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Personal touches to make the wedding unique?

amg8amg8
First Comment
in New York-Western
Hi everyone,

Just wondering if anyone was doing (or already did) anything at your ceremony or reception that was kind of unique--like a choreographed dance at the reception or involving an unsual idea for the guest book or escort cards?  I have been to SO many weddings in the last few years and I am looking for details to include that will help to personalize our day and help spice up some of the traditions a little.

One idea I read that I was considering was skipping the bouquet toss (which I was going to do anyway because I don't have a lot of single friends and I think those who are single would be very embarrassed to do it, as always was) and instead making a bouquet out of something else--lottery tickets or restaurant gift cards or something else gender-neutral) and inviting everyone up to catch it. It might be kind of cheesy, but I think it would be fun.

Anyway, does anyone have fun ideas that you'd like to share?

Alison
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Re: Personal touches to make the wedding unique?

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    AeroStyleAeroStyle member
    First Comment
    edited January 2012
    I didn't like the idea of a plain guest book because I know I won't look at it more than twice. Instead we had each person sign a wine cork which I'm going to use as a border on a mirror to hang in our house. There were some people that didn't sign  then which I expected but that's ok. There's people who don't sign a regular guest book.
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    rswansrswans
    First Comment First Anniversary
    I also don't like a normal guest book, so I'm planning on getting a guest book platter. You can find them easily online (one example is  http://www.thesignatureplace.com/  )with different sizes to fit the number of people you have coming. You can also customize what you have on the platter- pictures, names, the date, etc.  You just bake it afterwords and I figure it'll be great for big family/friend dinners.

    My fiance and I are also big into sports, so we're planning on doing table numbers based on the numbers of some of the most important players in Buffalo (me) and Pittsburgh (him) sports history. We're thinking of using the player's sports cards inside of a case with the guest's name as escort cards, but it's a still a long way off so we haven't completely sorted it out yet. 

    I'm definitely still looking for more fun ways to customize it too!
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    degreadegrea member
    First Comment
    Here are a few things I did for my wedding:

    Ceremony was pretty traditional church ceremony, The only special touch was one of our reading was from a Nicholas Sparks book, my favorite author.

    Reception:
    -Tent card- They were paper tulips. The leaf of the tulip told you table number and the meal you ordered. I stuck a yellow sticker for those with allergies.
    -Guest book- It was a photobook I made one on picabook. It was about 20 pages and people commented on how much they liked it.
    -Table Names- All the tables were named after building or things at Clarkson University where H and me meet.


    Honestly girls any of the personal touches or details that you put into the day, most people aren't going to notice or remember. So please don't freak if something doesn't go as planned.
    To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the pessimist, the glass is half empty. To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be. - Unknown Why is electricity so expensive these days? Why does it cost so much for something I can make with a balloon and my hair? - Dennis Miller
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    mrszeno34mrszeno34
    First Comment
    I want to put fun, personal touches into the day as well, but trying to balance that out with keeping the budget under control sometimes is the hard part!  I agree with degrea, probably a lot of things the guests wouldn't really notice, or would just say "oh cute!" and never think of it again.  those things, i'm trying to skip...
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    LarissaBLarissaB
    First Comment
    I agree with not really caring for a traditional guest book as I'll never look at it again.  We had a very small ceremony/reception for immediate family and close friends and then my parents threw us a party to celebrate the marriage with my whole family and she wanted us to do some sort of guestbook (it was the only "weddingy" thing at the party).  So for the wedding we did the picture matte and now have it hanging on our wall with a wedding photo in it.  For the party we ended up doing a fingerprint tree which I loved and is hanging on our wall.   While I was very familiar with the idea from surfing so many wedding website, my family had never seen or heard of something like it before and kept complimenting me on my creativity and fun.

    We are also really big into games so we did paddle fan programs where oneside was the program and the other side was a crossword puzzle.   We also created a few trivial pursuit style cards for all the tables.  Our guests love trying to see who knew us more.  We were even approached for a tie breaker question ;)

    Our ceremony was totally personalized as we wrote it all and incorporated a handfasting unity ceremony and did a time capsule (all of our guests brought something to add to the box and we added love letters to it during the ceremony, the box we'll open on our 10th anniversary)

    But like others said don't go too crazy as unless it directly involves the guest interacting with it (game cards, puzzles, guestbook, table names/place cards)  most won't even notice small details
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    aimeek420aimeek420
    First Comment
    Just a few for now, nothing major, but they're "us":

    -my best friend from high school is playing the violin during our ceremony.
    -we're taking pictures of us at landmarks around Buffalo, and those will be our table numbers, along with where it was taken (i.e. Table 2, Albright-Knox).
    -playing original songs written by my fiance for his college band at the reception.
    -no garter/bouquet toss, an anniversary dance instead.

    More to come, I'm sure, as our wedding isn't until October and we have lots of planning time.
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    gymbugmj2kgymbugmj2k member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary First Comment
    we're picking music that is more 'us' and less 'wedding' -- for example, we're going to ask that before the DJ picks a typical "wedding" song like 'we are a family', that he instaed play a 90s throwback song that we can all laugh/sing/dance to.

    most of the other 'personal' touches are going to be the fact that we're decorating the reception with our engagement photos.  we have SO many we liked from our shoot, and its a shame that only 4 or 5 have been seen so far!  we have a couple of us in sabres jersey's that we'll put up by the bar.... and each table will have a photo on the back of the table number.

    FI's aunt gave us a guestbook and it's a plain lined one -- i'm going to put some Ephotos in it and make it more scrapbook-like, so that people are more compelled to write messages and wishes instead of their names. =)

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    jessicak13jessicak13
    First Comment
    I love LarissaB's ideas: The fingerprint tree can be so beautiful (especially if you use ink in the color of your wedding) & then hang in your home. But it doesn't have to be a fingerprint tree, it could be fingerprint balloons, flowers, etc.. I also absolutely love the idea of the time capsule!!! 

    As for another guestbook idea you could go to one of the many sites that let you upload pictures to create books. Upload pictures of the both of you or you engagement photos, but leave space for them to write stuff.

    A unique thing could be a DIY photobooth. Check out this website for 3 VERY easy, affordable ideas: http://www.weddingwindow.com/blog/2010/01/01/diy-photo-booths-for-weddings/

    Check out Pinterest.com - I signed up (its free) searched wedding and found tons of DIY tutorials and inspiration. Plus you can save everything you like and arrange them into categories. Its where I got 99% of all my ideas and its pratically my look-book. 

    Hope I could help some! :]
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    Tandra&DevinTandra&Devin
    First Comment
    That's not cheesy. It's very considerate and sounds like a lot of fun besides. Congrats  and have fun with it!
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