I’ll start by saying, I absolutely loved my sister’s wedding, and not just because it was hers! I mean, yes, it was awesome to celebrate her, but I have to say, it was one of the most fun and well-done weddings I’ve been too. So needless to say, I loved so many things about it. In today’s post though I wanted to call out a few things that stood out to me that may not be as obvious when it comes to ideas for planning a wedding.

Father of the bride and mother of the groom dances were shared So typically the bride and father of the bride pick a song to dance to, and then the groom and his mother pick another song and have a separate dance. For my sister’s wedding, she and my dad started off their dance and then about 30 seconds later, the groom and his mom entered onto the dance floor so they were all dancing at the same time. Then about a minute later, the groom’s dad cut in and started dancing with his wife/the groom’s mom (sorry if this is getting confusing haha), and then the groom went over and cut in with my sister and dad. Then my dad went to go grab my mom to pull her onto the dance floor. Around this time the DJ then announced for everyone to join them on the dance floor and that is what kicked off the dancing for the reception.

I thought this was fun because it kept things moving, and it wasn’t this huge amount of pressure on the “first dances.” Now you may be someone that is like “I WANT MY OWN DANCE WITH MY DAD” which is totally fine haha, but I just liked this approach and haven’t seen it done before so wanted to share!

Venue with indoor and outdoor space (that includes seating) I know a lot of venues nowadays have an indoor and outdoor area but the thing I liked about my sister’s venue is that the outdoor area(s) had plenty of seating for those that didn’t want to be dancing the whole time and/or trying to talk over music (aka the parents lol, but honestly I enjoyed it too because sometimes you just need a break)!

Their venue was set up where the reception/area for dancing was inside and on either side of that indoor area there were outdoor spaces. One space was set up with a sofa and chairs and a couple cocktails tables (kind of like a lounge area) and the other side was where the dinner was so all of the tables and chairs were set up there. We had an outdoor space at our wedding that guests could retreat to during the reception but there wasn’t any seating out there, so after being at my sister’s wedding that is something that I would recommend!

Cocktail napkins with fun facts I thought this was a cute addition – something simple to add and not very costly but still makes a nice impact (after all, the attention to the little details adds up)! My sister ordered them through this Etsy store. She said they do take about 5 weeks so just as a heads up if you order!

Skipping the traditional wedding cake for something more fun So we did this at our wedding too, but just something I wanted to share again because I love this way more than a traditional wedding cake (and it can be a good way to save money too). At my sister’s wedding they did these giant ice cream sandwiches which were DELICIOUS but also such a fun and cute way to serve dessert. Ahead of time, they picked several cookie flavors and then several ice cream flavors so you could build your own when you ordered. The vendor they used was Chunk-N-Chip.

Alright guys, if you or someone you know is planning a wedding hopefully this was helpful! Ps. In this reel, I share more of the wedding and tagged all of the vendors for anyone else getting married in the San Clemente area!