While your wedding day, and the months leading up to the big event, can be one of the best and most exciting times of a person’s life, it can also cause a lot of stress. It’s easy to be caught up in the wedding traditions that may be expected of us, but couples nowadays are paving the way for a less traditional affair. While you may want to wear a white dress, you can opt for a two-piece, where you have a top and a skirt; you can also get married anywhere, meaning if you want to tie in the knot in a barn, you can (and you’d be incredibly fashionable doing so).
If you don’t want to lose your personality in your wedding, be it the pressure of your family wanting one thing and you another, here are fun and simple ways you can ensure your wedding is catered to you and your partner alone.
Select a Unique Venue
Nowadays a lot of people opt for a wedding outside of the walls of a church, and so if you’re not religious, there are plenty of options for you to consider. Step one is deciding whether you want to be inside, outside or both! Having a forest wedding can be ethereal, while a rustic cabin in the woods can offer a humble and intimate setting. For a more lavish affair, you could look at manor houses or large country estates. Take your time when deciding, as you could have a wedding in a haunting ruin, in a movie theater or even in a treehouse. When it comes to your wedding venue, the world is your oyster, so be sure to explore every option.
The Dress
While you’ll want to ensure your dress fits your body shape and looks stunning, you’ll also want to be comfortable in the garment. After all, you have to wear this for the whole day, so there’s little point in being uncomfortable. However, remember that there are plenty of options, and you don’t have to settle with the norm.
As previously mentioned, you could have a co-ord wedding outfit, but you could also wear an outfit that isn’t white at all (rose gold is still reigning supreme), or if you don’t enjoy dresses, you don’t have to wear a dress at all! A suit, playsuit or even jumpsuit can be great alternatives to the wedding dress.
The Groomsmen
The usual black suit can be dull, and so many grooms wish to wear something that stands out more, with their own personality shining through. Of course, no groom should upstage the bride, but this doesn’t mean they should fade into the background. There are many subtle ways the groom can improve their outfits.
Opt for a colored suit: you could wear a light pink suit, or if you’re marrying in the Fall, a thicker material such as tweed can look wonderful and edgy. Knitted ties are still considered fashionable, as are suspenders and bowties. Of course, if you’re after something more classical with a twist, then an electric blue suit can strike a balance between traditional and something quirky. For the groomsmen, you could offer wedding gifts such as funky pocket squares that represent each of them, which you can then have them wear them during the wedding.
Flower Arrangements
Do the usual bouquet of flowers bore you? Are you desperate to add some oomph to the flower displays you’re hoping to include? If so, ditch the flower bouquet for something more fun and striking. Have you and your bridesmaids hold natural and earthy alternatives, which include pine cones, herbs, and even wheat, or replace fresh flowers entirely with paper or fabric flowers instead. For those getting married in the coming Fall, you could even replace your bouquets with ones made from autumnal fruits, such as berry bouquets.
Brighten Up Your Wedding Photos
We all want to capture the many great moments that’ll happen at our wedding, but for brides or grooms who want to go the extra mile, you can add flair to your big day by using wedding sparklers from Bride Envy, which will add radiance to your wedding photos. You could bring in other wedding props, such as giant balloons, or when nighttime approaches, light up the most picturesque part of your wedding venue with lanterns and candles so that you can capture some atmospheric photos.
Ditch the Sit Down Meal
A three-course meal is a usual affair for a wedding, but this can seem a bit stiff for a more casual bride and groom. Liven up the wedding by having food bars available, where you could have a cheese and fruit station, a DIY prosecco bar, or even a vintage style afternoon tea, where the teapots are filled with playful cocktails like long island iced tea or a classic G&T. If you have a pile of ready-to-go s’more and a firepit available, your wedding guests are going to be more than happy.
The Cake
The naked wedding cake is still favorable, but it’s time to think outside the box. Geometric cakes are proving popular, as well as block color cakes decorated in bursts of colorful flowers. For a more unusual but classical design, watercolor cakes with an otherworldly scene (flowers, butterflies, etc.) can be a lovely idea, but for something edgier, you could have a plain white cake with neo-traditional tattoo designs painted on the layers; they could even spell “true love,” with the stereotypical ribbon, swallows, roses and love hearts.
Of course, if you’re after a naked wedding cake, you can make it your own by decorating it with unusual fruit, or even succulents made from frosting. You could even have each tier of the cake a different and unique flavor. For spring or summer, pink champagne, banoffee, hazelnut, almond or key lime cake would be refreshing. Autumn or winter weddings call for home comforts, with rich chocolate, ginger spice, caramel apple and honey-soaked cardamom cake sure to be big winners.