The patio and garden area surrounding a pool can be an ideal spot for the reception following your wedding ceremony (see Part 1 & 2). If you have a big enough area and the surroundings are particularly classy, you may even choose to set up chairs and host your ceremony near the pool as well. In this article, we’ll focus on two creative theme ideas that would work especially well for a poolside wedding reception. Your poolside wedding reception can be as formal or as informal as you’d like. It’s completely based on your personal preferences.
High-Class Hawaiian-Themed Poolside Wedding Reception
A Hawaiian Luau theme is always a popular choice for pool parties, so why not go this route for your biggest party ever — your wedding day? You can go all out creating a mini tropical paradise, complete with tiki torches, leis to distribute to your guests, and Hawaiian-inspired decorations and cuisine. You could hire a live band that specializes in performing traditional Hawaiian music and get everyone out on the patio to hula the night away.
Some great food choices would be ham with pineapples, Hawaiian chicken kabobs, shrimp skewers, grilled pineapple with vanilla ice cream, and fresh fruit salad. You could serve fancy tropical fruit beverages complete with tiny umbrellas for a festive touch.
As far as decorations go, include some tropical flower arrangements throughout the yard and place them on floating trays in the pool. Pineapples spray painted to match your wedding colors make charming Hawaiian-themed centerpieces. Beach or tropical flower themed coasters, insulated drink holders, or candles monogrammed with the happy couple’s names and the date make great wedding favors. Or, if you’re hosting a daytime wedding, monogrammed sunglasses would be both a practical and fun wedding favor option.
Festive Fourth of July Themed Poolside Wedding Reception
If you’re planning a mid-summer wedding and you want your marriage to be full of fireworks, what better way to start off right than with a Fourth of July themed wedding? This fun theme is fairly easy to plan decorations for, especially when it comes to your color scheme. Anything red, white, and blue will work! Flower arrangements can include such eye-catching choices as romantic red roses, blue belladonna, and white baby’s breath. Spread them out in vases throughout the patio and garden area, as well as on floating trays inside the pool.
You can add some pizzazz to the pool with floating red, white and blue floating star luminaries. Make or purchase star burst balloon weight centerpieces in patriotic colors. These consist of a small weight surrounded with red, white, or blue metallic paper, tied with a contrasting patriotic colored ribbon. Add a real “wow” factor by sticking some strands of patriotic colored stars into the center of the metallic paper surrounding the weights so they look like shooting fireworks.
For food options at your patriotic-themed reception, think of old fashioned American picnic food, like your favorite grilled meats, potato salad, coleslaw, deviled eggs, fresh fruit salad, pie, and ice cream. You can add some specifically patriotic colored foods into the menu, such as an American flag fruit pizza made with strawberries and blueberries placed strategically on a background of sugar cookie crust spread generously with sweetened cream cheese topping. You could even serve a red, white and blue wedding cake and fizzy red punch.
The happy couple can leave the reception surrounded by guests holding celebratory sparklers. You could even encourage your guests to find a comfortable seat by the pool to watch a spectacular evening fireworks display that will reflect beautifully in the water!
These articles filled with great ideas can help to get your creative juices flowing as you plan your perfect poolside wedding. Whether you go with a luau to celebrate your love, a patriotic wedding to add some fireworks to your new marriage, or some entirely different theme, we hope your big day by the pool will be a splashing success!
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