Not every Bride wants to be called a 'Princess' - Informal Wedding Ideas

Not every couple wants an all singing all dancing event. In fact, I had one Bride who planned her wedding 2 years in advance. She thought that by being organised and prepared she'd avoid the stress and anxiety. WRONG! 4 weeks before her wedding, when everything was paid for, she backed out!

Why? The thought of being centre of attention for a whole day became overwhelming.
When I asked why, she told me "It's just not me!.... or rather it's just not us!"

REMEMBER:

Not EVERY Bride wants to be called a Princess!

The balance of having the wedding 'you want' as opposed to the wedding 'everyone expects you to have' is a fine one.

My advice is....
"Do not buckle under peer pressure"

It's quite acceptable to have a small, quiet, intimate wedding, and to be honest, these weddings usually go down better and are much more memorable that the huge affairs where couples feel obliged to invite everyone from distant cousins to people they haven't seen for years.

Hey! And don't think that having a small, informal wedding, will be any the less meaningful.

Better to have a small group of people who want to share your day, than a stadium full of folk who feel obliged to be there because your mum was friends with her aunty twice removed.

Here's some tips to have a great day:

Forget the sit down meal!
Have the wedding late in the day, followed by an evening buffet and disco.
or how about a BBQ or Tea party?

Ditch the DJ!
Consider playing music through your iPod.

Ditch the photographer! 
Of course, you could provide guests with disposable cameras, but if you want decent photos, ask a friend who's pretty good with a camera or make sure you find a photographer who will take pictures as a sort of camera capture of the day, with no-one having to be ordered about and made to pose for hundreds of photographs.

And.... what about this great idea?
Get all your friends to take photos and get them to upload them to a Pinterest Board you have created or what about Instagram using a hashtag. Make little cards to give out at your reception with the website/URL where you want them to upload their photos!

Still want photos?
To save money.... why not ring the local College or Uni and ask if one of their students would be interested in photographing the day.... great experience for them!

"Who you have at your wedding

 is far more important 

than how many you have

 at your wedding".

And what about my Bride that cancelled just before her wedding?

Well.... she did get married, about a year later.

This time a small wedding with just a few close family and friends

Much more relaxed and more in keeping with the couple's personalities. 

A fairytale ending, without the 

Princess pomp and ceremony.

And by all accounts.... 

they had a ball! 

Are you having an informal wedding? 

Share your ideas in the comments below and inspire others!

If you're looking for  inspiration, for an informal wedding....
 pop over and take a look at OFF BEAT BRIDE there are some great ideas!