Photo Credit: Al Elmes from Unsplash
Your wedding is one of the most important days of your life. You’re bringing together two families and all of your closest friends to watch you profess your love to your spouse and enter into a new life together. Most people dream of having a big, extravagant wedding that’ll dazzle their guests, be remembered, and incorporate romance and beauty into every second. However, that encompasses a lot of planning and work to pull everything together smoothly. Thankfully, there are places you can direct your focus in order to create a show-stopping wedding. Here are ten ways to start.
10 Elements for a Show-Stopping Wedding
1) Make Your Catering Unique
After the ceremony, everyone is bound to be ready for food, drink, and merriment. From cocktail hour to appetizers and beyond, your guests will be ready to mingle and party. It’s important to put thought into your catering choices. Unexpected wedding foods are a great way to create buzz among your guests during and after your event.
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According to Brides.com, some of the top wedding menu trends of 2022 include progressive meals with more than four courses, nostalgic and heirloom dishes, grab-and-go stations, and meals that tell a story. Maybe you and your spouse-to-be want to serve your favorite childhood dishes or recipes passed down in your respective families. Or perhaps you want to recreate the meal from your first date. No matter how you execute it, following one of these trends can allow you to provide a beautiful dining experience and highlight your relationship in the cuisine.
Other dazzling ideas for your food service include anything that creates an experience and good photographs. One example, if your budget allows, is food truck catering. Your guests will enjoy being able to go up to the truck and order from the menu. The trucks also make a backdrop that’s Instagram worthy. Keep in mind timing, however. Wedding experts such as Jennifer Price (the owner of Event Shoppe Chicago) recommend using food trucks for pre or post-dinner snacks, not your main meal, so that your guests don’t have to contend with lines at their hungriest.
2) Personalize Every Small Detail
Don’t believe anyone who tells you that the tiny details don’t matter. While your guests might not notice where you don’t put effort, they’ll notice every bit of attention to detail that ties your event together, making this a perfect area to make your wedding memorable.
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A great place to start is with the creation of a custom monogram. There are plenty of free tools found on Google that you can use to make your monogram, or you can hire a designer to create it for you. Once you have it, there are plenty of ways to use your monogram, from including it in your invitations to incorporating it into the décor at your reception and so on.
You can also design personalized cocktail napkins and coasters. There are lots of ways to get creative with this, such as printing fun facts about yourself and your spouse on the napkins, having them designed with your favorite quotes or inside jokes, or simply including your monogram and wedding date. If you spend a little extra money on coasters made from materials such as wood or marble, or you provide items such as drink koozies for any canned beverages you serve, these items can double as keepsakes that your guests will take home and reuse.
3) Customize Your Wine Bottles
Your wine bottles are something that your guests will see every time they go to the bar or when a member of the waitstaff refills their glass. A customized label is a quick and easy way to show that you’ve put thought into every part of your wedding and can elevate your event. It’s as simple as creating a label with your monogram, names, or wedding date. There are plenty of services you can use to print them, and lots of free wine label templates you can utilize for the design process.
If you’d like to take it a step further, you could use a wine company to create your own wine blend to serve at your reception or consider providing mini wine bottles with your personal label as a wedding favor for your guests.
4) Stray From the Typical Dessert Table
Photo Credit: gamagapix from Pixabay
Your dessert table serves a straightforward purpose, but that doesn’t mean that it should be plain. Moving from the traditional offerings will make it memorable for your guests. One idea is to get personal with what you serve. Serving the first dessert you ever shared as a couple is a romantic idea that everyone will talk about. Or you could serve international desserts from regions of significance in your families and cultures, or from places that the two of you have traveled together.
Another possibility is to try trendy dessert offerings. Doughnut walls and cookie tables are popular options for weddings. If you’re getting married in the summer, then you could have a snow cone machine or a sundae bar! Trendy desserts like these will excite your guests and provide great social media posts.
5) Make Photos Special
An event that encourages your guests to take and share their pictures will stick in their memories longer. If you really want to facilitate this, you could set up a photo booth! This adds a fun element for your guests and the photo strips give them a cute keepsake from your event. Adding photo booth props can make it even more fun.
You should also create a hashtag for your wedding so you can easily find the photos that your guests share to social media. If you’ve set up a wedding website, you should add a feature that allows your guests to upload their pictures to a digital scrapbook.
6) Skip the Traditional Bouquet
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Ditching tradition is a surefire way to create a unique wedding, but don’t think that means forgoing elegance. In recent years, more and more brides have taken to being more creative with their bouquets and the results are absolutely stunning. Instead of only incorporating flowers and greenery, you can add fun elements that match your personal style – such as feathers, gems, or heirlooms.
Alternative shapes are also becoming more popular. Hanging or hoop bouquets are a great option if you want to shake things up further. And don’t forget to personalize your bridesmaids’ bouquets! There are lots of ways you can do this, but one fun idea is to use colors based on each woman’s birthstone.
Utilize your DIY skills for your bouquet if you’re on a tighter budget. There’s a lot of versatility, as you can use artificial flowers (easily bought in bulk from craft stores such as Michaels) instead of fresh. Make sure to grab any ribbons, feathers, strings of gemstones, or other unique elements you want to include while on your craft store run. Then, you can turn this into a fun group activity. Gather your bridesmaids and get everyone together to spend an afternoon making your bouquets.
7) Incorporate Cocktail Hour Entertainment
Cocktail hour is a great part of the wedding because it helps with the logistics of your event. While the area for dinner is set up and you and your spouse take pictures, your guests have somewhere to go and occupy themselves. This is also a great way to make your wedding stand out. This part of the reception has a tendency to be repetitive. Even with drinks and appetizers, cocktail hour can drag on.
Providing something for your guests to interact with during this time can make it more memorable. Some couples have begun to set up games to make cocktail hour more fun. You can also include elements of fun and whimsy by forgoing the traditional bar in favor of things like a mobile bar or other types of creative drink and snack stations.
8) Change Up Your Guest Book
A guest book is an absolute must. It’s impossible for couples to remember everyone who attended their wedding and you’ll want to send out thank you notes after you return from your honeymoon. Beyond that, it’s a wonderful thing to look at when you reminisce about your wedding day. However, most guest books are stuffy and boring. Create a guest book that won’t be stuffed in a closet and forgotten about and your guests will surely remember it too!
There are a lot of great ideas for this, but I have a few favorites. For a simple and elegant set up, you can provide different types of stationary and have your guests write down advice or words of encouragement for you in your new marriage.
Another idea is to print photos of the two of you as a couple. Your guests can sign on the back and then you can add them to a photo album for your coffee table. Or, you could provide an element such as a world map and allow guests to sign with their travel recommendations. Then you can frame it and hang it up in your family room or another space in your home!
9) Mix Up Your Exit
Photo Credit: Gia_Han_Yeu from Pixabay
Everyone knows about the traditional exit. However, there’s no need to stick to tradition when every element of your exit and send off can create dazzling, memorable moments. Consider alternatives to the traditional rice such as having your guests blow bubbles, throw artificial snow or sequins, or release sky lanterns. There’s also no reason that the couple has to drive away in a car.
If your wedding is more traditional and places a heavy emphasis on elegance, you could ride off in a horse drawn carriage fit for a prince and princess. A wedding on the water could include an exit in a small boat, or an outdoor wedding could utilize a hot air balloon ride for a romantic moment your family and friends will discuss forever. The details of your exit are only limited by your imagination!
10) Get Creative With Escort Cards
Escort cards may be small, but paying attention to this detail can be a game changer. You should consider designing escort cards that tie into the theme of your wedding, double as wedding favors, or use a multifunctional display.
For example, if you’re creating an environmentally friendly wedding, using recycled materials or DIYing organic escort cards will drive this effort home. For a destination wedding, consider using postcards from that location for your escort cards, or get personalized luggage tags. If you’re opting for simple cards, then the multifunctional element really comes into play.
Displaying your cards on a table with lovely floral arrangements allows you to use it as a dessert table after your guests have collected their cards. Or if you include elements such as a floral arch in this area, they can later serve as backdrops for photographs. For wedding favors, edible escort cards are a great idea. These allow you to support local businesses, make great Instagram moments for guests, and provide either a little snack before dinner or for guests to take home and eat later!
Other Things to Consider
Wedding planning is always complex. One of the most important things is to remember your budget. How much do you have to spend? If you need to save money, you should consider what elements of your wedding you can DIY and plan for time to do that. Make sure, however, not to take on more work than you can do as a couple or with any volunteers you can enlist.
Also make note of any resources you may have if you need access to additional funds. A savings plan is usually the recommended option, if you have the opportunity to start early. However for more succinct timelines, a personal loan or, if you’re a homeowner, a home equity line of credit, can offer you the necessary funds in a lump sum ready to be spent on whatever you need.
You also need to consider whether any additional elements you like fit into your wedding. You want to make sure that there’s enough time for your guests to enjoy special features such as games or photo booths. You also want to make sure that you don’t go overboard on any of the elements, such as providing far more food than your guests can eat, and that everything fits into the overall theme of your wedding.
Wedding planning can be stressful, but if you give yourself enough time and get creative with the details you can create a beautiful event that you and your family and friends will all enjoy and remember for years and years to come!
Hearts, Joy, Love!
Jean
Looking for fun ideas, or need help with your wedding plans? Contact me today at [email protected] or by phone or text at 937-581-3647!
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