Red, White and Blue Patriotic Wedding

A red, white and blue patriotic wedding is a fabulous idea.  The 4th of July lends itself perfectly to the bride planning her wedding for less.  Check out some of my favorite ideas at http://pinterest.com/jillmbergeron/red-white-and-blue-patriotic-wedding.

With the red, white and blue color scheme you can pull off a casual or a formal patriotic wedding look.  The bridesmaids could wear blue or red, or they could wear blue dresses, carry white flowers, and wear red shoes.  The combinations are countless. If you don’t want to use all the red white blue patriotic colors, use one or two and the look would still be wonderful.  

Invitations

Your invitations can reflect your theme by tucking star confetti or a small flag into each one.  Seal the flaps with stars or patriotic seals. The postal service has stamps in patriotic themes that you might consider to top off your overall look.

Tables Set With Flowers

The tables can be set with bouquets of fresh airy flowers such as Queen Anne’s lace, bachelor buttons and delphinium.  Your flowers can be a single color or a mix.  Red is striking as table centerpieces. Spiky, blue sea holly, white astible can give the feel of fireworks in the centerpieces.  All can be found in silk at hobby shops or fresh at farmer’s markets.  If you use fresh flowers, you need to plan to have them arranged no more than 3 days before the wedding.  Use flower frogs in the vases or containers to keep enough water in them so the flowers stay looking fresh. Be sure to cut the flower stems on an angle before anchoring them in the flower frog. Being able to refrigerate them would also make them look fresh longer.

Some other flowers to consider are carnations, daisies, and sparkle pompoms.  Lots of these resemble firework shapes.  For those of you who live in cotton country, cotton balls right off the bush give a patriotic flair for display areas (just be sure to leave some of the green leaves or wrap some other type of greenery with it). To fill centerpieces and bouquets, use onion grass or a similar filler grass or baby’s breath.  Both give “pop” to the flowers.

Finish off the bouquets being carried by the bridal party with red, white, and blue striped ribbon or thin pieces of each.

Decorating the Venue

Decorate the venue with sparkly lights, and lanterns for a romantic mood. Add balloons and streamers for a more casual look.  Use lots of red, white and blue bunting, which can be bought for a fair penny.  

You can turn any solid cloth into a stars and stripes patterned patriotic wedding piece by using painters’ tape and fabric paint mixed with paint extender.  Lay the fabric on a flat surface, and carefully mark the pattern using painters’ tape...outline the spaces you want to paint. Mix the paint with the paint extender at a 2 to 1 ratio and then gently brush and tap the paint between the taped outlines.  If the paint is too thin just paint as many times as it takes to get the desired look.

The plates on the table, paper, plastic or china can be stacked then wrapped with a nice ribbon in your desired color.  This is a quick way to bring color and sophistication to the  decor.  

Greet guests at the reception area with “Yankee Doodle Dandy” and your favorite patriotic wedding songs.

As far as the menu goes, think American classics.  Hamburgers, hot dogs, grilled cheese, and any other picnic or bar-b-q favorites.  Drinks can be red, or blue and you can even delight guests with red or blue jello shots.

How about sparklers on the wedding cake.  Incorporate sparklers to be lit at the time of cutting and you’re sure to get some oohs and aahs.  One of the fun parts of a patriotic wedding is all the fun of the 4th of July can be part of the festivities! 

Favors can be fun treats.  Fill long slender treat bags with candies arranged to resemble the American flag.  Start with blue gum balls that represent the stars and then finish filling with red and white candy sticks or peppermint sticks to represent the stripes.  Tie with a tiny piece of red twine.

Finally end the night with fireworks and a sparkler send off.  

Videos for Inspiration

Red, White and Blue Patriotic Weddings to First Steps 

Outdoor Weddings

Wedding Crafts and Projects

Wedding Photography