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3 Ideas to Make Your Day the Wedding of the Year

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The modern bride and groom want to make their wedding personalized and fun. While there are plenty of wedding traditions worth following, there are also a lot of unique extras you can add to the day to make it more memorable. Check out these fun ideas, and your guests will be talking about your wedding for years to come.

 A New Twist on the Garter Toss

The garter toss is a timeless wedding tradition, but how many times have you seen the groom throw the garter toward the ceiling only to have it drop straight to the ground, feet away from all of the single men? Well, here is a fun and easy solution. Before tossing the garter, place it on a football and let the groom toss the ball to the guys anxiously waiting.

Gino Creglia Photography

Entertain Your Guests Before the Ceremony

Most wedding guests kill time before the ceremony by reading the wedding program, but most programs can be read in a few seconds. Why not add a little humor to your wedding program? Include some fun facts about the wedding party and explain any unique moments you’ve added to the ceremony. If you’re really worried about guests getting bored, include an activity such as a trivia game or crossword puzzle.

Meghan Andrews Photography

Rethink the Bar

Candy bars and ice cream bars have caught on as wedding dessert options, but we have another fun idea: a cereal bar. Simply fill some pretty glass bowls with your favorite types of cereals and let guests help themselves. This is a great late night snack, and it will be a hit with the kids.

 

Bouquet & Garter Toss Traditions

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Much to the chagrin of single people everywhere, two of the most common wedding traditions are the tossing of the bouquet and garter. You know the routine…the single ladies gather on the dance floor and, after counting to three, the bride tosses a small bouquet over her shoulder to the waiting women. Whoever catches it is rumored to be the next to be married. The same thing goes for the garter toss, only the men are the ones doing the catching. Since these two traditions are observed at nearly every wedding, where did they begin?

Both traditions actually date back to the same custom from the 14th century. At that time, brides were believed to possess a surplus of luck therefore everything they touched was filled with good fortune. At wedding ceremonies, guests would actually attack the bride in an effort to steal an item from her. They would clamber around her, pulling at her dress and flowers, in hopes of securing a lucky souvenir for themselves. Many brides actually had their dresses torn to pieces before the end of the wedding celebration by greedy guests hoping to find favor and luck. Not surprisingly, over time this tradition evolved into a more refined, less dangerous custom: the tossing of the bouquet and garter.

Tossing of the bouquet and garter is a more civilized way for brides and grooms to pass their good fortune onto others. It’s believed that whichever man and woman catch the bouquet and garter will be the next to find love, quite possibly with one another.

Bouquet Toss – A Modern Spin On Tradition

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Weddings are full of traditions, but all brides are not traditional. When it comes to your wedding day, don’t be afraid to alter wedding traditions and add your own personal touch to the day. One such tradition that is making its way out of some wedding receptions is the bouquet toss.

Traditionally, the DJ/MC will make an announcement for all the single ladies in the room to make their way out to the dance floor. If you’ve been to a wedding in the past year, you can guess what song is among the top favorites to get all the single ladies out on the dance floor. The young ladies fill the dance floor; the bride turns her back to the wild pack and, on the count of three, she hurls the bouquet over her shoulder into the hands of a lucky young lady. According to lore, the woman who catches the bouquet is said to be the next to be married.

Sounds like a fairytale, right? Well, the truth is that some brides find this tradition silly and are opting to cut the bouquet ceremony all together. If you find yourself somewhere between traditional and new age, there is a very classy, yet fun, option for you: present your bouquet to the couple that has been married the longest.

Discuss the details with your DJ ahead of time. The preparation is simple, but will prove to be a very memorable moment in your evening. Select a song for an anniversary dance. The song should be over 3 minutes in length and should fit the theme of long lasting love. Consider the following: Remember When, by Alan Jackson; Lucky, by Jason Mraz; or Thank You by Led Zeppelin.

Your DJ will invite all of the married couples out on the dance floor. Periodically, he will eliminate couples from the dance floor, starting with you, the newlyweds. To avoid having everyone abandon the dance floor, quit dancing, and miss the crowning moment, he should say something like, “When I call you, please join the newlyweds on the outer edge of the dance floor.” The goal is to have everyone circle the last remaining couple. He will continue calling out years, “If you have been married for less than 30 years…35 years….40 years…” and so on until the last couple is dancing in the middle of all the married couples.

Your “toss” bouquet should be waiting for you at the DJ’s booth, when you go to retrieve it, let your DJ know how many years the winning couple has been married. Your DJ will recognize the lucky, loving couple as you present them with your bouquet. Tip: You can go the extra mile and add a special bottle of wine to the presentation. At this time, the DJ can invite everyone back to the dance floor to join the winning couple.

If you are less than traditional bride, the bouquet presentation coupled with an anniversary dance is a great way to reinvent the bouquet custom.