How to Create an Enchanted Forest Wedding Theme

Is there anything more fairytale-esque than planning an enchanted forest themed wedding? This wedding theme is chock full of romance, mystique, moonlight, and magic.

The really fun part is that you can go wild with woodland wedding fairy touches, such as greenery, moss, fairy lights, and fireflies. Heck, you might even throw in a gnome or three in your enchanted wedding.

An enchanted forest is such a fun, magical, and enchanted wedding theme that your guests are sure to remember every second of it, long into the future. All it takes is a good planning sesh and a willingness to do something a little different for your fairytale wedding.

However, if you’re already feeling overwhelmed, don’t fret. We have some tips to help ease potential feelings of planning anxiety.

Step One: Meet With Your Wedding Planner

Although a wedding planner isn’t required to plan a kick-butt wedding, we kindly suggest that your first step should be a meeting with one.

An enchanted forest wedding theme can be quite detailed for your wedding day, and it may require some help in bringing it to life. Sure, you could do it all on your own, but let's be honest—a wedding planner has the potential to make life infinitely easier. However, take that recommendation for what it's worth.

If you do decide to hire help, sit down with your wedding planner as soon as possible and start brainstorming. Your wedding planner can assist you in coming up with menu ideas, nailing down exactly what you envision in your enchanted forest dream wedding, give you ideas on decor and colors, and probably ask you a gazillion other questions that you would never have thought of on your own.

And that friends, is the true value of a wedding planner. They help you to see through the trees so that you can picture your enchanted forest celebration perfectly.

Step Two: Choose an Enchanted Forest Venue

Choosing your enchanted forest venue will probably come down to two questions. Do you want your wedding to be outdoors, preferably somewhere with trees that helps offer a truly authentic enchanted forest feel?

Or, do you prefer to have an indoor wedding somewhere, and dress the venue up to look like an enchanted forest? Neither option is better than the other, it's just a matter of preference and, in some cases, budget.

Benefits to an Indoor Enchanted Forest Wedding

• You can have your wedding at any time of year and not have to worry about wacky weather. That means no fear of water or burning heat melting away your makeup. Rain, snow, sleet, or shine—your indoor wedding will have a perfectly controlled climate, no matter what.

• You can literally create an enchanted forest theme anywhere, even if you don't have a location with an actual forest nearby. So, if you live in a very urban area, for instance, an indoor venue could be your best bet.

• You get to go wild with the woodland decor ideas. It can take a lot to dress up the space so that it’s themed, unless you find an indoor venue that already looks like a forest. Though it’s possible, it’s not probable.

Benefits to an Outdoor Enchanted Forest Wedding

• One of the biggest benefits is authenticity, of course. Especially if you actually live near a forest with tall towering trees. Talk about a perfect location.

• You also get to enjoy beautiful weather and fresh air during your wedding ceremony and wedding reception, provided the weather plays nice.

• You can take advantage of the greenery already around you, which means less decorating on your end.

• If you’re budget-minded, you also may be able to save money on certain decor items that you won’t need, because the location already has that enchanted forest feel.

There’s no wrong choice when deciding upon your venue. Evaluate your budget and potential venue options, and then determine, as a couple, what you think will work best to bring forth the picture-perfect wedding of your dreams.

Step Three: Choose Your Enchanted Forest Color Scheme

An enchanted forest wedding theme is an excellent opportunity to look at color schemes that aren’t common or obvious. Shades of green obviously are popular colors for wedding themes with the word “forest” in the description.

However, there are other wedding colors that you might consider. Think cream-colored wedding attire paired with deep red or deep purple accents, or tables dressed up with grassy green moss and burgundy and pink wildflowers for some fairy tale inspiration.

If you love the look of pastels more than deep colors, you could always consider a soft pink or purple as your main “pop” color, and pair or blend that color with one or more neutral colors, such as tan, brown, or mossy grey.

You also don’t have to be limited to colors that are dark or pastel. You could easily go with brighter shades, such as yellow and orange wildflowers, and still keep with an enchanted forest theme.

Step Four: Select Your Enchanted Forest Wedding Attire

Once you’ve nailed down the color scheme you love, you’ll then know what to look for as far as wedding attire. Many that love the idea of a magical forest, envision a gorgeous wedding dress that is long and flowing, with lots of chiffon, lace applique, and perhaps a trailing train.

Of course, you can choose any style of wedding dress and make it work, but long and flowing does suit the enchanted vibe. You can pair the look with long, flowing hair and a crown of tiny twigs for your bridal headpiece.

As far as wedding dress colors go, you don't have to go with the typical white either. You could try a dress that’s a beautiful gold color, with layers of shimmery chiffon and an intriguing cut. We guarantee that you’ll look just as mysterious and magical as you would in a long, white, flowing wedding gown.

Whatever style of wedding dress you choose, the goal is to keep it the focal point, while your wedding party is like the bookends that bracket you and make your dress stand out.

Depending on what your color palette is, you could wear a light-colored dress with a splash of a darker color as an accent, and have your wedding party wear darker colors with accents that match your dress for contrast.

If you have no desire to wear a light-colored wedding dress, you could go in the opposite direction, such as wearing a beautifully deep hunter green wedding dress, a wine-colored gown, or some other color you love. Then, your wedding party can wear lighter, complementary colors for contrast. The bridesmaids could even wear matching floral crowns.

Step Five: Brainstorm Enchanted Forest Decor Ideas

There are many beautiful ways to give your wedding an enchanted forest look, whether it’s an indoor or outdoor celebration. Why not try a backdrop adorned with lush florals and fairy lights?

You could set it behind a wrought-iron altar strung with vines and greenery for your ceremonial vows, and do something similar for the bride and groom’s table during the reception.

Speaking of tables, cuts of tree stumps make for great table decoration with a forest theme. You can use large ones as centerpieces and then decorate them with moss and candles, and place extra large stumps strategically around the room with wildflowers for added ambiance.

Draped, flowing fabrics always call to mind feelings of magic and enchantment. Why not drape ceremony and reception chairs in lengths of chiffon threaded with twinkling fairy lights or candle lanterns for an ethereal look?

You can also incorporate plants such as ferns, crawling vines, grey and green moss, and wildflowers in multiple ways. Even mushrooms work well as part of an awesome wedding centerpiece—we’ve all seen “The Smurfs.”

And finally, if you really want to create an aura of magic with your wedding decor, be sure to strategically place the occasional fairy and dragonfly somewhere.

Step Six: Decide on Enchanted Forest Food and Favors

Favors and food for an enchanted forest wedding can get extremely creative. Small stumps of wood branded with your newly married initials are a nifty idea for wedding favors, as are small jars of pretty moss and wildflowers, tied with twine and a sweet message tucked inside.

Fruit displays, especially fruits such as grapes, berries, and “forbidden” apples in pretty arrangements make for a magic-infused cocktail hour snack. Other finger foods, such as colorful sushi rolls, small sandwiches, and pigs-in-a-blanket are always a hit, too.

For the dessert table, you could offer cake pops shaped like acorns or tiny hedgehogs, bowls of trail mix and candied popcorn, and cookies shaped like butterflies and fairies.

There is truly no end to the many ways that you can bring an enchanted forest wedding theme to life. It’s such a creative concept, and everyone’s vision of “enchanted” is always a little different, which means that no matter how you plan it, your wedding will be perfectly unique, and perfectly you.