1 Reflect your personality

Your wedding should reflect you and your partner’s personalities, cultures and tastes. This will naturally make it more entertaining. Think about what you would enjoy at a wedding. Consider events you have attended in the past and make a list of what entertaining things you remember. This may produce some ideas for you to work from and personalise to suit your preferences and requirements.

Remember the guests at your wedding like you or share some of your values, so planning an event that you would enjoy should help to ensure that they have a great time too. However, it is important to remember this is your day.

2 Enjoy time with your guests

Choosing the right guests goes without saying and can be really helpful in creating an enjoyable atmosphere at your wedding. You want your friends and family to share your special day with you. They can really boost the fun factor of your event, with very little effort on your part.

Knowing your guests and considering the ways in which their personalities will work with your plans is also key to holding a successful event. You could consider a range of music to keep everyone happy, for example – making sure there are enough lively, upbeat tunes to keep people on their feet, such as Bollywood or Bhangra at an Indian wedding, as well as some slower and more classic options for guests to enjoy. We have found that a string quartet or harpist, for example, during a champagne reception works really well.

3 Add a surprise

One of the best ways to boost the entertainment value of your wedding is to add a surprise or two to the proceedings. This could involve you and your partner practising a dance routine (or get your closest family and friends together to perform a dance together) and going all Strictly Come Dancing at the start of your evening reception, or booking a surprise act you know your guests will appreciate – a classical trio, jazz quartet or Bollywood dance performance.

4 Choose what suits you

Don’t try to cram too much in or your efforts could get completely lost on an exhausted crowd. Weddings can be very long events and there’s only so much excitement that your guests can take. Some of the best and most entertaining weddings we have been to have been the most relaxed.

Entertainment can be found in many different places and doesn’t have to be forced or meticulously planned. Gathering people together to watch a stunning sunset at a beautiful spot can be incredibly entertaining, as can the simple joy of good conversation. There will always be a place for stunning firework extravaganzas, fantastic floral creations and show-stopping entertainment acts, but you don’t need every one of these to make your wedding a success.

You can also include any requests in your wedding invitations as a way of adding details and injecting your personality. Why not ask your guests for their top songs for the dance floor? We have designed cards that get included in the wedding invitations asking guests to send in their 3 top songs when they RSVP, as well as having ‘DJ request’ cards available at the wedding reception. They are fun!

How is your wedding planning coming along? For any advice on your wedding stationery, or you would like to work with us here at Ananya, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Until next time,

With some light and direction for a road map for the future of weddings post-Covid, couples can start to plan Covid-secure weddings which, with a few adjustments, still match their dream day.

Bespoke multicultural wedding stationery suite by Ananya | Hayley Gell Photography

WORKING CLOSELY WITH YOUR WEDDING STATIONER

Initially, identifying your wedding stationer is the best place to start as you decide which designs (your favourite flower or animal, for example), themes, print techniques and any personal touches (including lined envelopes, wax seals or calligraphy) you may want to include in the stationery suite. Having these discussions early on allows time to plan for different outcomes depending upon current restrictions when it comes to your wedding day. For example, if the venue or date of the wedding changes, your stationer can create a card based upon the design of previous invites to send either digitally or via post to your guests.

Elephant Royale bespoke wedding invitations by Ananya | Hayley Gell Photography

Personalised touches FOR YOUR WEDDING STATIONERY

Currently, digital invitations are becoming more popular in adhering to government guidelines and allowing for information to be sent quickly to all, whether they be close family and friends or international. Having a digital invite does not mean to say that they cannot look beautiful and in fact, over the last six months, we have designed several e-invites that incorporated the same colours, patterns and theme of the weddings just as the paper stationery would have been. With an e-invite, you can also include personal elements. This may be addressing each guest personally, adding music or even a Google map/calendar link to ensure the day cannot be missed.

Seizing each opportunity to express your personality and style as a couple is important as this is a day you will always treasure and so we want to make it as memorable as possible under the circumstances.

PRINTED KEEPSAKE WEDDING STATIONERY

You can also print a few invitations for your close family as a treasured keepsake, cherished for many years to come, whilst having digital invitations for the rest of your guests.

If you opt for digital invitations, you can still have elegant printed on the day stationery from placecards and menus to welcome signs and seating plans. This could include personalised favours, bespoke illustrations, or hand-finished touches.

‘Advice for the newlywed’ cards by Ananya | Fiona Kelly Photography

With no print costs to consider with digital, there is room to be creative and put an individual stamp to your digital invitations. Some ideas have been to produce multiple e-cards, which include quirky ones such as ‘advice for the newlyweds’ or a ‘DJ request card’, allowing guests to request for music to be played ready to dance the night away.

digital, ELECTRONIC WEDDING INVITATIONS

Going digital with a wedding website is also useful as with regular changes to restrictions, this can be a good place to update guests on any changes to the day. Creating a WhatsApp group for weddings with a smaller guestlist can also be a good way to provide any last-minute changes, as well as get guests connecting before the wedding day.

Digital cherry blossom invitation for a Sikh wedding by Ananya

MAKE YOUR WEDDING GUESTS FEEL INCLUDED

It would also be advisable to include any Covid-specific information to inform guests of the precautions being taken on the day by yourselves and the venue to ensure their safety. It may also be important to highlight to guests that due to the uncertainty of regulations, last-minute changes are likely and so flexibility would be appreciated.

Even with a Zoom wedding, it is important to make your guests feel included and able to share this special day with you. As you are not restricted to numbers, you can invite more people than you may have originally intended and those who may have been unable to travel, whether that is because they are abroad or too elderly to, can now be there to celebrate this special moment with you. Providing your guests with an invite allows for a keepsake – and may become a talking point in the future, of a time when the world went virtual!

Monogrammed multicultural wedding invitation by Ananya | Hayley Gell Photography

How is your wedding planning coming along? For any advice on your wedding stationery, or you would like to work with us here at Ananya, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Until next time,

Vaishali x