I’ve spent the better part of 2 months helping my son’s school plan a Spring Carnival. As the carnival is nearing (and because I’ve had carnival on the brain) I thought it would be fun to share some carnival themed wedding ideas.

The most important thing to remember when theming your wedding, whether it’s Harry Potter themed or Starry Night themed, is subtlety. Take your theme and water it down. You can use hints of color to make your point or small elements. When you take a theme and water it down so it’s not so blatant, you create a more elegant wedding design.

The Entertainers: Hire some entertainers for your reception/cocktail hour. Any of the following entertainers would be a unique & fun experience for you and your guests:

Fire-eater
Contortionist
Balloon animal artist
Petting Zoo
Trapeze artist
Clown (though they can be scary for children & adults alike)
Have some carnival games for guests

The Decoration: Decorations can make or brake a wedding design. As I stated above, you would want to take your theme and water it down a little. That means, if you want red & white striped fabric (very carnival-esk) either have only one small area that’s red & white striped or have some red and some white in different places but never together.

Drape white fabric from the ceiling like the inside of a carnival tent. You can even pair it with twinkling lights for a more romantic tone.
Colorful balloon arrangements either hanging like chandeliers or in vases like flowers.
Gold silverware or miss matched plates and glasses.
Paint some toy animals gold and use them to decorate tables or even as a cake topper.
Rent a fog machine to fog the dance floor
Send your guests admission tickets with their invitation

The Food: You could have a lot of fun with food options.