Jesi Haack On: Theme vs Concept

Ok, so you want your wedding to stand out.  You want your friends to be talking about it for the next year {at LEAST}.  You DEFINITELY want your other engaged friends' weddings to be WAY more boring than yours.  You want to create a statement.  You want your wedding to be different.  How different? Well, let's take a look at your relationship.  You and your fiancé met at a karaoke bar.  You are both in the entertainment business.  Let's go with that.  You could do this the right way and you could do this an OH SO WRONG way. Let's see some options:

Wedding 1:

Wedding venue: corner pub

Officiant: DJ Lightning Louis

Centerpieces: paper mache microphone with music note confetti sprinkled on the tabletop

Party favors: gift certificate for a free karaoke session (ok, kinda cool)

Ceremony program:  looks like a karaoke book

Table name:  a music note on a table tent

Escort cards:  there aren’t seat assignments; everyone stands around the "stage"

{OR}

Wedding 2:

Wedding venue:  classic ballroom in Burbank surrounded by a plethora of movie studios

Officiant:  bride's brother who is a pastor

Centerpieces: romantic arrangement of burgundy flowers over a pin tuck, ivory linen

Party favors:  grandma's homemade chocolate chip cookie tucked into the burgundy napkin

Ceremony program:  romantic mock "screenplay"

Table name:  each table is named one of the bride or groom's favorite movies

Escort cards:  each guest goes to the ticket booth and picks up their "ticket" to find their seat

AND we cannot forget about the bride who instead of throwing the bouquet performs the ENTIRE dance of Beyonce's "All the single Ladies" {yes, this actually happened and it was the highlight of my career}

Which one did you vote for?  There is a definite difference between a concept and a theme.  A theme is defined as an idea that recurs in or pervades a work of art.  A concept is defined as an abstract idea or a general notion.  Do you see the difference?  

When creating a statement for your guests, it can be very tempting to develop a theme.  Scenario one is an example of a bride going OVER THE LINE.  Like, say the line is {here}.... she is way over {hheeeeeeerrreeeeeee} taking a single common denominator and very obviously weaving it in every single aspect of your wedding is, in my opinion, creating a theme.

When you walk into an event; see cut-out music notes on the walls and say, “Oh, this must be a Music theme,” you are seeing a very specific subject matter.  Taking this same idea and broadening it a bit transforms a very obvious them into a subtle concept.  Pull your camera out a bit and see the broader picture.  Be very choosy about which areas you will incorporate this specific décor style, and use the rest of the areas to bring in touches of class and subtlety.  When your guests enter your event, you want it to feel like a journey.  They first should experience a feeling; they should notice a style of your event (i.e. Vintage, modern, DIY, classy, eclectic, etc).  Then, as they look around, they should notice tiny little details that support that initial feeling and style.  The details of your event should work together as a cohesive unit while still allowing the guest to put the pieces together for themselves, instead of just putting a sign on the wall that says, “This is a Vintage Rustic Wedding!”

Treat your guests to a journey through your relationship.  Let them get to know you both a bit more through every detail of your wedding.  Don’t just give them crepe paper and paper wedding bells, give them YOU.

Define your style. 

~jesi haack

Comments

[Kaitlyn]

Love this Jesi. I love how well you explain the difference. I could picture it in my head.

[juel]

Amen!! Love this post.