When Blue and Tri told people they were getting married, most expected a gothic wedding. Instead, they filled the day with hot pink, theatrical performances and a lots of colour. The bride’s mum made her incredible dress, which featured a removable extra long train covered in colourful crepe flowers!

The wedding was held at The Pink Flamingo, a nightclub on Australia’s Gold Coast where they leaned into camp, surrealism and spectacle. “We wanted to have one day where we broke away from the dark and goth aesthetic,” Blue explained. “The inspiration for our day was basically anything that was the opposite anyone expected of us!”

After saying ‘I do’, everyone settled in for a dance, aerial acrobatics and cabaret performances while the newlyweds disappeared for portraits. Once the show wrapped up, the reception kicked into full swing. “We hired out the venue, had their cast perform their legendary show for all our guests after the wedding and then partied the night away.”

With a venue already overflowing with colour and character, there was little need to add extra decoration. Instead, Blue focused her creativity on something far more personal. Together with her mum, she designed and made her wedding dress from scratch, including every crepe flower cascading down the train. “It was the most magical, campy, dress ever”, Blue laughed. Her mother and grandmother also made the bridesmaid dresses, and the same handmade flowers were used for their bouquets.

Looking back, there is only one decision the couple would reconsider. They chose to have an adults only wedding, partly because the venue’s show was designed as an 18+ experience with loud music. However this did mean that many guests with children had to head home soon after the ceremony and performances finished.

“Grandma is probably going to have an opinion, but ignore it and enjoy your day”, Blue concluded. “I don’t think any weddings need rules. I think anyone and everyone should have the day they want and imagine.”

We just got engaged and feel super overwhelmed, especially when scrolling social media! How do we figure out which parts of the day will actually make the biggest difference to the atmosphere and make sure we, and our guests, enjoy ourselves?

It is completely normal to feel overwhelmed! The secret to surviving wedding planning is realising that social media is a visual snapshot, but your wedding day is about the experience. When you shift your focus from what the day will look like online to how it will feel in the room, you’ll find your way.

Music, in particular, can make all the difference. It completely dictates the emotional journey. At Tailored Entertainment we always tell couples to stop thinking about what a wedding ‘should’ sound like and start thinking about the songs that ignite the ‘Oh my god, I love this song!’ rush. If you spend your summers at festivals, book an authentic festival headliner-style band. If you grew up going as a pop-punk loving emo kid, hire a pop-punk band to play Blink-182 and Jimmy Eat World. Brilliant live music bridges the gap between generations, creating a euphoric, mosh-pit of an atmosphere your guests will never forget.

We want our wedding to feel personal, but we’re not very design-minded. Do you have any advice on how can use décor and styling help tell our story without feeling forced, complicated or too over the top?

You absolutely do not need a degree in interior design – or hours of stressful DIY – to make your venue look incredible and personal. The mistake many couples make is trying to scatter tiny, detailed decorations everywhere. It becomes complicated, expensive and stressful.

Instead, go for ‘high-impact, low-fuss.’ At Elizabeth James Events, our biggest piece of advice is to focus your styling budget on one or two bold, unforgettable statement pieces that instantly define the space. A custom neon sign featuring an inside joke, your favourite lyric or your shared surname hanging on a sequin wall tells your story immediately. Personalised large light up letters for your reception space bring a massive WOW-factor without requiring you to overthink unique table decorations. A statement piece doesn’t just look cool; it becomes the designated ‘photo booth’ where your friends will be taking selfies all night, saving you from having to style every single corner of the room.

We just got engaged and have been shocked at how much everything costs. Of course, suppliers need to be paid fairly, but how do we navigate knowing what’s a good price for something and what’s not? We want our wedding to feel special but without putting themselves under huge financial pressure.

The wedding planning price shock is very real! The key to navigating this is establishing your top priorities. Sit down with your partner and pick the three things you care about most. Whatever your three things are, allocate the bulk of your budget there. Then, you can ruthlessly cut back on the rest.

A ‘good price’ is entirely subjective – it means getting professional, reliable service in an area you really care about. If you don’t care about a wedding cake, spending £500 on one is a terrible price, but spending £50 on a tower of supermarket doughnuts is brilliant. But for your top priorities, be prepared to pay professional rates. High quality suppliers will always be happy to explain their quotes and help you maximise your budget within their services.

There are so many options and trends out there that it’s hard to know what’s actually going to be worth it. Do you have any insights on what couples most often regret spending money on?

The biggest financial regrets usually come from the things no one really noticed, or things bought because they thought they had to ‘because it’s a wedding’. Things like

Elaborate Wedding Favours: Most guests leave them on the tables. Save your money or put it behind the bar – that is a favour everyone appreciates!

Excessive Florals in Unused Spaces: A gorgeous installation for your ceremony or top table is great, but don’t spend hundreds decorating the entrance hallway people walk through in 30 seconds.

Hours of Posed Photos: Couples often regret spending two hours away from their own party taking posed photos. If the portraits are important to you, you can probably get what you need in a few shorter sessions (20 minutes during the drinks reception, another 20 at golden hour, just as the sun is setting).  The candid, emotional, messy, authentic moments that they capture will likely end up being some of your favourite photos of the day anyway.

Ultimately, if a trend doesn’t excite you, drop it!

About the Author

In 2008, Nick Leigh swapped life as a gigging professional musician for the wedding entertainment world, launching Tailored Entertainment to rescue couples from cheesy wedding playlists and deliver the authentic rock star energy wedding parties deserve. Today, he manages over 100 of the UK’s best professional wedding bands. And because an epic party needs a backdrop to match, Nick joined forces with – and now runs – Elizabeth James Events helping couples secure high-impact, statement décor that tells their story.

Scroll through Pinterest for five minutes and you’ll find endless tablescapes, seating charts and floral installations. What you won’t find are generators, rubbish bins, extension leads or portaloos. Fair enough. Nobody’s pinning photos of a well organised waste collection, but these are the things you really need to think about – especially if you’re having a DIY or festival wedding!

None of this is sexy but getting the practical stuff organised is what will make your wedding a real success. Sure, guests might not compliment you on your stunning choice of toilet, but they’ll certainly remember if there weren’t enough of them or they were as digusting as the ones at Reading Festival on the Sunday might!

Think about comfort as well as aesthetics

A ceremony in the middle of a meadow sounds idyllic until everyone is standing in full sun with nowhere to escape the heat. An outdoor reception feels magical until the temperature drops and nobody packed a jacket.

Simple additions make a huge difference. Provide water stations that are easy to spot. Scatter blankets around for the evening. Create a quiet corner for anyone who needs a breather from the music. Make sure there’s enough seating for guests who can’t comfortably stand for long periods. These details allow people to actually enjoy your day as well as think its cool and beautiful.

Start thinking like an event organiser

How will your suppliers access the site? Is there enough power? Do you need extra lighting between different areas once the sun goes down? Is there clear signage so guests aren’t wandering around looking for the ceremony? Where will people park? Where will rubbish go throughout the day?

None of these questions are particularly glamorous, but they’re the reason some weddings feel relaxed while others feel chaotic.

If your venue already has plenty of clean, accessible facilities, you’re sorted. If it doesn’t, it’s 100% worth investing in really nice bathrooms before you spend another penny on personalised cocktail napkins. Companies like Platinum Potty Rentals provide luxury restroom trailers that feel much closer to a boutique hotel bathroom than the portaloos most people imagine.

The best weddings often feel effortless because somebody has thought through every tiny practical detail before the first guest arrived. And of course, these sorts of details rarely appear in the photographs.

So while those are not the details you’ll be saving to Pinterest, and your guests probably won’t mention how handy it was to have a plug for their phone or how delightful the facilities were, they are the ones that make people go home saying, “That was such a brilliant wedding.”

If the word “wedding pianist” makes you picture someone playing Pachelbel’s Canon while guests find their seats, you’re probably not alone. But a piano doesn’t have to mean traditional.

The right pianist can turn your favourite pop punk anthem into a ceremony entrance, strip back an emo classic for your first dance or surprise your guests with an instrumental version of the song you’ve been screaming together in the car for years. In fact, there are loads of people on TikTok doing just that at the moment (prepare to go down the rabbit hole!) It’s one of the most versatile instruments you can include in a wedding, and it works just as well at an industrial warehouse, woodland venue or city pub as it does in a stately home.

Like everything else, it comes down to making choices that reflect you.

If one of you already plays, even better. We’ve seen couples perform during their own ceremony or reception, and others learning their first dance song as a surprise. It doesn’t have to be technically perfect. The fact that you took the time to learn it is what people remember. If that experience leaves you browsing a Yamaha grand pianos for sale afterwards, you’ve probably found a hobby you’ll keep long after the wedding!

The piano itself doesn’t have to fit a traditional mould either.

A grand piano can look incredible in the right setting, but it’s not always the practical choice. If you’re getting married in a converted warehouse, a tipi, outdoors or anywhere with limited access, a digital piano often makes far more sense. Modern instruments feel remarkably close to an acoustic piano while being easier to transport, more reliable in unpredictable weather and simple to amplify if you’re planning a bigger celebration.

If you’re practising at home before the wedding, something like a Yamaha Arius digital piano also lets you rehearse with headphones without driving everyone else mad.

Before hiring anything, ask your venue what’s already available. Plenty of pubs, theatres and historic buildings have a piano on site, which can save both money and logistics.

And hey, if your new hobby ends up being dropped after the wedding, don’t worry. In this circular economy there are plenty of options for where to sell my piano too.

Just remember, no matter what you choose, the best wedding music doesn’t just follow a formula. It reflects the people getting married. So whether that means walking down the aisle to an instrumental version of My Chemical Romance, playing your own slightly wonky first dance or mixing live piano with a playlist full of songs your guests actually want to hear, you’ve already understood the assignment. That’s exactly what alternative weddings are all about.

Some couples spend months searching for the perfect wedding venue, but Toni and Danny already knew theirs. Download Festival has been part of their relationship for a long time and when they found out they could get married there, there was simply no other option.

“We were inspired by our shared love for Download and the music”, they told us. “The festival is home from home and it was just something we really wanted to do. It felt right. It felt us.”

They skipped almost everything expected of a traditional wedding and held a handfasting ceremony in the middle of the festival arena instead. They didn’t wear formal or traditional wedding outfits but Broken Like Every Unloved Girl’s Heart created Toni’s one-of-a-kind, hand-painted jacket.

Their celebrant, Rachael from Electric Joy Ceremonies, created a ceremony after spending time getting to know them. With a live band already playing somewhere across the festival site, it was exactly the atmosphere they had hoped for. “Rachael was amazing, warm, friendly, enthusiastic and so supportive. She really got to know us so she could make our ceremony unique to us.”

The handfasting became the moment that stayed with them most. Festivalgoers they had never met stopped to cheer, clap and congratulate them. For Toni and Danny, it summed up the spirit of the event they love. The celebrations carried on afterwards in equally fitting style with a Southern Comfort toast and then heading to watch Black Veil Brides perform.

“You can have it your way, exactly how you envision it and there are businesses, people and companies that can and will help you bring your dream wedding to life!” they concluded. “”Don’t worry about what others think, do the wedding your way! Where you want, when you want and how you want.”