When trying to come up with ways to make your wedding personalized, there are definitely many ways to do it. It can be hard coming up with original ideas though, so I thought it might be helpful to you to hear about some of the little or larger things that we did at our wedding to make things unique to us as a couple for our guests to remember.

Big, Adirondack Chairs

Jordan and I take these photos of us sitting in these chairs when we find them, so we wanted to incorporate it into our wedding. My family always send me texts when they find these chairs so I knew it would be a fun thing to have there too! We put some photos of us sitting in them into our seating chart (including the one where we went the day we got engaged!), we added them on top of our cake, and my dad also had a big, white chair made for us to use as our photo booth “set”. It was a huge hit and I get to keep the chair for my future home!

2. DIY Florals and Decor

I really wanted to have flowers that lasted a long time and matched my vision. I got Sola Wood flowers and preserved greenery from Verdissimo and recruited my mom and my aunt to help me with ALL of the floral decorations. My uncle also was a well-renowned stain glass man and he put together all of my table numbers which was extra special because he just passed away a little over a month ago. I still have a centerpiece and my bouquet which is really special to me that we all got to do that together and I still have a piece of it today.

3. Handwritten Letters

For the rehearsal dinner, I passed out handwritten letters to my parents, Jordan’s parents, my aunt and uncle, and my entire wedding party to say thank you for everything they had done. I really wanted to make sure they all felt appreciated and excited about our big day and I even though it took me a few weeks to write them all, I am really thankful I did.

4. Perfume

I don’t typically wear perfume, but I used to wear “Vera Wang Princess” throughout high school when I met Jordan. I decided it would be fun to buy a new one to wear for the day we got married and now I can also wear it when we go out!

5. Garter

I was 100% against a garter toss, but I happened to be looking through Scotland Shop for something and found a “MacQueen tartan” garter. I still didn’t do a garter toss, but when I showed it to Jordan he was so shocked and I am so glad I got it!

6. Jewelry

I had planned for years to ask Jordan’s mom to wear one of her pearl necklaces for my wedding and she was so sweet and happy about it! I also borrowed pearl studs that matched from my mom so I got to wear both of their jewelry for the wedding day. I also was extra excited because my wedding dress had these little white beads that really complimented the pearls!

7. Dad’s Songs

Probably around 8 years ago, my dad mentioned that he would really like to have a father/daughter dance to “Tatusiu Waltz”. I did actually play that song for him when we did our first look. My family is hardcore Polish, with my grandpa and great uncle in the Polka hall of fame. The tears he shed for the first look were so sweet. For the actual father/daughter dance, I surprised him with my great uncle, Lenny Gomulka’s, song called “Father and the Bride Song” while Lenny was there to see it. It was such a special moment with him that I will cherish forever seeing both of their faces light up when it was announced.

8. Ceremony Music

I had Jordan choose the prelude music that was special to him and his parents, and I had the wedding party walk down the aisle to “Moon River” in honor of my late grandparents. Then I had surprised Jordan by walking down the aisle to “You’ll Never Walk Alone” since he loves that song. It’s a song they play when Liverpool, his favorite soccer team, wins and he and I have sung it plenty of times together so I thought it would be fun.

9. Cocktail Hour

For our cocktail hour, Jordan and I made a playlist of 1950s music that he and his parents really love. I think it was cool to have something more tailored to us instead of the classic “Michael Bublé” playlists.

10. Card Box Terrarium

Jordan and I really love houseplants, so we used a terrarium as our card box. I thought it was so cute and matched pretty well with everything!

11. Chocolate Cake from Jewel with our Pup

We decided years ago that we wanted our wedding cake to be this chocolate whipped cream cake from Jewel Osco many years ago. We added a little extra personality by having those little chairs and the little corgi in honor of our dog, Pierogi. We also used my late grandparents’ cake knife to cut it as well.

12. Streetlight Song

This one was actually inspired by our two best friends that got married a month before us. At their wedding, they played this song near the end of the night that the four of us would sing together in the car all the time. It was such a fun thing at their wedding that I of course added it to our playlist! It was really fun to have that “joint memory” between our two weddings and it was so incredibly thoughtful when they did it that I wanted to do that too.

13. Last Dance

The last thing we had done was have a last dance together to the same song that I walked down the aisle to. Jordan told me for years that he wanted it to be our first dance song, but I thought it would be more special if it was just for the two of us. I really loved how it wrapped together the whole day.

Many of these elements are small enough that other people wouldn’t notice, but it really makes me look back fondly. And for the larger things that my family did notice, they still talk about today! The big chair was a huge hit and my family still send me photos of them sitting in big chairs like ours! Adding these elements to your wedding is a way to make your wedding stand out for your guests, but especially for you.

If you would like help finding ways to personalize your wedding, send me an email at hello@firmlyrootedevents.com and tell me about you and your future spouse so we can bounce some ideas off of each other!

Vendor Credits and their Instagrams:

Ceremony - Covenant Presbyterian Church @covenantchicago

Reception - Columbus Park Refectory

Photo - Emily Keeney Photography @emilyannekeeney

Video - Badger Creative @badgercreative

Coordination - Stasia K. Events @stasiak.events

Hair/Makeup - The Bridal Beauty Team @bridalartistryteam

Dress - Martellen’s @martellens_bridal_

Ceremony Musicians - Midtown Strings @midtownstrings

DJ - Impulse Entertainment @impulse_djs

Catering - Corky’s Catering @corkyscatering

Transport - Chicago Cloud 9 Limos @chicagocloud9limos