The following ideas come from Colin Cowie, celebrity event planner, author, and Brides.com wedding expert. Here are his top ten tips on personalizing your wedding!
1. Pick a picture of you and your groom, and use it on your save-the-date notice. Whether your send it by email or snail-mail, a personalized save-the-date won’t be forgotten.
2. That’s my menu! Instead of a place card at each place setting, have a printed menu that’s personalized with the guest’s name on top.
3. Fun with table names: Instead of plain old numbers, let each table express about yourself, for example your favorite cities, favorite authors, or favorite wines.
4. I’m a fan… For an outdoor summer wedding, hand out paper fans that are personalized with your names and wedding date.
5. I’ll drink to that! Celebrate your friends and family by offering a series of signature cocktails named after each of the bridesmaids and groomsmen.
6. Dance floor: When it comes time to hit the dance floor, have a gobo made with the bride and groom’s initials projected onto the dance floor.
7. Slide show: Set up a screen or computer monitor where you can show pictures of the wedding at the day-after brunch. (Even better, I’ve seen such a thing done at the wedding itself! At some point the photographer took a break and uploaded pictures for the guests to see at the wedding itself!)
8. Party favor: Have a CD made with images of your wedding available for your friends to take home as wedding favors at the end of the night.
9. Wedding music favor: Make a CD with the music played at your wedding, including the ceremony, reception, and party. Place a pile of CD’s on a table for guests to pick up as they depart. Or if you want to be sneaky about it, give the CD’s to your valet parkers to place in each car.
10. Personalized decorations: Instead of a traditional sign in book, have your guests write a message on ribbons that are then tied to the ceremony area. The ribbon can be collected and saved as a memento for years to come. (If you will be using a chuppah, a similar idea is to have each guest write a message and decorate a square of cloth. They will have to do this in advance– perhaps send it with their response card– and the squares can all be sewn together to create the chuppah.)
Read more: Brides.com