Archive for February, 2009

They Had Such Unique Favors To Choose From

Monday, February 23rd, 2009

   My mom and I were working together to plan my wedding ceremony and reception, and I couldn’t believe the marvelous ideas she came up with. But out of all her suggestions, I think the one I’m most grateful for is the suggestion to go online to shop for my wedding accessories and reception supplies.  I couldn’t believe all they have to offer, and some of the items can be purchased at a discount. That really helps the bank account from hitting rock bottom.  Weddings can be quite expensive, and even though my mom and dad are helping with a big part of it, me and my fiance have to contribute too.  We are having a massively big wedding and he and I decided it wouldn’t be fair to put it all on my mom and dad. With all the guests we have coming it would put my parents in hock for the rest of their lives.

   So, here we are, me and my mom, shopping and planning this event together. It took me a while to decide if I wanted to have a themed wedding or just go with the traditional kind. I looked over several possibilities, the beach wedding, a summer garden wedding and I even considered a country western theme, it really sounds like a lot of fun. But I decided on going with the traditional. We found a lot of exceptional decorations and supplies for the ceremony and the reception. I absolutely fell in love with my wedding photo album and guestbook set. Both were exquisitely decorated with satin covering and can be engraved with our initials. I found all the bridal accessories I needed, like hair accessories, flower girl basket and ring bearer pillow.  I had no idea that I could find so many wedding supplies right from my computer.

    I was just as fortunate with the reception supplies and decorations. They had everything from crytal champagne glasses to unique wedding favors and favor boxes. My mom said she wished she had known about this before she threw me my bridal shower because they had some pretty unique bridal shower favors too.  Even though I chose to have a serious non themed wedding and reception, I couldn’t pass up the funny cake topper I chose. I knew everyone, including my fiance, would get a real kick out of it. I thought it was pretty neat, and it does show the funny stereo type side of marriage.

   Our champagne flutes were special bride and groom glasses and our beautiful serving set was sterling silver with dazzling crystals on the handles. All of our centerpieces were flower bouquets of red and white roses in bowl type vases and our place card holders were these cute little picture frames for each table setting. The favor boxes I chose were so festive and really added to the décor of all the reception tables. At first I was just going to use the adorable little hang tags they have, but I decided that these unique favors I picked out for our friends and family should be packaged in the best.

   Thanks to my mom and the online shopping, our wedding turned out fantastic. Everything was so beautiful and I have lots of pictures to fill my gorgeous wedding album with. I also picked up another album to store all of my honeymoon pictures in. That album is full too. We had a more than picture perfect honeymoon in beautiful Hawaii, and now I have twice as many memories to look back on through the years to come.

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A Special Anniversary Gift For My Parents 25th

Thursday, February 12th, 2009

   My mom and dad had been happily married now for 25 years this coming Saturday, and I wanted to do something special for them. I talked them both into having a renewal wedding and convinced them to let me make all the arrangements for the reception, and since it was my mother’s wedding renewal, she wanted to plan the ceremony. I took care of everything from the decorations to the wedding favors for the guests. This was part of the anniversary gift to them, only part. The biggest gift to come would be at the end of the reception. It was quite a huge surprise that my brother and I worked on together.

   My mom and I went shopping for our dresses. Dad and my brother went together to pick out their tuxes. My brother was the best man and I was the maid of honor. We kept it as a very small wedding party and just a few close friends and family as guests. My mom wanted to have a garden ceremony, and have the reception in her backyard, which was the perfect spot, considering her backyard is about three acres large. It really was the perfect place for a wedding reception. We had long tables set up with lights and lanterns hung all around the area. I chose elegant peach colored tablecloths and flower arrangements for the centerpieces. But I made sure they were silk flowers. We wouldn’t want to be attacked by a million bees during the reception.

   My mom and dad’s wedding cake was beautiful and the cake topper had double silver hearts that was just perfect for a 25th anniversary wedding. The wedding reception tables all looked fantastic and mom and dad complimented me on what a great job I did. But to tell you the truth, it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. There were so many great wedding accessory ideas and reception supplies to work with that it was a snap. I found everything I needed online. The hardest thing to do was make a decision on which of the fabulous items I wanted to order. There were even really great anniversary gift ideas to work with. I found the most beautiful 25th wedding anniversary album for mom and dad, to keep all the memories of this day and others still to come. Infact, most of the decorations and even the wedding favors were especially made for a 25th wedding anniversary. I also found champagne flutes that were designed for just such an occasion, that mom can hang on too as a keepsake of her second special day.

   The wedding was beautiful and so was my mom, and my dad looked quite elegant in his tuxedo. They made a lovely couple. I hope someday to get married too, and I hope we’ll be half as happy as my mom and dad have been. 

   The reception went quite well, everyone seemed to be having a great time. There was lots of dancing and partying going on for quite some time. As the evening grew later, my brother and I decided it was a good time to give mom and dad their biggest wedding anniversary gift. We gave them tickets for a carribean cruise and they couldn’t have been more stunned. I think they were still in shock as we waved them off at the boat dock. But they deserve the best after putting up with us all these years. They never got a honeymoon the first time around, we were determined  to make sure they did this time.

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More Than Just Flower Girl Gifts

Sunday, February 8th, 2009

   Along with your bridesmaids, maid of honor, groomsmen and best man, there is two other very important people in your wedding party, your ring boy and your lovely flower girl.  I wanted to make sure they weren’t overlooked in any way. More and more these days children are becoming involved in weddings and play a very significant role in the ceremony. My little ring boy and flower girl did a fantastic job to help us make this wedding a thing of perfection. They worked very hard at their appointed tasks, and did such a great job, that I wanted to make them as comfortable and confident as I could.

   With all the wedding ceremony rehearsals, photography sessions and even during the reception, children can get just a little frustrated and bored. So I found a place that has so many great suggestions for little ring bearer and flower girl gifts that can make the process a whole lot easier.  There were activity books, coloring books, and other items that can help to curb their boredom and give them something to do while the adults are taking care of business.

   They both did such a wonderful job at the ceremony. My flower girl looked so adorable in her little dress and tiara as she walked down the aisle with her flower girl basket in hand. Our church doesn’t allow tossing rose petals or confetti on the aisles so we had her pass out a lovely red or white rose to each guest sitting on the end of the pews. That worked out just as well. The flower girl basket I chose for her was made of gold satin with chiffon bows, and was the perfect shape for the roses to lie in.

   My nephew, who was the ring bearer, wore an adorable little tux that made him like a little grown up. He was so handsome and he did a fantastic job carryng our ring pillow to the altar. I knew he was really nervous about his part in the ceremony. You could tell by the way he never took his eyes off the pillow. They both did such wonderful jobs and I wanted to show our appreciation by giving them the best I could find for ring bearer flower girl gifts.

   For our little ring bearer we bought a few things, like a child size ring bearer mug, a nice ring bearer tee shirt and a real cool yoyo. He really liked the yoyo the best, I do believe.  For our precious little flower girl, we bought her a mug and tee shirt and a beautiful necklace, with her name engraved on the back as a personalized flower girl gift.  

   At the reception everyone was having a fantastic time, dancing and enjoying great food. You should have seen our little couple out on the dance floor, holding hands as they tried to imitate the adults. They were so cute. I got several pictures of them dancing together, and I even caught one of the flower girl giving the ring boy a little kiss on the cheek. They looked just like a miniature bride and groom. They were so adorable.

   The ceremony went very well and the reception was a total success, everyone seemed to be having a fantastic time and with all the wonderful wedding gifts we got, it will take me forever to send out all the thank you notes. I sent out thank you cards for all my bridesmaids, the groomsmen, maid of honor and best man for helping to make our wedding so perfect, and a special thank you cards to our ring bearer and flower girl.

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I Felt Like A Snow Queen For My Winter Wedding

Saturday, February 7th, 2009

   I know the thing with most brides is to be married in the month of June, but I wanted to have a wedding during my favorite time of the year. I wanted to have a winter wonderland wedding and reception. With all the accessories and supplies available today, a winter wedding can be one of the most beautiful weddings you’ll ever attend. Ours certainly was, and I have the pictures to prove it.

   My wedding dress was white with glittery little silver sequins and I had a white fur wrap draped around my shoulders. With the tiara and the diamond necklace I wore, it looked as though I were a snow queen. My bouquet had beautiful red and white roses with baby breath, and holly leaves scattered all through it. I also had the bouquet that was meant for the toss to the single ladies made up in the same fashion. My fiance, best man and the groomsmen all wore white tuxes with little red boutonnieres in the lapels. They all looked so handsome, even our little ring boy looked so grown up and elegant.

   My bridesmaids all wore navy colored dresses with little shoulder wraps and carried bouquets of  blue and white roses with some red berries scattered throughout, and the flower girl was adorable in her light blue and white velvet dress and her little tiara, as she walked down the aisle carrying her winter flower basket, filled with red and white rose petals.

   In the church we were able to use fake snow on the window sills and we used white cloth around the altar and covered it with snowflake confetti, which actually looked quite real. It was everything I had hoped for and the winter wonderland decorations only added to the beauty of the ceremony.

   At the reception we had snowflakes hanging from the ceiling, a huge Christmas tree over in the corner with all the decorations you could possibly dream of and that’s where all the wedding gifts were stored. There were also a few large fake snowmen decked out in their hats, scarves and pipes. A lot of my supplies for winter weddings came from the internet. I found so many items for this seasonal wedding, from decorations to wedding favors. Everything from snowflakes to snow globes. There is quite a selection to choose from. Our wedding cake was white with creamy white frosting with silver sugar crystals sprinkled over it and a red ribbon trim. I also had a gorgeous winter wedding cake topper that really added to my winter motif.

   For my reception tables I chose crystal vases with white calla lillies and silver eucalyptus leaves scattered all through the bouquet. The tables all looked so exquisite with all the crystal and silver on red linen tablecloths.  Along with all the food and refreshments we also had hot chocolate with marshmallows, egg nog and egg cream drinks, and of course we had champagne, what’s a wedding reception without champagne?

   It was definitely the perfect winter wonderland wedding and my guests really liked the lovely winter wedding favors I chose for them. They also had adorable little winter favor boxes that looked so lovely with all my other table décor. There was such a great selection of favors, decorations and accessories to help me make my ceremony and reception one of the best winter weddings ever. I’m just glad I ran across all of these fantastic wedding accessories, and was able to make my dream of a snow covered wonderland wedding a reality.

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There’s Nothing Like A Summer Wedding

Thursday, February 5th, 2009

   I think the summer is one of the most perfect times to get married, although there is a lot to be said for a winter wonderland wedding or colorful fall ceremony.  But for me, summer was the right time for our ceremony and reception to be held.  The only problem I had was trying to decide how I wanted to set this up. I wasn’t sure what theme I should go with, or if I should go with a theme at all.  Traditional weddings are lovely too. So I thought maybe a garden party would be nice, with all the beautiful flowers and maybe a trellis or two and all the ladies in sun hats. Then I considered a ceremony in the park with all my bridesmaids in beautiful flower print summer dresses and the beauty of nature as our background. All of a sudden it hit me, the perfect spot for a summer wedding, the beach!

  So my next step was to get my invitations out so I could start planning seating arrangements and how many people to have the caterers plan for. After I received all the RSVP’s I started planning the menus. We decided, since we were going to be by the ocean for our reception that it only made sense to plan on lots of seafoods. We had shrimp, Alaskan king crab and Lobsters galore. We thought about having an old fashioned clam bake, but after looking up all that goes into it, we decided that was too much work on a night that we wanted to party. So we ordered clams already prepared. We also had an assortment of salads, different types of potatoes and many desserts and snack foods. For our drinks, we chose champagne, wines, and a couple of kegs.  We also had plenty of soda for those that preferred non acoholic beverages. Food and refreshment wise, we were all set.

   I didn’t have a long fancy wedding gown, it was just a little too hot for a beach wedding, but I did have a beautiful flowing, light weight summer dress, as did my bridesmaids and flower girl. The guys dressed comfortably too, in white linen suits that were perfect for a beach wedding, and helped them stay cool in the hot summer sun. I thought it would be a beautiful ceremony, but I really had know idea just how wonderful summer weddings can be, until we said our vows with the waves and warm sand surrounding us.

   After the ceremony it was on to the reception. Our cake was beautiful as well as delicious and everyone toasted to the bride and groom. Then the party was on. Some of our guests decided to bring swim wear and some wore them underneath their clothing so they could enjoy a dip in the ocean. We danced and partied until late in the evening and everyone kept telling me what a great time they were having and what a wonderful idea it was to have a beach wedding and reception. Some couples played volley ball, some went swimming and the flower girl and ring boy got together to build sandcastles. It was just one big fantastic beach party that night. Our guests really seemed to like the summer wedding favors I chose for them, too. They all represented the beach and was packaged in adorable beach themed favor boxes. I got a lot of thank you’s from our guests.

   The party was still going on we left the reception to start on our honeymoon. This was a very special day for us with our friends and family and I hope to have many more in the future.

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I’d Like To Know Where She Got Our Bridesmaid Gifts

Monday, February 2nd, 2009

                         I’d Like To Know Where She Got Our Bridesmaid Gifts

 

   I was one of the bridesmaids and my boyfriend was one of the groomsmen in our friends wedding ceremony. We were both really honored that they thought enough of us to include us in their special day. I remember when she started planning their wedding and reception, I thought she was gonna call it quits and just elope.  She was going a little crazy trying to get it all together.  There was just so much for her to take care of and even though she had help from her mom and sister, she still had a lot of decisions to make. I offered to do whatever she needed me to do, and the first thing she asked for is taking care of the invitations and making sure they all got mailed on time.  I was glad to help out, she’s been a good friend for a long time and I could tell she was getting more and more nervous about this every day.  Not really nervous about getting married, but more worried about everything getting done right. Like any bride, she wanted everything to be perfect. 

   She got to the point that she would call me every day or two and ask my advice on accessories, table settings, and more. She even wanted to know what I thought would be appropriate bridesmaid gifts for all of us. That was a little awkward.  I just told her to use her best judgement and I’m sure she can choose the perfect little gifts. But I did advise her not to be extravagant, I know how costly weddings and receptions can be.

   She showed me the beautiful cake and cake topper she had chosen and they were exquisite. The wedding cake topper was a romantic heart topper with the bride and groom in the center and flowers all around it. Her champagne flutes were gorgeous crystal and had bride and groom printed on them, she also picked out adorable little place card holders that she was able to use as wedding favors for all of her guests. So far, she was doing a fantastic job planning this affair. Her fiance took care of all the guy stuff. Gifts for the groomsmen, best man, the ring boy and both of their dads. She found lovely gifts for the mothers of the bride and groom, the flower girl and her maid of honor. But she was still worried about the bridesmaids gifts. I told her to just pick out something that she would buy for herself.  Something that she would like to receive as a gift and I’m sure it will be just fine.  So that’s what she did.

   At the reception everyone was laughing and dancing and having a fantastic time. All of the guests complimented her on how lovely she looked and what a super job she did on planning the wedding and reception. Everything was great, from the centerpieces to the wedding favors. I knew she could pull this off, especially with her mom and sister helping her out. As far as the gifts for the bridesmaids, they were spectacular. You could tell these weren’t cheap bridesmaid gifts, at least that’s what I thought at the time.  She later confided in me that she bought almost everything for her ceremony and reception wholesale.  She said they have everything you need for the perfect wedding and reception and it didn’t cost her anywhere close to what she thought it would.  But there’s just one more thing I want to know; where did she buy my bridesmaid gift, because I’d like to get a couple more for my living room.

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