Traci's
Favorite "Unique" Ideas
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- Guestbook Alternatives:
- Have guest
take a polaroid of themself, and then attach it to a guestbook or scrapbook
and write a message next to it. This way, you get a picture of everyone
who attended your wedding.
- Have a wishing
tree... Each guest writes a message/wish on a piece of cardstock and
attaches it to the branch of the tree.
- At each place
setting at the reception, leave a small piece of paper. Each guest
may write out a message and deposit it in a bowl or box, or what have
you, for you and your partner to later view.
- Attach small
envelopes to the pages of the scrapbook/guestbook and each guest can
write a message and insert the card and seal the envelope.
- Have a picture
of you and your partner matted and guest can sign the matted portion
of the picture, and later, have it framed.
- Have a ceramic "guest plate".. Provide ceramic markers
that guests can sign the plate with, and the bride and groom can later
have the plate glazed for use at special dinners, or for display.
- Have each guest write a special note, which is then collected
and placed into a container of some sort. The bride and groom will open
the container and read the notes on their first anniversary- the Paper
Anniversary.
- The Bowl of Blessings:
- Each quest is given a marble or small stone at the beginning
of the ceremony. At a point in the ceremony, have an attendant or selected
reader instruct the guests to hold the marble/stone in thier hand and
think of a blessing they would like to bestow on the couple. The marbles/stones
are then collected and placed into the bowl of blessings. Serves as a
neat reminder of the love surrounding that special day.
- Instead of traditional escort/placecards, have tiny lit votive
candles with names and table numbers somehow adhered to them, or lying
near them on the display table. Guest can carry their votive candles to
their place setting, setting an ambiance of romance with all the little
lights glowing everywhere.
- Have a member of the bridal party or the family light an
oil lamp from the Unity Candle. This person must keep this oil lamp
lit until the bride and groom come back from the honeymoon.
- If you don't want to do the typical bridal party/parent dances,
consider dedicating Natalie Merchant's "Kind and Generous" to the parents
and party members, or to the guests in general.
- Table Numbers:
- Get Black and White Photographs taken of you and your partner
and develop them as 5 x7's, or larger. Then place each photo on one of
those affordable metal stands and set one on each table. You probably will
still have to use a numbering system, but at least the display will be
different.
- Put pictures
of you and your fiancé of each table card and perhaps include
a short description of when that picture was taken and why it is an
important picture.
- Name each table
with a song lyric from your first dance song
- Name each table
after a love song, or any song in general that you two enjoy
- Name each table after a poem and include the poem as the
table marker
- Post ceremony or before or during the reception, give each
guest a balloon - each attached with a self-addressed, stamped postcard
stating your wedding date and your names and the location of your wedding
(i.e. August 2, 2003 ~ Jen and John pledged their love to each other in
Anytown, Anystate) and a request to the finder of the balloon to send the
postcard back with the location found, so as to see how far the balloon
traveled.
- Have an "Advice Dance" instead of the Dollar Dance... Provide
pads of paper and pencils/pens on each table at the reception. Have the
best man, or anyone making a toast, invite the guests to write marital
advice for the couple. Then during the Advice Dance, the guest could hand
over the slip of advice rather than the traditional dollar. Collect the
notes and look back on them for all the years to follow.
- Groomsmen: Serenade the bride, preferably with "You've Lost
that Loving Feeling"
- During the couple's first dance, guests can either blow bubbles
or light sparklers to create a neat atmosphere while the couple dances.
- In Scottish Tradition, a horeshoe symbolizes good luck. A
toddler often hands a horseshoe to the bride as she leaves the church with
her husband.
- Pin some sort of significant jewelry to the inside of your
dress, or outside of it, or the bouquet... whatever! One bride pinned
a locket her parents had given her when she was a young girl to the dress
and included pictures of her and her partner in it. My idea: My Aunt Pat
brought me back an angel necklace from Mexico to symbolize the loss of
my brother. I bring that necklace with me every road trip I take, and I
wear it whenever I am having a hard time. I will be somehow entwining the
necklace around my bouquet as one way of including my brother on my special
day.
- Display pictures of your parent's weddings, and if desired,
grandparents as well. Show the legacy of love that surrounds you and your
partner on the special day.
- As you and your partner leave the reception, have guests
line the path with sparklers or glowing candles... A very nice send-off...
- Have each mother of the couple pick their favorite flower
and somehow incorporate their selections into some sort of element of the
ceremony and/or reception.
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