If you’re anything like us, you love to be entertained. And through the years we’ve seen some pretty epic wedding entertainment ideas beyond the DJ or bandstand! If you want to level up on your wedding with some unexpected delights, you may want to consider the ideas below for a surefire way to enhance your guest experience.
Photo by Cinzia Bruschini with planning by The Wedding Care 1 | Live Painter
It’s always a thrill to see a live painter at a wedding! Not only do guests love watching the artist at work, it’s amazing to receive that tangible commemoration of your wedding day with the exact scene + emotions captured on-site. But you can get creative with this too – this couple in particular hired an artist to create charcoal sketches of their guests as wedding favors, and my is it a cool result!
Photo by Mirelle Carmichael with cocktails from Sidecar Cocktail Co. 2 | Mixologist
It’s all about customization here. Not only can mixologists incorporate your personal wedding story + relationship into their craft cocktails, they can wow your guests with completely original concoctions, determined by their unique taste buds. Plus, the result is pretty photogenic too!
With all of the excitement that comes with planning your wedding, it’s easy to forget about the little details. But don’t stress, we’ve created a list of things that you may overlook when planning your wedding. Whatever boxes you have to check off on your wedding checklist, get inspired by these tips below for some of the most looked-over details that will surely be noticed by your guests!
1. Directions And Signage
For a majority of your guests, this will be the first time visiting your venue. You don’t want your guests getting lost between the highway exit and your venue parking lot. If you provide directions, your loved ones are more likely to arrive on time and your special day has a better chance of running smoothly.
Tip: Include directions in the mail when you send out your invitations. If you have a wedding website, you can add a link to Google Maps so your guests know exactly where they’re going. If your ceremony is taking place at a separate location, be sure to include directions to the reception venue as well. For the day of, create signage for each wedding spot at your venue directing guests where to go. For example, the ceremony, cocktail hour, reception, photo booth, etc.
2. Escort Cards
Having a designated seating chart saves guests the pressure and time of searching for a seat at the reception. It also guarantees that your guests of honor, such as grandparents and close relatives, get a quiet spot while your more rowdy friends have a seat closer to the dance floor. Seating charts are also great if you’re having plated dinner service at your reception. This makes it easier for the catering staff and many venues actually require assigned reception seating.
Tip: Escort cards are extremely easy to customize and are a great way to bring in your wedding colors. Whether you’re doing classic calligraphed seating cards or something more intricate such as incorporating them into your cocktail hour with personalized stirrers, there are so many different ways you can personalize your escort cards. Regardless of which style escort cards you choose, be sure to organize them by last name. Your guests will be searching for their name, not table name or number so it will make it easier for them to find their seats.
3. Clean Your Rings
You put so much effort and money into finding the perfect rings, you want them to sparkle the way they deserve to on your big day. Be sure to clean your rings a few days prior to your ceremony so they look their best. Your rings will be highlighted in so many of your wedding photos, so you want them to be ready for their close up.
Tip: If you’re in a time crunch and are not able to make it into the jeweler to get your ring cleaned, don’t fret! Many jewelers, including online jewelers, like Blue Nile, offer jewelry cleaner so you can clean your beloved wedding bands right at home!
4. Guest Book
While some couples choose to skip out on the guest book, they are actually a great way for you and your spouse to relive your special day over and over again. However, it takes more than setting out a couple of pens to make a guest book enticing enough for everyone to sign it. The trick is to make it a fun, interactive activity that your guests won’t want to pass up on.
Tip: Don’t just settle for the traditional guest book. Ask guests to write out a date night idea, marriage tip, or even a note of support on a game piece such as a Jenga block that you can use over and over again. Another idea is to have guests contribute to a scrapbook by allowing them to take selfies using a Polaroid camera and then placing the photo into the book and signing next to it.
5. Bar Decor
While the bar might seem like it’s taken care of by the venue, it’s a spot that most of your guests will frequent throughout the night. The bar is a great place to add your personal touch and make it flow with the rest of your wedding theme. Add personalized decor or a burst of color to liven up the area. Bar signs go a long way when paired with greenery and floral arrangements.
Tip: Try spicing up your cocktail menu with a few signature cocktails that have unique garnishes such as fresh herbs or berry-infused ice cubes. You can even print your signature cocktail recipe right on your beverage napkins or customized coasters!
If travel is a passion or favorite hobby of the bride-to-be, or if she’s planning a destination wedding to tie the knot, then a geographically themed bridal shower is a perfect way to reflect the air of wanderlust that’s captured her soul.
Whether she likes camping or the downtown metropolis scene, plan her bridal shower around a destination that is close to her heart and will be remembered for years to come. Here are five steps to help you plan an enchanting, location-based bridal shower.
1. Choose a Destination
If there’s a specific place you know the bride loves, whether it’s Paris, London or New Orleans, you can center the perfect bridal shower for her around the theme of that destination city. You can also make her shower feel like a getaway, even though it’s right in town.
2. Find the Best Location
A great venue for a geographically themed bridal shower is a restaurant in the destination city you have chosen. It could be a Parisian-style cafe, an Irish pub or an Italian fine dining restaurant. Another option is a hotel that can cater to your theme; after all, visiting a hotel feels like a getaway in and of itself. To that end, you can really step up your game by selecting a hotel with spa services to treat the bride.
Or, if you’re going for an island or cantina theme during the summer, plan the bridal shower at a hotel that lets you reserve the pool. In the meantime, if your destination theme is London or Paris, host an afternoon tea or coffee at a hotel with a private room or lounge. Or, to reflect a more party-oriented destination, you might choose a bar as your venue.
3. Create Invitations
The next step is to create the bridal shower invitations, which you’ll want to send out at least four to six weeks in advance. Make them in keeping with your geographic theme by getting creative invitation cards made for you. It’s a good idea to get cards that are similar to the wedding invitations so that the bridal shower and wedding invitees mentally put the two events together.
4. Decide on Decorations and Centerpieces
Next, it’s time to check out Pinterest and get some Martha Stewart-worthy decoration ideas. This aspect gives guests (and the bride) their first impression of the event, and it should make the travel theme jump out at them. To reflect the theme, you might choose decor like airplanes or vintage suitcases. But to really “bring” guests to a specific location, choose items that best represent it, such as Mardi Gras beads or an Eiffel Tower centerpiece.
5. Plan a Menu
If your bridal shower will be at a restaurant, speak with the manager about creating a budget-friendly menu. Brunch and lunch will work best for you to get good per-person reservation prices at restaurants, as these are typically off-peak times of the day. No matter what meal you’re planning, make sure it keeps with the theme, i.e. bring out the tacos to your pool-side cantina party.
Best Bridal Shower Ideas
When you’re planning a bridal shower around a theme that speaks straight to the bride’s heart, you want every aspect of her shower to reflect it. From the invitations to the hors d’oeuvres and decor, she’ll have the time of her life being transported to her favorite place before her big day!
For some, this is a right of passage into a new chapter.
For all who are part of this process, it involves unforeseen politics and drama from family members and friends.
Even the most level-headed loved ones seem to lose their marbles as soon as the word “wedding” comes into a conversation.
I find myself endlessly boggled by the tsunami of unsolicited advice, unreasonable demands and entitled behaviour I am witnessing from people in our lives.
This is me and my fiancé’s wedding, right? We’re paying for it, so isn’t it reasonable that we should have the final say as to what takes place?
And yet, that concept highly offends some people. For reasons I cannot quite understand.
You had your special day already, Aunt Pru. Dammit, just let us have ours on our own terms!
With four months until the big day, I have gathered my top advice for any bride or groom-to-be who arelooking to survive the wedding planning process with both their sanity and dignity intact.
Disclaimer: there always be unsuspecting events pop up… hopefully, with my advice, I can guide you through how to roll with those punches tactfully and with as few casualities as possible.
Get your bearings on what you’ve got to do.
Let’s ease you in with some basic advice, before we run directly into the warzone.
A prepared wedding planner is a successful wedding planner.
It may all feel overwhelming at first, but trust me when I say you’re better off to look at that massive lists of to-dos earlier rather than later.
We followed this timeline planner, which identified every aspect we would need to consider, and how far out to consider it (based on how many months out from your wedding).
Also, get clear on your budget early and stick to it.
Over-estimate costs.
Buy elements which are under budget rather than on-budget whenever you can. It will shock you how many little hidden costs pop up out of nowhere.
And they REALLY add up in the end.
Don’t apologize for wanting what you want.
You are about to come across the biggest cluster f*ck of unsolicited opinions you’ve ever encountered in your life (unless you already have a child, then you can hope this will be not as bad as that, but I’m not making any promises).
At the end of the day, this celebration is your celebration. It’s about setting the tone for how you and your partner want to enter into this new chapter of life together.
Your taste will greatly differ from that of others. This is a no brainer, as we are all unique individuals with unique tastes, and should respect and appreciate that fact about one another.
But despite the common sense of this reality, individuals will oddly think that their taste matters more than yours, and should be taken into account.
That’s bullsh*t. If there is ever a time to put your people-pleasing aside for one massive event, this is the one!
It’s your wedding, but keep in mind that you’re still a host.
This is a tricky spot.
Especially if both you and your partner are people-pleasers. It’s important to remember that while this is “your day”, people are still taking time out of their lives to attend an event which celebrates you.
Take comfort in that reality — these people DO want to celebrate you and let you have your moment. That said, be reasonable with your requests and expectations you put on both your guests and your wedding party.
Don’t charge people to attend your wedding.
Don’t request your bridesmaids pay for an $800 dress out-of-pocket.
Just don’t be a dick and expect others to foot the bill. It’s your wedding, not theirs. They shouldn’t be paying for half of it.
Communicate early and often.
With everyone, but only on what is their business.
Be transparent with your wedding party about what costs are going to look like. Make sure both sides of the family feel equally involved (not just the bride’s side. Especially if both sides are contributing somehow financially to the wedding).
Touch base early with vendors and service providers, like your photographer, to make sure details are ironed out and you’re on the same page.
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