101 Ways to Personalize Your Wedding

What makes a wedding special? It's all in the details, and we've got some exciting ideas to make your celebration memorable.

By: 

Rachel Griffiths

  Creative "I Dos"

1. Ceremony seating can tie in with your wedding theme, so consider hay bales for a country wedding or satinccushions for the floor of that urban loft, says Sasha Souza of San Francisco's Sasha Souza Events.

2. Worried that the littlest flower girl won't make it down the aisle on her own? Have a junior bridesmaid pull her in a classic red Radio Flyer wagon.
3. Have someone who is near and dear to you do a reading—perhaps a special love poem—or sing an aria from a favorite opera.
4. Lollipops in candy colors, clusters of berries, autumn leaves—get bold with your boutonnieres.
5. If you don't like the idea of getting birdseed or rice in your hair, give guests sparklers, pinwheels or mini-flags for the big send-off.
6. Pre-ceremony, don't offer food or booze; keep it low-key with glasses of ginger lemonade, says Peter Callahan of Callahan Catering, with locations in New York City and Philadelphia.
7. Hot summer ceremony? Have your wedding programs printed on paper fans.
8. Beach brides: Bury vases in the sand so it looks as if your flowers are growing there, says Michael George of Michael George Flowers in New York City.
9. Will guests be tossing petals post-ceremony? Hang cones or little galvanized metal buckets filled with these pretty items on the backs of ceremony chairs—they'll double as pew décor.
10. Dress doors and entrances with flower garlands and fabric swags. Souza once used a pair of 200-year-old doors as a backdrop for a beach wedding.
11. Your aisle runner is an opportunity to amaze. For a beach wedding, George sprinkled smooth-edged sea glass along the sand so that the whole aisle twinkled.
12. Use a length of linen fabric in one of your wedding colors for an aisle runner. (Hint: It's easy on the budget!).
13. For romantic atmosphere, project slow-moving images—think flowing water or clouds—onto a sleek fabric chuppah or a wedding arch, suggests George.
14. Use a silver tray carpeted with moss for the ring-bearer's pillow.
15. A tip for ensuring that all eyes really are on you: Go for all-white flowers, such as delicate lily of the valley, in your bouquet.
16. If you prefer fairy-tale flowers, ask your florist to arrange individual petals into the shape of a sumptuous rose of any diameter.
17. "Don't be afraid to be creative with your ceremony music," says Souza, who's arranged "I dos" to everything from a single flamenco guitarist to a full jazz band.

18. Reserve ceremony seating for your most important guests by placing name cards on their chairs. If you want to give these guests extra-special treatment, write a personal note on each card.


A Spirited Cocktail Hour

19. Make the bar spectacular, says Souza. How about having one carved from solid ice, with bright poppies frozen inside for a dash of vibrant color?
20. Want to decorate with ice but are working on a budget? Have your caterer embellish your drinks with ice cubes that have edible flower petals frozen inside.
21. Let the season guide your choice of drinks: Callahan suggests spiked pink lemonade for spring, mint or lime punch for summer, caramel-apple fizzes for fall and martinis—extra olives, please—in the winter.
22. You can create your signature drink based on color. If you're having a wedding with a peachy palette, try bellinis; if you've gone for something blue, offer a cocktail spiked with curaçao.
23. A superpopular, tiny treat guaranteed to tempt guests? Mini-hamburgers, complete with bite-size buns and tomato jam, a tasty condiment made with tomatoes, sugar and lemons.
24. Glamorous versions of comfort-food classics—lobster corndogs or truffled popcorn—are hits, says Souza.
25. Matchstick-size slivers of sugarcane make delicious skewers for grilled scallops or fruit kabobs.
26. Want to be really over-the-top? Conjure up some 1940s glamour with a fountain that gushes champagne, says Callahan.
27. For pretty swizzle sticks, consider edible flowers on long stems.
28. Want to spread the good luck? Spicy wontons, with fortunes tucked inside the crispy wrappers, should do the trick.
29. Signature drinks are sexier if they're shaken and stirred right on the spot. Have your bartender whisk up Sgroppinos (sorbet, champagne and limoncello) in elegant copper bowls set into blocks of ice.
30. Serve small sips of colorful exotic drinks—think tropical fruit made into a slurry with a splash of liquor—in votive candle holders, Souza suggests.
31. Tantalize guests with tiny shots of tasty, chilled soup in edible "bowls" such as baked-potato skins or even small, hollowed-out tomatoes.
32. Your trays should be as appetizing as the treats they offer, Callahan says. Try clear acrylic trays with insets of decorative, large-grained sea salt or halved figs.
33. Serve hors d'oeuvres with a healthy helping of style; for example, try a pretty bamboo basket piled high with dumplings or shrimp skewers poking up from wheatgrass flats, Souza suggests.
34. For an update on the classic raw bar, have the wait staff shuck oysters as guests watch. Callahan likes to display seafood in antique wooden crates or small rowboats.
35. Pinot noir, chardonnay or sangiovese, anyone? Host a cocktail-hour wine-tasting, conducted by the bartender.
36. Your signature drinks stand out when bartenders rim guests' glasses with salt or sugar in your wedding colors.
37. Don't send your hors d'oeuvres out naked! Try pretty garnishes of flowering herbs such as basil, mint and thyme.
38. Give guests a quick taste of family history—serve bite-sized versions of favorite recipes, Souza suggests.
39. For a whimsical look, line your buffet tables with wheatgrass and then put up mini white picket fencing.
40. Caviar and crackers arranged on large flat trays, crab cakes piled on cake stands—give buffets visual interest by varying presentation height.
41. "Each cocktail station should have a unique size and shape," advises Souza, who, these days, favors interesting serpentine and triangular tables.

42. Chilled, flavorful summer soups look and taste refreshing when served from giant bowls carved out of ice.


A Ravishing Reception

43. Make your entrance grand—line the path to your ballroom with rows and rows of glowing candles.
44. Having a garden wedding under the trees? Surprise your guests by hanging chandeliers lit by candles from sturdy branches.
45. For a picture-perfect memory, place your guest book on a table beside a rented photo booth. Guests can paste their snapshot in your book along with their good wishes for your future.
46. Ask your videographer to set up a stationary camera and let guests record messages: It's a video guest book!
47. Hire conga players for the cocktail hour, then kick up the energy with a full dance band later on. Just remember: For dinner music, turn down the decibels and try soft jazz, says Souza.
48. "The puppy has to have flowers!" laughs George. He designs fluffy floral collars for all canine attendees.
49. Play princess for the day: Just for fun, fly jaunty flags in your wedding colors from the tops of tent poles.
50. Tie escort cards to tree branches.
51. If you want a traditional escort-card table, update it by covering it with pebbles painted in your wedding colors, with a bed of moss or with lots of fluffy carnations.
52. Always look for ways to be playful with your flowers; adorn statues with daisy-chain crowns or pretty garlands.
53. Guest transportation can be unexpectedly fun. Think: an old yellow school bus or a London-style double-decker.
54. If you're tying the knot by the water, consider a boat for your grand getaway.
55. Vary your table arrangements, George says, by placing a single-vase centerpiece on some tables and then using the same flowers and colors in more elaborate, multivase arrangements on other tables.
56. A night under the stars? Keep guests comfortably cozy with ceramic chimineas (small outdoor firepots) or slow-burning fires in low, stone bowls.
57. Use your wedding colors on everything, from the ink on your invites to the shades of your bridesmaid bouquets to colorful yarmulkes. Then surprise guests with unexpected color accents on the garnish for cocktails or even the hue of the first-course soup.
58. A truly personal touch for a small wedding? Write a compliment to each guest—"outrageously funny," "impeccable style"—on his or her place card.
59. Want guests to kick off their shoes at your beach wedding? George arranges stacks of fluffy towels and copper troughs filled with rose water for guests who want a quick rinse before slipping back into their Manolos and heading for cocktails.
60. Place a card printed with the words to your first-dance song at every seat, so guests can enjoy serenading you while you make your way around the floor.
61. If your centerpieces contain calla lilies, reinforce the look by tucking mini callas into the folds of your guests' dinner napkins.
62. Must centerpieces always be flowers? Not necessarily, says Souza. She once designed a table with a six-inch fire pit in the middle, so that the center of the table was, literally, a blaze of glory!
63. Write guests' names in gold or silver ink on bay leaves, then place each guest's leaf on his or her napkin.
64. "People say you shouldn't mix tablecloth patterns. Not true!" says Souza, who likes at least three different looks, in complementary colors.
65. Your vessels should be as original as the flower arrangements they hold, says George, who uses rectangular, square and cylindrical ones in all colors—including black. Souza agrees. "I like vases carved from ice," she says.
66. Planning a seaside reception? Consider creating a centerpiece of sea glass strewn with shells and starfish.
67. Use lighting to alter the feel of a space. Souza suggests having the colors and brightness change over the course of the night to set different moods.
68. Think lanterns for lighting: clusters of jelly jars nestled in trees; glowing globes massed over pools so the water twinkles with cheerful colors.
69. Keep your high-rollers happy late into the night by setting up an after-hours lounge with billiards, blackjack and casino games.
70. George suggests decorating the "Just Married" sign on your car with flowers and using ribbons or strings spray-painted in your wedding colors to attach the soda cans.


Fab Food


71. If you want to be sure that guests will be ready to get up and dance, serve no more than two courses at the table—and keep the food light and full of flavor, says Callahan.
72. To highlight your toasts, Souza suggests doing them as soon as you sit down. "You get more focused attention that way—and fewer intoxicated guests," she says.
73. If you're seating guests at gorgeous tile- or copper-topped tables, skip the linens.
74. Whet guests' appetites with little square dishes of Tuscan nibbles—caramelized shallots, roasted peppers, bread sticks, Italian cheese—placed on each table, advises Callahan.
75. The fastest way to get your tables talking? Ask your caterer for a first course that guests can share, such as cheese fondue.
76. Have a first course that teases the palate with a number of distinct flavors. Callahan's personal favorite? Lobster with parmigiano-reggiano cheese, layered with potatoes and crisp leeks, all topped by brilliant-yellow bok choy flowers.
77. Skip the fuss of taking dinner orders by having waiters serve guests from huge platters holding a variety of main courses.
78. Mix and match seating options, using couches, chairs and tables of different sizes. "The look is organized chaos," says Souza.
79. Segue into your after-party by bringing out a new signature drink, like a Brazilian caipirinha made with mango juice.

80. Go beyond regular or decaf coffees by offering delicious espresso drinks with splashes of sweet liqueurs.


Sweet Nothings

81. Your favorite candy can be translated into a cake, says Brenda Maher of Chicago's Cakegirls. When asked for an Almond Joy cake, Maher delivered a confection of almond pastry filled with chocolate-coconut ganache—to everyone's delight.
82. Please your inner child—and guests—with whimsical mini-clouds of raspberry cotton candy. "They're the width of a lollipop!" says Callahan.
83. Feel free to indulge with an ice-cream bar stocked with your favorite flavors.
84. Passed frozen desserts are especially fun. Callahan's pick? Bite-size Chipwiches.
85. A tiered cake with layers in different flavors will please your picky guests. Maher suggests having the least common flavor as the smallest layer.
86. As the hour gets late and the dancing heats up, Callahan keeps guests cool with inch-long Popsicles spiked with liquor.
87. While the adults are having coffee and biscotti, treat the kids to delicious hot chocolate and animal crackers.
88. Everyone loves a candy table. Go for old-fashioned lollipops, rock candy and licorice in bright colors.
89. Serve up decadent chocolate truffles alongside dessert drinks like chocolatinis.
90. Let them eat cupcakes: Send guests home with a sweet little treat placed in a clear Lucite box, says Souza.
91. For a fun cake topper, Maher suggests a chocolate monogram or pulled sugar curlicues.
92. Small cakes, placed on each table, become striking centerpieces when frosted in your wedding colors or in other eye-catching hues.
93. Having a small cake at each table is a popular idea, but always request a larger version for the ceremonial cutting.
94. Favor guests with something special: homemade mini cookies tied up in clear bags, with a recipe card, printed on bright paper, tucked in, too.
95. Planning a wedding picnic? For one outdoorsy Chicago couple, Maher baked cakes-for-two that were placed in guests' lunch baskets.
96. A perennial favor choice, the chocolate truffle, looks fabulous in individual boxes gift-wrapped in your wedding colors and finished off with a mini bow.
97. As a charming gift to guests, a simple, colorful candy favor presented in a heart-shaped box is just right.


By Invitation Only


98. For a save-the-date card with a difference, send a playful photo-booth strip of yourself and your groom, holding up a hand-lettered, decorated cardboard sign that announces the big news.
99. To design a custom postage stamp with your photograph or wedding emblem, go to photo.stamps.com.
100. Your wedding invitations will be sure to command everyone's attention if you send them in envelopes of shimmering paper or an eye-catching color.

101. If he proposed beneath an oak tree, have your invitation embellished with an etching of an oak branch; if you became engaged in spring, have a daffodil design—if you use whatever has special meaning just for you, you can't go wrong.