The funny thing is that, in all the other aspects of our wedding, we had agreed on things. We have had no problems picking out a wedding chapel, a wedding reception location, or even thank you cards for the gifts that we were going to receive. We are both artists, you see, and it helps that we have the same aesthetic. It makes picking out bridal gowns, wedding centerpieces, and the like much easier. We didn’t even need to hire a wedding planner we knew what we wanted things to look like. Nonetheless, when it came down to the actual wedding ceremony, we had no common ground. Our ideas were as different as night and day.

For my fianc, the traditional wedding ring ceremony was very important. She was in this very difficult position of having to balance the needs of her family with her own needs. You see, her folks were very traditional Catholics. The power of parental denial enabled them to pretend that she was still a practicing member of the faith, but we knew that they would become very upset if we didn’t have a ceremony that was at least nominally Catholic. Nonetheless, she wanted us to write our wedding vows. In short, we had to balance two very different things: a traditional wedding ceremony and a modern mindset where we were able to make our own promises. It wasn’t easy.

In the end, we compromised on the wedding ceremony. I didn’t like the public nature of wedding ceremonies, although I had no problem with the promise of commitment. We decided, then, that we would speak the standard vows in the wedding chapel , and say our own special wedding vows in private. That way, it could be a more sincere, intimate moment. I would say that neither of us were quite happy with it, but no one was so annoyed with the results that it would ruin the day. All in all, it was a pretty good compromise.

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Most choose a wedding card based on their feelings for the couple. Close friends and family tend to buy romantic or mushy cards, while those who arent quite as close often chose things that are more silly or comical in nature. For the most part, as long as the wedding cards you give are from the heart, the happy couple will love and cherish them.

While a lot of people like to put cash in wedding cards, others like to put gift certificates. Cash can go for anything. It can go towards a down payment on a house, to help pay for the honeymoon, or can be just because. If you want to give a gift certificate, make sure it is for something they will love. If you get certificates for gym memberships for people who arent into working out, you are going to offend them. Keep their lifestyle and hobbies in mind when choosing gift certificates to include with wedding cards.

If you are the bride, you probably want to save all of your wedding cards. I have done this, and I am glad I did. Even though I have only been married for five years, I have already lost someone near and dear to me since my wedding. The shower and wedding cards she got me for my special day are still in my scrapbook, and these are memories that I cannot replace. Any time I really miss her, which is quite often, I can go back and see the wedding cards and remember what she said to me at that time, and how special she was in my life. Wedding cards are more than memories of your wedding; they may be important memories of those you love and may lose sooner than you think.

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We have talked the whole thing over a number of times and if the lady has a grasp on wedding cake decorating methods then maybe this would be the best choice for the couple. They are not able to spend a lot of money because neither of them have parents who are able to contribute to the event. The cost of the ceremony and the reception lies in the hands of the couple.

My husband and I paid for our own wedding and reception and I have to admit that I did consider taking some courses on wedding cake decorating myself. I wound up buying three sheet cakes that I placed on tiers. My wedding cake decorating skills were so lacking that I just put fresh flowers on the cakes and went with that.

I did get a lot of great feedback but that was only because many of the guests thought that the flowers were hand drawn with icing. They were amazed by my wedding cake decorating skills until they got up close to the display. My pastry was fine but really nothing amazing.

The bride for this event does want something special but she cant envision paying up to eight bucks per slice of cake for the event. Her friend is offering to take on the task of the wedding cake decorating as a present for the couple. The bride and I decided to look up some information about the process before giving a response.

The lady is a natural when it comes to baking and her regular birthday cake decorations are amazing. Everyone wants to see what she is going to do next. She is a wonder when it comes to baking as well as designing. She is very talented but is she talented enough for wedding cake decorating, too?

We immediately went to about.com to find out whether the average cook could take on such a project. I wish that I would have consulted this site before my reception. This site takes you through each and every step of the wedding cake decorating project. It includes everything from the supplies that you will need to the final touches.

The bride decided to accept the gift and I have to say that she made the right decision. The wedding cake decorating project looked very professional. Ironically, the designer used fresh flowers on the arrangement. Great minds think alike.

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Planning activities for these weekend-long celebrations doesn’t have to be difficult; in fact, it can be quite a bit of fun if you keep everyone’s needs in mind. First, consider the wedding. Will this be a formal wedding with a sit-down dinner at its center? If so, you might want to ban a formal rehearsal dinner and replace it instead with an informal barbecue dinner or picnic.

But how will you keep people occupied during the long weekend? There are many activities to consider. Will the wedding be near a lake? How about planning a day at the lake on Saturday, filled with pre-wedding activities like swimming races and beach volleyball.

One popular pre-wedding activity is a scavenger hunt. Prior to the wedding weekend, a list of meaningful items should be drawn up, and guests placed in two teams. The list should include things like “get a brochure from the jewelry store where (groom) bought (bride)’s ring” or “take a picture of the group at the location where the couple got engaged”. You will have to tailor the scavenger hunt list to the location of the wedding and the energy of the guests who will be participating.

You can even offer lavish prizes for the team that wins the scavenger hunt, such as gift certificates or gourmet food and wine baskets. It might seem an obvious choice to divide the teams into groups who know or are related to the bride and teams who know or are related to the groom, but it might be a little more fun to mix it up a bit. You can create teams of friends versus family, or men versus women (always a popular choice).

Another activity that’s popular during wedding weekends is a competitive sport activity, such as baseball or flag football. Again, add a special twist. Offer prizes for performance (first home run gets a kiss from the bride) or make silly rules, like members of the bridal party have to wear tiaras while running bases or members of the groom’s family should always have their shirts on backwards.

It’s important that during the wedding weekend, planners keep in mind that the weekend itself might be expensive for some guests, particularly those who had to fly in for the occasion and many of the activities should be free, or inexpensive. If they are more expensive, and planned for the entire group, they should be paid for by either the bride and groom or their families.

But there are plenty of activities that don’t have to be expensive, but can provide big bang for the little buck, such as the scavenger hunt suggested above. If the wedding weekend guests will mostly be family, you can schedule a home movie-viewing event, including home movies from both the bride and groom’s families. For even more fun, consider an activity where the movies are mixed up and the guests have to guess which family’s videos they are watching. This might sound easy, but depending on the contents, it could be hard, particularly if the bride and groom are babies in the photos.

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Every Sunday you can hear those chapel bells. Some lucky couple is tying the knot and making it official. This is a time in everyone’s life that is memorable to say the least. We love this day. Ideally it should occur only one time for each person. There’s the massive cake, the champagne, the jovial crowd and the wonderful wedding traditions (wedding photographers). These are the things we look forward to on our day of perfect bliss. The soon-to-be bride paces softly toward her one true love, the father gives her away as the two souls become one with the exchange of rings. Are you prepared for your big day?

Traditions in Weddings: Wedding Photographers

Who doesn’t enjoy wedding traditions (wedding photographers)? There’s the ceremony itself, the honeymoon, and don’t forget the pre-celebration. This is the part that so many men look forward to. If not the soon-to-be groom, the buddies throwing the bash. Yep, the bachelor party is a king amongst wedding traditions (wedding photographers). It may not be a literal aspect of the wedding, but it sure is a blast nonetheless. I’ve been to a total of two bachelor parties in my day. One was my brother’s and one was my best buddy’s. These were two of the craziest bashes I’ve ever witnessed. You commonly have the group of guys, the booze, and maybe a few “dancers.” Most of this celebration is about friendship and letting go of the single lifestyle. Notice that I didn’t say it’s about getting buck wild with the “dancers.” Of course girls have their versions of this as well. They lounge about sipping tea and nibbling on crumpets. Or at least this is what I’ve heard.

Other Traditions for Weddings: Wedding Photographers

Probably one of my favorite wedding traditions (wedding photographers) is the honeymoon. Okay, this is definitely my favorite. This is the part where it’s finally just the two of you. Alone at last for a whopping two weeks or so. In my opinion, this is what most of the money should go toward. Although other wedding traditions (wedding photographers) are imperative, this is the most fun and personal. This is the tradition that’s solely meant for the bride and groom. It’s about getting pampered, lounging about, and dining at the finest eateries. Where wedding traditions (wedding photographers) are concerned, I highly recommend you put much thought into the honeymoon.

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Giving a toast is a responsibility that puts fear in the speaking hearts of most members of a wedding party (wedding photographer). While it’s not usually something that is particularly long or involved, it’s public speaking (which doesn’t sit well with many people) and really puts people on the spot.

If you are planning a wedding and know that most members of this wedding party (wedding photographer) are hams who won’t mind the whole “public speaking” thing, then by all means keep the wedding toasts traditional with dad, the best man and others taking their expected turns at the microphone.

But if you’re looking for something different, either because you want to save putting people on the spot, or you simply want to do something different and fun, read on.

First, you can certainly take the whole toast thing off the agenda if you wish. There are no rules requiring a toast at any wedding. Weddings should be unique events and reflect the personalities of the bride and groom.

Wedding Photographer: Toast Options

But if you want to do something a little different, there are options. You can go the video route, which asks people to essentially make a toast on camera and then the video is given to the bride and groom later. This isn’t a particularly unique idea, but it does solve the issue of not wanting to put people on the spot and still gives everyone a chance to say something special to the bride and groom.

If your guest list includes many outgoing people then consider “pass the microphone”. This can work in several ways. You can either be silly with it, or deadly serious. Most people like silly. Say dad takes the microphone first. His last name ends with T (so, let’s say dad’s last name is Smith). He must find someone whose first name begins with a T (Tom? Tony? Tina? Theresa?) and pass the microphone to that person, who then gives a toast.

This method of giving toasts does put people on the spot (certainly before the fun begins you can warn them so if they are really uncomfortable, they can escape to the restroom or bar) but it can also be a lot of fun. Getting people when they least expect it and then asking them to remember something funny or meaningful about the bride and groom can result in interesting, funny and truthful results.

Wedding Photographer: Let Everyone be Heard!

You might also decide that one person at each table be required to give a toast. Number the tables and at various intervals, have the MC or DJ call a number, which will require guests at that table to decide amongst themselves who will give the wedding toast at that table. Certainly, more than one person can if they like, but there will likely be at least one ham at each table who will enjoy standing up and toasting the newlyweds.

Say you have plenty of public speakers in the group, and finding willing toast participants won’t be a problem. But you think the subject matter might be. There’s an easy solution to this problem. You can provide open-ended topics for the toast speakers. Say you are providing an “open mike” toast arrangement, where anyone can request the microphone and offer a toast. The DJ, MC or someone else in the wedding party (wedding photographer) (perhaps the maid of honor or best man) can offer the speaker a surprise topic, which might be pulled from a champagne flute or drawn out of the floral arrangement on the head table. There might be slips of paper to choose, or just one sheet of paper with several ideas.

The speaker might choose to finish this sentence, “I remember when (groom’s name here) was a little boy, he always …” or answer this question, “When was (insert bride’s name here) at her silliest? Tell us the story”. You might have to give each speaker a minute or two to collect their thoughts, but you’re sure to have some interesting stories, some unique anecdotes and some different perspectives on the bride and groom.

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I work in a social service agency that employs over a hundred people. We come from all different backgrounds. The agency employs professional staff as well as support staff. We have good benefits and most of us enjoy our work. I have been there for several years so I have developed good friendships along the way. We work in units of about twenty people. Even though I am not close to everyone in my unit I know basic information about their lives. One of the women in our unit is helping her daughter plan her wedding (wedding photographers).

One day we both arrived early for a staff meeting. As we were waiting for the meeting to start I asked her how the wedding (wedding photographers) plans were developing. She said that her daughter was struggling with a wedding (wedding photographers) theme. I thought this was an odd thing to struggle with. I thought a wedding (wedding photographers) theme would be that you were getting married. I mentioned this to the co-worker. She told me that several of her daughters friends had theme wedding (wedding photographers)s and she wanted one also. Her daughter was going to school in the eastern part of the nation, so I decided that this kind of wedding (wedding photographers) planning must be something that is done in that part of the country.

Wedding Photographers:   Themes for Wedding

The concept of a wedding (wedding photographers) theme was interesting to me so I asked my co-worker what kinds of things were being considered. She said that her daughter loves history so she was thinking of having a Victorian wedding (wedding photographers). She and her attendants as well as the groom and his attendants would wear clothing from that period. The decorations and the food at the reception would also be from that time period. The groom works in computer design, so he was not interested in stressing the historical wedding (wedding photographers) theme, he wanted a futuristic theme for the day. She said that this was causing a conflict for the couple and that they were running short on time for ordering what type of dresses the women would wear. By this time the rest of our unit had joined the meeting so the subject was dropped.

Wedding Photographers: Wedding Theme Story

That evening I was sharing this information with my daughter. She recently got engaged, but is going to finish her masters degree prior to getting married. She said that she had read about having a wedding (wedding photographers) theme in one of the bridal magazines she bought. She agreed with me that planning that type of wedding (wedding photographers) would involve added stress. She is planning on having the exchanging of vows be the theme for her wedding (wedding photographers).

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One of the most daunting tasks for the best man might be what he has to do at the wedding reception. Tradition dictates that the best man has to give a speech, and today, more and more brides are asking their maid or matron of honor to do the same thing. The thing about these wedding speeches is that no one every really knows what to say. Some people are naturally gifted and writing and delivering a great speech, but most people suffer through it, and have no idea what they should do or say.

Stage Fright – Wedding Speeches

I have twice now seen people freeze in the middle of wedding speeches out of pure fright. Perhaps there is a lot of pressure to give the perfect speech, and everyone fears their wedding speeches may be memorable for all the wrong reasons. Some people like to use humor, but this can be very tricky. Talking about the couples first date might be funny, but Grandma wont like it if it involves drinking and public nudity. Its hard to think of things that may interest everyone and the speakers often feel the pressure of this before they even stand up and open their mouth.

If you have to give a speech soon, you will be glad to know that help is out there. You can find good wedding speeches online that you can customize to the bride and groom. This may help you relax a little, because at least you know at the very least it was a good speech when you started. If you are having trouble personalizing the speech, dont be afraid to ask for help. Just make sure you pick something appropriate for everyone.

Writing Your Wedding Speeches

If you want to write your own wedding speeches, make sure you take some time to think it through, and run it by a few people before the big day. Try to stay away from saying anything you wouldn’t want anyone to say about you in front of all of your family and most of your close friends. You can use humor; just make sure you aren’t going to make Aunt Jane pass out. Remember to keep it simple. Great wedding speeches dont have to be long and detailed; they simply have to come from the heart. If you write something that comes directly from your heart and your love of the couple, you really wont have anything to worry about.

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The purpose of wedding favors is to thank your guests for coming to your wedding and ultimately showing their support for your commitment to each other. As a result you should really try to find wedding favors which your guest will love. In some cases this may mean you have to give your guests a wedding favor which may not appeal to you but that you know the majority of your guests will love. However, in most cases the wedding favor you select for your guests will be something you know they will love as well as a favor which you would also love to receive. This article will provide a few wedding favor ideas which are enjoyed by many guests.

Edible wedding favors are one type of favor which the majority of your guests will love. There are a lot of options available for couples who wish to give their guests some type of edible favor. Candy is one of the most popular options available. Many couples like to give their guests a candy bar with a personalize wrapper which includes the names of the bride and the groom as well as the wedding date. Other candies such as mints or hard candies are also very popular. These candies can often be distributed in personalized containers such as tins or glass containers. Cookies are another type of edible wedding favor which is very popular. The cookies can include a photo of the couple or may be a fortune cookie with a quote from a love song or phone inside.

Other Ideas for Your Wedding Favors

Miniature wedding cakes are another type of edible wedding favor your guests will appreciate. These are not as popular as other types of wedding favors because they can be rather expensive but if they fit within your budget, your guests are sure to be delighted by these favors. These wedding favors can be distributed in small boxes so your guests can take them home easily.

Picture frames are another example of wedding favors that many guests love to receive. Guests like to receive this type of favor because it is a very practical gift. They can use the frame to hold a picture of the couple or for any other purpose they wish. Giving picture frames is also a great idea because they come in such a wide variety that finding a suitable one should be easy. Picture frames can be purchased to reflect the theme of the wedding or can be romantic in nature to reflect the underlying theme of love which prevails at all weddings. Alternately picture frames selected as favors can be rather plain in nature. This helps to ensure the pictures frames will be used by the guests because it makes it more likely that they will work well with the dcor in the guests homes.

Loving Their Wedding Favors

Another example of wedding favors guests love is basically anything which they can use and which will help them to remember the wedding fondly. One way to accomplish this is to provide wedding favors which are not only practical but also closely relate to the theme of the wedding. Wedding favors which incorporate the theme of the wedding are much more likely to trigger the guests to remember the details from the wedding each time they see or use the favor.

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Wedding rehearsal dinners are a time to relax, calm down and enjoy a quiet evening before the big event the next day. But adding some fun and games into the rehearsal dinner isn’t such a bad idea. It’s a great way to help everyone let off some steam, calm down and enjoy each other.

If you’re planning a sit-down formal dinner, fun games and activities can still be on the menu. In fact, if a formal dinner is part of the plans, having some interesting activities on the agenda is not only a good idea, but also an excellent one. There’s been a lot of planning, and a lot of stress and the wedding party and close friends and family will welcome the opportunity to have a little fun.

The success or failure of any games or activities largely depends not just on the planning but your venue. If you’re having a sit-down dinner in a restaurant, try to get a private room. Then a myriad of fun activities can be planned, such as “pin the veil on the bride”, in which blindfolded guests spin around a few times, then try to pin the veil on a picture of the bride. Silly, yes, but also fun.

Rehearsal Dinner Games Ideas

One fun activity sure to help everyone blow off some steam is charades. Whoever is up will act out a scene from the bride or groom’s life, so it might be when graduating from college, or getting a huge promotion at work. The “it” person might choose to act out when the bride tripped and fell at another person’s wedding or when the groom saved a dog from getting hit by a car. This is a little twist on charades that helps people get to know the bride and groom better, and adds intimacy to what is already an intimate event.

If the wedding rehearsal dinner is a bit less formal and held in someone’s home, there are many more activities that can take place. For example, how about a night of playing board games? Who needs formal food? You can have that the next day at the formal wedding. At this wedding rehearsal dinner party, the games are center stage.

Bring in some sandwiches and tell everyone to wear their comfortable clothes and settle in for a night of board games. You can set up games on different tables, divide people into groups of 4 or 5 and have everyone rotate tables at designated times. You can even instruct game players that when they move to another table, the game stays out the way it is. So, for example, dad might begin playing Monopoly where the bride was and he’s stuck with only a little money in the bank and no houses on Boardwalk.

So, let’s say the bride and groom are big into sports. If the wedding is to be held in the summer and the days are long, how about a game of touch football or baseball? You can play bride’s family against groom’s family, men against women, or for a twist, the bride plays with the groom’s family and the groom with the bride’s family. Any combination works. The idea here is to have some fun, relax and enjoy each other’s company.

Other Game Ideas for Your Wedding Rehearsal Dinner

Other outdoor activities can include anything that is physical and might help people blow off steam. Has the bride been more a “bridezilla” than anything? How about a game of tag where she’s it? Or you can create two bridesmaid’s dress-up trunks. Go to a thrift store, fill the trunks with old prom dresses and large-size shoes, and costume jewelry. Divide the guests into two different teams and have someone sit with a timer. The team who dresses one of the men (ideally, the groom and best man or perhaps the two dads) first wins. Be sure to have a camera at the rehearsal dinner/event, because this is one activity you’ll want to have pictures of!

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