- Have each table at the reception compose a toast and then nominate one person to make it. Provide party poppers or whistles on each table so the audience can show their appreciation during or after the speeches and watch the speaker grow with confidence. (Ask the MC or the ushers to pass the word around)
- Keep a diary of the events running up to your wedding.
- Create a “mood board” and collect fabric pieces, colour swatches etc to show to your suppliers.
- Have at least one surprise for each other on your Big Day.
- Get someone to buy a newspaper so that you can look back and see what other events were happening on your wedding day.
- If it is a second marriage with children, decorate the room with photos of all the family doing things together.
- Get married in the morning, that way if it doesn’t work out, you haven’t wasted the whole day
- Have a quiz with a prize for the winning table.
- Make sure there is somewhere where guests can relax quietly and chat.
- Auction off your flowers and table centres for charity.
- Make up some bowls of fresheners and sample perfumes/aftershaves for the loos.
- Your mum will be dead chuffed if she is asked to dance by your new husband.
- Have a “kids only” table with plenty of colouring books, games, etc.
- Ask your venue to save the cork from the first bottle of champagne for a keepsake.
- Number each RSVP card against your list so that if someone forgets to fill in their details you know to whom it belongs.
- Provide your guests staying over with information about good hotels, B & B’s, local beauty spots, good restaurants.
- Send evening invitations after the ceremony ones, that way you can “up grade” folks if necessary without offending.
- Rather then a Guests’ Book, choose individual cards in envelopes so folks can send you a little personal note. (Placed in alphabetical order at the entrance to your wedding breakfast, their name on the envelope will give them their table assignment. Don’t forget to provide plenty of pens)
- Get “dishy” men to write their telephone numbers on your T-shirts in indelible ink.
- Have two - a night on the town with your mates and a lovely lunch out with your mums and dads.
- Have a glass of milk before you go out. Alternate with soft drinks and drink a pint of water before you go to bed!
- For a pleasant aroma, ask the Ushers to sprinkle the candles with aromatherapy oil.
- Make your “Order of Service” more memorable by including information on the history of your wedding/ reception venue.
- At a civil wedding, rather than face the Registrar with your back to your guests, face your guests with the Registrar to the side facing you.
- For the perfect photo, ask guests to throw confetti up in the air rather than straight at you.
- Something different - the Best Man escorts both Mothers to their seats and the Groom walks down the aisle with his Father.
- Instead of a Bride’s bouquet, each guest seated at the edge of the aisle on the Bride’s side gives the Bride a flower. At the altar the chief bridesmaid ties a ribbon round the flowers. (Tell the ushers the arrangement.)
- To help them, give each a list of things to do.
- Put a note on each table at the reception explaining who your attendants are, their relationship to you and why they are “special”.
- Have an usher for every 25-30 guests.
- Mist the air with your perfume and walk through it to get a distribution all over, including your hair.
- Don’t overdo your hair if you are wearing earrings and a necklace.
- Invest in professional eyebrow shaping; it makes a world of difference.
- Colour co-ordinate your Groom down to his pants and buy him a new pair of boxer shorts to match the colour scheme!
- As well as your mums, don’t forget a little gift for your dads.
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- For a wedding abroad, choose 100% silk or cotton to allow your skin to breathe.
- For the bridesmaids, shop at Christmas for those extra special gowns.
- Get a friend to transport the flowers from the ceremony to the reception venue.
- On approaching the aisle, the bride could pass a single flower to her mum and then after the ceremony, pass a single flower to her mum-in-law.
- Carry your bouquet below your waistline to look taller and slimmer.
- Instead of throwing your whole bouquet, ask your florist to tie a single flower into the bouquet which you can then loosen. Or, at the reception get everyone on the dance floor. Get the DJ to ask everyone who has been married for less than two hours to leave the dance floor! Then, ask that all those married for less then 5 years, 10 years, 15 years and so on, until there is only one couple left. Ask them for their best marriage advice and present them with your bouquet.
- Add a little coloured ribbon to the buttonholes to match the bride’s bouquet.
- Ask your baker to do a dummy tier and store the proper one at their premises to send out to at your “do”.
- If you are saving your top tier, ask your cake maker for instructions as you may have to remove the decorations first.
- Give your caterers a seat plan to locate any guests with special menus.
- Sew two white sheets together to protect your gown.
- Remove water marks from satin shoes with a dab of white spirit.
- Don’t wear too much make-up to your fitting in case you soil your dress.
- To get the right fit, always try on wedding rings when your hands are cold.
- It is easier to put on your wedding rings if your finger is slightly bent.
- Rather than put disposable cameras onto guests’ tables, move with the technological age and ask guests to take away a blank CD with them, and an envelope pre- addressed to you.
- Many couples will invite extra guests for the evening reception, so why not give them something to make them feel involved in your special day. For example, save the cake cutting ceremony for the evening.
We’d been living together for a year before we got married, and had already kitted our home with everything we wanted. Rather than asking guests for cold hard cash, our Best Man suggested itemising our honeymoon (a week in Rome) and asking people to contribute by buying us something specific. It was a resounding success, with lots of people buying us a dinner, lunch, ice cream, night in a hotel, etc. Some people preferred to put a few Euros into an envelope. It allowed people to express themselves, and we enclosed relevant photos with our ‘Thank You’ cards.
From Gemma and Neil Dixon, married on the 11th, August, 2006.
We had our civil wedding at a small country castle and between the wedding breakfast and the evening reception there was a couple of hours to spare. We asked one usher to bring along his croquet set, which was a huge success, and we bought lots of cheap garden games too. Surprisingly, the Spacehoppers were the most popular, especially with the bridesmaids!
From Gemma and Neil Dixon, married on the 11th, August, 2006.
We were inspired by some friends who put the photos of the Stag party in the Gents’ toilet and the photos of the Hen party in the Ladies’. However, we decided to spice things up a bit by displaying the Stag photos in the Ladies’ toilets, and the Hen photos in the Gents’!
From Gemma and Neil Dixon, married on the 11th, August, 2006.
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