One of the pleasures of life is to see the young people who have worked for Bridal Spectacular over the years grow up and get married. My young friend Kyle who married Haley in Portland, grew up in Las Vegas and worked at registration and video production for almost 10 years.  Kyle met Haley in Flagstaff where they both attended NAU and graduated with degrees majoring in Broadcasting.

As long time family friends, My husband and I were honored to attend their wedding in Portland this last July and they had such unique ideas and special touches that I felt them worthy of sharing.

Haley & Kyles Wedding with Groom’s Family
  1. Greet your guests at the hotel with special survival bags: Many of the guests were from out of town and we all stayed in the same hotel.  At registration we were given a decorated gift bag prepared by the groom’s family filled with snacks, water, bandaids and a sewing kit. They also included a list of the pre and post wedding activities with when and where information. The bags were personalized with our names on the outside, making us feel extra special. What you actually put in your bags is totally up to you, the sky is the limit and you know your guests best,  the gesture will truly be appreciated.

    Greeted at hotel with a lovely gift bag full of goodies.
  2. Escort Cards or Puzzle Pieces showing Guests To Their Table: When the guests arrived at the ceremony and reception site, they picked up a puzzle piece with their table number on it.  At the end of the evening all puzzle pieces were collected and put together to create pictures of the couple’s engagement photos.  Make sure you collect the pieces from your guests when they sit down at their table, if you wait too long the guests may leave the reception with the pieces and then you will have a hole in your puzzle.  This was a fun activity and everyone enjoyed seeing the completion of some great engagement photos.
    Puzzle Pieces Led Us To Our Table Number

    The Puzzle is Almost Complete
  3. Engagement Photos used for Decor: With the wedding having a strong vintage theme, the bride had framed hundreds of copies of their engagment session photos reproduced on a home printer.  The framed photos were attractively displayed on all the guest tables stacked on and around vintage books and even on the head table.  The wedding cake tied in with the theme by featuring a whimsical figurine of the bride and groom looking through a picture frame.  The guests were able to take home framed photos of the couple as gifts.
    Wedding Cake with Couple in Picture Frame
    Table Numbers in Photo Frames

    Vintage Table Setting
  4. DIY flowers with help from an expert: As a former florist I never recommend doing the flowers yourself, it is so much work and it all has to be completed in the days leading up to the wedding when you are already stressing.  But our bride found a florist in Portland who was willing to not only order the flowers, but teach the bride and her bridesmaids how to put them together. So the day before the wedding, the bride and her wedding party spent the day at the florist making all the bridal party bouquets and boutonnieres under the florists supervision.  The florist stored and delivered the flowers. This is not a service you are likely to find in most towns, so again I stress don’t take on flowers DIY unless you have lots of extra time and plenty of refrigerator space to store them.

    Bridal Party Creates The Wedding Flowers
  5. Newlywed interactive game added a fun and festive feeling to the reception: A reception does not have to be all about dancing!  The brides’ father led the couple through an interactive game that not only entertained the guests but included them. The couple set back to back and exchanged a shoe.  The father of the bride asked them questions like “who is more likely to vacuum the floors”  If they felt the answer was the Bride they held up the brides shoe, if it was the groom they held up the groom’s shoe.  The audience held up chalk board signs with who they felt was most likely to vacuum. There were many funny questions that often brought the house down as you could see the couple trying to figure out what each other would answer.
    Bride and Groom Back to Back Playing Wedding Game

    He did it, She Did It Wedding Game
  6. Choreographed Father-Daughter Dance: Our couple spent the last year living across the country from each other, so there was no time for them to learn a choreographed dance together.  But the Bride and her father did work together on a choreographed waltz and it was a beautiful sentimental moment for them and their guests.  I’m sure the time spent together was something they will both long remember.

    Choreographed Father & Daughter Dance
  7. Father of the Bride leads the Groom and Groomsmen in a hilarious YMCA dance: Our father of the bride invited the groom and groomsmen to the dance floor and led them at dancing to the YMCA.  Consider adding some out of the ordinary fun to your reception.

    Father of Bride leads Groom & Groomsmen in the YMCA

I hope you enjoy the ideas that this bride and groom and their families came up with to make their day special and uniquely theirs!  Now please feel free to comment and tell us about your unique ideas for your Las Vegas wedding.

Make sure you come to the next Bridal Spectacular where you will find so many ideas and all the services you will need to create the wedding you have always wanted.

Most photos taken by the author, some were taken by the wedding photographer Greg Clarke Photography from Portland, Oregon.