Weddings should be fun, and for a lot of brides and grooms, fun means play! There’s nothing wrong with planning a wedding that is grownup and elegant, and similarly, there’s nothing wrong with planning a wedding that’s full of crazy silly things for wedding guests to do. Like, for example, bowling. Yep, I said bowling. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but if it’s yours, consider renting out a bowling alley for your wedding reception and switching out your bridal pumps for a pair of rented shoes.

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Oh, I’d say so. In fact, I think I’d be a little more than exhilarated at this airborne wedding, whether I was the bride or one of the guests, strapped into a seat with nothing but atmosphere under my behind.

Hanging from that cord are thrill seekers Sandra Eens and Jeroen Kippers – they said their vows 150 feet in the air then leaped off their nuptial platform in their wedding finery before sharing an upside-down kiss as a married couple. Who made it possible? A company called Marriage In the Sky, that’s who.

For around $14,000, they’ll take you, your spouse-to-be, your officiant, two witnesses, a photographer, and 20 wedding guests into the air for a wedding in the ether. Apparently, the company operates all over the world – basically, anywhere that is flat and accessible to a truck and a crane. If a ceremony in the heavens sounds like your dream wedding (more power to you) Marriage in the Sky can assist you in finding a venue that will accommodate their equipment.

When people talk about weddings, they tend to use words like beautiful and moving and elegant. But when was the last time you heard someone’s wedding described as fun? Mine was fun but it could have been more fun – the kids all got to go swimming, but we didn’t end up renting a bounce house like we talked about. And there would have been plenty of room for carnival games… wait, what? Carnival games? Or maybe even a Ferris wheel!

I’m serious – the wedding ceremony is more often than not a semi-somber affair, but there is no reason that a wedding reception can’t be all about playtime and getting a little crazy. For those brides and grooms with the space, a carnival wedding – not just a carnival themed wedding, if you see the difference – is one unusual option that is almost sure to please.

So how exactly do you pull off a carnival wedding? First, you need the space, preferably a nice big outdoor space that’s both flat and private. Wouldn’t want passersby to see the carnival and stop in! (Unless, of course, you do.) Then you need to find a party rental company that specializes in carnival rides and games. Believe it or not, you don’t have to be a town or organization to rent this kind of stuff. Finally, you need to make sure that it’s actually all right for you to set up a mini-carnival in that flat, private, outdoor space you found.

(via Jamie Hammond Photography, a Seattle wedding photographer)

Depending on how complex you make your carnival wedding – will there be prizes? rides? refreshment stands galore? can you DIY any part of it with help from friends? – this is one reception that can get pretty expensive. But it definitely makes for one heck of good time and the kind of wedding that your loved ones will invariably describe as fun… probably for years to come, because how exactly do you top a carnival wedding, anyway? I don’t think it’s possible, at least not in the fun department.

What are you doing to make your wedding reception extra fun for guests both young and old?

November 10 was a big day for fantasy writer Neil Gaiman. It was his birthday, for one thing (Happy birthday, Neil! I love Neverwhere all to pieces and back again!). For another, his longtime lady love Amanda Palmer gave him a very unusual gift.

You see, once upon a time, long before the two met, Amanda made her living as a street performer. Her gig was being a live statue of a bride. Not that she thought getting married was such a good idea:

i always said i wouldn’t get married.
why not just live with someone for christ’s sake?

plus, everybody in my family was divorced and just kept getting more and more divorced.
it just seemed stupid.

And yet, for Neil’s birthday, she decided to surprise him with a ‘wedding’ and get herself up in her bridal statue finery one more time.

First, she bought him a top hat. Then she took off, bribing him to meet her later with the promise of a cup of tea (and don’t even try to tell me that isn’t dirty pool when your guy is English!).

Amanda got into her costume and makeup and gathered her ‘wedding party’ on the courthouse steps. Alas! more people came than were originally expected as word of the impending event spread. The group had no permit, so they were asked to move on. They did. They gathered again in Jackson Square.

Again, they were informed they would need to move on by the authorities. Amanda texted Neil to meet her at the steps of a church just outside the park. He got there moments later, in top hat, tee shirt and jacket. Seeing Amanda in her statue finery, he placed $5.00 in her basket. Amanda then ‘came to life’ and handed him a rose. At this juncture, the witnesses came out from their hiding places along with Jason Webley who had introduced the happy couple in the first place. Jason performed the ceremony with great enthusiasm.

Best of all? Neil got his cup of tea, even if he did have to drink it through the clown white Amanda left on him with the kiss.

Okay, so it’s not legal, but Neil and Amanda are actually engaged. In the meantime, here’s what Neil has to say about this practice run:

Next time we get married, I’ll marry the lady, not the statue, and there will be invited people and not a flash mob, and I’ll know it’s happening in advance, and there will be a paper and it will be legally recognised, but I cannot imagine it will be any more joyous than this was. And truthfully, after that morning’s magical wedding, I don’t think I could ever feel more married.

And truly, I doubt there could be a wedding more appropriate for the man who created London Below.

Check out their wedding album here. Thanks to Just call me Sugah for the tip off!

What could be sweeter than gathering together with your family and friends on a beautiful day to pledge your undying love to your favorite person in the whole wide world? How about doing all of that… with ice cream?

(via Solar Photographers)

Some brides and grooms luck out – they’re just leaving for the reception with their attendants when that old familiar tune starts playing in the distance, getting louder and louder until that gorgeous ice cream truck is close enough to flag down.

(via Green Wedding Shoes)

Some brides and grooms luck out – they’re just leaving for the reception with their attendants when that old familiar tune starts playing in the distance, getting louder and louder until that gorgeous ice cream truck is close enough to flag down.

(via Gold Coast Ice Cream Truck Co.)

But if it’s not summertime or ice cream trucks don’t regularly visit your wedding ceremony or reception areas, there’s always ice cream truck rental from places like Gold Coast Ice Cream Truck Co. of NYC and Long Island. Have them park outside your wedding reception venue and take the idea of the sundae bar to a whole new level!

One of the things that seldom comes up on lists of bridesmaids’ duties is “Keeping one’s mouth shut.” And yet I’d suggest that it wouldn’t exactly be far fetched to tack it on to the end of one of those lists. For as much as the bride-to-be worries incessantly that she will notice every little thing that goes wrong before, during, and after the wedding, a great bridesmaid will do the noticing for the bride and then gently steer the bride away from whatever is wrong so that someone else can handle it.

Or in other less common cases, that same great bridesmaid will find herself smack in the middle of what’s wrong and not go blabbing to the bride until at least after the ceremony.

Recently, that’s just what five Boston bridesmaids did when their wedding limo carjacked before the ceremony by a man fleeing the scene of a crime he’d allegedly just committed. According to a charter bus driver delivering guests to the wedding, the suspect started fighting with the driver, smashed the passenger side window with a hammer, the bridesmaids got out and ran, the driver bailed, and the suspect took off. To their credit, none of the bridesmaids left a bouquet behind, and they all stayed mum about the incident until after the bride had tied the knot.

This particular item on the list of bridesmaids’ duties won’t always be exciting, of course. In some cases, it’s tragic. At my own wedding, for example, I wasn’t told that the reason one of my aunts wasn’t in attendance was that she was terminally ill. And in other cases, the no-no topic is fairly mundane. Maybe the bridesmaids have found out that the ceremony seating arrangements are all wrong and send some of the groomsmen to rearrange everything before go time.

What the conscientious bridesmaid may have to keep to herself on the bride’s big day might be anything, but I can almost guarantee that the wedding will be all the better for her keeping her mouth shut. Yes, in a few cases the bride will wish that someone had spoken up and told her just what was going on. But a bridesmaid’s silence – sometime paired with a little sneaky initiative – can sometimes be all that it takes to keep the bride from realizing that anything is amiss.

Few women get more than a few years into adulthood without feeling some outside pressure to get married – especially if they have serious significant others. So what’s a gal who’s feeling the pressure but doesn’t have marriage on her mind? Chen Wei-Yi of Taiwan took a stand against the pressure to get married by staging a most unusual wedding. Who did she marry? She married herself. Her wacky wedding was a response to the government’s recent campaign to encourage marriage and parenthood to boost the island’s very low birthrate.

Maybe it’s not entirely appropriate, but I hope you’ll join me in wishing Chen Wei-Yi hearty congratulations and lots of happiness!