By Perfect Wedding Guide ‘National Wedding Expert’, Susan Southerland
It comes with the territory of being a professional wedding planner– helping brides come up with unique ideas to reflect their personalities and personal style in their ceremonies, wedding decor, reception venue, entertainment, etc. Together, we come up with wedding ideas that are a perfect fit to exceed their expectations while working within their budgets. That being said, part of my job is also to lend my many years of experience and expertise to couples who have an idea in mind that might not work so well in practice. My intention is not to dissuade you from doing any of the following, it is simply to present some observations that I’ve made regarding possible complications, and present similar alternatives that will sidestep any potential wedding day hiccups you may encounter!
There has been a major trend over the past year or so to line the aisle with intricate patterned flower petals. While this is a very easy way to get a lot of bang for your buck, decor-wise, please consider that if you are having an outdoor ceremony in a particularly breezy locale, you may want to think about switching to a custom aisle runner instead. There are many lovely and affordable options these days, you can select a pattern or motif to print on the runner and even add your monogram and wedding date to the end!
Here’s another idea I’ve been approached with and have cautioned against actually putting into practice: lining the aisle with floating or mounted candles. I’ve had many requests to line the aisle with floating candles in small bowls on the ground, candles on pillars, hanging candles on garden stakes, etc. I tend to caution against this, as obviously it presents a challenge to the bride to get her gown and veil down the aisle without catching either one on fire. I have seen a church or two with built-in candle holders lining the aisle, which are great, since they fully protect any passers-by with glass enclosures. If your venue does not come equipped with these, you’d be better off saving the romantic candle-lit glow for perhaps your reception centerpieces. You will enjoy it throughout the evening instead of for a few brief moments anyway! You can also opt to use battery powered LED candles or fully enclose the candles in a hanging lantern, as pictured.
Finally, here is one more consideration for those who are having outdoor ceremonies. The unity candle is very popular in church weddings as a symbol of the couple joining their lives together into one. This is a beautiful moment and I see many of my outdoor weddings try to incorporate this ceremony into their wedding, with occasional complication of one or more of the candles being blown out by the slightest breeze. Have no fear– if you’re looking for a unity ceremony that it perfectly suited to the outdoors, consider a sand ceremony instead! Instead of lighting a candle together, you simply combine two vials of different colored sand into a central vessel, thus achieving the same representation of unity without the headache of fiddling with candles in the wind.
I hope that you have found these ideas helpful– if you have any questions for me about something you’re considering for your wedding day and you’re wondering how well it works, don’t hesitate to leave your question in the comments section below or send me an email!
If you have questions on this or any other wedding related topic, please post for me here on the wedding blog or send me an email to susan(dot)southerland(at)pwg.com. Also become a fan on Facebook (search: Susan Southerland Secret) or follow me on Twitter (@Susansoutherlan).
Your partner in perfect planning,
Susan
