You want to have a relaxed wedding because you are an easy-going bride who wants your wedding to be fun and reflect your laid-back style! So, taking a departure from tradition by having an informal setting for your marriage ceremony and celebrations is what you would love to do. As a Nottingham-based wedding photographer, I’ve picked up a few things. Follow these wedding planning tips to help you plan the ultimate laid-back wedding celebration!
1) Don’t invite Guests that will Kill your Mood
If you don’t care about chatting to ‘so and so’ on your wedding day – don’t invite them. Your wedding is all about celebrating your love for each other with the people that matter most to you. It’s supposed to be an informal celebration with the family and friends that you love the most, so you have the most fun big day ever. Do you want to spend time on your wedding day making small talk with guests that you wouldn’t choose to spend time with on any given day of the week? You know, like your Mum’s cousin or something? Time is short (so is that sentence). Time will ping by on your wedding day so you will want to maximise the time you have available to spend with the people that you care about the most, keeping your wedding relaxed and fun. Only invite guests that you want to be there. It might also have the bonus of helping you stay on budget too!
2) Ditch Tradition if it’s just not ‘You’
Traditions can be a wonderful part of your wedding if they mean something to you, like having your ceremony in your family church where previous generations have been married before you. But you’re not the kind of couple that follows tradition just because it’s the ‘done thing’. It will cramp your style if you add lots of elements to your wedding day just for photos that won’t mean anything to you next year. To you, that’s just needless formality.
Too many couples don’t even know what cutting the cake is all about. They seem to do it because, well just because it’s what you do at a wedding… which is fine if that’s what you value, but everything you do takes time away from enjoying something else. So if you want to hold your wedding ceremony in a relaxed setting like a woodland or a beach, with informal seating for guests go for it! If you want to have a casual reception, then bring on the beanbags, blankets and garden games. And if you want to have a laid-back gathering around fire pits at the end of the night to toast some marshmallows- fantastic! Do your wedding your way! Do all the things you dream of doing because it will bring you and your guests joy!
3) Dirt on your Wedding Dress is Nothing to worry about
You might feel a little bit worried about getting your wedding dress dirty. But, unless you plan on levitating all day, your wedding dress will get dirty. Your hem will pick up dirt from even the cleanest of floors… But, you bought your dress to have the best day of your life in right? Just let go and have fun! So go on, ride that space hopper, ravish that ice cream and scale that fence for a bit of adventure.
The best thing about dirty wedding dresses is that they tell stories of down-to-earth brides who had the best party of their lives! And you’ll come to realise that your wedding dress isn’t dirty but covered in marks that will bring back the best memories! Seriously, you will not be able to relax on your wedding day if you are worried about ‘dirt’. The photo above was taken at the Whatton House
4) Delegate Responsibilities to your Bridal Party
Delegate-Oooooh- that sounds a bit bossy doesn’t it? But if you want to have a stress-free run-up to your wedding, allow your wedding party to take some of the planning stress off your hands- that’s part of what they have signed up for. They are not there just to look pretty on the day and organise your hen/stag do but to support you along the way. Something stressing you out? Off-load it onto someone you trust. Don’t feel like you have to do it all yourself :). On your wedding day itself, delegate key responsibilities to your Bridal party / Groomsmen. You won’t be able to lay back and relax on your wedding day if, at the back of your mind, there are niggling thoughts of ‘oh, I need to remember to do this and that next’ (More on how to choose your wedding party coming soon). Your squad can help you get your group shots sone in 20 min too so you can get back to the party
5) Don’t Obsess over the Details
You are planning a casual wedding that allows you to exercise your creative freedom to the full. As such, you want to sprinkle personal touches throughout your day to showcase your laid-back personalities and interests together to create a unique and fun experience for all your guests. But when the décor starts feeling like a chore and it stops being fun, maybe it’s time to leave it. After all, you are planning a relaxed wedding because you care more about people rather than props anyway!
Plus, as much as your guests may enjoy some of your personal touches about your day, it’s not going to be the thing that they remember most. People don’t often remember the details but they will remember how much fun they had during your chilled-out wedding celebrations. On the other side of things, you might not even notice those personal touches that you’ve spent hours pouring over because you’ll be doing too much partying to notice! This photo was taken at Walled Garden Wedding in Nottingham
6) Do a hair and make-up trial run
The last thing you want on your wedding day is to feel like you wearing someone else’s face (I might change that last sentence because it sounds like a line from a horror film). Good hair and make-up should bring out the natural beauty of your facial features and it should compliment you and look natural. Caveat- I’m a bloke so what do I know about make-up… Then again I’ve been married almost 10 years and I’ve shot a fair few weddings! Have a trial if you are booking a make-up artist or hairstylist. That way you’ll feel way more relaxed on your wedding day because you won’t be worrying about your ‘look’ because you will have sorted that out in advance. Lots of brides that I’ve worked with DIY their hair make-up which is always cool – if you already know what you like and what makes you feel good then go for it! But it might take some of the pressure off you if you hire someone to do it for you, it’s just one less thing to think about and you might feel more chilled on the morning of your wedding. For more tips on feeling wedding day photogenic
7) Go Unplugged
Would you rather – see the reactions of your guests as you come down the aisle or see them hide behind ugly tablets or cameras? If you want your wedding ceremony to feel relaxed, allow your guests to be in the moment with you by having an ‘unplugged’ wedding. This means requesting that your guests leave their cameras to one side for the whole ceremony. That way they won’t feel the urge to hijack the aisle and turn your procession into a mass photo shoot!
Remember you’ve hired a professional photographer to take care of your wedding photos for you. So you don’t need 10 crap photos from your guests of the same moment, plus they might even get in your photographer’s way too, so it’s a lose-lose. Your wedding photos will also thank you for going ‘unplugged’ because they will be filled with your guests’ reactions and expressions and not tech from a bygone era!
The photo above was taken at a wedding at the Hall Barns.
8) Make time slow down
Cliché alert- your wedding day is going to fly by. I’m not asking you to unleash your superpowers to stall time, but you can make sure you don’t rush things to allow yourselves to lay back and fully enjoy every part of your wedding day. Walk down the aisle slowly to take in all the loving faces in the room. Take it all in. Plan plenty of time to enjoy chatting with your guests after the ceremony so that you and your guests don’t feel rushed before the reception. Also, allow yourselves to have a little time away from the party for a couple of short spots throughout your day. They are a great way to have a moment to relax and recharge together so you don’t get all peopled out! Plus, they’re the perfect opportunity to capture some informal couples portraits without turning your day into a photoshoot, like in the above photo from this stylish Stanford Hall Wedding.
9) Find a Wedding Venue that Fits your Vibe
Choosing a unique and alternative wedding venue is a big step because it will set the scene for relaxed nuptials and casual celebrations. So, you will want your wedding venue to be a place that allows you to have a casual approach to your big day and be a place where you and your guests feel comfortable. It will also be the place where all your non-traditional, fun and creative ideas come to life and so it has to fit your style and what you enjoy as a couple.
So it could be a venue with industrial vibes like the West Mill or the Pumping House, an outdoor wedding venue, a marque or tipi wedding venue, a converted barn wedding venue, a woodlands wedding or something posh that ends in ‘Hall’ like Doddington Hall, Prestwold Hall, Stubton Hall or the Carriage Hall.
Don’t panic though if you can’t find a wedding venue that ticks all the boxes because your wedding guests are going to have an awesome time no matter where you get married because they get to celebrate with YOU!
10) Choose a photographer with a relaxed style
Even if you have planned a casual and informal wedding, the experience of your wedding day might not feel very relaxed if your wedding photographer turns your day into a photoshoot! If the idea of being dragged away from the party for an hour or more to be paraded around like you’re going to be on the cover of a magazine makes you feel uncomfortable, you’ll want to choose a wedding photographer with a laid-back style. Make sure you pair your celebrations with a relaxed wedding photographer who gets your vibe and fits with the way that you see your wedding day being captured (of course with epic dance floor photos too!).
MORE WEDDING PLANNING TIPS
How to Give a Relaxed Groomsman Speech