Planning/Unique wedding ideas
Ideas from our couplesThe wedding ideas we’re still talking about
After a year of planning calls, a few ideas stopped us mid-sentence. Here they are, with details changed so nobody can be recognized, and a note on how each one photographs.
- Most unusualVows set in concrete
- SweetestFlower grandmothers
- Most cinematicA lightsaber first dance
- Easiest to borrowBubbles lit by phones
The best ideas were rarely expensive. They came from who the couple are.
Every idea below came up on a call with a couple this year. We have changed details and left out names, dates and venues so that nobody can be identified.
Under most of them is a note from behind the camera: where to stand, what light it needs and what to tell your planner.
Rituals you won’t find in a book
Guests pour, the vows stay
An artist couple will hand each guest a small pot of dry concrete. Everyone pours it into a mold that holds the written vows, and the block is buried in the desert. How we’d shoot it: a wide frame of the line of guests, then hands and dust in backlight.
Initials, tattooed
One couple invited a tattoo artist to the reception, and the moment of the night was each tattooing the other’s initials on a ring finger. How we’d shoot it: a close lens on the hands, a second angle on the faces watching.
Las Vegas, the old way
Two brides planned to see each other for the first time outside a Las Vegas pawn shop where they would choose their bands, then a chapel, then pizza on the curb. See Las Vegas photo spots.
Who walks, and who carries what
Flower grandmothers. With no little ones in the family, two grandmothers walked the aisle with petal baskets. They often forget to throw the petals. Nobody minds.
Four-legged attendants. We met a dog counted as “half a groomsman” and dogs carrying the rings. Bring a handler who isn’t in the wedding party, and keep a treat at the end of the aisle. See including pets.
Beer bearers. One couple who met at a music festival swapped ring bearers for friends carrying cold beers to the front.
The 24-and-24. A story we tell on almost every call: a wedding with 24 bridesmaids and 24 groomsmen. Half the groomsmen were late and three never appeared in a photo. If your party is big, give it a captain and a printed schedule.
Goth, pirate, and a galaxy far away
- A Sith bride and a Jedi groom: red bridesmaid dresses, lightsaber bouquets and a first dance staged as a duel. We had two Star Wars weddings in one week, and May the Fourth is always busy.
- A black-dress elopement at a historic church, followed by a cake picnic among old headstones. The couple took dance lessons so they could hold “album cover” poses.
- A pirate wedding where the groom sings.
- A rock-club bride who plans to descend from the stage through fog, with a detachable skirt for the party.
- A carnival wedding themed on a silent film from 1902 about a trip to the moon.
- Cocktails under a dinosaur in a museum hall. The brief: whimsy, nothing snooty.
How we’d shoot them: themes live or die on light. Lightsabers glow best in shade or after sunset, so we underexpose slightly and let the blades read as light, not plastic. A dark club or candlelit church needs soft light on faces without flattening the room.
A castle, an axe and a sword fight
A couple marrying at a castle overseas planned archery, horse riding and axe-throwing, in the wedding dress, with a sword fight for a first dance. Their view on the weather: rain is more dramatic.
Closer to home, a bride planned a walk after the reception in white western boots under a full moon. Her planner said no photographer would do it. We said yes, with a small flash and a few chosen corners.
Big endings, no sparklers needed
Most Southern California venues no longer allow sparklers, so couples got creative:
- Bubbles lit by phones. Guests blew bubbles while holding up their phone flashlights. Brighter than LED wands, and twice as dreamy.
- Cold-spark fountains, where the venue allows them.
- The photo-op exit. A staged send-off half an hour into dancing, then back to the party, instead of a real exit at eleven when half the guests have gone.
- A private last dance while guests line up outside.
More in our grand exit guide.
The little moments we loved most
A wedding, made up
A young sister missed her sibling’s courthouse wedding and believes the family portrait session is the real thing. The couple asked us to announce “you are now married” at the end. We will.
Instead of a guest book
A couple who work in television asked for confessional-style interviews with their friends, cut into the film like a sitcom.
Walked in by her son
A young son asked to walk his mother down the aisle at her second wedding. Without that, she told us, she would have gone to city hall.
The ideas that photograph best are the ones that mean something to you. A lightsaber in the hands of someone who has loved Star Wars since childhood looks nothing like a prop. Tell us why, not just what, and we will know where to stand.
Lulan Studio · wedding photographers & filmmakers
Unique ideas, answered
How can we make our wedding unique without a big budget?
Start with something only the two of you would do: a hobby, a place, a family custom. Small rituals such as a guest-poured keepsake, pets in the processional or a phone-lit bubble exit cost little and photograph beautifully.
Can we have a themed wedding without it feeling like a costume party?
Yes. Pick one or two strong elements, such as a color, the first dance or the send-off, and keep the rest classic. Themes look most elegant when the light and the setting do the work.
What can we use instead of sparklers?
Bubbles lit by guests’ phone flashlights, LED wands, cold-spark fountains where the venue allows them, or a private last dance while guests line up outside.
Can pets be in our wedding?
Usually, if the venue agrees. Bring a handler who is not in the wedding party, keep the walk short and plan photos with your pet early in the day. See including pets in your wedding.
Got an idea nobody has tried?
Tell us about it. We love a plan that makes us stop mid-sentence, and we will help you find the light and the timing to make it work.