So - I know a camo wedding isn’t everyone’s cup of tea - but we just released a collection of camo print wedding invitations and in honor of the release, I want to post some other great camo finds as well:) If you happen to be one of those daring brides who wants to add some camo to your wedding - keep your eyes open for more great posts coming in the next few days:)

To start us off - here are some cute camouflage flip flops that combine camouflage bows with a little bit of sparkle. I love it, perfect for dancing the night away.

Camouflage Wedding | No Comments »

Here is another great idea for wedding favors. These custom cookies start as low as $1 each and can be decorated to your specifications! Shells for a beach wedding - leaves for a fall wedding. A winter wedding I attended recently had gingerbread snowflakes with white icing as their wedding favors. Need some more ideas? What about a flag for a July 4th wedding, or a castle or frog prince for a cinderella themed wedding. The cookies shown here are from Ali’s Sweet Treats. They also offer photo cookies - made using a photo your provide! They can package them in cello and ribbon for you as well.

 

 

Wedding Favors | No Comments »

Check this out! This gorgeous goldtone hurricane candle holder is fairly tall, just under 12″, perfect for a romantic evening candlelight wedding! They could be used for centerpeices, on a candy buffet, etc. AND - they are in the Target.com Home Clearance Category for only $12.50 (50% off)!!

Decorations, eBargains | No Comments »

Hello,

We are on a ‘tight budget. We are planning to be married at the Justice of the Peace; because we just had a baby (yes backwards!) and cannot afford a big or small wedding right now. I have 2 questions how do you ‘announce’ you’re getting married (at the JOP) without making the guests feel cheated or slighted and any ideas on how to have a reception later also without making the guests feel like they were cheated out of seeing us get married??!

ANSWER

After the wedding, send out annoucement cards. The cards, much like invitations should state:

If you already know when you are planning to have the reception:

_______ & _________

are pleased to announce the marriage of their daughter

______________________________

to

_______________________________

son of __________ & _________

The wedding took place on

_______________________________

You are invited to join us in celebrating this union with a reception in the new couples honor to be held:

___________________________________

Details will follow.

If you don’t know when you are planning to have the reception:

_______ & _________

are pleased to announce the marriage of their daughter

______________________________

to

_______________________________

son of __________ & _________

The wedding took place on

_______________________________

A reception in honor of this union is being planned. Invitations and details will follow shortly.

 

Now, that takes care of letting people know that you are married and that a reception is being planned. There will be some people who will wish they could have seen you exchange vows. What you can do is make that part of the reception. Not a full ceremony - but a short program during which you exchange vows and rings publicly, either on your own or with a officiant there. There is no legal need to do this, but in almost all cases, those who would have been offended will be happy with that.

If you want, you can also include that on the annoucement:

You are invited to join us in witnessing the exchange of vows and rings, followed by a reception in the new couples honor to be held:

or

A public exchange of vows and a reception in honor of this union is being planned. Invitations and details will follow shortly.

If you are having a pastor or preist there: use Public exchange of vows and blessing of the rings(union), etc.

One last note: the annoucement above was written as sent by the parents.

Here is the layout if you wanted to send it from your baby:

___________________________________

is pleased to announce the marriage of her mother

______________________________

daughter of

___________________ & ______________

to her father

___________________________________

son of

_________________ & _________________

If you want it sent by you:

_________________________________

daughter of

__________________&_____________________

and

______________________________________

son of

________________________ & ____________________

are please to announce their marriage, which took place:

 

Etiquette, Guest List, Invitations | No Comments »

With the growing popularity of Destination Weddings, a new class of wedding gowns has been emerging!

A Destination Wedding Gown is a design that takes into concideration two factors:

1. Location: Most destination weddings are held in Beach like settings, were a traditional wedding gown may seem out of place!

2. Shipping: A Destination Wedding gown is generally designed so it will be easier to pack and bring with to your destination.

For those reasons, destination wedding gowns are usually:

1. Made with light, breezy fabrics like linen, crepe, chiffon, organza, etc.

2. Slimmer fitting then a traditional wedding gown.

3. Semi-formal or informal while still elegant and beautiful.

4. Made with little or not train.

Chrys Cross Bridal is proud to introduce our own Destination Wedding Gown collection! With a stunning selections of gowns available, you will find something for every style and every budget!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bride's Attire, Destination Weddings, Wedding Themes | No Comments »

I found these on Bridalwave this morning, and while I am not a huge fan of the red version - it also comes in black. How interesting! I think it could make for some adorable rainy day wedding or engagement photos. Available at Umbrellastand.com.

In The News | No Comments »

What’s the one thing that usually stands between a bride and groom and the wedding of their dreams?

You didn’t even have to think, did you?

Money!

Well, in my never-ending quest to help couples save money and have their dream days, I have been checking out America’s online auction obsession.

I chose eBay for my research, because eBay is the most well-known of the auction sites, and I personally have had excellent experience with eBay sellers.

Here’s what I found out:

Even the bride and/or groom who is not all that daring can find wonderful bargains on many wedding essentials online. It doesn’t hurt, if you have the time, to try your hand at bidding on items. Often, you can get wonderful savings that way. Just make sure you’ve done your research and know what the average price should be, and don’t bid above it. But if you don’t want to bother with that, just check the items that say “Buy it now,” and pay that price. I checked only “buy it now” prices, and found wonderful deals on decorations, silk flowers, and favors. For example, I found 72 white faux pearl flowers perfect for corsages and decorating for $9.99. These flowers started me thinking about how charming a wrist corsage would be with a simple, elegant wedding gown in place of a traditional bouquet. There were also 84 cream or white silk roses at $9.99 for the cream and $13.00 for the white. These would be enough to make bouquets for a bride and all her bridesmaids, and they were beautiful flowers. For the flower girl and table top decoration, one Ebay store offered 1000 red silk rose petals for $13.50.

For the slightly more adventurous bride, there was wonderful bridal jewelry for less than $20, and veils for $9-$20.00.

But the bravest, most daring bride could have the greatest savings of all on one of the biggest expenses for most people. I’m talking about the dress. Yes, you can find wedding dresses on eBay, and not just the ones that have been worn, either. I saw new dresses ranging from a simple, elegant design for $60 to a beautiful white & ivory Renaissance style gown for $110.00. There were also many gowns for $500 and up, but for those, unless you are going to bid and try to win them, I think you should go to a salon and get all the personal fitting and pampering that price deserves. With the less expensive dresses, you may have to have them professionally altered to fit, but at less than $200 you are still getting a bargain. Of course, you have to consider the shipping costs for any of these bargains, but a savvy shopper should still check out eBay or the other online auctions as yet another option to get what you want and not break the bank for your wedding day.

Rhetta Akamats is a wedding planner and ordained officiant in Marietta, GA. She is the owner of Rose and Star Wedding Planning. You can visit Rose and Star’s website at http://www.roseandstar.com for information about the business and more articles and advice for your special day.

Wedding Planning | 1 Comment »

Every week, I get an email from Target with their sales and bestsellers (I subscribe to tons of those so that I can post about sales and stuff on here). Today, this candle canister in the Best Sellers section caught my eye!

Canister - Ivory (Large) for $14.99

I love it!! I would love to see these lined up along the walk way in the evening, with candles glowing inside. They would work great for unique centerpieces as well, especially for a candle light reception. The smaller version (sells for $9.99) would be perfect to hang candles above an outdoor evening dance floor as well.

Decorations | No Comments »

Okay, for those of you who have spent your lives dreaming of caterers in tuxedos, formal black and white dinners and all the elegance of a full cinderella wedding - this post may not be for you! This post is for all the brides out there who hate the idea of a formal, same as all the others, wedding. Who said a wedding had to be that way?

Many brides today are under the impression that things like the meal, the dress, the size of the wedding, the cake, etc are all set in stone based on what is ‘exceptable”. The truth is, more and more brides are thumbing their noses at the “traditional” wedding frills, and doing things in a new, unique way!

Here are some examples of brides doing things their own way:

1. Not so formal reception - The couple getting married were the kind who loved to camp, loved the outdoors, and spent all their free time playing sports. The idea of a staunch, formal dinner and dance was not their idea of “celebrating”. So, they opted for a beautiful outdoor wedding followed by a catered bar-b-que and a baseball tournament! (Yes, the bride played in her dress, lol - and it wasn’t a small dress)

2. At a wedding I attended earlier this year, the bride disliked flowers very much. So, instead of flowers, she used candles as her decor and candle lanterns as the “bouquets” for the wedding party! The only flowers were in the bride’s own bouquet!

3. Another couple I interviewed a few years ago, had a traditional dinner becuase their parents requested it, but decided against a dance. Instead, after the dinner, they rented out a bowling alley for a bowling tournament - tuxes and all!

Here are a few things that most bride’s think must be included:

- A Reception: Most bride’s believe that they are required to put on a reception. This is not true. Traditionally, the reception was a party the family put on in the couples honor to celebrate the marriage and was not the couples responsibility. Today, many many couples choose to put on their own, which is perfectly acceptable. But there are some couples who find the idea of a reception, as traditionally done, to be very boring and out of character. If you are one of those people, don’t worry! Spend some time think about what sort of celebration would be most meaningful to you, and then incorporate that into your wedding day!

- A Wedding Cake - no, you don’t HAVE to have a wedding cake unless you want one!

- The Wedding Party - for legal purposes, you have to have 2 witnesses (generally the best man and maid of honor) and an officiate or justice of the peace. All other members of the wedding party are optional and should only be filled if you personally want them to be. Don’t have any children in your life - don’t stress about finding some connected child just to have a flower girl or ring bearer! And by the way the wedding party can be anyone you wish, including friends, sisters, mothers, aunts, even your grandma, if that’s what you want!

Alcohol - There is NO rules saying you have to serve alcohol at your wedding. There are many people who for personal or religious reasons, do not drink. If you are one of those people, don’t feel pressured to have alcohol involved!

Flowers and Decorations - there is not a single decoration item that is a MUST. If you don’t like flowers, don’t use flowers. If you don’t like candles, don’t have candles! If you hate ivy and tulle, leave it out! There is nothing wrong with using your own creative mind to come up with unique and original decorating ideas!

Guest Book - Many brides have already decided that the traditional guest book is not for them, and that is perfectly fine! There is no reason why you have to have any type of guest book at all - but if you want to have a record of the guests and their wishes - there are many other ways it can be done as well!

The wedding dress - It doesn’t have to be white, it doesn’t have to be poofy, it doesn’t even HAVE to be a dress!!! If you are having an informal wedding and hate dresses, wear a suit. It’s your wedding after all, you should be comfortable! Of course, if you love the poof DO IT, cause you only get to wear a dress like that a few times in your life:)

There are more, but those are the areas that came to mind. In the end, there is only very few things that are a MUST for a wedding:

- a bride and a groom

- an officiate or justice of the peace

- 2 witnesses

- a marriage certificate, a pen and the required wedding vows

Everything else is there to help celebrate the vows and the signing of that paper - so what better way to do that then with activities that have meaning to you rather then activities you dread?

Wedding Planning | 1 Comment »

Here is an AWESOME idea for a wedding favor/escort card combination that is both classy, unique and affordable! Take a look at the cost breakdown:

The Chocolate: Locally, I can get them in a pack of 3 for $1 any time of year. That’s 33 cents each. If you buy large packages, it’s even cheaper. And - they are beautifully wrapped right out of the box!

The Tooth Picks: Get good ones, it will still only cost you about $2 for 100 or more!

The Circles: Make it easier for yourself and buy or borrow a large circle punch. Check on eBay, where you can get one for $10-$15 or so. Look for something around 1 1/2 - 2″. Design a simple circle and print out 15/sheet on cardstock, then punch out with your circle punch. Make sure to print two for each name. Use double-sided tape to attached the circles to the picks.

Not into the computer thing? Just punch out plain circles and decorate them with stamps or have the names done in calligraphy (adds to the cost though).

Cost if you buy a punch and print your own: less then 50 cents per favor!

Credit for this find goes to a $10,000 wedding, who stumbled across this awesome idea by a recent Los Angeles bride. Wedding Photographer: Teness Herman.

DIY Weddings, Wedding Favors | No Comments »