Personalised wedding ideas

DIY weddings are becoming increasingly popular, not only as a way of potentially saving money but also as a way that couples can inject their personality into their special day. A great way of achieving this and it is these personalised details that your guests will remember.
Here are a few ideas to get you well on your way…

Photograph Table Plan

Create your own table plan using photographs of your guests, with their table number written underneath it. Whether it’s an embarrassing baby picture, a snap taken on a silly night out or perhaps an image which evokes a cherished memory. Your guests will enjoy looking through them and it’s a great conversation starter.

Family Favourites

Personalise the catering and get the family involved to bake cakes, desserts and sweet treats for the day! Create pretty labels to accompany them, for example ‘lemon drizzle cake lovingly made by Nanny Pat’.

Handmade Invitations

Your save the date cards and invitations give your guests the very first hint of your wedding day style so take some time to create your own. You can get some really pretty cards and papers off the shelves these days, you may even be able to pick some up from scrap stores and recycling outlets. Add some glue, a guillotine, creativity and you are away! If the fiddle of creating your own invites by hand is not for you, make them on online and send via email. There are many great free websites that you can create these on and personalise with an image of the two of you.

Delightful Decorations

Glass jars of all shapes and sizes, polished up with tea lights in, make mismatched perfection as table decoration. Add ribbon around the lip of the jars tying in with your colour scheme to add a touch of pretty. Ask your friends and family to start keeping jars now so you have a good stock and variation of sizes.

Kids Corner

Children’s entertainers are great but you may not have the budget for one. Instead create your own ‘kids corner’ at your venue. Bean bags, big cushions, books, colouring in, games etc will keep them entertained and creates a comfy area for them to snooze once they have crash and burned for the day!

Fabulous Favours

The possibilities are endless with DIY favours. Keen cook? Create your own batch of jam, decant into jars, add some pretty fabric to the top of the jar with an elastic band around to keep it in place. Label with ‘spread the love’ or ‘made with love’ from the two of you. Same could be done for homemade chutney, hot sauce or even slow gin!

Sitting Pretty

Not a lover of chair covers? As an alternative, collect pearl style necklaces from charity shops and car boot sales and fix them from one side to the other on the backs of your venue chairs for an elegant look.

Travel in style

Have a think if any friends or family members have a nice car that you could use as your transportation for the day. Give it a good wash, polish and add a big white ribbon and ask them to be your driver (they will probably love to feel involved in the day) and save yourself a fortune on transport.

Name Card Corks

Wine bottle corks make great name card holders. Cut a slit in one side and slip your place card in. The more guests you have the more wine you will have to drink before hand to collect the corks!

Get making with your maids

Get your bridesmaids together for a fun evening of creating something for the wedding.  You could make bunting to decorate your venue for example. Fabric could be sourced from cutting up old clothes that would have otherwise been thrown away or visit charity shops. Not only productive but also a great chance for your bridesmaids (who may not have met each other) to bond before the big day.

Dress up your drinks

Use jugs of tap water instead of buying in bottled, then freeze small flower heads from your garden in ice cubes and add for a pretty touch.

Memorable Music

If you are having a DJ for the reception then ask your guests to each request one song when sending back their RSVP. That way everyone will hear at least one song they want to dance to and the music is personalised to you and your guests.

Photograph by Ashley Hampson Photography