Anne Chertoff, trend expert at WeddingWire, is back to answer our pressing wedding questions. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, we asked Chertoff whether Valentine’s Day nuptials are a do or a don’t, and if it’s a do, how do you get married on the holiday tastefully? At WeddingWire, Chertoff gets exposed to all of the best wedding inspiration—from wedding decor to the most romantic songs to play. According to Chertoff, Valentine’s Day is the second most popular day of the year to get engaged, so planning a wedding could be in your near future. Here, find out if the romantic date is right for you.
What do you think about Valentine’s Day weddings? Do or don’t?
A Valentine’s Day wedding can be quite romantic. I think if a couple is looking for a significant date that symbolizes love and romance there’s no better day than February 14th.
That being said, there are some pros and cons to consider:
• Most of the time, as it does this year, Valentine’s Day falls on a weekday, which can make it difficult for friends and family to join in the celebration; however, WeddingWire expects about 14,000 weddings to take place this year on the holiday.
• The cost of flowers, specifically roses, are going to be higher on February 14th, so keep that in mind when determining your flower and decor budget.
• You can have a Valentine’s Day-themed wedding on the Saturday before or after February 14th, which will allow you to keep the theme alive for days and ensure that more friends and relatives can celebrate with you. In fact, this year these two Saturdays are expected to be two of the 50 most popular dates to wed. See even more information on popular wedding dates here.
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If you opt for a Valentine’s Day wedding date, what are some tasteful ways to incorporate the holiday into your wedding?
There are so many symbols that are synonymous with Valentine’s Day that a couple can choose the ones that are important or special to them and modernize them, too. Here are some ideas:
• For the wedding’s color palette, hues of red and pink, or a combination of the two will have the look and feel of the holiday and can be designed, styled and included in so many ways—from the ink on a white invitation, the flowers in a bouquet, the centerpiece, or the icing on the wedding cake.
• Chocolate! If a couple likes chocolate, they can have a chocolate wedding cake and pass out chocolate favors at the end of the night. They can also plan an all-chocolate dessert buffet.
• For couples who want a heart symbol to be part of their wedding logo, they can easily find wedding invitations with a heart detail. They can include heart decorations on their wedding cake and two hearts combined as part of their monogram (check out WeddingWire’s Monogram Generator for inspiration). You can use the monogram on the invitations, ceremony program, cocktail napkins or a Gobo light that decorates the dance floor. And there are so many ways to design a heart! It can be filled with the couple’s initials, like the way one would carve it into a tree, or hand drawn or filled in in one of the colors of the wedding.
What is important to avoid at a V-Day wedding?
While you want to incorporate Valentine’s Day details, you must remember that you’re hosting a wedding, not a Valentine’s Day party. Choose two to three iconic elements from the February 14th holiday. You don’t need to include every V-Day detail you’ve ever seen.
Once you select the colors and the imagery you want to include from the holiday, create sophisticated and tasteful variations of them. Maybe avoid images of Cupid, but include Sweethearts candies in your dessert buffet or as your favor. Instead of the heart with the arrow, stick with just a heart.
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Is there anything special you’d suggest serving at a Valentine’s wedding?
• A couple can work with their caterer to serve up a number of aphrodisiac foods at their wedding. Consider oysters, chili peppers, honey, figs, strawberries, cherries, pomegranates, and of course, chocolate.
• Chocolate can be served in so many ways. You can have chocolate dipped fruit (strawberries, cherries), frozen hot chocolate, a chocolate wedding cake or groom’s cake and chocolate favors molded in Valentine’s Day symbols or your initials.
• Champagne is appropriate, since it’s synonymous with romantic occasions.
