College Love

Having met in college, we knew we wanted to include some alma mater love. We don't want to have a college wedding theme, so we've been trying to think of subtle ways to include our favorite place. I've been amazed at all the fun and unique ideas I've found to show some college love. You can put a college spin on pretty much every element of the wedding.

Venue- Say "I do" at your alma mater. See if they have a house of worship, or a location on campus that they allow alumni to use for ceremonies and or receptions. Many colleges and universities have gorgeous chapels. I love the photos from the recently featured "Real Wedding" of Hilary and John at The Memorial Church in Harvard Yard. The photos at the Harvard church are stunning. Videography- Ask your videographer to do seperate interviews. One with the bride and one with the groom, each re-telling the story of how you met or a favorite college memory.

Photography- Take photos on campus. You can do it at a place with meeting, like the place you met, or a field if you were both big sport fans, or use a significant building or landmark on campus as a back drop.

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At the reception, make sure to get a photo with you and all of your college friends who attended the wedding to send to your alumni publication.

Food- Get a groom's cake representative of your college. Mrs. Penguin had an old school UCLA Bruin mascot made for her husband.

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Cake Topper- Mrs. Dolphin had a cake topper that reflected both her and Mr. Dolphin's alma maters. Her alma mater's mascot is a gator and his is a knight. She found a great way to include both their schools.
Attire and Accessories- Dress the bridal party in your school's colors. Another option is visiting the school's gift shop to see if they have any school inspired accessories such as cufflinks or a tie with the schools insignia.

Table Numbers- have engagement photos taken on campus and use them as part of the table number or use names from college buildings.Mrs. Cheeseburger created table names with on and off campus places.

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Favors- Make a donation to a scholarship fund at your school and create a notice announcing the donation placed on the guest book or gift card table like this example from the Knot.

Another idea is to have edible favors in the shape of your school mascot like Mrs. Lamb. In honor of her and Mr. Lamb's meeting place and alma mater, Bucknell, they ordered Chocolate Bison for their favors. Music- Use you college's fight song for your grand entrance, or try to include it in another way like Miss Ribbon's pep rally idea. You could also hire some current students in the band or chorus to provide the music at the ceremony.

Stationery- add your college colors or a meaningful symbol, like Mrs. Cheeseburger. On her invitations. she had her stationer add a hand-painted illustration of the sundial at Old Main, Penn State, complete with the same quote from the ensemble folder cover.

Groom's Gift- If your groom is a huge fan of your alma mater's teams and you live nearby, look into season tickets. For somethng more budget friendly check out the chool's gift shop and get something more sentimental to remind him of your time on campus.

Bridal Accessories- You can include your school colors in your accessories, like Mrs. Peach did. She created a diy garter in Michigan's colors and planned to get a Michigan pin to attach in the center.

Entertainment- hire your school mascot to come to the reception for an hour.

Decor- At a friend's wedding, she purchased an old map of Newport, the location of her alma mater that was matted and framed. Guests signed the matt of the photo. This would also be great with a photo of an iconic building on campus or a photo from a campus engagement session. At a cousin's wedding, they got a school banner and used it as decor and also in photos with former classmates.

Now that I've gathered all these great ideas, I just have to figure out what we plan to do!

Are you incorporating your alma mater in your wedding day? Have you seen any unique ways to do it?