specific. A lot of my clients, when they have a theme, they know it right out the gate. Okay. Um, so a theme is very intense, right? It is, it is an, an, an overarching thing for the whole thing.
Brandi: Like, you're going to do marvel or you're going to do, like you said, dolphins, surf words. Right. Um, I will, I will say too much of anything is not always a great thing. So even with a theme. Okay. They're fun, they're great. But if you don't have a theme and you feel like you really want a theme, there's a couple things you can do.
Brandi: The best way is to like go to your partner and kind of discuss, you know, how did we meet and what do we love to do together and what speaks to us wholeheartedly. Mm-hmm. You know? But again, a lot of people kind of know that decor is very different, and decor is, you know, everything from your flowers to your favors, to all those little things.
Brandi: So there is a way to decorate, and then there's a way to have a theme. Okay? Um, and as you, as you, you know, we, we were chatting, Pinterest can be your friend and your worst enemy, right? Yes, yes, absolutely. So what I do is I tell the brides, go crazy. Go on Pinterest. And then what I look for is an overarching connection, okay?
Brandi: That their Pinterest page, and then I make them whittle it down to three. You have three main ideas that we're going to work with, and we want them all to, you know, flow into each other. So if you don't have a theme, I have to stress this. If you don't have a theme, it's okay. Sometimes not having a theme is the theme.
Brandi: Yes. Right? Sometimes being very simple and elegant is also a beautiful thing, so don't overthink it. Go back to that gut feeling. Yeah. And also talk with your partner. Talk about how you got here and, and what it means to you. And there's a vibe. I always tell my clients what kind of vibe, what do you want your guests to leave with?
Brandi: What do you want? How do you want them to feel? For some people, it's the party. For some people it's the food, right? So take that vibe and either incorporate it to your theme or vice versa.
Brian: Yeah. And so you're saying like if you just read Hunger Games, like you don't have to be kaist down the aisle, like it core, so it's, so would you like it has to be something that you share, like you would say it.
Brian: It basically has to be right. Like it should be. Absolutely.
Brandi: Because the whole point of a wedding is that you're melding, right? Yes. So, um, I had a wedding that I did with, um, they both had significant amount of children on each side, you know, kind of a breeding bunch thing. Mm-hmm. And so they were really looking for a way to melt that family together.
Brandi: And we did an Irish blessing wedding. Awesome. Where we tied the family together with ropes, and that was the overarching theme for the wedding. Yeah. Is that. So anything that, that you're doing, make sure you, you now, now I do know, I do know there are some partners who are like, ah, she's in charge or He's in charge.
Brandi: Right. You know, I've seen it
Brian: all the way. Yes. Yeah. Everyone's relationship is different.
Brandi: Absolutely. Yeah. But at least go back to having those conversations of what speaks to you and really has to bring you joy and it has to speak to both of you because this is a blending. Yeah.
Brian: Yeah. And I think that one thing that people need to be aware of, and, and we've shot a couple themed weddings in that some of them were amazing.
Brian: We heard about sometimes like there's a cost affiliated with that, right? So like if you're doing a Star Wars wedding or you're doing a Lego wedding or something like that, you're probably gonna have additional things, right? Oh, yes. From your, from your list of things that you'll need for a wedding, you're probably gonna have things on top of that, correct?
Brandi: Definitely. And the expense can get really outrageous, uh, very quickly. Yeah. Because you don't just need one or two of things. You need a hundred, yeah. 200. So if you're having a micro wedding, then that's a little easier to pull off. Mm-hmm. A really intense theme when you're going big. That can be a huge expense.
Brandi: You're absolutely
Brian: right. Yeah. And actually, as Brandon and I talked about in our last podcast, like, do you like, do the thing that you want to do? And if that means having a wedding with 10 people there, awesome. If that means having a wedding with 500 people there, and that's what you want, great. And all those things are gonna have different expenses.
Brian: And if you want a theme like I have, uh, I've had a bride and groom that are really into Dungeons and Dragons and they have that stuff already, right? They have some of those things already. Some of their friends have those things. Um, or, you know, I've done a wedding where, uh, the groom made. He made every he, he was a welder and he made everything.
Brian: So everything was, you know, he made like custom knives. He made all this other sort of stuff. What is that? A swordsmith or whatever you wanna call that. He made custom things really cool and it was really, really cool. And those are things that they had already had in their house or he was already doing anyway, and that's, To me makes sense for a theme, right?
Brian: It's like part of your life. Absolutely. Already. Um, where I, you know, I made that joke about Hunger Games, but it's like if you just like watched a, you know, something, the Mandalorian for the first time and you really love it and your partner doesn't, probably not a good idea.
Brandi: Absolutely. This really needs to be something that kind of.
Brandi: You build your relationship on, you know, if it's a theme, if you go to cause play every Yeah. Every time, then sure take that theme and run with it. But if not, or if it's really one-sided, that's, that's kind of missing the mark for sure. Right. And I have to stress again, stay true to who you are. Mm-hmm. You know, talk to talk between you two.
Brandi: Set those boundaries, then let the other people in.
Brian: Yeah. And so I'm just gonna emphasize what Brandy said, which is, You don't need a, I would say most weddings don't have a theme. Agreed. As agreed. Right. Agreed. I mean, I would say agreed. 95, 90 9% of them don't. Right. You
Brandi: and, and like we were saying, you see a lot of them on Pinterest, but that's because Right.
Brandi: They're special. They get the shares. Doesn't mean
Brian: everybody has a theme. Right. It looks different than everything else. Um, if you're just doing it just to be different, it's probably gonna be very stressful. It's gonna be forced, like you said, and, and that's definitely something you don't want to do.
Brian: Absolutely.
Brandi: I cannot stress that enough if you're feel forced with any piece of it. Any piece. If you're forced with a vendor, if you're forced with a venue, if you're forced with a theme, it's not right.
Brian: Okay. So, um, is there a way to do that? Like a, like in just the decor, right? So like, say you, you and your partner love Lord of the Rings or something.
Brian: Maybe you don't wanna walk down the aisle in Elvis garb and you don't want to have swords and all that sort of stuff. But are there ways to do that in the decor
Brandi: or, or, absolutely. Yeah. So I had clients that, um, you know, they were big investors in a restaurant and there was a very cute little pig that they have as the logo.
Brandi: Yeah. And the bride was like, I love it. I wanna incorporate it, but I don't want it to be my whole wedding. She don't wanna dress as a pig down the aisle. Absolutely not. No. She was against it even though she would've been. Shoot. Hey. Yeah. But what we did was we made the place cards for everyone. The little, the little logo.
Brandi: Everyone recognized it from, you know, I, I copied it identical. We made it perfect and it, you know, spoke to what he wanted, but it didn't overtake the whole thing. So it's a
Brian: lot of personal touch, but it wasn't, It wasn't the entire wedding being unrecognizable from any other wedding. Exactly,
Brandi: exactly. So it gave him the happiness he wanted, kept her happy, and that's, you know, that's the beginning.
Brandi: Yes. Right. Yeah. When
Brian: you've got the Give it speak, right. Yeah, absolutely.
Brandi: I think that's awesome. We learn a lot about each other when you plan
Brian: your wedding. Yeah. So let's just assume that, you know, a lot of weddings aren't gonna have a huge overarching theme. They're not gonna be scuba diving or skydiving or, or whatever that is.
Brian: So when you talk about decor, you said you, you know, you kind of choose. A whole Pinterest board and then you, if, if say someone was planning it by themselves mm-hmm. And they didn't have your expertise, even though you should definitely ask Brandy about her expertise, but if they weren't doing that, like how would they approach setting up kind of, is it, do you go by colors?
Brian: Do you go by. Types of flowers or,
Brandi: right. So first, you know, every, I feel like every couple has a couple things that they love. Mm-hmm. A color that they love, a flower that they love. Or if you've chosen your venue, which I hope you're chosen your venue by the time you're to decor. Yes. Um, that's important.
Brandi: Do that first. Take your venue and see what, what can easily, you know, use what's there. Sometimes there's beautiful things at the venue that you can incorporate to your wedding mm-hmm. That are very easy and people kind of look past it. They think they have to add, add, add. Right. Right. And so sometimes you can just take a beautiful old wall or a brick wall or something like that and make, take it, go from there.
Brandi: With the decor, if you're trying to take a venue and turn it into something else, again you're gonna run into really high
Brian: cost. Okay. Yeah, that makes sense. That makes sense. Like, If you have an outdoor wedding and you're trying to have a really indoor based theme, correct, that's gonna be stressful. And probably, probably can't even do it right.
Brian: So, yeah,
Brandi: it, it get, it can get very costly and very difficult. So again, when you're, when you know back to when you're choosing your venue, look for something that speaks to you. When you walk in it, it should speak to you. You feel comfortable there.
Brian: Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. So from a functional side, How are you kind of like planning your centerpieces or your arch or that sort of thing to all kind of stay within that same decor?
Brian: So is it, do you have people to help you? Do you like, is it, I'm sure it's different. So trust
Brandi: your professionals. Right? So, um, if you have decided a color or an idea and. Try to be as definitive on your hard nose. Again, I'm gonna go back to those hard notes. Yes. When you, when you determine your hard nose, it get, you know, if you say, I don't want these huge centerpiece that are in each other's faces.
Brandi: Yeah. Well, already we have a starting point. Right. So sometimes if you can't make a decision, go back to your hard nose and work through them and then whittle it down, start crossing things off the list. Absolutely. And go back to that. I can't remember her name, but the, the gal who wrote a book about, Keep what brings you joy.
Brandi: Yes, that is, that is definitely pertinent here. If it doesn't speak to you, if it doesn't bring you joy, let it go because you're not gonna enjoy it. You're not gonna like it in the pictures. It's going to eat it. Yeah. So don't, don't force it.
Brian: Awesome. And so then when all that stuff is, you know, you've kind of figured all that out.
Brian: You get all your materials together or your professional that are doing that for you. So the day of the wedding, I think you and I both know that the decoration stuff can be a lot, right? Like huge if, especially if the venue doesn't have some, some venues don't have storage, right? So you have to Yes.
Brian: Bring in truckloads of things and Absolutely. A lot. You have a small, so yeah, you have a certain amount of time you can't bring it the night before. So definitely check with your venue on that of how early you can bring it. If you can store it before, if you can store it after, right. Um, you know, getting, or if they make you get out that night, you're probably gonna have to figure that out.
Brian: So what are kind of some tips that you have for like, Having all those centerpieces or having all those Right.
Brandi: And I feel like this is missed by a lot of couples. Um, I, I think it's something they don't think about for sure. Absolutely. And so that's one of the big things. Know your venue. Know your venue inside out, know what their rules are, know how long they'll store stuff, if they'll store stuff.
Brandi: Some places don't have room to mm-hmm. Stuff. So do not make any assumptions. Ask the questions. And they'll usually, you know, Not, not to make your wedding not feel special, but they do a, a ton of these, right? Yes. So they know the ins and outs of what works, what doesn't, timeframes, et cetera. They can't
Brian: store a, what they do a hundred weddings a year.
Brian: They can't store a hundred weddings worth of stuff. Absolutely. It just doesn't, it's totally fair
Brandi: to the venue. Absolutely agreed. And so you really need to know what their parameters are. And then you, you need a team of people. You need a team of people, and you need great, excellent communication. Write everything down.
Brandi: One of the best ideas that I've given to my clients and when they follow it, they're like, wow, that was seamless tubs. Get plastic tubs, have a, uh, tape a piece of paper to the outside of the tub. Put exactly where this goes for what part of the wedding and who's in charge of it. Yes. And that makes it very simple.
Brandi: Then you give Susie her box and she knows what to do with it. Don't overwhelm all your, all your helpers with everybody else's task. Yes. Keep it precise to what they're doing, and that will go really a lot quicker and a lot easier. Have a team for the beginning. Have a team at the end.
Brian: Yes, yes. That is Yes.
Brian: And the other thing too is I would. Um, I, I've seen it be very stressful to just rely on your wedding party also. Right? Because like a lot of times they're getting ready, they're getting hair, they're getting makeup. So if you're expecting your wedding party to be also the ones that are setting up decorations and that sort of thing, that can be a day.
Brian: Yeah, that could be
Brandi: double, double dipping, triple dipping. Don't recommend it. Don't put anything on your list. Don't put Yes, that's, you're the bride and groom, right. Don't do it. You will regret it. Um, don't put anything on your parents' list unless you know they're gonna leave early and they can take a few things with them.
Brandi: But you want your parents to enjoy this day too. And your wedding party, they have a huge task, right? Yes. They have to drink and be crazy. Yes.
Brian: They gotta be there for you. And if, and, and honestly, the more things you ask 'em of that day, It kind of, uh, whittles down their energy. It does. To support you. So it does and lose interest in it.
Brian: Absolutely. Yeah. It's like if you have a early Anne who's a busy body, that's a great person. Right. I always
Brandi: find the people at the weddings. Yes. Find the little helpers. There's always people who wanna feel involved and wanna help. Those are your go-to people.
Brian: And I think that people do fall back on, I have this wedding party, you know, we have eight people on each side.
Brian: That's 16 people that can help. Kind of right and keep, sometimes keeping them in line and getting dressed at the right time, getting at the right place at the right time, that's enough. There's a
Brandi: huge timeline to follow. Yes. And there's so many caveats within that timeline. They've gotta remember a lot of things.
Brandi: So yeah, if you overload them, it's just not gonna work out. And I, I have seen that a ton. That's a really great point, Brian. Yeah,
Brian: so overall, I think just to recap, I think that kind of the main things when it comes to theme and decor is to have a plan. Don't force anything. You don't need to force a theme or force it to court, especially that you don't
Brandi: want.
Brandi: Really listen to yourself, what speaks to you and your partner. Yes.
Brian: And then definitely have a plan. So have a plan for way before the day, have it done way before the day. Have a plan for the day who it's gonna be for. Have a plan at the end of the day. Yeah. And I'm
Brandi: not saying don't d i y for your wedding.
Brandi: If you want a D I Y. Great. Just do it way in advance and have a end date Yes. Of several weeks before the wedding. 'cause things come up and you need to be free for that. Yeah. Do
Brian: not be working on your own decor the night before. Uh, that has happened and it's a funny story later, but it's not, it takes away from your
Brandi: day.
Brandi: Absolutely. Absolutely
Brian: agree. Well, that's awesome. Well, Brandy, thank you so much. So what's the best way for people to contact you again?
Brandi: It'd be great if they just go to my Instagram. You can message me, you can see some of the work I've done, and I will have some new content up
Brian: there about my books.
Brian: That's awesome. Soon, yes, brand will will come out with more books and they're, and they're really awesome. They're bite-sized, so you don't need a huge packet to do every little thing. If you only need to learn how to pick out a venue, then you can just choose that one. If you up to learn timeline. Yes. If you only need to learn how to build a timeline.
Brian: And so we'll be linking all those in the show notes. Um, again, this is the Colorado Wedding Podcast. Brian here and with Brandy and it's been amazing. Um, and Brandy, I actually have one last thing for you. So yes. What is your kind of nightmare situation when it came to decor? Do you have any like, funny stories?
Brian: Oh yeah. About, maybe, maybe just like you have people insight into. This is the reason you don't do it the wrong way.
Brandi: Right. So, uh, this is, this involves a little bit of a turn and burn venue. Um, and they had multiple weddings going on at the same time. And the florist came and the person who was in charge directed the wrong florist to the wrong cakes and my guest.
Brandi: So we had to undo all the flowers off the cake. And, you know, some of these flowers are dyed and so there's colors leaking. We had to redo the flo. It turned out great. I was able to pull it off.
Brian: Why? That's why hire good help. That's why you hire a good help. 'cause if you were DIYing it,
Brandi: you'd Yeah, unfortunately I wasn't there when the deliveries happened and it all went am miss and uh Yeah.
Brandi: But you know, yeah, we made it work.
Brian: We it work. Yes. And one thing with these horse stories always say is they're funny years later. So Sure. I know that everybody's different and people kind know stress differently, but if you can laugh. That's the best case scenario. Yes. Because you can't control people and people honestly make mistakes.
Brandi: I all those little nuances make the day.
Brian: Oh my gosh. I all the, all the weddings I remember is when something funny happened and maybe it wasn't funny to the bride at the time, but I, I know they still tell this story, so. Absolutely. Well, Brandy, thank you so much for your insight. We really, really appreciate it and we'll probably have you back because you know way more than I do.
Brian: So Brian, I appreciate it. Thank you. Appreciate it. Tune again next week. Next week, whenever our next episode is, and uh, we'll talk to you soon. Sounds great. Thanks. Thanks for listening to this episode of the Colorado Wedding Podcast.
Brandi: We hope you found our tips insightful for planning your Colorado wedding.
Brian: For all the free wedding planning tools, checklists, and guides, go to Colorado wedding guides.com.
Brandi: Don't forget to rate us on Apple and Spotify and be sure to follow us on Instagram at co wedding podcast.
Brian: We appreciate you and hope you have the best wedding possible. See you next time.
