SOMETHING NEW no.1

home sweet home

With the economy taking a bit of a knock and with it wedding budgets, a great new trend has arisen: The “Backyard Wedding” as Americans like to call it. The first step is take a serious look at your guest list and here is a GOOD TIP: If they don’t know your pet’s name, maybe you can scratch them off the list.

Next is to find a location, maybe you are fortunate to already have a big enough home/garden. Or maybe your parents or other family or friends do. Nowadays, so many traditional venues ask quite hefty price tags (R10K – R20K and sometimes even double that!) just for hire. And whilst this does include furniture and equipment, crockery, cutlery, glassware, table numbers, napery and table linen, there are still many other factors and costs that are not included, especially to the extent where minimum numbers are required.

Hosting at a home will have the costs of hiring some of these items, but you may be fortunate in that a number of the items your host may already have. The advantages will be being able to create your own look that suits the home and your wedding style, and the thing I like the best is that you could purchase items that you love and use them at the wedding and then in your new home!

This was best done by one of 2009 BEST WEDDINGS’ Couple Kelly & Chris. Not only did they host their wedding at a small hotel around the swimming pool they did some of these great ideas:

Giant reclaimed billboard light up initials for display at the wedding and then again in their home. 

Table numbers bought from a home décor store to number the tables and for general home décor.

Ceramic vases and bowls filled with succulents in lieu of flowers used for table centerpieces and favours. Extras were sprinkled around their apartment.

Customised napkins to bring bright colour to the table. Sets given to special guests after the wedding and for hostess’s gifts thereafter; and naturally to use for their own home use and entertaining.

Some of our suggestions:

Buy a whole set of stunning frames all different shapes and sizes but follow a theme that suits both the wedding and your home. Frame photos of yourselves, or maybe all wedding photos of family members years gone by and display these at the wedding. This makes a great backdrop for people to have photos in front of. If you are feeling very creative you could set this up on a freestanding board, have one or two empty frames with the hole cut out, and people can poke their heads through! Then afterwards, add your wedding photos and create a mural wall in your hallway or other large space.

Buy a signature piece of furniture: sideboard, chest of drawers, something spectacular and use this as your altar during the ceremony! Then move it into your home –what a wonderful reminder of your wedding day and the vows especially. You could even decorate the top or the wall behind with photo frames, pictures, vases, urns, candlesticks etc. to be used at the wedding and in your home.

Depending on the numbers at your wedding you could actually in fact use some of your own crockery and glassware or start a collection! Even if you just use stunning bowls, platters, jars for centerpieces or a dessert buffet. Would you believe that soup tureens and serving bowls make great holders for flower arrangements – now you have the perfect excuse to invest in the likes of Wedgewood and Waterford!

There are so many ideas that one can do, we may just have to create a feature on our blog about this, I think I will have to start thinking of a good name for it… any suggestions?

IMAGES: yes please, marthastewart, stylemepretty