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Wedding

8 Unexpected Ideas for a Completely Unique Oxford Wedding

Want to create a wedding reception that everyone will remember? The key is to look after the small details, and build a wedding that is perfectly suited to your style and personality. Whether you are having your wedding reception in an Oxfordshire country hotel or a stylish urban restaurant, you can make it a wedding no one forgets by incorporating some of these interesting and fun ideas.

  1. Give Some Stylish Welcome Bags

You can make all the guests that travel from across the country feel like VIPs in Oxford by providing them with their very own, Hollywood-style welcome bags. Include a few mini bottles of bubbly or some beer, some snacks, and a welcome note from the bride and groom, along with all the details about the timing of the event and where to go.

  1. Create a Wedding Lounge

Give guests space and peace to relax during the party by creating a special area with sofas, soft music, and some snacks. You can even enclose the area with curtains, VIP style.

  1. Serve Pre-Ceremony Cocktails

If you are having a late civil ceremony then serve guests a drink beforehand. Offer a light, mildly alcoholic punch or a classy fruit cocktail, and don’t forget to provide a non-alcoholic alternative.

  1. Provide Some Useful Souvenirs

If you’re planning a party with lots of dancing, provide personalised flip flops. If your wedding is taking place in the spring or autumn, pashminas are a good idea in case the evening gets chilly. If you are having a summer wedding at one of the wedding venues Oxford offers, set up a station with plenty of sunscreen and some pretty sunglasses for people who came without.

  1. Add a Make-Your-Own-Flowers Station

If blooms are important to you on your wedding day, get everyone else in on the act by setting up a station where they can create their own corsage or buttonhole with the help of some simple written instructions and the relevant pins and ribbons.

  1. Create a Child-Friendly Space

If you are having young children at your wedding hire a babysitter and set up a small room for the little ones to play when they get a bit overwhelmed with all the action, or when mum and dad need a break. Include some toys, some cushions and blankets, and even a portable DVD player and some DVDs.

  1. Create a Special Guestbook

Take a tip from the organisers at www.heythroppark.co.uk and create a guest book that is a little out of the ordinary. You could make a jigsaw with a picture of you and have guests sign each piece and add a message. Or include bottles of wine with the labels covered with paper so guests can leave you a signed keepsake.

  1. Drop Confetti during the First Dance

Let sparkly confetti fall from the ceiling as you begin your first dance, or have rose petals raining on you from above. Make sure someone is on hand to clean up right after so partygoers don’t slip on the glitter.

 

Image courtesy of arztsamui/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Wedding

Fun Ideas For Your Grand Exit

A “grand exit” at your wedding is exactly that; the bride and groom making a mad dash away from their reception to get into a car and head off to their honeymoon. This traditional type of departure dates back for centuries, and typically the guests all line up along the exit path to form a send-off line. As the bride and groom make their way to their limousine or other vehicle, the guests usually make a grandiose ruckus to let the bride and groom know that they love them and are happy for their new union. Traditionally, the guests would throw rice or confetti in the air to rain down onto the couple as they run by, but rice can hurt or kill birds and confetti can be really difficult to clean up. Fortunately, there are some fun alternatives to use for your grand exit and send-off line, and these are some of my favorite ideas.

Birdseed

Basically, using birdseed is a direct replacement for using rice. Because rice can hurt birds, using birdseed will give the same fun and appearance with none of the drawbacks. Also, because the birds will eventually eat all the seeds, there is no need to clean up the mess like you would have to if you used confetti. So, in a nutshell, using birdseed offers all the fun of confetti and the look of rice without any of the harmful consequences or cleanup tasks.

Sparklers

Sparklers are a relatively new way to dress up your grand exit, but the market has received the idea with open arms. Allowing your guests to give you a sparkler send-off line is a great way to get the guests into the fun and excitement while giving the bride and groom a memorable farewell. Basically, the guests will light their sparklers and hold them up in the air as the couple dashes by them. They huge sparks and illuminated faces show up fabulously in the wedding photos, and the light that comes off the burning sparklers creates a very cool effect to highlight the bride and groom. There is also ne cleanup with sparklers, so they are usually allowed at most reception venues. Best of all, there are plenty of places offering wedding sparklers for sale at very good prices so you won’t need to spend a fortune to make this a reality.

Ribbons

Another great alternative that creates a really cool visual effect is ribbons that are attached to wands. The guests can waive their ribbon wildly on the sidelines of the grand exit to create a really exciting and busy look for your wedding photos without needing to light anything and without making a mess. The ribbon wands are also a great choice for any bride looking for a “do it yourself” project because they are very easy to construct without any real skillset. If you don’t have time or patience to make the ribbons yourself, you can buy them online or at your favorite party supply store for a very reasonable price.

Wedding Planning

Unique wedding inspiration ideas

When it comes to wedding planning, many brides-to-be scan the pages of glossy magazines or search online for inspiration, checking out what the bride is wearing, how her hair is dressed, what the venue is like and which color schemes have been chosen. In particular, celebrities like to have weddings that are memorable, and many of them seek out unique ways to wed, celebrating their marital union in true celebrity style. Here are a few ideas to excite your inner adventurer and make your day extra special.

Royal wedding weekend

When His Royal Highness Prince William married Kate Middleton in London, it seemed like the whole world was watching. That same weekend the casino king Steve Wynn married his British bride Andrea Hissom in Las Vegas, and some reporters dubbed it “America’s royal wedding.” Both brides sported beautiful lace sleeves and flattering, plunging necklines on their bridal gowns, and while William and Kate were married in Westminster Abbey, Steve and Andrea opted for the exclusive Encore resort in Las Vegas – which just goes to show that you can choose almost anywhere you like for your wedding venue these days.

wedding planningAmong the locations celebrity couples have selected are Venice, Italy (Amal Alamuddin and George Clooney) Correns, France (Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt) and San Francisco’s City Hall (Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio). There’s something about a Vegas wedding, however, that stands out from the rest. The home of gambling, glitz and glamour creates a fabulous backdrop for Hollywood-style marriages.

Stretch the party

A three-day celebration may sound a little extravagant, but it does allow couples to invite a variety of friends to a number of different events – none of which need cost the earth. How about a picnic in the park if a poolside party doesn’t suit, for example? The actual ceremony is at the core of the celebrations, of course, but why not do something adventurous – tie the knot during a hot air balloon ride and have it filmed and then screened to your guests?

In addition to the plethora of beautiful hotels and chapels up and down the strip, you might like to consider an outdoor wedding ceremony. In the areas immediately surrounding Las Vegas are venues such as Valley of Fire State Park, Lake Mead and Red Rock at Spring Mountain. These locations provide stunning backdrops for your celebrations and will allow you to create memories that will last forever.

Hotelier and casino magnate Steve Wynn, sometimes known as Mr. Las Vegas, has been credited with spearheading the regeneration of the Las Vegas Strip in the 1990s, and by choosing an unusual wedding venue you can be part of the regeneration of underused and quirky properties. He is renowned for bringing the Golden Nugget back to life and for opening The Bellagio and The Mirage; both stunning wedding venues. For something more unusual you might want to select an empty but attractive swimming pool or a local art gallery or museum, for instance.

Wedding hair and flowers

Hair up or down is one of those questions brides ask, but there is no straight answer, except whatever you think suits you best. Some brides opt for long and loose flowing locks – including Amal Alamuddin and Kim Kardashian, while others go for a stately dressed-up look – for example, Angelina Jolie and Jessica Biel.

If you already have a color scheme then this should be carried through to your wedding décor and your flowers. A lovely option is to carry a giant paper flower or a crocheted wedding bouquet if you’re the creative type and want to make your own, as well as stand out from the crowd.

Being inspired is really all about thinking of the features that will make your wedding day as perfect as possible. If you prefer to keep things simple, then do exactly that – if you want to push out the boat, then work towards an awesome celebration. Whatever makes you both happy is likely to work just fine.

image courtesy: shutterstock.com