By Stephanie Allen
When it comes to your wedding day, you want it to be absolutely memorable not just for yourself, but also for your guests. You want to “WOW” them. We’ve designed and planned weddings of every style, each with their own unique elements, and one thing we’ve discovered along the way is that you can really turn your wedding day into such a unique experience for your guests by thinking about your five senses and how you can really appeal to them through various aspects of your big day. We’ve put together a list of how we think the five senses help to build incredible, one-of-a-kind events and add personality to each wedding or event we host, and hope it is found to be inspirational and a starting point for making your vision for your wedding day truly come to life.
Scent
Scent is such a strong way to really intensify your guests’ experience the minute they walk in the door to your venue and can be done in so many different ways. From the savory aroma of cocktail hour foods being passed, with trays whizzing right by your nose or the sweet scent of flowers filling the room, there are subtle hints of scents that add to the overall ambiance of the event and make a memorable impression.
Sight
There’s no doubt that creating a striking and awe-inspiring statement with decor is a surefire way to really capture the attention of your guests’ sight. Think about where you want to make a statement with your decor, such as an elaborate or unique escort card display, a stunning aisle entrance or altar decor that sweeps you and your guests right off your feet. Having a specific focal point that really sets the tone and is a sweet sight to see not only makes for incredible photo opts, but also makes your wedding stand out
Taste
Food and drink may be one of the most memorable parts of any wedding day, because let’s be real, who doesn’t love a good surf and turf, three course meal? Why not pair your hors’doeuvres or dinner with a wine or spirit that complements one another? Maybe there’s a certain dish that is unique to your family or the region in which you live, or perhaps there’s a special cocktail you were drinking the first time you met each other. Food and drink, in our opinion, is one of the biggest missed opportunities to add a little personal flair into your wedding, but is such a seamless and subtle way to add hints of your personalities to make your day stand out and uniquely your own.
Touch
Now for the element of touch, which for us means bringing in different textures. These could be items for your guests to interact with such as vintage, velvet lounge seating, velvet or silk table runners and tablecloths, accessories like blankets for cooler, winter month weddings, etc. Even fancy hand towels in restroom and hand lotion go a long way.
Sound
Cue the music! A lively dance floor filled with wedding guests enjoying themselves is absolutely key to ensuring that your wedding was one for the books. You certainly don’t want everyone to remain seated throughout the entire night, so make sure the music does its job and appeals to the different age demographics of guests you’ve invited and then get out on the dance floor and get down to some of your favorite tunes! Also, remember that music isn’t just for the reception after dinner, don’t forget to have music playing during what was traditionally called the prelude, but is now just the time the guests arrive... Imagine yourself as a guest walking through the entire wedding experience and make sure that you’re going to have some sort of music playing and no crickets.