What adds that bit of festival magic to a wedding? Of course when brainstorming this post we came up with lots of ideas, some more straight forward than others to organise (wait til you see what's possible) so in order not to scare you with our ambitions for your wedding fest, we'll start with the simple and work our way up to the downright barmy and credit card busting.
What crazy festival ideas have we come up with?
Light Up the Sky with Chinese Wish Lanterns
First up we have Chinese Wish Lanterns (also known as sky lanterns, or - these pretty paper lanterns come with a fuel cell attached and burn for about 30 mins.
You can get sky lanterns quite easily and cheaply now from various outlets including Skycandle.ie, Eurotrade.ie, DublinBazar.com and Pixmania, and often at markets and fairs. Prices vary but usually start around 20 for €35.
Let Your Guests Entertain You With A Silent Disco
Something that's becoming a little more common now at parties, but I've yet to see at a wedding with a Silent Disco. If you're not familiar with the idea, basically it involves guests wearing wireless headphones, which have 2 channels to choose from. These two channels are being worked by two DJs, who essentially compete with each other for the crowd's attention. People switch from channel to channel depending on who plays the best music.
It's brilliant fun and a great ice-breaker for a wedding party who mightn't know each other that well. Also for a venue where late night noise is a problem this is perfect as you only have the sound of bad acapella singing to contend with. I'd love to see a bride and groom go head to head as DJs. (I have contact details for Mark from VIB if you are interested).
Wedding Pavilion With A Difference?
We did a post earlier in the week about staying in Yurts for your hen or stag party, but they also make a really cool alternative to a marquee, and LPM Bohemia have an amazing Grand Pavilion Yurt, which is actually a series of yurts of varying sizes conjoined to create an entire wedding party complex.
If you're a regular reader you will have seen the amazing wedding of Des and Sandra we featured recently. They took a festival wedding theme and ran with it, creating an amazing event their guests will never forget. The centrepiece of their wedding was the fabulous Spiegel Tent, which you may be familiar with from the IFSC Jazz Festival or the Comedy Carnival in the Iveagh Gardens. Des and Sandra's wedding was a first for the owners Magic Mirrors, but they were very happy to oblige, so the precedent has been set.
All the Fun of the Fair
Finally, for those for whom ambition knows no bounds, and pockets no limits, what about hiring a fun fair for the grounds of your venue? It's amazing what's possible if you ask and it turns out you can, in fact hire the Galway Leisureland Funfair to be the entertainment at your wedding party. Go on, do it! You know you want to!
Bride photo via Rock My Wedding; Carousel by The Gentleman
