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There is so much advice out there for brides with a seemingly endless budget (and guest list) who want a formal evening affair, complete with swathes of fabric, a lobster dinner and a bridal party outfitted in Vera Wang. But more and more brides today are veering away from this king of wedding and opting for a smaller, simpler affair with only close family and friends. That is, they would like more of a “celebration” than a “reception”. So how can you still put together a beautiful, fun event with a small budget and a guest list under 50? Here are five of my favorite ideas:

1. Have an Italian-themed dinner in a courtyard or backyard under the moonlight, catered by your favorite Italian restaurant. Drape tree branches with tiny white lights and large white lanterns. Use rustic long wooden tables covered with a simple white linen table runner. For centerpieces, use white or yellow flowers assembled casually in rustic vases (do-it-yourself style). Give soaps, candles, chocolate-covered hazelnuts or tiny bottles of olive oil as favors (you can bottle them yourself using store-bought olive oil and tiny jars). Have lots of candlelight.

2. Take your guests on a dinner cruise, and let the scenery be your décor. Choose blue and white nautical colors as your color scheme, and hire a jazz trio for music. For favors, give little bottles of flavored sea salt. A bonus? If you have the budget, hire a barber quartet or 1940s-style singing group to serenade your audience.

3. Have a breakfast celebration! Say your vows as the sun rises and then celebrate with a tasting menu of yummy bite-sized breakfast foods, like waffles, pancakes, French toast, mimosas, fruit cups, eggs benedict, and cinnamon toast.

4. Stay on the beach. Many couples choose to say their vows on the beach, but then go indoors to a formal reception hall. But if you only have a small group, stay and have lunch or dinner on the beach too! Set up a few long tables and benches, cover them with pretty blue table clothes, and have guests eat with their toes in the sand. No decoration necessary, just good food and good company.

5. Ask your favorite bakery or dessert venue if you can have a tea and cake, or dessert and cocktail, reception at their location. Decorate with whimsical flowers like pink peonies, and hire a harpist to play.

You are finally getting married and you are practically bubbling with excitement. Then again, you must know that planning a wedding is no piece of cake. There are so many things to deal with, and one of the most difficult things involved in almost any wedding preparation is choosing a wedding theme. After all, wouldn’t you dream the grandest day of your life to be memorable? Here, then are some great wedding theme ideas that are sure to make your dream wedding uniquely beautiful.

Go Green
If you and your hubby are both nature lovers, an environment-inspired theme will suit you perfectly. Go green with everything; have your invitations made out of recycled paper and hand-printed if possible. Seedlings in attractive little pots make great souvenirs. Use organic materials for your table cloths and other wedding essentials. An outdoor wedding reception is perfect for this kind of wedding theme.

Floral Wedding Theme
The floral wedding theme may just be one of the most popular wedding themes. The natural beauty of flowers never fails to captivate the soul and the senses. Wedding invitations in floral designs are more than just attractive; they are welcoming, too. Use dried perfumed flowers in cute pouches as your wedding souvenirs — your guests will surely love them! You can have your wedding reception right in your own backyard (if you have enough space, that is), with the bejeweled sky as your backdrop.

Beach Wedding
If both you and your partner are beach bums, you may want to carry on a beach wedding theme and have your wedding at the beach. Seashells on the seashore are great designs for your wedding invitations. It’s so romantic to have your wedding at the beach, especially if you hold it very early in the morning just as the sun is about to rise, or early evening, when the sun is about to set.

Choosing a wedding theme can be very overwhelming, to say the least. This is one thing that you cannot decide on by yourself alone. Take the time to sit down with your hubby and explore all possibilities. A wedding planner can be a big help all throughout the wedding preparations, if you can afford his or her services.

It’s great to know that you can now have more options when it comes to your wedding theme. Whatever you decide on, it’s bound to be beautiful and memorable when there’s love in the air.

The time you have been waiting for has finally come — you are getting married, and you couldn’t be any happier! You must know, however, that planning your very own wedding is not as easy you think.

Choosing a wedding theme alone can eat too much of your time and effort. Indeed, there are so many things you need to consider when looking for a particular wedding theme and it happens sometimes that what you want your wedding theme to be may not be the right one for you under certain circumstances. Needless to say, you need to have a wedding theme to serve as your guide all throughout the wedding preparations and beyond.

A major influence in your choice of a theme is your own preference. How do you envision your wedding to be? Would you rather have a traditional wedding or would you want to exchange I Dos amidst the blossoming flowers or under the night sky?

If you want a garden wedding or an outdoor wedding reception, you must carefully choose a date that does not fall on a rainy month. On the other hand, if you have already decided on a date and it does fall on a rainy month, then you may have to go for a different wedding theme instead.

You can scour the internet for great wedding theme ideas. There are wedding themes for nature lovers, for sports enthusiasts, hobbyists and traditionalists. Take time to browse through the various wedding sites so you can be updated of the trends in wedding fashion and themes. There are also wedding catalogs that you can subscribe to.

Your wedding invitations, souvenirs and decors must carry your wedding theme. For instance, if you are having a nature theme, your invitations may have to be made of recycled paper. For your souvenirs, you can have seedlings or potted plants. If you are having a floral themed wedding, you can have vibrant flowers to serve as background for your invitations, and you can use dried flowers for your wedding souvenirs.

Sometimes, it helps to go through all of these with a professional wedding planner. A wedding planner can significantly make things a lot easier and less complicated for you.

You deserve nothing less than the best, that’s for sure, so choose your wedding theme carefully. A wedding theme that is appropriate under the given circumstances can spell a lot of difference to the most important day of your life.