A baseball theme wedding begins with a great plan. Hit a home run with a full-fledged ballpark experience or scatter a few hints of your favorite sport throughout your festivities. Round the wedding planning bases with several sporting ideas.
Fantastic Baseball Themed Wedding Ideas
Start planning your baseball theme wedding by taking care of the following.
Date and Location
Couples with a large budget should contact local pro and semi-pro ballparks to find out if they have clubhouses, suites, and wedding packages available throughout the spring, summer, and fall. You may be able to schedule a ceremony on the field and then watch a game later as part of the reception activities.
However, hosting a wedding at a ballpark during the height of the season is an option that is often out of the budget for many couples. Consider these alternative ideas that could save you money:
Plan your wedding date for pre- or post-season times, in early spring and late fall. This could save you money and open up additional dates.
Contact area recreational parks with ball fields, or even high schools, if you want to have your ceremony at an actual baseball field.
Have your rehearsal dinner at the ballpark and host your wedding and reception at traditional venues with baseball themed decorations.
Color
Once you have the date and location set, you can choose your wedding colors. Couples who love a particular team may choose to go with their team colors, or use the team colors for the team who plays at the ball field they are using in their wedding festivities. Red and white is a classic wedding color combination that is perfect for a baseball wedding; grass green and brown would also work well as wedding colors.
The invitations will clue guests in to the wedding theme. Pick invitations that highlight the baseball theme. Graphics can range from white wording inside a green baseball diamond to bright white invitations with red stitching along the vertical sides. If you took your engagement photos at a field or with baseball props, use them in your invitations too.
If you need help downloading the printable invitation, check out these helpful tips.
Ballpark Themed Ceremony Details
If you're hosting your ceremony at a ball field, you can really get into the spirit of the sport. Even if you're not, you can still add touches of the game into your ceremony.
Men's Attire
For the guys, attire choices can range from full baseball uniforms (perfect for team members who are also groomsmen) to just a few details. Ideas include:
Wearing dress pants with matching jerseys
Donning baseball shoes with traditional suits
Adding a matching hat during photo ops
Baseball Wedding Dresses for Women
The ladies can easily blend into the baseball theme with these fun ideas:
Brides in white corset dresses can use red ribbon to lace the back, resembling stitching
Bridesmaids can wear red or green dresses, with white ribbon around their waists
Bridesmaids can don knee-high socks underneath their dresses
Flowers
The flowers should match the wedding colors. More traditional arrangements are good if you are using team colors - just use a ribbon with a wood grain pattern to wrap the stems, to resemble a baseball bat. For a red and white wedding, have the bride carry a white bouquet with two curves of red flowers, resembling an actual baseball. Bridesmaids can then carry all white or all red bouquets.
Boutonnières can have mini-pennants added to them. Use colors that match the girls' bouquets.
Readings
Most baseball literature, quotes, and poems do not relate directly to love or marriage. However, you can use a short piece or quote as a starting point for a longer homily during the ceremony. Find a favorite quote and build upon a main point - whether it's sticking it out past the 7th inning stretch in a marriage or sharing a pretzel while watching the world together.
Reception Details for a Baseball Wedding
The reception is where a baseball theme can really come alive.
Decorations
If your wedding is at a ballpark or clubhouse, you do not need a lot of decorations to create your theme. In a banquet room, conference center, or church basement, you may need to add a few more touches to truly bring out the baseball theme.
Wedding arch: Tie baseball bats around the base of a wedding arch that greets guests at the entrance of the reception. Cover the rest with greenery and flowers that match your bouquets and arrangements.
Centerpieces and tables: Cover tables with red tablecloths and a white runner down the middle. For centerpieces, fill peanut buckets with baseballs and add a felt pennant that features the bride and groom's monogram.
Head table: Hang a large banner behind the bride and groom that says "Great Catch!" Use a white tablecloth with a red runner - the reverse of the guest tables.
Food
The best food includes ballpark favorites. Feature hot dogs, hamburgers, pretzels, nachos, and peanuts. You can always add a green salad if you want a healthy option available, too.
Don't forget to add a festive themed baseball wedding cake complete with a bride and groom baseball topper. A round cake with red stitching elements is a simple option for any decorator. For a more complicated cake, consider stacked cakes in varying shapes - use a diamond cake field for the base and a round baseball cake as the topper. Decorate a middle tier with your favorite team's colors. If you want to keep the cake more traditional, make the groom's cake baseball themed instead.
Activities and Music
Baseball trivia on the back of the wedding menu is a great way to keep guests entertained during cocktail hour, or while they chat during the dance. Be sure to have copies of the answers at the cake table so guests can check their knowledge.
No baseball wedding is complete without a rendition of Take Me Out to the Ballgame. Try to scatter a few more baseball tunes throughout the wedding dance, such as:
Couples who have extra money in their budget might book fireworks for the finale of their wedding reception, just like many ballparks do after their Friday or Saturday night games.
Baseball wrapped chocolates
Favors
Don't send your guests home without a little something that shows your appreciation. Depending on your budget, baseball wedding favor ideas can include:
