We all want the perfect wedding! We want our friends and families to come together and share the love; to eat, laugh, dance and celebrate the commitment of two soul mates who have vowed to make beautiful memories together. But before you sail into the sunset and begin making those memories, you want to make sure your guests have a blast and talk about your amazing celebrations for years to come. Here's how you can achieve that:
1. Monograms: Customized logos are quite popular with couples as it provides a personalized touch to invitations, napkins, and favor boxes.
2. Table names: Instead of table numbers you can assign tables to qualities that you and your partner cherish such as passion, loyalty and humor, or your favorite songs or movies or even places you have been to. If you have guests from out of town their tables could be named after their respective cities.
3. Guest Books: Instead of a traditional guest book, go with a canvas with your photograph that people can sign or a photo album with pictures documenting your relationship up until the wedding day. Leave blank pages that your guests can sign, or perhaps comment on the pictures. Video booths are a rising trend, people can leave very personal messages that you can look back on and treasure.
4. Theme: Your wedding should always be a reflection of your personality and your lifestyle, whether you are a casual person, or a glamorous gal! Personalize your wedding by creating a theme that is a reflection of you or your culture and background.
5. Tradition: Guests love to see the different wedding traditions that each culture has. Some cultures have celebrations that span over 7 days, so why not consider your wedding more than an event that lasts for a few hours. Planning a wedding weekend allows for more time to relax and connect with family and close friends, especially if it’s a destination wedding where your guests had to come in from out of town.
6. Favors: Your wedding favors will also help make the day distinct. Why not have baskets of flip-flops, so that your lady guests are able to remove their sparkly heels and dance the night away! Fill the restrooms with scents and emergency sewing kits. Gifts can include stuff needed for the weekend, as well as some items that are just for fun.
7. Edible favorites: Food is always a nice way to personalize your event and leave an impression. Set up live cooking stations, people tend to really enjoy them. Make sure you include a few ethnic dishes as well; guests love exposure to local flavors. Set up a coffee bar and have some breakfast pastries ready for any guests that stay until the morning hours.
8. Program: During a typical wedding reception, there is a predictable process and flow of events. If you would like to turn your wedding into an occasion to remember, make sure that you incorporate several entertainment options, and try having a few surprises for your guests; it could be a famous entertainer, a surprise dedication to the parents or even a montage of your childhood pictures, and pictures of your family and friends. A wedding is a shared occasion, and it’s nice to turn the focus on your loved ones as well. It’s also a nice way to thank them for being a part of your life.
9. Flowers: Instead of opting for one uniform centerpiece to use on every table, work with similar flowers and color palettes to come up with different centerpieces for every table.
10. Make an entrance: Guests love a dramatic entrance, so go for it!
11. Personalized Firework display: What better way to end the night than with a sparkly extravaganza!
Zainab ALSALIH
Founder of Carousel
