1980sThis was the era of the big hair and huge padded shoulders – power dressing at its best. It’s a style that’s very well suited for a magnifi cent wedding dress and bridesmaids’ outfi ts that echo the theme. You can also have a great time developing a New Romantics theme across your clothes, makeup and hair as well as your decorations – all Vivienne Westwood with kooky makeup, platform shoes, long gloves and a wild hotchpotch of elegance mixed with eccentricity. Music of the day is still very listenable to today, with some classic stuff having been produced by bands like Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran, and of course, ABBA!

SportsA sports theme will only really work if both bride and groom are equally committed players or fans, but when this is the case it can give your wedding a truly unique touch. How far you take things is entirely up to you: it could be that you simply incorporate your team’s colours as the main focus of your wedding scheme, or you can go the whole hog and adorn everywhere – and everyone – with appropriate badged and coloured accessories and decorations. Think beyond the usual team sports and other recreations, too; you can do a lot within a theme with ideas from the worlds of golf, equestrianism/horse racing, tennis, motor racing, belly dancing (think Arabian nights), judo/karate, etc.

Eastern splendourOriental themes aren’t hard to put together and can look stunning, with clothes based on anything from saris to kimonos, strong primary colours, minimalist decor and of course, a menu to match – or perhaps ‘fusion’ cuisine across more than one Eastern culture. If you choose Japanese, bonsai trees make fabulous table decorations especially if illuminated with tiny fairy lights – and they’re a green option, as they can be hired, or bought and given to guests as wedding favours.

Monte Carlo eveningThis is a useful theme because the decor, backdrop and entertainment are all part and parcel of the same thing. The men need to wear tuxedos and the women, long evening dresses. Cards and dice can be represented across wedding stationery and various other incarnations. Drinks should be

Champagne or sophisticated cocktails. And if you don’t want people to lose their own shirts, guests can be given a pile of ‘chips’ as wedding favours to use at gambling tables after the formalities. There are numerous organisations in the UK who offer a package deal for casino parties – key ‘casino evenings’ into your favourite search engine.

Country and WesternIn all honesty this theme is easier to put together in the summer, because you can use an unheated barn for your reception. But if you and your intended are dedicated country and/or folk music fans, there is still no reason why you can’t decorate a heated, indoor venue with rustic items, a few bales of hay or straw, pitchforks, barrows, even a small pony cart or hand cart, and so on to make it look like the inside of a barn. Your clothes will be informal, obviously, and if you’re going for the western end of things then cowboy/cowgirl outfi ts are crucial! If the venue is big enough you can have a full scale barn dance, but if there isn’t room for that you can still consider line dancing – an ideal entertainment for a wedding because everyone from small children to grannies can join in. Music can range from electric Country and Western to fi ddle and accordion groups to ceilidh bands.

Themes

MORE IDEAS...This feature is an extract from ‘Planning a Winter Wedding’ by Suzan St Maur which is packed with ideas on all aspects of winter weddings. Available at all good bookstores priced at £8.99. (ISBN: 978-1-84528-309-4) Published by How To Books, it can be ordered from 01476 541080.www.howtobooks.co.uk

Table setting styled by Stuart Parvin for Confetti. Accessories include round mirror acrylic cake board

(£29.99), white one-hole labels (£1.50 for 10) and hot

pink chiffon ribbon (£5.99)

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