As we step into this year’s wedding season, it’s time to go beyond framing candid moments, purchasing a designer lehenga, donning floral bridal jewellery or making a grand entry with the bridesmaids. Throw a wedding that will be remembered by your peers and relatives for years to come. For inspiration, dig into our wedding idea bank!
Spare dancing shoes: Apart from the beautifully decorated church, the wedding march and the graceful flower girls, dancing still remains one of the most integral and best parts of a Christian wedding. To make this experience unique, try to keep a rack of free-sized dancing shoes/flip flops for the guests, especially for women (since most women step out for a wedding in high heels, which could make waltzing difficult).
Install a wishing wall: More than gifts in cash and kind, it is blessings that count most for any new couple. Make every blessing count with a wishing wall. Place a big canvas, glass or fibre frame near the entrance. Jot down your names on it as ‘Bride and Groom, here’s wishing you…’ and let guests pen down their special wishes and messages for you. Frame the wishes later and keep them at home as treasured gifts from the big day.
Perk up the wedding with an Inter-community buffet: Since intercommunity weddings are common these days, try to explore this not just in the rituals but also the food you serve at your wedding. Instead of the standard Chinese, Italian, Punjabi and pan Asian menus for the buffet, experiment with fusion cuisine. Include delicacies from both your communities and demarcate it by serving them in separate sections. In fact, personalise the menu by serving one item from the family recipe book, it will make for an exclusive experience for your guests.
Set up a Photo booth: All lenses are on the couple at the reception. Everyone comes dressed in their best, but unfortunately can’t get clicked separately and even if they are, their picture remains in the couple’s wedding album until eternity. Set up a photo booth at the venue with an intuitive design and theme, so that guests can get themselves clicked. A professional photographer will be the icing on the cake. As a thoughtful gesture, send these photos with ‘thank you’ cards to them. They’ll remember your wedding for years.
Place a note about the couple on every table: The guests usually know about one or more stages in the bride or groom’s lives, but not everyone knows the stories behind their childhood, schooling, college and jobs. Make a fun fact file about both, bride and groom for every guest table so they know you almost as well as you know each other!
Keep warm clothes handy at a winter wedding: The weather is getting cooler by the day, thanks to the onset of the winter season, but your guests might not carry shawls or pullovers since it might ruin the look of their expensive outfit. Be thoughtful and wrap warm clothing like shawls, mufflers and pullovers around their chairs in case they get the chills, especially at outdoor functions.
Display your family tree: Every single member of your close as well as extended family has something to offer you, either in terms of advice or memories. Cherish their presence and honour them by decorating the venue in such a way that it celebrates your family tree and lets guests in on its legacy. Display framed wedding-day photos and memorable family photos from the past at a spot that is visible to all. Start from the oldest-known member of your family tree all the way to you, the newest, and caption each photograph with a special memory you have of them.
Streamline the gifting process: To make things more convenient for the guests, place a gift bag on every table. Leave blank spaces for the names of the guests and their relationship with the couple. This will not just ensure uniformity of gifts (as some people might bring small gifts while others come with envelopes rather than bigger gift boxes).
Similarly, it will make it very easy for the couple relate with every gift they receive. Also, keep the return gifts inside those bags, as an act of gratitude, so that everyone gets one.
Transform the vow-taking ceremony into a wow moment
Every marriage has a story, some special moments or words that were exchanged between the couple before tying the knot. Include these in your vows along with the regular rituals of the wedding. Choose from words you both wrote to each other on messages, e-mails or Valentine’s day cards or even remember telling each other. It will make the ceremony great fun not just for you but for the ones who attend it as well.
Share your love story: Most weddings have the guests doing their own thing while the couple tire themselves out posing with friends and relatives. Personalise your wedding by making either a photo collage wall, a romantic video or have your close friends enact a play about how the two of you met, your courtship and things that happened along the way. Make it more candid and interesting by including some quirky pictures and catchphrases special to the two of you.
