Si­mone Sant-Ghu­ran

"Cook­ie-cut­ter" wed­dings-ones that are sim­i­lar to all the rest, of­ten de­void of "heart and soul" are fast be­com­ing events of the past. In­stead, cou­ples are seek­ing to in­fuse their hob­bies, in­ter­ests, pas­sions, ro­man­tic sto­ry or fam­i­ly his­to­ry in­to their wed­dings.Here are unique and eas­i­ly im­ple­mentable ideas for your day:

1. In­stead of a tra­di­tion­al guest book, make a pho­to al­bum or scrap­book of old fam­i­ly por­traits, child­hood pho­tos or snap­shots of rel­a­tives and friends. Then, ask guests to sign around their favourite pho­to and write a short mes­sage.

2. Try­ing to save on cake decor costs? Tie a beau­ti­ful silk rib­bon around cake lay­ers and em­bell­ish with vin­tage brooches or crys­tal buck­les.

3. If you're af­ter a "shab­by-chic" wed­ding theme, fill an­tique-look­ing bird­cages with fresh flow­ers and sus­pend them from the ceil­ing, trees or use as cen­tre­pieces.

4. To give your bridal shoes added style and ver­sa­til­i­ty, con­sid­er ac­ces­soris­ing them with shoe clips-these can be found with feath­ers, crys­tals, pearls, flow­ers or beads. If you can't find shoe clips, im­pro­vise with clip-on ear­rings!

5. If you can, have eye­lash strips or se­mi-per­ma­nent lash­es added. The good qual­i­ty ones that are cor­rect­ly ap­plied, look nat­ur­al and can re­al­ly en­hance your eyes on your wed­ding day pho­to shoot.

6. Use a pho­to of you and your new hus­band/wife on your hon­ey­moon, for ex­am­ple, on the beach hold­ing a "thank you" sign or a mes­sage drawn on the sand, for the im­age in your thank-you cards, when you re­turn.

7. Mix bright and pas­tel shades for a unique look on brides­maid dress­es, for ex­am­ple, add con­trast­ing sash­es or hair ac­ces­sories. If you are opt­ing for short brides­maid dress­es, en­sure the shoes are stun­ning.