The Complete Guide to Branding Your Wedding in 9 Easy Steps!
A wedding brand can bring an extra touch of harmony and personalization to your special day. And we’ve got just the guide to help you with your branding basics! Maybe you’ve been to a branded wedding and were blown away by the beautiful coordination. Maybe it’s an idea you’ve seen people chatting about online and you’re ready to find out more. Either way, we’ve got the lowdown on what you need to give your wedding its own unique brand.
What is a Wedding Brand?
Branding your wedding doesn’t mean getting corporate or saying goodbye to romance. In fact, it’s just the opposite. A wedding brand is a way to make sure the whole day comes together in total harmony, making it even more memorable.
Think of your wedding brand as a thread that permeates each aspect of your big day and speaks to your ideals and personalities. Just like any strong consumer brand, your wedding brand will tie everything together cohesively. Your guests will be left feeling like they’ve attended a beautifully composed symphony filled with harmonic notes and crescendos unique to you and your beau. Everything from your wedding invitations to your theme colours, your hashtag, your favors, and beyond can help communicate your ‘brand’.
Why Brand Your Wedding?
If you love the thought of making your wedding one that friends and family look back on as a day that worked on so many levels, a wedding brand will help you achieve that goal. Plus, your wedding photos will be even more striking when centered around a brand!
Choosing a wedding brand starts with looking closely at everything that makes you and your partner, you. All your special moments and most closely-held beliefs create a story of you as a couple. The whole aim of branding is finding a way to share that story with your guests.
To make sure your guests feel they’re an important part of your special day, create a brand they can key into. Whether it’s dressing in your color scheme, helping you hunt down themed decorations, or simply being there to take part in the revelries, invite your guests to get involved. They’ll be on the same page and will also be helping you create your dream wedding.
9 Steps to Branding Your Wedding
1. Start with Your Love Story and Ideals
The first step is to dig into your love story and the ideals and interests you share. How did you meet and what made you ‘click’? Are you environmentally-conscious? Go-getters? Lovers of minimalism or big fans of collecting treasures around the world? Your personalities, interests and/or values should form the backbone of your brand.
Write down a big list of key ideas and whittle it down to the most important ones or ones that get you both super excited. Once you’ve chosen a couple – travel-mad and ambitious, for example – start exploring how you could work those into a theme.
Tip: If you’re struggling to pinpoint your key ideas, think about some of the biggest moments you’ve experienced together – where they family-focussed? Related to a shared hobby or holiday? They’ll be the prefect signposts to guide you.
2. Build Your Foundation
Once you’ve chosen the qualities that suit you as a couple, it’s time to translate those into your wedding brand. Start by establishing the foundational elements, including your colors, aesthetic, and printable elements (see steps #3 – #5). Be mindful of sticking to your chosen colors, fonts, and other foundations throughout your wedding planning. Consistency is the key to a strong brand!
3. Choose Your Colors
Think about what colors say about you, as well as how much you like them. For example, blue is a calming color, yellow is vibrant and energetic, while purple can signify wisdom and creativity. Pick your colors with the help of a good chart.
4. Find Your Aesthetic
Settle on an aesthetic early and make life a whole lot easier on yourself. Would rustic decorations suit your eco-vibe? Are you tech-fans who could be inspired by straight lines and vibrant neon? Pinterest is a great resource to start gathering visual inspiration.
5. Choose Your Fonts, Logo, and Textures
There are lots of ways you’ll be communicating with your guests – from invites to social media posts and even seating arrangement cards – so settling on a font that matches your style is a great way to stay on brand. Be sure you stick to one or two fonts – as per the golden rule amongst brand managers! Not sure where to start? Our post on finding elegant fonts might help.
A logo can also tie things together, as can the textures you use for your paper products– from rough grain to smooth paper.
Tip: Get inspired by looking at the fonts and logos of your favorite brands and brands that have a similar vibe to the one you want to create for your wedding. For example, Coca-Cola’s brand communicates sincerity and excitement, while Apple’s brand personality is aspirational and innovative. What brands speak to your values?
Now that you’ve got your foundations, it’s time to work them into your wedding plans.
6. Set Up Your Social Media For Success
Social media sites are a real boon when it comes to planning your wedding celebrations, so make the most of them. The number one way to stay on top of your social brand is to create a catchy hashtag. It could be as simple as your combined names, a nickname that all your friends know about or a play on words.
This can be a fun brainstorming session to play with your beau. Alternatively, you can outsource this part of your branding journey to wedding hashtag specialists for a selection of super creative and affordable hashtag options.
| Free Hashtag Generator | Paid Hashtag Creation Services |
| Wedding Wire | Happily Ever Hashtagged |
Whichever route you take, double check the hashtag isn’t already in use by searching for it on Instagram and Facebook as well as via Google. And, of course, make sure your guests know your hashtag and encourage them to use it on the big day!
Finally, if you have a logo or a key picture you’re using elsewhere, set it to your profile pic on all your social sites as well.
7. Create Brand-Friendly Print
The wedding invitation will give most of your guests their very first taste of your brand, so you’ll want to get it right. Don’t forget to include your hashtag and social media details! Stick to the same font, color scheme, and images for your invites as you’re using for all of your other print to stay on brand.
Not every wedding needs a website but if you’re building a wedding brand, it’s the perfect place to really show off your aesthetic. You’ll already have the stylistic building blocks you chose for your print and online, now you’ve got a little more space to show them off.
Tip: If you are looking for a custom website check out Minted. They offer a service whereby you work one-on-one with a dedicated Minted Designer, who will create a custom wedding website based on your color palette, artwork inspiration, and more.
8. Get Décor on Point
You’ve given everyone a taste of your wedding through the pre-day prep, so how do you create the same magic on your big day?
The simplest way to embrace your brand during the wedding day is through decor colors and your accessories. If your brand is family-focused and rustic, showcase oranges, yellows and pinks in your table runners, bunting and big bouquets. We think Katie and Gabe did a fantastic job on their Midwest barn wedding.
After using Pinterest to collect all your visual inspiration, it’s time to hunt for the actual decor. Etsy is a great place to start for all your wedding decor needs.
9. Develop your Dress Code
Whether you’re planning a traditional white dress and smart suit or something a little different, there are plenty of ways to incorporate your branding into your wedding attire. Accessories are the natural choice – from the bouquet and buttonhole flowers to earrings and watch straps – assess every extra to see how well it fits in with the overall feeling of the day.
Your bridal party can also help create a big impact by embodying your brand. That’s not to say everyone has to be wearing the exact same dress, just make sure that colors are firmly agreed on and give your gals a style guide to help direct their choice of dress, from sleek sheaths to flouncy, fifties skirts.
Dessy has beautiful bridesmaids dresses in all different color schemes.
You can ask the rest of your guests to respect your dress codes too, if you include the information in the invite. Just remember that not everyone will be able (or willing!) to follow complicated rules.
Wedding Branding on a Budget
Staying brand-happy doesn’t have to mean breaking the bank. There are several ways you can give your wedding that cohesive feeling without having to spend, spend, spend. Check out our favorite ideas for branding affordably.
Craft Your Own Centerpieces
They’ll be one of the biggest attention grabbers when everyone sits down to eat, so your centerpieces are a prime opportunity for cementing your aesthetic.
Get handy with a glue gun or simply source your own vases and accessories to cut costs while keeping your vision front and center.
Check out the following stores for all your craft supply needs:
Pick a Brand-Centric Menu
The food is typically where much of your wedding budget goes so make it work twice as hard for you by choosing a menu that speaks to your brand.
Travel a lot? Consider theming each course to a different country. Got a family-focussed aesthetic? Serve your courses in tureens on the center of the table and let everyone help themselves. The possibilities are endless.
Give Your Cake a Makeover
With the simple addition of a ribbon or a dash of food dye, you can transform a traditional wedding cake into one that’s brand-happy.
This is the perfect place to double down on your style without having to splash out much extra cash.
More Wedding Branding Tips
If you have the funds to go all out on your wedding day, there are lots of ways to take your branding to the next level. Lean in to your chosen themes and branding ideas with these top-tier suggestions.
Build a Designer Wedding Site
Rather than put together a quick site on an easy-to-use platform, ask the experts to build an all-singing, all-dancing site that ties your brand into every aspect of the design.
Create Luxe Invites
Add something extra special to your invites and give your guests a real taste of what’s to come. It could be anything from expensive papers and scents to unusual options like wooden, cut glass, or laser cut invites.
Splurge on Fantastic Flowers
If there’s one place it’s especially impactful to go all out, it’s with your flowers.
From the colors to the displays and the blooms themselves, a carefully-coordinated flower display can give your wedding a personality like nothing else.
Style Your Guests
To really get the harmonious vibe you’re gunning for, you could gift all of your guests with accessories in your brand colors for the big day. Think ties, pashminas, socks and even clutches.
Hire the professionals
Of course, building a cohesive brand is even easier if you have experts to help. Let someone else guide you through the process for maximum branding and minimum stress.
As you can see, branding your wedding can be a fun and easy process that will add an extra level of ‘ooh la la’ to the big day. ! Just like so many other elements of wedding planning, choosing a brand is really about finding a wonderful way to celebrate your special day. As always, the most important thing is to enjoy yourself! Get inspired (and borrow some ideas if you like) by checking out our Real Weddings for beautifully branded and unique weddings.
Did you find this post useful? Would you like to get back to it later? Save THIS PIN below to your Wedding Planning board!
Leave a Comment