September 2007 - Posts
Your invitations are the first taste your friends and family will get of your big day. Whether you are having an elegant black tie affair or a Hawaiian luau, have your invites give a sneak peak into what your guests will experience. Your invites should reflect the colors of your event. The font used on your invites speaks volumes, as it will let your guests know how elegant or playful your wedding might be. This font is usually carried throughout the wedding day in the program and place cards. Fonts should be easy to read for the youngest and oldest of eyes and should never go below pt. 10 in size. For a fun and playful feel, add a picture of the lucky couple.
Remember, invitations need to be sent out at least 2 months in advance. If you have people that will need to be traveling from out of state, they need to set reservations for travel. A save-the-date card is a great idea to give those traveling a heads up to start making their plans. These can be sent out as soon as you set your date. The sooner you send them, the better.
Check out our invitations page at http://www.wednet.com/wedtopics/invitations.aspx for more suggestions.
Nothing is more important than your wedding photography. Finding the right photographer is a key to having successful photos. Most couples spend a fortune on the venue, the dress and the food, and photography is usually the place that gets the cut when money becomes an issue. Some turn to friends to get the job done. Remember that every detail to your wedding is important, however your photos are the only items you will have to remind you of your perfect day. Find a photographer that not only photographs you posed with your future mother and father-in-law, but one that captures the moments others might not notice, moments that capture your friends and loved ones in their element. These will be the photos that you cherish for years to come and remind you how much your wedding meant to you and to all the others who were a part of your special day. When choosing a photographer, ask the photographer what their credentials are. Anyone with a camera can call himself or herself a professional. Make sure they have a degree or certificate. Don't base your decision off of price and website alone. Get together with the photographer and talk about what you want. Every reputable photographer should have a portfolio that showcases his or her previous work. Photographers have their own style and it is important that you select someone that has the style you want. Look for a photographer early on. Photographers are one of the hardest vendors to book, especially if your wedding is in the summer months. It is in your best interest to have your photographer booked within the first month of planning.
For more suggestions on how to choose your photographer, check out our "Choosing Your Photographer" article.
The list of WedNet wedding planning articles continues to grow with the release of four new articles this week. The first is about fall weddings. From the location to the menu and the favors, a fall wedding can be a beautiful thing and our new article offers food for thought on how to make the most of this special time of year. Read the full article at our "Fall Wedding Ideas" article (http://www.wednet.com/articles/fall_wedding_idea.aspx).
The idea of a Las Vegas wedding excites many brides and grooms. In fact, over 100,000 weddings take place there every year! We have posted three new articles about weddings in Sin City. First, read how to keep your costs in check. Did you know, for example, that some wedding chapels provide the tuxedos and gowns rentals, reception services and limos. Read all about it at http://www.wednet.com/articles/las_vegas_wedding.aspx. Want to know more about hiring the tuxedo or dress while you are in Vegas? How does a $50 rental sound? Check out of "Rent a Wedding Dress in Las Vegas" article at http://www.wednet.com/articles/las_vegas_wedding_dress.aspx.
Still wondering if Vegas is the right place? You'll find nine great reasons in our article at http://www.wednet.com/articles/las_vegas_wedding2.aspx
Just four new articles one WedNet.com. We have more in the pipeline so make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed at http://feeds.feedburner.com/wedding_planning.
A lot of brides are increasing their expectations of expenses for their bridesmaids. Being a guest in your wedding should not cause a financial burden for your closest friends. Expectations to buy the dress, pay for alterations, buy shoes and jewelry, plan to attend not one, but several showers and the bachelorette party as well as get their nails, hair and make-up done the day of. This list can easily exceed an estimated expense of $1,500 if some form of major travel is included.
Brides should be aware of the expenses they are asking their friends to spend. They should give their friends an estimated expense when asking them to be part of their wedding. Items that a bridesmaid should be prepared to pay for are the dress, alterations, undergarments, travel and lodging expenses as well as attendance at a shower, bachelorette party and spa weekend if the bride chooses to have one.
Brides can help east the hit to their friend’s bank accounts by picking up the tab for nails, hair, makeup and jewelry. The bride should also arrange for a group rate at a local hotel. Another suggestion is to give the bridesmaids the color of shoes you would like them to purchase, but let them be flexible on their shoe choice. Let them pick out a style that is comfortable and in a price range that works for them. Most bridesmaid shoes end up collecting dust in their closet anyways. If you expect to have a spa weekend, make it something you know your friends will be able to afford attending.
Common costs
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Dress: $140
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Alterations: $75
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Shoes: $25 and up
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Strapless bra: $40
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Travel (gas, plane tickets): $50-$300
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Gifts (shower, wedding, bachelorette party): $475
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Accommodations: $150
Total: $955-$1,205
Stick to your budget, be realistic and don't add any extra expenses last minute.
Your wedding day is your special day. It will last in your memory and that of your family forever. Yet do you still feel the need to add those special touches that make it "different"? One perspective is, well, why bother? Let's face it, your wedding day celebrates your union as a wife and husband for the rest of your lives - and surely that's special enough.
But, yes - we still want to add a little flair! Frankly, many get carried away. And that's fine for those with the financial resources. But, with the ever rising cost of weddings, why not consider some special additions that are not going to bust your budget? At the tables at your reception, favors are a nice touch and one low-cost addition is a lottery ticket for each guest. Providing a single-use camera for each guest is a common idea, too, and has the potential to record some wonderfully candid moments as thousands of pictures are taken (talking of preserving memories, we have an article on keeping your wedding favors forever).
Maybe you have considered the release of butterflies by your guests. Later, as you are cutting the cake, perhaps you'll consider the release of a couple of white doves. Quite the symbol right there!
If money is less of a factor, consider a chocolate fountain. They generally run hundreds of dollars for a wedding of any significant size, but - well, it's chocolate! Enough said.
At each stage of your wedding day - from the sending of the invitations to the honeymoon - you have opportunity to "make it special". And WedNet has ideas on how to do just that. But keep one thing in mind. It's your wedding day - it's going to special anyway!
I love working in the wedding industry for a variety of reasons, but one of the most interesting and enjoyable is the interaction with wedding vendors. Whether it is a small wedding flower shop on the corner or an industry leading engagement ring or wedding ring supplier, they all have an interesting story to tell.
Do you have a local wedding vendor that you just loved and saved your day? We'd like to hear.
Are you a local wedding vendor? List your business with us - at no charge!
"Love is a promise, love is a souvenir, once given never forgotten, never let it disappear."
-- John Lennon
Greetings!
Here is yet another random thought from your friendly wedding Blogger. Cakes! Did you know the wedding cake in Roman times was broken over the brides head to wish the couple a life of plenty? Guests would then gather the crumbs for good luck...Emily Post would have a field day with this tradition! And here we are, all worried that our new husband is going to mess up our face by smushing the cake in it. So, historically, the bride is meant to look like a fool on her wedding day?
Another piece of historical fact....In medieval England, the multi-tiered wedding cake was conceived from the tradition of guests bringing small cakes for the reception and placing them in a pile on a table. The bride and groom were to kiss for good luck over the cakes. To help keep the pile together, the cakes were iced to eachother, thereby making the first tiered cake.
Now for some helpful information. Something to keep in mind when choosing that perfect wedding cake: while white chocolate on cakes looks beautiful, it tends to melt more quickly than dark chocolate. So be sure to keep it properly refrigerated until the big event, and even then, don't wait too long to cut it. Otherwise, it might be so mushy that you;ll be smearing cake in your beloved's face (rather than feeding) even after you promised not to!
WedNet's history goes back to 1994 (see an earlier post for more details). An important part of that history is the experience gained over a couple of decades producing wedding videos - and providing wedding stationery. Traditionally, ordering the invitations, save-the-date cards, shower thank you cards and so on was something of a "manual" process. In fact, to this day my dear Mum still receives visitors who browse through about 40 VERY large books from which to choose their stationery theme.
Now that works for many folks but times change and today many people like to view and order in the comfort of their own home. However, a potential drawback has always been that it's hard to visualize the final look.Well, technology has taken care of that too! It's now possible to select a look you like, enter your personal details (bride and groom name, wedding date and so on) and see the results instantly online. It's a great use of the web and one we are happy to support through the WedNet Store. There you will find access to many different types of invitations. Select a few, enter your details and you'll have a view of just how your stationery might look. Regardless of whether this is the approach for you, it's fun to enter your details and see - in real time - a wedding invitation tailored to your needs, with your names, your wedding date and so on.
It's a neat take on a well established part of planning a wedding. Check it out...
Mark