Here at Tailored Entertainment, we know a thing or two about planning great weddings. When you’re out providing top notch wedding entertainment to happy couples every weekend of the year, along the way you pick up a thing or two on how to make a big day truly stand out.
The truth is, big or small, the details really matter. From decor that transforms your venue to dance-floor filling entertainment, it’s the unique and unforgettable additions to the day that really make your wedding totally unforgettable – for you and your guests.
Well good news! We’re on hand to help with all of those crucial little details. In this post, we’ve laid out a veritable treasure trove of brilliantly unique wedding ideas, all of which are sure to prove an awesome addition to your wedding plans.
Let’s get cracking shall we?
LIVE MUSIC & WEDDING ENTERTAINMENT
CHOOSING THE PERFECT WEDDING ENTERTAINMENT.
We’ll start on fairly familiar territory. Choosing the perfect wedding entertainment doesn’t have to feel like a chore. In fact, we’ve made it easier than ever to find the perfect live wedding band for your big day. Start by thinking about the demographic of your wedding guests – what kind of music gets them up and dancing? Whatever style you’re looking for, we’ve got wedding music to meet your budget and location requirements.
TAKE SONGS REQUESTS FROM YOUR GUESTS.
Involving your guests in the day’s events makes everything feel so much more homespun and personal. A lovely way to do this is to take song requests from your friends and family ahead of time. Ask your guests to note their favourite song on their RSVP, create a playlist of all their favourites and then make a playlist of all the songs they suggested, or better yet – give it to your wedding band and see if they can add them to their set!
BOOK A LIVE KARAOKE BAND.
Got a few budding superstars amidst your wedding party? A live karaoke band might be the perfect wedding entertainment for you! These awesome party acts act as your very own rock band, taking requests from an extensive song book and letting you and your guests front the band for your moment in the spotlight. Our very own Live Karaoke Band is the UK’s most popular bandaoke act – they’re a great way to get your guests up and on their feet.
LIVE WEDDING PAINTING.
This is a new wedding trend we’re seeing that we just absolutely love – hiring a professional painter to come and capture your day in a single piece of art. We love how deeply personal and truly immersive this feels! It’ll make for a truly unique addition to your wedding day and what’s more, you’ll have a beautiful work of art to take home with you afterward. Take a look at Brides round-up of everything you need to know before booking your wedding painter.
WEDDING RECEPTION GAMES.
Lawn games have long been a super fun addition to summer wedding receptions as a fun distraction during the drinks reception. Over the years, the options on offer have gotten better and better, and some of the dedicated wedding reception games suppliers out there are really incredible. One of our favourites has to be Crazy 9, who provide portable mini golf courses that can be delivered direct to your wedding venue. Afterall, who doesn’t love crazy golf!?
PREMIUM WEDDING DJ LIVE ACTS.
DJ Live acts are the big new wedding entertainment trend that we’re seeing emerging for 2021. These incredible, high energy acts combine the UK’s best DJs with incredible live music, in a sensational musical mash up that’ll leave your guests absolutely spellbound. Trust us, our live DJ and Sax acts will get every one of your wedding party dancing until the wee small hours.
WEDDING RECEPTION TABLE GAMES FOR ADULTS.
Looking for a way to break the ice on awkward tables where guests haven’t met before? Table games can be a great way to bring strangers together, united by their friendship with you and your significant other. This great article from Love & Lavender lays out some great options – there’s plenty in there your guests are sure to love!
PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEO
START A WEDDING HASHTAG AND COLLECT YOUR GUEST’S BEST SHOTS.
Some of the best photos from your wedding day may not come directly from the wedding photographer. In fact, your guests tend to grab some gorgeously candid shots from in and around the day’s festivities that your photographer might miss. We used to love the old-skool addition of disposable cameras for your guests as party favours, but these days it’s just as easy to set a nice, easy hashtag. Then you can have hours of fun combing through the photos your friends and family posted that you may have otherwise missed.
PHOTO BOOTH FUN.
Who doesn’t love a photobooth? They’re a fairly well-established staple of the wedding scene these days, and for good reason. There’s some seriously cool options out there for photobooths with a difference. Companies like Megabooth offer a range of retro and modern photo booth options that’ll suit your theme and keep your guests entertained for hours on end.
CINEMATIC WEDDING VIDEOGRAPHY.
You’d be amazed how quickly your wedding day slips by. Once the day is over, it can all feel like a total, heady blur – and you can end up wishing you had more than just the photos from which to remember it all. It really is worth thinking about capturing some of the day on film – and the sky is the limit in terms of wedding videographer packages that are available to you. Personally, we love the work of cinematic wedding videographers like Boutique Wedding Films, creating deeply personal and visually stunning footage for couples to cherish for the rest of their lives.
WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY THAT WORKS FOR YOU.
Your photographer is one of the most crucial pieces of the wedding planning puzzle, and you need to make sure that the person you pick is perfect for you and your wedding day. For a photographer that blends in with your wedding party, and captures the special moments as they happen, check out Kevin Mullins Photography.
WEDDING VENUE IDEAS
ECO-FRIENDLY WEDDING VENUES.
The carbon footprint of your wedding can, in truth, end up pretty staggering. Plenty of couples are understandably looking for ways to lessen the environmental impact of their big day, and one of the most effective ways to do this is to find an eco-friendly wedding venue that shares your values of sustainability. Luckily, there are more and more eco-friendly wedding venues to be found in the UK – venues going above and beyond to ensure your wedding takes place in harmony with it’s surrounds rather than negatively impacting them.
One of our absolute favourites has to be the stunning Penpont in Brecon – an eco-friendly wedding venue that’s growing their own produce, powering their buildings with renewable energy, and consciously committing to preserving the area in which it resides.
TURN YOUR WEDDING INTO A FESTIVAL.
If you can’t get enough of those heady days spent at a sun-drenched summer festival, then why not bring a bit of it to your wedding day? Festival inspired weddings (blog) have been a big part of the wedding scene for a while now, and they’re showing no signs of diminishing in popularity. All’s you need is a gorgeous countryside location, an on point rustic look, and a festival style wedding band to really nail the brief. If you need a helping hand getting that festival vibe right, take a look at the brilliant I Do Festivals. From teepees to street food caterers and everything in between, they can make your biggest festival-style wedding dreams a reality.
HOUSE-PARTY-STYLE WEDDING VENUES
‘House-party wedding venues’ are one the big new 2021 wedding trends that we’re absolutely loving right now. The idea is ingenious really – hire out a small, intimate wedding venue from top to bottom, and make it your own for the whole weekend. It makes for a brilliant experience for you and all your guests. We think pub wedding venues are perfectly suited to this, and there’s more and more out there offering full hire options for house party style weddings. The Bay Tree Hotel in beautiful Burford is by far our favourite right now – this gorgeous old coaching inn dates back to the 16th century and is resplendent with intimate little nooks nestled within its thick stone walls, and a gorgeous ‘secret garden’ style outdoor space that’s great for your afternoon drinks reception.
FOOD & DRINK
SUPER SWEET CARTS
You can’t go wrong with a sweet cart – it’s a tried and tested way to bring a bit of fun to your evening reception. There are some great sweet cart suppliers out there, but our favourite has to be Sweet Mix Carts – they’re experts at sweetening up your reception with cartful’s of irresistible treats!
DIY COCKTAIL STATIONS
We love this fun little wedding trend that’s started popping up recently – setting up a cocktail station for your guests to get stuck into can offer another fun, interactive element to the afternoon drinks reception. It’s also presents some awesome photo opportunities for your photographers and your guests! You can make the cocktails on offer super personal to you, too, bringing another injection of personality to your big day.
STREET FOOD PIZZA VANS
Whether it’s evening food or the main catering option for the whole wedding day, pop-up pizza vans can be a great way to go with your wedding catering. Pizza Project is one of the best you’re likely to find – they offer delicious, authentic, wood-fired pizza to your wedding day from the back of their vintage van.
GLORIOUS VEGAN WEDDING FOOD.
The vegan wedding catering scene has come on leaps and bounds in the last few years. No longer is vegan cuisine relegated to an afterthought for most caterers, with almost every wedding party containing at least a handful of people following a vegan diet. In fact, there are some incredible caterers out there specialising in delicious vegan wedding food. People like Wholefood Heaven, a wedding caterer with extensive experience in vegan, vegetarian, raw, and gluten-free diets. Their food is absolutely delicious, too!
STYLING & DESIGN
PRE-LOVED WEDDING DRESSES.
We’re absolutely loving the resurgence in pre-loved, vintage wedding attire. These days, it’s so easy to find incredible pieces for your wedding party that will wow on the aisle-walk without bursting your budget. What’s more, it’s a much more sustainable way to source your wedding dress! For beautiful vintage wedding dresses, we love Abigail’s Vintage Bridal – they even offer an alteration service meaning your beautiful vintage dress will fit like new!
WEDDING TABLE DECORATION IDEAS.
Wedding table decoration trends change with the seasons and staying on top of what’s hip can be a bit of a tough ask for even the most invested wedding professionals. Pinterest is a great place to gather inspiration for your table settings – you can curate a mood board to suit your style and give your caterers scope to really capture your vision for the wedding breakfast aesthetic.
FLOWER WALL BACKDROPS
These gorgeous aesthetic photo additions have been cropping up at weddings over the last few years, and we totally see the appeal. It’s a beautiful way to frame your wedding photos and makes for great photo opportunities for your guests, too. For stunning backdrops for your wedding photography, visit Elizabeth James Events to view some beautiful floral collections.
NEON LIGHTING FOR WEDDINGS.
Neon lighting is seriously on-trend right now, and we’re absolutely loving it! It’s a relatively easy way to add a bit of flash and glamour to your wedding day aesthetic whilst still keeping things feeling stylish and hip. You can even have your favourite quote added in glowing neon lettering by brilliant companies like Elizabeth James Events.
SUSTAINABLE PARTY FAVOURS.
Keeping weddings as sustainable as possible is becoming a bigger and bigger focus for couples planning their wedding day. We’ve written extensively on this blog on our favourite eco-friendly wedding ideas, and this is possibly one of our favourites. Your party favours are a great place to get creative, and in the process, you can keep them sustainable and eco-conscious. You could bottle your own flavoured gins, get nan to cook up some homemade jams, or even gift your guests a tree to plant at home – all delivered in an eco-friendly, sustainable way.
FIND NEW GREAT SUPPLIERS AT AN ONLINE WEDDING SHOW.
In recent times, COVID restrictions have meant that wedding shows have had to get a bit creative with how they showcase amazing new suppliers and wedding ideas. Wedding Show 24/7 is right at the forefront of the online wedding show scene here in the UK, offering hand picked suppliers in their own virtual exhibition hall. It’s a great way to peruse suppliers and pick up some brilliant styling ideas in a space that you can access from the comfort of your sofa.
LIGHT (UP) THE DANCEFLOOR.
You’ve got your entertainment sorted, what about the dancefloor?! LED dancefloors are a great way to bring a touch of glamour to your wedding reception, and they’re such great fun too! Elizabeth James Events offers stunning light-up dance floors in a range of sizes, with packages to suit all sorts of venues and budgets.
LOCAL, SEASONAL WEDDING FLOWERS.
Your wedding flowers have such a big impact on the look and feel of your wedding day. We really recommend finding a wedding florist that champions local, seasonal produce rather than flying in expensive imports from abroad. By avoiding florists flying in out-of-season flowers for your bouquets you’re not only cutting down on your carbon footprint – you’ll be cutting the overall price, too. Websites like Florismart are a great source for finding great sustainable wedding florists. Their site even has a cool calendar telling you what’s in season and where to source it.
This post was written by Lee Broderick from Tailored Entertainment on their website here. They are an exhibitor on the WeddingShow247 Bands floor of the Music Hall. You can visit their WeddingShow247 exhibition stand here.
