If you are planning to have a full wedding that includes bridesmaids, and groomsmen etc. it could run you a great deal of money to cover your gown as well as the other women and men’s clothing as well.
Bridesmaid’s dresses get more and more costly with every extra woman in the wedding party. When you are deciding how much money you can afford to spend on the wedding clothes, you have to consider the fittings and the flowers or accessories as well.
If you can, you might do better to allow for casual wear for the bridesmaids so that they can wear less expensive dresses or skirts. This is particularly good if you are planning an outdoor or beach wedding.
The less formal the ceremony, the less money that you are required to spend. Perhaps that is why outdoor ceremonies are getting more and more popular these days.
You can also save money on the ladies dresses by purchasing them off season from a bridal store. You can always shop for out of season or discontinued dresses as a means of getting great discounts on gorgeous dresses. If you really want to, you can ask that your bridesmaids forget about the wedding shower gifts in favor of buying their dresses. That is a common compromise that is made these days.
If the cost of the dresses is really going to be a matter of stress for you, just reduce the bridesmaids to just having a maid/matron of honor and a best man only for the groom.
Many couples opt to forego the extras all together and simply do not have anyone standing up with them at all. After all, there is no law that states that you have to have a maid of honor or best man present during the ceremony.
When it comes to the tuxedos for the male participants and the groom, you can often find good deals when renting if you just shop around. It helps is you limit the number of participants if you must in order to reduce costs or if the men involved have their own tuxedos already.
Either way, research and comparison shopping really is the best chance.
You can also choose to rent the ladies gowns as well as the tuxedos. Not everyone wants to spend hundreds of dollars on a dress that they will wear once. Or spend that much money on many dresses that you will never be worn more than once.
Many bridal shops will let you rent a dress rather than buy one. The only difference with rented dresses is that you have to take it as is. They are not custom fitted to you. Other than that, you can save hundreds of dollars doing this.
Wearing your mother or grandmother’s wedding dress is also an option; especially if your are choosing a period theme where the dress was used. For example, if you are wearing your grandmother’s dress and the dress was worn in the 40’s, you can make the 40’s your wedding theme.
If the dress is your mother’s from the 60’s or 70’s, you can do the same thing. It will save you money and provides you with a fun theme.
You can also opt to make your own dress from scratch. Many women are choosing to go with home made pieces because they can get truly original in the make of the dress and the style.
It can be made in any fashion that you like and of any material also. Making your own dress is a good way to save money and it is also guaranteed to make sure that no one else has the same style as you.
When you make it yourself, you are guaranteed a custom fit without paying a custom price.
Finally, you can save bundles on your whole wedding party clothing, including the wedding dress by dressing according to your theme.
For example, if you choose a Hawaiian theme, you can wear island clothes. As part of your theme, you can dress in costumes to make the festivities more fun and as an added bonus; you can make the guests and wedding party dress in costume too.
You can also get a good deal by buying your wedding items at vintage or used stores. Many people bring back their wedding clothing after they have used so that they can recoup some of their money later.
This is a great way to save money for you and the rest of your wedding party. Used clothing items can also be found in bridal shops or tuxedo warehouses because the average person doesn’t wear these items more than once and because of this they will return it to the store that they got it from later.
When you are not afraid of vintage clothing, you can find some truly beautiful designer clothing for great prices. Some of the stores that offer used items will not force you to buy them, but they may request that you pay a bit of an extra fee for dry cleaning etc.
Either way, you will still be saving yourself a great deal of money that you would spend if you bought your items outright.
Showing posts with label taigerstar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label taigerstar. Show all posts
Wednesday, 10 October 2007
3 Ways to Cut Cost on Wedding Flowers
With all the things you’ll have to worry about paying for when it comes to your wedding, you won’t want to have to spend a lot of cash for slightly smaller things, like accents, decorations, and flower arrangements. Since most brides do want to have flowers at their weddings, and would prefer to purchase them at a reasonable price, here are some ways to save on wedding flowers that you may want to try:
Buy synthetic flowers.
Synthetic flowers may cost a little more when you buy them in bulk because of the material, but they could save you money because they last as long as you need them to. Many people have fresh flower bouquets for the bride, bridesmaids, and flower girls, and these tend to whither rather quickly, especially if the ceremony is indoors. So, you may end up buying more flowers than you actually need in order to keep the flowers looking good for pictures after the ceremony. You can also find colors or types of flowers that may not be in bloom at the time you are having the wedding if you buy synthetic flowers. This way, you’ll have more freedom to create the look you want for your ceremony. If you want to decorate the reception with flowers as well, synthetic flowers may be a good idea, so that you can maintain the look of the room for as long as you need to. And, since most brides want to keep their bouquets, buying synthetic flowers is definitely a good idea.
Plan your bouquet size.
Many brides end up spending more than they wanted to on a bouquet because they didn’t count the amount of flowers that would be in the arrangement, or select flowers that will look good with not-so-expensive accents. Make sure you know just how big you want your bouquet to be, as well as what type of flowers you want to include. And, carrying a single flower down the aisle is wonderful look for a bride as well. You can use a lily, daisy, or even a rose with lace or pearl accents as your bouquet, and add a unique touch to the ceremony. Small bunches of flowers can also be beautiful, proving that, as with most other things, less can definitely be more. If you want to get fresh flowers for your bouquet, selecting flowers that are in season will also help you to save money, since a florist may have to specially order out-of-season flowers, which can increase the bouquet price significantly.
Plan ahead.
Even though flowers for the wedding may seem like a small thing, don’t wait until the last minute to make sure that you have the flowers you want for your wedding. You may have to spend more money to find flowers you want the closer you get to the ceremony, so make sure that you have decided whether or not you’ll purchase flowers from a local florist or order synthetic flowers.
Order Wholesale From The Internet
To find more ideas for how to save on wedding flowers, as well as wedding floral shops that may have what you’re looking for, visit sites like freshroses.com and fiftyflowers.com
Buy synthetic flowers.
Synthetic flowers may cost a little more when you buy them in bulk because of the material, but they could save you money because they last as long as you need them to. Many people have fresh flower bouquets for the bride, bridesmaids, and flower girls, and these tend to whither rather quickly, especially if the ceremony is indoors. So, you may end up buying more flowers than you actually need in order to keep the flowers looking good for pictures after the ceremony. You can also find colors or types of flowers that may not be in bloom at the time you are having the wedding if you buy synthetic flowers. This way, you’ll have more freedom to create the look you want for your ceremony. If you want to decorate the reception with flowers as well, synthetic flowers may be a good idea, so that you can maintain the look of the room for as long as you need to. And, since most brides want to keep their bouquets, buying synthetic flowers is definitely a good idea.
Plan your bouquet size.
Many brides end up spending more than they wanted to on a bouquet because they didn’t count the amount of flowers that would be in the arrangement, or select flowers that will look good with not-so-expensive accents. Make sure you know just how big you want your bouquet to be, as well as what type of flowers you want to include. And, carrying a single flower down the aisle is wonderful look for a bride as well. You can use a lily, daisy, or even a rose with lace or pearl accents as your bouquet, and add a unique touch to the ceremony. Small bunches of flowers can also be beautiful, proving that, as with most other things, less can definitely be more. If you want to get fresh flowers for your bouquet, selecting flowers that are in season will also help you to save money, since a florist may have to specially order out-of-season flowers, which can increase the bouquet price significantly.
Plan ahead.
Even though flowers for the wedding may seem like a small thing, don’t wait until the last minute to make sure that you have the flowers you want for your wedding. You may have to spend more money to find flowers you want the closer you get to the ceremony, so make sure that you have decided whether or not you’ll purchase flowers from a local florist or order synthetic flowers.
Order Wholesale From The Internet
To find more ideas for how to save on wedding flowers, as well as wedding floral shops that may have what you’re looking for, visit sites like freshroses.com and fiftyflowers.com
Keeping the Costs of Wedding Cakes Down
A special part of any reception or wedding is the wedding cake. Wedding cakes come in many sizes and shapes and can be designed to accommodate any taste or budget.
Wedding cakes are a necessary part of the festivities and require much thought and consideration to your theme. Traditionally, people often think of the tiered cakes when they think of weddings, but there are many ways that you can accommodate your own creativity into making your cake stand out on its own.
Here are some tips to keeping your cake costs down:
· Make your own wedding cake creations
· Serve cupcakes and a smaller cake for the cake toppers
· Ask a guest with a baking passion to make the cake for you instead of giving you a gift. Just remember to buy the ingredients and toppers yourself.
· Have a baker make the cake but you can put it together yourself
· Buy your own cake toppers and other decorative additions
· Pick up the cake rather than have it delivered.
· Use your own decorations like flowers, autumn leaves as accents rather than theirs etc.
· Use extra candies and Hershey’s kisses as accents
Extra cake accents and dividers that can be made at home for your wedding cake can be done by you and your wedding party.
Nice homemade dividers are:
Oversized Brandy Glasses: you can accent these with ribbons tied around the bottom flute of the glass and flip the glasses upside down in order to allow room for the cake sections.
The glass bottoms will also make a nice sturdy separator for the cake layers to sit on. The best part about this decoration is that you can also place candles or other nice things inside of the flipped upside down glass as an added accent. Aside from the ribbons, you can also use rhinestones or anything else that you might think would make your cake stand out. It’s beautiful, it elegant, and the decoration can be re-used later.
When ordering your cake from a professional, you should be sure to do the following to make sure that you have the smoothest transition possible. Here are the best tips to get you the right cake at the right time, without any hassles:
· Order your cake at least 6-8 weeks ahead of time
· Be prepared to leave a deposit when you place your order
· If you don’t know much about the cake that you want be ready to make an appointment for a taste test of different samples. If this is required, you might need to give yourself a larger amount of time for the cake like 6 months or more
· Know that you will be paying for the decorator’s time as well as the baker’s and the reserved time for your cake
· Think seasonal when it comes to your cake, for example, you can’t get a mousse cake in the summer months because it will go bad
· Remember that the simpler your cake design is the cheaper it will be · If you are planning an outdoor wedding, remember that the heat will melt the icing, flies loves sweet stuff etc. think of this before choosing your cake
· Have a big enough cake to serve all of your guests
· Try to be mindful of allergies and tastes of your guests when choosing your cake
· Choose ornaments that are not misplaced on your cake or too heavy etc.
· Don’t forget to confirm later
· If you have to cancel the cake, do it sooner rather than later or you might get stuck with the bill anyway.
Wedding cakes are a necessary part of the festivities and require much thought and consideration to your theme. Traditionally, people often think of the tiered cakes when they think of weddings, but there are many ways that you can accommodate your own creativity into making your cake stand out on its own.
Here are some tips to keeping your cake costs down:
· Make your own wedding cake creations
· Serve cupcakes and a smaller cake for the cake toppers
· Ask a guest with a baking passion to make the cake for you instead of giving you a gift. Just remember to buy the ingredients and toppers yourself.
· Have a baker make the cake but you can put it together yourself
· Buy your own cake toppers and other decorative additions
· Pick up the cake rather than have it delivered.
· Use your own decorations like flowers, autumn leaves as accents rather than theirs etc.
· Use extra candies and Hershey’s kisses as accents
Extra cake accents and dividers that can be made at home for your wedding cake can be done by you and your wedding party.
Nice homemade dividers are:
Oversized Brandy Glasses: you can accent these with ribbons tied around the bottom flute of the glass and flip the glasses upside down in order to allow room for the cake sections.
The glass bottoms will also make a nice sturdy separator for the cake layers to sit on. The best part about this decoration is that you can also place candles or other nice things inside of the flipped upside down glass as an added accent. Aside from the ribbons, you can also use rhinestones or anything else that you might think would make your cake stand out. It’s beautiful, it elegant, and the decoration can be re-used later.
When ordering your cake from a professional, you should be sure to do the following to make sure that you have the smoothest transition possible. Here are the best tips to get you the right cake at the right time, without any hassles:
· Order your cake at least 6-8 weeks ahead of time
· Be prepared to leave a deposit when you place your order
· If you don’t know much about the cake that you want be ready to make an appointment for a taste test of different samples. If this is required, you might need to give yourself a larger amount of time for the cake like 6 months or more
· Know that you will be paying for the decorator’s time as well as the baker’s and the reserved time for your cake
· Think seasonal when it comes to your cake, for example, you can’t get a mousse cake in the summer months because it will go bad
· Remember that the simpler your cake design is the cheaper it will be · If you are planning an outdoor wedding, remember that the heat will melt the icing, flies loves sweet stuff etc. think of this before choosing your cake
· Have a big enough cake to serve all of your guests
· Try to be mindful of allergies and tastes of your guests when choosing your cake
· Choose ornaments that are not misplaced on your cake or too heavy etc.
· Don’t forget to confirm later
· If you have to cancel the cake, do it sooner rather than later or you might get stuck with the bill anyway.
A lasting marriage - some useful tips.
My parents gave me this advice about marriage. They have been married since the 1960s and are still happily married to each other.
In marriage, when an argument is about to blow up, remember that takes 2 hands to clap. When one party is angry, the other should be understanding and not argue back. The calmer party should try to listen the cry, the hurt behind the upset.
Marriage is a life long journey together. Not simply a boat you get on together and get off when it does not work out. Check out www.wedding-ideas.net/Tips-for-a-lasting-marriage.htm for the full article.
Look at the old couples who are still together after so many decades. Their love has matured from a passionate lust to a deep, lasting love. How did they do it?
Every relationship has its ups and downs. You have to work at your marriage.
As you go through life together, you are bound to irritate one another. Nothing is so smooth as the movies might want you to believe. Little things that never bothered you initially might start getting on your nerves. That is normal. Your spouse is not perfect. Neither are you.
Marriage is about love. Love is about acceptance. Forgiveness. A love that is deeper than a rush of passionate lust. Tolerance. Of adapting to one another.
All humans are tempted. Temptation is everywhere. Succumbing to temptation and having an affair could mean the end of a marriage, or at very least endangering it greatly. Always remember your spouse. Consciously stay faithful to protect your marriage.
Check out www.wedding-ideas.net as you prepare for your wedding.
In marriage, when an argument is about to blow up, remember that takes 2 hands to clap. When one party is angry, the other should be understanding and not argue back. The calmer party should try to listen the cry, the hurt behind the upset.
Marriage is a life long journey together. Not simply a boat you get on together and get off when it does not work out. Check out www.wedding-ideas.net/Tips-for-a-lasting-marriage.htm for the full article.
Look at the old couples who are still together after so many decades. Their love has matured from a passionate lust to a deep, lasting love. How did they do it?
Every relationship has its ups and downs. You have to work at your marriage.
As you go through life together, you are bound to irritate one another. Nothing is so smooth as the movies might want you to believe. Little things that never bothered you initially might start getting on your nerves. That is normal. Your spouse is not perfect. Neither are you.
Marriage is about love. Love is about acceptance. Forgiveness. A love that is deeper than a rush of passionate lust. Tolerance. Of adapting to one another.
All humans are tempted. Temptation is everywhere. Succumbing to temptation and having an affair could mean the end of a marriage, or at very least endangering it greatly. Always remember your spouse. Consciously stay faithful to protect your marriage.
Check out www.wedding-ideas.net as you prepare for your wedding.
Affordable Wedding Jewelry
Finding the right wedding jewelry is an extremely important aspect of the ceremony because the wedding bands in particular will be worn by the bride and groom forever. Wedding bands have gotten to be a great deal more ornate than they used to be. Diamond wedding bands have reached a peak in recent thanks to the celebrities who proudly display theirs.
Wedding bands have even surpassed the usual gold and are now moving into platinum and titanium bands. It used to be that 10k gold rings were the “in” thing to buy and these days they are looked down upon by most couples who would prefer to buy their gold in 14k or higher.
Simple diamonds are still a popular buy, but colored diamonds are gaining momentum thanks to J-Lo’s pink princess cut diamond ring with Ben Affleck. Other popular diamond colors are yellow, blue and aquamarine.
With the ever growing popularity of platinum rings, many couples are looking to shining silver and white gold as a cheaper substitute. White gold has a similar look of platinum, but is a fraction of the price. It is a great alternative.
In the past, the men’s ring was often of little concern to either as long as the woman’s ring was attractive, but these days, men want a nice ring or diamond studded ring almost as much as the women do.
Beautiful ring sets can be found from nearly any source. If you can afford it, you can locate good deals on sets at jewelry stores.
For the most part, the entire wedding ceremony is completely symbolic and that symbolism reaches its peak the moment the rings are exchanged.
Knowing this, can it really be a wonder that the chosen rings are just as important as the chosen couple?
You can virtually choose to go with any type of ring from any source. These days even department stores are offering great knock offs to the popular celebrity rings at extreme discounts.
The popular ring worn by J-Lo; which was a platinum pink diamond ring with a princess cut and accented with two white diamonds on either side can now be purchased at Wal-Mart in a white gold setting with zirconia’s and pink topaz stones.
Wedding bands still look better in a plain band style, but some people might prefer to accent the bands with diamonds. Whatever your taste is, you can pretty much find the right bands for you and your spouse to be anywhere.
All you really need to do is decide what look you want; what style that you want; and how much money you can afford to pay and then go on your search.
In order to get the best overall deals, you should comparison shop online. If you do it soon enough, you can have the bands ready way before the ceremony.
Wedding bands have even surpassed the usual gold and are now moving into platinum and titanium bands. It used to be that 10k gold rings were the “in” thing to buy and these days they are looked down upon by most couples who would prefer to buy their gold in 14k or higher.
Simple diamonds are still a popular buy, but colored diamonds are gaining momentum thanks to J-Lo’s pink princess cut diamond ring with Ben Affleck. Other popular diamond colors are yellow, blue and aquamarine.
With the ever growing popularity of platinum rings, many couples are looking to shining silver and white gold as a cheaper substitute. White gold has a similar look of platinum, but is a fraction of the price. It is a great alternative.
In the past, the men’s ring was often of little concern to either as long as the woman’s ring was attractive, but these days, men want a nice ring or diamond studded ring almost as much as the women do.
Beautiful ring sets can be found from nearly any source. If you can afford it, you can locate good deals on sets at jewelry stores.
For the most part, the entire wedding ceremony is completely symbolic and that symbolism reaches its peak the moment the rings are exchanged.
Knowing this, can it really be a wonder that the chosen rings are just as important as the chosen couple?
You can virtually choose to go with any type of ring from any source. These days even department stores are offering great knock offs to the popular celebrity rings at extreme discounts.
The popular ring worn by J-Lo; which was a platinum pink diamond ring with a princess cut and accented with two white diamonds on either side can now be purchased at Wal-Mart in a white gold setting with zirconia’s and pink topaz stones.
Wedding bands still look better in a plain band style, but some people might prefer to accent the bands with diamonds. Whatever your taste is, you can pretty much find the right bands for you and your spouse to be anywhere.
All you really need to do is decide what look you want; what style that you want; and how much money you can afford to pay and then go on your search.
In order to get the best overall deals, you should comparison shop online. If you do it soon enough, you can have the bands ready way before the ceremony.
Saving on Wedding Music
When it comes to wedding music, there are some choices that stand apart from others. During the ceremony, it is getting more popular to avoid the traditional bridal music and use a chosen song of love instead.
People still are using the traditional bridal song too, but it is just not necessary anymore for those who want to be original or walk down the aisle to a song that best expresses how they feel about their nuptials.
When it comes to the music for your wedding ceremony and the reception, it is important that you consider your budget above all things. Naturally, you will want to have all of the music that you love available including the music that you want for your first dance.
Hiring a DJ can be the best way to go, but it is not the only way to go. If you must hire a DJ, there are a few ways that you can save money on it.
Saving on a DJ
For starters, you can look to hire an amateur DJ who is just starting out. They are eager for the work and will often cut you a good deal. You can find good amateur DJ’s at local school dances and sometimes just by asking local area high school and college kids about DJ’s that they might know.
Young DJ’s who are just starting out are also using modern technology like portable computers with downloaded music and this means that they can almost always get just about any song that you might want.
Young DJ’s are also more willing to follow your precise instructions for what you want to hear and will allow you to have full control of what they do. Many amateur DJs will also make you custom CDs if you ask them and you can give them to the bridal party as gifts.
To get the best prices from the amateurs, you can let them audition to make sure that they can play your wedding song and then you can let them bid their prices. You simply choose the best of them who has the best price.
Saving on a band
Many couples would prefer to use a live band at their wedding and reception. Live bands offer a special tone to the ceremony and it adds some elegance.
When you want to save money on a band, you can often find great deals when you look to local high school and college bands to get much cheaper prices. You can use the school bands to play music at the ceremony and hire a DJ for the reception.
You can also look to any friends or family members who play musical instruments to help you out. Just make sure that the band that you do hire knows how to play the song or music that you are hoping to have at your wedding.
Instruments like guitar, Spanish guitar, saxophone, and piano are always great for weddings and you can often find local musical students who will be willing to play a wedding for small fees.
Extra Money Saving Tips
When it comes to the music that you want to hear at your wedding, there are some extra tips that you can use to help and make it just a little bit more affordable. Some of these tips are as follows:
· Hold auditions with young people who are trying to get some experience and let them come to you.
· Place an ad in the paper or penny saver that you are looking for wedding bands or DJ’s and let them bid for the jobs. This will have the different players competing for your wedding which will have them all trying to outbid each other for the chance for exposure. Let them audition and tell them that you are taking quotes on fees so that they all know what is going to happen.
· Use pre-recorded live music tapings at your wedding so that you will get he live music sound but without paying the extra money.
· Use a stereo at your reception that hosts various different mixed CD’s and plays them all automatically. Many stereos these days will play through dozens of Cd’s in a row so that the music lasts for hours. This can cost you no more than the price of the CD’s. You can also use CDs that you burned yourself from the computer so that you can get all of your favorite music
· A nice decoration for a reception is to make a collage of pictures of the bride and groom and their families.
People still are using the traditional bridal song too, but it is just not necessary anymore for those who want to be original or walk down the aisle to a song that best expresses how they feel about their nuptials.
When it comes to the music for your wedding ceremony and the reception, it is important that you consider your budget above all things. Naturally, you will want to have all of the music that you love available including the music that you want for your first dance.
Hiring a DJ can be the best way to go, but it is not the only way to go. If you must hire a DJ, there are a few ways that you can save money on it.
Saving on a DJ
For starters, you can look to hire an amateur DJ who is just starting out. They are eager for the work and will often cut you a good deal. You can find good amateur DJ’s at local school dances and sometimes just by asking local area high school and college kids about DJ’s that they might know.
Young DJ’s who are just starting out are also using modern technology like portable computers with downloaded music and this means that they can almost always get just about any song that you might want.
Young DJ’s are also more willing to follow your precise instructions for what you want to hear and will allow you to have full control of what they do. Many amateur DJs will also make you custom CDs if you ask them and you can give them to the bridal party as gifts.
To get the best prices from the amateurs, you can let them audition to make sure that they can play your wedding song and then you can let them bid their prices. You simply choose the best of them who has the best price.
Saving on a band
Many couples would prefer to use a live band at their wedding and reception. Live bands offer a special tone to the ceremony and it adds some elegance.
When you want to save money on a band, you can often find great deals when you look to local high school and college bands to get much cheaper prices. You can use the school bands to play music at the ceremony and hire a DJ for the reception.
You can also look to any friends or family members who play musical instruments to help you out. Just make sure that the band that you do hire knows how to play the song or music that you are hoping to have at your wedding.
Instruments like guitar, Spanish guitar, saxophone, and piano are always great for weddings and you can often find local musical students who will be willing to play a wedding for small fees.
Extra Money Saving Tips
When it comes to the music that you want to hear at your wedding, there are some extra tips that you can use to help and make it just a little bit more affordable. Some of these tips are as follows:
· Hold auditions with young people who are trying to get some experience and let them come to you.
· Place an ad in the paper or penny saver that you are looking for wedding bands or DJ’s and let them bid for the jobs. This will have the different players competing for your wedding which will have them all trying to outbid each other for the chance for exposure. Let them audition and tell them that you are taking quotes on fees so that they all know what is going to happen.
· Use pre-recorded live music tapings at your wedding so that you will get he live music sound but without paying the extra money.
· Use a stereo at your reception that hosts various different mixed CD’s and plays them all automatically. Many stereos these days will play through dozens of Cd’s in a row so that the music lasts for hours. This can cost you no more than the price of the CD’s. You can also use CDs that you burned yourself from the computer so that you can get all of your favorite music
· A nice decoration for a reception is to make a collage of pictures of the bride and groom and their families.
Mens Wedding Rings - Should a Man Wear One or Not?
Strange as it may seem the use of a wedding ring by men was not common until recently. Whereas women have worn wedding rings for eons, men have not. The use of rings as a symbol of everlasting love enshrined in marriage can be traced back thousands of years. But not so much for men.
It was, in fact, during the second world war that the use of wedding rings by men became more common. (Note that mens wedding rings and mens wedding bands are interchangeable, both meaning the same thing.)
It became the custom for US soldiers going to war to publicise their marital status by the wearing of a man’s wedding ring. They were happy to make public their commitment to their wife by the wearing of a public symbol that declared that commitment to all. Given that this habit of wearing mens wedding bands was reasonably new it was all the more creditable that these men were willing to forego the marital obscurity available to them from not wearing a ring and actively chose to make a public statement about their choice.
Men’s wedding rings have become increasingly more common since that time. Today it is probably as common for a newly married man to wear a ring as not. This may be due to several factors. The modern man may consider it his duty to choose to make the same public marital statement as his wife will. And his wife may well consider it a condition of the marriage that he do so. After all, in these days of equality, if she is prepared to make a statement then should he not do so as well?
Despite the fact that the wearing of a ring by a woman is a matter of choice, it is in fact almost obligatory due to the fact that it is so common. Many women do not even consider the possibility of not wearing one. Often, however, a man usually considers the wearing of a man wedding ring very carefully.
There are a number of issues to consider. Firstly, is he concerned about a public display of his marital status? Some men, whether rightly or wrongly, are threatened by this. Others are not in the least concerned.
Secondly whilst the wearing of jewellery by women is so common as to go unremarked that is not necessarily the case for men. For many men the wearing of mens wedding bands is just a case of being asked to wear jewellery. Men often do not feel comfortable wearing jewellery and in many cases have never done so before. Whilst some men see their wedding band as different to wearing ordinary jewellery, others feel just the same as if they were being asked to wear ear rings. “It’s just not done by men”. The author, for example, wears a man wedding band, but would never consider wearing any other form of jewellery.
And as many men have never worn any form of jewellery before they have no idea what it will feel like to have something permanently on the finger. Is it heavy? Does it rub? Silly as it may seem to women this can be of concern to some men.
(If this genuinely is of concern it is quite possible to find a cheap jewellery shop, buy the cheapest ring available and wear it for a while. See exactly what it feels like. And find out your size at the same time.)
Men’s wedding rings are, in the eyes of some men, effeminate. “Real men” don’t wear rings or jewellery at all. This is becoming less of an issue as the wearing of a man’s wedding ring becomes more common, but is still an issue with many men.
Culture is also a consideration. In many cultures the wearing of wedding rings by men would never be considered. Men must think about how their particular culture, and also their religion, would view the wearing of a wedding band.
There are also practical considerations. Many men are engaged in trades where the wearing of a man wedding band would be downright dangerous. Although unlikely it is quite possible for a ring to get caught in machinery. In some jobs a ring cannot be worn on the job, and must be removed. This can also apply to women.
Ultimately though, the wearing of a men’s ring is just one of the many choices the man will have to make once he makes the commitment to marry. And it is often a choice made by the couple together, maybe one of the first they make in conjunction about their wedding.
Which finger is the ring worn on, and why?
Generally a man’s wedding band is worn on the ring finger, the same as for women. The ring finger, for those unmarried men not familiar with the concept, is the fourth finger of the left hand. This is considered to be the finger closest to the heart.
This notion came originally from the ancient Greeks who believed that this finger had an artery which flowed straight to the heart. Whilst anatomically incorrect this makes for good fable.
So you have both decided that he will wear a men’s wedding ring!
Once the man or couple have made the decision to purchase a men’s wedding ring for him there are still choices to make. Do they want to wear a matching set? Or does he prefer that his ring looks quite different to his wife’s. It is perfectly possible for a couple to buy a ring set where the style of the rings match perfectly, or even with matching engraved messages of love.
Generally though, even where the couple are to wear a matching ring set, the two rings are different. It is more common for the man’s wedding ring to be wider than the woman’s. This is because men’s hands and women’s hands are different. A woman usually has narrower finer fingers, and so a narrower band suits her hand. A man on the other hand has wider chunkier fingers and so a wider man wedding band is more suited.
This often results in the mans ring costing more than the woman’s ring even with matching styles, as the mans ring uses more, often expensive, material.
There are many innovative styles available now. Many men prefer a simple unadorned band, however others enjoy highly decorated styles which make a loud statement. The wearing of, for example, very wide and highly adorned Celtic rings is becoming much more common.
When considering the styles of men’s wedding rings it is well worth thinking about the personality of the individual. While different men have very different personalities different rings will suit different personalities as well. A loud outgoing man, for example, can wear a loud outgoing unique men’s ring.
There are many different ring materials which also reflect the personality of the individual. Titanium or Platinum are both becoming much more popular. Whilst diamonds are not, of course, as popular with men as with women, they do make a clear statement which pleases some men who choose them. Diamond men’s rings clearly say “I can afford it” or at least the big ones do. But it can be a brave man who chooses to wear a large diamond band.
Ultimately there are no rules about choosing a man wedding band. It is up to either the man or the couple together to make a decision. Will he or won’t he. There are a variety of considerations. First, will he wear one? Once that decision is made in the affirmative then there is a whole world of choice about styles, widths, materials and the type of statement the ring makes, both for the man and the woman.
But once he has his ring on it is rare that he decides that he doesn’t like it. And even if he doesn’t, it is rare that the woman will let him take it off!
It was, in fact, during the second world war that the use of wedding rings by men became more common. (Note that mens wedding rings and mens wedding bands are interchangeable, both meaning the same thing.)
It became the custom for US soldiers going to war to publicise their marital status by the wearing of a man’s wedding ring. They were happy to make public their commitment to their wife by the wearing of a public symbol that declared that commitment to all. Given that this habit of wearing mens wedding bands was reasonably new it was all the more creditable that these men were willing to forego the marital obscurity available to them from not wearing a ring and actively chose to make a public statement about their choice.
Men’s wedding rings have become increasingly more common since that time. Today it is probably as common for a newly married man to wear a ring as not. This may be due to several factors. The modern man may consider it his duty to choose to make the same public marital statement as his wife will. And his wife may well consider it a condition of the marriage that he do so. After all, in these days of equality, if she is prepared to make a statement then should he not do so as well?
Despite the fact that the wearing of a ring by a woman is a matter of choice, it is in fact almost obligatory due to the fact that it is so common. Many women do not even consider the possibility of not wearing one. Often, however, a man usually considers the wearing of a man wedding ring very carefully.
There are a number of issues to consider. Firstly, is he concerned about a public display of his marital status? Some men, whether rightly or wrongly, are threatened by this. Others are not in the least concerned.
Secondly whilst the wearing of jewellery by women is so common as to go unremarked that is not necessarily the case for men. For many men the wearing of mens wedding bands is just a case of being asked to wear jewellery. Men often do not feel comfortable wearing jewellery and in many cases have never done so before. Whilst some men see their wedding band as different to wearing ordinary jewellery, others feel just the same as if they were being asked to wear ear rings. “It’s just not done by men”. The author, for example, wears a man wedding band, but would never consider wearing any other form of jewellery.
And as many men have never worn any form of jewellery before they have no idea what it will feel like to have something permanently on the finger. Is it heavy? Does it rub? Silly as it may seem to women this can be of concern to some men.
(If this genuinely is of concern it is quite possible to find a cheap jewellery shop, buy the cheapest ring available and wear it for a while. See exactly what it feels like. And find out your size at the same time.)
Men’s wedding rings are, in the eyes of some men, effeminate. “Real men” don’t wear rings or jewellery at all. This is becoming less of an issue as the wearing of a man’s wedding ring becomes more common, but is still an issue with many men.
Culture is also a consideration. In many cultures the wearing of wedding rings by men would never be considered. Men must think about how their particular culture, and also their religion, would view the wearing of a wedding band.
There are also practical considerations. Many men are engaged in trades where the wearing of a man wedding band would be downright dangerous. Although unlikely it is quite possible for a ring to get caught in machinery. In some jobs a ring cannot be worn on the job, and must be removed. This can also apply to women.
Ultimately though, the wearing of a men’s ring is just one of the many choices the man will have to make once he makes the commitment to marry. And it is often a choice made by the couple together, maybe one of the first they make in conjunction about their wedding.
Which finger is the ring worn on, and why?
Generally a man’s wedding band is worn on the ring finger, the same as for women. The ring finger, for those unmarried men not familiar with the concept, is the fourth finger of the left hand. This is considered to be the finger closest to the heart.
This notion came originally from the ancient Greeks who believed that this finger had an artery which flowed straight to the heart. Whilst anatomically incorrect this makes for good fable.
So you have both decided that he will wear a men’s wedding ring!
Once the man or couple have made the decision to purchase a men’s wedding ring for him there are still choices to make. Do they want to wear a matching set? Or does he prefer that his ring looks quite different to his wife’s. It is perfectly possible for a couple to buy a ring set where the style of the rings match perfectly, or even with matching engraved messages of love.
Generally though, even where the couple are to wear a matching ring set, the two rings are different. It is more common for the man’s wedding ring to be wider than the woman’s. This is because men’s hands and women’s hands are different. A woman usually has narrower finer fingers, and so a narrower band suits her hand. A man on the other hand has wider chunkier fingers and so a wider man wedding band is more suited.
This often results in the mans ring costing more than the woman’s ring even with matching styles, as the mans ring uses more, often expensive, material.
There are many innovative styles available now. Many men prefer a simple unadorned band, however others enjoy highly decorated styles which make a loud statement. The wearing of, for example, very wide and highly adorned Celtic rings is becoming much more common.
When considering the styles of men’s wedding rings it is well worth thinking about the personality of the individual. While different men have very different personalities different rings will suit different personalities as well. A loud outgoing man, for example, can wear a loud outgoing unique men’s ring.
There are many different ring materials which also reflect the personality of the individual. Titanium or Platinum are both becoming much more popular. Whilst diamonds are not, of course, as popular with men as with women, they do make a clear statement which pleases some men who choose them. Diamond men’s rings clearly say “I can afford it” or at least the big ones do. But it can be a brave man who chooses to wear a large diamond band.
Ultimately there are no rules about choosing a man wedding band. It is up to either the man or the couple together to make a decision. Will he or won’t he. There are a variety of considerations. First, will he wear one? Once that decision is made in the affirmative then there is a whole world of choice about styles, widths, materials and the type of statement the ring makes, both for the man and the woman.
But once he has his ring on it is rare that he decides that he doesn’t like it. And even if he doesn’t, it is rare that the woman will let him take it off!
How To Get Your Wedding Guests to Save The Date
You are engaged - congratulations! Undoubtedly, immediately after your friends and family squeal with delight over your news, the first question they will ask is, "So when is the date?" It can be somewhat annoying, especially if you are very recently engaged, but really all your loved ones are asking so they can mentally save the date.
So begins your wedding planning. Obviously the first thing you need to do is start viewing places for your ceremony and reception, because without those there is no wedding.
Once you have nailed down your wedding's place and date - then its time to get the word out. This is especially important if you are having your wedding during peak wedding season (usually the spring, early summer) or over any holiday weekend. Keep in mind, that while surely your guests are looking forward to celebrating with you, they can have conflicts. Wedding season unfortunately conflicts with graduation season, and long weekends are usually booked up with vacation plans way in advance.
If possible, you want to send your save the date cards out 6-9 months in advance. Lean toward the longer end of that spectrum if you have guests coming long distance or if you have a popular wedding date booked.
Now comes the fun part.
What should they look like? Do they have to match? Who should I send them to? What should my save the dates say? How much information do I need to include? The answer to all those questions is easy. Its entirely up to you and your fiancee. As long as the most important information is on there - your names and your date all the rest is gravy. However, to help guide you through the decision making we offer these words of advice.
What should they look like?
Save the dates are your opportunity to get the word out about your approaching wedding in fun, expressive way. Save the date announcements can be more casual than your more formal wedding invitation. However, keep in mind this is your chance to create a first impression. Your guests will receive your save the date and start forming impressions on what kind of event it will be. So we suggest you be unique, but use high quality materials. Nothing sends the wrong message like flimsy materials.
Some suggestions for unique save the dates can be found here:
http://www.allthepieces.com/Productdesc.aspx?pID=146&cID=514
http://www.allthepieces.com/Productdesc.aspx?pID=141&cID=483
http://www.allthepieces.com/Productdesc.aspx?pID=142&cID=490 http://www.allthepieces.com/Productdesc.aspx?pID=234&cID=986
Do they have to match?
Nope. They don't have to match the rest of your wedding, but they can. If you are the kind of person who has been dreaming of what your wedding would look like even before you were engaged then perhaps you have some ideas already for color themes, design styles, etc. If that's the case, great! Work with it! However, often times those types of wedding decisions are not solidified so early in the game so don't sweat it. The priority is to get those save the dates in the mail so you get on your guests' calendars. Another consideration, if you are the type A personality with your wedding plans all mapped out, you are going to be seeing a lot of those colors or design decisions over the upcoming months. So much so that you might get a little sick of your chosen colors (gasp! Say it isn't so!) The save the date offers the opportunity to use your second choice color ideas, just to mix it up a bit. The point is, if you see something completely unrelated to your wedding ideas that you absolutely love - go for it!
Who do I send them to?
Lose the notion that the save the date has to be sent to everyone on your list - because it doesn't. In fact, (and you didn't hear this from us) if there are people on your list that are what we like to call "obligatory invites" = people you really have to invite due to family ties, or professional connections, this would be a good time to hold off. We aren't saying to disinvite them, but if they only receive the formal invitation then no harm done. The reality is if you are inviting your boss to the wedding simply because it's the politically correct thing to do, then you are probably secretly hoping he/she doesn't come. Having said all this, we do recommend you make sure you send your save the date to people who might interact with eachother. Say you have a distant Great Aunt Matilda who you are inviting purely out of family obligation. Normally you would not send her a save the date. However, if your Great Aunt Matilda has dinner over your cousin Amy's house and sees your save
the date hanging on her refrigerator there might be feelings hurt.
What should my save the dates say? How much information do I need to include? The way to think of save the dates is almost like directions. You are instructing your guests to save the date, and beyond that you are giving them all the most important information in order to make arrangements to attend. For a local wedding with not many long distance guests you could get away with just your names, the date of your wedding and the town where you will be holding the event. However, that is rarely the case. Usually planning couples have information they would like to communicate. Here are the various ways to do so and things you can include:
The date:
Obviously!
Your names:
You can keep it casual and just use your first names or if you are concerned this might confuse your guests you can use both of your full names. However, the point can be made if your guests don't know you by your first names, why are they being invited?
The place:
You really don't need to give them the exact GPS location of you wedding but just a general region would be a good idea. For example, "New York City."
Everything beyond those first three elements is optional.
Hotel information:
Chances are you are going to reserving some hotel blocks for your guests. If you know that information it would very helpful to your guests to have it early with your save the date. However if haven't gotten to your blocks yet, don't worry. You can include that information with your formal invitation. If you aren't doing blocks for your guests, its still not a bad idea to recommend places to stay to your guests.
Website URL:
Wedding websites are a great idea. It gives you a place to communicate all the information you have unlimited. It also can be updated as decisions are made - which should be a great comfort to you.
Airport information:
If a lot of your guests are flying to your wedding, then you might want to include how far your ceremony and reception location is from the airport. Also to note, several of the major airlines will offer a discount that you can pass onto your guests. You simply need to call the airlines in advance and explain that you are planning a large event.
Car rental information:
Car rental company will do the same. They will offer a discount that you can pass onto your guests. Again, call the car rental companies in advance and explain that you are planning a large event.
Things to do/Places to eat:
This type of information is totally optional but can be a nice touch for your guests especially if they are coming long distance to attend your wedding. It could convince your guests to make an extended weekend of your wedding if you suggest some fun activities for everyone before and after your wedding. Also, if you have favorite restaurant recommendations that can be a nice personal touch for your guests to enjoy.
Lastly, be sure to include the text "Formal Invitation to Follow"
If you don't you will be surprised at how many people will call you thinking your save the date is your wedding invitation. Your great Aunt Matilda (assuming you sent her that save the date after all) is going to ask, "Where is the rsvp card?"
So begins your wedding planning. Obviously the first thing you need to do is start viewing places for your ceremony and reception, because without those there is no wedding.
Once you have nailed down your wedding's place and date - then its time to get the word out. This is especially important if you are having your wedding during peak wedding season (usually the spring, early summer) or over any holiday weekend. Keep in mind, that while surely your guests are looking forward to celebrating with you, they can have conflicts. Wedding season unfortunately conflicts with graduation season, and long weekends are usually booked up with vacation plans way in advance.
If possible, you want to send your save the date cards out 6-9 months in advance. Lean toward the longer end of that spectrum if you have guests coming long distance or if you have a popular wedding date booked.
Now comes the fun part.
What should they look like? Do they have to match? Who should I send them to? What should my save the dates say? How much information do I need to include? The answer to all those questions is easy. Its entirely up to you and your fiancee. As long as the most important information is on there - your names and your date all the rest is gravy. However, to help guide you through the decision making we offer these words of advice.
What should they look like?
Save the dates are your opportunity to get the word out about your approaching wedding in fun, expressive way. Save the date announcements can be more casual than your more formal wedding invitation. However, keep in mind this is your chance to create a first impression. Your guests will receive your save the date and start forming impressions on what kind of event it will be. So we suggest you be unique, but use high quality materials. Nothing sends the wrong message like flimsy materials.
Some suggestions for unique save the dates can be found here:
http://www.allthepieces.com/Productdesc.aspx?pID=146&cID=514
http://www.allthepieces.com/Productdesc.aspx?pID=141&cID=483
http://www.allthepieces.com/Productdesc.aspx?pID=142&cID=490 http://www.allthepieces.com/Productdesc.aspx?pID=234&cID=986
Do they have to match?
Nope. They don't have to match the rest of your wedding, but they can. If you are the kind of person who has been dreaming of what your wedding would look like even before you were engaged then perhaps you have some ideas already for color themes, design styles, etc. If that's the case, great! Work with it! However, often times those types of wedding decisions are not solidified so early in the game so don't sweat it. The priority is to get those save the dates in the mail so you get on your guests' calendars. Another consideration, if you are the type A personality with your wedding plans all mapped out, you are going to be seeing a lot of those colors or design decisions over the upcoming months. So much so that you might get a little sick of your chosen colors (gasp! Say it isn't so!) The save the date offers the opportunity to use your second choice color ideas, just to mix it up a bit. The point is, if you see something completely unrelated to your wedding ideas that you absolutely love - go for it!
Who do I send them to?
Lose the notion that the save the date has to be sent to everyone on your list - because it doesn't. In fact, (and you didn't hear this from us) if there are people on your list that are what we like to call "obligatory invites" = people you really have to invite due to family ties, or professional connections, this would be a good time to hold off. We aren't saying to disinvite them, but if they only receive the formal invitation then no harm done. The reality is if you are inviting your boss to the wedding simply because it's the politically correct thing to do, then you are probably secretly hoping he/she doesn't come. Having said all this, we do recommend you make sure you send your save the date to people who might interact with eachother. Say you have a distant Great Aunt Matilda who you are inviting purely out of family obligation. Normally you would not send her a save the date. However, if your Great Aunt Matilda has dinner over your cousin Amy's house and sees your save
the date hanging on her refrigerator there might be feelings hurt.
What should my save the dates say? How much information do I need to include? The way to think of save the dates is almost like directions. You are instructing your guests to save the date, and beyond that you are giving them all the most important information in order to make arrangements to attend. For a local wedding with not many long distance guests you could get away with just your names, the date of your wedding and the town where you will be holding the event. However, that is rarely the case. Usually planning couples have information they would like to communicate. Here are the various ways to do so and things you can include:
The date:
Obviously!
Your names:
You can keep it casual and just use your first names or if you are concerned this might confuse your guests you can use both of your full names. However, the point can be made if your guests don't know you by your first names, why are they being invited?
The place:
You really don't need to give them the exact GPS location of you wedding but just a general region would be a good idea. For example, "New York City."
Everything beyond those first three elements is optional.
Hotel information:
Chances are you are going to reserving some hotel blocks for your guests. If you know that information it would very helpful to your guests to have it early with your save the date. However if haven't gotten to your blocks yet, don't worry. You can include that information with your formal invitation. If you aren't doing blocks for your guests, its still not a bad idea to recommend places to stay to your guests.
Website URL:
Wedding websites are a great idea. It gives you a place to communicate all the information you have unlimited. It also can be updated as decisions are made - which should be a great comfort to you.
Airport information:
If a lot of your guests are flying to your wedding, then you might want to include how far your ceremony and reception location is from the airport. Also to note, several of the major airlines will offer a discount that you can pass onto your guests. You simply need to call the airlines in advance and explain that you are planning a large event.
Car rental information:
Car rental company will do the same. They will offer a discount that you can pass onto your guests. Again, call the car rental companies in advance and explain that you are planning a large event.
Things to do/Places to eat:
This type of information is totally optional but can be a nice touch for your guests especially if they are coming long distance to attend your wedding. It could convince your guests to make an extended weekend of your wedding if you suggest some fun activities for everyone before and after your wedding. Also, if you have favorite restaurant recommendations that can be a nice personal touch for your guests to enjoy.
Lastly, be sure to include the text "Formal Invitation to Follow"
If you don't you will be surprised at how many people will call you thinking your save the date is your wedding invitation. Your great Aunt Matilda (assuming you sent her that save the date after all) is going to ask, "Where is the rsvp card?"
Now You’re Engaged, How Do You Choose A Mens Wedding Ring?
So, you’ve just got engaged.
Whether you are a man or a woman you have an important decision to make
(amongst the myriad of other decisions) about mens wedding rings. It’s
this. Will the man in your relationship wear one?
Maybe that’s you, maybe not. But you both need to think about it.
You see it’s only since the second world war that modern men have
started to publicly display their marital status by the wearing of a
man wedding ring.
Prior to that it was rare for a man to wear a ring when he married. Men
were able to hide their marital status behind the tradition that
required a woman to wear a wedding ring, but not a man.
However during the war many US soldiers chose to wear mens wedding
rings as a public symbol of their marital status whilst away at war and
that has started a tradition for the modern man. Now it’s very common
for a man to wear a mens wedding ring, perhaps the norm.
So, what decisions need to be made? Well the first is this. Will he
wear one? That’s probably the hardest decision in the process.
For a woman there’s no decision. She’s engaged, she wants the ring. For
her she needs an engagement ring as well as a wedding ring, and an
expensive engagement ring at that. But for a man it’s not so straight
forward.
So a very important part of the process is for both of you to talk
about it. Do you both have strong feelings about the man wearing a man
wedding ring, either one way or the other? Does the woman feel that if
she is to publicly display her marital status then it’s only fair that
he do the same? Does he have any reservations about wearing a ring and
if so what are they? You both need to talk over your feelings about the
wearing of a man wedding ring. Establish the groundwork.
Once and if you have made a decision that he will wear a ring then
that’s just the start. It’s perfectly possible to buy a his and hers
matching wedding ring set. These are rings designed as matching sets
for you both so that both your wedding rings go well together. So are
you going to look for matching rings, or just buy him a ring and focus
on hers separately?
Next you have to decide what type of ring. There’s a whole world of
designs for mens wedding rings out there. An enormous range of styles
and materials. A man makes a statement about himself in selecting the
ring he will wear for his wife, and she is a part of that statement if
she is actively involved in the decision.
Think about his personality. Is he outgoing or shy? Is he outrageous or
conservative? Is he flamboyant? Understated? When he buys clothes what
does he select? Does he buy colourful flamboyant ties or ties which fit
in with the style of the suit? Would he wear clothes which make him
stand out from the crowd or does he prefer to meld in?
His men’s wedding ring needs to fit his personality. All these
characteristics, as well as many others, bear on your choice of ring. A
man with a strong flamboyant personality would be much more likely to
prefer a ring which stands out. Which sets him apart from the crowd,
which says “look at me”. On the other hand a man with a more
conservative type of personality would probably prefer to say “I’m
married but I’m not going to shout it from the rooftop” with his ring.
Similarly, think about his stature. Is he short or tall? Is he large or
small? Does he have long slender fingers or short stubby fingers? These
characteristics also bear on the style of ring selected.
So size up the man before making a decision on the style of ring for
him.
One of the most common form of mens wedding ring is the simple band
style. Often in gold or white gold, it is plain and unadorned. A simple
statement of marital status and nothing else. But even amongst simple
bands there are decisions to make. How wide? What colour? What type of
material? New materials such as Titanium or Platinum have broadened the
choices hugely. Mens black Titanium rings really catch the eye.
Or amongst the more traditional materials sterling silver men’s wedding
rings look stunning. Or brushed mens white gold wedding rings. The
range of choices now is enormous.
And it’s not necessary to decide on a single material. Mens two toned
gold wedding rings, utilising white and yellow gold, are popular.
Perhaps match the ring material with gemstones such as rubies or
sapphires or even diamonds to create a stunning effect.
It’s perfectly possible to get custom made rings or even design them
yourself. The internet offers a big range of choices and also offers
rings and other jewelry dramatically cheaper than your traditional
bricks and mortar stores. Several online jewellers offer a design your
own mens wedding ring service so that you can design a ring that’s
unique to you.
And if you want something really different why not consider celtic mens
wedding bands?
The range of choices is endless, enough to satisfy even the most
discriminating couple.
And remember that for a man this ring may be the only jewelry he will
ever wear. The choice of man ring that you both make is a big one.
So, now you’re engaged, spend a little time thinking about what you are
going to do about a men’s wedding ring. Start talking about it with
your partner. The more time you spend on it the happier you will be
with your final choice.
Whether you are a man or a woman you have an important decision to make
(amongst the myriad of other decisions) about mens wedding rings. It’s
this. Will the man in your relationship wear one?
Maybe that’s you, maybe not. But you both need to think about it.
You see it’s only since the second world war that modern men have
started to publicly display their marital status by the wearing of a
man wedding ring.
Prior to that it was rare for a man to wear a ring when he married. Men
were able to hide their marital status behind the tradition that
required a woman to wear a wedding ring, but not a man.
However during the war many US soldiers chose to wear mens wedding
rings as a public symbol of their marital status whilst away at war and
that has started a tradition for the modern man. Now it’s very common
for a man to wear a mens wedding ring, perhaps the norm.
So, what decisions need to be made? Well the first is this. Will he
wear one? That’s probably the hardest decision in the process.
For a woman there’s no decision. She’s engaged, she wants the ring. For
her she needs an engagement ring as well as a wedding ring, and an
expensive engagement ring at that. But for a man it’s not so straight
forward.
So a very important part of the process is for both of you to talk
about it. Do you both have strong feelings about the man wearing a man
wedding ring, either one way or the other? Does the woman feel that if
she is to publicly display her marital status then it’s only fair that
he do the same? Does he have any reservations about wearing a ring and
if so what are they? You both need to talk over your feelings about the
wearing of a man wedding ring. Establish the groundwork.
Once and if you have made a decision that he will wear a ring then
that’s just the start. It’s perfectly possible to buy a his and hers
matching wedding ring set. These are rings designed as matching sets
for you both so that both your wedding rings go well together. So are
you going to look for matching rings, or just buy him a ring and focus
on hers separately?
Next you have to decide what type of ring. There’s a whole world of
designs for mens wedding rings out there. An enormous range of styles
and materials. A man makes a statement about himself in selecting the
ring he will wear for his wife, and she is a part of that statement if
she is actively involved in the decision.
Think about his personality. Is he outgoing or shy? Is he outrageous or
conservative? Is he flamboyant? Understated? When he buys clothes what
does he select? Does he buy colourful flamboyant ties or ties which fit
in with the style of the suit? Would he wear clothes which make him
stand out from the crowd or does he prefer to meld in?
His men’s wedding ring needs to fit his personality. All these
characteristics, as well as many others, bear on your choice of ring. A
man with a strong flamboyant personality would be much more likely to
prefer a ring which stands out. Which sets him apart from the crowd,
which says “look at me”. On the other hand a man with a more
conservative type of personality would probably prefer to say “I’m
married but I’m not going to shout it from the rooftop” with his ring.
Similarly, think about his stature. Is he short or tall? Is he large or
small? Does he have long slender fingers or short stubby fingers? These
characteristics also bear on the style of ring selected.
So size up the man before making a decision on the style of ring for
him.
One of the most common form of mens wedding ring is the simple band
style. Often in gold or white gold, it is plain and unadorned. A simple
statement of marital status and nothing else. But even amongst simple
bands there are decisions to make. How wide? What colour? What type of
material? New materials such as Titanium or Platinum have broadened the
choices hugely. Mens black Titanium rings really catch the eye.
Or amongst the more traditional materials sterling silver men’s wedding
rings look stunning. Or brushed mens white gold wedding rings. The
range of choices now is enormous.
And it’s not necessary to decide on a single material. Mens two toned
gold wedding rings, utilising white and yellow gold, are popular.
Perhaps match the ring material with gemstones such as rubies or
sapphires or even diamonds to create a stunning effect.
It’s perfectly possible to get custom made rings or even design them
yourself. The internet offers a big range of choices and also offers
rings and other jewelry dramatically cheaper than your traditional
bricks and mortar stores. Several online jewellers offer a design your
own mens wedding ring service so that you can design a ring that’s
unique to you.
And if you want something really different why not consider celtic mens
wedding bands?
The range of choices is endless, enough to satisfy even the most
discriminating couple.
And remember that for a man this ring may be the only jewelry he will
ever wear. The choice of man ring that you both make is a big one.
So, now you’re engaged, spend a little time thinking about what you are
going to do about a men’s wedding ring. Start talking about it with
your partner. The more time you spend on it the happier you will be
with your final choice.
Need Help With Your Wedding Ceremony?
When it comes to your wedding services alone, nobody wants to spend an arm and a leg on this and still have to foot the bill for the reception. Really it depends on where you want to your wedding to be and what type of service that you are hoping to have.
There is a way to satisfy all types of weddings as long as you know what your options are. Let’s take a look at the different types of ceremonies that you can choose from that can save you a great deal of money.
Church Ceremony
When you want your ceremony to be in a church, you will often have to pay for the rental and the priest or minister to perform the ceremony.
Some churches will decorate for you while others will not. If this is an issue, be sure to ask first. How much money you will pay for the ceremony will vary and will depend on how the policies of the church.
Here are some tips on how you can save money on a church ceremony.
· Look for a church that offers complete services or all inclusive packages rather than separate fees
· Try to bargain deals for outdoor weddings
· Rent the church alone and hire your own minister
· Have your services on a day where there are no church services because it may be cheaper
· Decorate the church yourself
· Offer to volunteer at the church for awhile in exchange for a discount
· You can save some money by hosting your ceremony in the church basement rather than in the worship center.
· Churches will often offer more inexpensive prices if you are a member of the church.
Outdoor Ceremony
You can save a great deal of money by hosting your ceremony outside like in a beautiful park, at the beach, on a hilltop or even in your yard.
Of course, having the ceremony in your backyard is the cheapest. Here are some of the formalities that go with having an outdoor ceremony that can save you money all around.
· The best way is to have the service in your backyard
· Choose an open public forum that does not generally have a great deal of people trying to access it, and get the right permits etc. beforehand
· Opting for an ordained minister rather than a priest etc. is often cheaper. Just be sure to check that whoever you choose can legally perform wedding ceremonies in your area.
· You can forego the chairs and have the guests standing as long as you host a short ceremony. A nice white or themed linen on the ground for guests to stand on is an elegant touch
· When going with outdoor ceremony, people often opt for the portable arch because it is easy to transport and just as elegant
· Of course, you can always host your ceremony at city hall and save your money for the reception. Record the ceremony and host a viewing during the reception
Outdoor ceremonies open the door to many themes that can greatly reduce the cost of your wedding and reception. Hawaiian themes and beach themes can help you save money on formal wear, and decorations etc. because people having an outdoor wedding are often casually or island dressed.
It makes the ceremony more comfortable for the guests too because they are also dressed casually.
Outdoor ceremonies can immediately switch from ceremony to reception which saves some extra money on travel fees too, such as limos etc. The Hawaiian theme will be a great way to have a luau or pig roast reception.
You might want to consider a theme that lets you have a picnic for your reception party or a beach party or bonfire, but I will get into themes in more detail in a later section.
All of these tips were designed to help you find deals and discounts. You can also choose to have your ceremony at a courthouse or city hall building; record the services and play the recording during your reception instead. It is a nice way to share your vows with your friends and family without spending a fortune on the ceremony.
Wedding Chapel
When most people think of wedding chapels they think of Las Vegas style chapels, but that is not all that chapels are. If you are a religious person, it is very easy to solve the question of a wedding chapel because you can choose to get married in your usual place of worship.
This may be a church, synagogue, mosque or other religious temple. However, if you have not had a religious upbringing, are marrying someone of a different religion or culture, or simply would rather select a different venue, it is important to discover what wedding chapel options are open to you.
If you would still like a ceremony in the style of a particular religion, most chapels have a host of different officiates who can provide the appropriate wedding ceremony to suit your own specific needs.
The majority of wedding chapels are designed in the style of churches. Most couples seek this traditional type of scene, even if they do want a non-denominational ceremony.
Chapels advertise features, such as stained glass windows, oak flooring, historical buildings, chandeliers and more. If you would prefer a modern building, it is possible to find chapels that are less traditional, such as those that are located in art galleries but you will need to research them well if you want to get a good deal.
Wedding chapels come in various sizes, and you must calculate how many guests will require seating at your wedding before committing to a particular chapel.
The majority of chapels seat between a hundred and a hundred and fifty guests, but there is one to suit every size of wedding. In Las Vegas, for example, there are chapels just large enough for the Bride, Groom, officiate and witness.
The location of your wedding chapel is key. There are numerous choices in cities and towns, but you may opt for a more natural or dramatic position. There are wedding chapels located anywhere from the Smoky Mountains to Hawaiian beaches, from Lake Tahoe to Disneyland!
If you have connections to the military, you could consider holding your wedding in a military chapel on a military base. There are long waiting lists for these facilities, but they are usually free (except a charitable donation).
Some facilities offer a choice of chapel depending on your religion, and it is possible to find Protestant, Catholic and Jewish chapels. However, there may be restrictions on decoration or numbers of guests.
There is also a vast array of novelty, or themed, wedding chapels springing up everywhere these days. The first themed chapels originated in Las Vegas, but it is now possible to find outlandish chapel designs anywhere.
Aside from the ubiquitous Elvis chapels, there are options such as a neon wedding at the luminous chapel in New Orleans, or a Cowboy chapel in Nevada. Try to incorporate the theme into other aspects of your wedding, such as your attire, the music and food. Some chapels even supply costumes for the guests which can really make your day a great deal of fun.
There is a way to satisfy all types of weddings as long as you know what your options are. Let’s take a look at the different types of ceremonies that you can choose from that can save you a great deal of money.
Church Ceremony
When you want your ceremony to be in a church, you will often have to pay for the rental and the priest or minister to perform the ceremony.
Some churches will decorate for you while others will not. If this is an issue, be sure to ask first. How much money you will pay for the ceremony will vary and will depend on how the policies of the church.
Here are some tips on how you can save money on a church ceremony.
· Look for a church that offers complete services or all inclusive packages rather than separate fees
· Try to bargain deals for outdoor weddings
· Rent the church alone and hire your own minister
· Have your services on a day where there are no church services because it may be cheaper
· Decorate the church yourself
· Offer to volunteer at the church for awhile in exchange for a discount
· You can save some money by hosting your ceremony in the church basement rather than in the worship center.
· Churches will often offer more inexpensive prices if you are a member of the church.
Outdoor Ceremony
You can save a great deal of money by hosting your ceremony outside like in a beautiful park, at the beach, on a hilltop or even in your yard.
Of course, having the ceremony in your backyard is the cheapest. Here are some of the formalities that go with having an outdoor ceremony that can save you money all around.
· The best way is to have the service in your backyard
· Choose an open public forum that does not generally have a great deal of people trying to access it, and get the right permits etc. beforehand
· Opting for an ordained minister rather than a priest etc. is often cheaper. Just be sure to check that whoever you choose can legally perform wedding ceremonies in your area.
· You can forego the chairs and have the guests standing as long as you host a short ceremony. A nice white or themed linen on the ground for guests to stand on is an elegant touch
· When going with outdoor ceremony, people often opt for the portable arch because it is easy to transport and just as elegant
· Of course, you can always host your ceremony at city hall and save your money for the reception. Record the ceremony and host a viewing during the reception
Outdoor ceremonies open the door to many themes that can greatly reduce the cost of your wedding and reception. Hawaiian themes and beach themes can help you save money on formal wear, and decorations etc. because people having an outdoor wedding are often casually or island dressed.
It makes the ceremony more comfortable for the guests too because they are also dressed casually.
Outdoor ceremonies can immediately switch from ceremony to reception which saves some extra money on travel fees too, such as limos etc. The Hawaiian theme will be a great way to have a luau or pig roast reception.
You might want to consider a theme that lets you have a picnic for your reception party or a beach party or bonfire, but I will get into themes in more detail in a later section.
All of these tips were designed to help you find deals and discounts. You can also choose to have your ceremony at a courthouse or city hall building; record the services and play the recording during your reception instead. It is a nice way to share your vows with your friends and family without spending a fortune on the ceremony.
Wedding Chapel
When most people think of wedding chapels they think of Las Vegas style chapels, but that is not all that chapels are. If you are a religious person, it is very easy to solve the question of a wedding chapel because you can choose to get married in your usual place of worship.
This may be a church, synagogue, mosque or other religious temple. However, if you have not had a religious upbringing, are marrying someone of a different religion or culture, or simply would rather select a different venue, it is important to discover what wedding chapel options are open to you.
If you would still like a ceremony in the style of a particular religion, most chapels have a host of different officiates who can provide the appropriate wedding ceremony to suit your own specific needs.
The majority of wedding chapels are designed in the style of churches. Most couples seek this traditional type of scene, even if they do want a non-denominational ceremony.
Chapels advertise features, such as stained glass windows, oak flooring, historical buildings, chandeliers and more. If you would prefer a modern building, it is possible to find chapels that are less traditional, such as those that are located in art galleries but you will need to research them well if you want to get a good deal.
Wedding chapels come in various sizes, and you must calculate how many guests will require seating at your wedding before committing to a particular chapel.
The majority of chapels seat between a hundred and a hundred and fifty guests, but there is one to suit every size of wedding. In Las Vegas, for example, there are chapels just large enough for the Bride, Groom, officiate and witness.
The location of your wedding chapel is key. There are numerous choices in cities and towns, but you may opt for a more natural or dramatic position. There are wedding chapels located anywhere from the Smoky Mountains to Hawaiian beaches, from Lake Tahoe to Disneyland!
If you have connections to the military, you could consider holding your wedding in a military chapel on a military base. There are long waiting lists for these facilities, but they are usually free (except a charitable donation).
Some facilities offer a choice of chapel depending on your religion, and it is possible to find Protestant, Catholic and Jewish chapels. However, there may be restrictions on decoration or numbers of guests.
There is also a vast array of novelty, or themed, wedding chapels springing up everywhere these days. The first themed chapels originated in Las Vegas, but it is now possible to find outlandish chapel designs anywhere.
Aside from the ubiquitous Elvis chapels, there are options such as a neon wedding at the luminous chapel in New Orleans, or a Cowboy chapel in Nevada. Try to incorporate the theme into other aspects of your wedding, such as your attire, the music and food. Some chapels even supply costumes for the guests which can really make your day a great deal of fun.
Back To Main Page Click Here for more articles Google Top Ways to Save on Wedding Invitations
Some of the first things you’ll spend money on when you decide to get married (besides the ring) are the wedding invitations. While you want your invitations to be classy, unique and of good quality, you’ll probably also want to find ways to save on wedding invitations as well. Here are the top ways to send out invitations that you can afford—and that your friends and family will be impressed with.
Keep your guest list small.
The more people you invite to your wedding, the more invitations you’re going to have to send out, so take a little time to create a guest list that you and your spouse will be satisfied with—and one that will fit your budget. Let your friends and family know when you’ll be getting married as soon as you can, so that they can tell you if they’ll be able to make it. For those who won’t be able to attend, you can send alternate invitations on different paper that may be a little less expensive, so that your loved ones can still keep a reminder of your special day. Now is not the time to be extremely polite—this is your day, and you deserve to have the people you love at your ceremony. Just because people know that you’re getting married, doesn’t mean they all have to come to wedding. Remember, the more invitations you send out, the more people that will show up, the more reception dinners you’ll have to pay for…and the list goes on. Keeping your guest list small will help you to save on other wedding costs as well, so choose wisely.
Make your own invitations.
If you’re especially crafty or know exactly how you want your invitations to look (and haven’t seen this look in stores or online) you may want to consider making your invitations yourself. This way, you can save money, and add your own special touches to make an invitation that really is unique to your ceremony and your relationship. Of course, you may still have to ask for help, but if you need friends and family to give you pointers on the invitation design or provide supplies for you to use, you won’t have to pay for labor. You can also be sure that no one will have your invitations, and this will be another way to give guests the impression that your wedding will be an event to remember. You can also look online for wedding invitation templates to follow if you want to keep things a little more traditional, or aren’t quite ready to try your hand at such a crafty task. Here are some sites that may help: www.southworth.com, www.yourinvitationplace.com, and www.theweddingplace.com.
Use less paper.
Your invitation doesn’t have to be two or three pages; you can save the story of how you met for the wedding video or the wedding programs in order to cut costs. A single sheet invitation will usually save you money, and looks very classy and sophisticated. If you want to add photos to your wedding invitations, you may want to use a photo of wedding rings, or a picture of you and your fiancé as a backdrop, and include all the information about the ceremony on the same sheet. Using one ink color and a smaller border can also help to save money. The key is to make your wedding invitations look interesting and tasteful enough for people to want to attend the ceremony, and you can definitely do this without spending a whole lot of money. After all, you want to save for that fabulous dress and great reception—these are the things that will keep your guests remembering your day for years to come.
Keep your guest list small.
The more people you invite to your wedding, the more invitations you’re going to have to send out, so take a little time to create a guest list that you and your spouse will be satisfied with—and one that will fit your budget. Let your friends and family know when you’ll be getting married as soon as you can, so that they can tell you if they’ll be able to make it. For those who won’t be able to attend, you can send alternate invitations on different paper that may be a little less expensive, so that your loved ones can still keep a reminder of your special day. Now is not the time to be extremely polite—this is your day, and you deserve to have the people you love at your ceremony. Just because people know that you’re getting married, doesn’t mean they all have to come to wedding. Remember, the more invitations you send out, the more people that will show up, the more reception dinners you’ll have to pay for…and the list goes on. Keeping your guest list small will help you to save on other wedding costs as well, so choose wisely.
Make your own invitations.
If you’re especially crafty or know exactly how you want your invitations to look (and haven’t seen this look in stores or online) you may want to consider making your invitations yourself. This way, you can save money, and add your own special touches to make an invitation that really is unique to your ceremony and your relationship. Of course, you may still have to ask for help, but if you need friends and family to give you pointers on the invitation design or provide supplies for you to use, you won’t have to pay for labor. You can also be sure that no one will have your invitations, and this will be another way to give guests the impression that your wedding will be an event to remember. You can also look online for wedding invitation templates to follow if you want to keep things a little more traditional, or aren’t quite ready to try your hand at such a crafty task. Here are some sites that may help: www.southworth.com, www.yourinvitationplace.com, and www.theweddingplace.com.
Use less paper.
Your invitation doesn’t have to be two or three pages; you can save the story of how you met for the wedding video or the wedding programs in order to cut costs. A single sheet invitation will usually save you money, and looks very classy and sophisticated. If you want to add photos to your wedding invitations, you may want to use a photo of wedding rings, or a picture of you and your fiancé as a backdrop, and include all the information about the ceremony on the same sheet. Using one ink color and a smaller border can also help to save money. The key is to make your wedding invitations look interesting and tasteful enough for people to want to attend the ceremony, and you can definitely do this without spending a whole lot of money. After all, you want to save for that fabulous dress and great reception—these are the things that will keep your guests remembering your day for years to come.
Wedding Cake
The is one of the most important features of your reception. In fact, it is the centerpiece of your reception. You should begin shopping for a baker 6-8 months before the wedding. If you plan on having your reception catered, ask your caterer if they will bake your wedding cake. However, you do not have to choose the caterer to bake your cake. You can also buy cakes from commercial and boutique bakeries, custom wedding cake designer, a culinary school or someone you know who makes cakes from home.
Begin by calling bakeries or cake decorators in your area to check for date availability. If they are available, make an appointment to go in and check out the designs, taste and skill level of the business. Many specialty cake decorators require that you book six months to a year in advance to reserve your date, whereas commercial bakeries may require 3 months due to larger staff and their ability to do a larger quantity of cakes.
Since most weddings are on the weekends, baker's deadlines also coincide with that timetable. A phone call to make an appointment to visit with the individual or bakery about your cake will be appreciated. If you just walk in and expect undivided attention, you may be disappointed if they do not have time to visit with you at that time.
Ask the baker to provide samples of the cake flavors, icings, fillings, etc., during your interview. The taste, flavor and texture of the cake itself will be the most important decision you will make when you order your cake. The outside beauty of your wedding cake will be important for your pictures and your personal statement, but the inside of the cake is what you will be serving to your guests. You want a cake that is flavorful, moist and good to eat.
Before your meeting with the baker, collect pictures of wedding cakes that appeal to you. Be sure to take those pictures with you on your interviews so that you can give your baker an illustrated idea of what you are looking for in a wedding cake. Here are some key questions you need to ask them:
Flexibility-Will they bake a cake according to your specifications?
Is the cake made from scratch or is it from a cake mix?
Request to see pictures of their work. Most bakers will have a portfolio of their cakes.
Certain cakes are not good for particular seasons. For example, if you are planning an outdoor wedding in August, you want to avoid cakes with mousse, meringue, whipped cream or buttercream filling. Ask the baker what cakes are in season.
What is the price per serving? Prices can average between $1.50 a slice to $15 a slice depending on the cake you choose. The price depends on frosting, decorations, architecture, etc. Understand that the more elaborate the cake, the more expensive the "per serving" price will be.
What are the extra charges? Most bakers charge for renting the pillars, columns, cake toppers, delivery and set-up. There may also be extra charges for certain cake fillings, flavors, styles, etc.
Who will be setting up the cake?
What do they provide in the set-up? Talk to your baker about how you'd like the cake table to be set up.
If you plan on using fresh flowers on your cake, who is responsible for providing the flowers, the baker or the florist?
When interviewing the baker, make sure you know the number of servings required, your desired type and design, and your budget for the cake. Be up front with the baker about the maximum amount you are willing to spend on your cake and ask them if they are willing to negotiate. Click here to see how you can save money on your wedding cake.
After you have decided on a baker and all the details, make sure to get everything in writing. Your contract should include the following:
Detailed description of the cake type, style, and description of the decorations.
The number of layers and fillings for each layer if applicable.
Type of frosting.
Wedding date, time and location of delivery
When, how, where and by whom the cake will be delivered (or picked up). Make sure to include the complete address where the cake is to be delivered.
Name and contact information of the baker
List of rented items (pillars, cake stand, cake table, etc.)
Delivery and set-up fees
Total price
Deposit amount
Balance and due date
Baker's cancellation and/or refund policy
If you do your homework, buying your wedding cake will be a smooth process. Remember to be realistic, and don't spend your entire wedding budget on your wedding cake.
Begin by calling bakeries or cake decorators in your area to check for date availability. If they are available, make an appointment to go in and check out the designs, taste and skill level of the business. Many specialty cake decorators require that you book six months to a year in advance to reserve your date, whereas commercial bakeries may require 3 months due to larger staff and their ability to do a larger quantity of cakes.
Since most weddings are on the weekends, baker's deadlines also coincide with that timetable. A phone call to make an appointment to visit with the individual or bakery about your cake will be appreciated. If you just walk in and expect undivided attention, you may be disappointed if they do not have time to visit with you at that time.
Ask the baker to provide samples of the cake flavors, icings, fillings, etc., during your interview. The taste, flavor and texture of the cake itself will be the most important decision you will make when you order your cake. The outside beauty of your wedding cake will be important for your pictures and your personal statement, but the inside of the cake is what you will be serving to your guests. You want a cake that is flavorful, moist and good to eat.
Before your meeting with the baker, collect pictures of wedding cakes that appeal to you. Be sure to take those pictures with you on your interviews so that you can give your baker an illustrated idea of what you are looking for in a wedding cake. Here are some key questions you need to ask them:
Flexibility-Will they bake a cake according to your specifications?
Is the cake made from scratch or is it from a cake mix?
Request to see pictures of their work. Most bakers will have a portfolio of their cakes.
Certain cakes are not good for particular seasons. For example, if you are planning an outdoor wedding in August, you want to avoid cakes with mousse, meringue, whipped cream or buttercream filling. Ask the baker what cakes are in season.
What is the price per serving? Prices can average between $1.50 a slice to $15 a slice depending on the cake you choose. The price depends on frosting, decorations, architecture, etc. Understand that the more elaborate the cake, the more expensive the "per serving" price will be.
What are the extra charges? Most bakers charge for renting the pillars, columns, cake toppers, delivery and set-up. There may also be extra charges for certain cake fillings, flavors, styles, etc.
Who will be setting up the cake?
What do they provide in the set-up? Talk to your baker about how you'd like the cake table to be set up.
If you plan on using fresh flowers on your cake, who is responsible for providing the flowers, the baker or the florist?
When interviewing the baker, make sure you know the number of servings required, your desired type and design, and your budget for the cake. Be up front with the baker about the maximum amount you are willing to spend on your cake and ask them if they are willing to negotiate. Click here to see how you can save money on your wedding cake.
After you have decided on a baker and all the details, make sure to get everything in writing. Your contract should include the following:
Detailed description of the cake type, style, and description of the decorations.
The number of layers and fillings for each layer if applicable.
Type of frosting.
Wedding date, time and location of delivery
When, how, where and by whom the cake will be delivered (or picked up). Make sure to include the complete address where the cake is to be delivered.
Name and contact information of the baker
List of rented items (pillars, cake stand, cake table, etc.)
Delivery and set-up fees
Total price
Deposit amount
Balance and due date
Baker's cancellation and/or refund policy
If you do your homework, buying your wedding cake will be a smooth process. Remember to be realistic, and don't spend your entire wedding budget on your wedding cake.
Wedding Reception Tips for Brides on a Budget
(ARA) - The reception is traditionally one of the most expensive aspects of a wedding. However, by combining personal creativity and ingenuity -- the foundation of lifestylist Sandra Lee’s Semi-Homemade(R) philosophy -- with inexpensive, ready-made items available at discount retailers, brides-to-be and cash-strapped parents can host a beautiful wedding reception without blowing through the entire bridal budget.
“Creating a beautiful wedding environment on a budget is simple,” says Sandra Lee, entertaining expert and author. “By putting a personal touch on everything from table centerpieces to wedding favors, brides and grooms can save while creating memories for years to come.”
While June is still the most popular month for weddings, according to a recent study by Hallmark.com, September and October are quickly gaining in popularity. Sandra Lee offers some great last-minute planning tips this fall for brides and grooms-to-be:
* If renting a reception tent, create a romantic environment by purchasing sheering fabric and 2-inch ribbon from a local discount retailer to drape around the canopy. Create billows of fabric and hang from the ceiling, wrap around poles, and swag in the entryway.
* Whether throwing an indoor or outdoor reception, flowers help set the tone but can quickly add up. A typical flower budget is 15 percent of the overall cost of a wedding. Consider using some of the beautiful and realistic-looking silk flowers available today intermingled with arrangements of fresh flowers to keep the romance high and the costs low. The bride and groom can use the silk flowers in the home for years to come.
* Every bride wants to do something unique at her wedding. Create a dramatic, sweet-smelling entrance for guests by lining a walkway to the reception venue or reception tent with fresh rose petals. Also consider renting a bubble machine, available at retailers such as Wal-Mart, for some added ambiance and fun.
* Renting both table settings and white linen tablecloths can get expensive. Instead, consider purchasing clear glass plates from a discount retailer. Stack the salad plate on top of the dinner plate and place a large leaf between the two for a very pretty place setting. Buying plates is often less expensive than renting and the bride and groom can keep them for the years (and dinner parties) ahead.
* Remember to keep centerpieces either low enough or high enough so guests can see each other from across the table. A simple cake pedestal adorned with sugared fruits and a candle makes a beautiful and an inexpensive centerpiece. Add to the sugary sparkle by placing candles in votive candle holders to illuminate the centerpieces from underneath. Remember to place approximately half an inch of water in each candle holder or glass for easy removal of melted wax.
* For more formal wedding receptions, assigning guests to tables is considered proper etiquette but that doesn’t mean it has to be stuffy. Purchase large sugar cookies and pipe romantic words like “joy,” “hope,” “love,” and “forever” on each cookie. Place one cookie in each centerpiece to replace traditional numbered tables and have your place cards direct your guests to these romantically identified tables.
* Wedding favors that double as place cards can be made by purchasing sugar cookies from a local bakery that are iced in white. Pipe each guest’s names on the cookies in colored icing a day or two before the wedding. Place in cellophane bags, tied with a ribbon, and set at each guest’s place setting so guests know where to sit.
* Handmade keepsakes given out during the wedding reception are an easy and thoughtful way to thank the wedding party. Create beautiful, unique cards for the bridesmaids by purchasing simple white note cards, decorated with the wedding’s theme colors embellished with different fabrics or small trinkets purchased from a craft department. Write a cherished memory or personal note inside the card, which bridesmaids can keep for the years to come.
* And don’t forget the wedding cake, which can be very expensive, depending on the number of guests attending. Consider purchasing a decorated sheet cake from a local bakery in addition to a smaller tiered cake. Then marry them together as one elaborate cake with piping and rose petals. Brides and grooms may find that bakeries like those at a Wal-Mart Supercenter can make unique and cost-conscious tiered wedding cakes that are beautiful as well as delicious. Remember, all cakes are created equal -- flour, sugar, and butter -- so there’s no need to spend a fortune on one.
For more information visit Lee’s Web site, www.semihomemade.com, or the online wedding center available at www.walmart.com which has a bridal registry, cake ordering forms, budget forms, reception planning guides, and more for the bride and groom.
Courtesy of ARA Content
“Creating a beautiful wedding environment on a budget is simple,” says Sandra Lee, entertaining expert and author. “By putting a personal touch on everything from table centerpieces to wedding favors, brides and grooms can save while creating memories for years to come.”
While June is still the most popular month for weddings, according to a recent study by Hallmark.com, September and October are quickly gaining in popularity. Sandra Lee offers some great last-minute planning tips this fall for brides and grooms-to-be:
* If renting a reception tent, create a romantic environment by purchasing sheering fabric and 2-inch ribbon from a local discount retailer to drape around the canopy. Create billows of fabric and hang from the ceiling, wrap around poles, and swag in the entryway.
* Whether throwing an indoor or outdoor reception, flowers help set the tone but can quickly add up. A typical flower budget is 15 percent of the overall cost of a wedding. Consider using some of the beautiful and realistic-looking silk flowers available today intermingled with arrangements of fresh flowers to keep the romance high and the costs low. The bride and groom can use the silk flowers in the home for years to come.
* Every bride wants to do something unique at her wedding. Create a dramatic, sweet-smelling entrance for guests by lining a walkway to the reception venue or reception tent with fresh rose petals. Also consider renting a bubble machine, available at retailers such as Wal-Mart, for some added ambiance and fun.
* Renting both table settings and white linen tablecloths can get expensive. Instead, consider purchasing clear glass plates from a discount retailer. Stack the salad plate on top of the dinner plate and place a large leaf between the two for a very pretty place setting. Buying plates is often less expensive than renting and the bride and groom can keep them for the years (and dinner parties) ahead.
* Remember to keep centerpieces either low enough or high enough so guests can see each other from across the table. A simple cake pedestal adorned with sugared fruits and a candle makes a beautiful and an inexpensive centerpiece. Add to the sugary sparkle by placing candles in votive candle holders to illuminate the centerpieces from underneath. Remember to place approximately half an inch of water in each candle holder or glass for easy removal of melted wax.
* For more formal wedding receptions, assigning guests to tables is considered proper etiquette but that doesn’t mean it has to be stuffy. Purchase large sugar cookies and pipe romantic words like “joy,” “hope,” “love,” and “forever” on each cookie. Place one cookie in each centerpiece to replace traditional numbered tables and have your place cards direct your guests to these romantically identified tables.
* Wedding favors that double as place cards can be made by purchasing sugar cookies from a local bakery that are iced in white. Pipe each guest’s names on the cookies in colored icing a day or two before the wedding. Place in cellophane bags, tied with a ribbon, and set at each guest’s place setting so guests know where to sit.
* Handmade keepsakes given out during the wedding reception are an easy and thoughtful way to thank the wedding party. Create beautiful, unique cards for the bridesmaids by purchasing simple white note cards, decorated with the wedding’s theme colors embellished with different fabrics or small trinkets purchased from a craft department. Write a cherished memory or personal note inside the card, which bridesmaids can keep for the years to come.
* And don’t forget the wedding cake, which can be very expensive, depending on the number of guests attending. Consider purchasing a decorated sheet cake from a local bakery in addition to a smaller tiered cake. Then marry them together as one elaborate cake with piping and rose petals. Brides and grooms may find that bakeries like those at a Wal-Mart Supercenter can make unique and cost-conscious tiered wedding cakes that are beautiful as well as delicious. Remember, all cakes are created equal -- flour, sugar, and butter -- so there’s no need to spend a fortune on one.
For more information visit Lee’s Web site, www.semihomemade.com, or the online wedding center available at www.walmart.com which has a bridal registry, cake ordering forms, budget forms, reception planning guides, and more for the bride and groom.
Courtesy of ARA Content
Wedding Videography in the Digital Age
What's the state of the wedding videography industry today? To find out, we talked with working wedding videographers, found industry statistics and fleshed out what is undoubtedly a flourishing business in a growing market. Although some might wonder if amateurs are moving in on the pros because of lower-cost gear and easier-to-use software, our consensus of wedding shooters and editors say that isn't so. We also took a look at the tools wedding videographers are using, and found out how the best wedding videographers are using the Web to open up new avenues of business for their bustling enterprises.
To get an idea of the size of the wedding videography market, first let's take a look at statistics that reveal the enormous amount of money spent on weddings in the United States. According to the American Wedding Study by Conde Nast's Bridal Infobank, in the last ten years spending on an average wedding has exploded by 50%, to an average of $22,360 per wedding this year, up from $15,208 in 1994. And, according to Richard Markel, President of the Association for Wedding Professionals International, of the $65 billion spent on weddings each year, "6% of the budget would be for video." Markel added, "But using the 6% of the estimated $65 billion spent will equate out to $390 million." This signals a wide-open market for wedding videography professionals. Markel continued, "We just had a show here in Sacramento and several of our videographers booked business with an average ticket price of $2,500."
Advertisement
Looking at those stats, wedding videography appears to be a growth industry. Let's do the math for a moment. Consider an experienced videographer , charging $2500 for an average wedding, shooting one wedding per week. In a year, that person has earned $130,000. But that would be a very hard-working videographer -- most of the videographers we talked to said they spent up to 40 hours editing each wedding video, meaning a weekly shoot would constitute nearly-constant travail with hardly any time off.
One great success story would be that of high-end videographer Kris Malandruccolo, whose company Elegant Videos by Kris has been operating in the Chicago area for the past 16 years. Her business can command as much as $5000 for a wedding video package, and regularly signs contracts for $3000 weddings. But the mother of three doesn't want to work all the time, so she limits herself. "Someone else could shoot four or five per month. But I average two or three weddings a month," she told Digital Media Net.
According to Luisa Winters, an award-winning videographer and editor who has her own wedding videography business, Unforgettable Events, most wedding videographers charge under $2000 for their services -- with higher-end wedding video companies charging as much as $15,000-$20,000. "I do not consider anyone a true professional unless they are able to make enough money to support themselves with this business," Winters told Digital Media Net. "Anything else is a side business. Supporting a family means different things depending on what part of the country you are located. If you are in a less expensive location, then less income will suffice -- and you are still professional," Winters added.
At prices of $2000-$5000 and up, it seems like amateurs would be interested in shooting their own wedding videos, or getting a friend or relative to take the controls of the family camcorder . But Internet message boards for wedding videographers are rife with stories of first-time videographers shooting an entire wedding ceremony with the camcorder on pause, only to find they began rolling after all was said and done, ending up with lots of artistic shots of the floor and nothing else. According to videographer /editor Luisa Winters, "The amateurs are taking a bite out of the wedding videographer business, but that is true only for the lower-end videographers." She thinks the lower-end shooters make things better for the higher end, increasing the quality gap between the two. "More-educated brides will expect to pay a lot more for a video that looks professional than they were willing to pay before the advent of such inexpensive equipment. The difference between an amateur wedding video and a professional one is huge, and people are willing to pay Top Dollar for the latter." Sometimes quality considerations can be quite basic, such as, can you hear what the bride and groom are saying? "You really have to worry about the audio part of it, you know. There's a lot involved," said Kris Malandruccolo, who in addition to being a successful wedding videographer is president of the Illinois Videographers Association.
Is the playing field being leveled by the profusion of low-cost, high quality equipment? According to Winters, "The quality of image and editing capabilities has become less important to the fact that now you have to be a better storyteller, you have to be a better artist... after all, we all have access to pen and paper, but we cannot all write the great American novel, right? Shakespeare and Mozart only had pen and paper to work with, and yet they gave us masterpieces that transcend time. Not all is determined by equipment."
Then there's the editing, which is a process many newlyweds aren't equipped to handle. "As you know, anyone in the business who edits knows it's a time-consuming process," said Malandruccolo. "I take tons of family videos but none of my personal stuff is edited, because there's no time. So if I wasn't getting paid, then I would not be editing, because it's so time-consuming, especially if you don't do it all the time. I think a lot of people, especially if they have the money, just want to say 'do it for me.'" Malandruccolo added that it's not just the time element that is a barrier to entry, but it's the professionalism required to create a polished production. "The end result is that you have a better quality video. Like I emphasize to my clients, this is a family heirloom. You only get one shot to do it right, and you can't do it over, so being that this is a family heirloom, if you look at it that way, then they're willing to invest the money into it. And I've never had a client say that they're sorry that they spent the money on video. Clients just don't say that," added Malandruccolo.
Wedding videography has changed significantly over the past 20 years, where digital video shooting and editing has brought highly sophisticated techniques to a type of video production that was once quite basic. In those days it was typical to spend about $1000 on a video that was a simple, point-and-shoot production, with all the editing taking place in the camera . But now, with the power of digital technology, videographers are taking advantage of 3-chip DV camcorders and sophisticated editing setups, resulting in extraordinary productions, many of which are true works of art.
For the shooting tasks, most wedding videographers use DV camcorders in the league of the Sony PD150 or VX 2000, Canon XL1 and GL2, or Panasonic 3-chip camcorders such as the AG-DVX100. Said Winters, "Most wedding videographers will use DV for acquisition (3-CCD), which is logical, because the cost is low, the quality is high, and above all, the weight of the camcorder is so low now, that videographers are able to be more creative with the smaller units than they were able to be, say, five or six years ago, when the cameras where huge. No longer do you have to have a big professional-looking camcorder to get good money videotaping weddings. In fact, many clients prefer the smaller units over the bigger ones, because they are less obtrusive."
Another staple of wedding coverage are wireless microphones, usually attached to the groom and strategically placed elsewhere, assuring that the most important words many people will ever speak will be clearly heard on the final product.
The biggest technological leap has been in editing, where even unsophisticated computers can create presentations that would have been possible only in a multi-million dollar edit suite 20 years ago. Apple Final Cut Pro is the most popular Mac application for editing, with Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5 leading the pack on the Windows side. Other wedding videographers use Sony Vegas, Pinnacle Liquid Edition , Avid Xpress , NewTek Video Toaster, Canopus Edius and others. Some videographers opt for real-time DV acceleration cards such as the RT.X100 from Matrox or the DVStorm2 from Canopus . One constant is obvious throughout the equipment decision arena -- people are staunchly devoted to the choices they've made. Winters said, "They're loyal, from fierce arguments about the superiority of an operating system or capture card to the inferiority of the competing product. My personal opinion is less partisan. To me an editing system is a tool and nothing more -- whatever works and makes me money is what I will use -- and in this case I have chosen Premiere Pro 1.5 and a Matrox RT.X100 capture card. I have both the real time card from Matrox and plain generic FireWire cards."
Another popular technique of today's wedding videography is multicamera production. At its most rudimentary level, a videographer will operate one camcorder while a second unmanned camcorder is set up on a tripod, taping the event from a different angle. For the reception, most of the time a single camcorder does all the shooting, with the other used as a backup. At its most sophisticated, a multicamera setup works in much the same way a network remote production would be configured, with multiple cameras attached to a switcher located in a separate room outside the venue. A director is in constant contact with each of the three, four or more camera operators via headsets, coordinating their shots while switching live between cameras while rolling tape in each camera for isolated footage that can be added in post.
Advanced technology also makes the final product delivered to clients much better, where a high quality DVD is now commonly handed to the client when all the shooting and editing is done. Formerly an extra-cost option for wedding video clients, DVDs have been working their way into the mainstream particularly over the past few years. Said Malandruccolo, "When I first started offering DVDs about three years ago, they were expensive. I had it as an add-on. Not everyone took it because not everyone had a DVD player. It's amazing how quickly that has changed, because now a lot of couples aren't even interested in a VHS copy except for Grandma." It's not surprising that DVDs have taken over as far as deliverables are concerned. With home DVD player prices now dipping below $50, and many computers including DVD burners and players as standard equipment, DVDs have become a ubiquitous delivery medium for videographers of all kinds. Perhaps the greatest benefit of this is the fact that finally clients can see the true quality of the video, virtually the same as the quality of the camcorder on which it was shot. That represents quite a quality difference from the VHS tapes that were the norm just a few short years ago. "So many times, I was shooting with a 3-chip camcorder , and I would have this beautiful miniDV master, but then the couple's walking out the door with VHS and I'm putting the master tape in a box in my studio. All that quality would go to waste," said Malandruccolo.
Every wedding videographer is intensely concerned with marketing, and high technology has been a boon to all involved. The biggest plus is the Web, with its ability to bring a tremendous volume of information to anyone with a computer. By far the most important innovation for wedding videography marketing is streaming video. Some reported to us that clients will not consider a videographer unless they can see a streaming video demo of the shooter's work on the Web. Where in years past a client would need to personally visit numerous videographers to see examples of their work, now a bride-to-be can visit twenty Web sites in an evening, picking a videographer whose style and pricing matches her taste and budget. Streaming video is also important after the wedding is shot as well. According to Richard Markel, President of the Association for Wedding Professionals International, streaming video lets clients show their wedding to the world. "The ability to email or add streaming video to a Web site is awesome -- now viewers that could not attend the wedding from around the world -- friends and family -- can view the wedding wherever they are," Markel said.
The Web has become so important on wedding marketing, that some videographers report a full 50% of their business is attracted via the Web. Clients can see the demo videos, get a price quote, and negotiate the entire shoot without ever seeing the videographer . "A lot of brides complement my Web site," said Malandruccolo, because they get the instant gratification of seeing samples immediately. "The majority have broadband connections so they can see the sample videos of past projects. I've booked brides without even meeting with them, just from them finding my Web site, clicking on the streaming video, calling me, talking price, and they'll say, 'All right. Send me a contract.' I feel if you're a videographer , if you want to get more business, you need to offer streaming video."
However, the Web isn't the only way to drum up business. As it has always been, another important tool is referrals, that age-old kind of word-of-mouth advertising where happy customers report their positive (or negative) wedding video results to others looking for the same service. Videographers such as Luisa Winters of Unforgettable Events see the Web as more of a reinforcement tool for referrals than an end-all. "The Web is great, but it is just a means of reinforcing what they have heard already through the referral, or if they are just surfing the net," she said. According to Winters, "By far, most clientele comes to us resulting from referrals from brides and other vendors -- in fact, we do not advertise at all." Surprisingly, she sees other wedding vendors as her allies, even if they are competing wedding videographers. "Many times my referrals come from other videographers that just cannot do the job for whatever reason -- mostly because they are already busy. Referrals, referrals, referrals -- that's the way to go!"
Attending a bridal show is another way for videographers to get the word out about their services. Brides-to-be attend these shows to see new trends and pick up ideas, and the number of videographers showing their wares at such events has increased over the years. According to Markel, "I have had videographers in my consumer bridal show over the last 15 years, however it was only one or two at most per show. But that's changing fast -- last week at our show we had 11." There are also exhibitions that are held specifically for wedding videographers, the biggest being the annual event held by WEVA, the Wedding and Event Videographers Association.
Another powerful way to attract attention to a videography business is by advertising in bridal publications. That's why Illinois Videographers Association president Kris Malandruccolo says it's a big advantage to be a part of an organization where videographers can band together. "We took out a co-op ad in Chicago Wedding Pages magazine and Wedding Guide Chicago, and in order to be on that co-op ad, you have to be a member of IVA. So we're able to advertise in magazines for less cost, because we're all going in on the ads." But even though Luisa Winters thinks ads are important, she adds that there's more to it than that. "He or she who markets best, wins," asserted Winters. "And notice that marketing is not only placing ads, it is building those relationships in the wedding business which will lead to referrals -- that is the marketing that counts the most."
All the wedding videographers interviewed were certain that amateurs are not overrunning their businesses in any significant way, although there were numerous examples of "newbies" who made valiant attempts but found out -- often too late -- that pro-level videography isn't as easy as it looks. Even though equipment prices and easy-to-use editing software has brought video-making into the mainstream, talent and experience, as well as hard work and shrewd marketing are still scarce qualities that make professional wedding videographers a valuable resource to the multi-billion dollar wedding industry.
To get an idea of the size of the wedding videography market, first let's take a look at statistics that reveal the enormous amount of money spent on weddings in the United States. According to the American Wedding Study by Conde Nast's Bridal Infobank, in the last ten years spending on an average wedding has exploded by 50%, to an average of $22,360 per wedding this year, up from $15,208 in 1994. And, according to Richard Markel, President of the Association for Wedding Professionals International, of the $65 billion spent on weddings each year, "6% of the budget would be for video." Markel added, "But using the 6% of the estimated $65 billion spent will equate out to $390 million." This signals a wide-open market for wedding videography professionals. Markel continued, "We just had a show here in Sacramento and several of our videographers booked business with an average ticket price of $2,500."
Advertisement
Looking at those stats, wedding videography appears to be a growth industry. Let's do the math for a moment. Consider an experienced videographer , charging $2500 for an average wedding, shooting one wedding per week. In a year, that person has earned $130,000. But that would be a very hard-working videographer -- most of the videographers we talked to said they spent up to 40 hours editing each wedding video, meaning a weekly shoot would constitute nearly-constant travail with hardly any time off.
One great success story would be that of high-end videographer Kris Malandruccolo, whose company Elegant Videos by Kris has been operating in the Chicago area for the past 16 years. Her business can command as much as $5000 for a wedding video package, and regularly signs contracts for $3000 weddings. But the mother of three doesn't want to work all the time, so she limits herself. "Someone else could shoot four or five per month. But I average two or three weddings a month," she told Digital Media Net.
According to Luisa Winters, an award-winning videographer and editor who has her own wedding videography business, Unforgettable Events, most wedding videographers charge under $2000 for their services -- with higher-end wedding video companies charging as much as $15,000-$20,000. "I do not consider anyone a true professional unless they are able to make enough money to support themselves with this business," Winters told Digital Media Net. "Anything else is a side business. Supporting a family means different things depending on what part of the country you are located. If you are in a less expensive location, then less income will suffice -- and you are still professional," Winters added.
At prices of $2000-$5000 and up, it seems like amateurs would be interested in shooting their own wedding videos, or getting a friend or relative to take the controls of the family camcorder . But Internet message boards for wedding videographers are rife with stories of first-time videographers shooting an entire wedding ceremony with the camcorder on pause, only to find they began rolling after all was said and done, ending up with lots of artistic shots of the floor and nothing else. According to videographer /editor Luisa Winters, "The amateurs are taking a bite out of the wedding videographer business, but that is true only for the lower-end videographers." She thinks the lower-end shooters make things better for the higher end, increasing the quality gap between the two. "More-educated brides will expect to pay a lot more for a video that looks professional than they were willing to pay before the advent of such inexpensive equipment. The difference between an amateur wedding video and a professional one is huge, and people are willing to pay Top Dollar for the latter." Sometimes quality considerations can be quite basic, such as, can you hear what the bride and groom are saying? "You really have to worry about the audio part of it, you know. There's a lot involved," said Kris Malandruccolo, who in addition to being a successful wedding videographer is president of the Illinois Videographers Association.
Is the playing field being leveled by the profusion of low-cost, high quality equipment? According to Winters, "The quality of image and editing capabilities has become less important to the fact that now you have to be a better storyteller, you have to be a better artist... after all, we all have access to pen and paper, but we cannot all write the great American novel, right? Shakespeare and Mozart only had pen and paper to work with, and yet they gave us masterpieces that transcend time. Not all is determined by equipment."
Then there's the editing, which is a process many newlyweds aren't equipped to handle. "As you know, anyone in the business who edits knows it's a time-consuming process," said Malandruccolo. "I take tons of family videos but none of my personal stuff is edited, because there's no time. So if I wasn't getting paid, then I would not be editing, because it's so time-consuming, especially if you don't do it all the time. I think a lot of people, especially if they have the money, just want to say 'do it for me.'" Malandruccolo added that it's not just the time element that is a barrier to entry, but it's the professionalism required to create a polished production. "The end result is that you have a better quality video. Like I emphasize to my clients, this is a family heirloom. You only get one shot to do it right, and you can't do it over, so being that this is a family heirloom, if you look at it that way, then they're willing to invest the money into it. And I've never had a client say that they're sorry that they spent the money on video. Clients just don't say that," added Malandruccolo.
Wedding videography has changed significantly over the past 20 years, where digital video shooting and editing has brought highly sophisticated techniques to a type of video production that was once quite basic. In those days it was typical to spend about $1000 on a video that was a simple, point-and-shoot production, with all the editing taking place in the camera . But now, with the power of digital technology, videographers are taking advantage of 3-chip DV camcorders and sophisticated editing setups, resulting in extraordinary productions, many of which are true works of art.
For the shooting tasks, most wedding videographers use DV camcorders in the league of the Sony PD150 or VX 2000, Canon XL1 and GL2, or Panasonic 3-chip camcorders such as the AG-DVX100. Said Winters, "Most wedding videographers will use DV for acquisition (3-CCD), which is logical, because the cost is low, the quality is high, and above all, the weight of the camcorder is so low now, that videographers are able to be more creative with the smaller units than they were able to be, say, five or six years ago, when the cameras where huge. No longer do you have to have a big professional-looking camcorder to get good money videotaping weddings. In fact, many clients prefer the smaller units over the bigger ones, because they are less obtrusive."
Another staple of wedding coverage are wireless microphones, usually attached to the groom and strategically placed elsewhere, assuring that the most important words many people will ever speak will be clearly heard on the final product.
The biggest technological leap has been in editing, where even unsophisticated computers can create presentations that would have been possible only in a multi-million dollar edit suite 20 years ago. Apple Final Cut Pro is the most popular Mac application for editing, with Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5 leading the pack on the Windows side. Other wedding videographers use Sony Vegas, Pinnacle Liquid Edition , Avid Xpress , NewTek Video Toaster, Canopus Edius and others. Some videographers opt for real-time DV acceleration cards such as the RT.X100 from Matrox or the DVStorm2 from Canopus . One constant is obvious throughout the equipment decision arena -- people are staunchly devoted to the choices they've made. Winters said, "They're loyal, from fierce arguments about the superiority of an operating system or capture card to the inferiority of the competing product. My personal opinion is less partisan. To me an editing system is a tool and nothing more -- whatever works and makes me money is what I will use -- and in this case I have chosen Premiere Pro 1.5 and a Matrox RT.X100 capture card. I have both the real time card from Matrox and plain generic FireWire cards."
Another popular technique of today's wedding videography is multicamera production. At its most rudimentary level, a videographer will operate one camcorder while a second unmanned camcorder is set up on a tripod, taping the event from a different angle. For the reception, most of the time a single camcorder does all the shooting, with the other used as a backup. At its most sophisticated, a multicamera setup works in much the same way a network remote production would be configured, with multiple cameras attached to a switcher located in a separate room outside the venue. A director is in constant contact with each of the three, four or more camera operators via headsets, coordinating their shots while switching live between cameras while rolling tape in each camera for isolated footage that can be added in post.
Advanced technology also makes the final product delivered to clients much better, where a high quality DVD is now commonly handed to the client when all the shooting and editing is done. Formerly an extra-cost option for wedding video clients, DVDs have been working their way into the mainstream particularly over the past few years. Said Malandruccolo, "When I first started offering DVDs about three years ago, they were expensive. I had it as an add-on. Not everyone took it because not everyone had a DVD player. It's amazing how quickly that has changed, because now a lot of couples aren't even interested in a VHS copy except for Grandma." It's not surprising that DVDs have taken over as far as deliverables are concerned. With home DVD player prices now dipping below $50, and many computers including DVD burners and players as standard equipment, DVDs have become a ubiquitous delivery medium for videographers of all kinds. Perhaps the greatest benefit of this is the fact that finally clients can see the true quality of the video, virtually the same as the quality of the camcorder on which it was shot. That represents quite a quality difference from the VHS tapes that were the norm just a few short years ago. "So many times, I was shooting with a 3-chip camcorder , and I would have this beautiful miniDV master, but then the couple's walking out the door with VHS and I'm putting the master tape in a box in my studio. All that quality would go to waste," said Malandruccolo.
Every wedding videographer is intensely concerned with marketing, and high technology has been a boon to all involved. The biggest plus is the Web, with its ability to bring a tremendous volume of information to anyone with a computer. By far the most important innovation for wedding videography marketing is streaming video. Some reported to us that clients will not consider a videographer unless they can see a streaming video demo of the shooter's work on the Web. Where in years past a client would need to personally visit numerous videographers to see examples of their work, now a bride-to-be can visit twenty Web sites in an evening, picking a videographer whose style and pricing matches her taste and budget. Streaming video is also important after the wedding is shot as well. According to Richard Markel, President of the Association for Wedding Professionals International, streaming video lets clients show their wedding to the world. "The ability to email or add streaming video to a Web site is awesome -- now viewers that could not attend the wedding from around the world -- friends and family -- can view the wedding wherever they are," Markel said.
The Web has become so important on wedding marketing, that some videographers report a full 50% of their business is attracted via the Web. Clients can see the demo videos, get a price quote, and negotiate the entire shoot without ever seeing the videographer . "A lot of brides complement my Web site," said Malandruccolo, because they get the instant gratification of seeing samples immediately. "The majority have broadband connections so they can see the sample videos of past projects. I've booked brides without even meeting with them, just from them finding my Web site, clicking on the streaming video, calling me, talking price, and they'll say, 'All right. Send me a contract.' I feel if you're a videographer , if you want to get more business, you need to offer streaming video."
However, the Web isn't the only way to drum up business. As it has always been, another important tool is referrals, that age-old kind of word-of-mouth advertising where happy customers report their positive (or negative) wedding video results to others looking for the same service. Videographers such as Luisa Winters of Unforgettable Events see the Web as more of a reinforcement tool for referrals than an end-all. "The Web is great, but it is just a means of reinforcing what they have heard already through the referral, or if they are just surfing the net," she said. According to Winters, "By far, most clientele comes to us resulting from referrals from brides and other vendors -- in fact, we do not advertise at all." Surprisingly, she sees other wedding vendors as her allies, even if they are competing wedding videographers. "Many times my referrals come from other videographers that just cannot do the job for whatever reason -- mostly because they are already busy. Referrals, referrals, referrals -- that's the way to go!"
Attending a bridal show is another way for videographers to get the word out about their services. Brides-to-be attend these shows to see new trends and pick up ideas, and the number of videographers showing their wares at such events has increased over the years. According to Markel, "I have had videographers in my consumer bridal show over the last 15 years, however it was only one or two at most per show. But that's changing fast -- last week at our show we had 11." There are also exhibitions that are held specifically for wedding videographers, the biggest being the annual event held by WEVA, the Wedding and Event Videographers Association.
Another powerful way to attract attention to a videography business is by advertising in bridal publications. That's why Illinois Videographers Association president Kris Malandruccolo says it's a big advantage to be a part of an organization where videographers can band together. "We took out a co-op ad in Chicago Wedding Pages magazine and Wedding Guide Chicago, and in order to be on that co-op ad, you have to be a member of IVA. So we're able to advertise in magazines for less cost, because we're all going in on the ads." But even though Luisa Winters thinks ads are important, she adds that there's more to it than that. "He or she who markets best, wins," asserted Winters. "And notice that marketing is not only placing ads, it is building those relationships in the wedding business which will lead to referrals -- that is the marketing that counts the most."
All the wedding videographers interviewed were certain that amateurs are not overrunning their businesses in any significant way, although there were numerous examples of "newbies" who made valiant attempts but found out -- often too late -- that pro-level videography isn't as easy as it looks. Even though equipment prices and easy-to-use editing software has brought video-making into the mainstream, talent and experience, as well as hard work and shrewd marketing are still scarce qualities that make professional wedding videographers a valuable resource to the multi-billion dollar wedding industry.
Weddings the Greek Orthodox Way
The wedding service in the Greek Orthodox faith is an ancient and beautiful ceremony, which has been celebrated in its current form for centuries. The wedding ceremony is full of symbolism and is a great experience if you have never attended one before, because it is likely to be quite different from other weddings you have attended in Western Europe. The service is also rather unique because the bride and groom do not make vows to each other – their presence together in the church is taken to mean that they are serious about getting married. There are no wedding rehearsals and the ceremony usually has a very relaxed atmosphere - guests take photos whenever they want to and often chat quietly among themselves throughout the ceremony.
The Beginning of the Wedding
In most cases the wedding guests will wait with the groom outside the church until the bride arrives (a few sneaky wedding pros will go into the church early to secure a good seat). In the Summer, when most weddings take place, it is not unusual for ceremonies to be arranged back to back, so the guests attending a marriage will often stand around with those who have just attended the previous wedding are ready to leave. Wedding dress commentators among the crowd will get to consider and discuss at least two brides and maybe even a third as they leave the church – bargain! Meanwhile, the groom waits for the bride at the entrance to the church, often holding her floral bouquet. He hands it to her as they meet and they then go inside together followed by the guests. There is no separation of the guests into guests of the bride and guests of the groom – everyone sits together and in the case of small churches, many people prefer to stand in a spot where they can get a good view of the proceedings.
Service of Betrothal
The wedding ceremony itself is in two parts: the Service of Betrothal and the Ceremony of the Sacrament of Marriage. The exchanging of rings is the focus of the Service of Betrothal. The priest blesses the rings by holding them in his right hand and making the sign of the cross over the heads of the bride and groom. The rings are then placed on the third fingers of their right hands. The "Koumbaro", the couple’s religious sponsor, then swaps the rings over between the bride and groom’s fingers, three times. A number of rituals in the ceremony are repeated three times and this symbolises the Holy Trinity: God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Ceremony of the Sacrament of Marriage
This Ceremony consists of several key parts. First, several prayers are said and then as they come to an end, the priest joins the right hands of the bride and groom. Their hands remain joined until the end of the wedding ceremony, which symbolises the couple’s union.
The Crowning
The bride and groom are crowned with thin crowns, or "stefana", which are joined by a white ribbon and have been blessed by the priest. The crowns symbolise the glory and honour that is being bestowed on them by God, and the the ribbon symbolises their unity. The "Koumbaro" then exchanges the crowns between the heads of the couple, three times.
The Common Cup
The crowning is followed by a reading of the Gospel, which tells of the marriage of Cana at Galilee. It was at this wedding that Jesus performed his first miracle, changing water into wine, which was then given to the married couple. Wine is given to the couple and they each drink from it three times.
The Ceremonial Walk
The priest the leads the couple, who are still wearing their "stefana", three times around the altar on their first steps as a married couple. The "Koumbaro" follows close behind the couple holding the stefana place. At this point the couple (and anyone standing nearby) is usually showered with rice, which was earlier handed out to the wedding guests. The priest will often make use of the bible he is holding to give himself some protection!
The Removal of the Crowns
When the Ceremonial Walk has ended, the priest blesses the couple, the crowns are removed and he then separates their previously joined hands with the bible, reminding them that only God can break the union which they have just entered into.
Wedding traditions
Unfortunately, a lot of the information available on Greek Orthodox wedding traditions is a little outdated and contains generalisations that give the impression that certain traditions are followed by everyone who gets married. Some of these traditions are set out below.
- The baking of bread and cakes containing coins.
- Rolling a baby on the marital bed to encourage fertility.
- The throwing of money onto the marital bed.
- The pinning of money onto the bride (and sometimes also the groom) at the wedding reception.
Although these rituals are seen as traditional, fewer and fewer young people marrying today are following them, because they are seen as old-fashioned. Many people do not wish to put their guests through the ordeal of other people being able to see how much money they pin on the bride, for example. Although money is still a very common, as well as practical, wedding present it is often given to the couple before the wedding day or to a third person at the wedding reception, for safe-keeping. Greeks living in the more remote parts of Greece and abroad, who will naturally feel more strongly about doing things the traditional way, are more likely to follow these traditions than those living in Athens, for example. Like weddings in many places, Greek weddings are changing. At the time of writing, there is a growing fashion to go and get married on an island and I recently heard someone say that he was looking into getting married in a ski resort. He was wisely advised by a friend: “You had better first ask the priest if he wants to perform a marriage up a mountain”!
The Beginning of the Wedding
In most cases the wedding guests will wait with the groom outside the church until the bride arrives (a few sneaky wedding pros will go into the church early to secure a good seat). In the Summer, when most weddings take place, it is not unusual for ceremonies to be arranged back to back, so the guests attending a marriage will often stand around with those who have just attended the previous wedding are ready to leave. Wedding dress commentators among the crowd will get to consider and discuss at least two brides and maybe even a third as they leave the church – bargain! Meanwhile, the groom waits for the bride at the entrance to the church, often holding her floral bouquet. He hands it to her as they meet and they then go inside together followed by the guests. There is no separation of the guests into guests of the bride and guests of the groom – everyone sits together and in the case of small churches, many people prefer to stand in a spot where they can get a good view of the proceedings.
Service of Betrothal
The wedding ceremony itself is in two parts: the Service of Betrothal and the Ceremony of the Sacrament of Marriage. The exchanging of rings is the focus of the Service of Betrothal. The priest blesses the rings by holding them in his right hand and making the sign of the cross over the heads of the bride and groom. The rings are then placed on the third fingers of their right hands. The "Koumbaro", the couple’s religious sponsor, then swaps the rings over between the bride and groom’s fingers, three times. A number of rituals in the ceremony are repeated three times and this symbolises the Holy Trinity: God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Ceremony of the Sacrament of Marriage
This Ceremony consists of several key parts. First, several prayers are said and then as they come to an end, the priest joins the right hands of the bride and groom. Their hands remain joined until the end of the wedding ceremony, which symbolises the couple’s union.
The Crowning
The bride and groom are crowned with thin crowns, or "stefana", which are joined by a white ribbon and have been blessed by the priest. The crowns symbolise the glory and honour that is being bestowed on them by God, and the the ribbon symbolises their unity. The "Koumbaro" then exchanges the crowns between the heads of the couple, three times.
The Common Cup
The crowning is followed by a reading of the Gospel, which tells of the marriage of Cana at Galilee. It was at this wedding that Jesus performed his first miracle, changing water into wine, which was then given to the married couple. Wine is given to the couple and they each drink from it three times.
The Ceremonial Walk
The priest the leads the couple, who are still wearing their "stefana", three times around the altar on their first steps as a married couple. The "Koumbaro" follows close behind the couple holding the stefana place. At this point the couple (and anyone standing nearby) is usually showered with rice, which was earlier handed out to the wedding guests. The priest will often make use of the bible he is holding to give himself some protection!
The Removal of the Crowns
When the Ceremonial Walk has ended, the priest blesses the couple, the crowns are removed and he then separates their previously joined hands with the bible, reminding them that only God can break the union which they have just entered into.
Wedding traditions
Unfortunately, a lot of the information available on Greek Orthodox wedding traditions is a little outdated and contains generalisations that give the impression that certain traditions are followed by everyone who gets married. Some of these traditions are set out below.
- The baking of bread and cakes containing coins.
- Rolling a baby on the marital bed to encourage fertility.
- The throwing of money onto the marital bed.
- The pinning of money onto the bride (and sometimes also the groom) at the wedding reception.
Although these rituals are seen as traditional, fewer and fewer young people marrying today are following them, because they are seen as old-fashioned. Many people do not wish to put their guests through the ordeal of other people being able to see how much money they pin on the bride, for example. Although money is still a very common, as well as practical, wedding present it is often given to the couple before the wedding day or to a third person at the wedding reception, for safe-keeping. Greeks living in the more remote parts of Greece and abroad, who will naturally feel more strongly about doing things the traditional way, are more likely to follow these traditions than those living in Athens, for example. Like weddings in many places, Greek weddings are changing. At the time of writing, there is a growing fashion to go and get married on an island and I recently heard someone say that he was looking into getting married in a ski resort. He was wisely advised by a friend: “You had better first ask the priest if he wants to perform a marriage up a mountain”!
Don't let a friend shoot your wedding
Your wedding budget is starting to get a little high and you need to cut a few corners to save some cash and so you ask your buddy to get behind the camera. Wrong move. Never let your friend, be it your best friend or even a close family member, run the camera at your wedding. There are a few reasons for this.
First off, there is so much more involved in capturing a wedding on video than your friend will think about. Sound, lighting, positioning, framing, storyline, style, each of these broad categories has numerous tiny little elements where if one is off the whole thing doesn't look or sound right. Normally a friend will wait until the last minute to get equipment and then not know what they need usually showing up with a less than quality camcorder and only a built in microphone. Batteries, tapes, they don't think about these things. The less they know, the less they will show up with.
Secondly, holding a camcorder and capturing a wedding and reception isn't like being there enjoying the moment, It's work and you need to concentrate on what your doing such as how the shot looks, sounds, where you need to be next, iris, focus, and a bunch of other little nuances. That lends very little time to enjoy the wedding and the people involved which is what you want your family and friends to do while they are there.
Lastly, if something should go wrong it could possibly ruin a friendship. It's happened many times before and will happen again, a friend wants to be involved with the wedding and only shoots a little bit of footage and not good video because he wants to get that part over with. Or, he forgets the sound, or he forgets to hit record, or he's out of focus or he just doesn't know where to be and when, all in all the video recorded isn't good and most of your wedding is unusable. This will definitely put a strain on any friendship because a wedding video is very important, avoid this potential hazardous situation and hire someone, outsource the videographer, it's your best bet.
First off, there is so much more involved in capturing a wedding on video than your friend will think about. Sound, lighting, positioning, framing, storyline, style, each of these broad categories has numerous tiny little elements where if one is off the whole thing doesn't look or sound right. Normally a friend will wait until the last minute to get equipment and then not know what they need usually showing up with a less than quality camcorder and only a built in microphone. Batteries, tapes, they don't think about these things. The less they know, the less they will show up with.
Secondly, holding a camcorder and capturing a wedding and reception isn't like being there enjoying the moment, It's work and you need to concentrate on what your doing such as how the shot looks, sounds, where you need to be next, iris, focus, and a bunch of other little nuances. That lends very little time to enjoy the wedding and the people involved which is what you want your family and friends to do while they are there.
Lastly, if something should go wrong it could possibly ruin a friendship. It's happened many times before and will happen again, a friend wants to be involved with the wedding and only shoots a little bit of footage and not good video because he wants to get that part over with. Or, he forgets the sound, or he forgets to hit record, or he's out of focus or he just doesn't know where to be and when, all in all the video recorded isn't good and most of your wedding is unusable. This will definitely put a strain on any friendship because a wedding video is very important, avoid this potential hazardous situation and hire someone, outsource the videographer, it's your best bet.
Guide to the Greek Orthodox Wedding Ceremony
The wedding service in the Greek Orthodox faith is an ancient and beautiful ceremony, which has been celebrated in its current form for centuries. The wedding ceremony is full of symbolism and is a great experience if you have never attended one before, because it is likely to be quite different from other weddings you have attended in Western Europe. The service is also rather unique because the bride and groom do not make vows to each other – their presence together in the church is taken to mean that they are serious about getting married.
The Beginning of the Wedding
In most cases the wedding guests will wait with the groom outside the church until the bride arrives (a few sneaky wedding pros will go into the church early to secure a good seat). In the Summer, when most weddings take place, it is not unusual for ceremonies to be arranged back to back, so the guests attending a marriage will often stand around with those who have just attended the previous wedding as they prepare to leave. Wedding dress commentators among the crowd will get to consider and discuss at least two brides and maybe even a third as they leave the church – bargain! Meanwhile, the nervous groom waits for the bride at the entrance to the church, often holding her floral bouquet. He hands it to her as they meet and they then go inside together followed by the guests. There is no separation of the guests into guests of the bride and guests of the groom – everyone sits together and in the case of small churches, many people prefer to stand in a spot where they can get a good view of the proceedings.
Service of Betrothal
The wedding ceremony itself is in two parts: the Service of Betrothal and the Ceremony of the Sacrament of Marriage. The exchanging of rings is the focus of the Service of Betrothal. The priest blesses the rings by holding them in his right hand and making the sign of the cross over the heads of the bride and groom. The rings are then placed on the third fingers of their right hands. The “Koumbaro”, the couple’s religious sponsor, then swaps the rings over between the bride and groom’s fingers, three times. A number of rituals in the ceremony are repeated three times and this symbolises the Holy Trinity: God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Ceremony of the Sacrament of Marriage
This Ceremony consists of several key parts. First, several prayers are said and then as they come to an end, the priest joins the right hands of the bride and groom. Their hands remain joined until the end of the wedding ceremony, which symbolises the couple’s union.
The Crowning
The bride and groom are crowned with thin crowns, or “stefana”, which are joined by a white ribbon and have been blessed by the priest. The crowns symbolise the glory and honour that is being bestowed on them by God, and the the ribbon symbolises their unity. The “Koumbaro” then exchanges the crowns between the heads of the couple, three times.
The Common Cup
The crowning is followed by a reading of the Gospel, which tells of the marriage of Cana at Galilee. It was at this wedding that Jesus performed his first miracle, changing water into wine, which was then given to the married couple. Wine is given to the couple and they each drink from it three times.
The Ceremonial Walk
The priest the leads the couple, who are still wearing their “stefana”, three times around the altar on their first steps as a married couple. The “Koumbaro” follows close behind the couple holding the “stefana” place. At this point the couple (and anyone standing nearby) is usually showered with rice, which was earlier handed out to the wedding guests. The priest will often make use of the bible he is holding to give himself some protection!
The Removal of the Crowns
When the Ceremonial Walk has ended, the priest blesses the couple, the crowns are removed and he then separates their previously joined hands with the bible, reminding them that only God can break the union which they have just entered into.
Wedding traditions
Much of the information available on Greek Orthodox wedding traditions is a little outdated and contains generalisations that give the impression that certain traditions are followed by everyone who gets married. Some of these traditions are set out below
- Rolling a baby on the marital bed to encourage fertility.
- The throwing of money onto the marital bed.
- The pinning of money onto the bride (and sometimes also the groom) at the wedding reception.
Although these rituals are seen as traditional, fewer and fewer young people marrying today are following them, because they are seen as old-fashioned. Many people do not wish to put their guests through the ordeal of other people being able to see how much money they pin on the bride, for example. Although money is still a very common, as well as practical, wedding present it is often given to the couple before the wedding day or to a third person at the wedding reception, for safe-keeping. Greeks living in the more remote parts of Greece and abroad, who will naturally feel more strongly about doing things the traditional way, are more likely to follow these traditions than those living in Athens, for example. Like weddings everywhere, Greek weddings are changing. At the time of writing, there is a growing fashion to go and get married on an island and I recently heard someone say that he was looking into getting married in a ski resort. He was wisely advised by a friend “You had better first ask the priest if he wants to perform a marriage up a mountain”!
The Beginning of the Wedding
In most cases the wedding guests will wait with the groom outside the church until the bride arrives (a few sneaky wedding pros will go into the church early to secure a good seat). In the Summer, when most weddings take place, it is not unusual for ceremonies to be arranged back to back, so the guests attending a marriage will often stand around with those who have just attended the previous wedding as they prepare to leave. Wedding dress commentators among the crowd will get to consider and discuss at least two brides and maybe even a third as they leave the church – bargain! Meanwhile, the nervous groom waits for the bride at the entrance to the church, often holding her floral bouquet. He hands it to her as they meet and they then go inside together followed by the guests. There is no separation of the guests into guests of the bride and guests of the groom – everyone sits together and in the case of small churches, many people prefer to stand in a spot where they can get a good view of the proceedings.
Service of Betrothal
The wedding ceremony itself is in two parts: the Service of Betrothal and the Ceremony of the Sacrament of Marriage. The exchanging of rings is the focus of the Service of Betrothal. The priest blesses the rings by holding them in his right hand and making the sign of the cross over the heads of the bride and groom. The rings are then placed on the third fingers of their right hands. The “Koumbaro”, the couple’s religious sponsor, then swaps the rings over between the bride and groom’s fingers, three times. A number of rituals in the ceremony are repeated three times and this symbolises the Holy Trinity: God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Ceremony of the Sacrament of Marriage
This Ceremony consists of several key parts. First, several prayers are said and then as they come to an end, the priest joins the right hands of the bride and groom. Their hands remain joined until the end of the wedding ceremony, which symbolises the couple’s union.
The Crowning
The bride and groom are crowned with thin crowns, or “stefana”, which are joined by a white ribbon and have been blessed by the priest. The crowns symbolise the glory and honour that is being bestowed on them by God, and the the ribbon symbolises their unity. The “Koumbaro” then exchanges the crowns between the heads of the couple, three times.
The Common Cup
The crowning is followed by a reading of the Gospel, which tells of the marriage of Cana at Galilee. It was at this wedding that Jesus performed his first miracle, changing water into wine, which was then given to the married couple. Wine is given to the couple and they each drink from it three times.
The Ceremonial Walk
The priest the leads the couple, who are still wearing their “stefana”, three times around the altar on their first steps as a married couple. The “Koumbaro” follows close behind the couple holding the “stefana” place. At this point the couple (and anyone standing nearby) is usually showered with rice, which was earlier handed out to the wedding guests. The priest will often make use of the bible he is holding to give himself some protection!
The Removal of the Crowns
When the Ceremonial Walk has ended, the priest blesses the couple, the crowns are removed and he then separates their previously joined hands with the bible, reminding them that only God can break the union which they have just entered into.
Wedding traditions
Much of the information available on Greek Orthodox wedding traditions is a little outdated and contains generalisations that give the impression that certain traditions are followed by everyone who gets married. Some of these traditions are set out below
- Rolling a baby on the marital bed to encourage fertility.
- The throwing of money onto the marital bed.
- The pinning of money onto the bride (and sometimes also the groom) at the wedding reception.
Although these rituals are seen as traditional, fewer and fewer young people marrying today are following them, because they are seen as old-fashioned. Many people do not wish to put their guests through the ordeal of other people being able to see how much money they pin on the bride, for example. Although money is still a very common, as well as practical, wedding present it is often given to the couple before the wedding day or to a third person at the wedding reception, for safe-keeping. Greeks living in the more remote parts of Greece and abroad, who will naturally feel more strongly about doing things the traditional way, are more likely to follow these traditions than those living in Athens, for example. Like weddings everywhere, Greek weddings are changing. At the time of writing, there is a growing fashion to go and get married on an island and I recently heard someone say that he was looking into getting married in a ski resort. He was wisely advised by a friend “You had better first ask the priest if he wants to perform a marriage up a mountain”!
Top 10 Wedding Decoration Budget Tips
When it comes to choosing your wedding decorations, you must decide on your theme. Once you have done this, you can then make your decisions about the budget that you will have.
Here are the top 10 tips that you should know in order to lower the cost of your wedding decorations.
1. Decide on the essential items that you must have first and then worry about the extras.
2. Hand make the centerpieces yourself using items priced toward your budget.
3. Using artificial flowers is cheaper than fresh flowers unless you pick them yourself from a field.
4. Skip the extra wedding favors and focus more attention on decoration detail.
5. Never go over your budget because you set it up for a reason
6. For smaller items like candles, candle holders, small laces etc. visit your nearby dollar store.
7. Never underestimate the elegance of basic décor. Sometimes minimal is best.
8. Some very versatile items that can make a beautiful decorations include: clay pots, plastic bowls/vases, faux flowers, pearls, balloons, pillar candles, rhinestones, and empty wine bottles.
9. Tissue paper roses and flowers give off a beautiful look to any decorating style and they are quick and easy to make.
10. A word to wise is that your decorations should not even amount to half of the money that is spent on the reception.
Here are the top 10 tips that you should know in order to lower the cost of your wedding decorations.
1. Decide on the essential items that you must have first and then worry about the extras.
2. Hand make the centerpieces yourself using items priced toward your budget.
3. Using artificial flowers is cheaper than fresh flowers unless you pick them yourself from a field.
4. Skip the extra wedding favors and focus more attention on decoration detail.
5. Never go over your budget because you set it up for a reason
6. For smaller items like candles, candle holders, small laces etc. visit your nearby dollar store.
7. Never underestimate the elegance of basic décor. Sometimes minimal is best.
8. Some very versatile items that can make a beautiful decorations include: clay pots, plastic bowls/vases, faux flowers, pearls, balloons, pillar candles, rhinestones, and empty wine bottles.
9. Tissue paper roses and flowers give off a beautiful look to any decorating style and they are quick and easy to make.
10. A word to wise is that your decorations should not even amount to half of the money that is spent on the reception.
Honeymoon
Weddings are stressful. No matter how much planning and preparation you do the stress levels never seem to go down. There always seems to be that opportunity for things to go wrong. So why not reward yourself with a fantastic holiday at the end of it?
One of the biggest things the bride and groom have to look forward to is their Honeymoon. Personally I would never recommend delaying the honeymoon particularly for work commitments. You will find you need this time to chill after an enjoyable but stressful period.
The Wedding Day takes so much preparation and planning that the Honeymoon is the ideal way for the bride and groom to relax, de-stress and enjoy their first few days or weeks of married life together.
Where to go on your Honeymoon can be as big a decision as any of the other Wedding Day decisions you have just spent weeks if not months making. Do you both like the same things when on holiday or are you going to have to find compromise with your Honeymoon destination?
Some of the more popular Honeymoon choices are all-inclusive resorts where everything is paid for in advance. For a Honeymoon this can be the ideal choice after the expense of the Wedding. You can order snacks, meals and refreshments without worry about a final bill.
Many people envisage themselves on Honeymoon relaxing surf side with a cocktail in hand, the sun high in the sky and everything done for you. But if that's not your idea of a good time then why not Honeymoon somewhere that little bit different. Honeymoon in the mountains at a secluded ski resort has a certain appeal.
What time of year your Wedding takes place can have a bearing on where you choose for your Honeymoon destination. If you have chosen a winter wedding then you may want to continue the theme whilst on Honeymoon and a ski resort with roaring fire is ideal. Maybe you want the complete opposite and are looking for some winter sun on Honeymoon.
Whatever it is that you are looking for on Honeymoon spending time with your partner after the stress of the Wedding is the most important thing. Use your Honeymoon to unwind and relax and wherever you go.....have a ball!
One of the biggest things the bride and groom have to look forward to is their Honeymoon. Personally I would never recommend delaying the honeymoon particularly for work commitments. You will find you need this time to chill after an enjoyable but stressful period.
The Wedding Day takes so much preparation and planning that the Honeymoon is the ideal way for the bride and groom to relax, de-stress and enjoy their first few days or weeks of married life together.
Where to go on your Honeymoon can be as big a decision as any of the other Wedding Day decisions you have just spent weeks if not months making. Do you both like the same things when on holiday or are you going to have to find compromise with your Honeymoon destination?
Some of the more popular Honeymoon choices are all-inclusive resorts where everything is paid for in advance. For a Honeymoon this can be the ideal choice after the expense of the Wedding. You can order snacks, meals and refreshments without worry about a final bill.
Many people envisage themselves on Honeymoon relaxing surf side with a cocktail in hand, the sun high in the sky and everything done for you. But if that's not your idea of a good time then why not Honeymoon somewhere that little bit different. Honeymoon in the mountains at a secluded ski resort has a certain appeal.
What time of year your Wedding takes place can have a bearing on where you choose for your Honeymoon destination. If you have chosen a winter wedding then you may want to continue the theme whilst on Honeymoon and a ski resort with roaring fire is ideal. Maybe you want the complete opposite and are looking for some winter sun on Honeymoon.
Whatever it is that you are looking for on Honeymoon spending time with your partner after the stress of the Wedding is the most important thing. Use your Honeymoon to unwind and relax and wherever you go.....have a ball!
How to Save on Wedding Catering Services
If you're not being able to pay for a wedding catering service to fully cater your event you can save with some low-cost ideas. If presented with flair, even the simplest of foods can be special. Don't forget about the wedding cake and the beverages. As a rule of thumb, buffets are cheaper than sit-downs because of less staff needed by the catering service.
Here are four ideas that can help save on the catering services.
1. Salad Luncheon/Reception
If the wedding is late morning you can provide a wonderful salad luncheon. It's cheaper than a sit-down meal and you can offer a wide selection of salads with salads dressings, fruits and breads.
2. Hors d'oeuvres Reception - Deli/Party Trays Reception
This event is best placed between 11:00 AM and 5:00 PM or after an evening wedding. Light finger foods should be provided, like fruit and vegetable platters, chips and dips, and crackers. You can also provide more substantial foods like meat and cheese trays, oysters, shrimp cocktails chicken wings and egg rolls.
3. Decadent Dessert Reception or Dessert Party
It's appropriate between 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM and after an evening wedding. An extensive assortment of rich desserts should be served, and beverages like coffee and tea.
4. A Simple Cake and Punch Reception
As long as it's not during meal time you can let your guests serve cake. You can have a simple and elegant cake and punch reception. The planning should be for the mid morning, afternoon or after an evening wedding. You should make sure that your guests are informed in time that they will not receive a full meal.
There are a lot more ideas that you can find online about how to reduce the cost on the wedding catering services and still have an enjoyable event, just search on google and you'll see.
Here are four ideas that can help save on the catering services.
1. Salad Luncheon/Reception
If the wedding is late morning you can provide a wonderful salad luncheon. It's cheaper than a sit-down meal and you can offer a wide selection of salads with salads dressings, fruits and breads.
2. Hors d'oeuvres Reception - Deli/Party Trays Reception
This event is best placed between 11:00 AM and 5:00 PM or after an evening wedding. Light finger foods should be provided, like fruit and vegetable platters, chips and dips, and crackers. You can also provide more substantial foods like meat and cheese trays, oysters, shrimp cocktails chicken wings and egg rolls.
3. Decadent Dessert Reception or Dessert Party
It's appropriate between 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM and after an evening wedding. An extensive assortment of rich desserts should be served, and beverages like coffee and tea.
4. A Simple Cake and Punch Reception
As long as it's not during meal time you can let your guests serve cake. You can have a simple and elegant cake and punch reception. The planning should be for the mid morning, afternoon or after an evening wedding. You should make sure that your guests are informed in time that they will not receive a full meal.
There are a lot more ideas that you can find online about how to reduce the cost on the wedding catering services and still have an enjoyable event, just search on google and you'll see.
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