Unique Wedding Ideas
The last thing anyone wants for their wedding is for it to be boring. A few unique and original touches here and there can really make the day go with a bang! From choosing a central wedding theme and in-house reception entertainment, to exciting fresh takes on traditional wedding concepts, there’s plenty you can do to make sure your wedding is unique and memorable.
Plenty of features of the modern wedding can be handled in a slightly different way to ensure that your ceremony remains unforgettable. Instead of the standard ‘guest book’ placed in the lobby at the reception for guests to sign, why not opt for a more special alternative, likely to see more use after the wedding? You can put a quirky spin on things like wedding favours and invitations, and ensure that there’s plenty on the dinner tables to keep guests entertained during the meal. If you want to go the whole hog, you can surprise your partner by learning a new skill, to be unveiled during the service or reception, or even theme your whole wedding around a specific culture or concept.
One unique wedding idea that’s rapidly gaining popularity in the United States is the lighting of a ‘Unity Candle’. Serving as a centerpiece during the ceremony itself, two taper candles and arrayed either side of a large pillar ‘Unity’ candle. At the start of the service, one representative chosen from the bride’s family, and one from the groom’s, ignite the tapers – then after the vows, the newlyweds use the tapers to light the Unity Candle, together. The Unity Candle serves to prolong the theatricality and symbolism of the wedding ceremony, although it is often considered inappropriate for a particularly religious marriage service, and it is suggested that a Unity Candle be lit at the reception instead.
The ‘bouquet massacre’ is an all-too-common spectacle at wedding receptions these days, as single female guests mass on the dancefloor to catch the bridal flowers. To avoid the scrap at your own reception, a break-away bouquet could be a lifesaver. Consisting of several smaller bouquets ribboned together as one larger one, each individual bouquet containing a different silver charm, the idea is to satisfy more, if not all, of the single ladies than with a traditional single posy.
For a personalised wedding invitation, some couples now choose to record themselves speaking into a video-camera, the footage of which is then sent out to guests on a DVD labelled ‘Save The Date!’ Obviously the DVDs will last far longer than the standard card counterpart, and extending an invitation in person this way makes for a more intimate, one-on-one feeling between engaged and attendee.
It’s important to keep your guests entertained while you and your partner are inevitably indisposed at certain points throughout the day. Entertainers like caricaturists, balloon-animal artists, string quartets, DJs and comedians can be hired for short periods of time, to keep your family and friends busy between the cocktails and the evening meal. During the meal itself, to avoid awkward silences between distant relatives and the chronically shy, small party games can be arranged next to the name-cards – a deck of ‘talking point’ cards, for instance, to kickstart the conversation.
It’s always nice to have a lasting memory of your wedding day – which is why guest-books are so popular. Unfortunately, studies show that the majority of guest-books are rarely looked at again once the ceremony is over. Consider other, more lasting, alternatives, to guarantee that memories of your special day live on in your mind for longer. Assign someone to take polaroid pictures of all guests as they arrive at the church, to later be re-distributed and decorated – photo albums make more interesting browsing than a guestbook, after all!
If you want to do something similar in a more grand way, large silver trays, or sheets of blank canvas, can be hired from certain sources, along with engraving tools or fabric-pens and paint. Guests can therefore inscribe their congratulations and messages on something that will see more use – or can even be framed and displayed at home.
There’s nothing better than seeing the stunned look on your partner’s face when you unleash some new talent or skill that they weren’t aware you possessed. With that in mind, a few couples choose to brush up on their singing, or dancing, before the wedding reception. Grooms will earn a lot of brownie points by taking a formal dance class before the big day arrives – your lucky-lady-to-be will love the surprise when you step out onto the dancefloor as man and wife for the first time. Some brides choose to take singing lessons, or even just practice hard, in order to give a dynamite solo performance at the reception. This obviously isn’t for everyone, but it’s something to think about, all the same.
In addition to (or instead of) handing out favours to your wedding guests, you can follow the new unique wedding idea currently sweeping Australia – wedding lottery tickets. Cheap enough to justify buying one for every guest, winnings can be split between a group you decide – whether you want everyone to keep what they win, split it with the bride and groom, or share it among the whole wedding party.
For a truly unique wedding, theming your big day around a specific culture or idea is guaranteed to make the day memorable to say the least. This can be achieved on a small-scale basis, or on a grand scale – everything from marrying in specific traditional dress, to hiring an elephant to chauffeur you to your bollywood-themed ceremony.
No-one likes a boring wedding. Avoid yours turning into one by shaking things up a bit! Implementation of features like the Unity Candle or the break-away bouquet will put a slightly different spin on traditional wedding themes, and careful planning regarding entertainment and guest participation ensures that there are no flat periods while you and your partner are indisposed. Try a fresh, contemporary approach to something customary – unique wedding invitations, for example, or a modern take on the idea of a guest-book. Spice up the reception by unveiling a new or improved skill that you’ve practised hard at beforehand, or go all-out and arrange your wedding around a specific cultural theme!
Go ahead – dare to be different. It’s your day, after all!
