Most of us haven’t got an A-lister’s wedding budget, so we’ve recruited wedding planner to the stars, Liz Taylor from Taylor Lynn Corporation to put together some ideas on how you can achieve a celebrity-inspired day for a fraction of the price…
Individual top tables
These have proven popular since the Posh & Becks style wedding thrones. It’s a lovely chance for the couple to enjoy their wedding breakfast together and avoids any issues of family favouritism at the top table.
Feel like a celebrity
There are great opportunities to have paparazzi photographers snap your guests as they enter your reception venue and you can even have your own celebrity magazine cover story created especially to celebrate your big day.
Reflect your personality
Ruth Langsford chose elegant, simple colours for her reception using lots of white linens and crisp green foliage to give a fresh, stylish and modern look. Very much indicative of her personal styling; so you should do likewise and choose to suit your individual tastes. Simple white linen with seasonal flowers is a simple, stylish and less expensive look, which is always elegant.
Unusual transport
Unusual wedding transport is popular with the celebrity set. Jordan’s famous fairy tale carriage is one example, but my clients have arrived at their wedding in high performance sports cars, on a penny farthing, by steam train and even by helicopter. Alan Halsall arrived at his wedding in a bat mobile! So hire a sports car for the day or borrow a friend’s Porsche, and arrive in real style!
Get the ‘Stately’ look
Investigate a local stately home as the venue for the big day. These are popular with celebrities who seek glamour and seclusion. If you’re flexible on your wedding date, take advantage of the quieter wedding season and you could negotiate an affordable deal. Consider planning a wedding ceremony later in the day and just stage one fabulous evening party. It will save on catering a wedding breakfast and means you can spend a bit more on getting the A-list venue.
Adopt a colour scheme
Many football stars ask guests to dress in team colours, so you could incorporate a colour scheme to your wedding – just choose one guests can stick to easily! Black and white is always a good one to use. Looks stylish when you dress the reception room and just as stylish on your guests! For Spring/Summer weddings you could add a splash of colour to this, such as hot pink or lime green to freshen it up a little. The Jubilee saw many red, white & blue weddings!
Celebrity entertainment
Spend big on the entertainment is the best tip I can give. I have worked with clients that have demanded singing superstars as their cabaret artist; we’ve flown in continental bands and top New York DJs for clients. The UK has a wealth of talented tribute artists though, and they are invariably much better value for money than the celebrity themselves! Or look to TV shows such as X Factor and BGT – some of their artists can make a great focal point to the entertainment, imagine having the One Pound Fish man singing at your big day!
Go wild!
Many celebrities have outrageous lifestyles and creative jobs, so when it comes to the wedding they think BIG. We have planned wacky and wild events that are heavily styled to the client’s likes, lifestyle and passions. A Formula One wedding springs to mind, grooms arriving on Harley Davidson motorbikes, a 1000 seat marquee dressed with circus performers, and for one actress, we built a life size sleeping beauty castle for her reception to fulfil her childhood dreams.
Cater like a celebrity
The champagne wedding party can be created with a good prosecco or kir royale, using sparkling wine instead of champagne, followed by some creative catering. Lose the roast chicken and opt for contemporary Asian food, sushi or fun food stations around your reception room offering high quality ‘fast foods’ such as cones of hot fish and chips. Fun, tasty and just the type of creative catering that celebrities love.
Oversized cakes
Celebrities love huge wedding cakes, so choose a fabulous base layer for your cake and then have two or three ‘dummy’ layers made and iced in exactly the same style. No one will ever know that the entire cake isn’t real! Or choose something like cupcakes, which can be iced to look opulent, classic, stylish or just fun. Towers of these cakes can create a really dramatic look.
