4 Ways To Personalize Your Wedding

I LOVE exploring new ideas to make your wedding unique and personal.  It’s what takes an elegant, fun wedding and transforms it into something that is totally new and different…totally “you.”

But watch out for some of the recommendations on websites and bridal magazines.  They’re out to make money for their advertisers…which means most of the “personalized” ideas they recommend come with a hefty price tag.

Rather than getting personalized (which usually entails monograms, engraving, and costly customization)…I recommend getting personal.

Adding personal touches to your wedding means including details, history, and stories about you and your interests.  Personal touches cost little or no money.  Personalized touches can blow your wedding budget before you even begin.

I’ve sifted out the expensive “personalized” suggestions to leave behind some of my favorite cheap and more meaningful ways to make your wedding unique:

A Touch of Family - Displaying your parents and grandparents wedding photos is a way to pay tribute to your family and share your history with your guests.  It’s especially elegant if you display black and white or sepia-toned photos.  You might even hang family photos in the bathrooms or name your tables after a decade and print a photo from that time on the card.

A Dash of Culture - Incorporate your ethnic traditions into your wedding day.  Turn to flower meanings to spread a symbolic message; for example, ivy is the symbol of eternal love in Greek culture.  You might propose a farewell toast with a dark beer like Guinness in tribute to our Irish heritage.

Your Favorite Food - Tweak your menu to reflect your personal taste.  If you love milkshakes, serve them with dessert.  Or include your favorite childhood candies as favors.  One of our couples even served hamburgers and hot dogs at their wedding to go with a diner theme.

Remember Your Roots - Pay a tribute to your home state.  Ask your entertainer to play a few songs that mention your state in a musical homage.  You might print up the recipe for your Grandma’s favorite chocolate chip cookies and give it to your guests when you serve them at the end of the night.

These are just a few ideas to inspire you with ways to make your wedding unique.  For dozens more suggestions and a step by step guide to deciding which ideas for wedding personalization that ALSO stretch your budget, check out my eBook on planning a wedding on a budget.