Most brides and grooms think of their wedding as being extremely formal – almost to the point of being dull. You have to wear stuffy clothing. You have to invite people you really don’t know all that well. You have to spend hours inside a potentially uptight location. On top of all that, you have to send out plain invitations. While those things may appeal to some couples, they certainly don’t fit the personality of all brides and grooms to be.

In fact, if you’ve stayed close to tradition with most of your wedding ceremony, then there are two places where you might have the opportunity to let loose a bit and “go wild!”

Going Wild with Your Invitations

The first way to get a little crazy is with your invitations. Normally, a formal wedding calls for white, cream, or off-white colored invitations, usually with black or red ink and a very swirly font. However, if you don’t want to stick that close to etiquette, you do have plenty of other options. For starters, you can stop looking at wedding invitation paper and start exploring other possibilities.

For example, if you really want to “go wild” then why not choose an animal motif for your invitations. The Zebra Brown, Zebra Pink, Tiger Stripes, or Wild Mix cards are all perfect examples. They may not be your average wedding invitation paper, but they’ll do the trick and make a unique statement.

You can even look at invitation paper designed originally for children’s parties. After all, the beauty of using blank paper is that you can literally choose any design you want and have it printed to fit your specific needs.  If you love the “gone wild” theme, then you might like the Jungle Fun or the Endangered Species cards.

Going Wild with Your Reception

No matter how formal your ceremony is, most couples tend to unwind a little bit at their reception. That’s not always the case, but if you want to “go wild” at your own wedding then it’s going to be the best opportunity.

Not only should you choose fun music that’s going to get people up and dancing (and having an open bar will help with this immensely) but you can even consider decorating in a safari theme. For example, if you chose any of the animal pattern invitations, you could use the same type of color combination on your table cloths or even on your wedding cake. You could bring in artificial trees or even have a forest scene painted on fabric that can be hung on the walls.

Even if you’re not ready to go that wild, don’t forget that your wedding isn’t just about following etiquette rules. It’s about having a good time and celebrating your special day.