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!

Games at a wedding? It isn't a 3 year olds birthday party.

Are all your friends and families so shallow that they can't entertain each other with conversation?

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.

Ok, this must be a wind up. No-one could really be so shallow?

Most people don't buy new clothes for a wedding- it is a total waste of resources to do so.

By pashmina - you mean cheap and nasty acrylic child labour scarf from amazon or eBay? More carp to pollute the planet!

All this plastic crap- have you thought about where it comes from and what happened to it afterwards?

This sort of thing could look lovely if done right

None of the things we did to make our wedding more personal were particularly quirky. Our top priority was to make it enjoyable and easy for our guests.

We had games during the dancing for those who weren’t into dancing - things that are y and fun and easy to play while chatting, like pick up sticks or tiddlywinks or snakes and ladders.

Like a PP we had a space on our RSVP card for people to tell us a song they loved to dance to at a wedding, and made sure they were on our playlist somewhere (regardless of whether it was our kind of music).

Favours were homemade biscuits which were mostly eaten during the evening.

If you want guests to wear a pop of colour, why not just ask them to do that? Sunset sounds quite limiting and if it’s just ties, etc, you won’t pick it up in the photos anyway.

I haven’t read to the end yet, but we had inflatable instruments and glow stick bracelets/necklaces/glasses etc at our wedding that we brought out for the dancing! Everyone loves them, people got silly and the photos are brilliant. I did read that you’re not having a disco, so this might not be up your street, but I thought I’d chime in anyway.

Absolute lolz at the bride throwing a strop for people critiquing her ideas

OP, you do realise that the colourful, Pinterest wedding you’re planning is the 2014 equivalent of the white tablecloth / fruit cake weddings from the 90s you’re so scathing of and will look dated VERY quickly

Worrisomewart, I have only ever posted three or so threads on MN and compared to other message boards, this has totally been the most negative!

TapasForTwo, everyone has their own taste in cakes😊 Given that only half the guests will actually be eating any significant amount of it (remember, we know them all very closely), I am not as bothered about the cake as I am about the venue, food, photographer, decor and activities.

SexTrainGlue, if you actually read anything I wrote properly, you would know our guests are our immediate family and best friends who my partner and I know very well, so I know how they will treat us asking for a pop of colour and NONE of them will be throwing the corsages away (and if they did, that’s their choice what they keep in their homes, isn’t it). Even if I wanted a fancy dress party where we say our vows, so what? We aren’t having a church wedding, we aren’t bound by any restrictions on where to have our wedding so we can literally do anything. And no, I’m not going to post our photos on social media, I have to repeat.

What if none of the guests or some of them don’t like lawn games or magicians or cake or the location or that we plan to have on the day? Can’t please everyone. Dress code theme is only a small part of the many what ifs.

Kayjay2018, good idea! We won’t be hiring a photographer for long, and our family will be taking photos for sure. Eye spy is great for the kids!

Foxyloxy1plus1, no proper bar just drinks which everyone will help themselves to, most of our group aren’t big on drink so there will be soft drinks, maybe some interesting teas like someone suggested.
Tea lights sound pretty.
Most shop bought cakes are heavily iced and I hate sheet icing, so thinking about naked cakes or just cakes we have tried and liked. Might give M&S ones a go in the name of research😬

HeadintheiClouds, I think it will be fun because I know my Mum, Dad, partner’s immediate family and our best friends! How hard is it to understand we know them well. It’s a good thing you aren’t coming to any of these weddings so who cares if you don’t like Skittles or Costco cakes. My family like them, is that not allowed?? You have literally brought zero help to this thread. I wasn’t trying to bring fun ideas to you , I was asking for them for myself.

Also, I made the six tiered rainbow cake from the bbc good food website (can’t do links!) for a friend's Wedding recently and it was pretty simple but turned out brilliantly. You have to follow the recipe to the letter! I decorated it with colourful sprinkles around the edge at the top and bottom.

We had little flowerpots at each place, with the guest's name calligraphed on it as placemarkers, and then little packets of seed in each flowerpot, so guests could plant bee-friendly flower seeds to remember the day by.

WeBuiltCisCity..., stop it, I want their pastries right this minute!😃

People, I don’t mean their large white cakes, they are sickly indeed. I like their Red Velvet and carrot varieties, and I never said they were the best in the world. Being a foodie is about exploring new cuisines, being interested in various flavours etc. to me, not defined by our taste in cake.

Reallybadidea, thank you so much for giving me belly laughs!😆

Pinkunicornsparkles, yes, we will make it clear it’s ‘something’ in one or more of the 5-6 sunset colours that we are asking them to make part of their outfit👍

Kayjay2018, nice one, thanks! Etsy has nice toppers too.

SadieContrary, can you give me a taster of one or two things you have learned?

Inthekitchensink, silk flowers is what I have eyed up and colourful strips sound pretty. We’ll be in the middle of nowhere in a self catering lodge of some sort so we’ll be our own bar😊
Would love cocktails, but not sure whether I could ask the guests to mix them in turns or to just lay out all ingredients and make a ‘cocktails cart’ (like a dessert table) with simple recipes for guests to follow and mix for themselves?

Eggysmom, run! Run away right now before people on here tell you how horrible it is for people to be told to wear hats. Unheard of dictatorship! On a serious note, sounds like your guests took it in their stride and had fun with it, where did you get that hat idea from? Really unusual and must have made your day extra special to see your guests play along to help you celebrate the way you wanted.

Playing games?puck a nice cake?didn't know you could play Ice hockey with cake!🤩🤣🙃

MrsGrannyWeatherWax, I like the sparklers idea, it’ll be fun to play with them as the sound goes down.

BloomingHydrangea, or people actually took the request and went along with it because they cared about the happy couple.

"and none of them will be offended by going with our wishes." Aye right! Are NONE of them conscious about their weight or skin colour ot shy?! I VERY much doubt it!

Used to work in the industry - this is a TERRIBLE idea and rarely works in fact I've NEVER known of a wedding where this type of thing was attempted and it DID go well:

What can and probably WILL go wrong

Guests are pissed off at the extra expense of having to buy clothing they'll likely NEVER wear again

Guests are pissed off at having to wear AND HAVE PHOTOS TAKEN of them wearing clothes that don't suit them

Guests try to comply but misunderstand the instruction and the colours they buy aren't quite right leading to fallings out with bride/groom/both

Guests refuse to do it and bride/groom/both take umbrage ON THE DAY

The colour causes issues with the photography - some colours REALLY don't work well in certain photo styles

Seriously DO NOT do this!

"It’s our day and our rules." THAT attitude especially so early on does NOT bode well! Yes it's your wedding, BUT you are also HOSTS, you have a responsibility to respect your GUESTS and make them feel comfortable, couples that understand that generally have happier wedding days.

"Otherwise forced fun isn't fun. The best weddings I have attended aren't the WOW weddings planned to the last detail. They have had good food and drink, great music and everyone is relaxed and happy." This! With wedding bells on!!

Favours that are purely decorative and a "keepsake" are a waste of money! Why would people want a "keepsake" of another couples wedding - clue - they don't!

"I say this kindly - most people don’t have the skill or quality control to pull off “Pinterest worthy”. Pinterest fails are a thing for a reason and, as someone who used to work in an area of the wedding industry, I would see it a lot - people who think “pfft, I’m not paying £x for that when i could do it myself”. It rarely ends well." Totally agree!

This is almost as bad/good as the white suited groomsmen thread!

"so it’s really just kids (every kid has something in A colour) and women." So a sexist divide too! Gets better and better 🙄

"I simply haven’t thought of entertainment or food yet" oh crikey! Food, drink and entertainment should be the FIRST things you sort out!

"because I find traditional white linen/rose bouquet/hotel package weddings boring." That's fine, I had a colourful wedding too, have the colours you want in the bridal party (the elements YOU pay for), flowers , stationery and decorations. Think outside the box in terms of where to source (for my own wedding the colours were very popular for a different type of event, which took place a few months ahead of the month of my wedding so I was able to buy up decorations being sold off cheap once that date had passed - not the actual details but eg Christmas colours for an Autumn wedding) in your case the colours tend to be popular for Easter time, so if possible consider "scooping up" loads of cut price decorations on the Tuesday after Easter.

"If any guest declined and didn’t care to make an effort for us to bring a scarf or bag in any colour, then I don’t care about that guest" wow! Especially shocking given the size of the wedding which strongly suggests the invitees are very close family/friends!

"I can't imagine caring more about a scarf than a friend." Quite!

"Plenty of weddings have colour schemes, most only apply to the wedding party itself" that's the point! The cost/effort is borne by the couple NOT the guests

"We aren’t having bridesmaids or groomsmen, our whole group is basically the bridal party" so basically you're trying to get the benefits of a bridal party WITHOUT spending out for one!

Favours - you could do a twist on the old sugared almonds in the tulle bag by going with orange & lemon jelly slices or boiled sweets in sunset decorated boxes. That would go down well with men, women and children probably.

Table decorations - coloured tablecloths, napkins & place cards of course, sunflowers yes but also oversize "cocktail" umbrellas, sand or coloured gel based centrepieces...

"Most of our group, my partner and myself included, aren’t big drinkers at all, so won’t need an endless supply of alcohol." Perhaps not (though you underestimate that at your peril - near in mind how many hours you'll be responsible for keeping them fed/watered) but they DO need to be kept hydrated, especially elderly/ill (who may be on meds that can leave them dry) and children. And don't have all the soft drinks be fizzy - not everyone who might be restricted to soft drinks can tolerate them, especially for most of a day. People who aren't properly hydrated get headaches, tired and grumpy! Same goes for amount of food - better a little too much than not enough! - complacency on this would be a BIG mistake, I would say the same about adequate and COMFORTABLE seating too.

"Part of our group aren’t fussed about dessert at all" perhaps consider a savoury "wedding cake"? My dd (only 18 and nowhere near marrying yet) is keen on the idea of a cheese "cake" or even a sushi one - both of which could easily incorporate your colours - the cheese one could include Edam wheel etc

As someone who has attended and had a hand in organising a LOT of weddings, honestly guests are happiest if fed & watered properly, seated comfortably, not left hanging around bored for hours, entertained in a way that they are comfortable and familiar with.

Entertainment at mine was a very cheesy but fun dj who played a good mix and was happy to take requests (this led to it becoming a lot of fun when people started requesting songs with a known dance, my grans had lots of fun being taught by the kids how to do "Saturday night" by Whigfield 😂) but he also had the wisdom and skill to create a "wind down" towards the end of the night.

@StrongInside

These are the flowers I bought - dried so no worry about them not lasting - got married last August and they are still in a vase in my front room https://www.notonthehighstreet.com/theartisandriedflowercompany/product/festival-meadow-dried-flower-wedding-bouquet?DGMKT=FIDTIDDaud-319772450081:pla-341166093026PIDD557743CRII341166093026&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvcyDlOXf4wIVBbTtCh1uAwsiEAQYASABEgLztfDBwE

How many people are you inviting? What sort of venue are you going for? I loved having such a small wedding - was really intimate and our friends said it was the best they had been to. It cost less than £2k in total.

@StrongInside I made wedding favours bags. I used "wedding in a tea cup". I got little bags personalised and chose the packets of wild flowers, I added sticks of rock (we got married on the Dorset coast) and a few charity items ( you can buy little pin badges etc)

OK I know you said no-one in your wedding party has a sweet tooth so you're not bothered about the cake but the previous suggestion of a 6 tiered rainbow cake sounds fab or cupcakes all decorated in your sunset colours?

Bubblesforlife, nice ideas, never seen tea cup candles. Etsy has amazing finds!

BloomingHydrangea, let’s not get personal and start insulting people’s families! Some people like to chat, some like to drink, some like board games, some like to dance. It’s a family and close friend gathering with kids, we are going to need more than a chat the whole day. You seem a joy to talk to. Lighten up if you can, by your logic no one should ever a scarf because it could pollute the planet🤨 I have no energy or will to even begin to want to understand your point.

Jjbay, that’s what I had in mind for the bouquet colours.

JassyRadlett, I think ties/buttonholes or whatever our guests go with will be nice in the close ups and the main thing is we’ll see them when we are sitting with our guests. Most of our group aren’t into dancing (majority will be either older family members or little kids) so will have games instead for sure, will just need to come up with ones people will enjoy.

Thenorthernluce, even if not necessarily our thing, good to get ideas flowing. I’m just glad you didn’t call me shallow, my wedding idea beyond awful and didn’t tell me you weren’t coming to such a wedding😃 That cake sounds amazing!

Zaphodsotherhead, that has to be one of my favourite ideas, thanks very much! Did you make up the kits separately or buy them online?

I made lots of bunting for my Tenerife wedding in their colours
That was bright red, royal blue, bright green, sunshine yellow, bright orange , black and white
Looked fab in a very Spanish looking restaurant

Maybe you or a friend could make them in orange, red, yellows
Was very cheap
I just stitched it onto bias binding and cut the triangles out with pinking shears so very little sewing really

A mimosa bar might be fun? Very Pinteresty at the moment. You just provide lots of Prosecco, and bottles/jugs of various juices and fruit. All lined up nicely it will look very summery and pretty.

Gerberas come in all sorts of colours and can look very striking for all their simplicity.

A little dated perhaps but I love big tissue paper balls hanging from the ceiling. You could have lots of different colours and sizes and intersperse with bunting for a low cost but big impact decor.

Fruit displays are another way to add lots of colour to your food table. Dessert tables can be easily colour themed too if you don’t mind an over abundance of food colouring.

I’d be slightly dubious about asking guests to dress a particular way because there are so many ways they can disappoint you, either intentionally or by misunderstanding. If you have a particular vision in your head, you have more chance of pulling it off if you’re the only one in control of it, rather than having 15 different interpretations iyswim. A lot of people have a strong drive to be “a little different” and may interpret your dress code accordingly. But 15 “little bit different” could end up being an awful mishmash.

Don’t forget that Pinterest and instagram pictures are always cropped. I do a fair bit of photography post production. Real life and the final photo are worlds apart!

But memories are also a bit like photoshop. People don’t remember anything so clearly as how you make them feel. Traditional weddings are boring, not just because of how they look but because of tepid, bad food, sore feet, tedious speeches, thumping music and interminable delays. If you’re trying to avoid that kind of wedding put lots of thought into making your guests feel welcome, relaxed and comfortable because that is ultimately what will make your wedding memorable.

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.

Of all the nonsense in this OP, the thing that really blows my mind is the idea that booze or sweets are 'something no-one needs', whereas an 'artificial flower corsage' will be much appreciated

The only idea I think has been inspired on this thread is the tea urn with vintage tea cups - I have never seen that and it sounds fab. Don't bother with favours - seeds won't get planted & most stuff just adds to landfill. But cups of tea on tap - I would remember that at a wedding.

I'd buy a new frock to come, I think your theme sounds fun!

Orange based cocktails aperol spritz?

Mini lemoncello's as favours?

You can order wedding m&m's, order in your colour?

Or toffee crisps?

If you're doing a candy table/candy cart you could stock it with sweets that are colored to match your sunset theme. Just get cheap ones cheap ones in Aldi/Lidl or whenever you see sweets in those colours just grab a few bags here and there. And get paper candy bags in same colours.
Depending on your budget and if venue will allow, you could come up with cocktails in your colour theme too (people will love a pre dinner cocktail!)
I saw cake pops online before and thought they were cute and something a little different. Again, just do frosting/icing in your colour theme. Loads of videos on YouTube on how to make and could be made a few days in advance.

Have fun planning :-)