Church Wedding Decoration Tips for DIY Brides
January 13, 2009 by Wedding Ideas
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If you want to save significantly on your church wedding decorations and you are a bride who enjoys”do it yourself” crafts this video can help. You’ll learn how to make your own bridal bouquet and get great church wedding decoration tips and ideas.
Creative Wedding Program and Guest Book Ideas
January 9, 2009 by Wedding Ideas
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Your Wedding Program and Guest Book Show Your Style
By Robin R. Buckley
Your wedding program can certainly help convey so much about you and your wedding day. Here are some ideas to help make your guest book fun and add to your wedding style. Couples will often include a photo of themselves on the cover, but that is just the beginning.
The wedding program is a wonderful place to let your guests know the names of the beautiful songs that you have chosen. It is also a place to share the meanings behind the rituals that will be taking place.
We have seen many mothers begin to cry when they read the beautiful words that the bride and groom have written in the program about them. It is also a place to honor all of the attendants, children, readers and officiates that participate in the ceremony. You can even include a special message to your guests for their attendance on your special day.
Some couples have included quotes from literature or a poem that is special to them. We have even seen lovely handkerchiefs included inside of the program for those teary moments that are sure to occur.
The back of the program is the perfect place to provide your new home address and contact information. That way your loved ones will be able to stay in touch in the future. You can also include here the website that your photographer will use to post your wedding photos so that all of your guests will be able to see your wedding pictures.
You can have them printed or make them yourself with software and pretty paper, but what ever you choose, makes it your style.
Guest books can also define your wedding style. If yours is a destination wedding, you might want to consider a beautiful coffee table picture book of the location of the wedding having guests simply find a page that they would like to leave their sentiments. Or you could choose a book that reflects a special place to you both. This could be from a place where you met, a place you will visit on your honeymoon or even a place that you both dream about visiting. But rest assured as time goes by, this book will take on more meaning that just a guest book.
Another great idea is to create your own picture book. Put some one in charge of taking Polaroid photos of guests, fixing them into a blank album and letting the guests leave their well wishes next to their photographs. We have seen the same concept done with all of the components for this placed in a beautiful basket and passed from table to table allowing guests to take the photos of each other. That was a lot of fun and very special for the bride and groom.
A very unique idea for the wine loving couple is to select a magnum size bottle of the wine or champagne that you will be serving at your wedding as the guest book. You will want to provide either a gold or silver fluid marker that dries on the bottle. A magnum size bottle will provide ample space for all to sign.
So there are just a few ideas to help you create unique touches to your wedding and to help you make your wedding elegant.
Robin Buckley is a nationally known wedding photographer who has photographed hundreds of weddings and whose work has been published in countless wedding magazines. Now she offers a social networking site for brides.
http://www.TheWeddingPlanningClub.com is a place where brides-to-be can make a space and communicate with other people planning their wedding. The site offers easy wedding shopping with the best prices on the internet.
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5 Tips for Planning a Beach Wedding
January 7, 2009 by Wedding Ideas
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Planning a Beach Wedding – 5 Tips For a Small and Intimate Beach Wedding
By Debbie L Reynolds
Planning a beach weddings doesn’t have to cost you the earth nowadays – You can go to your dream beach location for less than $10,000. Here I share some of my best tips for keeping the costs down when planning a beach wedding that won’t make your day any less romantic.
1. A ceremony can be as simple as you, your man, an arch and just a few guests on the day. Or it can be just the 2 of you. Beach weddings are great in that they can be as ‘relaxed’ and informal as you both want them to be.
2. You’ve got the opportunity to go barefoot when planning a beach wedding. Just make sure you bring towels with you to wipe your feet, though! This is the route my best friend Alex went with — She had these little feet jewelery that were simply painted on, on the day. They really were beautiful. Another option worth trying is to use simple ankle bracelets.
3. The beach wedding favors you choose can just be simple, or you can save cash and forget them altogether on the day — They’re really not essential, girls.
4. Start to get creative! Get your girl friends ’round to the house and make your own beach wedding invitations, name cards, table plans, cake, music etc. Here’s a tip: why not make a list of your fav. wedding songs and put them on a blank CD? This is a nice personal touch.
5. Planning a beach wedding with flowers? To be honest, this can be really expensive, depending on what time of year when you plan to get hitched in. The good thing is, you don’t really need many flowers at the beach though. So my advice is to have something simple like a small bouquet for just you and your bridesmaids.
For a complete blueprint on planning a beach wedding at your dream location for LESS than $10,000, visit Beach Weddings Ideas where I reveal the exact same tips and resources I used to plan my entire beach wedding in Florida last year.
Creative Wedding Theme Ideas
January 6, 2009 by Wedding Ideas
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Creative Ideas For Your Wedding Theme
By Shauna Arthurs
Choosing and planning your wedding theme is one of the most fun and creative parts of wedding planning.
Wedding themes can express the imagination of the bride and groom (or wedding planner) and can re-create any setting, from ancient Greece to an underwater paradise.
While most wedding themes are less extravagant than this and usually reflect a color scheme or perhaps a season, we have seen some fabulous and original wedding themes over the years. For brides looking for creative ideas, here are some to get you started:
* Fairytale: While a Cinderella theme is most common in this category, there are plenty of other options. Cinderella themes can be carried out with such ‘props’ as glass slipper favors, a carriage wedding cake and a horse and carriage to draw the happy couple away to their honeymoon or from the church to the reception.
* Color schemes: From black and gold to silver and white, or even red and pink for a Valentine’s theme, color schemes are a fairly easy and effective way to create a theme fro your wedding. You can color co-ordinate your bridesmaids’ dresses, the flowers and ribbons, and even the table decorations and confetti.
* Tropical: Whether you go with gorgeous tropical flower arrangements or a sandy beach theme, a tropical wedding theme allows your guests to feel as if they’re being whisked away to a tropical paradise. Add some bamboo torches and a calypso band and the illusion is complete!
* Mediterranean: Turquoise and shades of blue, with shimmering candles and all white linens…can you picture it? Add some belly dancers for entertainment and you have a Mediterranean-themed reception your guests will never forget.
* Underwater: Hang fishing nets with shells and sparkly fish…offer water-related favors and give bubble-blowers to the children, and you’ll have a lovely and fun underwater theme. There is lots you can do to create an ‘under the sea’ feel, so just get creative!
* Fantasy: Weddings are occasions where a bride can indulge the little girl inside, wearing a fantasy dress and planning a magical celebration. Many brides create a fantasy wedding, and there are endless possibilities here. From hiring a magician to adding sparkles or rainbows, you can do anything in this category, as long as it fulfills your fantasies!
* Butterfly: From confetti to favors, from napkins to centerpieces, incorporating a butterfly theme is whimsical and enchanting. Pin little butterflies (not real!) on the walls or on linens, offer little butterfly pins. We’ve also seen this done with dragonflies or fairies.
* Hawaiian: Hibiscus flowers, laeis and tropical Hawaiian music floating on the air…aaah, your guests will love it! Hire some professional Hawaiian dancers and the mood is complete.
Tuscan: Rustic yellows, wine and grape vines, and sunflowers are just the beginning. Research Tuscany and Tuscan décor and you’ll come up with plenty of ideas for this theme.
* Diamonds are forever: Add some sparkle and pizazz to your celebration with a diamonds theme. Little diamond-shaped sparkly confetti, diamond ring charms or key chains for favors, and a champagne fountain will help you get started. You can also do this with other gems or with pearls.
There are so many ideas and possibilities this list cannot possibly be exhaustive, and we hope we’ve given you a great start. You’ll find even more ideas at Wedding-Planning-Makes-Perfect, and be sure to check out the recommended Wedding Planning Guides. Happy wedding planning!
This article is brought to you by Shauna Arthurs and Wedding-Planning-Makes-Perfect.com, where this list continues. You may also enjoy Travel-like-A-Pro.com for help with your honeymoon planning.
The Proper Way to Carry the Bouquet at Your Wedding Ceremony
December 24, 2008 by Wedding Ideas
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Your Wedding Ceremony – The Proper Way to Carry a Bouquet at Your
Perfect Wedding Ceremony
By Ann Keeler Evans
How many weddings have you been to where the bride and her bridesmaids have walked down the aisle acting as if they were carrying something unpleasant rather than a handful of beautiful flowers? This is one of those little things that both jars me as I stand watching a line of beautiful women walk toward me and makes me scratch my head. I don’t know why either the wedding planners or the florists aren’t teaching you how to hold your bouquets. One of the wedding planners jobs is to make you look great. Looking as if you know how to handle a bouquet simply makes you look more at ease. It lets the flowers do their job which is to declare you a gorgeous confident woman. The florist has spent hours making your flowers perfect. Making sure you carry your bouquet correctly allows the world to notice how beautiful the flowers are and not that the bride looked as if the stems to the flowers might have been too hot to handle or to hold too close to her body. You got these flowers to celebrate your marriage to your wonderful partner. Enjoy them.
So a few simple pointers to help you be comfortable at your wedding ceremony.
* Make sure that your bouquet and those of your attendants are not so heavy that you won’t be able to hold them through your wedding.
* A wedding bouquet is held at about belly button height. Hold your hands snug against your belly (which offers you support in holding the flowers and doesn’t let anyone see that your hands are shaking!).
* You hold the flowers toward the community, not the stems. No one wants to see the stems, no matter how beautifully wrapped.
* If you’re carrying a sheaf of flowers, they rest in the crook of your left arm like a baby. Borrow your friend’s baby and practice a bit. Look at old movies about Pageant winners.
* Practice the royal wave, you may want to use it that day, you’ll certainly feel like royalty.
* If you’re carrying a ball of flowers suspended from a ribbon on your wrist, fold that arm across your waist so that the ball hangs down the front of your gown.
* A nosegay, or tussy-mussy is a lighter bouquet which can be held at belly button level if large enough or simply at waist level.
* During the ceremony, have a small table with a receptacle that can hold your flowers while you’re needing your hands. The vase will have to be heavy enough to hold the flowers without tipping over. (Stones or glass marbles in the bottom of the vase can help that.) You may want to hand off your flowers, but many of the bouquets are so heavy these days that it can be too much to hold two bouquets.
* You’ll want the same vase at the reception so that your flowers can be displayed to their full advantage. And the attendants will need vases in front of them as well.
* Flower balls should be light enough that they can continue to swing from your wrist (and not so long they drag on the ground should you drop your arm to the side.).
* Tussy-mussies can often tuck into a loop at the waste of your dress, if you have thought about it. Otherwise, they can sit in a smaller vase.
There. Simple, easy, and now you’re set to be a beautiful bride and the queen of your day as you join your heart with your beloved’s in marriage.
Bottom Line?: Give your relationship the chance it deserves to succeed wildly, against all odds! After all, you deserve it. Your relationship deserves it! If you want in-depth pointers, ideas, information about designing your perfect wedding ceremony, explore my site! And now I’d like to invite you to sign up to receive 2 free templates for creating the wedding vows of your dreams and the marriage of a lifetime: http://annkeelerevans.org/weddings/free
For more wedding ceremony ideas visit Stress Away Bridal Cafe- Your source for wedding ideas and free wedding websites.
9 Ways to Personalize Your Wedding Ceremony
November 24, 2008 by Wedding Ideas
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Wedding Ceremony – 9 Ways to Personalize Your Wedding Ceremony
by Cori Russell
Hey – it’s all about you; take back your ceremony! It is a ritual – time honored and sacred – but that does not mean your wedding ceremony has to be like every other…yawn. Of course, some couples choose to be extremely original and opt for exchanging vows on a roller coaster, while bungee jumping or even dressed as trekies. I say – good for them for such uninhibited displays of originality. But even if you prefer a more traditional and “scream-free” wedding ceremony, you can still add a touch of personality.
A Scenic Location
Not every wedding ceremony must take place in a house of worship. Outdoor locations and other unique ceremony sites can make for ceremonies that are both spiritual and memorable.
A Refreshing Welcome
Welcome and refresh your guests by serving lemonade, iced tea or water. It’s a nice touch, and your guests will appreciate the gesture. Depending on the season or nature of your wedding, you can use your refreshment of choice to tie in the theme or style of the day.
Personalized Pew/Row Decorations
Who says your ceremony decorations must be floral? How about draping framed photographs of the bride and groom tied with ribbon over the ends of each row?
Customized Programs
Summer brides – how about ceremony programs in the shape of a fan? Beach brides – use a shell or small piece of drift wood as a weight, and place programs on each guests’ chair before arrival. You get the idea…Or keep the shape and style traditional, and include a personal letter or poem to add some interest to this often overlooked detail.
The Grand Entrance
There are other ways to make your entrance beyond the traditional march with your father. Ride in on a horse…. Or be escorted by both parents, a close uncle, brother, friend-even a pet!
Monogrammed Aisle Runner
You will know this is your ceremony while walking down the isle on a runner personalized with your monogram or logo.
Beyond “Here Comes the Bride”
If walking down the isle to the same song as thousands of brides before you doesn’t sound appealing, let your favorite tune can’t make a memorable substitute!
Gender Bend the Bridal Party
Who says your maid of honor must be a “maid?” If your best pal happens to be a guy, have a “man of honor.” Same goes for the best man; there’s no reason why there can’t be a “best woman.”
Write your own Wedding Vows, Readings, Poems etc.
Nothing puts that special personalized stamp on a ceremony quite like vows and readings prepared by the bride and groom themselves. These spoken words expose your mind and your heart to each other and to your audience. Get started with a guide to writing your wedding vows
Learn more about how a wedding planner can save you money
Cori Russell is editor for Elegala.com and Gala Weddings Magazine. Elegala.com is a comprehensive wedding planning resource with a national directory of wedding venues and services, along with articles, expert advice, checklists and photo galleries to lead brides through every step of the planning process.
For more wedding ceremony ideas visit Stress Away Bridal.
