Wedding Wednesday: Being Unique

I don't want to stray from my weekly "Wedding Wednesday" tidbit, but I feel I would be remiss if I failed to acknowledge the uniqueness that is today's date: 12/12/12. Not only is it fun repetition, but it is the last repeating date sequence that most anyone alive today will see (arguably, there are people today who could live to January 1st, 2101, which would be 01/01/01, although those people likely won't remember today as being 12/12/12). And as has been the case for many of the "fun" date sequences over the past twelve years, today is expected to be a popular day for weddings (even though it is a Wednesday). Understandably, there is something exciting about a wedding date with a fun pattern (especially if you are a numbers person), and as many couples would probably tell you, getting married on a day like today certainly makes the anniversary easy to remember. But even if you don't have the luxury of getting married on a date with a cool pattern (or if numbers aren't your thing), there are lots of ways to make your wedding uniquely "you".

(For the record, most of my examples are going to be personal examples that I've witnessed at weddings. I realize that many of these things won't be applicable to all couples and all weddings, but hopefully it will get the wheels turning to help you come up with your own unique aspects to include in your wedding.)

Incorporate hobbies/something from your love story into the wedding photos
A couple I went to college with met while playing soccer. For their wedding, they brought along their soccer cleats and a soccer play and used these "props" to take some fun outdoor photos. I've also seen musical couples stage some clever shots with a piano and/or other instruments--the possibilities are endless!

Offer a "speciality" drink from the bar
Did you meet on a trip to Mexico? Consider working with your bartenders to create a "Love-a-Rita" to offer to your guests. One couple we know celebrated their engagement by going to a local bar and asking the bartender to make them a shot--any shot--for them to "toast" with. They then offered this same shot to the guests at their wedding, which also gave them an opportunity to share a fun story from their engagement.

Consider transportation beyond the standard limo or classic car
Most every wedding I've been to (and probably most of the ones you've been to), have involved the married couple leaving the ceremony/reception in a limo or some type of classic car/convertible. Now, I'm not meaning to say that this option is boring (we used a convertible ourselves), and many couples certainly make this a unique aspect (such as leaving in a classic car the groom restored himself), but don't be afraid to think outside of the box on this one. I've seen weddings where the wedding party leaves on a flatbed truck with hay bales (perfect for that rustic country wedding), weddings where the wedding party heads off in a trolley, even a wedding where the group left the ceremony in a fire engine because the groom was a fireman. The most unique form of transportation I've seen, though, is a canoe. Some friends of mine canoed from their ceremony to the reception--and they loved every minute of it. And I have to admit--as a guest, I thought it was pretty awesome. And perfectly fitting for the couple.

Serve food that has some special meaning to your love story--and share that story with your guests
Darrell and I love to cook (and, well, love food), so it was really important to us to serve good food. While we were limited to sticking to the choices our caterer offered due to budgetary concerns, I would have loved to serve our guests a dish that was uniquely "us"--a recipe from our kitchen that we could have then shared with our guests. In fact, I can even tell you what we would have served had we been able to--bacon chicken, which was the first real meal Darrell and I ever prepared together from scratch (and I can't believe I don't have it on the blog! Shame on me). Cajun chicken pasta was also a consideration because it is a dish equally meaningful to us, and also one that we've been cooking together for seven (!!) years. Even though we couldn't customize our reception meal like I would have wanted to, we did have a little more fun with our rehearsal dinner. The long and the short of our "first date" story is that I ordered a full rack of ribs at dinner, and proceeded to eat the whole thing (using my fingers to pick up the bones and everything). And I'm sure I ate all my potatoes and other sides as well. Oh, and I also had a black eye from a soccer game. Super sexy. While many guys might have been mortified by this behavior and, well, manly appetite (especially on a first date!), Darrell apparently liked what he saw. So in honor of that, I insisted that we order ribs for our rehearsal dinner (actually, I tried lobbying to get ribs catered for the reception, but Darrell poo-pooed that idea). If there is a particular food or dish that would be special to include at your reception, don't be afraid to talk with your caterer about it! You might be surprised by their flexibility (I've actually seen mini peanut butter and jelly sandwiches served as appetizers--I don't know the backstory on that one, but it's totally cute).

Again, I know that these aren't exactly ideas that you can take from here and incorporate into your wedding plans, but that's kind of the point. What is unique for one couple won't necessarily be unique for another. Hopefully, though, these ideas will get you thinking about unique aspects of your love story that you could work into your wedding--from the date you get married on to what you serve to your guests.