Seating Arrangements

I saw this ingenious idea on Pinterest. It's so simple, it doesn't need any explanation. This is a great way to organize it because they can be easily moved!

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Succulents!

Succulents are water retaining plants that thrive in arid/desert conditions. They are very unique looking and make for great wedding centerpieces, boutonnieres, and bouquets. See for yourself

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Wacky Wednesday: Nude Resorts

This week's Wacky Wednesday takes place at a venue where you and your guests can bare it all. Nudists can choose to have their wedding in the buff. Most wedding guests also attend nude. An article on AZ central proclaimed, "Couples who get married in the nude are closer to God, the universe, divine energy, said Rev. Jo Ann Pessagno, a minister who has presided over 80 nude weddings. "Their emphasis is on the ceremony and the words as opposed to the flowers, the place cards, what kind of wine they're serving, what kind entrees, desserts."

Vendor Try Outs

While looking around at pictures for an inspiration board I am working on for you all, I ran across this piece of advice and it makes perfect sense!

If you are having people to your house or throwing a party - use that occasion to try-out a wedding caterer, a cake baker, a florist or a DJ.  If you are going the do it yourself route, try baking the cake for your party so you won't have a whole cake go to waste. Or why not have your online flower vendor send you a test bunch to use for your party. So you can make sure the flower vendor is good. Additionally, then you can practice arranging flowers.

If you don't have the budget to hire wedding vendors to try them out, ask several vendors if you could pop your head into an event they are doing i.e. for a DJ, so you know if he is good on the mic, etc. Most food vendors will let you have a tasting before, so that shouldn't be an issue. Also, don't be afraid to ask around to see who everyone recommends. Your vendors really make your event. Wedding Planners really come in handy here because they can save you money through vendors and they also know who is good and reliable to work with.

Happy Vendor Shopping.

After Christmas Sales

To all my brides:

 

If you have a limited budget, please heed this message. After Christmas is a great time to go out and buy things for your wedding like Bridesmaids gifts, honeymoon clothes, decorations, jewelry, accessories, etc. About.com Weddings says

Now is the time to pick up strands of lights for decorating your reception hall, and candles for the tables. Look for chocolates wrapped in red foil for favors, or using in out-of-town welcome bags. And you can extra-justify buying that sweater if you can wear it on your honeymoon"

Always keep your eyes peeled! You never know what you could find. Go to Kohls, JC Penneys, Macys! 

Love, Lizzie 

Merry Christmas!

As Christmas falls on a weekend, I am going to wish you Merry Christmas for this weekend. 

Merry Christmas to all my blog readers. Remember all of our soldiers who can't be home for the holidays, please say a prayer for them! Have a blessed weekend and keep in mind that you are saved because of a little baby who was born this night! 

Christmas Color Palette

As Christmas is only 3 days away here are some color palettes that go with a Christmas wedding theme.

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Wacky Wednesday: Marriage in the Sky

This is absolutely insane! There is a company called Marriage in the Sky which sells weddings that can occur any where in the world 50 meters up in the air. Check out their website: Click Here! 

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Unique Christmas Decoration

I had to share this with you all because I think this is soooo cool!

Click here to watch this short video: Awesome Christmas Decoration

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Christmas Centerpieces

Here are some beautiful table centerpieces for your table:

Yule Log:

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Pinecone tree:

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Cranberries and birch bark candles:

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How to Choose your Bridesmaids

This videos says everything I want to say to you:

Bridal Party Entrance Songs

One of the best moments of the wedding experience is the entrance to the reception after you are pronounced bride and groom. You are celebrating the time of your life! Therefore you deserve to have a spectacular entrance. To do that, you need some music that helps get your guests get on their feet and in the mood to celebrate. Something that will set the tone for the whole night!

Pick a song that your whole bridal party loves and that they can groove to on their way in. A big part of the entrance is how the MC/DJ announces you all. Make sure he/she knows how to pronounce everyone's names and they know the order of who is entering. If you have a wedding planner, they take care of all that for you.

This is the song my bridal party will be walking into the reception to:

Wacky Wednesday: Graveyard

This week's Wacky Wednesday gives a whole new meaning to "death do us part". Those eccentric people who want to stand out sure can do that by having their wedding in a cemetery.  People have many different reasons for holding their wedding there: one couple saw a gazebo up and a hill while driving by and knew that was the place for them, but then they found it was in a cemetery, they didn't care; another couple was having a halloween themed wedding; and yet another couple decided they would have their wedding there so the bride's mother wouldn't miss it - her mom had died a few months before the wedding.

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Bridal Party Gifts

It is customary to get gifts for each one the members of your bridal party. Think about it, they really deserve something for being there to support you and your significant other and each one ends up spending at least over $200. Typically, brides and grooms get their attendants the same present... girls- jewelry to match the dresses; guys- flasks with their initials, etc.

But why don't you do something creative! Give your attendants something that has significance for the both of you. Maybe a time you went on a great vacation - get them something that is a reminder - or maybe a gift that relates to an inside joke you have. They will appreciate the time you took to personalize their gift. You are all best friends anyways so you should want to do this for them! One idea that I loved is getting all the girls together for a spa day or a night out that you pay for. If some of your bridesmaids are unfamiliar with each other this is a great way for them to hang out before your big day!

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Add in a personalized robe or towel with your girl's initials and have fun at the spa!! 

Bridal Party!

This week is all about your bridal party. Those friends who have been there for you through thick and thin, now get to stand up and represent you. Have you thought about how you will ask them to be in your bridal party? Remember that some of your friends might not be able to say yes because of monetary restrictions. It is not a cheap honor to be selected in a bridal party, so try not to be too offended if they can't. Additionally, if you have enough money in your budget to help out that friend with off setting some of the costs, then they could still be in your party.

That aside, even before you get engaged, I'm sure you have some of your bridal party members already chosen. It's just what happens in a girl's mind! So when the time does come around that you have a sparkly ring on your finger, how do you ask your friends to be those special people?

I ran across a blog post from Solution Bridal and I have to share.

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So cute, so creative, so meaningful, yet so easy!!

Traditions: Garter

I always wondered why there was a garter toss; I'm sure some of you have as well. Well I am here to share the information with you. It is actually quite funny so you should read it!

The bridal party would toss the garter at the grooms nose and the person who successfully landed the garter on his nose would be the next to marry. The custom became rowdier and bawdier until the guests were eager to help the bride out of her wedding clothes. The wedding guests would try to grab the bride's garter for good luck. It is thought to forestall such impropriety, the bride's garter was given to the mob as a distraction. Soon this became an established custom.



Throwing the garter to the groom's men is what remains of the custom. In Northern England the old custom was for male guests to rush the bride at the altar when the ceremony was finished and remove her garter from her leg. In the panic this usually meant the bride was knocked over and trampled on. Gradually brides made garters easier to detach and finally to avoid threat of injury they tossed their garters away at the end of the ceremony. Garters were imbued with fertility and the bride's garter signified consummation, fulfillment, and progeny and was always fiercely sought after. Untying the bride's garter had a deeply symbolic act. In the past the lucky guest to receive the bride's garter would wear it proudly on his hat, before giving it to the girl of his choice for luck.


Another variation on this custom in the 19th century was for the local youths to race from the church to the bride's house. The first was given the honor of removing the bride's left garter. He would then tie this around his own true love's knee as a guard against unfaithfulness. In the North of England , the custom was for the man to wear the bride's garter in his hat.


Tossing the garter was reintroduced in the early part of the twentieth century. These days, the groom is responsible for removing the garter and tossing it at the eagerly waiting groomsmen at the reception. Much tamer that the early days. Bride would also have a second keepsake garter that they would keep with their wedding dress. 

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Traditions: Veils

Today's tradition is the wearing of the veil. Did you know that a white dress doesn't symbolize purity... it's actually the veil!?!? 


Here is some history courtesy of WiseGeek :


When marriages were arranged by family members, the newlyweds very rarely were allowed to see one another. Family members exchanging a dowry were afraid that if the Groom didn't like the appearance of the Bride's face, he might refuse to marry her. This is why the Father of the Bride "gave the Bride away" to the Groom at the actual wedding ceremony. Only after lifting her veil just prior to the ceremony did the Groom see the Bride's face for the first time! Early Greek and Roman Brides wore red or yellow veils to represent fire, and to ward off demons.

Bride's wore veils in the Middle Ages often this custom was linked to superstition. The bride’s veil protected the bride from evil curses or spirits. Also superstition exists that it is simply bad luck to for a groom to see a bride before the wedding. In some beliefs, even a bride should not see herself in full costume until the day of the wedding. The bride’s veil is not tried on with the dress, and it is put on at the last possible moment prior to the wedding.

The bride’s veil has also come to represent the woman’s transition from the pure and virginal state to the married state, and many modern and past cultures feel virginity prior to marriage is ideal. The white bridal costume along with the veil symbolizes this virginity. 

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Wacky Wednesday: Home Depot

For this Wacky Wednesday, I was thinking about how much I have gone shopping this week, so I thought this was appropriate.

Home Depot Wedding:

56-year-old Carolyn Weatherly and 55-year-old Audwin Mosbywere married in the garden center of a Lake Forest, CA Home Depot store. Carolyn says the store is like a second home since she and Audwin both work there, as well as her son and his daughter. Co-workers suggested the store as their wedding location

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Traditions: Something Old, New, Borrowed, Blue

You all know the tradition. Well here is the back story behind it courtesy of Truly Wedding Blog: 

The rhyme we quote so well in our sing-song voices actually comes from an Old English Rhyme that originated in Victorian times, and it hasn’t changed too much since then. The poem originally went like this:

Something olde, something new,
Something borrowed, something blue,
And a silver sixpence in her shoe.

The big question though, is why exactly each of these items is so important on your wedding day? Well, it’s all about tradition. Even though the poem originated in Victorian times, it was customary for brides to follow its advice for hundreds of years before then. Each item is meant to bring the bride luck, in it’s own symbolic way:

• Something old symbolizes continuity with the bride’s family and the past.
• Something new means optimism and hope for the bride’s new life ahead.
• Something borrowed is actually supposed to be loaned from a happily married friend or family member, whose good fortune in marriage is supposed to carry over to the new bride.
• Something blue goes back as far as ancient Rome, when brides wore blue to symbolize love, modesty, and fidelity.
• The silver sixpence of course represents a wish for wealth and good fortune. Really, where would you put it other than your shoe?

As for the colorful item, blue has been connected to weddings for centuries. In ancient Rome, brides wore blue to symbolize love, modesty, and fidelity. Christianity has long dressed the Virgin Mary in blue, so purity was associated with the color. Before the late 19th century, blue was a popular color for wedding gowns, as evidenced in proverbs like, "Marry in blue, lover be true."

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Traditions: Diamonds

This week I am going to take the time to tell you about the wedding traditions. As I am typing this, my diamond ring is sparkling in my eye, so I am going to tell you why diamonds are the typically wedding rock.

The Knot.com tells us to blame this tradition on Archduke Maximilian of Austria who started the diamond ring trend in 1477 when he presented one to his beloved Mary of Burgundy. The tradition of wearing the engagement ring and wedding band on the fourth finger of the left hand can be traced to the Egyptians, who believe the vein of love ran directly from the heart to the top of this finger.

Ring:
It is believed the Pharaohs of Egypt first used the circle, a shape with no beginning or end, as a symbol of eternity, but wearing a ring as a public pledge to honor the marriage contract did not become customary until Roman times. The earliest rings were made of iron, but gold rings set with gems were fashionable by medieval days. The most popular gems were symbolic - a red ruby was the color of the heart, a blue sapphire reflected the heavens; but most popular was the indestructible diamond.

Diamond Daze

The word "diamond" is derived from the Greek word adamas, which means "the unconquerable." As Mother Nature's hardest substance, diamonds represented invincible strength, a fitting gem for the marriage covenant. But the real pull of these sparkly stones -- which ancient Greeks believed were delicate splinters of fallen stars -- came from the powers and protection they offered the wearer. In India, where diamonds were first discovered, they were thought to be a shield from the combined forces of evil (which at that time included snakes, poison, and theft). Ancient astrologers believed diamonds promoted lasting love and warded off witchcraft and nightmares. Associated with everything from innocence to sexual power to all-encompassing protection, you can see why the diamond became the betrothal gift of choice for lads and ladies.

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Reception Dress

A trend that is growing today is having a reception dress. TLC Weddings explains, "If you've been dreaming about your wedding dress for as long as you can remember, you may not have considered how restrictive, precarious and uncomfortable it can be to actually wear it on the big day. Having your maid of honor follow you into the bathroom so she can hold your train while you use the facilities is only one of the hassles that may be involved in looking amazing in the dress. It's becoming more common for brides to lose the gown after the ceremony and photo ops are over in favor of an outfit that's little more user-friendly. A quick wardrobe change can mean a lot to a bride who plans on dancing all evening and doesn't want to worry about itchy layers of crinoline or torturous undergarments."


Examples of Reception Dresses:

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Inspiration Board: Winter Wonderland

Happy December! In the spirit of the season, here is my newest inspiration board.

Couple, Favor, Centerpiece, Boutonniere, Candle, Rings, Church, Flowers, Invitation