Invite the Right Guests to Support Your Perfect Wedding Ceremony and Your Perfect Marriage
March 24, 2009 by Wedding Ideas
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Wedding guests have important work to do your wedding and throughout your life together. They are there to witness the promises you’re making to one another. They come to celebrate the love that transforms your life. If you’ve chosen wisely, they will be there to support your marriage forever.
It would be nice if the wedding guest list was started with who do I want to come to my wedding. But too often the wedding guest list is started with who do I have to have at my wedding. I know you and your parents have entertainment responsibilities. But the fact is you need guests who will do the work they’re responsible for when they say that they’d love to attend your wedding! So frame the question(s) differently.
- Who are the people who have stood by me and encouraged me as I was growing up?
- Who has been with me as I slogged my way forward to this point?
- Who are the people who have been active participants in our relationship?
- Who are the people that we can’t envision a life without?
If people really are, as the saying goes, friends for a reason, a season or a lifetime, you want mostly lifetime friends at your wedding. Sprinkle the guest list with the others if you want, but the majority of your wedding guests should be those people who have already shown you that they will keep showing up.
We all have odd and quirky and sometimes difficult friends whom we love dearly. Certainly you’ll want them with you. But mostly, you want the steadfast, fun-loving, you-loving friends to celebrate this important moment and this monumental decision.
Here’s the surprising thing, I don’t care what anyone else says: You really do get to have people who will support you forever at your wedding. They’ll be thrilled by your wedding service, moved by your wedding vows, dance like crazy at your reception and call you after the honeymoon to say how happy they are for you. They’ll show up in hospital rooms and at children’s parties and barbecues in the back yard. They’re your friends. Gather them ’round, and get married!
About the Author Ann Keeler Evans
Bottom Line?: Give your relationship the chance it deserves to succeed wildly, against all odds! After all, you deserve it. Your relationship deserves it! And now I’d like to invite you to sign up to receive 2 free templates for creating the wedding ceremony of your dreams, the wedding vows of your heart and the marriage of a lifetime: http://annkeelerevans.org/weddings/free
Wedding Invitations and Wedding Ceremony Programs-
Share special details of your special day with your wedding guests.
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Wedding Ceremony Savings – 7 Tips For Vows That Wow on a Budget
January 14, 2009 by Wedding Ideas
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Wedding Ceremony Savings – 7 Tips For Vows That Wow on a Budget
By Cori Russell
Sometimes it’s easy to forget that the wedding ceremony is the reason behind the big party. In reality, the ceremony is one of the few true essentials on the wedding planning checklist, so you’ll need to allot space for it in your wedding budget. Thankfully, vows that wow need not be a budget buster if you follow these seven tips to save on your wedding ceremony.
Site Savings
Two in One
Many reception venues also host on-site ceremonies. The ceremony fee may be built into the cost of the reception or tack on a minimal expense. Hosting both events in the same location will also save on transportation expenses.
Honor Your Faith
If you have a strong religious affiliation, your house of worship will likely host your wedding ceremony. This is good news for your budget, since members of the organization can usually rent the space free-of-cost (although a donation is a nice gesture).
Décor Deductions
Something Borrowed
Plan your wedding near a major religious holiday when your place of worship is decked with festive décor. “Borrowing” your ceremony décor means one less detail to plan – and one less item to purchase.
Simplify Your Site
Overdone decorations are unnecessary for a brief ceremony. Keep décor elements simple (and cost-effective), and save the pricey arrangements for the reception – as this is where your guests will spend the majority of time. For example, strategically placed candles set a romantic ambiance and cost considerably less than flowers.
Go Natural
Cut décor costs further by exchanging vows in a naturally beautiful location. A garden wedding hardly needs additional floral arrangements, while an ornate church may be breathtaking on its own
Music Markdowns
Amateur Alternatives
Ceremony musicians can tack on an extra $500-$1000 if you’re not careful. Consider some alternatives and pocket the extra cash for your reception entertainment. If your ceremony site boasts a respectable sound system, round up some classical CDs and someone reliable to cue the music – and voila – instant background music. Or better yet, ask a talented friend or family member to perform during the ceremony (a perfect job for that cousin you couldn’t quite squeeze into your wedding party). You’ll cut costs and give a special person a significant role on your special day.
Multi-Talented Musicians
Hire your reception entertainment to accompany your ceremony as well. Vendor pricing is much easier to negotiate when you purchase multiple services or package deals.
Now that you’re equipped with some cost saving tips, this complete wedding ceremony guide will walk you through the rest of the process of planning a memorable ceremony.
Cori Russell is editor for Elegala.com and Gala Weddings Magazine. Elegala.com is a complete weddings and wedding planning resource with a national directory of wedding venues and services, how-to guides, expert advice, checklists and photo galleries to walk brides and grooms through every step of the planning process.
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.
