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AIBU?

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Original poster

to ask what little touches you added ?

71 replies

danker126 · 30/09/2014 23:13

Im trying to plan my wedding and thinking what little things you added ? Like baskets in the bathrooms with sprays and bobbles? Flip flops for all the sore feet? Do you ladies have any other ideas i can steal :)

OP posts:
ProfYaffle · 01/10/2014 09:05

Ooh, presciousbane what a fabulous idea! Wish I could have done that but only started on my family tree a few years after we got married.

TinyTear · 01/10/2014 09:05

we had bubbles and yo-yos for the kids... and grown-ups...

APotNoodleandaTommy · 01/10/2014 09:06

We had a magician doing close up magic for the boring bit post ceremony before the meal. He was dressed like a regular guest so it kinda snuck up on people. Two more couples at or wedding have booked him for theirs! We also had someone making balloon animals/shapes for the kids which again was popular and copied by friends

FriendlyLadybird · 01/10/2014 09:28

Instead of disposable cameras on the tables, you can now get wedding-pic-sharing apps so that people can take pictures on their phones and upload them instantly to an online gallery. I didn't do this (cameras barely out of the brick stage when I got married) but someone I know got married recently and used one of these. It was ace.

KnitFastDieWarm · 01/10/2014 10:03

  1. Little pots of Playdough for kids at their places at the table instead of favours - kept them entertained for most of the meal and well into the speeches! And it's not (too) messy and encourages them to sit still at least for a few minutes...

  2. jam jars full of sweets as a centerpiece - we had lots of traditional Scottish sweeties like granny sookers which went down very well with the (largely scottish) older generation

  3. our tables were named after Scottish islands (anyone sense a theme here?) - we got some lovely old maps professionally printed and framed and then had them in the centre of each table

  4. A ceilidh is a bit cheesy but a great way to get everyone up and dancing - watching my 86 year old gran dancing away with a particularly flamboyant gay friend of ours was a memory I won't forget in a hurry Grin

Have a wonderful wedding! Relax, remember it's just a party, and above all enjoy every second of having so many people who love you and your partner, from all different strands of your lives so far, all in the same room Smile

LoopyLoopyLoopy · 01/10/2014 10:09

We did lots of things, but one that went down well was a little bag for each child with a disposable camera, nice pencil and ticklist of things we wanted pics of, eg. best shoes, something shiny, happy face etc, someone eating, someone drinking etc.

pluCaChange · 01/10/2014 10:23

Actually, my advice would be not to get hung up on wedding favours ir extra activities. You don't want too much fuss, too much choreography. Get good, solid basics: food, drink, music. Take your time over table combinations, maybe include local infirmation woth your guest infirmation. Too many twiddly bits can really waste your time, attention, and money.

YourMaNoBraBackOfMyCar · 01/10/2014 11:03

We found out every guests favourite song and the dj played it and dedicated it to them from us. I thought it was a daft idea but everyone was thrilled when they got a shout out. :o

Greenfizzywater · 01/10/2014 11:06

Disposable cameras are great, though we had 7 year old bridesmaids and had an entire film that was pictures of the front of the bridesmaids dress as she had held the camera the wrong way round.....!

minipie · 01/10/2014 11:40

We didn't do any extras. Spent the money on lovely food and booze and a decent DJ instead. We did sausage sarnies at 11pm, not sure if that counts as an extra. There weren't really any children though - I think you do need something to entertain dc if you will have a few.

Extras that I've seen at other weddings that were worth it:

  • Photo booth - but .
  • Silly sunglasses/hats to wear/pass round (for the later stages)
  • Photos of the couple in the past/as children - either on the table or a separate display
  • Ceilidh or band - IF the venue suits and your guests are the right sort

Extras that definitely weren't worth it (IMO)

  • Favours in general (except for the home made pork pies, they were great)
  • Toiletries in the loo
  • Too many decorative bits on the table
pluCaChange · 01/10/2014 13:05

Oh, oh! Favours on the table! I was at a reception once, at which the sparkly beads scattered around the drinks glasses caused Mass Spillage. Worst poncy decoration ever. MUCH better was a different reception I went to (these aren't all wedding receptions, by the way) at which there were gold flakes in the vodka. Yes, no unnecessary spillage, and they literally sent their guests home shitting gold! Grin

CPtart · 01/10/2014 13:26

We had individual photos of each guest at their place instead of named cards. Chose the most embarrassing ones we could find, some going back years. Most people took it well!

dinodiva · 01/10/2014 13:29

We had a polaroid guestbook - people then stuck it in a book and wrote a message. It was nice to have some truly awful and very funny pictures of people to offset the lovely official ones.

We hung photos of ourselves as children/babies up the aisle rather than having flowers. With a load of those cheap white frames from ikea and coloured ribbon it looked really nice and a bit different.

Also, we had truly awesomely bad cheesy classic second song to make sure that everyone took to the dancefloor.

TurboTheChicken · 01/10/2014 13:35

I had two fruit trees in pots at our reception, one was decorated with wedding photos of all of the married guests - provided a talking point! The other had luggage tags for people to write messages on and tie to the tree. They looked very pretty and after the wedding we planted the trees in our garden.

We also did a wedding quiz, how well do you know the bride/groom thing - multiple choice questions split into childhood, teenage, single life and courting. We had the quiz in an envelope on the table, I think it was a great ice-breaker.

TurboTheChicken · 01/10/2014 13:40

A friend of mine did a very funny guidebook for her guests, photos of everyone, their background and relationship to the bride/groom. It was hilarious and actually quite handy.

Bardette · 01/10/2014 14:22

We had people blowing bubbles as we walked up the aisle, it was lovely :) My friend walked up the aisle to Space Odyssey with dry ice which was amazing. We had emergency supplies in a basket in the toilets: hair grips and bands, paracetamol and nurofen, plasters - I've no idea if any of it was used!

marmaladegranny · 01/10/2014 15:10

My DD had a couple of different ideas at her wedding - the 'place cards' on the tables at the reception were pebbles harvested/ liberated from a beach that meant a lot to DD and her OH. Her DS wrote the names on the pebbles using silver marker pen and a pen that matched the bridesmaids' dresses.
In place of a guest book DD acquired a large unglazed platter from a 'paint your own pottery' company, together with a couple of the appropriate pens. Her DS wrote the date and bride and groom's names around the rim and guests signed the platter. After the wedding the platter was glazed and fired and is now displayed in their lounge where it causes much interest!

Youvegotthelove · 01/10/2014 16:32

We had:

  • Roll up ballerina pumps in a selection of sizes in a basket in the ladies toilets
  • Polaroid camera next to the guest book (funny to see people getting more and more drunk as the evening progressed!)
  • Jar of mints in the bathrooms
  • Each table had to guess the length of the speeches and the winning table got two bottles of champagne
  • Sparklers for everyone at the end of the night
  • Giant cookies handed out at the end of the night (soaked up excess booze!)
  • Gift bags in the rooms of guests staying at local hotels, with a bottle of water, sweets, paracetamol, crisps, a Lindt chocolate reindeer (was a Xmas wedding), a miniature Original Source shower gel and and a mini bottle of wine/can of spirit and mixer (to finish up the night and to cope with the next morning)
  • A choice of Baileys or port after dessert was served
  • Jars of pic n'mix on a table in the bar area

Seemed a lot of hassle and expense at the time but it's the little things that people commented on at the time and still remember now

INeedSomeHelp · 01/10/2014 16:37

We had fish & chips for the evening buffet in little newspaper cones. Except the newspaper was printed with photos and stories about H and I.

momb · 01/10/2014 16:49

We used table games in the middle of the tables (cards, jengas, dominoes etc) and people could take them home instead of favours. We had a hamper full of pashminas for when the evening became cool. We did bathroom baskets, a sweetie buffet, a selfie corner with masks and hats so people could take their own picture and send it to us. Apart from the main cake we had loads of cupcakes too and little boxes for people to take the cakes home. We provided transport so i think there was a cupcake picnic on the buses back!
We didn't have a flipflop basket as we opted for a ceilidh in the evening and flipflops would have been more dangerous than bare feet.

Congratulations on your engagement.

trice · 01/10/2014 16:55

I had sparklers. I love sparklers.

SweetTeaVodka · 01/10/2014 17:16

We had board games for adults who didn't want to dance and games and toys for the children also. The kids had a whale of a time and the favourite among the adults were the packs of cards and poker chips. The kids had Jenga, Hungry Hippos etc. and inexpensive things like wind up toys.

Our favours were seeds of the flowers in my bouquet.

Instead of a guest book we had a "Wedding Tree". We purchased from Etsy a PDF of a tree trunk with our names and the date below it, got it printed at Staples and provided 3 ink pads in different shades of green. The wedding party were prepped to get all the guests to leave their thumb or fingerprint as one of the leaves and sign their name beside it. Made for a lovely piece of artwork for the home. I've since seen this done at other weddings with a hot air balloon instead of a tree.

A friend had a ceramic plate to be signed instead of a guest book which was sent around the tables during the speeches.

YoYoYooooo · 01/10/2014 17:18

I honestly can't think of any 'extras' at all. No favours, no official photographer, no guest books, no theme, no little special sentimental things Nothing! ... However, we had great food and drink and wonderful company. I found the simplicity really romantic and special.

I find that the 'extra's' can be a bit twee and hammy. Sometimes it feels like people are putting on a show rather than a wedding. Having said that im a firm believer that everyone should do whatever suits them Smile
Congrats on your wedding. I hope you have a fantastic day Thanks

Bulbasaur · 01/10/2014 17:36

We had these cheap little digital cameras that could take pictures and record videos on every table. We got some funny footage, but we also got to see how other people were enjoying the wedding.

Vycount · 01/10/2014 17:40

I didn't think anyone would keep "keepsakes". I think people appreciated the free bar.
Please, don't do fuckin' chinese lanterns...