Your Day, Your Way

Who says you have to stick with traditional ideas for your wedding?

Weddings today are being planned with more emphasis on personalities than the traditional almond candies and little white guest books. Not that there is anything wrong with those ideas. An Italian or Greek wedding wouldn't be the same without those little candies. However, with more and more brides of today being internet savvy and with sites like The Knot, Martha Stewart Weddings and Wedding Wire, why wouldn't you want to step out of your comfort zone and add some fun ideas that will make your guests feel just as special as you both on the wedding day?

This idea came as a total surprise to us all but was developed as we were brainstorming about color (of all things). Because the bride was one of our own planners, we decided to make it a little less formal and a lot more fun and whimsical. Greens (in particularly apple green and copper) were obviously the color here and instead of doing caramel apples, we had a local bakery make up caramel pears, which were served as late night sweets as well as sent home with guests as favors.

The last touch was the poem I wrote for the bride and groom about them being the perfect Pair and pulling the Pear theme throughout the wedding. BIG HIT!

Anyone that is thinking about hosting a southern wedding, can think about incorporating Sweetgrass into the theme. Sweetgrass Weaving is a local dying art because of recent land development. The more the land is developed, the less sweetgrass there is for weaving the wonderful treasures of artistic craft. Local weavers pass the art of weaving down through generations and sell their baskets, bowls, fans and even solitary rosettes as shown here. I particularly love to bring them in as escort card holders or small favors with the history of the culture attached to them, so guests can remember their wonderful experience not only at the wedding, but Charleston itself.

With so many brides wanting to create a green wedding theme nowadays, here's an idea that works well with any budget.

1. Start with locally grown flowers that are in season and think about donating all the bouquets after the wedding to a local nursing home after the wedding to allow them more 'life' after the wedding. They'll bring great joy to someone else's life, even if only for a few more days.

2. Make all your reception flowers out of seasonal potted plants. If you buy perinials, they can be replanted and bloom over again each year around the same time to remind the recipients of your anniversary.

3. This also works well with aisle markers. Buy small trees, shrubs and/or bushes and pretty pots to line the aisle. These wonderful markers will help adorn the landscape for the newlywed's new home.

4. For wedding favors, try this site for these fabulous little trees. It helps support a good cause and restore more trees in the community you live in. Perfect gifts for guests and they are so cute. http://www.arborday.org/shopping/gifttrees/weddings.cfm?TrackingID=133&gclid=CImz87PWjaYCFQrt7QodeUOTmw

All in all, there are so many unique ideas for making your wedding different and we love hearing from our BLOG followers. If you recently got married and used a unique idea, please feel free to contact us and perhaps we'll use it in one of our upcoming BLOGS. You can email us at info@acharlestonevent.com