If having a Coachella-themed wedding is your vibe, we want to be friends! Coachella is such a fab experience that focuses on music, art, vibes, the desert, fashion, fun, and food. It’s typically all wrapped over the course of a few days, creating an immersive experience that you’ll never forget. If you find yourself waiting for lineup announcements and presale ticket drops, there’s no doubt in our minds that a Coachella vibes-only wedding day is for you! Wondering how to pull it off? We’ve rounded up some of our fave Coachella wedding day elements, along with four mood boards for you to add on Pinterest!
Elements & Decor
The way we see it, there are a few different elements that can steer the direction of your Coachella-inspired wedding day decor! Electric, neon, disco, boho, desert, fun and modern! That leaves the door wide open for so many different aspects to come together for a unique wedding day experience.
Florals
We love cactus, succulents, dried pampas grass, colored roses, and anything in a terra cotta pot for a Coachella vibes-only wedding! Because real cactus is probably not the best idea, you can work with your florist to create arrangements that use cactus pads mixed with your choice of blooms, or even faux cactus. If you’re working on a mixed variety of florals for your bouquets, arrangements, and displays, talk to your designer about how to pull in different textures to create a rich immersive experience!
Your Photos
Wedding day photos are one of the few physical items you’ll have left over once your wedding day is long gone. So up-leveling your wedding day photos with props and backdrops to create those Coachella vibes is a must! If you’re lucky enough to get married at a venue with cacti nearby, you can use them as a backdrop for your portraits. No cactus on hand? No problem! Colored smoke bombs, bright balloon arches, and flower walls with neon lights are all amazing elements to add to your photos!
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Escort Cards
The goal of planning a fully immersive wedding day experience is to draw your guests in as well! Ditch the traditional escort cards for “backstage passes”! If you want to turn them into lanyards, that’s totally your call. But how much more fun will it be for your guest to search for their name and table number on a backstage pass than a folded piece of cardstock? Your guests might even do you the honor of donning them on the dance floor or taking them home to remember your unforgettable wedding day.
Keep the Dance Floor Lit!
Hire the Right DJ
When the sun goes down dance floor heats up! If you want a lit dance floor at your wedding packed with festival vibes you need to take the idea of a traditional wedding day dance floor and level it up! The first essential element of your dance floor is hiring a DJ who knows what beats to drop, and how to keep the crowd engaged. It takes a skilled professional to keep the energy of the crowd high and the enthusiasm higher!
Props
Dance floor props are pretty much required for a Coachella vibes-only wedding. From sunglasses to glow sticks and flashing neon lights, cowboy hats, and flower child headbands, the only limit is your creativity and your budget! We love a packed dance floor, but it takes very intentional planning and creativity to get it there! In addition to your fun props, the dance floor has to look inviting. The goal is to make it look less “open” and more tantalizing. Disco balls and macrame fringe hanging from the ceiling, a wrapped or LED dance floor, a DJ booth with neon lights, and just enough accents around the perimeter of the dance floor. It has to be so appealing that even your non-dancing guests will feel like they are missing out by not joining the party!
Surprise Your Guests
Want to really kick up the party element of your Coachella wedding? You need an amazing surprise to delight your guests with on the dance floor! For a fully immersive experience, we love balloon drops, confetti cannons, dry ice smoke, and cold sparklers. Keep it under wraps until after the “big surprise” goes off and we guarantee your guests will squeal with delight!
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Food & Beverage Experience
Coachella is not your mama’s music fest. The festival offers so much more than just fried delights! Coachella’s food hall features delicious eats from top restaurants across the country, including Michelin Star Bistros! You’ll find literally everything and anything as far as delicious bites at Coachella. Sushi, burgers, donuts, Asian fusion, oysters, farmhouse kitchen, pizza, Mexican, and oh so many vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options. Did we list them all? No. And that’s just the food! The beverage service at Coachella is just as top-notch. They offer up coffee, freshly pressed juice, craft beer, signature cocktails, Aperol Spritz, and literal Slurpees. So how can you take a page out of Coachella’s playbook for the menu at your wedding? From artisanal dishes to street food, the overall theme is variety!
Cocktail Hour
Signature drinks are a must for any fab wedding day experience. The fun part is working with your mixologist to create a cocktail that you feel embodies Coachella and then giving it an equally fabulous name. We personally love the moniker “Flower Child” for any fruity cocktail with a fresh floral garnish, or “The Spirit of Coachella” for drinks with sunset-like hues!
Alongside your signature cocktail, work with your caterer or venue to choose a selection of craft beers and additional cocktails for a limited bar experience. If you want to do the street food thing at your wedding, there are two amazing times to roll it out, your cocktail hour and your after-party. For your cocktail hour, create a selection of small bites that take a page from the Coachella playbook. We love craft burgers turned sliders, sushi bites, donuts, and bang-bang noodles. Of course, fine-tuning the menu at every turn of your day will rely on your and your partner’s tastes, preferences, and budget.
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Dress Code Required
Guest Attire
Want to really pull your guests into the Coachella vibes of your wedding? A fun “dress code” is an amazing way to set the expectation for the night! The way your guests arrive dressed to your wedding will impact their overall experience of the night. Imagine walking into a black-tie wedding. It’s very formal and proper. Now imagine walking into a wedding where fringe dresses, disco boots, and boho hats are on full display. The vibe is totally different and more laid back! In fact, if your wedding guests love the music festival scene as much as you, they’ll arrive at your wedding feeling more like themselves which will put them at ease, and ready them for a fab night!
Take to the message board of your Guestie event to draft a note to your guests letting them know your Coachella vibes wedding comes with a dress code. Be very clear about the elements they might want to include in their attire. Bonus if you have pictures from your last trip to Coachella to share with them! We highly encourage boots, fringe, pom poms, and boho hats. The colors, elements, and overall tone (electric disco or boho desert?) can be your decision, or you can leave it open to interpretation!
Party Dress Required
Want to be fully immersed in the vibes on the dance floor? Change your attire! Fun party attire will pull you into the wedding day story you’ve created and allow you to get lost in the fun that your guests had when they picked their outfits. The formalities of your ceremony and wedding reception are over, it’s time to get down. Fun party dresses that have movement are always a win! Anything with fringe or maribou ranks high on our faves! Jumpsuits or two-piece outfits are equally amazing. Grab your boho hat, or goddess crown and ditch the veil. Trade heels for chunky sneakers, your old Doc Martens, or a pair of cowboy boots. It’s the most amazing night of your best day ever and nobody wants a ripped suit or stained dress when they can change into a fab second outfit and dance like nobody’s watching!
