Spring has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere, and summer won’t be far behind. For many people, that means only one thing: It’s wedding season. When you’re in your late 20s and early 30s, it can feel like you’re going to a wedding every week in the summer months, and the endless onslaught of receptions can start to feel very repetitive.
When it’s your turn to get married, why not plan your wedding with a good time for everybody as its aim? There are many things you can do to set your wedding apart from the rest; here are 10 ways to do just that.
1. Choose an Interesting Location
Getting married in a church or another religious building is no longer a requirement for a lot of couples, and even if you want your ceremony to take place within a place of worship, you can have your reception somewhere interesting to make your wedding more interesting.
Choose a location that’s special for you and your partner, or select a venue that can guarantee your guests will be talking about your big day for years to come.
Options Close to Home
Many people like to get married near to where they live. It’s convenient for them and, usually, their guests, reducing the need for extensive travel. You could have your reception in a local park if you want an outdoor wedding, or a country house close to your city.
Destination Weddings
Weddings abroad are always memorable! Bear in mind that you’ll probably have to stick to a smaller guestlist, as destination weddings tend to be more expensive and people are less likely to be able to come.
Whether you want to go to Hawaii, Italy, London, or Mexico, there are some amazing options for destination wedding locations. Choose somewhere you’ve always wanted to go and combine it with your honeymoon! Your guests won’t forget it in a hurry.
Interesting Choices
If you’re looking to really wow your guests and create a lasting impression, you could always choose something more unusual as your wedding venue. A wedding on a yacht is just one example of an extraordinary wedding location. If you love being out on the water, this could be a great fit!
2. Find a Theme
A good way to make your wedding more memorable is to plan it with a specific theme in mind. Some of the most popular themes at the moment are rustic, beach, vintage, and even Disney weddings, so if you want to make your big day unique and more memorable, think about steering clear of these.
Find a theme that feels right for you and your spouse-to-be. Do you have a shared hobby or interest? Use this as a way to create a theme that works for you, then plan your wedding with the theme in mind, choosing a location, a color scheme, a dress code, and decorations that fit in with the overall idea. Look at Skylark Media to get some gorgeous ideas about wedding photography.
Giving your reception a cohesive but unique theme will make it stand out in people’s minds and will set it apart from other weddings.
3. Plan Your Entertainment
It’s not uncommon now for weddings to have entertainers, such as with orion entertainment. For many, it’s not enough to have a band or a DJ to get guests on the dancefloor. Look for party servers near me and they can help you organize your party and make it a memorable one for everyone.
There are numerous options to choose from, so find something that works with your theme and keeps your guests having fun. Need some inspiration? Consider one or more of these ideas:
- Hire a Mariachi band to play for an hour.
- Set up a games corner in the garden to encourage bonding among your guests.
- Organize a parade to burst through your reception when guests least expect it!
- Have a drag queen performance.
- Hire a professional emcee singapore to host and give life to your party.
- Bring in a photobooth to get great mementos from your big day.
- Organize a firework display at the end of the night to go out with a bang.
4. Ditch the Gifts
More and more couples spend time living together before they get hitched these days, so in all likelihood, you simply don’t need people to buy you new pots and pans for your kitchen.
One option to avoid this is to ask for a contribution to your honeymoon or to a nest egg to help you buy a house. There are ways to ask for this tactfully, and be aware that some people just can’t afford to donate.
If you want to make your wedding gift table extra special, a good idea is to ask for something personal from each guest. A copy of everybody’s favorite book is a great way to get to know your guests better and stock up your home’s bookshelf!
Not a big reader? Why not ask for a handwritten letter instead, giving advice for a happy marriage or a fond memory they have of you. This is a thoughtful way to save your guests some money and prevent your home being cluttered with unwanted items.
5. Avoid Clich
Everybody has been to weddings with the same old clichéd tropes:
- Pachelbel’s Canon in D (it’s that famous wedding song)
- Cake smeared into the groom’s face
- The bouquet toss
- A conga line
- An embarrassing best man’s speech giving all the sordid details of the groom’s past…
Instead of succumbing to traditions that make guests’ eyes roll, avoid the clichés and just focus on having a good time. It’s much better to be known as the one couple that year that didn’t have an over-choreographed first dance!
6. Choose Your Music Wisely
A great tip for getting people dancing and enjoying the music at your wedding is to ask for song requests when you send out the invitations. You can do this by making a collaborative playlist or giving everyone access to an online document; people can add any songs they’d love to hear and feel that they’re contributing to the reception.
When the song they chose comes on, they’ll be sure to hit the dancefloor!
7. Be Generous With the Booze
Pay for an open bar.
Seriously, pay for an open bar. Yes, they are expensive, but if you want people to have a good time, it’s the best way to go.
If you can’t afford to pay for a fully open bar, consider offering unlimited beer and wine. Guests can pay extras for cocktails or shots if they want them but will still be able to keep their wallets in their pockets if they’re happy to go without.
To make your big day extra special, you could hire a bartender to create a custom cocktail for you and your partner. Serve them on arrival at the reception or use them instead of champagne for your toasts.
8. Find Good Food
Everybody’s tastes are different, so when it comes to choosing your wedding day menu, there are a lot of routes you could go down. The best way to make it memorable is simply to choose something delicious—it doesn’t have to be fancy!
Make sure you also cater to anybody with special dietary requirements; don’t treat them as an afterthought. Vegans or people with allergies will be hugely appreciative of a thoughtful meal, and this will definitely earn your wedding some brownie points.
Another great way to make your wedding day memorable is to bring in a food truck towards the end of the reception. People get hungry when they’ve had a drink or two (or three…), and a pizza truck or a burger van will definitely perk people up!
9. Dress How You Like
There’s a big expectation on a couple getting married to dress a certain way. Most brides still opt for a big white dress, and it’s rare to see a groom in anything other than a tuxedo.
If these clothes simply aren’t your style, remember that there’s no reason you have to wear them. If you’d be more comfortable in a pair of jeans with sneakers, what’s stopping you from wearing that?
Dress in whatever makes you feel comfortable. For some, that really does mean going all out and getting glamorous for their special day—dressing to the nines gives some people confidence. Others, though, are ill at ease wearing fancy clothes, so do whatever works for you.
Just make sure to tell your guests of the dress code to avoid any embarrassed over-or under-dressed attendees.
10. Don’t Stick to the Rules
It can feel like there are a lot of rules to follow when you’re planning a wedding, but there’s really no reason why you have to stick to any of them. The best way to make your wedding day memorable is to have fun with it and make the day your own.
Think of it like planning a party: You want people to have a good time, but it’s also important that you have a good time—you’re the host!
Whatever type of wedding you organize, the most important thing is that you and your partner enjoy it. It’s a time to celebrate the love you share, and at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter at all what your guests think of it. Do what makes you happy.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
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