Welcome! Here are some wedding planning advices to make your special day perfect. Find unique wedding ideas, wedding etiquette, wedding customs and traditions, bridal gown shopping tips, wedding experts, wedding announcement ideas, recipes, and much more, before you decide to have your wedding party in Bali, the honeymooners dreaming island.
Wedding favors are a must have for many brides. Ideas for wedding favors that are not too expensive can run a bit short at times.
Some people find that items like personalized magnets are a good bargain at $1-$2.50 each. That is a pretty good deal. When you shop for them online, sometimes you can find them for as cheap as 50 cents each. Personally decorated candles are a great idea. You can even carve your candles and then paint the carved area to match your theme.
Here are some more wedding favor ideas:
Bookmarks are cheap to make and easy to print on your own home computer.
Personalized shot glasses with Hersheys kisses in them from Mr. and Mrs. are fun and can run as cheap as $2.15 each for 150 of them
Wrapping white spruce trees are a great and unique idea that will cost approximately 50 cents each.
Personalized mint tins are a great idea and cost about $1.50 per person.
You can get heart shaped wine stoppers in various colors with personal engravings on them for about 75 cents each
The fact of the matter is that no matter what you hoping to use as a wedding favor, the choices that you have are really only as limited as your creativity.
It is really important that when you are looking into your wedding favors that you realize that they are not the same as centerpieces or bridal party gifts.
Wedding favors are generally given to the entire guest list at a wedding; whereas bridal party gifts are only given to those who are attendants in the ceremony.
Really fun wedding favors are those that are created from your favorite treats. For example, Hersheys kissed bouquets or chocolate heart bouquets are great as well. The wedding favors are simply meant to say thanks to your guests.
They do not have to be expensive and can run you as little as 50 cents per person when you shop around. Buying your wedding favors online can help you find the best deals out there.
Author:
For more tips and ideas on planning your wedding, check out The Ultimate Online Guide to Wedding Planning.
September 6th, 2006
Hosting your reception outdoors can be a great deal cheaper and a lot more fun for you and your guests. When you host your reception outdoors you have a lot of options as to how you want things to be.
The only downside to doing this is whether or not the weather conditions will permit it. Because of this your reception and its success is often at the hands of Mother Nature. Other than that, it can be the best decision that you could make.
Outdoor receptions give you an endless supply of ideas and freedom in how your reception will be handled. The best thing is that you can host an outdoor reception at a hall or beautiful grounds, or you can do so in your own back yard.
If your own yard permits it, it would be best to do it here because it is a relaxed atmosphere and you need not worry about many of the small details that come in when using public grounds (i.e. music).
There are many ways that you can make an outdoor reception easy to plan, cheaper to pay for, and a great deal of fun. Of course, there are small formalities that go with it as well.
I have developed a to-do list for you as well to help you to make the most out of your outdoor reception.
Reception to do List
You have to start with a thorough to do list when planning an outdoor reception because this will keep your affairs in order. When creating your list, you have to consider having a contingency plan. The reason for this is to accommodate bad weather conditions that may prohibit your reception from taking place at all. Or having your reception ruined due to a thunderstorm or severe winds.
Here is a sample to do list for you to look at so that you will know all of the things that need to be considered. The list will include what needs to be done, and why it should be handled.
To do list should include:
Renting tent or gazebo and decorating it. Make sure that you confirm your rental date at least two weeks ahead of time or sooner if you can.
Renting tables and chairs. It is cheaper when you set them up yourself
Getting regular updates on the weather. Of course, you should have a contingency plan just in case the weather does not permit an outdoor party.
Getting any miscellaneous items such as extension cords etc.
Hiring a DJ or band and confirming
Deciding on food items and drink and who will prepare what
Getting permits that may be required in serving alcohol
Getting permission from neighbors. You dont want them complaining about the noise and the parking situation (invite them too). Of course this rule applies when you are hosting your outdoor reception in your backyard.
These are some quick tips for your to do list. Of course, you will also want to know how you can possibly save as much money as possible on this event and the tips and ideas are literally endless.
Perhaps the best reason to host an outdoor party is because it will take care of the smoking problem on its own. When you host an outdoor reception, there are so many choices that you can make on what to do and serve your guests. Because of this, I have divided the outdoor reception items separately.
Food for Outdoor Reception
There are many ways that you can choose to serve your reception food when the reception is held outdoors. Here are some of the most popular and money saving ways to serve foods.
Have a casual reception and serve barbecue items such as hamburgers, chicken, ribs etc. Have everyone forego a gift in exchange for bringing their own special dish to the barbecue instead. Just have everyone confirm beforehand so that you do not have everyone bringing the same thing.
Serve your food buffet style having each guest bring a food item instead of a gift.
Serve vegetable, cheese, fruit, and meat trays with dips and other snackables rather than hosting a huge meal. This is a great alternative anyway, for vegetarians as well.
Host your reception with a theme so that you can be more casual with your food, for example, perhaps you can host your reception with an Italian theme and make spaghetti or order pizza etc.
Choose an outdoor theme that is simple and easy and one that you can afford.
Drinks
Serving drinks at the reception can be the most expensive part of the whole event at times. Of course, it doesnt have to be.
Here are some great tips on serving drinks at your reception that will satisfy everyone; particularly the person/persons who are paying for it.
Serve your beer and punch for free and get all to pay a minimal amount like a dollar per mixed drink etc.
Offer an open bar for a small amount of money per guest such as 2 or 3 dollars to help you recover some of your money.
Request that the champagne toast is free and that everyone bring their own drinks to the outdoor reception. For this option you can also let everyone not be obligated to give a gift.
Look to get your spirits in bulk from a wholesaler
Begin to prepare for your reception months ahead of time so that you may purchase all of the drinks over a time period rather than all at once.
Do not forget to include special punches or sodas for non-alcoholic beverages.
Photography
When hosting an outdoor reception, you can save yourself a great deal of money by placing disposable cameras around and letting the guests take their own snapshots for you. This can save you a great deal of money on the wedding photos.
You can also choose to limit the photos that you get with a professional photographer to lower the costs, or you can make a deal with a photographer to give you the negatives at a special discount and you can have them developed yourself at a later date.
Otherwise, your best bet is to simply go with the cheapest option that you can find.
A really fun extra way to capture parts of your wedding is to make a video recording instead of paying for professional pictures. You can simply use your own camcorder or borrow a friends and ask someone to record the ceremony and the reception festivities for you.
With all of the digital cameras and recorders available now, it is easier than ever to make professional looking videos.
Digital photography can be extremely easy to create and just as easy to reproduce later as weddings mementos for the wedding party.
These days, the average home has so much photo-technology attached to PC computers that there isnt really much needed to hire professional photographers because you can give the professional quality to yourself.
Weather protection
When you are looking to rent a gazebo or weather tent for your outdoor reception the choices can vary greatly. Some places have some really good rental deals, but others do not.
Some places rent by the day, some rent by the hour and some only rent by the week. The prices can also go up or down based on the tents size, and whether or not you need it to be installed by them or if you are doing it yourself.
You should know that some companies will insist upon putting the tents and gazebos up themselves and taking them down. If the price is too high for you, just go with another company.
You can also choose to use a do-it-yourself tent that can be created using tarps. Tarps come in many different colors and you can find it in any size at any home improvement store.
When you do it yourself, you will pay for it once, but you can use it for years during barbecues, cook-outs etc. That is another way to get cheaper weather protection for your back yard.
Finally, you can opt to buy any number of those tents that do not use mosquito mesh or have removable mosquito mesh. These usually stand on their own and are easy to set up. The best part about buying them is that you will have one handy whenever you need them. Some of them are all weather and can stay up all year round.
It is a good investment if you entertain in the yard often, or if you just like to sit outside during the nicer weather.
If you choose to rent tables and chairs, you can often get good deals when you go through a church or charity for the rental. They will always be willing to give you a hand.
If you find that renting chairs and tables is too expensive you can just set up a table to hold the food outside and ask everyone to bring a folding chair with them if they can so as to make it easier.
This is a great way to save a lot of money on your reception. Hosting it outdoors is always nice to the guests as well as to the happy couple. When you do it in your own backyard, you know that you are in a comfortable place.
If it is a choice between an outside reception and an indoor reception, the outdoor option is always welcome.
Author:
For more tips and ideas on planning a wedding check out The Ultimate Online Guide to Wedding Planning
September 5th, 2006
Your wedding vows are the words that will forever remain in your partner’s heart and memory. So you want to ensure that you express exactly what you are feeling and how much you love them. Most people have never written wedding vows before and they aren’t quite sure how to communicate what they feel into words. Here are some helpful guidelines to ensure that the feelings in your heart are encompassed in your wedding vows:
1. Sit down with your fiance and put some general expectations in place for your wedding vows - such as how long and how in-depth they should be.
2. Begin brainstorming. Think about your relationship and everything you’ve gone through together. Focus, perhaps, on a specific situation such as the moment when you realized that this was the person you were meant to be with.
3. If you use nicknames or lovable expressions with your fiance (honey or sweetheart) you may want to incorporate these into your wedding vows.
4. If tradition is important to you, review some examples of conventional wedding vows. Most begin with “in the name of God, I (your name) take you (your fiance’s name) to be my lawfully wedded wife/husband.” You may consider reciting your vows in a similar manner.
5. Avoid sad memories or stories about you and your partner fighting. Wedding vows are meant to express the joys of being together. Therefore you should focus on the positive.
6. Once you’ve jotted down your ideas, you’ll want to express them in a smooth and flowing manner. You may want to start with past memories and work your way to the present instead of jumping randomly from topic to topic, as this will give the impression that you took little time to prepare your vows.
7. Incorporate common expressions of love such as “I love you” or “I can’t live with out you”.
8. Once you have completed your vows be sure to read them over 2 or 3 times to ensure that they convey exactly what you want your partner to know. You might want to have a friend, family member or your wedding officiant to read them to ensure that they are appropriate and meaningful.
It’s important to personalize your wedding vows and make them unique to you and your fiance. Wedding vows are meant to convey your feelings of love. They explain why you’re choosing to spend the rest of your life with your partner. Regardless of what you write, your partner loves you and is going to cherish your wedding vows as long as they come from the heart.
Author:
Samantha Taylor spent several years working in the weddings industry as a wedding planner. When she isn’t being a mom of two wonderful children, she works as a freelance writer for http://www.yourwedding101.com.
September 5th, 2006
