As a host, naturally I was determined to make our wedding awesome. Sarah and I had been friends for nearly a decade and so for me the wedding was a celebration, the joining of our families and a time for us to make a bold commitment for our life together.
Ive had a think about, with all the things I did, what I can actually remember vividly now – this is a list of the things that made THE difference!
Deciding on what the take away was very clearly, before we planned the “bits”
We spent most of the planning stage homing in on just two very clear outcomes that we wanted to achieve – one for us as a couple and one for our guests. This process was fundamental and made the rest of the planning process easy.
What 2 outcomes did we choose? To have our families realise how massive and awesome the other family was, and for us to be together, relaxed and present in the moment for the whole day.
Very clear timings
Having very clear and recorded timings for the whole day was an excellent move for two reasons – it forced us to scrutinise the logistics and make list of little adjustments that all added up to a very smooth day with clear expectations of what we would get out of the time we had, and it also meant that we were able to delegate the management of the day to someone else and just enjoy ourselves.
Someone else in charge on the day
This was a great move – it allowed us to just go with the flow on the day and just be present for each other an our guests – this meant that we had a full and vivid experience of every part of the day.
Fitting the day to the outcomes, tradition be damned
We knew all the traditions and included many of them, but we didn’t make our day fit tradition – we chose what worked best for us and our guests and then fitted what tradition we could around that.
Taking time for just us
We made times in the day for just the two of us to be alone together – 10 minutes here, 15 there, throughout the day, just to reflect on how everything was going and regroup for the next experience. This made us all the more present and allowed us to create some memories personal to just the two of us.
Family trees
We put up family trees so that everyone could see how everyone was related – combining this with name tags that listed both the person’s name and also how they were related to us helped people connect and bond fast!
Awesome speeches
Well spread, short, funny and sentimental speeches punctuated the day, allowing many key people in our lives to relate stories to the group – this not only provided some great memories, it also helped people get to know the people closest to us so that they could connect with them more easily
People dancing
Having a middle of the road mix of dancing music and food and drinks served steadily throughout the day meant that people were comfortable to dance the night away for many hours – this allowed people to bond through partying together, and provided great fun for everyone.
Great photos
Having a lot of great photos meant that we are able to share our memories with everyone for every – people still comment on them almost daily 2 years hence!
Being together the whole day
This was our best move! Tradition be damned, we spent pretty much the whole day together. Why would I want to be separated from my wife for a second longer than necessary on the most special day of our lives?
I hope this jogs your mind a little for your next party – some thought before hand can make a big difference for you and your guests!
grt
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