Asian Wedding Theme Ideas

The key to pulling off a coordinated event: Evoke your theme throughout the affair. Whether that theme is as general as a season or a feeling, or as specific as a special flower, it should be the subtle thread that ties everything together. Your location, invitations, flowers, menu, cake, and favors should all cleverly reflect one common concept. Then, get as creative as you can!

Locations: Oriental Garden, Asian restaurant, Oriental Tea Room, reception or banquet halls, hotel ballroom. It should take guests no longer than 30 minutes to drive from the ceremony to reception. Schedule your reception directly after the ceremony.

Color & Attire: Red, Black & Gold. Pink & Mocha. Claret and White.

For an Asian Wedding Red, Not White. In nearly all East Asian countries, but especially China, red is the color of happiness, especially for weddings. White, by contrast, is for funerals. However, The Japanese bride wears the traditional white wedding kimono dress called shiro-maku. Shiro meaning white and maku meaning pure.

Invitations

Carlson Craft offers several Asian Wedding Invitations.

As a fun alternative, you can hand-deliver Chinese take out containers to each guest. Include a hand-written invitation inside along with some wrapped fortune cookies. Tie a ribbon around the boxes or to the wire handle.

You'll think of so many cute ways to use Chinese Take Out Containers. They are available at craft stores in white, and a variety of other colors like: yellow, blue, green, pink and purple, try them for favor packaging, engagement party or shower invitations & etc.

Send engagement party or shower invitation tied to a pair of chopsticks. Use red card stock and a gold paint pen for the invitation. Tie the invitation to the chopsticks with black curling ribbon.

The Reception:

Don't forget Chinese celebrations always include firecrackers to scare away evil spirits.

Your reception is the first party you will host as husband and wife.

All food and drinks are on you! No "cash bars", etc.

A cocktail hour always precedes the semi-formal and formal reception (lunch, brunch, or dinner). If alcohol is served, food must be served also. At odd hour receptions (i.e., at 2 p.m., or 7 p.m., when guests will have skipped lunch or dinner) cocktail-hour food should be heavy. Food must be replenished during the cocktail hour. Make sure your reception property has a separate room for the cocktail hour, or a back-up plan in case of inclement weather. Note it in your contract.

During dinner soft music should be played, not dance music that confuses everyone, "Should I be eating or should I be dancing?" At no time should the music be cut completely. Silence can ruin the party.

Reception Decorating:

The tops of your tables provide you with a very large surface area and covering them with a beautiful tablecloth is the easiest way to change the feel of a room.. It is also the most cost effective way to decorate.

Bring the exotic look of the Far East to your Reception tables.

Linen colors must be coordinated to the color of walls in your reception room. NOT your wedding colors. Many venues offer a variety of linens. If they don't have the color you need or length desired, you can rent them from your local party linen store.

Gossamer is a unique material that is used to create overlay on your tables. In addition to using as an overlay for tables, use it to cover a wall, make a curtain, chair bow, and etc. Gossamer also makes super backdrops too. Gossamer & Asian print gossamer is available from ShindigZ.com .

The Bride and Groom may sit together or they may sit with their bridal party, provided that their dates and/or escorts are included. They may also sit with their families. Parents should be seated as close to the bridal table as possible. Divorced parents should not be seated together.

Place-cards facilitate guest seating, and are a must at semi-formal and formal weddings, for sit-down dinners as well as buffets. (They get guests seated expediently.) Each couple gets a place-card, and each single guest.

The Toast should last no longer than five minutes. It should never embarrass anyone. The person giving it should be prepared. For good luck, toast only with sparking wine or champagne.

CENTERPIECES:

For a formal event have your florist do floral arrangements in the traditional Oriental tri-lineal design concept of heaven, man and earth. Simplicity and naturalness are the watchwords for Oriental flower arrangements.

Use interestingly shaped twiggy branches ( Manzanita) for line, they should be weathered for contract.

Some other ideas for foliage are Pittosporum foliage, Polysaia branch, Solomon's Seal, Huckleberry, Bamboo, Japonica, Cocoa Spray & Grape Ivy.

Excellent focal flowers for Oriental arrangements might include: Iris, Azalea, Tiger Lilly, Calla Lily, Fugi Mums, Camellia, Anemone, Sun Dahlia, Magnolia, Passion Flower, Gardenia, Calliandra & Blooming Cereus.

Fill out arrangements with Dwarf Pittosporum, Oleander, Mountain Laurel, Podocarpus, Mountain Ash, & Philodenendron.

Bamboo containers are excellent for holding floral arrangements.

Bring the raw beauty of nature to Asian centerpieces and flower arrangements by adding grey stones.

Add a painted Chinese Fan to your arrangement for accent.

Non Floral Centerpieces:

Pair magnificent Asian Candles or Bamboo and Coconut Candles for mood lighting with handsome red scalloped placemats.

In keeping with your Asian theme we would suggest using one of the following centerpieces.

Hang paper lanterns from the ceiling above your tables, lots & lots of them. Use all one color, or two or three colors.

Napkins:

Napkins will serve several purposes … great decorating in disguise and a delightful memento of the party that can be saved in scrapbooks for years to come!

Use red, gold or black imprinted napkins with an Asian design, such as the symbol for "Love" or "Happiness" .

Napkins can be laid out on a buffet table, or can be displayed at each place setting. Place napkins in the center of each place setting at an angle, or unfold them and place them in glasses for a tall dramatic look. Have your linen rental company do your napkins in The Bird Of Paradise Napkin Fold.

Tuck a single flower bud down into a napkin.

Napkins can also be tied and bundled with cutlery. Tie with curling ribbon, gossamer streamers, ric-rac, beads, ribbon, or a multitude of other items to match your theme, get creative!

Placecard Holders:

Perfect for an Asian theme would be place cards shaped like Asian fortune cookies.

Dress up tables with mini fan favors! Place one at each place setting.

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Room Decorations:

Hang paper lanterns from the ceiling, lots & lots of them. Use all one color, or two or three colors.

Long revered in Asian cultures, bamboo is believed to spread good fortune in everything from business and health to wealth and relationships. Wherever bamboo is placed, good fortune is sure to follow. Create a festive and colorful setting with bamboo chargers, bamboo placemats or floral decor with bamboo.

If your budget is low, but your dreams are grand, consider the depth of a giant photo mural. They can fill an entire wall, and better yet, it provide guests with the most realistic setting imaginable. Great photo backdrop too.

Place some Oriental Garden Lampposts in strategic locations around your party area.

Consider the following items for decorating accents:

Pagodas
Chinese Floral Fans
Asian Character
Asian Screens
Fortune Cookies
Bamboo Chop Sticks
Chinese Symbols
Dragons lighted with twinkle lights.

Gift & Favor Ideas:

Painted Chinese Floral Fans come with assorted color plastic handles and make nice favor.

Red Satin Mandarin Hat
Oriental Cap! Our gold and red satin Mandarin style cap is topped off with a tassel.

Oriental Coolie style hats

Chinese Take Out Containers are a must have. Set at each place setting and fill with fortune cookies.

Bamboo Chop Sticks - Add to the festivities when your food and theme have an Oriental flair with chopsticks on the table.

Activities:

If you’re hosting a wedding, what’s the most important element of the reception? The Music! Music can make or break the party and finding the best music within your budget should be a top priority.

Confucius says, indulge yourself in an authentic taste of Asian culture! Hire Asian entertainment (DJ, Band, Singers & etc.).

A wedding reception is a celebration, not a coffee klatch or a family reunion. Weddings are a time to have fun and celebrate! Music and dancing have always been an integral part of the festivities and today, there’s no excuse NOT to have wonderful music. DJs are affordable and a good DJ can really make a party hop!

Ask your recently married friends and relatives for referrals for good entertainment because weddings are not a time “to let your fingers do the walking…” When you find a DJ or band, etc. you like, ask for references and check them out—because music makes or breaks the party—or should we say the reception.

If you will have children at the reception, you can keep them busy with a small craft project. Purchase some plain small oriental take-out boxes and have the kid's decorate with red and black Asian symbols (to make this easy for them, provide some books with Asian designs that they can copy).

Food:

Asian cuisine is one of the world's most tasty and unique. Guests will love to try new and delicious dishes at your Asian theme reception. Here are some suggestions:

You can either choose one type of food from a specific country, or offer an array of different Asian tastes.
If you opt for just one country's cuisine, select from Japanese, Chinese or Thai food. These are the most popular and easy to find.
Hire an Asian chef to come to your party! You can either hire a sushi chef to give a demonstration (and then let the guests roll their own for a fun activity), or a stir-fry chef to cook up each guest's specific dish. Let them select their own ingredients for a totally custom experience!
If you can't afford to hire a caterer or chef, simply order take-out from your local Asian restaurant and display it on lovely Asian platters.

Don't forget the chop sticks.

Fortune Cookies - It would be fun to create some personalized fortune cookies for your anniversary party. These are easy to make and are sure to be a big hit! Simply take some regular, store-bought fortune cookies and microwave them for about five seconds. The cookies will be soft and you will be able to bend them to take out the fortune message. Replace the message with your own special message!

You could make a Fortune Cookie Cake. The fortune in the cake can say "Confucius say, Happy Wedding Day".

Serve oriental tea.