Extras at a wedding - what do you actually enjoy?

[Bridecilla]

Guests will be fed and watered. Not wanting to go mad with £££ that won't make a jot of difference.

We've booked a really good wedding DJ. Beer on tap.

Glitter bar? Photo booth??

I love going to weddings and really enjoy photo booths - but i like drinks more so wouldn't shell out £££ on a photo booth if it was an either/or!

I just googled glitter bar and I'd definitely be up for that! I enjoy most things though and have thoroughly enjoyed almost every wedding I've been to!

And yum for the hog roast, don't change it!

I personally don't like hog roasts as I've known several people to get horrible food poisoning from them (on different occasions from different caterers). Flip flops I can see being good if you've lots of younger guests going, but if you're older I imagine the guests will be less in need and either be ok wearing heels or have moved onto lower footwear choices. I think the photo booths or other novelty touches are more popular with a younger crowd who go to loads of weddings and like to see something different. I don't go to many weddings now, so they're all a novelty, and I'm not interested in faddy extras. I look back on the things popular when I got married and realise they were just a passing fashion (disposable cameras on the tables, favours, chair bows, ice sculptures, chocolate fountains etc).

Definitely an option for tea and coffee!

Your wedding sounds like it will be amazing. I think it will be perfect as you have it planned. The food sounds great.
I definitely second what some people say about catering for allergies. As someone with allergies the weddings that stand out for me are ones where I don't feel left out and get a sad looking plate of melon for dessert while everyone else gets an amazing selection of treats.
To mitigate any issues with people being cold you could pick up lots of blankets/throws in primark that match your wedding. Perfect for wrapping around shoulders or laps. Primark is great for a basket of flip flops and slippers. Also pick up some deodorant, hairspray, hair clips mints, plasters, gel pads for sore feet etc. for the the bathrooms. I did the same at my wedding and it went down really well. Those bathroom baskets have also saved me a number of times at different weddings.
Another idea for a cozy outdoor area with the blankets is to have a hot water bottle station if your venue doesn't mind filling a hot water bottle or two for guests. July might be warm but not necessarily after dark. Cheap thing to do but could be a fun talking point/comfort for guest.

@milveycrohn photo booths are quite popular with the young'uns these days. It's basically a slightly larger version of an old fashioned polaroid passport photo booth, the kind you used to put 20p in and it would spit out a strip of 5 hideous mini sized snaps of your mug squinting at the camera working out when it was going to flash

These have been jazzed up for the wedding/events market, painted in colourful wacky patterns and come complete with a box of 'fun' props (wigs, comedy glasses, 'I'm with stupid' signs etc). The idea is you, your DH, your aunty Edna, your cousin Becki and her twins Jackson and Chantelle dress up from the box, squeeze in and take some hil-aaaarious pics of you all messing around, doing bunny ears, flicking 'v's at the camera etc (maybe not so much little Jackson, not in front of Aunty E, she's a stickler for manners so she is, but you get the idea). The machine will print off a strip of the pics for you to treasure, and if you are really lucky it's a recent model and will also store/email the bride and groom digital versions for posterity (and/or to be sent round to the assembled guests for more hilarity the next day)....

They're a bit 'forced fun' for my taste but harmless and if not purchased at the expense of plenty of good food and drink, why not?

The buffet needs to be plentiful, I’ve been to ones where it’s just dregs left.

The best buffet was at my cousins wedding, the meal was a good big three courses where they put out bowls is potatoes and veg for people at the tables to serve themselves. Then later there were bacon rolls, square sausage in rolls, tea, coffee and the wedding cake.

The favours were lottery scratch cards and I won £20 happy days. There were also flip flops in case people shoes started to hurt and disposable cameras on the tables (do you still get them?) we handed the cameras back at the end and then the couple got the photos processed and put copies online for everyone to view. Some were hilarious.

I'd pass on the glitter bar (I think it's where you can get glitter put on?). Unless you want it all over your dress, suits, tables, roasted hog...
As long as wine is included, I'm good.

Congratulations!

Excellent description @maxelly

@maxelly. Thank you for explaining the photobooth. Sounds fun.

Thanks again you lovely lot. Flitter shelved -- I think!

Still unsure in the wine but the venue only charged £14 a bottle!

None of the stuff best suited to a five year old's birthday party so no glitter bar, photobooth or sweet stand. Just decent and plentiful food, a bit of drink and enough chairs will do me.

Best thing I ever had at a wedding was bacon butties at 11pm

This wedding sounds absolutely amazing! Hog roast, 12 desserts, cheese.... Mmmmmm

Definitely not a free bar. My pals.alone would bankrupt me!

Beer pump will be free flow for something like 120 pints

Somewhere to sit when photos are taking place, food/drinks available at the same time.
I have to admit I do enjoy a photo booth but that's because it's so rare I actually get pictures with my husband so it's a good opportunity to have them taken.

Other then that I'm not massively interested in the rest.

A really good live band rather than a DJ

I like a buffet, a bouncy castle and a photo booth.

Sounds lovely! Do away with the glitter bar and invest in lots of blankets instead - guests can wrap themselves in them whilst chatting into the night.

If you can afford live music, get a band - the £200 ish we spent on a live band (2001) was one of the most pricey bits of our reception but was superb.

Plentiful food and drinks. One of the best weddings I went to had a draw your own soda tap and ice machine. Fresh hot tea and coffee bar. Two hours before the end of the festivities a make your own jacket potato and taco station were brought out.

The worst wedding I’ve been to included a long ass Catholic Mass and a venue that had very little seating (only those high bar table thingies that one must be a gymnast to swing their bum up onto)..I was 7 months pregnant and ended up sitting in our car until the call for supper was sounded.

Instead of a completely free bar you could have beer, wine and soft drinks as free but all the other drinks like
Spirits etc must be paid.

Still unsure in the wine

If you don't get wine people will remember, and in a negative way. Loads of people drink wine. Not everyone likes beer or gin as the only alcoholic beverage.

Other than that your wedding sounds fabulous.

I had a s’mores bar outside - we hired a company to do it, in the evening when it got to dusk they lit a sort of long bar of fire (it was gas I think, no horrible smoke!) and people sat around it making s’mores and drinking hot chocolate. That was fun.