“Branding for a wedding?” you ask, “I really don’t plan on licensing it out or turning it into a cereal with a disturbingly overenthusiastic cartoon character.” And that’s fine. No one expects you to. But…you know….if that’s your thing…more power to you. Let us know how it goes. The thing is when people think of branding, they associate it with business because that’s its most prevalent use. Smart businesses utilize brands as a way to get across to people. To send a message of what their business and/or products represent. It might be an fit bald guy that represents strength and diligence for a cleaning product or a brand could use a color scheme to evoke a specific emotion.
Next time you take a trip to the grocery store, head over to the breakfast aisle and take note of how many cereal boxes use the color blue. That’s not a coincidence. Blue is typically known as “the calming color” and while you definitely want to be calmed before you go to sleep, you’re usually in need of some calming when you wake up too. Whether it be from a bad night’s rest or simply tired and not ready for all the stress the day might throw at you yet. The blue color on the cereal box wants to help ease you into the day. Help put you into neutral before you can start revving up. You have breakfast, you’re a bit more energized and thus the goal is to have you associate the product with easing into and being prepared for the day. Idea and Identity, that’s branding.
“So..uh…weddings?”
Right.
We used those examples to explain what branding is as a concept. For the sake of your wedding, the same principles apply. What ideas and emotions do you want to evoke for your wedding? What emotions do you want the event to evoke in you, and how do you want your guests to remember it? Think of Save The Date cards. One comes in the mail and on the cover is a brightly lit picture of the wedding couple kissing underneath an arch with doves flying by overhead; the next card shows another wedding couple, but this couple has adapted themselves to look like comic book characters –specifically Superman and Lois Lane, with Superman carrying Lois as he flies towards the alter, with “Save The Date” in bright yellow lettering. You’ve probably already developed vastly different expectations for what both those weddings are going to be like, haven’t you?
Not that the first couple won’t have light-hearted moments for their wedding, or the second solemn ones, but you’ve already set up a ratio of how much to expect from either. Those expectations may change (couple two could have just wanted a funny Save The Date card, simple as that), but if the couples wanted to continually evoke those thoughts and emotions for their wedding, they’d incorporate the romantic or comedic themes into their guest bags, table numbers and possibly even wedding vows. A consistency of theme that communicates the idea and identity of the wedding. Now we’re talking wedding branding, writ-large.
If you could, at this moment, create a brand for your wedding, what would it be?
Would you create a logo? Use any particular color schemes? How about try to evoke multiple emotions at once? Next week, we’ll start on the specifics as to how to make that happen. In the meantime, start brainstorming and trying to answer those questions for yourself. Bring it up with your partner and see what they think of the branding idea and what their thoughts are. Once the two of you have an idea as to what you want to go for, the specifics will simply be a means to to an end. See you next week!
