Top Tips on How to Have a Wicked 80’s Themed Wedding

By Ross | 1 Entertainment on Dec 28 2021

The 1980s is one of the most popular decades of the 20th century. To this day, people use the 80's as inspiration for fashion, beauty, and entertainment, and trends back then are still incorporated into thematic events like birthday parties, house parties, or even weddings.

If you're trying to plan an 80's-themed wedding, here are some ideas you could discuss with your wedding planner:

Invitations and Other Print Materials

While there are a lot of ways to incorporate 80's images and designs into your wedding, one of the best ways is to have your invitation printed on a cassette tape, or at the very least, have that famous Sony Walkman symbol on the envelope. You can also incorporate popular slang from the decade like, “major,” “bodacious,” “tubular,” and “wicked."

If you're planning on having other printed materials for the wedding, like menu cards or table cards, you can also incorporate popular fonts from the ‘80s. A quick Google search will give you loads of ideas to choose from with your wedding planner.

Colour Theme

The ‘80s were all about bright, bold, and sometimes neon-coloured fashion. Brides and grooms who want to go all out with this theme can go for vibrant colours like pink, turquoise, orange, and yellow to name a few. You can even incorporate geometric prints.

On the other hand, if you want to do a more toned-down approach, you can incorporate these bright colours into the floral arrangements and centrepieces. For a more personal detail, consider using neon or fluorescent paint for your nails and some brightly coloured hair accessories.

Decorations

For the decorations of your 80's themed wedding, you can incorporate neon lights and use these to illuminate your venue or act as accentuating or spotlighting features to your venue. They're great for photo booth effects, table centrepieces, or even the aisle. Just make sure that these lights aren't the distracting kind.

For a less toned-down approach, you can make things truly retro by going all out with arcade decorations, colour blocking arrangements, and black accents. The black accent will let the bright colours of your decorations pop more and push the retro vibe of the whole venue.

Food and Drinks

Nothing says 80's more than a bowl of colourful Jell-O shots. Instead of going for a wedding cake, opt for a cupcake tower or a tiered dessert bar. These are great for guests who want to enjoy an array of sweets like cupcakes, brownies, pies, and more.

You can also serve finger foods like mini pizza bites, party mix, and nachos. For drinks, you can serve cola-flavoured beverages, floats, and craft sodas like root beer.

Music and Entertainment

One of the best parts of the ‘80s was the music. From Michael Jackson's songs to Madonna's dancing in her "Like a Virgin" music video, the ‘80s had some of the most memorable songs and music videos. If you want to bring back these memories, you can have the music played live by a local band or hire a DJ to create and manage a playlist for you during the whole event.

You can also have your guests dress up in 80's costumes or have them play 80's games like limbo, pin the tail on the donkey, and even Simon Says. After the wedding, photos should be taken based on the 80's aesthetic. Consider a photography setup that has neon lights and colourful backgrounds.

Conclusion

An 80's-themed wedding is all about going big and bold, especially with the colours and decorations. The entertainment should also have a retro feel to it while guests should be encouraged to dress up in 80's costumes. Overall, the right 80's-themed wedding will have guests reminiscing and dancing to some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century.

If you’re looking for a wedding planner in Surrey, 1 Entertainment is the leading entertainment company in the UK. We provide full entertainment services including DJs, marquee hires, bar hires, wedding planning, event management, and so much more. Contact us for more information.