Add a taste of a special country to your big day

Whether you got engaged on the shores of Lake Garda or met in a shoestring backpackers' hostel in Australia, chances are you might want to honour part of your story at your wedding. From food to favours, we've compiled some creative ideas for incorporating some much-loved countries into your day.

Wild Tide Weddings

Thanks to its associations with romance, we've seen many gorgeous weddings with elements inspired by Italy; Jen and Henry, for example, who got engaged in a garden in Rome, wove details of the country throughout their big day. 'With the proposal and our love of Italian cities in mind, we had a subtle Italian theme running through the day, including Henry stylishly arriving in his best man's Maserati Granturismo,' says Jen.

Table names were some of the couple's favourite spots in Rome, with the top table being the garden where Henry proposed. They embraced the theme further with Italian wines, Prosecco and Moretti beers. Homemade limoncello favours were a popular favour too, something that went down a storm at Katrina and Curtis' wedding, in homage to Katrina's Italian family travelling over for the wedding.

McKenzie Brown

Jennifer and Stuart's wedding also incorporated a series of nods to Italy, most strikingly via the groom's party. 'We all rocked a casual Italian look with white jeans, a pale blue shirt, navy blazer and Italian pocket squares,' explains Stuart.

'How about an Italian espresso martini after dinner instead of the usual tea and coffee,' suggests wedding planner Jenny Granlund, of Jenny Wren Weddings & Events (jennywrenweddingsandevents.co.uk). 'It will give guests the pick-me-up they need after a meal, as well as bring in some Italian flavour to the day.' And if you're looking for more inspiration, don't ignore the amazing cuisine of the country, perhaps with a pizza station in the evening, or mini pasta boxes to keep your guests' energy levels up!

Clare Kinchin

The USA is renowned for its epic landscapes, characterful cities and, of course, its creative foodstuffs, so it's no wonder that couples draw on elements of American culture for their weddings. 

Ashleigh and Greg were holidaying in America when Greg chose their scenic surrounds as the prime location to pop the question. As a result, there were nods to the country throughout their Cornish wedding. 'I love fall in America, so there were a lot of pumpkins, squashes and food to match; that was the main inspiration for our wedding,' says Ashleigh. 

Clare Kinchin

Playing on the American theme, Krispy Kreme doughnuts became a statement feature, along with traditional candy corn. 'They added a great look and most people hadn't heard of them before so it was something fun for people to try. I also made pumpkin pies and candy apples because I wanted more of a Thanksgiving sweet table and stuff you wouldn't normally see at a wedding!' 

As well as doughnuts and candy corn, there's another sweet surprise that Jenny Granlund has seen popping up at local weddings: s'mores stations! 'We created this American classic for one of our US couples last year,' she says. 'They heated the marshmallows on firepits, then wedged them between a sandwich of Golden Grahams crackers with a Hershey's chocolate on top. Guests loved it and the table looked really pretty at night with lots of candles and fairy lights.'

She also recalls the wedding of an American bride in Fowey. 'She had a real love of the American-style cookies, so we arranged for a local bakery to freshly bake five different types of cookies each morning (over the whole wedding weekend) and we displayed them on a 'cookie station' at the hotel reception for guests to help themselves to!' 

Clare Kinchin

Another couple, Megan and Brendan, took their former home as their inspiration, too. It was while Megan was living in New York that Brendan took the opportunity to pop the question at one of the city's most iconic locations ' Central Park ' during a Christmas visit. In a nod to the moment, the couple served woodfired s'mores including baked cookies, toasted marshmallows, honeycomb, popping candy and salted caramel.

Known for its snowy vistas, breathtaking national parks and deliciously warming food, the Nordic country provides oodles of inspiration for a stylish wedding, as it did for Cat and Tommy. 

'Due to work schedules and Christmas, we had our honeymoon before our wedding ' an amazing snowy holiday to Finland,' explains Cat. 'On our return, we promptly made some changes to our winter wedding to include some of the Finnish food and drink that we'd loved so much.'

'We switched our welcome drink to Glögi, which is the Finnish version of mulled wine, and ordered lots of Piperkakut ' authentic Finnish gingerbread cookies ' for guests to enjoy as they arrived at our venue.'

They also added some new décor elements to their English winter wedding, intermingling ivy, holly berries and mistletoe with faux fur pelts. 

Thomas Frost

Having lived in the south of Portugal while working at a surf school, Connor knew he wanted to honour the country at his wedding to Mary. 'Even though she'd never been to Portugal, lots of our guests coming to our wedding were friends I'd made out there, so it was important to us both to have little touches throughout the day,' he says. 'Our table names were a combination of our favourite beaches both there and in Cornwall, where Mary is from, and we asked everyone to write a piece of advice to us on a cork (Portugal is a big cork producer), which we saved in a big bottle to smash open on our anniversary.'

Rosie and Liam also themed their wedding around the things they love, including many elements from their campervan travels and a menu featuring pastel de natas (Portuguese egg tarts) that they had freshly baked and delivered on the day. 'We spend a lot of time in Portugal with Rosie's family where we basically live off them!' explains Liam.

As a gap year favourite and must-visit on many a round-the-world ticket, many couples wish to incorporate their fond memories of Australia into their wedding day.

'I met Jamie when I was travelling around Australia in my gap year,' says Flora. 'We stayed in touch, and a few years later when we were both back in the UK, we met up… and the rest is history. Australia will always be a special place for us as it's where our story began, so we honoured that in a few ways at our wedding.'

A surfboard-style guestbook took pride of place in homage to the Byron Bay beach they first met on, and their 'lolly bar' consisted of classic Aussie sweets, including Red Frogs, Violet Crumble Bites, Lifesavers, and Caramello Koalas. 'We also had the Byron lighthouse at the top of our cake, and chose wine from one of the Hunter Valley vineyards we worked at,' says Flora. 

Josh Harkon

Australia is home to some of the world's leading bridal brands so donning one of their gowns is a gorgeous way of honouring the country. A laidback barbecue feast smacks of Aussie style and, of course, you could always arrange a post-ceremony game of cricket!

Verity Westcott

A country that's renowned for bringing the fiesta, a Mexican-inspired wedding will be one of delicious food, refreshing cocktails and, of course, a whole lot of colour!

Venetia Norrington

'We had pretty much every colour imaginable and all the decorations, including the piñatas, were made by myself, my family and friends. It was a colour feast for the eyes!' says Elise, who opted for a Mexican-style fiesta reception at her wedding to James.  

Verity Westcott

As well as the décor, they also incorporated fun details such as fake moustaches and rocket balloons along with live music from the Mariachi Kings and a tasty Mexican-style feast. 

Venetia Norrington

Katie and Tom also embraced Mexican cuisine at their wedding, with sharing platters of enchiladas and barbecue pulled jackfruit, and sides such as black beans, Mexican rice, Mexican slaw, queso blanco and tomatillo guacamole. And, of course, pairing delicious food with exotic drinks is something Mexico does only too well ' how about a mojito to wash down your nachos or tacos?

Verity Westcott

Or you could celebrate like Elise and James to really bring the fiesta: 'We also created a 'slammer station' for tequila slammers throughout the evening ' salt, tequila, lime… It really got people in the mood!' 

Venetia Norrington

words Lucy Higgins