12 of the Most Magical Wedding Themes for Summer
With gorgeous weather and a feel-good atmosphere, it’s no surprise that summer is such a popular time of year for weddings. Mirror these good vibes with a fun theme for your summer wedding. If you’re searching for the best wedding themes for summer, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve gathered together 12 of our favorites, plus decor and styling tips to help you pull off the look.
Stunning Summer Wedding Theme Ideas
From bright florals to subtle pastels, carnival rides to a surfer’s paradise — you’ll find plenty of inspiration and useful ideas in our collection of the top wedding themes for summer.
1. Tropical
Design: Tennie & Co
Transport your wedding guests to a tropical paradise with an island-themed celebration. A wonderful way to feature bold, bright summer wedding colors, this theme is perfect for a destination wedding.
Use fresh fruit in your centerpieces and potted palm trees and garlands of tropical flowers as decor. Dress your bridesmaids or wedding party in colorful tones or island prints, add tropical flowers to your hair, or decorate the floor with tropical flower petals. To complete the experience, create a menu featuring tiki cocktails and Caribbean BBQ.
2. Vintage
Design: Anna K Design
Vintage-styled weddings always look gorgeous. If you’ve booked a timeless, customary wedding venue, this could be the ideal theme for your summer wedding.
Make your entrance and exit in a classic car. Line the aisles with traditional floral arrangements. Wear a vintage wedding dress or suit, and have your bridal party wear quirky, mismatching vintage bridesmaid dresses to complete the look. Dance the night away to a playlist of nostalgic retro hits.
3. Soft Pastels
Design: Noonday Design
For a soft, romantic look, we love the idea of theming your celebration around a soft pastel color palette. While you might think these wedding colors are only for a spring wedding, they’re also stunning as a wedding theme for summer.
Choose an accent color and feature it across your wedding invitations, outfits, tableware, and wedding decor. Ask your florist to create beautiful bouquets with hydrangeas and baby’s breath in pastel tones. Continue the theme with a multi-layer pastel wedding cake or cupcakes in each of your chosen colors.
4. Rustic Boho
Design: Jessica Williams
Thanks to its DIY appeal and cozy aesthetic, the rustic boho look never goes out of style. A rustic wedding is a perfect summertime choice for a barn or backyard wedding, but it can work for any wedding venue.
Look for natural elements to include in your decor — like warm-toned woods, twine, dried flowers, and rope. Add in fresh wildflowers and plants to bring color into the space. Make your own chalkboard wedding signs, and set up a rustic pallet wall to act as a backdrop for a homemade photo booth area.
5. Beach Wedding
Design: Paper Raven Co.
When you think of wedding themes for summer, a beach wedding always springs to mind. If you love being by the ocean and want to say your “I do’s” there, an outdoor ceremony on the sand could be ideal for you and your betrothed.
Keep things simple and sophisticated with flowers lining the sandy aisle before reaching a driftwood arch at the end. Have mini parasols and fans ready to hand to your guests that they can take home as wedding favors. After the wedding ceremony, celebrate on the beach with personalized cocktails or head to a venue nearby for dinner and dancing.
6. Retro Surf
Design: Owl and Toad
Try a retro surf-inspired wedding for a fun take on the usual wedding themes for summer. Whether you hit the waves after the ceremony or not, you can still host a totally rad retro surf wedding celebration.
Invite your guests to join you on the dance floor to bust a move to some classic beach tunes. If one or both of you love to surf, have someone create a custom wedding cake topper that features you with your boards. Alongside your usual wedding sweets, have popsicles and candy you might find on the boardwalk — think salt water taffy or cotton candy — for your guests to enjoy.
7. Sunflowers
Design: Nicole Winn
As the weather starts to change at the end of the season, you might be tempted to borrow inspiration from a cozier fall wedding theme. Embrace a warmer color palette, country-chic vibe, and plenty of joy with a sunflower-themed late-summer wedding.
Swap a traditional bridal bouquet for a handful of lovely sunflowers, and make sure there’s plenty of them around your ceremony and reception as decor. Choose warm yellows and burnt oranges as accent colors to continue the theme. Go bright and bold with your cake, or opt for an understated sunflower edible topper. As a cute wedding favor idea, send your guests home with a packet of their very own sunflower seeds.
8. Carnival
Design: Lori Danelle
For a fully immersive (and unconventional) theme, consider a carnival-style celebration. Transform your typical wedding reception white tent into a circus tent, and embrace all the old-timey fun and curiosity of this party idea.
Encourage your guests to dress in something colorful and quirky. Swap a traditional sit-down meal for food trucks and an ice-cream van. If your budget can manage it, hire carnival rides and stalls from a specialist company. For a more affordable option, consider DIY carnival games that are sure to bring plenty of laughs and good times.
9. Fairytale Whimsical
Design: Jen Owens Illustration
Your wedding day doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s. Sometimes a traditional venue and ceremony aren’t for everyone. If you’d rather escape into a world of mystery and magic, host a fairytale whimsical wedding celebration.
Head out into the forest for a ceremony under a canopy of trees, and sit down to enjoy dinner at a long table lit by charming string lighting. Ask a folk band to play while you dance away, and create your own fanciful signature drinks featuring natural ingredients and flavors. Amp up the magical aspect with mentions of wizards and folk tales, or add fairy homes amongst the trees as part of your whimsical decor.
10. Eco Chic
Design: Lulu and Isabelle
An eco-chic wedding makes perfect sense if you’re an environmentally conscious couple. Use your big day to inspire others to shift to greener celebrations and habits, or use it simply as a way to be more mindful of your own consumption.
Choose a wedding venue with a focus on sustainability, and use our customizable digital invitations instead of paper ones. Highlight eco-friendly decor and methods of travel, and switch out any single-use items for reusable ones. Put the green into a “green wedding” with lots of greenery. Use live plants and wildflowers throughout your ceremony and reception space. Create a stunning flower or plant wall where people can snap photos to remember the day.
11. Nautical
Design: 2birdstone
Take inspiration from the classic motifs of the ocean and the wildlife within it with a nautical-themed celebration. Whether you’re by the sea or not, this top wedding theme for summer is well suited for sophisticated and casual events.
Choose decor and floral arrangements that match your signature color scheme of navy, sand, and turquoise — with hints of red to add some color pop. Use a ship’s wheel as a striking centerpiece, and add rope, twine, and driftwood in to bring your theme together. Create beautiful seashell wedding favors as a reminder of your nautical-themed day.
12. Secret Garden
Design: Claudia Owen
If seeing stunning flowers in your wedding bouquet just isn’t enough, theme your whole celebration around them with a garden wedding and reception.
Ditch the traditional white wedding dress or black-tie suit in favor of something with a floral pattern or in a soft pastel tone. Host a grown-up tea party out on the lawn with vintage china, napkins, and tableware. Brighten up the table with fresh peonies and summer wedding flowers in colorful vases and bunting all around. Serve a selection of light bites and mini cakes, with plenty of fruit tea and floral-themed cocktails.
Plan Your Dream Day with One of These Wedding Themes for Summer
Choosing your theme is one of the most exciting parts of wedding planning. It clarifies the rest of your decisions, so you can narrow down your wedding ideas and create your dream wedding day. And if you are planning a summer wedding, use one of our ideas above for inspiration.
Once you’ve settled on your summer wedding theme, choose our digital wedding stationery to accompany it. Find your design and use it across your save the dates, wedding invites, and thank you notes. Customize the layout, colors, and wording to make it your own. The experience runs smoothly with easy sending, guest list management, and communication. It’s the best way to deliver the news to match your amazing summer wedding.
