Creating One-Of-A-Kind Weddings With Unique Touches

[00:00:00] Kristina Stubblefield: Thank you for tuning in for another episode of The Ring The Bling And All The Things. I'm not sure where this episode's gonna go, but I'm really excited about it because you're going to get to hear some unique wedding ideas. Is that what we're calling it? 

[00:00:15] Sharon Rumsey: Yeah. 

[00:00:15] Kristina Stubblefield: Yeah. Okay. Mike. Sharon, you might wanna go first cuz Mike's got a whole list. 

[00:00:20] Michael Gaddie: I know she does too 

[00:00:22] Sharon Rumsey: I think we'll just take turns. Okay. Go ahead. 

[00:00:24] Kristina Stubblefield: Can we start with bourbon? 

[00:00:25] Sharon Rumsey: I'll do one. You do? We're gonna talk today about all the things. I call it finding your unicorn. Like what makes that couple, no, hang with me. Don't roll your eyes. What makes that couple unique and special? How can you put little individual touches in the wedding? 

[00:00:42] Kristina Stubblefield: Can we just start with the bourbon? 

[00:00:44] Sharon Rumsey: Yes. One of the things that I've done is to have a bourbon tasting. We're in Kentucky. We're, you know, wherever you're listening. We're located in Kentucky bourbon's the thing here. So many of our couples love bourbon. I've done bourbon tastings, I've done bourbon balls. I have had the old fashioned served with the smoke coming out the smoky old fashioned. 

[00:01:07] Michael Gaddie: I love that. I love that. 

[00:01:08] Sharon Rumsey: So many ways you can pull in bourbon or your favorite drinks. Maybe it's so simple as your signature drink is an old fashioned, tons of ways you can pull in bourbon. Your turn Mike. 

[00:01:20] Michael Gaddie: Well, there's lots of different things. One unique thing is your exit, your exit of your wedding is very special. I know, and I've learned this from you. You know, you always have the last dance. Everybody leaves, I think that's amazing. I love a private last dance. Then it also the exit as in sparklers or balloons. I know we had an experience with balloons one time that we'll never forget, but I thought it was amazing. And the photographs were, 

[00:01:49] Sharon Rumsey: the photographs were amazing. I still say damn balloons, but okay. 

[00:01:52] Michael Gaddie: Damn balloons. You know, just having a unique ending to that special day. 

[00:01:57] Sharon Rumsey: We have a DJ here in town, so shout out to parties on productions. When he's doing an exit, he plays and we have, we wanna go into a private last dance. He plays the Congo and he congas everybody out the door, which just leaves your couple in to do the private last dance. That's one of my favorite ways to exit. It's really fun. Another thing I've done is I had a groom recently that was obsessed with cigars. He loved cigars, so we made an amazing sign that said Light The Night With Love, and we had an actual cigar roller there. And he hand rolled and cut cigars for the guest and it was, it was a huge hit. People loved it. And then we had little matches, you know, to go with your cigar, with the couple's name and wedding date on it. Super cute. 

[00:02:45] Michael Gaddie: That's awesome. I know we did this wedding together and their wedding date was 07/11. 

[00:02:50] Sharon Rumsey: Oh my gosh. 

[00:02:51] Michael Gaddie: I remember their cocktail hour was like you were going into a Seven 11. The wedding was on 7/11. I mean, they just ran with a theme. 

[00:02:59] Sharon Rumsey: We actually had a pre ceremony cocktail hour. They had the styrofoam cups that said Mandy and Evan 7/11, and we had bourbon slushies shout out again to the bourbon. And then, they had trail mix and all different flavors of popcorn and guests could get a drink. Very laid back, casual atmosphere, and it was a huge hit. 

[00:03:18] Michael Gaddie: Well, and I think that's one way to personalize, come up with an idea to kick the wedding off when your guests get there. 

[00:03:25] Sharon Rumsey: I had a bride recently that we shared. We had a bride, for her rehearsal dinner the place cards were wine corks and when she would share a bottle of wine with someone that was gonna be part of her rehearsal dinner, she saved that cork. So not only was it a wine cork, but it was a wine cork attached to a memory with that guest and we told all the guests, that this cork is from actually a bottle of wine that you shared with Grant and McKenna. And they want to remember that evening or that dinner and it was just super, super personal and sweet. 

[00:04:01] Michael Gaddie: I think that's great. Well that goes right into, I saw where couples now are doing Thank you, personal, thank you cards. And having that as their thank you card on each place setting and the bride and groom or couple writes a personal thank you to each and one, every one of those guests that come. 

[00:04:22] Sharon Rumsey: You wanna talk about sitting down to dinner and feeling welcomed.

[00:04:25] Michael Gaddie: Isn't, that's the truth.

[00:04:25] Sharon Rumsey: Yeah. 

[00:04:26] Michael Gaddie: I mean, I would walk away from that thing thinking you know, they really care about me being here and that, I mean that says a lot. 

[00:04:33] Sharon Rumsey: Yeah, absolutely. I think that's really special. I think another thing that you can do is pull in some of your favorite things to eat. I know couples that have had their cocktail hours are Mexican Stations. A little taco bar for an appetizer, maybe a queso, that kind of thing. Because Mexican food is their favorite food, I think there's a lot of ways to pull in what you're serving to, to be unique and special. 

[00:05:01] Michael Gaddie: Another one is the guest book, you see so many things. You know, years ago you had your little white book that you opened up and you signed it. Now there's

[00:05:11] Sharon Rumsey: I haven't seen one of those. 

[00:05:12] Michael Gaddie: I know. You, you just don't see that, you know, from barrel, bourbon heads to the state that you live in, you have signed. But something that's really popular and coming up is audio.

[00:05:23] Sharon Rumsey: I just booked my first one of those. 

[00:05:25] Michael Gaddie: That's awesome. So they usually have like an old timey phone there or something, and I don't really know how it works. But they pick it up and they give you a personalized recording and I think that's amazing. 

[00:05:35] Sharon Rumsey: Yeah, I think it's really fun. And I think that it frees guests up to say whatever they wanna say instead of just best wishes, love Sharon, or whatever. You're actually leaving the message. Yeah. So I think that's really cool.

[00:05:46] One of the things that we're starting to see more now is couples that are actually changing their attire. I know we've talked about people changing their wedding dress, but Pam, your wife and I worked a wedding recently where the groom wore traditional black tux for ceremony, but we changed him into a white tux jacket for their grand entrance and I that got a lot of, yeah, he got a lot of.

[00:06:12] Michael Gaddie: And the pictures are amazing. 

[00:06:13] Sharon Rumsey: Oh the pictures were so good.

[00:06:15] Michael Gaddie: I love that white jacket with her. I thought that was great. Mm-hmm. Another one is that the couple goes around the reception and has a picture taken with each person that's there, that's memorable for the couple, you know, say, Hey, was this person there?

[00:06:32] You mean you've got so many things going on. You don't know who was there, who was not there. But I think that's a good way to follow you 

[00:06:37] Sharon Rumsey: just have your photographer follow you. 

[00:06:39] Michael Gaddie: Follow you around, and each couple 

[00:06:41] Sharon Rumsey: well and that also kind of checks the logistics box too, because you've technically stopped and visited with everyone for just a minute, but you're not held up you know, 30 minutes at one table 

[00:06:52] Michael Gaddie: and going on that same line. We've seen too and I don't think you have worked it or me neither, but I've seen a lot on Instagram and TikTok where the couple before they're exiting the church. They exit each row. Now that's a probably a wedding planner's nightmare.

[00:07:08] Sharon Rumsey: It is a wedding planner's nightmare. 

[00:07:09] Michael Gaddie: As they exit, they shake or hug every person that came to the wedding.

[00:07:13] Sharon Rumsey: I think it's doable, but to be the fun sucker in the room, you're gonna have to allow a lot of extra time for that. 

[00:07:17] Michael Gaddie: And that's something where you just have to 

[00:07:19] Sharon Rumsey: cause people are gonna wanna stop and hug and you know, talk a little bit. So I think that's really really fun. 

[00:07:24] Michael Gaddie: But I think it's very personable, because a lot of couples, you know, some couples don't even want to mingle. And I know that just depends on the person itself. But I think that's a good way to talk to everybody that come. 

[00:07:37] Sharon Rumsey: One of the things I've done that I love is I'm seeing a lot of couples that are trending away from memorial tables.

[00:07:45] They think that they're sad and bring up sad thoughts, but they still want to somehow honor people that have passed away that are significant to them. Some really cool things I've done. We had a grandpa of a groom that passed away just a week before the wedding, and he was a huge Cubs fan, loved the Chicago Cubs. So instead of a sad picture and memorial, what we decided to do was throughout the evening, the DJ would just play little snippets of Harry Carey, the famous Chicago Cubs. Saying, you know, cubbies, are you ready? And then we'd go right into a song or are we ready to rumble? What's what they entered to?

[00:08:26] Michael Gaddie: That's awesome. 

[00:08:27] Sharon Rumsey: Yeah. So he was able to acknowledge his grandpa and the whole family would just kind of look at each other and smile. It was a happy memory throughout the night. I have seen brides for example maybe they choose their grandma's favorite flower and they have you to add that. So it's a major thing in their bouquet. Or maybe just one of that flower one. 

[00:08:48] Michael Gaddie: That's what I'm seeing a lot. 

[00:08:48] Sharon Rumsey: Yeah. And I think that's really, really special too. 

[00:08:52] Michael Gaddie: When it comes to your dessert tables, there's so many things that we see now. 

[00:08:57] Sharon Rumsey: Yeah. 

[00:08:57] Michael Gaddie: One popular thing is having multiple cakes, not just cakes, but then you have your dessert tables. There's so many different things that you can incorporate in as desserts because, when you eat, then you're partying, you're dancing, and then later on you want a snack. I think that's a good way to incorporate other things. I know you did one that had macaroons.

[00:09:20] Sharon Rumsey: Well, macaroon or macaron, I don't know how to say it, but it was beautiful.

[00:09:24] Michael Gaddie: That was a good one. But actually what for a late night snack, they had waffles and chicken and waffles 

[00:09:30] Sharon Rumsey: Yes, so the same wedding we were talking about with the seven 11, when they had first started dating, they were in college and they went to Waffle House all the time.

[00:09:39] So we pulled that in and Waffle House, believe it or not, took a lot of Googling, but I found out they have a catering truck. So they came and we had a hash brown bar and a waffle bar at about 10 o'clock at night. They opened that up. All the guests got the little white hats, the waffle house hats . And we partied it up. And I'm telling you that food was gone. I didn't even get any, I mean, it was gone. Big, big hit. Late night snacks are a thing. I mean, people are definitely, almost every wedding now has a late night snack. 

[00:10:11] Michael Gaddie: When it comes back to the cake, people are doing different things. I always think the cake is still a part, a big part of the ceremony 

[00:10:19] Sharon Rumsey: Most want that picture, that special picture.

[00:10:21] Michael Gaddie: You know, it doesn't have to be a big cake, your average size right now for a cake is like a three tier, sometimes a two tier.

[00:10:27] Sharon Rumsey: I've done a lot of two tiers, like a 10 and a 8 tier. It's really funny because I always like to, to keep parents in mind. A lot of times they're helping pay for things and even if the couple says We don't want cake, the parents want some cake and they want a cup of coffee with it.

[00:10:45] Michael Gaddie: Yeah. 

[00:10:45] Sharon Rumsey: And that brings me into another thing that we did recently that I really loved. The couple had a coffee bar with all the fancy syrups and toppings and pretty cups. And I really, really liked that a lot too. And it, it was well, well received. 

[00:11:01] Michael Gaddie: I think that's a good way to personalize and that's what we're talking about. Personalizing what you like, talking about that we did a wedding once that they collected china. 

[00:11:13] Sharon Rumsey: We're getting ready to do another one. 

[00:11:14] Michael Gaddie: They collected all different, nothing matches at all. And collecting the tea cups and the saucers and I feel like that is a lot of work.

[00:11:23] Sharon Rumsey: That poor mother went to every flea market, peddlers mall, like anything, but it was really pretty. 

[00:11:30] Michael Gaddie: There is so many things that you can come up with that's unique and I would love to hear other peoples stories 

[00:11:36] Sharon Rumsey: I think the most important thing is to put touches of you as a couple into your wedding, no matter how that's done.

[00:11:46] You and I both do weddings all the time. That's what we do for a living. . Nobody wants a Cracker Box wedding, so figure out what's special and unique about you and then make it part of your day. 

[00:11:56] Michael Gaddie: Yeah. 

[00:11:56] Kristina Stubblefield: I can't even get a word in edgewise. I knew that was that was going 

[00:11:59] Michael Gaddie: That's the way we planned it today. Okay. 

[00:12:00] Sharon Rumsey: Yeah 

[00:12:01] Kristina Stubblefield: that's fine by me, I knew you all were gonna run with this, but what Sharon just said, I think is the key there. You know, traditions are great and if you wanna incorporate that, but also. Just knowing it's okay to do something unique that you maybe haven't even seen before. 

[00:12:20] Sharon Rumsey: My favorite specialty is to help couples figure that out. What we can do to pull. 

[00:12:24] Michael Gaddie: It puts it outta the box. Yeah. I mean, it's like you said, it's not the cookie cutter thing. This is the way it's gotta be. Bam, bam, bam. A B, C. do things different. 

[00:12:35] Kristina Stubblefield: It's an experience for your guest and having those little touches, it doesn't have to be great, big, elaborate things either. It can be little touches. It really sticks with me what you said about the Cubs. Like what an interesting way to incorporate that. 

[00:12:50] Sharon Rumsey: I just didn't want it to be sad. 

[00:12:52] Kristina Stubblefield: I hope this episode spurs people to start thinking what's really important to them. What are those small touches like Sharon says, a lot of times that can just make it just that extra little something, 

[00:13:06] Sharon Rumsey: it might be something that not everyone in the room even knows.

[00:13:10] Michael Gaddie: I think that's the best way to do it, actually. 

[00:13:12] Sharon Rumsey: Like only the family knew that, that was a shout out to grandpa. Everybody else probably just thought we had a really cool DJ who threw that in every now and then, and that's okay. 

[00:13:21] Kristina Stubblefield: Absolutely. Well, hopefully you've got some great idea. Hope not too many ideas. We've heard that feedback before, that people listen to episodes and they're like, I added that to my list. I added this to my list. So that is a lot of very unique things. 

[00:13:37] Sharon Rumsey: I think we could have kept going too. 

[00:13:39] Michael Gaddie: Yeah, we could have. 

[00:13:40] Kristina Stubblefield: Right? Yes, I'm sure they could. So anyways, I have a feeling there's probably gonna be a part two to this.

[00:13:47] Michael Gaddie: Definitely 

[00:13:48] Sharon Rumsey: I've already thought of like five things I didn't mention, so yes, 

[00:13:50] Kristina Stubblefield: maybe three. Oh my goodness, I'm hearing more than one episode a week. I think it's time to go now. So anyway, we hope you enjoyed this and if you haven't already shared this podcast or if you like watching the video on YouTube, we also like to do topics and things for grandparents, wedding party, things like that where they can get tips and information to help them with things they're going to be doing throughout the event.

[00:14:20] So feel free to invite them to tune in. If you haven't already subscribed, please do so 

[00:14:27] Michael Gaddie: and remember 

[00:14:28] Sharon Rumsey: leave us a glowing five star review. It's our favorite thing.