As a seasoned wedding planner, here are 10 of the best ideas I've ever seen at weddings

I love hearing a toast during the ceremony instead of the reception.

At one wedding I attended, the bride's father gave a speech at the beginning of the ceremony. While at the altar, he touched on how this was a union of two families and how much we all loved and cherished the couple.

It set a great tone for the entire day. Everyone could hear the father's sweet words to his daughter and her new husband, and there were no distractions.

Typically, when speeches are made during the reception, dinner is being served in the background, and guests are getting up and down.

Plus, it can be harder to hear the speaker if you're spread out in a big ballroom.

A "designated documenter" will make sure you capture the smaller special moments.

The photographer is there to document the big moments, but it can take weeks to receive those pictures — and they'll be of only the prettiest bits of the day.

So, I recommend that my clients pick a member of the wedding party or a close friend to be a "designated documenter."

This person is tasked with getting videos and photos of those unposed, embarrassing, and candid moments that typically come with the best stories.

Duffel bags are such a good gift for members of a wedding party.

A lot of couples give their wedding party tokens of appreciation, and I recommend getting them duffel bags as a gift.

I've seen only one bride do this. She gifted each of her bridesmaids a bag with their name on it so they could fill it with everything they needed (from matching outfits to hairspray) to go from the getting-ready location to the ceremony to the reception.

These bags also made it so much easier for me as the coordinator to grab everything and ensure nothing got left behind at any of the locations.

Having a reception reveal for the couple means they can actually see the space they dreamed up.

I always recommend that couples take a few minutes to sneak into the reception before the guests arrive so they can see the final result of their months of planning. 

Once everyone is in the space, it's difficult to get a feel for how everything looks and spot the special details.

It's become popular to have parents sit on the opposite side of their children during the ceremony

Typically, the parents of the couple sit on the side their child is standing on during the ceremony.

However, in recent years, I've had more couples request that their parents be seated on the opposite side of them so they can see their child's face during the ceremony.

This is a small detail that goes unnoticed by guests but means a lot to the parents.

This story was originally published on July 1, 2021, and most recently updated on May 28, 2025.