Celebrity Wedding Ideas That Aren’t As Crazy As They Sound

Just because you don’t make a ridiculous amount of money for doing an overrated job that makes you famous doesn’t mean you can’t learn a thing or two from celebrity weddings. Occasionally, these million dollar events that cost more than the GDP of some nations can provide inspiration for us normies. It may have come from the mind of someone who has more money than restraint, but you just might be able to use it for your nuptials.

1. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

Royal weddings are steeped in rich tradition of British history, ceremony, and lineage. Every moment of the day has been planned, accounted for, estimated, articulated, and executed time after time for generations. Prince Harry though, married Meghan Markle, an American woman who grew up with divorced parents, and parted with certain traditions, traditions that were broken for the sake of including her family. Her mother rode with her in the car to the ceremony, typically the role of the father, and Prince Charles walked her down the aisle. Markle has worked against the grain of British tradition for the sake of inclusion in each wedding’s unique circumstances–no matter how public.

For Your Wedding: Parents get divorced, it’s a fact of life. And finding creative ways to make your loved ones feel loved is important, even if it means breaking tradition sometimes. In the end, all that matters is that you both say “I do.” Everything before that is just pomp and circumstance. Remember, your parents (or whoever you rearrange things for) will be around a lot longer than your wedding day.

2. Gucci Mane and Keyshia Ka’oir

This celebrity duo went all out icy for their wedding, with a crystal and diamond theme that did not fade for one second throughout the event. The wedding had a major focal point that caught headlines, a 10-foot-tall, $75,000 cake came decked out in crystals and frosting, with the couple needing to use a sword to cut into the thing.

For Your Wedding: Budgets are likely a factor for you, and cutting back on flowers probably won’t work to fill a 75-grand hole in your cake budget. That said, is you really want a show-stopping centerpiece to the night, putting some extra money into a cake that isn’t a bad idea. Think of it this way, what’s the biggest Instagram post of your wedding going to be between your friends?

3. Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton

When you imagine the wedding of two country music superstars, all sorts of “less than tasteful” stereotypes may jump into your head—and they should be followed by feelings of shame for dehumanizing two people you hardly know. You can skip that second step because Lambert and Shelton’s wedding couldn’t be more country if Hank Williams Sr. officiated it from the stage of the Grand Ole Opry. According to E! News, the happy couple provided all of the meat for the reception from deer that they shot and stripped themselves.

For Your Wedding: Maybe you’re the type of guy who’s seen Bambi too many times and couldn’t possibly hunt and kill an animal, even if it meant you’d have to eat insects to survive. That doesn’t mean you can’t make something personal for your guests to enjoy during the wedding, like a batch of home-brewed beer or a delicious dessert you make from scratch.

4. Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker

This couple is a bit of an anomaly in the world of celebrity marriage: They are still actually married. Their trend bucking started with the actual wedding. The groom and the bride both wore basic black as their official wedding attire. Parker told Bravo talk show host Andy Cohen that she just grabbed a dress that she liked from “a store that I liked that I knew, and I just went and got whatever they had hanging” instead of wasting a lot of time on a big, fancy, poofy white wedding dress.

For Your Wedding: Don’t let anyone tell you that you’ve got to do things in a traditional way, especially when it comes to the attire. Couples should wear whatever they want for their big day even though it doesn’t come in black and/or white.

5. Nicole Richie and Joel Madden

You can bet that the daughter of Lionel Richie was going to have a wedding that’s more ridiculous than a four-sided Rubik’s Cube. The elephant that she and her husband hired for their wedding says it all. According to People Magazine , the couple had a traditional wedding except for the literal elephant in the room that no one seemed to know what role or part it played in the wedding. I hope they were able to keep tabs on it before they started serving dinner at the reception.

For Your Wedding: If you and your bride have a beloved pet that you know is going to be part of your new home, don’t stick it in a kennel. Bring it along to your big day but don’t put it in a situation where you know the little mutt is going to behave. Having your best, non-human friend at the wedding can help you relax during the tense times and create some great memories in the long run as long as they’re housebroken.

6. DeAngelo Williams and Risalyn Williams

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ star running back may be a jock but his wedding was a ceremony that could make the most ardent geek green with jealousy. Apparently, the Williamses are such huge fans of the AMC series The Walking Dead that they designed their entire wedding around the series, according to US Weekly. They hired professional makeup artists to make the wedding parties look like gory zombies including the bride and groom and shot a video of DeAngelo being eaten by “walkers” before the start of the service.

For Your Wedding: If you and your bride are fans of something that brought you or kept you together to your momentous day, why not share it with the people you love? You don’t have to theme the entire wedding around it but you can add small touches like a special wedding cake topper, unique table decorations or even a special song incorporated into your first dance as husband and wife.

7. David and Victoria Beckham

The soccer star and former Spice Girl are one of the most powerful celebrity couples in the known universe because, well, they’re both hot. They drove that fact home during the cake ceremony by putting two nude sculptures of themselves on the top of the cake, according to Elle Magazine. Who doesn’t love being reminded that the delicious cake they are eating will take them further away from achieving the perfect, unattainable body type that two media stars are paid to sustain every time they appear on TV?

For Your Wedding: The wedding cake may be a traditional but it doesn’t have to be completely traditional. After all, it’s supposed to be fun. You’re shoving cake into your beloved’s face. So find a funny cake topper of you and your bride or putting something unique on the cake that makes it more you. Just make sure that whatever you choose is wearing clothes.