Have the small wedding of your dreams in an outdoor garden.
Many couples dream of the perfect wedding that reflects their individual style and infuses personal touches in their wedding selections. Fortunately, you can create your personalized wedding with unique ideas for your venue, style of invitations, type of ceremony and the reception atmosphere.
Venue
Small weddings provide you with a greater amount of options for your ceremony and reception venues. Choose a quaint option such as a bed and breakfast, or a ranch. Both options provide you with a nice backdrop and are usually much more affordable than a grand ballroom or rental of a mansion estate. An outdoor garden or a winery provides an interesting environment that easily accommodates a small wedding. Hot air balloon packages for weddings are also available. You can have the ceremony on the ground before you take off, or you can opt to have several balloons take the ride together as you complete the nuptials.
Invitations
Forgo the catalog invitations and make them unique by making a different invitation for each guest. For a lavish affair, roll the invitations into scroll holders so your guests can unravel them like they would if they attended a royal wedding.
Vows
Make your vows unique by placing the wedding bands in a bag and pass the bag to each guest. Each guest says a prayer over the rings and then the bride and groom exchange them. This unique idea will make your guests feel like they are an important part in your union. For an even more significant gesture if you are Catholic, send an invitation to the pope along with a donation and he will send you a papal blessing.
Pinata
Have your flower girl, ring bearer and other special child guests make a pinata before the wedding. String it up in the reception hall. Have all of the children gather around the pinata right after your last dance. The children will break the pinata and signify that the celebration is over while they frantically gather the candy.
Photo Booth
Rent a photo booth and place silly props beside it. Guests will enjoy taking funny pictures, and they can place the pictures beside their signatures in your guest book.
Wishing Tree
Place a wishing tree in place of a guest book at your wedding. Have guests write their wishes for your happy union and provide sage advice on a piece of decorative paper with a punched hole at the top. Guests will string ribbon through the hole and tie the papers to the tree branches. With fewer guests, you may not have enough people to fill a book. However, with the wishing tree, you can collect the messages and add them to a frame or scrapbook.
Contests
Rather than pack away extra centerpieces or let flowers wilt, have a contest to provide these items to your guests. Have guests compete in a trivia game about the couple, play musical chairs, play bingo or simply have guests draw numbers. Ask your dj to play a few fast songs and invite the guests to participate in a dance contest. The winner gets the floral arrangement of her choice.
Tags: your guests, ceremony reception, each guest, guest book, Guests will