This is probably my favourite topic to talk about when helping couples plan their weddings, it's how to make your wedding personal! It can be so easy to fall into the trap of planning each part of the wedding but leaving out all the personal touches that make you and your partner who you are!
This truly is the part of wedding planning I feel in love with, I love making weddings and events personal to the couple and learning all about them. It's thinking about all the little details you can add to make it about you, the person / people behind the wedding and to make your wedding stand out so your guests remember those little moments when they leave.
So I've got 7 ways to help you make your day personal, so let's jump on in...
'These little details will make it just that little bit more special'
Ceremony
It's so easy to forget or not include personal details in the ceremony when this part of the day is so structured, but believe me, you can still add your personality into it! Remember this part is what your wedding day is all about!
So how can you make it personal?
If you decide to have a non-religious celebrant on the day of the wedding (and have had the legal ceremony before) then this is usually super personal and the celebrant will find out all about you as a couple, you can then structure the ceremony however you wish. You can chose your own readings and who reads them, if you'd like hymns or songs sung, what music you'd like played and who walks down the aisle first etc.
If you chose a religious ceremony, depending on your religion, then this might not be able to be as personal and will be more structured, but you can choose different hymns and who reads the readings.
If you are having a Civil ceremony then you have slightly more flexibility than a religious ceremony, you can chose if you want hymns, if you want readings, what they are and who reads them, who walks down the aisle first and what music you'd like playing.
Just really think about it and make as much of it personal to you! You don't have to walk down the aisle to the traditional wedding march music, you can walk down to whatever you want!
Decor
Now I've touched on this a lot but a way to make your wedding personal is your choice of decor, it's the colour scheme you choose or the theme you want to go for.
Perhaps you love art deco so want to incorporate that into the design, your favourite colours might be blue and white so you want this for your florals, you might want something thats timeless, elegant and romantic, you might have Scottish heritage so what to include thistles or some tartan touches whatever that might be it's going to be personal to you.
Hobbies
This third way might sound odd as it's not where you can add it but what you can add. One of the first things I ask my couples is what are their hobbies and interests, I send out a questionnaire asking things like 'how did you meet', 'how did you get engaged', 'what are your hobbies and interests', 'what do you like doing together', 'any special places/moments/dates' from this I can then work how this part of their personality can be pulled through into the wedding, if they want to do that!
So ask yourselves these questions and then look at ways you can add them in. It could be that your huge football fans of a specific team and want to use their team colours as your colour scheme or you might be musicians so what to create a table plan on sheet music, the possibilities are endless but try to add these touches so your guests go 'wow that's so Sarah & Tom'.
What Makes You, You?
Another way to add personal elements in is to think about what makes you, you. So similar to the hobbies but what are you known for as a couple? What do you love to do as a couple? What's important to you as a couple?
For example if you're huge foodies, this part of the day is going to be super important to you so make sure the food offering reflects what you like to eat! Do you have favourite restaurant or favourite ingredient? Are you obsessed with cheese and don't like cake, then have a cheese tower wedding cake instead! Do you have a favourite cocktails or soft drinks, if yes, then make sure to include them!
You might both love travelling so you could pull this into lots of different areas such as the food, the drinks, the music or you could have the table names as the places you've travelled to. Do you both love music and go to lots of festivals or gigs? Then incorporate this into your wedding, you might want it to feel like an open mic night and have a few different bands playing throughout the day, you could have the table names as the bands you've seen or festivals you've been to.
Make your wedding ABOUT YOU!
Table Names
I know i've already mentioned them but Table Names is a really good way of adding personality, don't just go for numbers, think outside the box! Go for something simple or slightly wacky it's completely up to you.
You could base your table names on your favourite films, your favourite songs, musicals you've been to, sports you both love to play, your favourite restaurants or food, favourite artists or art pieces etc!
Music
Again, I know I've touched on this slightly throughout the blog but think about what music you want throughout the day, make this personal to you and make your guests go YES! this reminds me of them!
It might be certain songs that are special to the both of you that you use for your walking down the aisle song or your first dance song, but there could also be songs that remind you of certain memories with your guests from the hen or stag do, birthdays, holidays etc.
Also then think about the style you want, you both might like jazz so want that playing in the background during the wedding breakfast or you both might like Ibiza chilled music and want that during the reception, you might both love drum and bass so want the DJ to add some of those songs in or you love Indie bands and want that type of band as your evening entertainment, like I keep saying the possibilities are endless so make it personal to you!
Food
I have also touched on this briefly as well, but the food and drink is a super important part of the day. Don't feel pressured to stick with what the caterer has offered you, try to get them to push the boundaries and offer something that you're going to enjoy eating.
For example, you do not have to have a 3 course sit down meal, you could have sharing style or you could have a buffet, you could even have food stations and a bbq if you really wanted! Then think about what food you want, is pizza your absolute favourite food, do you want touches of asian cuisine as you both went backpacking in Asia, do you love steak and chips and want that for your wedding breakfast, really think about if you want to add personality into the food and how you could do that.
You don't have to pull your personality into all aspects of the food, it could just be in the wedding breakfast or it could just be in the late night snack whatever you'd like to do.
These are the moments that make your day memorable not only for you but for your guests as well. You could do all of these or just some of them, it's totally up to you, but remember all yours guests are there for you so make it about YOU!
These little details will make it just that little bit more special.
Happy Planning
Lauren xx
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Photos by 1, 2 & 4. Sophie Duckworth Photography, 3. James Davidson
