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Ascot Style GuideClassy Mardi Gras Wedding Ideas - Yes it can be done!
Mardi Gras is one of the most unique celebrations that there is, so if getting married during the Mardi Gras season, it’s a great, fun and colourful theme to incorporate in your wedding day.
Mardi Gras is extremely popular and celebrated across America from 6th Jan through to Fat Tuesday, which of course changes every year. People love to use this theme for birthdays, dinner parties, and now, increasingly weddings too.
Putting on a classy wedding day with the Mardi Gras theme can be tough though. Mardi Gras parties can be full of cheap feathers and glitter - in fact for Carnival it’s usually all about hundreds of cheap feathers, glitter, and zillions of beads. You might (probably infact!) find that really scary for your special day! Add them in gentle proportions though - touches, not swarms, and you can still keep your big day classy.
Pantone Colour of the Year - Ultra Violet. That's Mardi Gras Purple isn't it?
Mardi Gras is exactly the time to embrace Pantones Colour of the Year 2018 - Ultra Violet. Historically, ultra violet has been associated with the spiritual and mystical (think amethyst crystals).
Pantone says the deep purple shade was chosen to evoke a ‘counterculture flair, a grab for originality, ingenuity and visionary thinking,’ which again, sounds like Mardi Gras!
”It’s a strong shade that combines strong purples and passionate reds, which gives the colour a ‘mystical quality'. "I see this as very much an optimistic color, an empowering color,” said Laurie Pressman, Vice President of Pantone. ”From exploring new technologies and the greater galaxy, to artistic expression and spiritual reflection, intuitive Ultra Violet lights the way to what is yet to come.” said Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director.
It's your Wedding Day, not the Mardi Gras Carnival Parade
Themed weddings are a great way to inject personality into your wedding day, and for Febuary I truly believe Mardi Gras is a brilliant idea, but even more so than other themes it's vital not to get carried away, turning your wedding day into the carnival parade. You could go find a purple wedding dress - but please don't! Find yourself your dream White or Ivory bridal gown that you would for a non themed wedding day, and stick to Mardi Gras for the decorations, menu, bridesmaids and/or flower girls to successfully blend the Mardi Gras theme with the elegance of a more traditional wedding.
As the bride you could simply add the Purple, Gold or Green into your Bridal Sash, Bouquet, Headpiece, Shoes or Wrist Corsage. For the male members of the wedding party, of course those colors can be encorporated in the cravats, cumberbands and lapel pins.
Below are some suggestions of where you can inject the Mardi Gras theme. Please don't use them all though. Just select some of them. It's intended as a list of lot's of possibilities, not a shopping list to give your wedding planner. Select a few and you will have a fun filled, bright Febuary wedding, on theme but not over the top. Be sure to do some of the cocktails though.
Click on any of the above images to view the sellers item pages. Most are Etsy, and few from other stores.
Flower Girls Dresses - Little girls love dressing up.
Little Girls love dressing up, so the flower girls you can have a little fun with. They'll love you for giving them a Tutu dress to dance around in, and will even be accepting of oodles of glitter and sequins - which prehaps the bridesmaids would not!.
The Flower Girls Dresses above are all on Etsy, Amazon or Ebay. Click each to go straight to their listings.
Table Flowers and Room Decor
Purple and Gold Flower arrangements are truly breathtaking, and regal, so a perfect way to add the Mardi Gras color scheme into your wedding with class rather than the brass of Ostrich Feathers, beads and Glitter.
The Flowers arrangements below are by Karen Tran, and photography by Bonnie Sen Photography.
Flower Girls and Bridesmaids Floral Crowns
For a few years now brides have been picking the bridal flower crown over traditional veils. I’m not going to recommend for the Bride of a Mardi Gras wedding, but do suggest you consider for the Bridesmaids and Flower Girls.
On Etsy you will find one at every price point depending on quality, fabric and complexity – there’s plenty to choose from. Here are a few I’ve found in the punchy Mardi Gras colors but still subtle, delicate, and in the affordable $35-$45 price point.
Tuscan Vineyard Wedding Hair Crown available from Etsy. Click Here For Etsy Tuscan Vineyard Flower Girl Crown.
Purple Roses with Gold wedding Hair Crown available from Etsy. Click Here For Etsy Purple Roses and Gold Flower Girl Crown. There’s no denying that any deep jewel-toned dress looks stunning at a winter or spring wedding. The Bridesmaids infinity dresses below at only $52.50 for the longer dresses with their Bandeau, and $42.50 for the shorter, are super versatile dresses that you can wrap in several (appox 15) different ways.
The Ultra Violet Purple looks stunning on most people, but you could dress your bridesmaids in a different colour of Mardi Gras each, for contrast and keeping with the Mardi Gras theme.
Bridesmaids Dresses
A great option as can be styled many different ways, so your Bridesmaids can keep to wear a different way on several later occassions and events.
Click on each dresses image to be taken direct to their Etsy pages.
Mardi Gras Bridesmaids Feather Accessories
Don't close down the page yet. When I say Mardi Gras feather accessories, I'm still thinking pretty. Do I suggest you wear the mini top hats with chunks of ostrich feathers fanning out the top and smothered in Craft store glitter? Of course not. Sure they may work for the carnival parade, but this is still your wedding day.
There are still feather accessories that feature the correct colours but with more "sweetness" than the traditional masks and headdresses worn at the carnival. Hair Clips, Fascinators, Bridal Sashes and Shoe Clips are all pretty bridal accessories that can be found by Etsy sellers that have customised their usual bridal accessories to the Mardi Gras colours. Below are some of the best you'll find that won't make your Bridesmaids and Flower Girls feel like showgirls.
The Cocktails Bar - Bourbon Street Drinks
If you're throwing a party for Mardi Gras then it's a given that the bar needs be full of Cocktails fitting to the bars of Bourbon Street, but not served in massive plastic tumblers. I'm no foodie or Cocktail expert (you wouldn't want to serve your guests drinks I'd thought up!), so I won't try giving you some of my recipes, but don't forget to have these covered.
Top Table or Entrance Centerpiece
I loved the blog spot I found from Designthusiasm on centerpiece designs they pulled together for Mardi Gras. You can click the image to be taken to their blog spot, but my favourite by far are the Jazz instrument ideas.
Encorporated in several of the centerpieces was the use of trumpets, horns and saxaphones, brass instruments inspired by the jazz music of New Orleans. Perfect on point centerpieces for a Mardi Gras theme.
