Wedding Times

Photo by aus_chick

An early wedding planning task and a popular choice for doing things yourself, DIY invites may seem overwhelming at first but in truth, they can be easy and can save you lots of money.

Draft what you would like your invitations to look like. This not only includes the wording but the type of paper to use, any embellishments, and font type. Create a list of everything that you need to make your invitations and do some comparison shopping at office supply and craft stores before finally buying.

Play around on your computer. Use a program such as Photoshop or free alternatives like GIMP and Paint.net. Now it’s time to include anything that will be printed on your wedding invitations. Try different layering, different text sizes, and different fonts to discover which one you like the best. Choose a font that is elegant but can be easily read. Make your text large enough so that those with impaired sight (perhaps a few of your elderly guests) can read it.

The easiest way to print your invitations is by feeding the sheets through your printer one at a time. It takes longer but avoids paper jams and errors. Card stock is generally thicker than regular paper, it is a little bit trickier to print with and taking the few extra minutes will save you a lot of headache in the long run.

After printing, start collating. If you have hundreds of them, have an invitation party and ask friends and family to help you put them together.

For RSVPs you can include a reply card with every invitation. Design them in the same theme that your invitation is just make it smaller and use different text. Then address it with the recipient’s address as well as your own and put a stamp on it. RSVP cards aren’t a necessity. Save yourself time and money by including RSVP details, such as your phone number and email at the bottom of each invite instead.

Here are some ideas to get you started. Build and adapt on these concepts:

• Use a photograph of the two of you for the cover of the invitation.

• Use rhinestones, satin ribbon, or lace as embellishments on your invitation.

• Use natural elements for a theme wedding such as pressed leaves for an autumn wedding.

• Seal the invitations with wax and a stamp for an extra personal touch.

• Use vellum to write your text and then overlap it onto the background for a very elegant look.

• Use glitter or sparkles to decorate the invitation.

4 simple dos and don’ts for creating chic DIY wedding invitations your guests will love.

• Don’t create the entire thing from an invitation kit. Although these may seem to make it easier, it’s just as much work and they take the personal touch out of the entire thing.

• Do buy in bulk. Whatever supplies you will need, buy them all at once from the same store if you can. Often stores will provide discounts when you are making a very large purchase. If one isn’t offered, demand ask for one.

• Don’t buy precut sheets of paper. You may change your mind when you get home or the sizes may not work with the invitation you want. Cut the invitations when they are done to the size you want.

• Do lots of tests. Even if there’s one detail out of place that you’re not happy with, tweak the design until its right; otherwise, you’ll be looking back on the invitations, wishing you had changed them.

The rehearsal dinner is a big night for the couple and for everyone else involved in the wedding. Generally it’s held the night before the couple gets married and so, it’s bound to be an emotional evening as well! It’s a great time to be close to the people that you love and take a step back from the wedding planning and enjoy the work that’s been done. After all, the planning will mostly be done at this point so there’s no better time to just enjoy each other’s company! But as with any wedding event, there are certain etiquette rules to keep in mind.

Who Pays?

Traditionally it is the groom’s parents that pay for the rehearsal dinner however many couples are starting to choose to pay for this themselves as a token of thanks for all of their parent’s hard work and support. If this is something that you are considering, you must ask the groom’s parents before making any decisions regarding the rehearsal dinner. They may really want to pay for the dinner and if that’s the case, you should let them. They only want to help in the celebration too and you can certainly find another nice way to thank them.

Who and When

The rehearsal dinner is generally one of the smaller parties related to wedding planning. Generally the only people invited are the bride and groom’s parents, the wedding party, the officiate, and any other close friends or family that the bride and groom feel should be there.

The rehearsal dinner is usually held the night before the actual wedding and after the rehearsal ceremony. Doing it this way makes it easier to get everyone together, especially if people in the wedding party are coming from out of town, because they will already be there for the wedding. If you hold the rehearsal dinner immediately after the rehearsal ceremony, it’s a nice idea to have a cocktail hour first. This will give your guests a chance to relax and mingle before going straight to more festivities. Some couples choose to have a reception afterwards, especially if their rehearsal dinner is quite large, but make sure it won’t run too late. Everyone has a big day the next day!

Toasting and Thank you’s

The bride and groom should take time after dinner to make separate toasts to their parents. During the toast they should thank them for all of their love, support, and help, as well as anything else that they want to say. The couple should also toast the wedding party in a separate toast. The wedding party has many responsibilities during the course of planning the wedding and the wedding itself so it’s important to make special mention of it.

The rehearsal dinner is when the bride and groom will bring gifts for their parents as well as the wedding party to the rehearsal dinner. This is again a nice way to thank them for helping make the big day happen! It also allows them to wear things such as cufflinks and earrings to the wedding, should the gifts be wedding jewelry, which is also quite common.

We’ve all been to weddings where everyone has gushed the entire evening over the best man’s speech and how it was funny and witty yet touching and sentimental all at the same time. But giving speeches is not so easy for everybody and the chances are good that you’ll be quite nervous while you’re standing up in front of everyone with the pressure on so it’s important to remember a few tips to make sure that you’re cool and calm and that everyone spends the evening raving about your speech (well, and the bride of course!)

Do it Ahead of Time

You don’t want to be in the limo or at the back of the church trying to scrawl out some thoughts for your speech. The best speeches are those that seem like they’re natural, off-the-cuff, and from the heart. The trick to delivering this kind of speech is that they take a long time to prepare. As soon as you’re asked to be the best man, start jotting down some thoughts for your speech and then add to them throughout the wedding planning process. Maybe the mother-of-the-bride told you a funny story from her childhood and the groom has a similar one. You can talk about how they were destined to be together before they even met.

Anecdotes

Telling stories of the bride and groom is always a sure way to get a laugh and to break the ice. It can make the guests feel closer to the couple and can give the couple some good times to think back on during their special day. Just remember to keep them funny and light-hearted, this is not the time for inappropriate jokes. Any jokes that will offend or embarrass anybody, even slightly, are off limits. This means no references to any of the bride’s or groom’s ex’s and no criticizing of the venue or food.

Your Well Wishes

Talking about what a positive difference the bride has made in the groom’s life can make her feel both flattered and included in what is traditionally a ‘boy’s story.’ Although you’ll spend a lot of your speech talking about your friendship with the groom, you also need to talk about the groom’s relationship with his new wife and how happy you are that they have found each other. You may want to make a joke such as, ‘Anyone who can put up with this guy for life has my whole respect,’ but make sure that it still comes from the heart and is a touching part of the speech.

The Toast

Tradition states that the best man at this point is to toast the bridesmaids. Many however are starting to mention the bridesmaids and how lovely they look just before they make their toast to the bride and groom. If you’d like to combine the two, you can state that you’d first like to make a toast to the bridesmaids. Say something such as, “Now, I can’t finish my speech without directing your attention towards some of the most beautiful ladies in the room…” and then toast them. You can then say, “And finally, a toast to the bride and groom…” and finish off with this toast.

There’s no way around it – weddings cost a lot of money and even a small affair can cost a small fortune. Throughout the entire wedding planning process, you’ll no doubt forever be looking for ways to cut costs and your wedding favors is one area where you can definitely get away with skimming some costs. If you’re a do-it-yourselfer you can take a go at making favors that are fun and look like a million bucks but if you’re not so crafty, you’ll still find tons of wedding reception favors that won’t break the bank!

Fortune Cookies

While you can custom-order these to be specially designed with a wedding message inside, these costs can quickly rise up. But you can make your own by buying fortune cookies in bulk, which is extremely cheap, and typing up small thank you messages. Insert your typed message and insert it into the cookie. Your guests will get a fortune and a personal wedding message from you. Plus, you’ll be saving a fortune too!

Sand and Seashells

Perfect for the summer or beach wedding, sand and seashells are always fun and romantic wedding favors. Just about any wedding favor retailer will have plenty of these types of favors in stock so look online to get some ideas of what you like but don’t buy the favors there. Instead, go to the local beach and spend a fun day with your fiancé collecting sand and seashells to make the favors. Buy small tin pails to put the sand and seashells in or wrap seashells in tulle that’s tied with a satin ribbon. Don’t forget to soak the shells in an antibacterial soap overnight and check to make sure that you won’t be breaking any bylaws by taking the sand and shells off the beach.

Mini Liqueurs

Find a liqueur retailer that will sell you tiny bottles of liqueur at a discount price. Tailor the liqueur to your wedding so if you’re having a summer wedding, choose something light while going with something hearty for a winter wedding. Customize labels yourself on your home computer with your photo, name, and date of your wedding and attach a small label that says, “A Toast to….” and fill in your guest’s name.

CDs

It’s becoming very popular to put your favorite love songs on a CD and hand them out to your guests as personal wedding favors. Put your own spin on this idea by compiling a group of photos of you and your fiancé, from the time you were young as individuals all the way through to planning the wedding together. Place them all on a CD so your friends can see how the two of you have grown to be together or better yet, put them into a slideshow with your wedding song playing in the background. This will be a very special wedding favor for your guests!

Message in a Bottle

Another great idea for a summer or beach wedding! Purchase tiny glass bottles in bulk, which will be very cheap and print off wedding and thank you messages from your computer. Roll up the messages like scrolls and slip them into the bottle. (If you have some sand and seashells, you can put them in here too!) Wrap coil wire or chain around the bottle to give it a truly authentic feel and don’t forget to cork them!

Your bridesmaids, up until this point, have planned your bridal shower, stuffed invitation envelopes, helped take things to and from the different venues, and have gathered your RSVP list – not to mention acting as a middle man between you and everyone who has a question about the wedding! Your bridesmaids are playing such a big part of your wedding day because these are your closest friends and they have been happy to do all of this for you! But now it’s time to thank them in return for not only all of their hard work but also for all of their love and support and well, for just being your girls! Here are some great ideas to get you started.

Jewelry

Jewelry is by far the most traditional and most popular gift to give bridesmaids. Jewelry is not only great because just about everyone loves it but also because you can pick it out and make sure that everyone’s jewelry matches. You can choose anything from full jewelry sets to small bracelets or earrings. If you can personalize the gift by engraving it with the bridesmaids’ initials or your favorite quote or verse.

Flip Flops or Tennis Shoes

You may not think these are very elegant but they are gifts your bridesmaids will be eternally thankful for! Give them a pair of tennis shoes in the same color as their dress or use a silk ribbon in your wedding color and wrap it around the thongs of flips flops. When the ceremony’s over and it’s time to kick up their heels on the dance floor, your bridesmaids will be thrilled that their tootsies will be comfy!

Personalized Bags

If you know that all the women in your wedding party wear makeup, you can get them a personalized makeup bag with their name embroidered on the front. If you don’t know if they all wear makeup regularly, you can put together a small tote bag filled with products that they can pamper themselves with – foot soak, pumice stone, nail file, facial masks, and all different kinds of lotions and potions – everyone loves a good pampering!

Photo Albums or Picture Frames

Picture frames always make great gifts as everyone always seems to have a use for them but make these extra special by buying beautiful frames and placing in each one a picture of all of you at some point throughout the wedding planning process. Maybe there’s a particularly funny moment from your bachelorette party or a nice candid of you around the cake at your bridal shower – this will put a very personal touch on this kind of gift!

Photo albums are always nice and tell your bridesmaids that you will be delivering sets of photos to fill them with when you get them back. Remember not to give out the professional photos that you paid big money for but rather the candids that were taken. Buy a simple photo album and decorate it yourself with silk, ribbon, lace, and anything else that’s pretty!

When children are going to play a major role in the life that a couple will have together once they are married, it’s very common to see the children play some part in the ceremony whether they do a reading or act as the flower-girl or ring-bearer. But an even nicer way to show the children that they are a very important and special part of the ceremony is to include them in your vows. This shows that you understand you are not only making a promise to their mom or dad but to them as well. When it comes to including children in your vows, there are a few different ways you can go about it.

Simply make a Promise

Some couples make vows to the children just as they make vows to each other, by simply promising them your love and commitment and a wonderful life together. This is certainly a fine way to do it just make sure that you put the promises into your own words and that they are words that a child could understand. Simply tell them how much you love them and their mom/dad and how much you want to be a part of their family. If you share children with your new bride or groom, simply tell them that you love each other and your family so much that you want to make it official that all of you will be together forever.

Exchange Actual Vows

This can be a very cute take on the traditional ceremony and is usually done when one person in the couple is becoming a step-parent to a child through the marriage. Therefore, a stepdad might make a promise to his new stepdaughter or a stepmom to her new stepson. These obviously will not be traditional vows but should be something that is personal and unique to both of you. If the daughter has complained before about you leaving the lights on around the house, promise that you’ll try to stop doing that. During these vows, even though they may be slightly off-the-cuff and playful, it’s important to still make them understand that you love them and are excited about being a family and living your life together.

Exchange Rings

This certainly isn’t a requirement but it can be nice to symbolize the exchanging of vows (or making of vows) to children with a ring, especially if the child is a girl. For a boy you can still choose a ring but if you think he would be uncomfortable with that, choose nice cuff links or a nice watch to symbolize the day and the commitment you’ve made to them.

Don’t Set Ground Rules

This is not the time to demean any child by making sure they know their place and that there are rules to be followed. Avoid statements such as, ‘You will respect her at all times,’ but instead say things such as, ‘We promise to always provide a loving and respectful home.’ This is a time to make a child feel included and loved, not to make them feel as though there’s a new sheriff in town.

From the invitations to the honeymoon, planning a wedding is stressful business. There are many choices to make, people to think of, finding ways to accommodate everybody, and doing it all on that ever-present wedding budget. It’s no wonder that brides often turn into bridezillas. While you plan your wedding, it is important to remain calm and take a moment or two to enjoy this time in your life. Here are some tips to keep your head and stay composed as the big day approaches.

There are many people in your life that only want to help you. Call on your friends to run errands, plan pre-wedding parties, and offer opinions and advice. When asking for favors, don’t continue to call on the same person. Brides are often most tempted to ask their maid-of-honor and while she is going to be your biggest help, rely on her too often and she may start to feel resentful. As her friend, you don’t want this. Any unhappy emotions will only place extra stress on you.

If ever you can’t handle wedding planning anymore, take some time out for yourself. Go out with friends, relax and enjoy yourself! While it will probably be impossible to banish all thoughts of the wedding from your mind, make a rule not to talk about it. This will help take your mind off it and if you’re sick of wedding talk, chances are your friends are too!

Besides relaxing with friends, make sure that you take some time out for yourself. During your wedding planning, you will find that people always surround you. Whether its vendors, family, friends, or your fiancé; there will always be someone interrupting your alone time. While you love these people and are happy they are involved in your wedding, every bride-to-be needs some time to herself.

Make sure that you and your fiancé also get some quality alone time. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate but plan a date when it’s just the two of you. Again, banish all talk of the wedding. Talk about your marriage and future together. That will be a great stress reliever when you take into account what all the hard work is for. Just being with your soon-to-be husband is sure to put a smile on your face and drive the stress out of you!

Eat foods that are high in nutritional value and low in empty carbs and calories. Too often when we are stressed, we turn to comfort foods such as chocolate or greasy burgers from the local drive-thru. Brides in the midst of wedding planning have very little time and so, the fast, unhealthy choices are generally more attractive. While they may make us feel better for a short while, the long-term effects of comfort foods are detrimental. They do very little for our bodies, often leaving us with a lack of energy and a feeling of tiredness. Wedding planning takes a lot of energy. The last thing you want is to be exhausted.

Along with eating right, take time to exercise. Exercising gives you increased energy and a body in good shape will operate better. Even taking a walk every day for half an hour will give you that boost you need to tackle your wedding head on.

Photo by Muffet

Before you even start planning your wedding, you probably have a good idea at just how expensive they can be. There are so many things to think about and so many things to pay for. Meanwhile, the budget is only so big. Brides are often looking for ways to cut costs without having to compromise class and elegance. Flowers can take up a big part of your budget but are also an area where you can save a lot of money giving you more cash to spend on other aspects of your wedding or to save to begin your new life.

The first thing you need to do when planning your wedding flowers is to speak to a florist. Give them your budget and ask them what is in season. Seasonal flowers won’t have to be shipped too far, making those particular arrangements cheaper.

Give your florist something to work with. Choose one or two flowers that you love and absolutely need to have as part of your wedding. Tell them one or two flowers that you can’t stand and that in no way can be a part of your big day. Once you have stated your preferences, let them take the reins. They will have the best ideas as to how you can get inexpensive flowers and you need to have some flexibility to allow them to do that.

Of course it’s easy to say to find the cheapest flowers that you can but a lot of brides don’t want to do this because they think it will take away from the elegance of the event. However, there are some flowers that are extremely cheap, such as carnations that can be done quite nicely. By snipping off the greenery from the carnations, for example, you can then place them in a square, shallow dish on the tables for centerpieces and they will look spectacular!

Choosing a venue that won’t need a lot of decorating is another way to really save on flowers. One way to do this is to hold the ceremony and/or the reception in an outdoors park or garden that will allow Mother Nature to take care of the decorating for you.

You can also plan your wedding during a certain holiday season such as Christmas or Easter. This is especially useful when you are planning to get married in a church as these venues are often already decorated with poinsettias or Easter Lilies. You can also ask at the venue to see if there will be any other weddings there that day. If there are, you can ask to get in touch with the other bride and see if she is interested in splitting the costs of the floral decorations. Many brides are willing to do this as it saves everyone money.

Although planning your wedding during the holiday season will generally save you money in decorating, there are some holidays that you may want to avoid because the price of flowers greatly increases during these times. Valentine’s Day is the most obvious holiday to avoid as retailers and florists take advantage of the abundant need for flowers. But it’s important to consider other holidays as well. The price of flowers also shoots up during Mother’s Day. Although this is not a particularly romantic holiday, it’s still a holiday where many flowers are bought and given so the price will be more expensive then as well.

It’s also important to remember that potted plants cost less than cut flowers. To save some extra cash, you may want to have potted plants on the reception tables as centerpieces and you can also ask about decorating with large potted plants. You can use these in your new home after the wedding or hand them out as favors.

Consider where your flowers will be and who will see them. You may want to spend a little more on centerpieces that will be sitting on a table all evening where people will be very close to them, but choose to spend less on altar decorations. The general rule is that large arrangements are seen from far away. For this reason, your guests won’t even notice what flowers you are using in those decorations, nor will they be looking at them for long periods of time. Consider flowers such as carnations or snowball mums that are much more inexpensive than other flowers.

It’s becoming increasingly popular for brides to create their own floral decorations. They do this by simply buying the flowers and taking them home to make them themselves. For the bride’s and bridesmaids’ bouquets, they may choose three or four simple flowers and just tie them with a beautiful ribbon.

A great idea for centerpieces is to find flowers that are very cheap and place the petals on a white or clear plate. In the midst of the petals, place any kind of candle that you love and you will have a beautiful and elegant centerpiece!

Your wedding photographer will have free reign over capturing the feelings, action and beauty of your day. Because they play such an important role, it’s important that you choose the right person for the job, someone that will best suit your needs and provide picture perfect shots. Here are five things to look for in your photographer.

1. Negatives or Digital Files

Even if it seems like an unnecessary luxury at your original meeting with the photographer, keep in mind that, years down the road, you may want to make more prints of your own. Whether there are pictures in the film that you didn’t receive with your package, or your pictures have faded and you want reprints, it’s always nice to have the option of getting more prints of your wedding day. When speaking with your photographer, make sure that you can have the film negatives or the digital files so the memories that have been captured will be yours forever.

2. Experience

As the photographer plays such a major role on the day of the wedding, it’s important that they have experience. A photographer that has been in this situation many times before will be able to organize everybody, put them at ease, and make things flow more smoothly. Being a wedding photographer can be a stressful. A photographer with experience behind them will never let you see them sweat and will pull things off calmly.

3. Professional Attitude

This includes returning your calls promptly, treating with you respect at all times, and not making offensive comments towards other photographers or other couples. The way they speak of others is probably the same way they will speak about you so make sure that they are respectful. If not, immediately scratch them off your list and find a photographer who would love to be a part of your big day.

4. The Ability to Listen

You need to make sure that you and your photographer know that this is your wedding and your opinion matters. Make sure you have an idea of what you are looking for and bring these ideas with you when speaking to photographers. Ask at your venue if they have photos from past weddings and browse them to see if there is anything that you would want for your own wedding. A photographer needs to have a clear understanding of your vision so the final product is as you had pictured. To do that, they need to listen.

5. Style and Approach

Over their professional career, every photographer develops their own way of doing things. They know what works for them and what doesn’t. Their individual approach will help get the best photos of your wedding. While you need your photographer to listen to your thoughts and ideas, you also need an understanding of their way of working to see if it will coincide with yours.

Photo by .Bala

Music can make or break your wedding reception. If you have chosen to go with a DJ, it’s an excellent choice. A good DJ can play a variety of different kinds of music and they are often quite cheaper than hiring a live band. A bad DJ can be a fiasco. Find the right DJ for you in a few simple steps.

Think about weddings you have been to where the DJ did a really great job. Ask the person whose wedding it was what DJ they chose and make sure they are the first person you call. Nothing can speak more to the quality of service the DJ will provide than seeing it yourself. If you don’t know the person that got married, or can’t think of any receptions that stand out, ask around to family and friends if they have used DJs before and compile a list of names.

Once you have called around different DJs and narrowed your list down to a few, determine how much experience each DJ has. Technology has advanced so much its easy for anyone to call themselves a DJ. Downloading music online and having some speakers does not mean you’re a DJ. Good DJs will have experience in getting a crowd to its feet, will know when it is a good time for requests, and settle the crowd down when it’s time for toasts. Ask your DJ what big events they have worked at, specifically how many weddings. A wedding is a totally different breed of event than others and you want to make sure that they will be familiar with the surroundings. When you are talking to them about their experience, ask if you can speak to past clients. They should be able to find a way for you to get in touch with them. It will give you a chance to hear first-hand what other people thought of their service.

The type of equipment a DJ uses will speak volumes about their experience so make sure you ask what they will be using. Also ask what they are prepared for in case a piece of their equipment, such as a speaker, breaks during the reception. A DJ worth his or her salt will have backup gear ready just in case.

A good DJ will also be able to read a crowd and know what they want. To do this, they must be familiar with every genre of music. Because a lot of wedding crowds are mixed, with some guests wanting to spend the night really enjoying the music and some preferring to sit at the table and listen to some of their favorite songs, a DJ should be able to blend all of this together nicely.

When speaking to the DJ about music they’ll play, include some songs that you would like to hear. The first dance song is going to be a must as will the father daughter and mother son dance tunes. Don’t give them a list of every single song that you want to hear. The DJ is the expert on this one and the party will flow more smoothly if you give them some control and allow them to work their magic. However, do give them a list of songs that you absolutely don’t want to hear. Make sure that your DJ will play the censored versions of any and all songs. Although you might be okay with expletives, some guests may not be and your goal is definitely not to offend.

Choose a DJ based on their style and how interactive you want them to be with you and your guests. Although you want someone that can be heard over a crowd when it comes time to gather the guests together, you don’t want someone super cheesy. This is entirely a matter of personal preference and you will have to ask the DJ specifically how they handle the crowd. Remember, not too much, not too little. Make sure that you like them and enjoy dealing with them. Are they easy to talk to and get along with? If they make you feel comfortable then chances are good that they will put your guests at ease as well.

Once you have chosen a DJ and you are sure they are the right person for the job, make sure that you get a contract signed by both parties. Include in the contract the date and time of the event, the name of the DJ that will be working your reception and how much many they are going to be paid, including all costs. The total on the contract should be the total that you end up paying. Most DJs will ask for a twenty-five to fifty percent down payment, payable two weeks in advance, which is standard in the industry.