Wedding - help me make it 'ours'

[Jamesonwhite]

So we have hired a large barn and now I'm struggling to know how to start planning the actual day. The trend at the moment is 'rustic' with lots of hessian etc. Do I just go with that as everything is cheaply and easily available. Or do I create my own theme? Have you been to any weddings with a theme that really stood out?! I'd like the day to really reflect our lives and personalities- we are quite outgoing, fun and love music and films. I can draw but not great at crafts.

Any ideas on how to get started would be really great!

Just have things you like, and can afford. Don't worry about trends, or standing out.

People will be there to see you get married and have a nice time, not to be fashion forward or have a unique experience.

Also, they are all much of a muchness...

Please don't take this the wrong way OP, but whilst your wedding is special to you, to nearly everyone else it will be just another wedding.
They'll be happy for you, have a fabulous time I've no doubt. But will they remember the details that you have lovingly spent hours organising? Or the decorations? Or the cake? Or the centrepieces?
IMO, no, they won't.
Good food and plenty of it, comfort, relaxed happy bride and groom, drink flowing....that's all you need!
Keep it simple, don't get bogged down with the kind of crafty stuff you're thinking of. You'll be so busy at it gets near and then stressing over the frills as they can be so time consuming.
Just my opinion, of course.I'd a friend that was going to do all her own centrepieces etc...she was sobbing at 12.30 AM on the day of the wedding as we tried to sort the bloody room out. It was a total nightmare.
Just a heads up.
But congratulations and I'm sure you will have a great day whatever you decide on.

You could do a film theme op! That sounds really fun! Things like table names being named after favourite movies, favours (if you are doing them) could be clapper board cookies, and you could have those big old fashioned spotlight lamps as decoration at the venue.

We had a barn wedding OP. A couple of things that made it ours, we had a photographic family tree with our parents and grandparents wedding pictures on display. We also had roses and proteas as the flowers as my dh is south African and I'm English, and we used those flowers across the decorations and the cake design. We didn't really have a theme as such, but it was definitely our wedding.

I had a barn dance theme, we had hay bales, home grown sweet peas in jam jars, a live band and under my wedding dress I wore wellies (and later no shoes). We went between church and venue on the back of an old tractor. It was so much fun - this was ten years ago.. the best bit was not having a theme, just going with things we liked and keeping it very relaxed.

Thanks for the ideas (no need for the 'it's not important, nobody will remember' comments- I wont get over invested or bogged down in detail but I enjoy the planning and crafting)

You could do a film theme op!

hell on earth

Weddings don't need a theme. The theme is wedding

Rosemary or lavender plants for tables- smell great and can be planted in your garden afterwards. Cheap.

Cotton bunting- buy on eBay

Lights- candles in jars etc plus battery lights in jars (less than £1 each)

You could do it for less than £150 with no real prep required on the day.

Loads of great food and no cost booze

Done

One thing we did at our wedding that guest commented on afterwards was that we made sure we had at least one printed photo of each of our guests. They were hung up on strung around the room. I think people liked the fact that it wasn't just photos of us and it was nice to see people's reaction to seeing themselves on a picture unexpectedly. Plus you can see the photos in the background of photos taken on the day which is quite cute I think.

It's about 30p per print in those self service stands in Jessops etc

Collect jam jars and put little flowers (they don't have to be real) or tea lights inside, they make relatively cheap table decorations

My cousin did the jam jar idea .... we all collected them on the lead up ... my work colleagues .... and they had tea lights in them at night ( fake ones ) and it looked lovely

The range is a fantastic place to go get centre piece / decoration ideas ... and inexpensive .... perhaps lots of fairy lights for a whimsical feel... ( at night )

And large canvasses of film stars / movies you like .. ?? If that suits

Or blown up pictures of you and partner through the ages

Bales of hay around the edge for seating for evening guests?

What’s your fav foods / drinks?

Just do what you want but keep it in proportion, important things are feeding people promptly, and a fun party after (reasonably) brief speeches. Try to ensure you don't need to do too much last minute (the problem with fresh flowers) and check when you get access to the venue

The weddings that have stood out to me have been the ones where the food was excellent, there was an open bar and good music. People remember a good time far more than anything decorative. I’ve been to about 5 weddings in the last year and couldn’t begin to tell you what the centrepieces or flowers were at any of them. Your wedding will be special because it’s your wedding. Look after your guests and give them an amazing time and it will stand out! You don’t need a ‘theme’.

We also had a barn wedding and we wanted to avoid the 'trends'. We just incorporated everything we loved and the colours we loved . It just naturally came together. We had paper lanterns in the colour we loved which gave the barn a burst of colour.
I hate blowing my own horn but people still say to me now that they loved our wedding because it stood out and we wasn't afraid to make it us (much to some family members despair ). We love music, the walking dead, skulls...and they were all incorporated into the day.

I know they aren't everyone's cup of tea but the last wedding I went to had a photo booth and it was a lot of fun.
Two copies of each photo, one to be glued into a book with a comment and one to keep.

Another poster above has just reminded me ...
Yes..please make sure the guests are well fed. After reading numerous stories on here and speaking to friends , people always remember a wedding where they were starving. Don't be tight with the grub. A friend of a friend had a wedding where they had a small afternoon tea and that was it for a full day wedding. My friend and loads of others left early because they felt ill. The B&G had splashed out on magicians , dj, band, photo booth , huge light up letters but didn't want to feed their guests.

I would also recommend Etsy for personal touches. I got my save the dates from there ...and my wedding dress .

“You could do a film theme op!
hell on earth
Weddings don't need a theme. The theme is wedding”

The op was asking for theme ideas! She said she likes films. If she wants a theme her wedding, you know - that she is paying for, then it’s up to her.

You could name the tables after film stars/films.

I wouldn't mind a themed wedding, something a bit different.

I definitely remember some of the 'themed' bits of friends' weddings :)

Pinterest is your friend. Maybe look for things like customisable place cards/settings, table decorations, general things like bunting or things you might hang up, if you like that confetti stuff on tables (I've seen good ones and naff ones but my mum hates it so we aren't having it). Maybe something like the tables can all be named after favourite films. Have the order of service printed like 'credits'? Or like a DVD insert?

Photo booth would be great, there are some that have like a red carpet as well, so you could go 'film premiere' and maybe have things like popcorn and mini hot dogs as your canapes?

We're having our reception in a barn. It's a February wedding and I'm wanting to stick to in season flowers/foliage as much as possible. Pinterest have some lovely ideas, I'm thinking fairy lights, tea lights in jars, snowdrops or something similar in pots on the tables. No theme or anything, we just want it relaxed and fun. Dp wants a pick and mix sweet cart, he loves sweeties, plus lots of food and drink.
We're planning a kids space with big colouring sheets or one of those colour in houses/castles, bubbles, toys etc. Our own dc and others will be there.

Thanks all. Food is already sorted. Everyone will be fed well right from the end of the ceremony to the end of the evening. We are supplying all alcohol. It's just putting together the look that is my issue. I realise I dont have to have a theme like films etc but it helps to have a vague overall idea of what I'm trying to achieve as a 'look'. People would definitely remember a weird wedding where nothing quite matched

Is your wedding around any certain dates? (For example around Halloween/Christmas etc)

You don’t need to have a big theme.
You could do table film cards instead of numbers, so on the table plan say you could have for example pulp fiction, 50 first dates etc with the peoples names below and a matching picture on each table.
Strings of fairy lights/festoons look awesome in barns, if you have a bit of extra cash look in to local wedding stylists for prices.

Have a look on Pinterest for inspiration

Favourite films as table names. I've started with seasonal flowers etc and am working round that. If I'd done late summer/autumn would have done sunflowers as I love them.