Say Thank You to Your Bridesmaids

Everyone knows that a wedding day is the bride’s day. But it takes many people to make this day truly special. It’s the savvy and wise bride who takes the time to say “Thank You” to her bridesmaids and maid of honor for their hard work and efforts. Being a bridesmaid or maid of honor sometimes can be quite a challenge, and only someone who has done this task will understand what it takes.

Brides have been known to ask bridesmaids for help planning their wedding, with the small and big details. Anything from helping them to pick out a wedding dress to hand addressing wedding invitations. Some bridesmaids or maid of honor may feel at times just as overwhelmed as the bride, even though this is not “their day.” But they know they want their friend or family member’s day to be as special and as magical as she hopes it will be.

Say “Thank You” to your hardworking bridesmaids or maid of honor during wedding planning and also after the wedding. Don’t worry if your wedding budget is stretched to the limit: you can still offer a heartfelt, meaningful “Thank You” that they will appreciate. Here are some of our favorite tips to say “Thank You” to these wonderful women who’ve helped with your wedding day.

Hold a Thank You lunch or dinner for their bridesmaids and maid of honor. You can hold this before the wedding or even after the wedding, when you are back from your honeymoon. But if you hold the Thank You lunch after your wedding, it’s important to say “Thank You” before your wedding day to each of your bridesmaids and maid of honor. Make the lunch special and all about your bridesmaids and maid of honor. Don’t talk about the wedding; this is a day to celebrate your gal pals. A lovely gift for your bridesmaids and maid of honor on this day is a framed picture of all of you; it can be a casual or formal picture.

Thank You letter. There’s something special about a letter, in this day and age they have become even more rare. People often send emails or a quick cell phone call. A wonderful way to say “Thank You” to your bridesmaids and maid of honor is to write a Thank You letter to each of them. Don’t worry about being a great writer, just speak from the heart. Tell them how special they are to you and how helpful they have been in making your wedding a wonderful day. Don’t worry about how long or how short your letter is, this is not a homework assignment! Focus on saying “Thank You” and sending a personalized letter to each of them.

Get Personal with a thoughtful gift. You can find many personalized gifts for bridesmaids when you visit wedding favor stores, online or brick and mortar stores. There are hundreds, if not dozens of choices for you. Whether you choose a tote bag, sterling silver picture frame, beach towel, jewelry or other lovely gift – we’ll let you in on the biggest secret of them all. The very best personalized gift for bridesmaids and your maid of honor that you can give to say “Thank You” is not necessarily the exact same one to each of them, or one that focuses on the theme of your wedding. The best gift is one that you think that specific bridesmaid or maid of honor will enjoy the most. If you know that bridesmaid loves the beach, then choose the beach towel. If another bridesmaid takes dozens of photos with her digital camera, choose the sterling silver photo frame. You see? The right gift for the right bridesmaid or maid of honor, personalize it by thinking of them personally, individually.

Thank You! to all the wonderful, helpful bridesmaids and maid of honors who’ve made the bride’s day so special!

15 Things I Learned from Being a Bridesmaid

Being a bridesmaid is a great honor but for grown-ups, being the bridesmaid, or worse, the maid of honor for one of your best friends can be an experience that you may not want to repeat too often or ever again!

Here are 15 things I learned as a bridesmaid veteran of five weddings:

1. Remember it’s not your day!  The bride is the center of attention and it is her big day so be prepared to cater for her every whim.  After all, as bridesmaid you only have to deal with Little Miss’ tantrums and spats for a few rehearsals and the day of the wedding, after that the poor guy she’s marrying has to deal with her for life;
2. While you may not be the center of attention as far as the wedding is concerned, you can be assured of being the center of attention for lots of guys!  I should know because I met my husband when I was a bridesmaid for the 4^th time but be careful if you are thinking this will be a great way to find a catch because:
3. Never, and I mean NEVER! Let a guy open the door and escort you if he calls you “Sugar”, “Babe” or worse, “Sugarbabe!”;
4. Do not let a bride convince you to wear grapevine as headgear.  Yes you can still find it, on a remote hillside in South Carolina on property owned by a gun toting hillbilly aged 72 and related to Jed Clampett as both his brother and second uncle;
5. Wearing woven grapevine leaves marks, both physical and emotional, which last for up to 6 months, if you have the choice, wear a crown of thorns instead;
6. Glue guns are a great invention for people who want to stick things and are not worried about whether they will explode or not – just remember that glue guns do overheat and will overheat because they are going to get a lot of use and as bridesmaid, you have to pitch in;
7. Brides want everyone to wear matching ear rings so be prepared to get your ears pierced if you haven’t already done so;
8. If you are asked to write a speech, do not retell the time when your “Best Friend”, who is getting married, was violently ill after drinking too much and ended the evening clinging to the toilet, swearing the world was ending and she couldn’t let it go because there was an earthquake (we lived in Ohio at the time);
9. If you are serious about catching the bouquet when the bride throws it, make sure you are wearing an outfit which will hold you in, as falling out of the top of your dress while stretching for the flowers can be very revealing resulting in more guys calling you “Sugar”, “Babe” etc;
10. Do NOT get drunk at the reception!;
11. The old saying, “Always a bridesmaid and never a bride!” is simply not true, I’m happily married to my husband whom I met when serving as a bridesmaid at wedding number 4;
12. Do everything you can to convince the bride that bridesmaid can get out of their dresses and into practical dress as soon as possible for the evening.  If she won’t budge on this, make sure the bridesmaids dresses are comfortable and practical if you have to spend the day in them;
13. The same applies to shoes!
14. Buying gifts for the bride and groom should really be about getting them things they will enjoy – people buy the most boring and unoriginal gifts which cost a fortune but the ones that make an impression are the ones where a lot of thought has gone into them;
15. Being a bridesmaid for five friends I am not interested in repeating the experience unless by new baby girl really wants me to do it for her !

Your Mother in Law and Planning Your Wedding

We’re about to let you in on what truly smart brides know about their mother in law’s and planning their wedding. Just about every bride knows it is “their” day. They also know that typically the mother in law doesn’t play a big part in the wedding planning. But it is the smart bride who understands that the mother in law typically plays a big part in the family life, and connecting with your mother in law during wedding planning is a great way to develop your future relationship with her.

“Does this mean my mother in law will take over my wedding plans?” Hopefully not! What we’re suggesting is that you invite her to some of the fun wedding planning activities where she can enjoy the experience, without expecting her to make any big decisions. Invite her to one of your wedding dress fittings, so she can see your wedding dress. Invite her to the wedding cake tasting, where you try different types of wedding cake to select your wedding cake.

The best way to do this is to know a bit about your mother in law’s personality and tastes. If your mother in law loves fashion, then talking about your wedding dress and the bridesmaids’ dresses is the ideal topic to connect with her. If she loves food, then bringing her to sample wedding food or wedding cake is perfect. Match the fun activity to her personality and her tastes, and you’ll have a real winner.

You do, however, truly want to avoid a sticky situation. If your mother in law loves to gossip, you don’t want to show her your wedding dress. You don’t want to have her let your fiancé know what your wedding dress looks like before you walk down the aisle. If she has a weight problem, you won’t want to invite her to a wedding cake tasting. If she has expensive tastes and is a bit of a snob at times, you probably are going to want to keep her away from your vendors because you won’t want her to make expensive choices on your flowers, food, wine and other things you’ve already decided on. If she’s very opinionated and “has” to be right, then try to select an activity where the choice has already been made, like bringing her to a wedding dress fitting. So the wedding dress has already been picked out and she can just enjoy seeing the wedding dress. Be the adult and be proactive about managing your mother in law. But do involve her in the process in some way that will be fun for her, because it will help to develop your relationship with her.

You’ll find that most mother in law’s stay rather quiet about their opinions about the wedding. Some think this tradition comes from the bride’s family paying for the wedding, so if the mother in law does not have any financial power, she probably does not feel confident making a decision. But inviting her to see what you’ve picked out, to enjoy something fun and enjoy the excitement of your upcoming wedding is something she certainly won’t want to miss out on. She’ll be thrilled by your joy and probably very touched that you thought to share this moment with her.

Your relationship with your mother in law will very likely last a lifetime, if not the lifetime of the marriage. It makes practical sense to start out on the right foot and develop a good, loving relationship with her. You can probably think of 1 or 2 fun wedding related activities you can invite her to that she would enjoy….why not do it!

Image: http://www.dailyweddingplanningtip.com/

Easy Ways to be An Organized Bride-to-Be

Planning a wedding can sometimes be overwhelming. That’s in its best moments. A wedding is often stressful and challenging – especially with all of those tiny details a bride has to manage. Today’s bride is busier than ever, with family obligations, a full time job, school and community obligations. How can she keep it all together? Let us suggest some of our favorite tried and true easy bride’s organization tips for you!

1. Create a bridal binder to gather all vital information. Purchase a large binder at a stationary store and keep every detail regarding the wedding in this binder. Add sections related to the wedding such as “reception,” “formal wear,” “honeymoon,” “flowers,” and so on. Each section will help you stay more organized and able to reach information quickly. The trick is to not have dozens of sections – but simply enough to keep the information well organized so you don’t have everything stacked together. Tip: if it takes you longer than five minutes to find something, you need to redo your sections to make them work for you.
2. Put an envelope in your purse or briefcase to keep all wedding related receipts. It’s an old habit and some of us are “savers” and others are “tossers” by nature. If you are a receipt saver then you’ll find this a bit easier than the tossers will. Fortunately this is an easier habit to develop than some. You just need to make it simple and convenient for yourself. Make sure the envelope is large and sturdy and always well within reach. Don’t let receipts wind up all over the place – every receipt related to the wedding during daily life goes into the envelope and at the end of the day you transfer it to your bridal binder. It’s actually that easy!
3. Keep your cell phone (with photo ability) or digital camera on hand for wedding errands at all times. Brides today do a lot of comparison shopping. There’s also the challenge that you need to confer with the groom and each other’s families about some of the things you’ll want to do. So if you want to show your future mother in law how beautiful the flowers will be, be sure to snap a photo of them while you are at the florist’s. No one should mind your taking a few photos while you are running errands and this can also help you make up your mind about which vendor to choose as you do your comparisons of them later on.
4. Delegate wedding related chores wisely. It can be tempting to drop any chore on literally anyone offering to help. But DON’T! This sometimes can cause you double work in the end as you have to redo something they have done. A wedding is a very personal and intimate event. Even your mother or mother-in-law truly might not understand your exact tastes. Having them select something could also cause a frustrating misunderstanding when you go to reselect something on your own – as they will then be offended with your new choice. Delegate only what you can accept with someone else making a choice or where you have done some of the original legwork for them. For example don’t ask your mother-in-law to choose your invitations. You could ask her to get information from three different companies about a particular style of invitation and how quickly they could be printed and delivered. Notice YOU are making all of the important decisions there. Your mother-in-law is not selecting the invitation in any way. Keep all wedding related chores smooth and simple for everyone concerned.

Every moment of your wedding is special. Good organization helps you enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime event all the more!

Pearls: The Ideal Wedding Gemstone

Many brides put on their mother’s or grandmother’s pearl necklace for their wedding, thinking this is a sweet sentiment. But the meaning behind pearl necklaces is just as thoughtful and special to a bride-to-be. We’d like to share it with you now – so you understand exactly why women for centuries have chosen pearls as their wedding jewelry of choice giving them as much importance as their engagement rings.

Most of you surely have noticed the pearl, lustrous, white and smooth. They have been considered precious by men and women for centuries – some might even say as valuable as diamonds. Pearls represent innocence and purity, ideal for a bride to wear for her wedding day. The most popular color for pearls is white. Pearls have a beautiful, shining luster to compliment a bride’s love light in her eyes and her traditional white wedding dress. The radiant glow of the pearl easily reflects back the bride’s natural beauty. These natural gems are an ideal choice for brides of all ages and personal tastes and styles. What if the bride isn’t wearing white? Not to worry….pearls are available in a variety of colors now from deep purple, soft pink, gold and even black. The very fussiest of brides can be soothed and pleased with a feminine, pretty pearl necklace to suit her wedding day dress.

Pearls are also available in many different styles of jewelry, from necklaces, earrings, bracelets and rings. Go for a truly luxuriant look with a three-strand choker on your wedding day. Or tiny seed pearls in seven or eight strands for a feminine look. Or a classic single strand pearl necklace in white or ivory. These pearl jewelry styles easily compliment many wedding dress looks.

To obtain pearls, one needs to find them from oyster shells. Some have said that pearls were created from raindrops falling from the heavens. Very romantic thoughts indeed! But we have to admit there is certainly something romantic about the very act of finding pearls. You have to search to find just the “right” oyster and not every oyster will have that pearl. Just like finding your lovely bride – pearls are selective and special. The perfect way to show the woman you love that you’ve found someone you truly want to keep forever.

The pearl is a romantic gem and often is given as a token of love. For many years the pearl was considered to be the most valuable of gemstones. To give or receive pearls showed the value of a relationship. One’s bride is valuable and precious indeed.

So as you put on your pearl necklace like your grandmother and her grandmother before her, remember the romantic pearl’s history. This sweet sentimental gem is honored to be with you on your wedding day!

Source: http://crystal-cure.com/pearl.html

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What’s Your Bridal Astrology Style?

Every bride dreams about her wedding. Some have dreamed about their weddings since they were little girls playing with dolls. Every bride has their own distinct style – a bridal astrology style. Your astrology sign can tell you a lot about the type of wedding you’d like to have – not just what type of day the newspaper astrology column says you’re going to have. Whether you think astrology is to be believed, totally ridiculous or you’re kind of curious – we’re sure you’ll find this pretty interesting.

The Aries Bride

The Ram bride is one of the most confident brides you’ll see. Some brides get nervous or worry about flower arrangements – not your Aries bride! The Aries bride may prefer a traditional or unique setting for her wedding but one thing is for certain – it is HER day. Some might say…in the nicest possible way…that the Aries bride can be the teensiest bit er, controlling? But we’d prefer to say that she is well organized and really knows how to create the perfect wedding.

The Taurus Bride

The Bull bride loves to set the scene and atmosphere. The sign of Taurus is known for loving and collecting all types of objects and this adoration only continues with their wedding plans. Even the cocktail napkins need to be a luxurious texture and have the perfect monogram to be included in the wedding reception. A Taurus bride’s wedding is a sight to see. While a Taurus bride may delegate, don’t EVER take credit for planning or helping – this wedding was entirely the bride’s doing. The Taurus bride has a touch of possessiveness, and HER wedding was planned by her alone.

The Gemini Bride

The Twins bride is one of the most fun brides we’ve seen. Many like to call Geminis social butterflies and this is a very accurate portrayal. They have many friends and love to entertain. The biggest challenge the Gemini bride faces is being twins – of two minds – when she is planning the wedding she may have difficulty making decisions or focusing. A wedding planner or good friend who can help is so important. Everyone has a great time at a Gemini bride’s wedding – this is the wedding where everyone dances until dawn

The Cancer Bride

Nurturing, kind and caring, the Crab bride is known for her soft side. Family and friends always come #1. So planning a wedding is quite special for the Cancer bride, who will put care into every detail – not for herself but for her guests’ enjoyment. Do remember that every crab has claws – and compliment the lovely Cancer bride on her hard work. So often the Cancer bride works hard and does not get recognition, causing her to pout. No one should pout on their wedding day!

The Leo Bride

We’ll say it right from the start: the Leo bride loves to be the center of attention. But you probably know this, as Leos naturally shine as the center of attention. The Lion bride is proud and regal so you can expect a royal celebration and a feast, even if it is a small wedding. Every detail will be elegant and lovely, carefully thought out. Don’t forget to get a video of the wedding, especially for the Leo bride who will enjoy watching her special day again and again.

The Virgo Bride

The sign of Virgo is known for being meticulous and hardworking. So the Virgo bride’s wedding will be a well oiled machine. Virgo brides can confidently manage a dozen bridesmaids and other attendants where other astrological signs would go to pieces. This is the astrological sign that can put together a wedding in three months, making it look as if it had been planned for years. The Virgo bride has no doubt been a popular bridesmaid and has experience attending weddings – experience that has done her well as a bride today.

The Libra Bride

The Libra bride is lovely, graceful and thoughtful. Everyone is charmed by a Libra bride. There is so much attention today about brides throwing temper tantrums – you’ll never see that type of behavior with a Libra bride. The biggest challenge the Libra bride faces? As the sign of the scales, the Libra often weighs every decision carefully, making it hard to make even the smallest decisions. This is another sign that would do well with a wedding planner or good friend to help plan the wedding so details don’t overwhelm the lovely Libra bride.

The Scorpio Bride

There is no bride more passionate than the Scorpio bride. Expect to attend a very romantic wedding when you go to a Scorpio’s wedding. This is a wedding that will focus on love and romance – especially the intensity of love. Some Scorpio brides show this intensity with lavish displays. Whether a lavish display of affection or large flower displays on an enormous wedding cake – you’ll smile and know it’s a Scorpio’s wedding.

The Sagittarius Bride

The fun and good humored Sagittarius is just so happy about getting married. This is a happy bride. She’s happy through all of the wedding planning – even when it gets sticky, difficult or a bit boring. The Sagittarius bride is likely to choose the destination wedding as many Sags adore travel and nothing’s more fun than taking everyone with you to some exotic location for your wedding.

The Capricorn Bride

Some think Capricorn brides are cold and calculating but they just don’t understand them. The Capricorn bride is simply very logical. Most expect brides to always be this endless puddle of romantic goo – and you aren’t going to get that from the Capricorn bride. If she whips out the calculator to decide which bridal bouquet is “best,” don’t cringe – she’s just showing her practical and savvy ways. Yes, the Capricorn bride often does care a bit about money, they’re good at making and keeping it. Many Capricorn brides have lavish weddings – but they won’t throw money around with no sense to the matter.

The Aquarius Bride

The Water Bearer bride is often unique and original. It’s the Aquarius bride you’ll see doing something that people haven’t done for a wedding before or in awhile. The Aquarius bride tends to set trends without realizing it. Some Aquarius brides may choose very traditional themes but you’ll still see sparks of the unique and original there.

The Pisces Bride

The Pisces bride is sweet and dreamy, as all Pisces fish are. This is one of the most romantic signs of the Zodiac. Pisces brides are sensitive and sometimes moody. Did we say moody? Oh don’t get upset dear, we didn’t mean it. The Pisces bride may have some challenges managing every detail. A wedding planner or good friend can be very helpful. It’s not surprising that many Pisces prefer to get married near or on the water.

Should You Buy a Designer Wedding Dress?

 Is Buying a Designer Wedding Dress the Right Decision?

When you were a little girl dreaming of your wedding, you probably imagined yourself in a beautiful wedding gown. I would bet that a budget wasn’t part of that dream. Unless you have unlimited funds, you will find yourself balancing a budget and your dreams as you plan your wedding. Have you considered buying designer wedding dresses?

Long White Designer Wedding Dress

Experts suggest that you should spend about 6% of your wedding budget on the dress. With the average cost of a wedding around $25,000, the recommended advice is to spend about $1,500 on your wedding dress. Wedding budgets, however, are difficult to stick to. After all, your wedding dress is the most significant piece of clothing that you will ever purchase. Should you go for the designer wedding dress, or go for a discount wedding dress?

You Must Shop For a Designer Dress

Even if you have no intention of purchasing a designer dress, go shop for one anyway. You’ll be treated to champagne, as boutique associates attempt to find the perfect dress for you. It’s a fun experience and a once in a lifetime opportunity – hopefully.

Designer Wedding Gown

My Dress is Out of My Budget

If you do visit the boutique and fall in love with a designer wedding gown you may be facing a dilemma.  Do you ignore the budget for a dress that you will wear once in your life, or choose an alternative? There may be a way for you to get the dress without breaking the bank. You may decide that it’s worth cutting back on the flowers or the food to increase your budget. Perhaps the store will work with you to offer you a discount.

If the store won’t work with you and you have tried on the dress you want, go online to find the dress. Ebay can be a good source of new designer dresses. There are bridal ebay stores, and you can also find brides selling their wedding gowns on eBay. Try craigslist as well for local brides selling their wedding dresses. You can also look for a wedding store that rents out dresses and get the dress of your dreams that way. Lastly, you can ask a seamstress to create an exact duplicate of the designer wedding dress that you want and do so at a much lower cost.

Designer Wedding Dress - Mermaid Style

Buying a designer dress is ultimately up to you. No one else can make the decision if it’s worth it or not. Purchases for your wedding are never logical. When else will you spend $25,000 on one night? If the dress makes you feel absolutely beautiful you may decide to go for it. Shop around, try to get a discount, visit online stores and do your best to stay around your budget. If your budget really doesn’t allow you to get the dress you do want, find a cheaper alternative that looks just as great. While you won’t have bragging rights of saying you’re wearing Vera, your guests won’t know the difference. Most important is that you feel beautiful in the dress.

The Busy Brides Bible for Planning a Fabulous Wedding Without the Expensive Cost of a Wedding Planner

All brides want that perfect, well-planned wedding, like we see on all the wedding shows with professional wedding planners choreographing every moment of their special day…but let’s be real. In these hard economic times, more and more brides can’t afford the expensive cost of a wedding planner. This sole book will act as their personalized inexpensive wedding planner, saving Busy Brides hundreds to thousands of dollars. This book is an essential must have for all Busy Brides planning their own wedding. “The Busy Brides Bible for planning a fabulous wedding, without the expensive cost of a wedding planner” will help Busy Brides just like a wedding planner, from selecting their wedding rings to planning every detail of the most fabulous

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How to Plan a Culturally Themed Wedding

Planning your own wedding can be stressful, especially if you want your wedding ceremony and reception to be an experience your guests will never forget.

Because even the most unique weddings can seem redundant after awhile, one of the best ways to add a little spice to your ceremony and/or reception is to incorporate your cultural heritage into the design of the wedding.

Whether your heritage is Chinese, Indian, Greek, Irish, African-American or even American, there are numerous ways you could incorporate your own culture into the style of your wedding. Here are some things to keep in mind if you’re hoping to plan a cultural wedding:

The wedding music

Finding a specific band and/or songs to play at your wedding is one of the easiest ways to incorporate your cultural heritage into your wedding.  If you are of Irish descent, for instance, you could find a Celtic group to perform at your reception, or if you are African-American you could look into some R&B performers or even traditional African drummers to perform on your special day.

If you’re lucky enough to find the right performer, you could hire them o perform a song in the language of your culture, or even dress up in a traditional outfit and dance out a routine as well.

Sometimes it’s as easy as a Google search in finding the right band to perform at your wedding, but if are struggling to find the right band and/or musician online you could always do some research into the various musicians and bands that are known for performing a certain genre or style of music, and then download their music off iTunes.

Bridesmaids dresses

Incorporating your cultural heritage into the design of your bridesmaids dresses can be a little tricky, especially if you are on a strict budget. Not only that, some cultures (like the American Indian culture for example) believe that white is a color of mourning, so be sure to do the proper research beforehand before picking the colors for your bridesmaid dresses.

Sometimes it can be as easy and choosing a specific color for your dresses that will match the flag of your country, (for instance blue and red if you are English, or red if you are Chinese). You could also try shopping around for different designs, like a plaid design if you are of Scottish descent, or even traditional Geisha dresses if you are of Japanese descent.

Food and alcohol

When it comes to incorporating your cultural heritage into the food that will be eaten at your wedding, the world is your oyster…literally.

All you have to do is do some background research into the most common and favourable dishes that are typically eaten in a specific country, and you could also look into alcohol and/or beverages as well.

If you are of Asian descent you could serve some Saki or even rice wine at your reception, or if you are of French descent you could have some classy red and white wine to leave out for your guests.

Flowers

When choosing the flower arrangements for your wedding or even the bouquet for the bride, try to research the various traditional flowers and plants that are prominent in your country of heritage.

If you are planning a traditional Indian wedding, try to pick flowers like the water or gloriosa lily, orchids, and musk rose. For traditional French weddings look for lilies or yellow and purple irises.

Superstitions and customs

If you truly want to pull off a cultural wedding, it is extremely important to look into the various superstitions and customs for each heritage and culture.

For instance, if you are planning a Russian wedding it is custom for the male guests to bring flowers, but not to give yellow flowers as they are considered to be bad luck. For a traditional Swedish wedding, the bride must wear three bands on her wedding finger, and for Spanish weddings the bride must carry twelve coins given to her by the groom in a small bag as a symbol of the groom’s passion and support.

For a traditional Korean wedding, apparently it is superstition to incorporate ducks and geese into the ceremony as they represent faithfulness, and in a traditional Greek wedding the bride must carry sugar on her wedding day to “ensure she has a sweet life.” Also, in Eastern European ceremonies, it is custom for the bride and groom to circle the altar three times to represent their “first steps together as husband and wife.”

Bio: Maria Rainier is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at First in Education where she’s written on online graphic arts programs along with a piece on English degree programs. In her spare time, she enjoys yoga, playing piano, and working with origami.

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Make Writing Your Wedding Thank You Notes Easy as 1-2-3!

Every bride is touched by wedding or bridal shower gifts. Sometimes it can feel overwhelming to see just how many family members, friends and loved ones care enough to give you something special. And then a bride realizes that she must send thank you notes to each person. For some brides this can be 75 to up to 400 thank you notes! This is a lot of thank you notes to write for any single person to do.

But thank you notes should be written and they are an important bridal task to be accomplished. Bridal etiquette says that you actually have a full year to write your thank you notes – but we’d like to think you get them in the mail a bit earlier than that! What brides need is a bit of a system for writing their thank you notes. Try some of our tips to writing your thank you notes and you’ll be writing them as easy as 1-2-3!

Set aside certain times to write thank you notes. Schedule an hour or half hour each week to write your thank you notes. Having a certain time to do this is very useful. Knowing you will do it during this time takes a lot of stress off of you and you’ll know you will get a lot done. Many brides admit they multi-task and write thank you notes while watching television or getting other things done. You could write them on your lunch hour at work if this was convenient for you.

Consider setting a goal to write a certain number of thank you notes each day or time period. This is especially ideal if you are pushing yourself to write these thank you notes and get this task done. Knowing that you need to write at least 10 thank you notes will help you work hard to write them. You’ll get at least 10 completed, if not more.

Take notes as you unwrap gifts of who gives you what. This is an important bridal tip many brides have used for years. To remember their great aunt gave them candlesticks or their old college roommate gave them an espresso maker. Using these notes can help you write personalized thank you notes.

The best thank you note is thoughtful and to the point. A thank you note doesn’t have to be long, it simply needs to be thoughtful. Thank the person or couple for their gift and say how much you’ll enjoy it. If they came to the wedding thank them for coming and that you enjoyed seeing them there and hope they had a good time.

Get your stamps and thank you note supplies all together in one place. A savvy bride knows to stay organized with her thank you note writing she’ll need to keep her thank you note supplies all in one place. Get plenty of stamps, a good pen and lots of thank you notes. You don’t need to be ready to write thank you notes and not have what you need available to you. Keep it all in a box or bag, right on hand.

Have a list or file of thank you notes to write. Cross of the names as you go. This will keep you from writing two thank you notes to the same person. It’s an easy mistake to make, but any bride wants to avoid this.

See! These thank you notes for brides can be as easy as 1-2-3! Happy writing!

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• What Brides (and Event/Wedding Planners) can Learn from Extreme Cage Fighting (mylittleflowershop.wordpress.com)

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