1. Make cupcakes instead of having a traditional wedding cake. Make sure to have at least two for each guest.
2. Purchase lottery tickets for each guest as a party favor. Attach a note that says all winnings must be split with the bride and groom!
3. For your guest book, have an attendant take a Polaroid picture of the guests. Take them as families or however the guests arrive. Then have the guests sign their names beneath their pictures.
4. Another great variation of the traditional wedding cake is to have a medium-sized cake as the centerpiece for each table.
5. Honor marriage at your wedding by having all the married people come onto the dance floor. As the DJ plays a love song, in increments, have the him instruct those married 2 hours or less to sit down (this will give everyone a laugh as you and your groom leave the floor), then any married less than 5 years, 10 years, and so on. At the end of the song, instead of throwing the bouquet, present it to the couple married the longest that is still on the dance floor and ask for their best piece of marriage advice.
6. A great way to honor your parents at your wedding is to, after being released as man and wife, come back up the aisle and escort them out rather than having the groomsmen do it.
7. Purchase an engravable tray and engraving tool. Have guests engrave their names on the tray instead of signing a guest book. You can then display it as a beautiful memory in your home rather than having a book that rarely gets looked at.
8. A friend of mine allowed her bridesmaid”s to choose and wear their perfect little black dress as their wedding attire. Not only does this allow each girl to look and feel her best, since she will wear it again and again, she won”t feel hurt or put-upon is you ask her to buy her own dress.
9. To show compromise and unity between you and your spouse-to-be, walk halfway down the aisle escorted by your father, then meet your groom halfway down the aisle and walk the rest of the way together. Your father can follow behind to answer the question, “Who gives this woman in matrimony?”
10. Instead of tossing your bouquet or purchasing a throw-away to toss, give a single flower to every single woman at the reception. Choose flowers that match your bouquet.
11. Have a children”s table set up at the reception. Place balloons and play packets containing coloring books and crayons, a small, quiet toy, and silly-looking sunglasses at each chair. Visit the table a couple of times throughout the reception to make the kiddos feel special.
12. If you have very small children in the wedding party and are worried they may not walk calmly down the aisle, allow the ring-bearer to ride a tricycle or push a Tonka truck down the aisle with the ring, or the flower girl to carry her favorite baby doll with her.
13. Instead of carrying a bouquet, have an attendant pass a single flower of your choosing to the person on the outside of the aisle on the bride”s side. As you walk down the aisle, collect them from the guests and have the groom tie a ribbon around them to make the bouquet once you reach the alter.
14. Have an attendant pass out small taper candles to each guest before the ceremony. After you have lit the unity candle, walk down the aisle and light the candle of the guest on the outside of the pew, asking him to light the person”s next to him, and so forth until all the candles are lit with instruction to blow out the candles at the end of the wedding song. Plan to have your wedding song being when you return to the alter.
15. Between receiving lines, pictures, and lulls during the reception, weddings often have dull moments that can be boring, especially for younger guests. Consider hiring a magician to entertain your guests during those times of waiting.
16. Ask guests to send a recipe along with their RSVP”s. Then create cookbooks to give out as wedding favors. Don”t forget to keep one for yourself! It will be a memory to last a lifetime.
17. Make CD”s of the songs that will be played during the ceremony and reception. Title these soundtracks with your names and wedding date and present them to your guests as favors.
18. If you have young children from previous marriages, word your invitations to say, “Charlie and Jessica invite you to share in the joy and celebration at the marriage of their mother…”
