Weddings are beautiful, but sometimes they all seem to blur together! We’re all familiar with “wedding season,” and most of us spend a good portion of our late twenties and early thirties sitting in pews and folding chairs, watching other people exchange vows. Your love is unique and beautiful, so you want your wedding to stand out. But what can you do with something as traditional as a wedding?
Your wedding is your big day, and only you and your partner have the final say in how it all goes down. With that said, though, here are a few ways to make your wedding stand out from the crowd.
Take your show on the road
You want your wedding to be a memorable event for all of your guests, and one surefire way to accomplish that is to choose a destination wedding. Imagine an Iceland wedding, for instance, with your ceremony framed by the natural waterfalls and glaciers of that stunningly beautiful country. Or perhaps you’ll head down to Patagonia, where stunning mountains create a ruggedly beautiful and entirely unforgettable landscape in the southern part of the South American continent. Or maybe you’ll head to a foreign city, like Paris — a place famous for its romance.
Wherever you go, you’ll transform your wedding into a real vacation for yourself and for your guests. While not everyone will have the time or the money to attend a destination wedding, a carefully planned one can make virtually all your guests happy.
Give your wedding a theme
Theme parties can be fun and goofy, and a themed wedding is the ultimate celebration. A Harry Potter or Star Wars-themed wedding may not be everyone’s cup of tea, of course, but it can be a ton of fun and a great reminder that marriage should be about joy and shared passions, not legalistic procedures and ceremonial pomp.
You’ll have plenty of resources to draw on for a themed wedding. Consider custom themed cakes, table centerpieces, and more. You could even ask your guests to come in costume. Of course, your theme doesn’t have to be a pop culture one — there are plenty of other choices, such as color themes or seasonal themes.
Get married at home
Going big is one way to get people to remember your wedding, but going intimate can also be a delightful way to stand out from the crowd. People are used to heading to churches and big ballrooms for ceremonies and receptions. They’re used to dressing up and dealing with waiters in bow ties. You could keep things chill by getting married in your own home, your parents’ backyard, or anywhere else with enough space for the guests. It’s up to you how casual to make your ceremony, but rest assured that a laid-back backyard wedding will be a welcome break for veteran wedding attendees in the midst of another long wedding season.
Have a field day
Weddings are often de facto multi-day affairs. The happy couple, their parents, and the wedding parties will no doubt have to get to the location early for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Others will be coming from out of town and may get in early, too. So why not get everyone together? Paying for a massive rehearsal dinner may be a bit much, but getting folks together for an outdoor event — like a pre-wedding field day — can be a wonderful way to welcome your guests ahead of the event, give them something fun to do with that pre-wedding down time, and offer them a chance to meet each other. When everyone has spent the day before the wedding competing in sack races, you can bet that folks will be friendlier and more familiar at the reception.
Elope
If you’re at a loss when it comes to wedding planning, remember that you can always choose to get married on your own terms and without any pomp and circumstances. You can go with a classic Vegas elopement, or plan a reception after a private trip to the courthouse, or throw a full wedding later on even though you’ve already sealed the deal legally.
When it comes to weddings, there are many options for you to choose from. Oftentimes, the choices come down to preference and budget, so be sure to consider all options and select the most fitting for your big day.
