Fun touches to your wedding

[StrongInside]

Hi,

I’m only starting to plan our wedding. Kind of have an idea in mind- everyone wearing sunset colour scheme, lemon and orange slices in water in vases for table decoration among some bright flowers

Let’s share some ideas for quirky, pretty and/or fun ideas to make a wedding setting ‘pop’. Having our day in Scotland so it can rain and be bleak, want something Pinterest-worthy to make the wedding colourful and interesting, without spending too much.

As an example, I made artificial flower corsages using online supplies for a relative and all her female guests (very small wedding, no bridesmaids) as keepsakes from the day. That was their wedding favour instead of getting something noone needs like a mini alcohol bottle or a sweetie.

Thanks!

One thing I did like at a wedding apart from food, drink and people who were good craic, was the giant games - Connect 4, Jenga, Guess Who.

HeadintheiClouds, where do you get off calling my wedding day ideas awful? So judgemental! I asked for suggestions of fun things to add to a wedding, never asked whether I was being unreasonable about the theme (it’s set, it’s done) and there are people out there who have a Harry Potter/ LOTR themes which all guests play along with, to each their own even if it’s not your thing.

No bride in the history of brides should be ‘asking’ guests to wear certain things. They are your guests. Not movie extras. Isn’t the fact that you can dictate flowers/decoration/bridesmaid dresses/venue/menu/drink enough?
I’ve heard it all now

Mumatoo, if the weather allowed then yeah, definitely will be outdoors at sunset. Yes, that could be the favours actually, thanks!

TapasForTwo, I prefer Costco cakes to the traditional sickly wedding cakes, but if we find a cheap home baker we will go with them.
Like I have said to others, it’s a very small wedding with the nearest and dearest, and we know they will not mind wearing something in our preferred colours. I do care about getting married, that’s why I am not paying thousands upon thousands like so many other couples, but instead focusing on making it a fun special day because I plan to only do this once. I can’t please everyone because everyone’s tastes are different, and this one day I do feel like I can be a bit selfish because it’s not like we do this every year.

Again, casting everyone’s mind to fancy dress parties (which I go to but not fond of), where there are teo options- dress up or don’t come. And if it’s someone really close to you, you dress up and turn up, whether you love dressing up or not.

How likely is it to be shared on social media if it’s such a small wedding? Are you not better to focus on having a nice day that you enjoy the look of more than trying to make something shareworthy?

StrongInside - can't wait to see the photos!!
Loving your resilience! Hope you have a lovely, colourful fun day and a wonderful marriage!

Hiring a bartender for a couple of hours to make holiday themed cocktails (with or without alcohol) would be fun and add to the colour.

Definitely the giant garden games.

What i would suggest is not to rubbish traditional weddings - you've made it VERY clear it's not for you and that's fine - but i suspect your early posts which were very critical of traditional weddings it's a scoffing and judgemental manner have made people more critical of yours. It's fine to be different, but remember that traditional weddings are what many want and enjoy - and equally, relaxed / colourful / non traditional weddings also aren't that unusual so maybe drop the "i'm such a wacky, cool, laidback bride" undertone.

The phrasing round "pops" of colour, "quirky" and "pinterest worthy" is cringey and gets peoples backs up - i bet if you'd just asked for what the most fun things people have done at weddings and parties are you'd have got much more useful answers.

I have never been to a wedding I enjoyed, and I want mine to be different.

That seems a bit harsh on the friends and family members whose weddings you've attended. Surely you enjoyed being happy for them?
And, however many pops of colour you have, it doesn't guarantee all your guests will enjoy your wedding, sadly.

Of course, the good thing is you'll never know just as other people don't know you didn't enjoy theirs.

Just do whatever makes you both happy - pops, colour schemes, ideas aimed at Pinterest.... And people will either enjoy it or, at least pretend to.

Scroll down this link - really pretty fruit teas with chopped fruit and alcoholic cocktails in lovely summery colours

blog.hellofresh.com/summer-party-guide/

Pinterest link with loads of nice ideas www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/80642649551378174/?lp=true

Paper lanterns are quite cool weddbook.com/media/1910686/wedding-tables

I have never been to a wedding I enjoyed, and I want mine to be different.

Lol, I imagine the OP sitting in the church pew, as the happy couple are taking their vows, bride wiping away a happy tear, groom's voice cracking with emotion, thinking 'God this is a bit crap, do you know what would make this waaaaaaay better, a sunset colour scheme'

I agree with all of what TheViceOfReason said actually, from the cocktail suggestion right down to the last sentence.

I'm all for "offbeat" weddings - my own was pretty unique - but foisting a colour scheme onto your guests doesn't make your wedding "offbeat", it just makes it annoying! If you want people to all be wearing certain colours, provide them. Pashminas and ties are a great idea and I'm sure the photos would look lovely. But don't force people to have to buy an outfit in a colour they might not like. That's all anyone is saying.

Mumatoo, ah, those ideas are what I came here for, many thanks! Citronella and an icebox of icecreams are a good idea.

Foreverhanging, ace idea about the pineapples!

Pointlessquestions, I am stealing those ideas😬

Regarding Costco cakes, I have just realised what several of you thought about, and yeah, they ARE sickly! I meant their carrot and red velvet cakes!😬

Most of our group, my partner and myself included, aren’t big drinkers at all, so won’t need an endless supply of alcohol. My partner and I are into good food so that’s a definite criteria for me.

Samlh, no, you haven’t repeated much at all (I think balloons and bunting were mentioned before), most responders have been busy slating me and my choices😂

Not the most original idea, but we had garden games out after the ceremony before the meal and they went down really well. Meant the guests had something to do and encouraged everyone to chat without having to make awkward small talk. Maybe a coconut shy could fit with your theme?

A friend's had a confetti bar at her wedding and it looked lovely with all the different coloured petals in different shapes vases. Gave people something to do before the ceremony.

Is free that people don't like to be told what to wear but I think shades of purple can suit redheads.

WeBuiltCis... , I would ask you to put on a pashmina I have kindly provided you as a wedding favour when the photos are getting taken. It’s not difficult to do something nice for your immediate family or a really close friend. I would obviously still be happy because I am marrying my other half, but I would wonder why you couldn’t do that one nice thing for me.

TapasForTwo, we are foodies so will put thought into the food, and we might just have to go through the ‘torturous’ cake tasting to puck a nice one. I will say though that usually the bride and groom pick the cake they want, because I have never been asked if I want a traditional heart attack on a plate or something much nicer. Part of our group aren’t fussed about dessert at all, they don’t have a sweet tooth, so it’ll only be a handful we need to think about.

Propertyofhood, wish I had known, is there a hidden small print about MN somewhere?🤭
I would hope that for our immediate family and best friends (which is the whole guest list really) the food and drink flow is not all they care about. I can understand this being the case at a bigger wedding of just someone you know.

Ohcanada, I think we might just use a local homebaker a relative used a few years ago, she made a beautiful cake that wasn’t over-iced which had an unusual and nice flavour in each layer and had half the sugar of most wedding cakes.

Oh my god so many people need to actually read what the OP is saying!!!!! For goodness sake!!! She's not saying that there is a full dresscode and if you don't buy a dress in sunset orange you're not invited!! She's simply saying she loves the idea of a colourful wedding and will be asking people to add a pop of colour to their outfit, with a hat or scarf or buttonhole etc. She is having a very small wedding where it will only affect those who are close enough to care deeply about the couple so won't mind adding something extra to their outfit. Jeeeeeeez leave the poor woman alone you miserable bunch!!

OP I think that would look fantastic!

Also, best thing we had at our wedding...beer pong. At one point my 70 year old aunt was playing my 20 year old cousin and beating his ass. It was quite spectacular.

User1471.., I take it you think the same of fancy dress parties? Like, if someone had a big birthday and wanted everyone in fancy dress or if it was a Halloween party. You make it sound like I am dragging my parents, siblings and our best friends somewhere where it’s bad enough I am choosing AND paying for everything. Our loved ones are happy to do it, and I would do exactly the same for my best friend.

The op asked for tips and advice on the finishing touches to her wedding yet this has turned into a massive bitch fest. Such pile on bullying. Threads like this put me right off MN.

Well a dictatorship is neither fun or quirky..

"I meant their carrot and red velvet cakes!"

Their red velvet cake is particularly disgusting.
The wedding that I mentioned upthread that I particularly enjoyed had a brilliant "wedding cake".

The B and G realised that most people don't care for fruit cake, so they bought a three tier cake stand and put a cheesecake on one tier, an apple cake on another and a chocolate cake on the third - all home made by the bride's mother who was an excellent baker.

The food at the reception was contributed by the guests and they hired a couple of people to serve, clear up and wash up. The B and G provided all the drinks (which was a considerable expense)

You want your wedding to be a fancy dress party?

They're really not usually the same thing. It really was Utd strike the wrong note to dictate colours (whuch goes against your stated aim of fun)l. I think you're a bit on thin ice with anything other than 'please dress brightly'. I think your confidence that your proposed guests will be fine with this level of control might be misplaced.

I would suggest making corsages with real flowers - heaps nicer (and therefore better for social media) and won't add to landfill when they get binned (people really won't be keeping them)

How about hiring a magician to do table magic during the lulls?

Providing games is a good idea too. You need lots of props that people can do what they want with. If you attempt to dictate to other people what they will like, then you will find quite a lot misfiring.

@StrongInside I only had a small wedding (11 of us in total). I organised an eye spy game and wedding fortune tellers to encourage people to take photos on their phone. At the end of the evening everyone sent their pics over. I have some great photos from this. (We didn't get a professional photographer). Everyone really felt part of it and the two children were on a mission to get everything on the list!

Large garden games like Connect 4.
A sweet table.
Tea lights surrounding the oranges, lemons and limes in fruit bowls.

Why not get a Marks & Spencer wedding cake that you can add some colour and decoration to. They taste OK, I can tell you from experience. You could include autumn colours since it’s October.

People really do want decent food, drink, entertainment and not to be hanging about. If there is down time, is there a bar?

I’ve never been to a wedding I enjoyed, and I want mine to be different
Flabbergasting... Why do you think being forced to wear your choice of colours and eating cheap shitty Costco cakes will be enjoyable for your guests?
None of your ideas (or anyone else’s, either, tbh - bowls of skittles on the tables for their jolly colours?? Are you 5?) strike me as remotely fun.
And then you announce that you’re ”foodies”! I think not.

Plunkplunkfizz, I don’t do social media and don’t plan to share my photos. By Pinterest-worthy, I meant something you could imagine finding on a colourful inspiration board. Most weddings I have been to were so boring and bog standard, they made me want to cry and there was almost nothing from them I imagine seeing as inspiration somewhere.

TheViceofReason, I imagined people would just talk about food and drink of I had asked it the way you suggest. I stand by what I said and didn’t start talking negatively about traditional weddings until the comments poured in. Thanks for your suggestions re: games and bartender, we’ll see if it’s feasible. And thanks for the links!

LaMarschallin, of course, I was happy for them. Not all wedding invitations were from family or close friends, at some I was a +1 or just because all colleagues got invited. Some of the friends barely spoke to me and other guests because they were busy getting photos taken or hanging out somewhere with their families. Can’t please everyone, they enjoyed their days and I want to enjoy mine.

Peachgreen, I hang out with my family and best friends on a regular basis, so I know they have some colour in their wardrobe and not asking anyone to buy anything! I don’t know why a dress code is annoying, loads of parties have it, and like Buzznbells said, the choice is 5-6 colours, not one or two.

Wingingitsince2018, what’s coconut shy? That’s why games sound like a good idea, yeah.