Archive for category Real Weddings

(ARA) – Lt. Greg Martin wanted to give his fiancee the storybook wedding of her dreams. But he had a slight problem. She was in California planning their big day while he was on the other side of the world, stationed in Iraq. Being so far away made it even more difficult for him to hear the disappointment in her voice when she told him she couldn’t find something she had her heart set on for their big day.

“Years ago, my fiancee Shannon saw this cake topper she really liked in a department store that she thought would be perfect for her wedding day,” says Martin. “It’s called ‘Swept Away’, and after I proposed Shannon remembered it and said the name was so fitting because I swept her away.”

Unfortunately, the manufacturer of the topper, Lenox China, had discontinued it. Martin’s fiancee and her mother searched numerous stores and even got into bidding wars online, but couldn’t find the treasured piece. Martin started his own Internet search which led him to Replacements, Ltd., touted as the world’s largest supplier of old and new china, silver, crystal and collectibles. Unfortunately, Replacements had sold out of the cake topper as well. Little did a disappointed Martin know, his search had far from ended.

“My entire team was so touched by Greg’s story, how he was away serving our country and wanted so much to surprise his fiancee that we made it our mission to find that cake topper,” says Martha Newman, Internet services manager for Replacements, Ltd.

Replacements has long helped those like Martin looking for patterns that are no longer in production. In fact, the company’s bridal registry offers hope to those brides looking to complete heirloom patterns lovingly passed down as wedding gifts from generation to generation.

“Even though we sell active patterns, nearly 79 percent of our bridal registry sales are generated from discontinued and heirloom patterns,” says Donna Braswell-Bray, overseer of Replacements’ bridal program. “We’re one of the few places brides can turn to in finding patterns that are no longer being made, whether the manufacturer discontinued them last year or over a hundred years ago. In fact most manufacturers and department stores even refer customers to us for patterns they no longer carry.”

What’s more, if a bride doesn’t know the pattern name or who made it, Replacements research department will help track down that information through the company’s free pattern identification service. Replacements receives up to 3,000 requests weekly from people looking to identify patterns they’ve inherited or whose name they simply can’t remember.

As for Martin’s dilemma, Replacements’ buying services team launched a nationwide search and finally found the highly sought after cake topper.

“Many of us were in tears, we were clapping and just so overwhelmed,” says Newman. “We were so excited to let him know we were able to make this wish come true.”

Replacements shipped the cake topper directly to Martin’s fiancee, and he called her so they could open it together over the phone. “I wish I could have been there to see her reaction and her big smile,” says Martin. “Needless to say Shannon was stunned and very excited to get the cake topper she wanted so much. I can’t believe they were able to help me find exactly what she wanted to make our wedding day perfect!”

To learn more about the company’s bridal registry and free pattern identification service, visit www.replacements.com.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Having been a successful video producer for almost fifteen years, it was only natural that my sister would ask me to videotape the most important day of her life – her wedding.

I was thrilled. This was going to be my wedding present to her and her new husband – who was going to be impressed by the creative talents of his new sister-in-law.

My video camera was in perfect working order. I made sure to have lots of extra battery power and plenty of videotape stock. A last minute sound check assured me that the hand-held microphone was working fine.

Videotaping went smoothly as I made sure to capture all the happy activities that neither the bride or groom would see on their wedding day: the bride and her bridesmaids getting ready…wedding guests arriving…the best man tying the groom’s bow tie, and an impromptu and very funny interview with the Justice of the Peace who was officiating at the ceremony.

It was finally time for the big moment. The wedding was taking place in the expansive, beautifully lush backyard of my sister’s home. I found the perfect spot to capture her walk down the aisle, making sure not to block the view of any of the seated guests. The entrance of the bridesmaids went off without a hitch.

As the music changed, signaling the start of my sister’s momentous march toward her new life, I was suddenly overcome with emotion. I began to cry, and tremble uncontrollably. I couldn’t hold the camera still. Yes…you read that right! I, the consummate video professional, was HOLDING the video camera. I made the monumental mistake of failing to use one of the most essential pieces of equipment any videographer should have – a tripod.

It doesn’t matter if you use a VHS camera, DV cam or film camera – a tripod is one of the MOST IMPORTANT pieces of equipment that is used during the taping of a wedding. A tripod ensures that shots are STABLE, while providing CONTROLLED flexibility to perform simple zooms and pans.

Needless to say, my sister’s big moment was ruined and she will never get that moment back. And even though she has forgiven me, her wedding video is a topic we avoid.

The moral of the story: Learn from my mistake. Videotaping an important event, such as a wedding, where you only get ONE CHANCE to get it right, means that you shouldn’t forget the tripod.

Just ask my sister.

Article by:

Olivia Romero is an independent video producer with over 15 years experience writing, producing, directing and editing. Olivia teaches couples how to save substantial money by producing their own professional-looking wedding video. Its easy and fun! To learn more visit Wedding Video Secrets

For our butterfly theme brides – here is some wedding sugar from my cousin’s wedding this past weekend:) Enjoy. When I return from Chicago, I will spend some time sharing some of my favorite parts of her wedding with you:) For now, I hope this sparks some inspiration for you.

On March 18th, I attended my second wedding for 2006. This wedding was special for me as well. My baby girl was the flower girl, and the bride was a very dear friend of mine. She was also wearing one of my dresses, which was exciting for me:)

The most spectacular thing about the wedding was the children! The bride owns a private daycare and has a lot of children in her life. Her wedding party contained 14 people, 8 of those were children! She had three “Angels” who were escorted up the aisle by 3 page boys, and dropped petals along the way. Then my 2 year old was driven up the aisle in a little electric riding toy! It was adorable.

Surprisingly, with all those children involved, the wedding was very calm and uneventful! The bride lost her voice the night before, and it was hard to hear her saying the vows, but that was okay. The people witnessing heard, her husband heard and God heard. That’s all that matters.

The wedding, with about 300 guests, was followed by a catered dinner including table service. The bride and groom choose not to have a dance, but their families put together a fun program for the guests to enjoy before the evening was over. It was lovely!

Some of the ways they saved money: The wedding dress was $300 from Chrys Cross Bridal. All four flower girl dresses were bought on ebay for less then $100 total: including shipping!! The organza bags used for favors and the white silk callla lillies used for the boutineirres were also purchased on ebay. The catering was done by the local ladies auxillary group who charged $300 to prepare and serve the food. The bride was able to then purchase the food in bulk and save a great deal of money. The decor featured white pillars with cherubs and lots of faux trees and ivy. These were rented, and created a romantic garden feel for a very low price. The invitations were hand made: a engagment picture was printed in black and white, and navy blue card stock was cut just slightly larger then the picture. Then a corner punch was used to create heart shaped slits at each corner to hold the picture. The invitation was printed on frosted vellum and placed over the picture. They wedding program was made using paper from the stationary store with a daisy design on one side. The program details were printed on the inside, and then they were rolled up and held together by a little silver ring (you get them for about 5 cents a peice at the craft store).One of Christine’s dearest friends is a ex-wedding cake decorator, so she asked is she could provide the cake. She made a wonderful three layer cake with a weave design, accented with a few fresh burgundy gerbera’s(the same ones used in the bridesmaid bouquets).

Picture 1: the flower girl(my baby) and the programs by the guestbook table

Picture 2: the flower girl and ring bearer getting ready to go up the aisle

Picture 3: The new couple!

More pictures available on the Real Weddings page at Chrys Cross Bridal: http://chryscrossbridal.com/real.htm

You’ve probably heard my wedding story in short form “2 weeks, 200 guests, $4000″. I thought now might be a ncice time to share some more about my own wedding:) I was engaged on May 14th and married May 29, 1999.

Cermony: My parents owned a 5 acre lot completely surrounded by trees, so we had our ceremony there underneath a large tree. The natural surrounding was lovely in late spring, so nto much was needed for decor. We rented white chairs and a heavy aisle runner. We had a small table at the front with a white table cloth. My mom placed a white pot full of pink flowers in front and my bouquet or white roses and orchids went on the table for pictures as well. We also had two pots of flowers on either side of the aisle. We didn’t really have a “theme” in mind but looking back, if I had to pinpoint the theme of my wedding it would be Spring Flowers.

Clothes: At first, we were a little concerned. The guys had gone and rented tuxedos complete with tails! Now, we needed to find 4 matching dresses that were formal enough – within a week! Each girl came with $300, expecting to have to pay a lot to make that happen. We had decided that each girl would find her own dress in a pastel color, as that would work with the spring setting. The first store we stopped in was actually for one of the girls who needed jeans – it specialized in funky tees and jeans – and carried maybe 2 dresses per season. There, one of the girls spotted a pale blue summer gown, with a navy blue floral print on it. It was a summery dress, but floor length with spagetti straps so it looked fairly formal. As luck would have it – they had exactly 4 left, one in each size we needed – and they were $49 each!!! Each girl bought a pair of strappy sandals and white elbow length gloves to add an extra touch. The guys then surprised us by showing up for the ceremony with matching sunglasses – which helped to ton down their tuxedos and pulled the whole look together.

My Dress: I had originally planned to wear my mother-in-laws wedding gown. She had a beautiful gown, and when Dave and I first discussed getting married, she offered to let me have it. It was a vintage gown, which I was going to update by removing the sleeves and high color for a simpler strapless look. But, we decided at the last minute to have the wedding BEFORE the baby – and at 5 months pregnant, I couldn’t get it zippered:( In the ended, I borrowed a stunning, $3000 custom gown made for my cousin. It was not really my style, my wedding dress would have been much simpler – but my husband thought it was amazing.

The Ceremony: We were fortunate enough to find a hall that was available and my mom and her sisters did a beautiful job of decorating it in pinks and blues for me. My dad’s secretary (whom I worked with) knew someone who had 25 cherub centerpieces from her wedding and I was able to borrow them for free – we placed them with candles and potpourri as our centerpieces. After the wedding, she offered to let me buy two of them off of her for $10 so I kept them as a keepsake. Other decorations included: candles, balloons, streamers, ivy, icicle lights, a bride doll, a wall collage featuring pictures of us growing up, and white trees with lights behind the head table.

My uncles and aunts provided the meal as my wedding gift. They served meatballs, chicken, potatoes, veggies, jello, coleslaw, etc. We had most of the regular wedding rituals – untiy candle, cake cutting, first dance, bouquet toss, etc – but one thing we did cut out was the garter toss. I mean really – 5 months pregnant – by that time in the evening, my feet and legs were so swollen there was NO way a garter was going on or off, lol.

Our wedding cake was also a gift. My dad’s shop foreman and his wife – well mostly his wife – made up a goregous cake with a pink, white and blue basket weave design, 3 tiers, pillars, white silk flowers and swans. It also had an adorable little precious moments topper. The top two layers were fake, and we kept them for almost 6 years before they were damaged in a move. The bottom layer we ate the next day with our families as we opened gifts and cards at my parents home.

Regrets? Well, I would have liked to have had my own dress of course – but looking back I am happy with the way it turned out. Except maybe the veil – everytime I look at the pictures I think “What the *** was I thinking?” – I guess it just goes to show that styles change very quickly, lol.