5 Unexpected Ways To Set Your Boston Wedding Apart From The Crowd

Tying the knot soon? Want to find something different, something out-of-the-box to add to your wedding? Everyone wants their wedding to be unique, but with all of the Style Me Pretty and Pinterest-inspired wedding ideas, it can be hard to really mix things up. So how do you make your wedding your own? Lately couples have begun to incorporate their own personality throughout all aspects of their wedding.

Adding personal touches that will give your guests a glimpse into your life together as a couple is the key to making every wedding unique. We talked with local wedding planning expert, Bree Oates, to bring you these five ideas that will wow your guests and making your Boston wedding stand out from the crowd.

1) Food Infused With Family Tradition

Events By Bree Oates Example: Wedding Cake Created By Close Family Friend. Photography by: Zev Fisher Photography.

When you’re planning a wedding, food is a great way to infuse your own personality into the day. Incorporating family tradition into the celebration can make for a fun twist on the traditional Boston wedding reception. For many families, recipes that are passed down from generation to generation become treasured family secrets. What better way to honor and represent your new family than by incorporating these special flavors into your wedding menu?

Food is one of the most importation parts of a wedding. The last thing you want to hear your guests talking about is how the food was like every other reception they've been to this year - normal old "wedding food." Great food that incorporates your favorite family recipes will create a memorable experience that your guests will be raving about.

Events By Bree Oates Expert Tip: "A great way to make sure your guests love the food is to incorporate something special. Whether you have the caterer make your family's potato salad, choose ingredients from your garden, or have a close family friend create your wedding cake from scratch, these are all personal touches that your guests will enjoy."

2) Have Someone Close To You Officiate

Events By Bree Oates Example: Wedding Officiated By Bride's Uncle. Photography by Zoe Hiigli Studios

Another great way you can make your Boston wedding stand out from the crowd is by choosing a close friend or family member to officiate the wedding. Instead of a ceremony performed by the traditional Pastor, Priest, Rabbi, Reverend, Deacon, etc., having someone you love marry you will make the nuptials much more personal. Because they are not professionals, this will add meaning and sentiment to the wedding in a way a more traditional officiate would never be able to.

This is a a good way to get another loved one involved in the wedding, but selecting the right person to marry you is a big decision for the bride and groom. Whether it's an aunt, uncle, cousin, best friend, brother, it's important to choose the right person for the job. For one of Bree Oates' weddings, the bride and groom chose the bride's uncle to officiate in order to give the ceremony a more personal touch. The officiate brought a sense of humor to the ceremony, but also could speak directly from the heart about how he had seen the bride and groom fall in love.

Events By Bree Oates Expert Tip: "No one can speak better to one's relationship and why they are so great together more than someone who has seen it flourish and grow first hand."

3) Handmade (DIY) Wedding Favors

Events By Bree Oates Example: Jars Of Homemade Organic Herbs De Provence. Photography by JessFoto

Your wedding favors present a final opportunity for you to leave a lasting impression on your guests. No matter what you decide to gift at the end of the night, it's always important to take advantage of personalizing this aspect of the wedding. While monogram cookies and coasters are a popular choice for Boston weddings, you can guarantee handmade wedding gifts will make your favors completely unique.

Events By Bree Oates Expert Tip: "Guests will always feel special receiving something you made by hand."

Some DIY wedding favors we've seen this season include hand tie-dying napkins for guests, homemade candles, make your own s'mores kits, but none top this bride's creative idea. This client of Bree Oates went above and beyond, spending hours with her bridesmaids to create the little jars of homemade organic Herbs de Provence (see image above). Guests were then invited to take home the herbs and cook something special. As an amateur chef, this favor not only represented the happy couple, but also contributed to the entire wedding experience by doubling as an escort card. It's no wonder this was a huge hit among the guests! The couple continued to use their handmade favor to set their day apart from the rest by including recipes in their thank you cards.

4) Custom Wedding Dress

Events By Bree Oates Example: Self-Portrait Mesh Column Dress With Custom Tulle Skirt via 21 Summit Studios Photography

There is one thing that almost every wedding has in common... all eyes are on the bride. Shopping for your wedding dress is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and we know sometimes it can be tough to find exactly what you're dreaming of. Maybe you're in love with the neckline of one dress but can't stand the itchy fabric, or you want a combination of two styles; if you can't find your dream dress on the racks that doesn't mean you need to settle. Your wedding dress is another way you can invoke your own personal style into the big day.

Custom made wedding dresses are a great way to set yourself apart from other Boston brides. The dress isn't just another outfit, it represents your own unique style as a bride. Bree Oates' client (featured above) was having a really difficult time finding a dress that represented her style and was flattering to her body. At one point she fell in love with the geometric bodice of a Self-Portrait dress, but not its skirt. Her cousin, bridal designer Linda Hill, came up with the idea to create a tulle overskirt to bring a romantic touch to the linear dress. Hill also designed the tulle skirt to be detachable, to add some extra drama. It became a work of art!

5) Specialty Cocktails

Events By Bree Oates Example: Specialty Espresso Martinis. Photography by JessFoto

Cocktails are another great place to customize your special day. Having a couple signature drinks has become an increasingly popular way for couples to personalize their food and beverage experience. Create cocktails to match your wedding colors and/or provide your caterer with your favorite drink recipes to be taste-tested and approved for the reception. Once you have the recipes set, come up with a catchy name for each drink that reflects your love story to give specialty cocktails that extra personal touch. Allow nicknames, inside jokes, your favorite songs, first date location, etc. to serve as your inspiration!

Events By Bree Oates Expert Tip: "Espresso martinis are this couple's favorite weekend drink. They perfected their recipe after much trial and error and wanted to share their special treat with all their guests. They enlisted their caterer to create this specialty cocktail for their guests to enjoy. Make your wedding your own by offering a specialty cocktail that you enjoy as a couple together every Friday night."

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