It’s all changing on the wedding front. Gone are the days of having to attend a sobering service, with every bride in white and guests in dark, the same old walk down the aisle to the same old processional wedding march song.
With new technologies and changes in social behaviour and norms, contemporary weddings have shifted significantly from traditional notions of how the big day should be. If you’re looking for ideas that express your individuality and differentiate your special day from the hundreds of other weddings you’ve been to, you’ve come to the right place. Here are 4 IDEAL contemporary wedding ideas to add wow to your wedding vows.
MAKE IT MEANINGFUL TO YOU
It’s all about personalising your big day in every way you can, and we think the music is the best way to start. From your entrance and first steps down the aisle to dancing the night away as newly weds, make the soundtrack of your special day meaningful to you. Equally important are your vows and other quips and quotes to be made and visualised throughout the day.
It’s true that some traditional quotes about love and marriage will never go out of fashion, and many websites like weddingforward.com have tons of classic heartfelt inspirational wedding sayings that are perfect for even the most contemporary of weddings. However, make sure the service, poems and music are meaningful to you. Ask a relative to officiate your nuptials, get your best friend to write a poem. If you fell in love at a Father John Misty concert, for instance, then why wouldn’t you walk down the aisle to Chateau Lobby?
MINIMALISM IS IN
With so many little details to take care of, couples tend to get anxious about their wedding day when they should be loving it. However, a wedding shouldn’t be about remembering a million different things. It should be about enjoying yourself. Why not let go of all the stress of a big production by opting for minimalism.
This understated wedding trend isn’t about fine details of décor, like table linen and candles. It’s all about clean, minimal details that are beautiful and effortless. There’s no need to go over the top with a minimalist theme wedding; think vines, tea-lights and simple flowers.
Another minimalistic approach is to incorporate sparklers for weddings during the couple’s grand entrance to the wedding venue instead of using smoke machines and other lavish grand entrance equipment. Every little helps!
CUSTOMISE IT WITH TECHNOLOGY
It’s no secret that technology is integral to planning a contemporary wedding. Websites, e-invites and e-thank you cards are becoming the norm, and are better for the environment than sending all that paper back and forth. Why not go the extra mile and include include technology on your big day, too?
Create a wedding hashtag. Custom a Snapchat Geofilter exclusively for your nuptials . Slip a GoPro into your bridal boutique or in the Maid of Honour’s for a unique perspective. Capture an incredible aerial shot of all your guests with a drone. You can even use an interactive digital guestbook where guests scan a QR code and leave a short message. Quirky and fun 3D printed wedding cake toppers which are custom printed from a photograph is a cool tech extra. Or to really add some fun and flair, a digital projection on your wedding cake will make it one-of-a-kind. You could even consider live streaming your wedding for those guests who couldn’t make it. With a world brimming with exciting, ever evolving technology, anything is possible.
YOUR CHARITY OF CHOICE
Buying wedding gifts for a couple is so passé. These days, most newly weds live together before they get married so they already have the traditional wedding list items like a kettle, toaster and lots of cutlery. Of course, you can use your gift list to upgrade to a better toaster or to donate to your honeymoon – but bear in mind your wedding could already be costing your guests a small fortune if they have to pay for travel, accommodation and a new outfit.
However some gifts people are more than happy to give. An increasing number of couples are including a charity of their choice as focal point of their wedding themes. Their idea is to arrange for charity registries that let the guests make a donation to a noble cause instead of giving gifts to the couple. This, again, is a unique idea that makes the wedding memorable not only for the couple but also for the cause they support.
