Tips for Choosing a Wedding Dress

If you grew up like I did with a romantic vision of what my wedding should be like, then no matter how many questions there are to ask yourself, you’re sure of one thing, it needs to be perfect. Nowadays not everyone appears as concerned about finding the perfect dress, but for most of us – deep inside – it really does matter.

As soon as you begin planning or the big day, choosing your wedding dress becomes an urgent need for most brides. Nobody wants to wait. While dealing with wedding stress and preparations, be sure to allow yourself plenty of time to try on different styles and find the one who says “you”. Read more

Finding Right Wedding Photographer

You have spent a lot of time and money planning your special day. You have taken great pride in the kind of wedding you are going to have. One thing you will want is your special day recorded for all time.

Pictures of your wedding and reception are something you will treasure for the rest of your life. You want someone taking those pictures who know what they are doing, and how to get the memorable shots.

Professional vs a Friend?

Most brides and grooms face this decision. They have a friend who loves to take pictures as a hobby and offers to take their wedding pictures as a gift. Saving money is something everyone wants to do, but there are some places you shouldn’t scrimp on. Your wedding photographs are one of those things. Unless your friend has a job as a photographer, hiring a professional is the best choice. Professionals will have the best equipment and have the knowledge to get the right shots. Read more

Cheap Wedding Favors?

Jars of Honey as Wedding Favors

Smart couple that you are, you’re holding to a budget for your wedding. Starting off in your married life with debt from the wedding hanging over your heads isn’t a picnic. As you know, everything is pretty expensive these days. Just take a look at the price of a gallon of gas, a loaf of bread, or gallon of milk. We all need to be frugal in our day to day lives and planning a wedding is no exception.

If you and your fiancé are paying for your wedding yourself, you really know how expensive things can get. It seems everyone from the reception hall, the caterer, florist, and music providers are telling you they need money. Watching pennies when planning the wedding will really pay off in the future. Read more

Unique Bridal Shower Themes

Whatever your bridal shower theme, you will need bridal shower games; find a book of games – Click Here!

A recent trend in the practice of bridal showers are themes. Themes are a fun, creative way to spice up a traditional event. Bridal showers are most than just a day for bride to help her prepare for the big day, they are also a time to enjoy the company of family and friends. It is important that the bride use the shower as a way to express her personal style and tastes. that’s where bridal shower themes come in. Here are some wonderful theme ideas:

1. Wine Tasting Party

This bridal shower theme is a great idea for wine lovers! It is also a way to include all of your guests in the event. If you have your wine tasting shower at a winery, the staff can choose which wines should be tasted. If you would rather have your party at someones house, you can pick the wines yourself or have guests bring their favorite wines to try.

2. Pajama Bridal Shower

Having an all-girls shower? Why not throw the party in the evening and have all guests come in their pajamas! Instead of traditional games, let your guests relax with facials, manicures and pedicures. These wonderful, relaxing activities will help alleviate the stress that the bride is feeling during this time.

3. Hawaiian Themed Party

Say Aloha to the bride with this fun bridal shower theme! Hawaiian themed parties are great for any bride who loves to go to the beach. Decorate your shower with tiki torches and bright colors and give each guest her own lei as she walks in. You could also hire a professional to teach guests how to hula dance!

4. Pink Bridal Shower

For the more feminine brides, “shower” the entire party with the color pink! Use pink decorations including flowers, tablecloths or dishes. Give guests a pink-colored candle as a favor. Also, no pink bridal shower would be the same without a pink cake!

5. Room of the House Bridal Shower

Another great bridal shower theme is a Room of House shower. Each guest is assigned a particular room of the house, such as kitchen, bathroom or bedroom, and they must buy a present that would be used in that room. For decorations, you could separate the party area into different “rooms” and have the bride move from “room to room”; while she opens her presents!

6. Naughty and Nice Bridal Shower

Have you ever wanted to bring a really naughty gift for the bride-to-be but were too embarrassed about her opening it in front of everybody else? Well, here is your chance. Everyone needs to bring a naughty gift, as well as a nice gift to be opened on the day. The naughty gifts however are put in a black satin pillowcase with a red ribbon and left for the bride to open with her husband on their honeymoon night while they have some more fun.

7. Quiz the Bride Bridal Shower

Put the bride-to-be in the hot seat and see how much she really knows her husband-to-be. In order to use this game you will have needed to ask the groom some questions before the day and got his answers either written down or on video tape. You then ask the bride these same questions and see whether she answers correctly. Find out how good their communication skills really are, or whether they have been too consumed with other things.

8. Honeymoon Panties Bridal Shower

Buy packs of plain white panties so that each guest has a pair to decorate for the honeymoon. The bride-to-be then tried these different panties on over her clothes and decides who is the winner and can take them all home to show to her husband on their wedding night.

Whatever your bridal shower theme, you will need bridal shower games; find a book of games – Click Here!

Written partially by Tamara Ford.  you may be interested in reading another article she wrote about Party Themes and Ideas.

Bridal Shower Themes

One of the jobs of a bridesmaid is to help throw a bridal shower for the bride. Depending on your personality, this can either be a very fun task, or a very daunting one. If you are not accustomed to entertaining, you may not know where to begin.

A great way to give a party a distinctive style is to pick a theme. The theme is some idea or design element that you choose to help bring the whole event together. It is fine to be eclectic, but you do not want to host a bridal shower that seems to have no direction or unified look. The theme will give you ideas about the invitations, decorations, food, music, games, and maybe even the gift.

There are some themes that are very traditional for bridal showers. One popular idea is a kitchen based shower. It dates back to the time when it was expected that every wife would be a homemaker. In considering this type of old-fashioned theme today, it is important to know the bride well. If she is a real “foodie”, then no doubt some gifts from the gourmet cooking shop would thrill her. However, if the bride is very career-oriented and has no interest in cooking, she might be insulted by a kitchen themes bridal shower.

These days it is more common to pick the theme based on the bride’s interests or her personal style. For instance, I once co-hosted a bridal shower for a very dear friend who loved cherries (she even had a tattoo of a cherry on her shoulder). We chose invitations with a cherry pattern on them, had dishes of chocolate covered cherries, and for the favors, I handmade soap with a cherry design. Of course, not everything at the shower was based on cherries; we served many of her favorite foods, and chose flowers in her favorite color combination, purple and orange. Remember to use your theme as a starting point, but not to take it over the top.

You can also use the bride’s wedding as an idea for the bridal shower. For example, if she is having a destination wedding, then why not throw a beach themed shower? It would be a great warm-up to the main event. You could send invitations with seashells or starfish on them, fill hurricane lanterns with shells and white candles for decorations, and ask all of the guests to bring a beach themed gift. The bridesmaids might even chip in together on a special present, such as a piece of handmade jewelry for the bride to wear at her wedding. For a destination wedding, a casual piece of wedding jewelry handmade with organic pearl wedding jewelry would be a great idea.

Another source of ideas for a bridal shower could be the bride’s background. Let’s say that the bride is a Southern belle who has relocated to New York City. She would be touched to have a shower that featured her favorite Southern things. You could serve regional foods and decorate with magnolias floating in water.

The most important thing to remember when choosing a theme for a bridal shower is that it should look like the bride. This is not the occasion to inject the taste of the hosts. Ask yourself, “would the bride love this?”, and if the answer is yes, you will know that you have found the perfect theme.

Look to Bridget for advice on planning your wedding. Check out how we can help with your bridesmaids jewelry at SilverlandJewelry.com. Handmade wedding jewelry is a beautiful and thoughtful gift.

Hiring a Wedding Planner (Coordinator)

photo credit: www.sweetchicevents.com

Don’t underestimate the usefulness of hiring a qualified and experienced wedding planner or wedding coordinator.

Each and every year around 2.5 million weddings take place nationwide. This means that the number of weddings that will take place in your immediate area is astounding. Your wedding plans are going to be affected by number of factors, because many more weddings will happen at or around the same time as yours.

Saving Money on Your Wedding Dress

If you are on a tight budget the cost of a special order wedding dress can be a little bit hard to swallow. But what can you do? Yes, you will only wear the dress once, but it is your wedding – quite possibly the most important day of your life. You want a wedding dress that looks fabulous.

Registering is Good

I know I was nervous about putting together a list of gifts for people to buy. It can be awkward to think about but the truth is most people love being told what gift to buy. It makes it so much easier. If they don’t want to buy something from the register then they don’t have to. It is best to register or else you may end up with 4 sets of candle holders. True Story.

In addition to saving the wedding guests time and possibly money, you won’t have to use your free time returning gifts you don’t need (or want) or gifts that you got two of (or four). No bad gifts and no returns, sound like a nice gift for yourself. And after the honeymoon is over, you’ll appreciate the extra time you will have saved.

Related articles

• 5 Cool Bridal Wedding Registries Couples Will Love (verybestsites.com)
• Oh the Joy…of Registering (weddingbee.com)

Announcing Your Engagement to Friends & Family

Be prepared to personally, yes personally, contact all family members and close friends. A good way to approach this is to think to yourself, “Who would be offended to hear about my engagement from someone else.” It is better to be safe than sorry.

Of course this doesn’t mean you can’t enlist your parents (on both sides) to help you. Some aunts, uncles and 2nd cousins once removed probably don’t mind if they get a call from your parents. One thing to remember is to make sure whoever your parents contact on your behalf are going to be on your guest list. Be firm and don’t let you parents bully you into inviting people you have never met.

Dive and conquer. Let you fiance contact his family and friends and you contact yours. Although both of you should tell your parents together. Moms like that sort of thing.

Be prepared to answer all those questions such as “Where did he propose?”, “When is the wedding?” and most importantly, “How big is the diamond?”

“Unveiling Weddings” Book Launches

“Unveiling Weddings” Book Launches as the Something Blue for Today’s Bride Co-Authors mix narrative stories and solid psychotherapy tools to create a fun-loving read that brings peace of mind for brides-to-be

San Francisco, CA – The old adage, “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue” just got a modern gift idea for the bride-to-be before her wedding day with “Unveiling Weddings,” a smart read written by two psychotherapists who bring a collection of stories and advice for brides to make the most out of their engagement. The book gives readers emotional support to find clarity, balance and joy leading up to their big wedding day and it’s the perfect girlfriends’ guide to support the bride from “Yes” to “I Do!” With a cauliflower blue book cover and illustration of a bride riding a bicycle with her feet up in the air, the book instantly references the balancing act brides face during their engagement that can turn any self-assured woman into an anxious “bridezilla.” On November 29, 2010 “Unveiling Weddings” will be available for purchase at www.amazon.com or on www.unveilingweddings.com for $14.95 in a 173-page paperback edition.

Co-authors Rebecca Sacerdoti, Ph.D., and Tasha Jackson Fitzgerald, M.A., who make their living helping individuals navigate their major life transitions, were struck by the intensity of issues a bride-to-be faces when planning her wedding. From cultural and social expectations to relationship fears and amplified family dynamics, an engagement brings an immense opportunity for a bride-to-be to get a better understanding of herself and her relationship with her future husband. Through a variety of narratives and comforting psychological guidance, “Unveiling Weddings” brings a chance for brides-to-be to feel nourished throughout the marriage planning process. With chapter titles such as “I Am Engaged, But I Feel a Bit Zany,” and “Relationships: Managing the 3 F’s Without Letting the ‘F’ Word Sneak In” the book will bring smiles, serenity and happy tears for the bride-to-be who reads about the myths and legends passed down from one generation to the next. This shared knowledge can help a woman experience her engagement as a time of empowerment and as an opportunity to improve her relationships.

“I was able to smile at things that happened on my wedding day, like when my mother-in-law took it upon herself to surprise us all with a song to her son to the tune of Celine Dion,” said former bride Michelle Walsh. If I hadn’t read the book “Unveiling Weddings,” I might not have had the insight to put my ‘quickie calmer’ into action and remember that everything will work out – now the story brings laughs to my husband and me.”

According to the Bridal Association of America, there were more than two million weddings held in 2009 with an average engagement lasting 17 months. Today’s bride is more aware about constructive psychotherapy tools that can be instrumental in helping to ease the challenges leading up to the big day, yet schedules and budgets may not allow for one-on-one scheduled visits to a therapist. For those brides, “Unveiling Weddings” is a welcomed “something blue” that will bring peace of mind leading up to and on her wedding day. In addition, the book may also be referenced as a tool as part of an ongoing therapist practice with brides-to-be nationwide.

“We wanted to write a book that would support women through this important rite of passage by providing them with stories and psychological insight, so they could get the most of their engagement,” said Rebecca Sacerdoti, who has a doctorate in psychology. “As co-authors, Tasha and I worked tirelessly to capture the best stories and write in a style that makes the book accessible and fun-loving. We’re proud that “Unveiling Weddings” can be read from front to back or flipped through for the chapters of interest that a bride-to-be can turn to when she needs it.”

Brides can also engage with the expert authors and fellow readers through social media channels including Facebook (www.facebook.com/unveilingweddings) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/readytowed). Through these interfaces, the authors will share information on upcoming book signings, recommended resources, nuggets of wisdom, and more. The online resources are a welcomed addition to the host of wedding conversations taking place, as well as the resources found in “Unveiling Weddings.” The book’s focus is helping brides to find their authentic voice and experience during their engagement rather than seeking to aspire to a level of unachievable perfection.

More information about “Unveiling Weddings” can be found by visiting www.unveilingweddings.com or by e-mailing [email protected].

Related articles

• For Richer or Poorer – Financial Implications for your Wedding (weddingsetups.com)
• Planning Your Perfect Wedding Together (weddingsetups.com)
• Bachelorette Party Accident Leaves Bride-To-Be Paralyzed: How You Can Help (huffingtonpost.com)

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