Valentine's Day Wedding Themes & Ideas

Are you getting married? Congratulations! Now to pick a perfect date for your wedding... Often couples will pick February 14th for their wedding day because it is Valentine’s Day; a day of love.

Valentine's Day is a romantic holiday that really expresses commitment, which is perfect for a wedding.

Many women dream of getting married on this special holiday, and in some towns across the United States there are mass weddings where hundreds of engaged couples get together for a mass wedding ceremony.

Valentine's Day weddings can actually even rekindle love between guests during the day if you choose to have an intimate wedding reception filled with red candles, long stem roses, and heart shaped chocolates.

While either working with a local wedding planner or on your own to come up with Valentine Wedding Ideas you will want to add elements of the romantic holiday into the decorations for your wedding ceremony, reception and more.

The colors of Valentine’s Day are commonly known to be red, pink and purple. Incorporate these colors into your wedding day by choosing them for your wedding day attire; pink bridesmaid dresses, red maid of honor dress, and instead of white or black groomsmen vests & ties, watermelon ties are perfect – Don’t forget about doing a pink crinoline! (See tips on Colored Crinoline: How to Dye Your Bridal Crinoline here)

If you are not into being overwhelmed by these colors and want to keep it simple but elegant, add these Valentine colors in a subdued fashion. Go for a black and white formal theme with accents of purple, red and pink. Choose red roses for your bridal bouquet and tie a pink ribbon around the stems. Have soft pink uplighting on the back walls of your wedding to create a subtle glow to your wedding reception hall.

Sweetheart Appetizers

You can make yummy Valentine wedding appetizers that really fit the theme easily. Serve a variety of finger foods: egg salad, ham and cheese, cucumber sandwiches cut into hearts and flowers using Wilton cookie cutters. Make heart shapes on crystal serving dishes with bite sized appetizers like Swedish meatballs or peeled jump shrimp cocktail.

Add heart shaped cheese slices on wheat crackers, and bruschetta.

Add an extra flair to your wedding Hor d'oeuvres by sticking the canapés with toothpicks with red or pink ends.

Romantic Main Course

Want to make your Valentine’s Day wedding really romantic? Stick with European cuisine; French dishes and Italian foods are perfect for a romantic main course at your wedding. Sirloin steak with Montalcino red wine, pasta primavera, paccheri with marinara, lobster linguine, guinea fowl, bocconotti with farmer-style duck sauce, stuffed shells, or smoked penne.

There are endless possibilities to give a romantic taste of Italy or France to your wedding guests.

For vegetarian diners try pasta hearts with four cheeses, trofie with cherry tomatoes and salted ricotta, soy steak with porcini mushrooms, or even a homemade Sardinian gnocchetti with spicy tomato sauce.

Carpaccio of warm vegetables with cavern-aged cheese is a big heat with those who prefer to avoid meats because it still is filled with delicious flavor so it’s sure not to disappoint.

For a real taste of Italy wedding, opt for Prosecco or Franciacorta wines rather than French Champagne.

Heart Stopping Desserts

Wow your wedding guests with beautiful desserts of various colors and tastes.

Heart shaped cookies with pink strawberry flavored frosting, or sugar cookies drizzled with red raspberry sauce on a large crystal serving dish.

(For cookie topping ideas see: Valentine's Day: Valentine Cookie Recipes and Creative Valentine Cookie Ideas).

Have your wedding caterer serve chocolate mousse sprinkled with red and pink crystal sanding sugar over the top in a heart shaped crystal bowl.

If you want to keep the Italian Valentine Wedding theme going try Mille Foglie, traditional Italian wedding consisting of layers of filo pastry, with a smooth layer of chocolate cream, layer of vanilla cream and seasonal fruits – delicious!

There a lot of different types of wedding cakes you can have for Valentine's Day. Homeketeer's offers a wide selection of many ideas for a romantic cake. Check here for their Valentine Wedding Cake Ideas.

Lighting is the most important decorative aspect of the wedding ceremony and reception. You can turn a drab room into anything you want it to be with the right kind of lighting (saturate the reception hall in blue for underwater wedding themes, or winter wonderland wedding themes, or green uplighting to add a forest fantasy wedding theme).

There has to be enough light to see everything, but you can have subtle lighting to keep a romantic feel for your Valentine’s Day wedding. Candlelight is perfect to tie in your Valentine wedding theme and keep the room lit enough to function properly.

Place small pink and red votive candles around the reception venue for soft lighting or add heart-shaped floating candles in large cylinder vase centerpieces.

There are lots of places to purchase red, pink, purple and even heart-shaped Chinese lanterns online to add a hint of whimsy to your wedding reception hall.

There just can’t be a Valentine’s Day wedding without flowers. Red roses are the main flower linked to Valentine’s Day and brides can find many ways to incorporate a rose theme throughout her wedding day and wedding flowers.

Ombre roses can be carried by the bride in a bridal bouquet, with the bridesmaids carrying smaller rose bouquets that match.

If you are not big on roses, there are many other flowers that represent Valentine’s Day. Lilies, carnations, chrysanthemums, orchids or hydrangea can all be used. Carry an armful of Stargazer Lilies with a pink ribbon and Swarovski crystals wrapped around the bouquet handle.

Any flower can be made romantic for Valentine’s Day if you stick with the traditional hues.

1. Accent your aisle with rose petals of red, pink and other romantic hues.

2. Use jewels for decorations. Jewel toned beads can hang from light figures around the reception venue that will have a romantic effect as the light reflects off of the jewels. You can find beads perfect for this style of wedding décor on Ebay; maybe even visit your local Goodwill to purchase some second hand costume jewelry.

3. Accent your chairs with a white chair cover with a big red bow or pink sash with a red rose on the back.

4. Say your vows beneath an archway of pink or red fabric and Valentine wedding flowers such as carnations, roses, chrysanthemums or hydrangea.You can also use multiple shades of red and pink to decorate the wedding chuppah if you are having one.

5. A large cupid ice sculpture to decorate the wedding buffet table.

6. Heart patterned linens.

7. Layer Victorian lace doilies over soft pink napkins.

8. Floor length satin linens in shades of red, coral, pink and purple accented with lace.

9. Valentine colored tulle around the walls and head table bustled with Valentine flowers.

There are many ways to make your Valentines wedding day truly romantic for everyone involved.