When you first started working out your wedding budget, you may have set aside an amount for your stationery – like save the dates, invitations, and place cards – but you may be wondering whether there are any other on-the-day elements to consider (and not necessarily made of paper!).
Here at Ananya we love creating bespoke wedding day signage for our couples, especially when we’re experimenting with something new! There are lots of ways of using signs, both aesthetically and practically, and we can always design something that ties in with your venue, with the rest of your styling, and with your stationery suite.
- Welcome Signs. Just as your invites were the first glimpse of your wedding day, a welcome sign serves to let people know they’ve reached the right place – and that you’re really excited that they have joined you for your celebrations! Place it where your guests first arrive, and think about how you can make a feature of it: you can use different materials for the sign itself for example (like card or acrylic), suspend it or rest it on a beautiful piece of furniture or easel, and decorate it with a floral arrangement. If your venue is a little off the beaten track, do consider adding a few more on the road itself and at key road turnings. You can also combine your welcome sign with some information about the order of the day, so your guests know exactly what to expect!
- Directions. If you’re hosting your celebrations in a wedding venue with many different areas or rooms, or an estate where certain parts of the wedding day are a walking distance apart, definitely consider investing in some practical signs to let your guests know what is happening where. Let them know where your ceremony is held, where the toilets are located (and baby changing facilities if applicable), where the wedding breakfast will be, where to go to find the dance floor, where the smoking area is confined to, where to leave gifts, and any other areas that you think might be useful to them. Your table plan can also be structured as a sign, and this will let your guests know where they’re sitting and where their table is in the room. Place multiple of these around the room where they’ll be having pre-dinner drinks, so that, by the time you get around to dinner, everyone knows where they’re headed.
- Locations, Activities, and Menus. You may want to consider commissioning some signs to label the focus points of your wedding as well – for example the bar, the disco cellar, the video guestbook, the rum and cigar bar, the doughnut wall, or the photobooth! Letting your guests know that you have some exciting entertainment or surprises in store for them is a great way of directing them towards areas where they can mingle and regroup, and also to make sure they don’t miss any of these lovely elements you’ve invested in to make their experience extra special. If you have special cocktails available, a grazing menu to choose from, or different flavours on your dessert display, you can use signs to let your guests know what’s what.
- Decorations and Quotes. Signage can also be a lovely way to incorporate quotes, lyrics, or poems that are meaningful to you – or even to let guests know whether there is open seating for the ceremony, or mischievous rules for the dance floor. Using them tactically can also mean giving your guests useful information, such as letting them know there are flip-flops, glow sticks, sparklers, or blankets to help themselves to – or maybe there’s a hashtag for sharing images on social media! If there are any areas of your venue that are a little empty, why not commission fun signage backdrops for some great photo opportunities and adding that extra personal touch.
Here are some examples for some fun wording you could use around your wedding:
- “Let love sparkle” – near your sparkler containers
- “Love is sweet” – near your doughnut bar or dessert table
- “To have and to hold, in case you get cold” – near your crate of blankets
- “Oh Snap!” – near your guestbook or wedding hashtag
- “Choose a seat, not a side, we’re all family once the knot is tied” – near your ceremony seating
- “All you need is love”
- “Welcome to our beginning”
- “Be our guest”
- “Better together”
- “Best day ever”
- “And so the adventure begins”
We hope this overview has helped you brainstorm on whether signage might be right for you! Whatever your venue and wedding style, we’d love to help you enrich your stationery with some bespoke signs, so please do get in touch with us if you’d like to discuss.
Please contact Vaishali Shah at Ananya for more information.
Website: www.ananyacards.com
Tel: +44 (0)20 7242 1877
Email: [email protected]