Over the last few years couples have been spending more on cost per guest (even if that means decreasing the guest count) to create a more memorable occasion, The Knot reports. In the eyes of the wedding hosts, it has become increasingly important to create the “ultimate guest experience”.

You may be thinking “Why, this day is about me?!” and although that is true, it wouldn’t be much of a party without your guests and their support. You have invested a lot of time and money into this big day and you want your guests to stay and enjoy the entire time and reminisce about your amazing wedding for years to come. Show them a good time and make your wedding stand out among the rest!

Okay, that all sounds good but what exactly does guest experience mean? It means as the host of a party that you are making sure your guests needs are met, that they are comfortable, that you keep them entertained and stimulated, evoke emotions on a day celebrating family and love, wow their senses and provide a little interaction for them. Make sure they have a good time and an unforgettable experience.

Below are 50 ideas to increase your guest’s experience.

1. Make a grand entrance when appearing to walk down the aisle

2. Have a wedding party (or guest) dance off during the reception

3. Incorporate humor in your wedding day

4. Create stunning visuals- have your bridesmaids dresses mismatched (different styles, different colors, ombre’ effect, etc.)

5. Have rounded ceremony seating for a more intimate nuptial

6. Create a fabulous balloon wall

7. Minimalism- quality over quantity (whether its alcohol, décor, food or favors)

8. Have officiant ask the guest if they affirm your union and make them say “we do” at the end of the ceremony

9. Learn a unique dance for your first dance

10. Create a fun photo booth, ditch the paper masks on sticks and provide a trunk of cool costume pieces (example: hats, boas, glasses) BONUS, this doubles as dress up trunk for any kiddos at the event

11. Hire an interactive DJ who plays games or teaches dances

12. Make a memorable entrance as a married couple into the reception

13. Hire a caricaturist or other entertainment vendors

14. Provide advice cards, date night ideas and wedding mad libs

15. Procure different types of food vendors- coffee truck, pie truck, ice cream truck, etc.

16. Impress your guests and Mother Nature with an eco-chic wedding

17. Have your photographer capture nice portraits of guests for your memories and theirs (send them their photos)

18. Use nontraditional floral, we have heard grasses are going to be big for the 2019 season

19. Provide dramatic backdrops for photos

20. Hire a local falconer to have a raptor be your ring bearer (we can help make this happen!)

21. Have custom minimalistic banners made (i.e., your new last name but have each letter its own cut out banner piece)

22. Print a guestbook with photos of your guests already in them (steal them from Facebook!) and instruct them to find their picture and sign

23. Go with a crazy or untraditional color palette

24. Anniversary dance game: have all couples dance, have the DJ excuse the dancefloor by number of years people have been married so the last couple dancing has been married the longest is honored

25. Provide “I Spy” photo scavenger hunt game directions (use your wedding hashtag so they can upload the photos to you)

26. Provide quality, plentiful food (this is really important to guests)

27. Are there other special occasions on this day or recently or soon? Honor your guests and point them out (examples: a friend or family members recent engagement, a new baby, a birthday)

28. Tape a gift card to bottom of a place setting and have the DJ announce for everyone to look under their place setting, someone lucky wins the gift card

29. Have a themed wedding where the guests are encouraged to dress up

30. String up a Piñata for the kids (and one for adults too!)

31. Use butcher paper on kids tables and supply crayons for them to color on

32. Have a love song themed Karaoke hour

33. Include a surprise performance of some kind from a guest

34. In lieu of gifts, have a donation box for a charity near and dear to you

35. Do not have assigned seating, guests do not like this

36. Instead of spending money on favors, get higher quality alcohol

37. Have music requests for guests to fill out for the DJ

38. Anticipate your guest’s needs, they don’t know what they are in for (example: sunscreen, bug spray, pashmina)

39. Host an after party at a local bar or casino for those who want to make the most of this day

40. If food was served hours before the party ends, provide a “late night” snack or coffee bar

41. Utilize a large chalkboard and make it interactive for your guests (example: gratitude board, favorite one line joke, favorite quote or song lyrics)

42. Provide Hors d’oeuvre, a snack or a drink upon guest arrival

43. Provide lounge areas where people can sit comfortably and mingle in different spots (our Airstream is a perfect lounge area backdrop!)

44. Bring outdoor games for people to play

45. After the toasts, thank your guests and let them know how much their support means to you

46. Provide interactive food stations (example: dessert bar, sweet and salty bar, lemonade bar, smore’s bar)

47. Play some fun games as a couple in front of the guest while they are eating (example: the shoe game, trivia)

48. Provide a bounce house and a babysitter or other entertainment for your guest’s children

49. Have live music

50. Probably the most important one: make it a point to greet every guest in the day or evening and truly thank them for coming and supporting you

What did you do at your wedding to increase guest experience? Let us know in the comments!

Photo Credit: Rachael Marker and Nicole Setter

Google dictionary defines personality as the combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual’s distinctive character. What an amazing gift that we are all different and have unique abilities, likes and talents about us, whether they developed from nature or nurture. I totally believe this should be reflected in your wedding. The combination of who you two are, and in some cases your families can be presented in ways you may never have thought about before. Stand out amongst the 2.50 million weddings that take place each year in the United States by adding personalized touches that will wow your guests and reflect yourselves, after all, this day is about YOU.

I wanted to give a large list with enough variety because I realize that not all of these ideas are everyone’s cup of tea, some of these aren’t in every couple’s budgets and some people may never have really thought about or considered personalizing touches to their wedding beyond displaying a last name or monogram, but those people are actually the minority. A wedding survey done by The Knot in 2017 reports that personalization is the top priority of betrothed couples while planning their wedding. I think we will continue to see more and more personalization in weddings as couples strive to make their weddings more memorable and eventful now more than any other time in history.

Enjoy the list:

Create wine bottle labels for the bar display (idea: put your engagement photos on the labels)
Write your own ceremony script and vows, or employ close friends or family to help
Purchase a personalized aisle runner (idea: have it tell your wedding story with first time you met at the start and end with your wedding date at the altar, note this story can be beyond just dates
Serve Jones Soda with custom labels (idea: use your photos or favorite love quotes)
Use an unordinary ring bearer vessel (idea: is the groom a baseball player? Use a catcher’s mitt)
Make a wedding hashtag (so people who take photos on their phones can upload them with the hashtag, this will organize them all to one place on social media
Publish a wedding program (idea: make it newspaper format)
Throw a themed wedding, especially one that encourages guests to dress up too (idea: Halloween, Roaring 20s, masquerade ball, Rockabilly)
In place of a unity candle or sand, pot a favorite species of plant together and watch it grow throughout your life
Provide signature snacks (idea: his favorite treat and her favorite snack)
Display other family members wedding photographs (idea: parents and grandparents wedding photos displayed in the same colored frames)
Design a one of a kind cake topper
Include your dog(s) in the ceremony
If your pet(s) is unable to be at the ceremony, display a picture of it/them (idea: dress up your pet(s), take a photo, place in frame and write something wedding related on the frame such as “best man” or “maid of honor”)
Represent family members who are unable to attend (idea: have a photo display for deceased family members, empty chairs reserved for them or small photos on charms that attach to the bouquet)
Hang photos of yourselves along the aisle seats starting form baby to most recent like a timeline of who you have grown into on your wedding day
Create custom Converse sneakers to wear for dancing
Serve signature drinks (idea: he likes coca cola and she loves lavender lemonade)
Ask a friend to become ordained so they can marry you
Name your dinner tables after something relevant in your life (idea: places you have travelled to, important numbers and their meanings, photos of you two at the ages which correspond to table number)
Have your immediate family dress in the same color scheme
If either of you were a flower girl or ring bearer in a wedding as a child, display the photos
Incorporate your mother’s wedding attire (idea: have it refashioned to modern styles or to fit you and wear it, or wear her veil or shoes)
Have a custom wedding dress tag made and sewn into the gown
Display your family trees
Invite your favorite celebrities and display their responses
Serve personalized fortune cookies or candies such as M&Ms
Have his cuff links or her ring engraved, reveal the surprise on the wedding day
Share funny or cute moments from your relationship with guests by writing them on cards and putting on place settings
Incorporate your hobbies, crafts and talents into your wedding (idea: if you are a photographer, make postcards out of your photos and give as the favor)
Incorporate your heritage into the event (idea: display a flag from your country of origin or participate in a cultural tradition)
Have a silly photo display (idea: Photoshop your faces into famous movie posters or album covers)
Turn your engagement photos into a book and have it on display
Add a hint of personality to your cake (idea: if your cake is more traditional than silly, add a hint of something you love- perhaps an object used in a hobby or a favorite character peeking out from under the cake)
Share and display and wedding stories you have (idea: I was a flower girl when I was two years old, I thought I was the bride and I walked down the aisle crying screaming “I don’t want to get married”! I displayed the photo and printed the story in a frame)
Add personal family touches (idea: sew a piece of a deceased family members clothing into the dress or tie or have a family member write a surprise note on somewhere inconspicuous such as the bottom of a shoe)
Provide personalized cocktail napkins (idea: they could have writing on them or a photo)
Have a tangible, museum-esque, display of items from your relationship (idea: love notes, gifts, sentimental things)
Incorporate a dish from a cherished family recipe, give the recipe out as a favor
Create a comic or cartoon and display it
Have escort cards with cheesy, one liner jokes on them
Honor each wedding party member by giving them a minute or two of spotlight (idea: have them choose a “walkout song” [when a baseball player walks up for bat they have a song played], play it while they walk to their seat at the head table and then give them the mic to let them say a few words about the newlyweds- sort of a spin on the traditional speeches/ toasts)
Let whoever walks you down the aisle pick the song they will do their first dance to with you (idea: don’t let them tell you what it is so it’s a surprise day of)
Embrace brides men and grooms girls (idea: just have opposite sex wedding party members dress in same color palette to match)
Surprise each other (idea: give him a boudoir photo book, buy her a special piece of jewelry to wear or write each other a love letter to read silently at the alter or before walking out [great photo opportunities])
Incorporate unexpected members of the wedding party (idea: grandmas as flower girls)
Have a slideshow with your couples photo rolling on continuous loop somewhere at the venue
If you use a wedding hashtag, print it out on business card sized paper and put on each table setting
Display the first photo taken of you as a couple next to a current one
Make sure to individually thank each of your guests for coming and contributing to your wedding day

What did you do to add personal touches on your wedding? Please share in the comments!