Forget diamond tiaras, gospel choirs and Princes in horse drawn carriages.

You don’t need any of those things to make your wedding day extra special (although a Prince on your arm would be rather nice!)

ways to make your wedding day extra special

It was while watching the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle that I realised it’s the little – human – things that make a wedding day special, not how much money has been spent or where the bride’s dress is from.

It’s fair to say the royal wedding was a PR triumph from the royal family’s point of view: the rousing address by the US bishop, the soul-stirring performance of the gospel choir and racial pride marking the day the monarchy appear to be embracing Britain’s future.

But what I think really made the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stand out from any royal wedding we’ve seen before is the little – human – things: the bride’s bouquet featuring flowers handpicked by the groom from the couple’s garden, Forget-Me-Nots in memory of the groom’s mother – Princess Diana’s favourite flower – rather than all the pomp and pageantry.

When I got married at a similarly historic building – a chapel inside St Paul’s Cathedral in London – in 2010 (admittedly with slightly fewer crowds!) the truth is that while the venue was indeed amazing it was the little – human – things that made my wedding day extra special.

My ‘something old’ was a white dove from my mum and dad’s wedding cake, which I wore tucked in the folds of tulle on my wedding dress, and the bridesmaid’s flowers came from my mum and mother-in-law’s gardens rather than a florist.

I asked some fellow bloggers what helped make their wedding days extra special, and just like the royal wedding it was the little human things that made all the difference.

Super simple ways to make your wedding day extra special

1. Recycle. “I wore my mother’s veil, but dyed it with tea to make it slightly less white to match my dress,” says Alana at Baby Holiday. “It had very unusual beaded detail on top, which was too much for me so I took that off and used the beads to decorate my shoes. We also used the cake topper of a bride and groom that my parents had on their wedding cake.”

2. Hide something in your wedding dress. “I had my grandad’s handkerchief sewn into a pocket on the inside of my wedding dress,” says Catherine at The Money Panel. “It was my something blue and meant he was with me when I walked down the aisle.”

ways to make your wedding day extra special

3. Remember those who can’t be there. “My grandmother died five weeks before my wedding, so we made sure there was part of her during the whole day,” says Jemma at Mayflower Blogs. “Myself and my cousin added a picture of her to our bouquets, and we changed our theme to butterflies because of her love for them. We also chose music for my dance with my dad that she loved.”

4. Remember those who have gone before. “I wore a SANDS pin badge in the lining of my wedding dress. It was my something blue and a way of keeping Joseph close on our wedding day,” says Laura at Five Little Doves. “We also gave each guest the same pin as a wedding flavour.”

 ways to make your wedding day extra special

5. Decorate the venue yourself. “We decorated the venue ourselves with flowers and I made my own bouquet,” says Helena at The Queen of Collage. “It was made up of beads and other pieces of jewellery with faux flowers.”

6. Raid the family archives. “My dad used a photo of me dressed in my mum’s wedding dress aged about six during his speech,” says Emma at The Money Whisperer. “It was brilliant!”

 ways to make your wedding day extra special

7. Include something for luck. “I had a silver sixpence sewn into the hem of my wedding dress,” says Lisa at That British Betty. “I was slightly worried that airport security would rip it apart (we eloped to NYC!)”

8. Get creative. “We made a lot of things for our wedding ourselves so there was a lot of special touches in that way. But my favourite was my bouquet,” says Teri at The Rhyming Mum. “I made it all myself and it definitely won’t be to everyone’s taste. But making it myself meant I could add in pieces that were really special to me. It had jewellery from my mum and my husband in there.”

ways to make your wedding day extra special

9. Make a lasting keepsake out of your wedding dress. “I made my husband some cufflinks from the offcuts of my wedding dress,” says Gemma at Mummy’s Waisted.

10. Make the day as personal as possible. “I spent years organising other people’s weddings and I think the best part of a wedding is to make it as personal as possible,” says Renna at Renna’s Discoveries. “I had my nan’s ring sewn into my dress and I designed and made all our stationary, invitations, menus, table plan and made up favour bags of all of our favourite chocolates and picked special gifts to match each person.”

ways to make your wedding day extra special

Are you married and did you make anything yourself or have an extra special touch on your wedding day? I’d love to know what it is!

If you liked this you may also enjoy reading:

An open letter to the Duchess of Cambridge

10 reasons to visit Windsor!

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