Making your intimate wedding special.

and some ideas for a wedding in two halves

 So, Corona Brides and Grooms…

2020 and 2021 are interesting years for weddings. as an original august 2020 bride myself (now july 2021), I have had my share of ups and downs with it all.

However, recently I have been thinking over all of the options, and I have thought of some ways to make a more intimate wedding really fun and special.

I've also thought of some ideas for if you are planning your wedding reception for a later date.

Me and my partner have decided to get married in July 2021 no matter what, and then postpone the wedding reception to July 2022 if things can’t go ahead as planned. and even if they do, we’ll have a party in 2022 anyway… because why the hell not!?

  Alternative Receptions

so, it is not 100% clear what wedding receptions are going to look like in the near future. we aren’t sure if we will be allowed to have a band and dancing (or even the full guest-list) yet; but below you will find some fun wedding-reception alternative ideas for an intimate gathering that can easily be made Covid-secure

 

A Night at the Pictures

HIRE A PROJECTOR, HAND OUT INDIVIDUAL BAGS OF POPCORN, AND CREATE YOUR WEDDING CINEMA EXPERIENCE. THIS COULD BE DONE INSIDE IN THE COOLER MONTHS, BUT IF YOUR WEDDING IS IN LATE SPRING OR SUMMER, THIS MIGHT BE A GREAT THING TO DO OUTSIDE (think blankets, candles, fairy-lights).

What to Screen?

here are some ideas for showings:

  • Old family films (think school dance shows, funny childhood moments, special occasions)

  • you could create a travel documentary with photographs of all of the places you have visited together

  • A ‘when I grow up’ slide show, using photos and videos from childhood, and changing through to adulthood

  • You could even go the whole hog and play one of your favourite films!

  • include a photograph of everyone present- this will be possible with a more intimate ceremony. it would be great to try and include everyone there in some way.

this would be a great way to spend the time together, and with a more intimate wedding, people won’t feel left out going through the old family album.

you’ll want to consider the rest of the lighting and sound set up too, so allocate this to a family member, or hire it all in. and for a smooth watching experience, have everything edited together into one film rather than having separate files to play.

A theatrical experience;

similar to the film night, you can set out chairs and have guests sit to watch a show. heRE ARE A FEW IDEAS:

  • Open mic night- have friends and family members get up and perform some music for your guests

  • A LIVE CONCERT- HIRE A LOCAL MUSICIAN AND HAVE THEM DELIVER A BESPOKE AND INTIMATE PERFORMANCE FOR YOUR GUESTS.

  • ALTERNATIVE PERFORMANCES- THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS! FIRE EATERS, CIRCUS PERFORMERS, ACTORS, DANCERS. LET YOUR IMAGINATION RUN WILD!

You could intersperse this with the film night idea, and have some things live, and some things shown on the projector.

An education:

something incredible but impossible at a larger wedding would be to have a lesson in something super interesting! your guests will have fun, learn a new skill, and in some cases will even have their own unique memento to take away with them. here are a few ideas:

  • AN

    ART LESSON- PEOPLE COULD PAINT OR SKETCH YOUR VENUE, YOUR FLOWERS, OR EVEN YOU THE COUPLE WITH HELP FROM A PROFESSIONAL ARTIST TO GUIDE THEM ALONG THE WAY,

  • CIRCUS SKILLS- I think watching your guests juggle after a few drinks would be extremely entertaining. you could stretch to hula-hooping, plate spinning and depending on how far your budget (And outfits) stretch, aerial hoop.

  • pop-up choir- this would be easy to do Covid-securely outside, and indoors if you have a large venue. a professional musician can come and teach your guests to sing a song together. nobody has to have any prior singing skills, an experienced choir leader could guide first-time singers into performing your favourite song, or even your first-dance song!

There are absolutely loads of other things too… have a drama group come and teach your guests a short play (this could even be bespoke), or have a lesson in sports such as golf or archery you could do jewellery making, flower crown making, or have everyone paint some pottery for you to keep. how about a cocktail making class, or group dance lessons?.. the possibilities are endless.

Why have one wedding when you can have two?

 Delaying your reception; (aka, wedding part 2!)

for me personally, even if our wedding reception can go ahead in some way, I will still want to have another wedding reception if all of our guests can’t be there. We have planned this (almost) exactly one year from our wedding day.

around your first anniversary would be a wonderful and special time to host your wedding reception as it will have a significant meaning. And hopefully this will all be over by then right!??

considering the budget: If you have had to reduce the numbers for your original wedding day, you will receive per-head refunds from your venue for the drinks and catering. you should also be able to negotiate some of the hire fee back; if you are not permitted to use the full space, you shouldn’t have to pay the full hire fee. If the venue will not budge on hire fee, try and get them to throw in a few extra drinks or complimentary canapés etc.

This should leave you with some money in the bank to plan your wedding reception, and here are a few ways to save money:

  • Have guests bring a plate of food along with them. This is always great and it really raises the community spirit. Everyone feels involved, and there is always so much food, that people do not need to feel pressured into bringing something if they feel unable. this will be venue dependant.

  • look for venues with free hire or a minimum spend. if you go to your nearest town or city, there will likely be bars and clubs with function rooms (have a read of my engagement party planning blog post). Venues often hire these rooms out on a minimum spend basis, so it won’t cost you a penny if your guests buy enough drinks (think £10 per person spend to be on the safe side) these venues may not let you bring your own food, so you may want to pay for catering, or have a later start time if this is the case.

  • Rather than cancelling suppliers and potentially losing your deposit, see if they can move your booking to your new reception date, and see if you can negotiate a better fee as they won’t need to offer the same kind of service (This may not be possible, and vendors are having a hard time at the moment too, so show them some love).

  • DO NOT, I REPEAT do not! tell the venue that this is a wedding reception. the word wedding adds a whole lot of £££ onto the price. this is an anniversary party, no matter what you write on the invites.

  • bE CREATIVE WITH THE VENUE- YOUR GUESTS WILL BASICALLY BE TURNING UP TO PARTY, SO YOU JUST NEED A BIG ROOM WITH A BAR! church hall chic? you can add your own style (and yes, second time round you can have a whole different colour scheme if you like!) TRY AND fiND VENUES CLOSE TO AFFORDABLE HOTELS, AND WITH PARKING.

Some ideas to make it feel more wedding-y

 BECAUSE OF THE LARGE SPAN OF TIME BETWEEN THE WEDDING AND THE RECEPTION, YOU’LL WANT TO INCLUDE ELEMENTS THAT MAKE IT FEEL LIKE AN EXTENSION OF YOUR WEDDING DAY. here’s a few things you could do:

  • IF YOU WORE WHITE AT THE WEDDING, WEAR WHITE FOR THE RECEPTION (MINI-DRESS, CHIC JUMPSUIT?)

  • hAVE YOUR BRIDESMAIDS AND GROOMSMEN IN COORDINATING OUTFITS

  • MAKE SURE YOU DO SPEECHES AND THANK PEOPLE FOR COMING

  • HAVE A GIFT TABLE AND CARD BANK

  • DO YOUR FIRST DANCE AND CAKE CUTTING- I HAVE SOME GREAT IDEAS FOR THIS BELOW

  • HAVE A GUESTBOOK

  • CONSIDER HIRING ENTERTAINMENT OR A DJ, AND MAYBE THINGS LIKE A PHOTO-BOOTH

  • MAKE SURE YOU DRESS THE VENUE TO IMPRESS- THIS DOENS’T HAVE TO BE EXPENSIVE TO BE AMAZING.

Linking in your wedding day:

Time to get the projector back out…

I THINK IT WOULD BE GREAT TO PLAY THE KEY MOMENTS FROM THE ORIGINAL CEREMONY ON THE BIG SCREEN. WE WILL DEFINITELY BE DOING THIS.

  • HAVE YOUR GUESTS WATCH THE CEREMONY, AND THROW CONFETTI UP IN THE AIR, AS YOU MAKE YOUR BIG ENTRANCE IN YOUR ORIGINAL WEDDING OUTFITs! (HAVE SOMEONE COORDINATE THIS). BONUS! YOU CAN MAKE THE MOST OF THAT WEDDING DRESS AND WEDDING SUIT BY WEARING IT TWICE! foR ME PERSONALLY, IT’LL BE REALLY IMPORTANT TO MAKE AN APPEARANCE IN MY WEDDING DRESS, BUT THIS MIGHT NOT BE FOR YOU.

  • First dance video- Show a screening of your actual first dance, and then dance along to it in your original wedding outfits!

  • IF YOU WANT TO CARRY ON WITH THE RECORDED ELEMENT, cuT THE CAKE IN SYNC WITH YOUR PAST-SELVES. (thIS MIGHT GET EMOSH).

THEN… DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY!

Also- this is an incredible opportunity to rip up the rule book and do something totally unique! Another plus, is that nobody will have spent all day at your wedding, so they won’t be turning up absolutely knackered! it’ll be a night to remember.

Make a memory of it all:

Safe to say, my wedding scrap book will be a journey! Here is what it might look like..

  • engagement

  • engagement party

  • wedding planning

  • wedding postponing!

  • non-wedding day celebrations

  • non-honeymoon

  • hen and stag parties

  • wedding day

  • honeymoon

  • hen and stag part 2 (these will likely be spa days)

  • wedding reception

  • honeymoon number 2 (oh yes, two weddings means two honeymoons and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise).

So as you can see, through all of this we can make more memories than we had ever planned to. who wants a normal wedding anyway?… get the champagne in every step of the way.

I have to say, we spent our original august wedding date completely piddled at a fancy spa, and my husband to be said he enjoyed it so much that we should postpone again… If your postponement is coming up- I recommend doing the same!

And remember, the most important thing is being married.