Themed weddings are a great way to break the ice between guests, as they tend to create a more relaxed and informal atmosphere. If everyone is in fancy dress, or there are clowns and jugglers walking around amongst the crowd – suddenly conversation comes easily even between strangers and everyone will have a good time. A themed event will usually make you think of a party or certain annual holidays but it’s fast becoming a popular practice with brides and grooms to be.

A wedding with a striking theme will also stick in your guests memory. Weddings often come in batches and your guests may be attending four or five other weddings the same year; if your day blows all expectations, then your guests will be sure to remember the event for years to come.

Yours guests will certainly be happier with a themed wedding, but most of all, the bride and groom will have a good time. If the happy couple live out their wildest dreams of being dressed as a medieval king and queen for the day, or ruling over proceedings as an exotic prince and princess – then the wedding day will be their dream come true.

If you’d like to theme your wedding, here are some ideas to get you thinking:

African safari – bring the wilds of Africa into your wedding, with animal print table cloths, African food and music and safari camouflage decorations. Maybe leave the lions and tigers for the honeymoon!

Carnival – just because you’re getting married, it doesn’t mean you have to grow up! You could theme your wedding as a carnival or circus, so your guests can let their hair down on the bumper cars and big wheel after you’ve taken your vows in a big top. This theme also has extravagant possibilities for entertainment, as acrobats, fire breathers, clowns and trapeze artists will entertain your guests after dinner. You could even give everyone candy floss for dessert!

If you don’t want to add a whole theme to your wedding, you can just add a motif image to the wedding day, as well as the invitations and decorations. Butterflies are a popular image as they are light and summery, but angels, tropical fish or stars also make delightful motifs for a happy wedding day.

Or why not theme your wedding to your favourite film or book? Jaws or Nightmare on Elm Street might not be suitable film themes for a wedding, but Back to the Future or Grease would certainly make for a rock ‘n’ roll wedding. Fairytales such as Cinderella would also make a gorgeous, girly theme, or Alice in Wonderland would be the perfect tale for a quirky theme, complete with a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party and grinning Cheshire Cat.

Whether your wedding theme is out of space or a country home, you’ll want to consider quality wedding insurance to financially protect your wedding in case of illness, theft or cancellation. Wedding insurance will protect the cost of invitations, wedding attire, the cake, rings, and photographs amongst other elements – so that if the worse comes to the worst, your dream wedding doesn’t become a nightmare.