Wedding Day Hacks
It’s officially wedding season! Whether the Royal Wedding has stirred up romantic fancies of fairytales or left you rolling your eyes, chances are good that you don’t have the resources to throw a double-reception bash at Windsor like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Every couple is different, and so is every wedding. DIY or hire a planner? White dress or something spunkier? Break with tradition or keep it classic? Cake and punch or catering? It doesn’t matter if you’re hosting a small group of friends and family or if your guest list gives you heart palpitations: planning a wedding is stressful. Fortunately, June brides and offbeat lovers alike can simplify things with a few wedding hacks by thinking inside the box. Check out these ideas for keeping your celebration running smoothly, whatever your personal style, by using custom-ordered boxes.
1. Box Up Your Favors
Use small custom boxes to send guests home with treats from the reception, either by pre-packing them with goodies or setting out a display overflowing with candy, cookies or whatever little tidbits you like and having guests fill their own as part of the fun. If your family is known for always having more food than is strictly necessary at gatherings, custom boxes also make nice take-away containers that keep clean-up minimal, so you can send guests home with extras in style, no foil swans required.
2. Boxes for the Table
Didn’t get enough vintage jars from thrifting to use as centerpieces? Or maybe you spent a shocking amount of time working on a seating plan that will keep Aunt Jean from stirring up drama and forgot about place cards? Custom boxes are great for your seating problems! Fill pretty boxes with paper flowers, candy, marbles or whatever goes with your look as an inexpensive centerpiece. Use stylish boxes as place-holders guests can use for favors. If you wanted to make the most of the day, designate a box on each table for guests to place cards, money or notes for the happy couple. No mess, no fuss, no drama, Aunt Jean.
3. Prepare Your Party
Behind every great wedding is an even greater wedding party, and custom boxes are perfect for all the different ways you can show your appreciation. Box up your gifts for groomsmen and bridesmaids in memorable fashion, or afterward, send small boxes with a little something to say thank you instead of cards. Recently engaged? You can even “propose” to your future wedding party with “Will you be my ____?” boxes, once you’re ready to announce the event. Should your party show signs of discouragement, perk them up with wedding survival kits, and pack up boxes with fun and functional items to keep morale soaring. Just don’t forget to pack something for yourself, too!
4. Keep Things Smooth
If you have guests coming from out of town, set them up with care packages to make their stay comfortable and to show you appreciate them. Especially if you have a destination-type wedding, custom boxes filled with local goodies and information about nearby amenities can be a fun and functional handout. If you’re expecting many children, busy boxes can come in handy, too. Pack boxes with stickers, crayons, games and other small items for kids that might be easily bored by adults making kissy faces all day—you can even design a box that they can color on! Outdoor wedding? Tuck custom boxes filled with contingency items under guests’ seats, so weather, bugs or dirt won’t be a distraction.
5. Organize!
Custom boxes of all sizes work great for keeping the gift table from overflowing. Big boxes help sort the chaos for easy transportation after the cake is gone (you can box that, too), and a nice box for cards is always useful. Pretty paper boxes make good holders for flatware, be it metal or (gasp) disposable. If getting ready for the ceremony looks tight, have boxes set up with convenience items like makeup, safety pins, needle and thread, hair pins and more, so no one needs to fret when the humidity causes frizz or that strap snaps. If you’re relying on a lot of helping hands, you can use boxes to assign task teams, and give a little gift along with supplies your photographer-cousin or baker-friend. Boxes are a great way to keep everyone on the same page, supplied, and smiling.
With all of these ideas and more, the bigger question might be how to design your boxes…because the options are nearly limitless!
BoxUp offers a variety of pre-set patterns for those seeking simplicity, so you can flaunt your funky style or elegant aesthetic with little fuss. Pick a pattern and fit it to your theme with little tweaks. If you’d like to get more creative, your personalization is limited only by your imagination. Use photos of the couple, their family, or their favorite places. Awkward family and childhood photos can be a fun way to celebrate the day, if you have a big sense of humor. You can keep it simple by adding the name and date, or get tricky by covering the boxes with trivia about the couple.
You can design a “His and Hers” set of boxes to look like a suit and dress, or take a photo and turn it into a coloring page so guests can decorate their own boxes. Break funny photos down into head/torso/legs and put on boxes to make a “create a monster” toy, if you like. Whether you’re packing cream cheese mints or local heirloom seeds, champagne flutes or homebrew, BoxUp can help you get the look you want.
Oh, and if you’re a guest looking at wedding season with wide eyes, don’t fret: custom boxes make packing gifts a breeze, so you don’t have to worry about losing the tape and scissors again while wrapping those registry items you picked up for the six weddings you’ve been invited to next month.
We might not have royal resources to get the matrimonial ball rolling, but ordering custom boxes can certainly help your wedding keep that fairytale ending, whatever that looks like for you.