This is the last week of Carnival 2011. Carnival is very popular in Italy, with world-known celebrations such as those in Venice. So, in the spirit of “Mardi Gras“, here are a few ideas for a “masquerade themed wedding“. You might need to be a non-conventional couple, but a masquerade wedding can certainly be a lot of fun and your guests will no doubt remember it!
First of all you need the right attire! Masks can go well with several types of wedding gown: you can choose the classic ball wedding gown as in a Venetian masquerade ball, or a more stylish and modern trumpet or sheath wedding gown! Or you could be really brave and wear a colorful and unique wedding gown. And for the groom, you need something a bit retro, maybe with a Victorian feel if you go for the Venetian ball feel.
(Dresses by Mori Lee, Allure Couture, Stephen Yearick, Miss Paris and Saison Blanche)
(Wedding dresses by Allure Couture, Symphony, Jordan Bridals, Impression, Bari Jay and Mon Cheri)
(Suits from Cheap Wedding Planning, Centro Sposi Paradiso, Groomsmenswear, Dapper, and by Falpala)
If you choose a church wedding, masks are not appropriate for the ceremony, but you can opt for a stylish hat, maybe with a short veil. Or feathers! Long veils, on the contrary, are not suitable for masquerade themed weddings.
(Bridal headpieces by Designs by Kirsten, Illusion Bridal and LA Krause)
And then of course you need masks! If you don’t want to use masks only for the reception, you can use masks on a stick instead of flowers for you and your bridesmaids or integrate the feather theme in the wedding flowers for your bouquet and your maid of honour’s bouquet and use masks on a stick for the other bridesmaids.
(BKtheDJ)
(Bouquets by La Plume Ethere)
Masks don’t have to be tacky. You can choose very romantic hand-made masks like these:
(Mask by Tom Banwell)
(Photos by the talented Dawn Earles Photography)
Mardi Gras themed weddings can be great fun! And masks make for great photos!
Then you need the right invitations. Usually masquerade wedding receptions have to have the look of a formal event, so you might need invites like these:
(Invites from Unfoldcreations and Wedding Paper Divas)
We have excellent graphic designers who can work with you to create the perfect wedding stationery for your event.
You can use the mask theme for your seating chart or place holders. An idea for the seating chart is to name each table after the traditional Italian Carnival Characters: Arlecchino, Colombina, Pulcinella, etc. Or you can use small masks as place holders.
Masks can also be used in your flower centerpieces if you don’t want to push it too much and choose more “bizarre” centerpieces.
Favours can be “masquerade themed” too. These are delightful!
Of course you can also choose to give a mask to each one of your guests and that can be your wedding favour. Or you can opt for a sweeter “souvenir” of the event…
And finally some creative masquerade wedding cakes!
And don’t forget that you can use confetti and streamers to celebrate your wedding after the ceremony: they are the most traditional symbol of Carnival in Italy! And you can choose to have an enormous tray of “cenci”, the traditional carnival sweets, instead of a wedding cake.
