POPULAR WEDDING THEMES FOR 2023/2024 AT CHALK BARN

If you are newly engaged – congratulations! As you may already know by now, planning a wedding is incredibly exciting but it can also be nerve-wracking, daunting and time-consuming. The best piece of advice we can give you is to pick your wedding theme early on – and stick to it! 

Your chosen wedding theme will set the tone of the entire event and influence all your design decisions going forward. As the theme is so central to your big day, it is easy to let this choice overwhelm you, but once the theme has been set you will find it makes planning easier as you can then be more decisive going forward.

It’s all too easy to save dozens of wedding inspiration photos with clashing themes, this is why making this decision early on can be so helpful. For example, once you’ve decided you’re having a minimalist wedding you can then carry this through to your dress, linen, floral centrepieces and stationery for a cohesive event. 

You may have a private joke or common interest with your partner that sets the theme, or a favourite colour. Or, you may also have no idea what theme you want or where to start. To give you some wedding inspiration worth dreaming about, we have rounded up three core themes that we love at Chalk. 

Gorgeous details at M&G's summer wedding at Chalk Barn Wedding Venue in Wiltshire
A gorgeous minimalist wedding theme featuring coral pink and deep reds.

Sometimes, less is more. And this is definitely the case with the light, airy and minimalist wedding theme captured at Chalk Barn. Scaling back allows you to focus on what is important to you as a couple. 

An Elegant and Minimalist Wedding Theme

Opting for muted colours and natural textures beautifully enhances the venue and feels sophisticated. Basic definitely doesn’t mean boring – and you can layer materials and add luxurious textures to add depth and create an elegant and classic overall look. 

Elegant Greens Wedding Theme Chalk Barn
Gorgeous greens and neutrals against the trestle tables add elegance to a minimalist look.

Chalk Barn is the perfect blank canvas to compliment your simple and sophisticated decor, with a stunning backdrop to inspire you. Getting married outside with the vast rolling countryside is enough to give your guests wedding envy – and you can dress up a modest outdoor ceremony with white petals or understated floral displays. 

While beautiful glassware and tasteful linen can really make a stunning first impression and tie a theme together – it is really the food everyone remembers. We offer luxurious in-house catering that will compliment an elegant and minimalist wedding, with divine flavours to match. 

As for the cake, there are so many options to suit a minimalist theme and we love them all, from naked cakes, simple cake toppers or strategically placed florals.

All about the cake - Wiltshire Wedding Venue
A gorgeous white ‘naked’ wedding cake surrounded by candles | Image by Lydia Stamps

A Moody & Magical Wedding Day

Moody and magical weddings ooze romance. With deep colour palettes, endless candles and luxurious linens, this theme has us so excited for autumn and crisp weather. Surround your ceremony with candles and festoon lighting above to add glamour to your first kiss as a married couple. 

A beautiful food menu for your wedding day
Gorgeous deep golds and a candlelit room add a magical, moody feel to your special day

A deeper colour palette is incredibly versatile with an abundance of options including tones of purple, red, navy and green tied in with greys, blacks or browns. To add a touch of glamour, you can use gold, copper or silver as all will suit this theme. 

Despite the colder weather, you can still take full advantage of the outdoor space available at Chalk Barn. Make your evening celebration magical by toasting a marshmallow over the fire pit, or create enchanting photographs with sparklers. 

To carry on your moody and magical theme we are obsessed with caterers who use dry ice and other theatrics to vamp up the atmosphere. And with a cake literally dripping in gold – you can’t help but stop and stare.  

For a moody and magical bridal gown, gorgeous fabrics, strong lines and stunning accessories are a must. A romantic flowing skirt or a sparkle to the eye will also add that magical feel to your look, aligning beautifully with your venue. You can afford to go bolder with your make-up should you wish and we love an understated hairstyle which allows your dress to stand out.

A dramatic landscape compliment your magical day, while a full-skirted wedding dress brings the romance | Image by Carrie Lavers Photography

Want to take your theme one step further and really make use of the outdoor space at Chalk Barn? Wow your guests with an extraordinary firework or illuminated drone display. The opportunities are endless.  

Colourful & Bold

There are no rules when it comes to wedding themes and we love to see couples experiment with colour and make bold decisions. Why pick just one colour when there is a whole rainbow to choose from?

The fantastic thing about a colourful wedding is that you can still decide on how vivid you’d like those colours to be. For a wedding that oozes elegance we love multiple shades from the same colour palette, or for Encanto vibes just mix and match all your favourite colours! To add a touch of colour to the ceremony, you can’t go wrong with saying ‘I do’ under a gorgeously colourful flower arch. 

ceremony of Megan and Jamie
Gorgeous bold blues and pinks creating a standout flower arch | Image by Amber Louise Photography

The stunning rolling green hills that surround our modern luxe barn are the perfect setting to suit any bolder and brighter colour theme. From vibrant oranges to deep purples and bold blues, play around with striking colour themes to add personality and fun to your day. The effortless white and wood accents inside the barn allows you to carry the bold theme seamlessly through your entire event. To really make use of the gardens, we utterly love the trend of using smoke bombs to create breathtakingly beautiful and fun photographs and videos. 

A pop of colour at Chalk

For gloriously bold food we adore street food, the spicier the better in our opinion. From paella to curry we absolutely love it when street food is cooked outside in front of the guests for added drama. Wedding cakes are traditionally white but we are all for shaking up tradition if you want a colourful and bold cake. however, if you wanted to inject some colour into a more traditional style cake than consider using flowers or fruits. 

To add a bold touch to your bridal gown, opt for a strikingly colourful bouquet, or the peek of a coloured shoe under your gown. To keep things uncomplicated you can draw in colour with your bridesmaid dresses – the options are unlimited. 

Have one of these gorgeous wedding themes caught your eye, or have you got something else in mind? Come and take a look at Chalk Barn to host your perfect Wiltshire wedding and see how we can make your dreams a reality.