What are the best ideas you've heard to put a special touch on a wedding?

Put disposable cameras on tables! Priceless happens in a small percentage of those photos. I also like it when the dj makes you play games, great ice breaker.

OPEN BAR! Far too few weddings overlook this wonderful detail.

If they have a favorite band, see about hiring them, or at least rent their video to show
If there are any little ethnic symbols they would appreciate, use them in the decor.

@NaturalMineralWater Lack of open bars are not usually an issue of it being overlooked as it is another unattainable goal for most people due to the parameters of most states’ liquor laws + extravagance of cost.

@BBSDTFamily It should have personal touches, little details that reflect the personalities of the couple and their relationship to their friends and family. It’s hard to give you something “special” because it’s the little details about a person that makes them special.

Are they readers? Movie buffs? hobbyists? Can those details be incorporated into the decorations, party favors, etc? Are they traditionalists, or they more eccentric? It really depends on their personality what’ll work or what’ll flop.

@Amoebic You’re killing the dream. Hear it? It’s screaming .. writhing in pain… why must you make it suffer?... animal!

We had an outdoor reception for my son and DIL under a white tent. On each table was a vase full of gold sparklers (Made in USA – Youngstown Ohio, I think) supposedly suitable for indoor use. Everyone got a few and then we lit them off by touching the lit sparkler next to you. It was really fun – and inexpensive. There were no holes or marks on the white table cloths, too. I guess they really were OK for indoor use.

Last summer my sister in law got married, and she had a lot of personal touches at the wedding and reception. She’s a Latin teacher, and one of her friends did a reading at the ceremony in Latin. At the reception, guests were given recipe cards and wine charms as favors. The recipe cards featured recipes the newlyweds had enjoyed on important occasions, like their first date, first Valentine’s Day, the night they were engaged, etc. They were printed on carstock and decorated with stamps, held together by the wine charms. Also, each table had a bottle of wine made by the groom. They were great ideas because they were so personal to the couple.

Like @Amoebic suggested, those personal touches should be unique to the couple, something meaningful to their relationship. Have fun!

Since we met dancing, we incorporated a little dance into our ceremony (which was a hoot, since neither the best man, nor the maid of honor were that much into dance). We had the band that plays for the dance make our music, and we held the wedding in an arboretum which had both a nice meeting hall and a natural and beautiful setting. We wrote the vows ourselves. We designed both the menu and the cake. Afterwards, we had a dj who spun our tunes and we danced in the style of the dance that brought us together. The whole ceremony and party was pretty much customized for us.

A lot of people seem to feel they have to stick with traditions. There’s one way to have a wedding, and maybe, if you are good, you can do one special personal element. Obviously, I don’t believe that. I think people should make weddings totally their own, according to their own preferences, and based on things they find meaningful.

Set up a big screen with xbox and put left4dead, call of duty, and halo on there. Whoever wins gets a prize

@DragonFace almost has it. Skip a band and set up Rock Band 2 with the songs from Rock Band 1 on the hard drive and any you’ve bought for the event. Then enable no fail mode. No DJ necessary.

I don’t like the boquet and garter toss, so at our wedding we gave the boquet away to the couple who had been married the longest. One way to do this is to get all the couples on the dance floor and then the DJ can slowly have those married a certain number of years step off, eventually the longest married couple will be left. And then we totally skipped the garter toss.

@miasmom I lurve that idea.

@NaturalMineralWater because the liquor used in open bars is of generally crappy quality. I make it suffer because it should suffer for how it insults quality liquors everywhere! ; )
I would take a good, hearty, locally-brewed ESB on a keg tap over a monarch vodka and generic, supermarket tonic any day. Ketel One or gtfo, bitches. Shitty alcohol is an offense to most, if not all, of my senses. Quality over quantity, baby!

What about having a green wedding ? I think including a few eco-friendly elements in your decor is a nice way to make a statement about the sustainability of your future together – while doing something meaningful for the planet.