Don’t want your hard work to go to waste? Incorporate these finishing touches into your big day and guests will remember the celebrations for years to come, says outdoor event expert, Katherine Hudson from Arabian Tents…
Wish tree
All your guests will want to send you their heart-felt messages and best wishes, and there’s no better way of capturing them all for posterity than on a Wish Tree. Choose one in your garden or venue, or buy or hire one especially for the day, place it in a decorated pot and cover it in red ribbons. Then get your guests to write their wishes for you on tags and attach them to the tree. It’s such a simple, yet effective way of creating a natural wedding feature and allowing your guests to express their love and goodwill. The only thing to remember with this is that bigger is better!
Interactive giant props
Injecting fun and playfulness into your big day is such a winner. With this in mind, we created these giant letters for you to proclaim your love with and this Secret Garden-style ‘door into another world’ – both brilliant backdrops for wedding photographs. “Ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure in introducing to you Mr & Mrs…”
DIY signboards
Creating your own personalised signage is a great way of stamping your personality on the day whilst also injecting a bit of cheeky fun. Whether it’s chalk paint on heart-shaped wooden cut-outs, or painting the name of your own nightclub for disco time, the possibilities are endless.
Create your own accessories
At the reception, hold your own ‘creation station’ where guests can make their own fascinator or buttonhole using some pre-made discs of card mounted on clips or safety pins. Then let them choose from feathers, buttons and trims to create their own decorations to wear, and they can also take them away with them making them a lasting reminder of your wedding day!
Interactive favours
Traditional wedding favours tend to get left behind at the table, so why not make them more interactive and original so that guests can enjoy them right there and then. Some of the best ones are tiny bottles of the happy couple’s favourite tipple to toast them with, or comedy fancy dress accessories like moustaches, sunglasses or stick-on tattoos. Think about items that will add an element of fun to the dinner or break the ice before the wine starts to flow.
DIY photo booth
These are all the rage at the moment, and certainly produce a very amusing set of pictures of your guests. However, rather than an actual booth, our decorative tents lend themselves to setting up an area with polaroid cameras – perhaps in the lounge area of a wedding as they did in the picture below – and let your guests do the rest. Or if you want some help from the professionals, the Pop-Up Photo Parlour can deck you out with props and backdrops. Combine those with those fancy dress favours and you’re already well on your way to an unforgettable party!
Signature after-dinner drink
As an after-dinner tipple, have a friend or two walk around with your favourite after-dinner drink. A signature drink that you or a friend have made always goes down well – homemade sloe gin, vodka or pear wine are perennial favourites. Or you can take it a step further with professional waiters serving a whole range of tequilas in Mexican attire, purveying bespoke tequila shots as well as educating guests in its ingredients, and serving them with a flourish – see ejs-emporium.co.uk for more details.
Bring your own pudding
Not everyone eats pudding but, undeniably, a lot of people love them! Rather than having your caterers serve everyone with dessert, ask your pudding-mad friends to contribute by making their favourite. Then put them all together on a table, or even put them in their own tent, with a note about what it is, who made it, and the ingredients in it. This not only minimises waste, but also gets guests congratulating each other for their pudding prowess and swapping recipes.
First dance confetti
Everyone loves confetti, whether it’s dried rose petals or something more colourful. So why not save the confetti moment for your first dance? As you can see from the picture below, it can make for some amazing first dance photographs.
Midnight treats
If there is a favourite snack that you love, share it with your guests! Like a toast-station brought out at midnight with Marmite or Nutella, a pile of hot Cornish pasties, or mini pots of your favourite ice cream handed round. And for a sinful but satisfying snack, a chip van with your favourite sauces works a treat. Yummy!
For more fun ideas to make your wedding day unforgettable, head back to our Planning section which are full of cool ideas, or check out our Pinterest pages!
