YOUR wedding day is an extra special occasion – one of life’s milestones – and should therefore be individual, unique and tailored to your tastes.

But sometimes tradition takes over and brides and grooms can end up with the ‘big white wedding’ just to please family members. All ambition for a personally themed wedding give way to royally iced fruit cake and confetti.

If you are planning your wedding and resisting the notion of a starched, white, formal reception, here are several ideas to inject some colour and movement to help make your big day a lot more fun.

A wedding breakfast

So called because it is the first meal a couple shares after their vows. A wedding breakfast is seldom an actual breakfast and usually takes place in the afternoon or evening, long after the dawn chorus has died away.

But if you are getting married early in the day, then a real wedding breakfast or brunch could be a great way to celebrate and might work out cheaper than a formal sit down meal.

Have your caterers set out a bright buffet of cereals, dried and fresh fruits, compotes, freshly baked bread and pastries, American pancakes, waffles, and the essential ingredients of a full English – eggs, bacon, sausages, black pudding, mushrooms, tomatoes and hash browns.

Wash it all down with Earl Grey and English breakfast tea, freshly ground coffees and a celebratory buck’s fizz.

A gastro-pub reception

It’s a trend set by the likes of award-winning actress such as Kate Winslet. It’s likely to be cheaper than a formal wedding menu (although we doubt that’s why Kate opted for it), and a lot more fun than a more traditional bash. Pub style food is also something that could be catered by family and friends if you are having a DIY wedding.

Think posh bangers and mash or fish and chips. Choose local sausages made to various recipes – include a vegetarian option – and serve them with mashed local potatoes, savoury onion gravy, English and wholegrain mustard, or horseradish sauce.

For good fish and chips select more than one type of fish and serve with chunky chips, home-made tomato ketchup and mushy peas. Some fish and chip shops provide outside catering for large events such as weddings at very reasonable rates.

For dessert serve fresh fruit and cream, trifle or ice cream sundaes.

A Thai supper

If you and your partner have been to Thailand, or simply enjoy Thai cuisine, you could theme your meal on flavours of the Far Eastern.

Fill the reception hall with oriental lilies and orchids, flickering candles and ceiling lanterns. Have a selection of Thai dishes on each table for guests to share, including vegetable spring rolls, spiced sweetcorn fritters, satay skewers, Thai green curry and vegetable stir fries. Follow them with a light, refreshing dessert.

Sharing food is a good way to create a relaxing ambience, encouraging people who might otherwise sit in awkward silence throughout the reception to chat with each other.

A barbecue

Great for late spring and summer weddings. At the venue have trellis tables set up outside with pots of cutlery, finger bowls and napkins and a full choice of condiments – ketchup, mustards, mayonnaise, chutneys and relishes.

Either hire in a caterer, or delegate willing friends or family members to run your barbecue, serving up steak burgers, minted lamb burgers, buffalo style chicken wings, glazed pork ribs, chargrilled sweetcorn, parcels of fish and vegetable kebabs.

Alternatively, you could host a hog roast. There are several local companies that will bring the spit, the hog and the trimmings to your venue.

Load a side table with homemade coleslaw, a variety of salads and fresh breads. If you’re really trying to save money you could ask guests to contribute, although be sure to co-ordinate this so you know who’s bringing what. Serve bottled beers, sparkling wine, cider and iced tea. For dessert serve ice cream cones and strawberries and cream.

A Greek meze supper

A Greek meze is perfect for a summer or spring wedding. The food is light and delicious and is made for sharing.

Pour a little ouzo for your adult guests to toast your union then let them feast from platters laid out on tables. You can label the food to make it easier for them to choose – typical fare includes marinated lamb skewers, filled vine leaves, feta cheese doused with olive oil and fresh herbs, hummus with pita bread and savoury pastries such as boureki filled with spinach and feta.

Finish with sweet Greek pastries such as syrup drenched baklava and loukoumi, a sort of Turkish delight, with fresh strong coffee.

To be truly authentic feel, buy cheap mix and match plates and let your guests smash them in style at the end of the night. It will be a lot of clearing up, but people will talk about your wedding for years to come.

A tapas night

If your reception is timed for the evening and you don’t want a formal sit down meal or buffet, serving tapas makes a great change. It’s also a more imaginative alternative to the sausage rolls and cheese and pineapple sticks usually on offer at evening receptions.

Tapas can be served like canapés, with waiters circulating the room serving small snacks from a tray, or you could have several dishes laid out on tables around the room. Typical wedding tapas fare could include a variety of breads accompanied by oil and vinegar, bowls of Spanish olives, dishes of chorizo and manchego cheese pieces, calamari, Spanish croquettes, empanadas, grilled prawns, Moorish pork kebab skewers and bite-size slices of tortilla.

Make the party go with a swing by serving some fruity sangria.

A romantic Moroccan supper

For a smaller, more intimate venue, a Moroccan inspired supper is one of the most romantic wedding feasts you could have.

Drape the reception room with black, gold, red, orange, pink and green sheer fabrics, sprinkle rose petals on tables, and fill metallic lanterns with fragrant candles to bring a little slice of the exotic to your reception.

For the feast, serve a tagine accompanied by seed and vegetable infused cous cous, and finished with rosewater creams, or a platter of intricately carved fruits.

A summer picnic

The British picnic is a summer tradition and can make a wonderful wedding reception.

Move your whole event outside. Set up tables spread with fine linen in the grounds of your reception venue and a covered marquee with a dance floor that can also provide shelter in the unlikely event it rains.

Set each table with cutlery, napkins and crockery, fragrant summer flowers and candles if you’re planning to celebrate into the evening. Decorate the garden with lanterns and fairy lights. Divide your guests into picnic groups and organise a picnic hamper for each one filled with breads, patés, cheeses, cold meats, salads, pasta and potato dishes, pastries and a selection of pickles and chutneys. Quench your guests’ thirst with homemade lemonade, root beer, ginger ale and sparkling rosé wine.

Afternoon tea

There is something extremely civilised about afternoon tea. The good old English tea party is incredibly fashionable at the moment and could make a delightful wedding reception. A tea dance would be even more fun. On each table offer a variety of teas and coffees brewed in bone china teapots, with tiered displays of cakes, scones, rusks, muffins, crumpets, pastries and savouries such as sausage rolls and vegetable tartlets. Make sure there is plenty of locally made jam, clotted cream and butter available too.

An Indian feast

Adopted as our national cuisine, Indian food goes down well with most people, especially if it’s the sophisticated modern sort.

Theme tables with rich earthy, ethnic colours and in the centre of each one serve starters such as samosas, spiced meat kebabs, bhajis and poppadoms.

Follow with a fork buffet of vegetable curry, chicken tikka masala, lamb dhansak and side dishes such as masala dall (spiced lentil curry) and Bombay aloo (spiced potatoes), all served with fluffy pilau rice, poppadoms and a range of sweet, sour and spicy chutneys.

Beverage-wise, you could serve tropical cocktails, the classic Indian lassi (a fruit and yoghurt blend), and Indian beers such as Cobra.

For dessert, wow your guests with an impressive kulfi pudding. Kulfi is a typically Indian ice cream style dessert made from a blend of sweetened milk and fresh fruit. Lime and mango is a popular combination, and makes the ideal soothing end for a fiery supper.

A ‘Sunday’ roast

It might be forever linked with a Sunday, but a well cooked roast lunch is a very popular choice for wedding receptions.

Have it served to your guests in the traditional silver service manner, or place roast potatoes and parsnips, steamed seasonal vegetables, Yorkshire puddings, a choice of roast meats (beef, pork and chicken) and gravy on each table and allow guests to serve themselves.

Include a vegetarian option – a nut roast perhaps,

Finish with a quintessentially British pudding such as summer pudding, fruit crumble or home made ice cream.

A psychedelic `70s celebration

Great for second weddings if both of you were children of the 70s, or even if you just love that era. Be bold and bright with colours, get your guests to dress up in beads, flares and caftans and serve typical 70s fare – starters such as prawn and avocado cocktail, tomato soup and chicken liver pate, followed by classic beef stroganoff, coq au vin or chilli con carne. End with a soufflé, rum baba, trifle, baked Alaska or ice cream sundae.

After the meal, slip on your platforms and wedges and boogie the night away to 70s hits.