Laura and Andy’s August wedding had it’s own fun fair! “We wanted an alternative theme but done in a grown up way” said Laura.
“When we first got engaged, we sat down to brainstorm all the things that make us ‘us’. We hadn’t been to many weddings, so we were able to let our imagination run wild! Our main viewpoint was that we wanted our guests to come away not just thinking ’that was the best wedding ever’ but ’that was the best day ever!”
“We had a secret fun fair! While our guests were eating, we had two fun fair companies arrive and set up stalls, a high striker, swing boats and mini golf! Then the guests were told that they were moving to a different part of the venue and the fun fair was revealed. Our plan went perfectly and it was totally worth it to see Andy’s 79 year old nan swinging on the swingboats with our 5 year old flower girl.”
The pair did lots of DIY projects. “To begin with, we made each other’s wedding rings in Hatton Garden. It was so fun! I then got busy on Photoshop, making our save the date magnets and invitations and creating a few chalkboard-style signs for the bar. I made our order of service and washi-taped a glassine bag of confetti to the back.”
“Our centrepieces were made of an assortment of objects to tie in the theme and show our interests. My bridesmaids made paper pinwheels and painted vodka and whisky bottles for vases. Andy loves comics so we added height with piles of his favourite graphic novels. We named each table after fun fair rides and I made signs out of scrabble tiles. Finally, we added a quiz for our guests to test how well they knew the bride and groom!”
“For our favours, we infused vodka with cherry and bourbon with peach in little glass bottles. The children got jars of sweets and a personalised activity book to keep them entertained. We used wooden letters, drinks dispensers and wooden crates to create a cocktail stand and a whisky table. Then I customised a vintage suitcase with pretty fabric to make a card box.”
“My proudest creation was our seating plan, which was a hook-a-duck! I screwed hooks into the top of a load of rubber ducks and attached our guests’ names, then they had to hook the duck to find their table on a sticker underneath.
“We also booked Strange Case who helped us with a lot of things. I wanted it to look professional, like it belonged in a fashion magazine editorial and not at a school fair, and they were invaluable at bringing everything together. I never thought we’d hire a wedding stylist service but they were absolutely amazing. They made the wooden fun fair signs and our hook-a-duck sign. They also created a beautiful paper photo booth and props in our wedding colours and made a stunning paper fan arrangement as a backdrop for our top table.”
“We had lots of fun planning our wedding! I subscribed to lots of magazines and made a scrapbook of ideas. We took every opportunity to visit national and local wedding fairs, from which we got to meet lovely suppliers who seemed just as passionate about our big day as we did. I love crafting, so because I am a teacher, I was able to fill my school holidays with DIY wedding projects. There were no bad parts about planning our wedding, but it was hard paying all the final balances right before the wedding. We were fine, but it did take careful planning and money management.”
