Bird-Themed Wedding Décor: Tweet Your Wedding!

Of course we all know about the peacock themed wedding...it seemed to take the wedding world by storm and sweep through the bridal community in streaks of royal blue, purple and teal. It's a beautiful theme, no doubt, but jewel tones are not for everyone. If you like a little less flash, your color palette a little more neutral, and you and your groom are nature lovers, why not choose a bird-themed wedding? It's rustic, sweet, understated, and there are tons of beautiful and inexpensive ways to incorporate it into your décor without making it over the top or in your face theme-y which we seem to be seeing way too much of in the wedding world these days!

A great way to come up with ideas for a bird-themed wedding, so your guests won't see birds at every turn and think they are trapped in some horribly scary Hitchcock movie, is to use an old technique teachers use when lesson planning called "webbing." Webbing is nothing, but brainstorming a bunch of ideas from one main topic. So get together with your besties, mix up a batch of margaritas, and grab a bunch of colored markers and some chart paper. Write "Birds" in a circle in the middle of your paper, then have your friends come up with every idea they can think of that has to do with birds! You'll be amazed at the responses and all the fantastic and usable ideas for your wedding décor that can come from this simple technique! However, if your friends aren't too creative, here's a short cheat list for you! Birds=nests, eggs, feathers, trees, branches, sky, blue, aqua...you get the idea!

Feathers can add beautiful accents to bouquets, boutonnieres, and corsages. The great thing about feathers is they come in a wide array of colors and chosen carefully, can really add to the tone and style of your wedding. If you're a daisies and sunflowers girl and are really looking for a rustic and casual feel, choose feathers like quail, goose, or pheasant. If you want a more formal feel, ostrich, duck, peacock, and swan feathers would be more elegant. It really doesn't take a huge amount of feathers to make a fantastic impact in your florals, either, so don't spend hundreds of dollars on bag after bag of them. A little really does go a long way! You can buy them in your local craft store or online, or if you're really resourceful like a bride I know, you can have a friend who works at some historical gardens which has peacocks and geese strolling the grounds pick them up for you! Remember to use gloves when picking up domestic bird feathers and wash them thoroughly before crafting your arrangements.

Birds' nest are so simple and yet so beautiful. They're not so easy to come by, so these are something you will probably have to buy online. But the tons of ways you can use them make it worth it, so try to pick them up in bulk if you can on e-bay or on wedding classifieds sites where brides are selling off their décor to get the best deal. You can use them for all sorts of things, but again, don't overuse them or it will turn into an in-your-face bird's nest wedding theme! Remember, moderation is key when you're using a theme. Birds' nests can be used to hold favors, like baby blue Jordan's almonds. They can also be used as off-beat boutonnieres and filled with pearl "eggs" as an accent. One of the sweetest ways to use them is for a rustic ring bearer pillow. You can also nestle them in tree branches or inside bird cages as part of your centerpieces.

Jordan's almonds make great little wedding favors and they really do resemble eggs. Tradition says that five almonds are to be given to the wedding guests, each to represent a wish for the bride and groom. Print it on a bit of cardstock with a decorative edge and attach it to your birds' nests with a pretty ribbon or bit of twine. This poem is courtesy of the fine folks at Jordan's almonds! OK, commercial over!

Five sugared almonds for each guest to eat
To remind us that life is both bitter and sweet.
Five wishes for the new husband and wife --
Health, wealth, happiness, children, and a long life!

Bird feathers make beautiful accents to wedding attire and can easily be added to plain and inexpensive items to give them a gorgeous, custom look. Try using feathers on simple white mules for a beautiful pair of one-of-a-kind wedding shoes or make your own fascinator with some Russian netting, a silk flower, and a few feathers. If your wedding is in the early spring, fall, or winter when temperatures can be a little iffy, try trimming an elegant capelet with feathers to cover your shoulders when the air starts to turn chilly. You could even use them to trim a pair of white flip flops paired with a sprinkling of rhinestones for you to change into at the reception to rest those tired bride feet! Don't forget your bridesmaids, either and spread a little bird love there as well. Clutches are hugely popular for bridesmaids right now, either as gifts or in place of bouquets, so find some plain clutches in a neutral fabric or ones that compliment your bridemaids' dresses and trim them out with feathers and a huge peony or other silk flowers. They'll look fabulous in pictures and your bridesmaids will be able to use them as evening purses forever and ever! Much better than bouquets of real flowers that are already dying by the time the cake is cut!

Tree branches are some of the easiest, fastest, and visually stunning ways to decorate your aisles or reception tables. Dollar store cylinder vases filled with colorful gems (also from the dollar store!) can be used to anchor tree branches that you have cut yourself or found during a romantic walk in the woods with your sweetie! Although a lot of brides think manzanita branches are the only way to go, due to the high demand, the cost of these branches has gotten bordering on ridiculous! Dogwood branches and other tree branches can work just as well. You can leave them natural or spray them in your wedding colors. You can even cover them in glitter or give them a coating of spray glue and sprinkle them with Epsom salts for a wintry look. Add color either by gluing silk flowers to the limbs or adding small birds' nests, tiny birds, or draping with "bling on a string." Either way, you'll have gorgeous centerpieces that guests will think you've spent a fortune on that'll go perfectly with your bird theme!

Of course, we mentioned eggs when we were talking about cute little nests with Jordan's Almonds as guest favors, but there are lots of other ways you can use eggs as well. Try blowing some eggs and coloring in neutral colors and scattering them at the foot of your centerpieces along with small stones, moss, twigs, and tiny birds. Find some egg-shaped rocks to use for wish stones, an old Irish custom consisting of guests saying their wish for the bride and groom and then tossing stones into a nearby pond or lake. You could do something similar and have guests write their wishes for the couple on the stones and place them in a bird bath that the couple can later use in their yard or display on a sun porch or deck. You could also use eggs as place cards and very carefully write each guest's name on a blown egg with a silver or gold gel marker to place at their seat at the table. Nestle some eggs into nests and then print numbers onto parchment colored cardstock. Glue the table numbers to a short stick or twig and place into the nests carefully with the eggs for a unique table number.

Of course, don't forget the birds which were the start of this whole theme in the first place! However, again, less is more. Use in unobtrusive little places, tucked into a napkin ring, at the base of cake stands, nesting in the bow of a flower girl's dress. Use bird cut-out for the Mr. and Mrs. signs on the backs of your reception chairs or include tiny punched ones as your table scatter. Keep it simple and rustic and your bird-themed wedding will be worth a Tweet or two by your very impressed guests! (Couldn't resist that last bird pun, sorry!) And remember, love is Tweet! Oh, sorry, I did it again, didn't I? Regardless, let your imagination take flight (ha!) and your bird-themed wedding can be gorgeous, inexpensive, and as unique as the two of you!