Archive for the 'Wedding Trends' Category

Destination Weddings!

Published December 21, 2008 Wedding Planning , Wedding Trends 0 Comments
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One of the trends in wedding planning these days is the destination wedding. It’s a whole lot easier now than it used to be! Readers want to know - what are the pros and cons of doing a destination wedding?

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photo from http://destinationweddingblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/wedding-beach-sunset.jpg

I should note that there may or may not be cost savings.  That wasn’t helpful, right? Well, cost is always dependent on the choices you make. So you could pick a location where the florist is cheaper, but the food is more expensive. Or getting to the location might cost more than what you would save in food and florist.  That said, in this economy (ie a recession), the United States is probably the cheapest place to get married now.

Why have a destination wedding?

  • You want a smaller wedding, with just family & close friends
  • You want an exotic location, so as to partially combine the wedding & honeymoon
  • Could be easier to plan if you let a travel advisor/professional take care of the whole thing

Why avoid a destination wedding?

  • Some of your close friends and family may not be able to be there
  • Red tape with planning from abroad
  • Legal issues with getting married abroad
  • You don’t get to escape your guests on your honeymoon! (which obviously depends on how long everyone sticks around)

Obviously this is a difficult comparison and a very personal decision. If you DO decide to have a destination wedding, here are a few resources:  Ultimate Destination Weddings is one resource written by a couple who gives advice based on their own experiences of planning a destination wedding; Destination Weddings & Honeymoons Magazine gives great ideas on locations; DestinationWeddingBlog also discusses issues and topics related to destination weddings.

~ Natasha

Wedding Favors

Published December 18, 2008 Tips , Wedding Advice , Wedding Planning , Wedding Trends 0 Comments
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One of the best wedding favors I have ever seen is a little card that was placed at each seat which read (something like): “In lieu of a wedding favor, a donation has been made to the American Cancer Society.” It was a wonderful favor, partly because a close relative of one of of the people in the wedding party had recently passed away from cancer and because it financial sense for the couple to do so.

//www.diabetes.org/img/donate_steps/wedding/440x480tent-card.jpg

Sample Card from the ADA, located https://www.diabetes.org/img/donate_steps/wedding/440x480tent-card.jpg

If you decide to do a donation in lieu of a favor, make sure that you do not donate to something that would be offensive to the guests — ie a political organization. Also, be sure not to donate in the guest’s name. You might think that you came up with a neutral organization, but some people may not want their name associated with that kind of contribution.  

If you would rather give a favor that the guests can take home, there are plenty of great ideas out there. Here’s a brief list:

Want more ideas? MyWeddingFavorsBlog.Com offers links to a variety of different kinds of favors (including how much they are and where to buy them).

Happy Favoring!

~ Natasha

Centerpieces!

Published December 16, 2008 Tips , Tips and Tricks , Wedding Advice , Wedding Planning , Wedding Trends 1 Comment
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What should you do for your centerpiece? Most people do an arrangement of flowers, but you don’t have to! There are plenty of other options out there.

First, if you choose to do a favor for your guests, you can put that as the centerpiece.  I have seen bottles of wine (wrapped in a box) and fancy tea in a box stacked up cleverly to form the center piece. It’s practical and it allows you to use the center of the table (because people can take their favor and put it with their other belongings).

Use an arrangement with candles or use floating candles. It sets a mood and gives you lighting - as well as looking nice.  Here are some photos for DIY candle centerpieces.

Or how about fish in a vase or pretty bowl. The picture makes it look much more classy than I can even begin to describe. 

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/571027/nonfloral_wedding_centerpieces.html?image=210105&cat=23

Photo from Sara Gray: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/571027/nonfloral_wedding_centerpieces.html?image=210105&cat=23

Be creative with the theme, location, or color scheme! If you are getting married in New York, perhaps you can incorporate a basket of apples (get it? Big Apple?)

You can also create a “bowl of wishes.” Associated Content describes it best — pick a nice bowl, cut strips of paper, and ask your guests to write their wishes for you and put them in the bowl. It’s very creative and gets your guests involved! 

Another idea is to get a vase and fill it with little rocks or stones or something pretty like that. It is probably less expensive than flowers but can look just as classy.

Do you have other ideas?

~ Natasha

Tuxedos - Renting or Buying or Using Your Own

Published December 12, 2008 Wedding Advice , Wedding Planning , Wedding Trends 2 Comments
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//www.thebridesofoklahoma.com/suited-up

Photo from http://www.thebridesofoklahoma.com/suited-up

As a bridesmaid, I wasn’t worried about what the groomsmen did.  But I’ve discovered that there are decisions involved.  And here they are!

  • Pick a tux that you want all groomsmen to have and ask them to rent that particular one.  Or, The Wedding Bee talks about a website that allows you to BUY tuxedos at a price of 3 for the price of 1 — meaning that it might be more economical to buy the same tux.
  • If your groomsmen already own tuxes, have them wear their own.  If they don’t, you can just let them handle finding one that suits them. (No pun intended) Obviously if you do this, the tuxedos wont match the bridesmaids dresses.
  • Alternatively, you can have the groomsmen that own tuxes wear theirs, but ask them to wear a certain tie or bowtie or vest or cumerbund. And if you’re the groom, you don’t have to match!
  • If you are picking something trendy (And it turns out that there is a new trend in tuxedos at weddings - chocolate brown!) then it makes the most sense to have everyone rent.

All this comes down to how much you want everyone to match — the groomsmen matching each other and matching the bridesmaids — or not!

What are you going to do with your tuxes?

~ Natasha

SAVE THE DATE!

Published December 7, 2008 Wedding Advice , Wedding Planning , Wedding Trends 1 Comment
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So you’re getting married and you want your friends and family to come, right?  Well, they have to know 1) that they’re invited and 2) when it is! This is where a save-the-date (STD) comes in. 

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Photo from http://weddingo.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/beach_sd_large_thumb.jpg

When do you send them? As soon as possible! I have a friend who didn’t send out an STD until a couple months before the wedding - which made it really difficult for her friends and family to plan to be there.

Here are a few ideas for STDs - because it really doesn’t matter HOW it comes, so long as it comes!

Do you have creative ideas for STDs? Let us know!

~ Natasha

Creative Guestbook Ideas

Published December 3, 2008 Wedding Advice , Wedding Planning , Wedding Trends 1 Comment
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photo from http://gifts-for-men.extra-gifts.co.uk/

You want your guests to sign the guestbook, but you want it to be something… creative.  Here are some suggestions!

Use something practical as a guestbook.  For example, you could use an apron or a bottle of wine with a white label. Two friends told me about their plan to use the bottle of wine guestbook idea. You can open a bottle for each anniversary or specific anniversaries. It’s something you’ll be sure to look at again, rather than just putting it in a drawer.

Use a blown up photo of the couple and have people sign on the photo. Or create a book of photos of the couple for people to sign.

Have people sign something that was IN the photo - such as a detachable portion of the wedding dress.

You could get a photobook of your honeymoon location and have your guests sign that.

Use a polaroid guestbook - as I mentioned in the previous post!

Finally, if you want to avoid a list of “Best Wishes” and want some creative thoughts, put a list of questions near the guestbook so that people can answer how they met the bride & groom.  You could also put the questions in the guestbook directly and leave room for people to respond.

Have fun with it!

~ Natasha

Photobooth at the Wedding Reception

Published November 23, 2008 How-To , Tips and Tricks , Wedding Advice , Wedding Trends 1 Comment
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photoboothA photobooth is a trendy idea that many people are starting to include at weddings. They’re fun and you get some funny shots of your friends. You can put a guestbook nearby and have your guests paste them in and sign it.

If you hire a photobooth, you can usually get additional digital copies after the wedding is over, so don’t worry about your gusts stealing their photos! Although if you have a sign letting them know that they can get copies later, maybe they won’t even try to take them with them. (Ahem, J.) In fact, one friend who used a photobooth uploaded her photobooth photos to TheWeddingLens.com as an efficient way to share the photos with her guests. From there, her guests could download or print their own copies of those photos.

There are several alternatives that will have the same effect. For example, you could create a polaroid version in which guests take pictures and sign a guestbook! It’s instant and you get fun photos - not much different than the photobooth.  If you put the polaroid in one place and have props around, it will allow for more spunky photos.

If you want to create a photobooth yourself, the WeddingBee has advice on a “do-it-yourself” photobooth. Basically you need a camera, photo printer, a some props. Here’s another explanation with photos of how to create a simple photobooth using those three items.

Alternatively, you could have the photo area, props and the camera - but put up a sign that informs guests that you will print the photos later and send them to the guests.

Happy photos!

~ Natasha

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrilliant - The Scoop on the Ice Sculpture!

Published November 18, 2008 Wedding Planning , Wedding Trends 2 Comments
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So instead of chocolate, you like ice - or at least how it looks. There are some amazing designs out there for ice sculptures. Everything from a centerpiece, to a bar, to … well, pretty much anything you can think of.  The idea, in case you are having a hard time picturing it, is to take a huge block of ice and carve a sculpture from it.  Like the ice swan the comes up in movies.

ice-sculpture

There are some great websites out there with local vendors who do ice sculpting. Favorideas.com has a list of things to think about and ways to find the perfect sculptor. Indeed, there is a National Ice Carving Association that is probably a great place to start.  They have links so you can find a sculptor near you!

Usually sculptors have specialties, though if you have something in mind, many times they are open to listening to your ideas. 

However, if you DO want that typical ice swan that you see in the movies, there is a DIY ice swan mold.

Just remember that the thing about ice is that it melts! Take photos early and often. 

~ Natasha

Would You Like Chocolate With That?

Published November 17, 2008 Wedding Advice , Wedding Planning , Wedding Trends 1 Comment
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chocolate-fountain-strawberry

I love chocolate. I’m not sure how I feel about a chocolate fountain, exactly, but I know a few people who have discussed having one. In fact, By The Way Blog thinks that a chocolate fountain will make your wedding a success!

If you are one of them, there are a few things to consider! Setting up, cleaning up, skewers - just to name the boring considerations. But you also have to pick the kind of chocolate, the things you want to dunk in said chocolate, and where you want to put it!

Mrs. Bee at The Wedding Bee was overwhelmed by the choices because they all look so amazing. (And they do - especially in her photos). One of her great pieces of advice is to share vendors. A great tip for such a delicious idea.

Just make sure that if it’s for your wedding, you get to taste it!

~ Natasha

Wedding Cake Toppers

Published November 12, 2008 Wedding Advice , Wedding Planning , Wedding Trends 1 Comment
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So let’s say you get a cake (not cupcakes) and you want a clever cake topper. There are a ton of different ideas out there, ranging from do-it-yourself to avatars. And everything in between! Here are a few ideas and suggestions:

There are do-it-yourself guides everywhere, but the one on Design Sponge gives a simple way to create a wedding topper out of styrofoam that fits your style.

Magicmud.com offers a variety of custom-made cake toppers  such as baseball hats of your favorite teams, the couple on a motorcycle, and a cake topper for wine lovers. They have lots of different scenes that might spark some ideas for you.

Paul Pape Designs, which a friend of mine used for her cake toppers, also makes custom cake toppers that look like you! They call it a Mii Cake Topper & it really looks like an avatar for your cake.  They offer three different levels of “custom” depending on what you can afford. This is a photo of my friend’s cake topper from there:  

photo taken by John & his crew at livingphotography.com

photo taken by John & his crew at livingphotography.com

Of course, I’m sure that there are other inexpensive cake toppers that are available easily and nearby. Ask around!

~ Natasha

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