23 Jul
Believe it, expect it, and plan for it. You’re only getting married once.
It has to be a joyous day, for the bride and groom, and for all the guests.
The following video is how one couple decided to make their wedding a “bit” different. They did it their way. Memorable? Yes. For you? It’s up to you. Regardless of how you celebrate your special day though, Make It Count.
And Jill & Kevin and participants, whoever and wherever you are, thank you for this uplifting video. You made my day.
21 May
Wedding gowns can be intensely personal and a bride can be forgiven for thinking that theirs is the most beautiful gown of all.
Want to let the rest of the world see your wedding dress?
I have placed a comment section on my wedding dress page into which you can put details of your wedding dress, and upload a photo for others to see. Not only will you get “bragging rights” for your dress, but you might help another aspiring bride get ideas for her wedding gown.
At the bottom of this page is where you can post your wedding dress comment.
17 Nov
I’ve been to a lot of weddings in my life and have been able to see trends come and go. I have a bone to pick with one of the latest ones.
Picking out your wedding dress is an activity that can be great fun. What a wealth of choices there exists for the bride-to-be! It seems of late, though, that so many brides are choosing a wedding dress that is strapless. They might be white or ivory, beaded or embroidered or chiffoned, long or short, empire waist, full skirted or mermaid fashion, but strapless seems to be the norm.
Elegant, no? Strapless wedding gowns can certainly be elegant. And since wedding dresses set the tone for the wedding, it’s assumed that the wedding itself will be an elegant affair.
What’s not elegant, is a bride who really doesn’t fit a strapless gown very well and has to “hike up” her gown every now and then during the ceremony and / or reception to avoid a “wardrobe malfunction”. A word of wisdom: before making your final choice of a wedding gown, don’t just try it on. Walk in it, sit in it, dance in it, bend in it, do the macarena in it, hug in it, pretend to throw a bouquet in it… Is your dress still on properly? Then you’re one of the ones that can make it work! If the dress is threatening to take a southward journey or is uncomfortable, go look at another style. Please! Hiking up your wedding dress is one of the least bride-like things for a bride to do!
To find out more about choosing the perfect dress and planning the perfect wedding, click here.
4 Sep
Bride: So, I’m planning my wedding and I look on line for something that I can give our guests for bonbonniere or wedding favours. I don’t want to spend a lot of money or time buying these things since there’s so much else to do! I’ve found 60 fancy pie servers in lovely clear plastic boxes tied with gold ribbons. I can have the whole lot of 60 for $200.00 delivered to my door. Sold! Cross “buy bonbonniere” off my to do list for the wedding.
Guest: So, I’ve gone to this wedding. I’m the bride’s aunt. I’ve been married for 25 years and received three – count ’em, three – pie servers for shower and wedding gifts 25 years ago. I don’t need another pie server, so what do I do with the one I received as a wedding favor at my niece’s wedding? I put it in my next garage sale.
Moral of the story: If you’re planning on giving out wedding favors/bonbonniere, make sure they are something your guests can use and will cherish OR make them something consumable so they don’t add to the clutter in peoples china cabinets OR make them a lovely, memorable combination of both.
For more information on bonbonniere/wedding favours, for hints on how to plan the perfect, memorable wedding, click here.
6 Aug
In my part of the world, it’s summer and the days can be hot and steamy. Thirty-three years ago – almost to the day – my husband and I were married in Toronto on a day that registered 102 degrees F and a humidity reading that was off the scale. Even moving from the air-conditioned car to the air-conditioned reception venue was a challenge since that short time outside in the incredible heat was uncomfortable to say the least – especially for me in my long-sleeved, cathedral-trained wedding gown and for the guys in their black tuxes. Here’s a hint to help you out if the outside temperature on your wedding day is hot, hot, hot, but you still need to spend time outside to take pictures or simply to get from point A to point B.
Have several spritzer bottles on hand, preferable stored in a cooler or a lunch bag with a cold pack. Spritzing cool water on people and flowers keeps everyone and every flower from wilting in the heat without damaging flower arrangements or hairdos. Keep flowers and people out of direct sunlight as much as possible.
This works much better than having the ushers stick ice cubes down the back of the bridesmaids dresses (or having the bridesmaids return the favour to the ushers with ice cubes in their tux shirts…) and ensures that the entire wedding party lives to get to the reception while still on speaking terms!
Enjoy your day!
To find out more about how to plan a memorable, perfect wedding, click here.
30 Jul
If you’ve ever done it, you know that planning a wedding is a whole lot of work, but work that is satisfying once the whole picture comes together on wedding day. The process of planning a wedding can be fun and memorable in itself and can be accomplished by doing the easiest of things. For example:
-People will offer to help you. Take them up on it with a party mentality. Those who come over to help you make centrepieces and wedding favours could be treated to specialty coffees, exotic munchies and relaxing music while working and maybe a longstemmed rose on their way out the door.
-When going out shopping for dresses with all the bridesmaids, brighten up the day even more by going out for lunch or high tea once your day’s efforts are done.
-When looking for reception venues, keep a journal in the car to write up funny (hopefully imaginary!) stories about the venues, as well as your notes on each place you visit.
-After a day of writing invitations, take all the people who helped you out for a massage or facial, or give them neck and scalp rubs yourself.
-After a weekend of looking for the perfect wedding dress with your mother and sister as advisors, invite them to your place for a glass of wine and some decadent snacks, made by you earlier or catered by a local “fancy” restaurant, or have a quiet place of relaxation ready and put them in a yoga relaxation pose (look up “shevasana” to see what I mean) with soft music playing in the background. Tell them to stay there in that pose for 15 minutes then “wake” them with a glass of cool tropical juice.
You get the idea. It doesn’t take much to make the job a little less stressful and a lot more fun and usually even the simplest (and cheapest) ideas will be appreciated by those who have helped you.
For more information on planning a memorable, perfect wedding, click here.
23 Jul
A word to the wise: Your wedding day might take forever to plan, but the day itself will just speed right by in fast forward motion, especially after the ceremony once a lot of the stress is gone and the celebrating begins. Start your day as early as you can. Instead of holding the ceremony at 4:00 with dinner at the reception venue at 7:00, hold the ceremony at 2:30 and plan to eat at 5:30. It’s really not too early, especially for the bridal party and planners who probably, in all the excitement, haven’t had a full meal all day. Typically, reception dinners take about 1 1/2 to 2 hours to serve and complete, and by the time the speeches are done and the first dances are danced and the cake is cut… You get the idea: it’s already late and there’s not much time for dancing or talking with your guests before the evening is over. Make the most of the time you are given in the day.
For more information on planning a memorable and meaningful wedding, click here.
15 Jul
Wedding / Engagment favours (bonbonniere)
A special engagement party recently, and in an effort save a few bucks, and to be different, the bride-to-be wanted a cookie package for guests.
Yup, it was a lot of work but every one of the guests got to take home a package of six sugar, ginger, or chocolate cookies, appropriately decorated, with a unique “wedding love” quotation attached.
They were a big hit.
Need some wedding planning and reception ideas? Why not click here?
16 Jun
The key to having a memorable wedding is to pay attention to the little things, the details, that will make your wedding stand out in your guests’ minds and memories. There are a gajillion ways to make your wedding special, and one of those ways is to have a specialty “drink of the day” concocted for you by the bar staff at the reception. Name it something catchy or cutsie – “Mango Marriage Martini” or “The Wedding Zinger” or the like – and then advertise the fact that this drink exists to your guests by leaving notes on their tables, or, if it’s a cash bar, dig into your pockets and leave a drink “ticket” for this specialty drink on each guests plate, or you can just have wait staff circulate with the drinks in the reception area for those who wish to partake. Make sure the drink recipe comes in a virgin form too, for the benefit of non-drinkers, designated drivers and children who are attending.
Have fun with this idea!
To find out all you need to know to plan a perfect, memorable wedding, click here.
9 Jun
Congratulations: you’re engaged! Ideas start to filter through your brain for some of the decisions you’ll need to make in the near future. One of those decisions is who to invite to be in your wedding or bridal party. What to do?
Do I ask cousin Jean? If I do, I’ll have to ask both her sisters, and I don’t want to do that! Do I ask my close friends? But if I ask one of them, I’ll have to ask all 5! Yikes! This bridal party is growing by the second!
Here are a few thoughts for you to consider as you’re making your decision:
1) You don’t have to have the same number of bridesmaids as ushers. Believe me, I’ve seen it and an odd number works out beautifully.
2) Think long and hard before asking flower girls and ring bearers who are under 4 years old, and be realistic when The Day arrives – a crying flower girl who doesn’t want to walk down the aisle holding Jeremy’s hand is going to take the attention away from the star of the show. Go to Plan B.
3) It’s okay for the groom to ask his sister to be his “Best Woman” or for the bride to ask her brother to be her “Man of Honour”. As a matter of fact, brothers of the bride could stand at her side during the ceremony as sisters of the groom could do so for him.
4) Friends come and go, but family is (usually!) forever. Thirty-three years later, I’m still in loving touch with the family members who were in my wedding party, but have a relationship with only one of the two friends who attended me. My husband has lost touch with all the friends who were his groomsmen.
5) Remember that being a wedding attendant usually comes with a price tag – tuxedos and bridesmaid dresses, and all the fixin’s are expensive – so there’s a financial commitment that you are expecting your attendants to make too. Appreciate that.
6) Finally, ask people who are important to you and find other “jobs of honour” for those other important friends or family members who will not be in the bridal party (for example, giving speeches, giving readings at the church, saying grace, being master of ceremonies…).
It’s nice if all of the members have a chance to meet each other before the rehearsal, so a barbecue or other informal get together before the event is a really good idea. Do remember to thank the members of your bridal party with a thank you gift delivered at the rehearsal dinner, and also on your wedding program and in your speeches.
Planning a wedding? Lot’s of tips here.
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