The Top Wedding Themes You’ve Always Wanted

Everyone loves a wedding, right – it’s a beautiful time, filled with love, laughter, happiness… and a truck tonne of planning. You want your wedding day to be perfect (of course you do) and you know it all starts with the theming of the special day.

But how do you pick the right wedding theme? How do you know it’s ‘the one’? Well, we think it’s just like any kind of love – when you know, you just know. Sometimes it’s as simple as ‘love at first sight,’ sometimes it takes a little talking around. However, the best thing you can do is avoid overthinking it!

Now, before you get too ahead of yourself designing those invitations or wedding website, booking entertainment, and deciding on that delicious wedding cake you sampled, consider for a moment: how will this all these details fit into the overall wedding theme? We’ve combined our all-time favourite themes that suit our tropical climes to make it easy for you to find your perfect match.

Rustic/Vintage

String lights, mason jars, twine, lace, and timber everything contribute to the nostalgic vibe of this theme. If you're a huge DIY fan, rustic wedding decor will be your (vintage Wedgewood) cup of tea. Rustic weddings are all about getting back to an era gone by, so location and decor are key. Consider a venue like the iconic Port Douglas Sugar Wharf if this is your dream wedding style.

Draw inspiration from decades past if you want a rustic vintage style for your wedding. Search for antique-looking decor, like weathered doors and worn-in wood seats, to exemplify a vintage-inspired wedding. For your last hoorah, finish off the vintage theme driving away in a classic getaway car, like an old Jaguar. Speak to Port Douglas Weddings & Hire to make this dream a reality.

Perfect For: The Nostalgic Pair

Styling snapshot:

- Classic wooden wine barrels, trellises and greenery, particularly upon entrances

- Black chalk boards and vintage suitcases

- Strung fairy lights and tea lights in jars

Suggested locations:

- St. Mary's by the Sea (ceremony only)

- Port Douglas Sugar Wharf

- Rex Smeal Park (under the Fig Tree)

Tropical Crush

If you ask us, we don’t know why we’re all not getting married in grass skirts, flanked by flamingos and gold spray-painted pineapples, with our hands wrapped around a Mai Tai in a freshly opened coconut under the dancing shelter of palm trees.

Tropical summertime hit us hard here in the North and quickly turned into a full blown tropical tiki obsession. And with good reason. The tropical vibe wedding is easy and eye-catching, but most of all it’s fun. And who doesn’t want fun at a wedding?

Port Douglas Catering and Events epitomise all that is good and true about tropical styling and catering. Well versed on all themes and styles, the tropical vibe is one that the team here heartily embraces making sweet tropical magic in practically any local location.

Perfect For: The Quirky Couple

Styling snapshot:

- Pineapples, flamingos

- Coconut cocktails

- Tommy Bahama prints on white cane furniture

Boho Chic

A Bohemian wedding looks like it’s taken inspiration from illustrations out of a storybook about mythical woodland creatures. This popular style has a distinct soft and romantic feel that is earthy and inspired by nature and the beautiful outdoors.

Earthy colours, natural textures, eclectic patterns with plenty of throw cushions are great elements to create a beautiful bohemian wedding. Details like walnut bentwood chairs, cane furniture and rattan charger plates work perfectly for this style. Tie the whole look together with stacks of potted plants, cascading blooms and natural fibre embellishments like thick weave raw linen table runners, macramé hangers and a tee pee, and you’ve coloured yourself boho chic.

No bohemian wedding is complete without lush greenery and florals, so natural rainforest spaces are perfect for ceremonies and receptions. The award-winning property Bali Hai just north of Mossman, with its own freshwater creek, fruit orchard and lush green rainforest clearing fits the bill perfectly for glorious boho nuptials.

Perfect For: The Free Spirits

Styling snapshot:

- Flower crowns

- Macramé and timber; tee pees and cushions

- Natural and neutral colour scheme with lots of florals

Suggested locations:

- Rainforest Grotto (by Port Douglas Weddings and Hire)

- Flames of the Forest (your very own private rainforest)

Nautical/Coastal

Channel your best Hamptons-esque vibe and kick off your wedding with a coastal/nautical theme. Incorporate letterpress anchor-motifs and other seafaring elements in the chicest of ways, keeping in the classicism of this style. Ropes tied in sailor’s knots, a helm and whitewashed timber furniture with splashes of royal blue and green tones? Crushing it.

Sipping champagne with an enviable view over the Coral Sea in arguably one of Port Douglas’s best restaurants, Salsa Bar and Grill, with its whitewashed walls, plantation shutters and that soft ocean breeze? Well, it’s practically a Tommy Hilfiger advertisement.

Perfect For: The Classic Couple

Styling snapshot:

- Crisp white-washed furniture with splashes of navy

- Linen, wicker baskets, shells and driftwood

- Nautical-influenced decorations

Suggested locations:

- Salsa Bar & Grill

- Hemingways Brewery (upstairs, overlooking Dickson’s inlet and the Crystalbrook Marina)

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