Caribbean themed evening reception reception

Hi Cath, did you want the food to follow the same theme too? Where are you?

Hi, Im in west yorkshire, I am having caribbean food (with a bit of traditional beffet food for the less adventurous lol).

The foods the easy bit really, its the decor & cupcakes or wedding cake which I cant decide on. x

How about a cake like this:-

Just a few cute ideas:-

Em :-)

I love the table at the bottom.I could adapt the display for round tables as well.

I have thought about a rum punch for a toast instead of champagne or sparkling wine.

I am doing my own table decorations as I'm quite artistic & I'm also doing the room decs too.I just want it to look classy & its easy to go from classy to tacky when working with bright colours.

Some great ideas so far though xx

Hello there, I am trying to do a similar thing myself but I'm restricted on colour choice because of the multicoloured chairs in the venue (grrr)

With a beach or tropical theme, you could keep the backgrounds neutral,but incorporate bright colours with the flowers you are using...for example one of the pics above shows hessian on the table, I think you can get this in various colours and it looks quite beachy...you could then use orchid heads,palm leaves,shells. I was thinking of using hessian table runners with shells and tropical flower heads in low vases. Have a look on Sandals/Martha Stewart wedding ideas for inspiration that looks beachy but not tacky .

Maybe take an empty case and pick some key authentic pieces up over there when you get married.

I have looked at that many, I'm getting confused with ideas lol. I am thinking white linen table clothe with pink & yellow accents. I like the idea of using fruit & flowers together for centrepieces.

I have booked with sandals so will look at their pics & also at martha stewart............Thanks a lot for the ideas xx

We got some of our wedding photos blown up into posters to put on the walls at our reception. It would have looked good, except we hadn't allowed for the fact they wouldn't let us use tape, blu tack, or drawing pins, so in the end only 2 went up, and in a side room where we were showing the video. Less on to be learnt - make sure whatever you plan is actually feasible at the venue!

Yes, that's a good tip- check with the venue what they will allow. I did with mine and they won't allow anything to be stuck to the walls either. Questions to ask, will they allow lit candles,vases with water, do they provide serviettes/linens,what time can you go in to set up,do they charge corkage if you want to supply your own welcome drinks/wine.

We got married in Australia and had a beach themed party at home. It was more subtle blues and beiges (sea and sand!) than tropical but we had very similar centrepieces etc to the ones Emma158 has posted.

This was our cake:

I've got a load of beach/shell/starfish stuff for sale on the for sale board if you want to have a look, even if it's just for ideas.

For ideas on the tropical/bright colours theme, I'd highly recommend you go to an American forum website called Best Destination Wedding and look at the section called Wedding Planning Journal. They are crazy American brides who take a whole load of stuff abroad with them - loads of them were the bright tropical colours that you're looking at and most of them are Caribbean/Mexico brides, so you may get some other ideas from there too. There's also a section on At Home Receptions, but I found the Planning Journals more useful for ideas. I got loads of my inspiration from there, even if the themes were more suited to your colour scheme than mine.

Good luck!

I have looked at steel bands as I thought it would be great for the first hour while we have food then we can move on to a dj. Steel bands are really expesive though.

I think Im doing cupcakes not a cake. I will have little cocktail umberellas & palm trees on them.

I will look at the american site for inspiration...thanks.

I am getting my photos on a disc & we will play them on a laptop so people can see them. We have a plasma tv at the venue which we can use so maybe put the pics on there...or we may use that to entertain the kids.

Im loving all your help & ideas Thanks & keep them coming lol

Well I've decided to move away from the tropical/beach theme as I am having trouble sourcing things I like so instead I have plumped for a colour scheme I like based on what we will be wearing and what will tie in with the venue...so I am having aqua/lime/pale yellow . I am going to do aqua table runners and lime and pale yellow silk orchids with white nuggets and floating candles in bowls or cylinders,can also order cupcakes/minis in those colours. I thought it would look fresh and like Island colours with the aqua and lime- fingers crossed it works ! How are your ideas coming along ?

Yeh that sounds lovely. I like the colours you have chosen & the silk orchids will look fab.

I keep changing my mine lol. i dont know wether to stick with the caribbean theme, or just go for a colour scheme like you .....much less hassel tbh. I would choose hot pink & white with a bit of sparkle thrown in somewhere. Theres so much choice that its hard to make a decision unless you have really set ideas. I also like the idea of floating candals though .

I will proably end up with something completely dufferent lol

I bought a steel drum in the Caribbean last year, I can play Jingle Bells and Happy Birthday......I'd be happy to play those two on repeat for you!

We were actaully there for a wedding and the bride came down the aisle to canon in D (i think) played on the steel drums and it was beautiful! I know you will already be married so won't need to walk down the aisle but I think any song on the steel drum is lovely!

Someone else said you could pick bits and pieces up while you're there, which sounds good! x

Where are you based? We had a steel band at our evening reception and they were very reasonably priced so if you're in the London/Surrey area I'd happily give you the contact details

I think that's where I kept getting stuck,because there is too much choice and trawling the net was making me cross eyed! I'm just relieved I've made a decision .

It would be different if we had planners who do all the work for you :-)

Im in Yorkshire so way too far away hun, thanks anyway though x