Your wedding, on account of being an exciting celebration of love, will definitely be entertaining, no matter what you do. But sometimes, a few little extra touches can really elevate the atmosphere, and help to create unforgettable moments and even take-home treats for you and your guests.
If you’re stuck for special, above-and-beyond wedding ideas, look no further. Here are some of our favourite ways to absolutely spoil your loved ones.
Image by Herschel Gutman, from Dorit and Eli’s Israeli wedding
1. Flower station
One trend that seems to be particularly prevalent in Israeli weddings (see Dorit and Eli’s florally fabulous big day) is the somewhat whimsical and magical idea of a flower station. Your florist could set up a stall with buckets of fresh flowers, where your guests can adorn themselves with custom-crafted flower crowns and bracelets.
Not only is this a great way to keep your guests entertained, but also perfect for photographs, as everyone will be decked out with floral accessories.
2. Photo booth
Whether you go all out on a professional booth, or decide to DIY it (here is one of our favourite Etsy customizable photo booth backdrops), you can’t go wrong with a photo booth. Guests absolutely love grabbing a silly prop and taking some fun, lighthearted snaps.
The best bit? They’re so beautifully shareable online after the big day – and show a whole other side to the atmosphere to the official pics, as everyone has their guard down.
Oh, and if you have a printable booth, or a polaroid camera, you can create a guest book for your nearest and dearest to stick in their best booth snaps and write you a message underneath.
3. Lawn games
For a summer wedding, why not take advantage of the nice weather (unless you live in the UK, of course!) and set up a series of games in an outdoor area of your venue?
Etsy has a wonderful range available, including giant Jenga, bucket ball, croquet, Yardzee, and our personal favourite, this almost-too-pretty-to-play bottle ring toss game. Gorgeous!
From founder of Smashing The Glass, Karen Cinnamon’ wedding by Earthy Photography
4. Personal notes for every guest
This idea is stolen straight from my own Jewish wedding! We knew we wouldn’t have a lot of time to talk to everyone on the day, so we spent some time before the wedding writing personal notes to everyone at the wedding which we then had printed underneath their names on their menus / name cards. It took a bit of time but we really wanted each and every guest to realise how much we wanted them there and what they meant to us.”
5. Wedding mad libs
Wedding mad libs is a fun game your guests can play while waiting for their meal to arrive, but it’s also a great opportunity for your nearest and dearest to impart some loving words of wisdom and advice. We love these customizable cards from Etsy, which you can treasure, with your guests’ answers to guide you, for the rest of your married life.
6. Conversational ice breakers
Bringing together big groups of people who haven’t met before can be a little daunting. If you think your guests might need a little help getting the conversation started, try leaving these adorable Etsy wedding ice breakers on the tables, and they’ll be gabbing away in no time.
7. Wedding speech bingo
Let’s face it – while we LOVE a good wedding speech, they can sometimes take up a sizeable chunk of the evening. Rather than passively listening, have your guests interact with the content with these wedding speech bingo cards! Spice up proceedings with a prize for the first person to shout “bingo!”
8. Personalized activity books
Perfect for entertaining kids (and big kids), these personalized activity books will give your guests something to do in quieter moments – don’t forget to provide pencils or coloring-in pens!
How are you planning to entertain your wedding guests? Are you tempted to indulge in one of the ideas above? Let’s chat in the comments below!
