Tips For Picking The Perfect Wedding Dress

When little girls spend their math classes daydreaming of weddings (instead of winning the World Series — not to say you can’t do both), what do they dream of first? The perfect wedding dress, of course: a gown in white satin with a bustle and sweeping train, the perfect embellishments, and the perfect shoes.

There are few occasions in our modern world where a woman finds herself in a position to wear a no-holds-barred ball gown, much less a crystal tiara, and all too many where she’s called on to wear to a neutral suit or uninspiring “biz-caz” combo. No wonder that with so many brides, their wedding plans start with the dress.

Many of these brides are lucky. They may search high and low, braving chilly department stores and pushy bridal shops, but eventually they come face-to-face with The One. They know this is The One because they start crying, or their mother or friends all start crying at once. Suddenly the rest of the planning … the theme, the tone, the right kind of venues … it all springs to life.

Other brides aren’t as fortunate. They’ve searched just as hard, working their way through shops across three or four states, but they haven’t found The One. Instead, they’ve found three or four Contenders, all of which are serviceable and nice, but not earth-shattering enough to tell them that now is definitely time to stop the searching and get on with the planning. These brides have it harder.

Even if you’re the first kind of bride, buying the dress is such a momentous decision that you run a risk of falling into that wallet-skinning category known as the Two-Dress Bride. Here are some tips for picking the perfect dress and avoiding that awful fate.

1. Bring the entourage, but don’t buy. It’s fun and useful to bring your mother, friends or sisters on the dress-shopping expedition. It gives you a buffer against an overbearing sales staff, and it’s fun to see if your impressions of perfection are shared by your loved ones, not to mention how they’ll love being part of such an important decision. But no matter how enthusiastic everyone gets over a certain dress, don’t buy in the heat of the moment. Give yourself time to reconsider and buy with a cool head later, alone. The vast majority of dresses are non-returnable, so when you’ve bought it, you’ve bought it.

2. Don’t buy too early unless you must. Bridal gowns can take four to ten months to come from the manufacturer, but there’s no reason to buy over a year ahead of time, unless your chosen style is going to be discontinued. Give yourself some time to sit on your decision. Once you pick a gown, you’ll see a hundred others nearly like it. You’ll become a walking encyclopedia on that style of gown. All the better if you still have room to choose.

3. If you’ve bought “The One,” stop shopping. Any more window-shopping at this point will only lead you down the road toward the dreary land of Two-Dress Brides. What you need to do instead is remember that blissful feeling of having tried on The One. Go get The One out of the closet, put it on and stand in front of the mirror. You’ll remember exactly why it’s The One.

4. If you’ve bought “The One” and can’t stop shopping, get a second opinion. Show your first and second choices to other brides. Be honest — tell them you’ve already remortgaged your condo for the first dress, but you think this second dress might be It. They’ll be truthful, too — the first one was better. You’ll feel reassured.

5. Don’t tell yourself “I’ll sell the old dress and choose a new one.” This old saw of the Two-Dress Bride just won’t work. You’ll never get more than a fraction of what you paid for your first dress if you bought it new.

6. Don’t be afraid to aim high — no matter what your budget. Some brides knew from the start they wanted a designer label, but life just didn’t cooperate by making them heiresses. Yet all is not lost if you’re willing to shop courageously. At any given moment, a better-heeled bride is selling her once-used St. Pucchi or Ulla-Maija on eBay. She paid thousands upon thousands, but you, smart shopper, will pay half that or less. To take this road, you must shop earlier than other brides so you’ll have a choice of gowns. Always pay with a credit card so you’ll have recourse if the dress doesn’t arrive in acceptable condition, and again, shop early so you can buy another if necessary. Shop courageously, but not recklessly.

7. Shop online, but never send a check. Bridal gown businesses sometimes have a way of disappearing overnight. No matter what the proprietor tells you, never make a purchase as large as a wedding gown without the chargeback protection of a credit card. If they say they can’t take plastic, move on.

8. Don’t hold out forever for The One. Some brides never find The One. What they do find is a few dresses they look beautiful in. If you’re this bride, try starting your planning from the theme instead of the dress. You’ll probably eventually get sick to death of dress shopping. When that happens, “good enough” really will be good enough. Concentrate on other aspects of the wedding that mean a lot to you, like the venue, the food, or the inevitable adoration of your soon-to-be husband.

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5 Tips To Select The Best Wedding Reception Location

Being disc jockeys, we get the opportunity to evaluate many reception facilities while having little or no bias to “sell” one location over another. Most Brides and Grooms know where they will be holding the ceremony before they decide where to have the reception, so we have compiled five observations that can help you when selecting your venue.

Distance – If people have to drive a long way to get from the ceremony to the reception, some will get distracted or decide to do something else. Try to keep the reception within a 15 to 30 minute drive of your ceremony. If it is not possible to get a reception hall close to your ceremony, make a caravan. Have the Bride and Groom lead the parade, and people will follow you to your reception.

Time – Time is just like the distance issue. If your reception is several hours after the ceremony, people will get busy doing other things and not show up for the reception. Try to start the reception within an hour or two of the ceremony. If you don’t want to start your wedding dance at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, have a Meet and Greet mixer before your reception. Serve some punch and get people to mingle. This will be one of the few times that both families will be together. Encourage family members to share stories about your childhoods.

Size – People like their personal space, and they have most likely spent an hour packed into a church for your ceremony. If you let them spread out, they will enjoy themselves more. Make sure your reception hall has plenty of room for your guests. The people renting the location might tell you it holds 200 people, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will hold 200 people comfortably! Make sure to visit the venue before booking.

Climate Control – Having a summer wedding? Is your reception hall air conditioned? If people sweat while just sitting, they won’t dance. On the flip side, if they are cold they won’t dance either (who wants to dance in a parka?). Also make sure you know who has control of the thermostat so the temperature can be adjusted if needed. Chances are your reception will be warm and stuffy while all the guest are there, but as they trickle out during the night the room will begin to cool down.

Smoking – This is a hot button issue, but if your reception hall is non-smoking, you can fully expect smoker’s to leave your reception for 15-30 minutes every hour. If enough of them leave the reception area, you may find a large percentage of your guest just hanging out in the smoking area. This can be a big problem if you have many smokers in your wedding party. You don’t have to allow smoking, but it is something you should consider, especially if anyone has any health problems like asthma or allergies that could be triggered by smoke. If you decide not to allow smoking in the reception area, how close is the nearest place for a smoker to go? Is it close enough that you will be able to get needed wedding party members during events like the bouquet toss or garter auction?

Facility coordinators will no doubt bring up several other factors for you to consider when you interview them for your booking, but these are often missed items, especially if they don’t favor the potential venue. If you keep the overall picture in mind and work with your wedding planner or event coordinator on the decorating ideas, you will no doubt have an enjoyable and memorable wedding reception.

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5 Steps to Finding a Memorable Wedding Favor

Your wedding is not just a celebration of your love; it is also a way to thank the special people in your life. Wedding favors, in particular, are the expression of that gratitude. It says “thank you for being there”—and also, is a token of affection.

That’s why couples should give as much thought to their wedding favors as they do to any other detail in the wedding. Why give something boring and generic, which will only end up gathering dust in the corner of a closet? Make it special, make it beautiful, and make it unique—something that, when seen, will make them remember you and your wedding.

You’ll find many unique ideas for wedding favors. Here are just things to consider as you choose from the selection:

* Follow your wedding theme. Did you have a beach wedding? A little glass jar with sand and shells can be used as a paperweight. Add a romantic quote or a verse from a poem with a sea theme, and you have something appropriate and practical. Dried flowers pinned against a refrigerator magnet make a lovely garden wedding favor, while a Medieval themed wedding can have chocolate coins in a velvet pouch.

* Be nostalgic. Dress up a photo frame with a couple portrait, or a CD with your favorite music. Even an ordinary box, useful for odds and ends like paperclips or jewellery, becomes a touching wedding favor if it’s filled with potpourri and a personal note from the couple thanking the guest for “sweet memories”.

* Give something useful, but dainty. What about a champagne charm with a heart (to “toast” your new life), with a note that says that you hope that your guest will have many days as happy as this wedding is for you? A sachet with potpourri, to put into the closet, can also carry the scent of the flowers in your bouquet. These are things that they won’t buy for themselves, but will definitely appreciate—while carrying the theme of your wedding.

* Think “sweets”. Chocolates and candies are always a welcome souvenir, and can be wrapped to reflect the theme of your wedding. If you have a very elegant evening wedding, try rum balls in a small gold box; or if you have a seaside wedding, give chocolates shaped like sea shells. You can even ask some suppliers to form your monogram into a chocolate, or have chocolate handpainted to look like little bouquets of flowers.

* Even “ordinary” wedding favors become extra special if they’re presented properly. Try grouping your wedding favors to become part of the table centerpiece. For example, little boxes of chocolate, arranged in a tier, can add to the beauty of the reception area. Or, you can have chocolate rosebuds inserted into your regular floral centerpiece—now that’s a “sweet” discovery!

There are so many unique wedding favors that the problem isn’t what to give, but which one to give. And with the large variety, there’s bound to be one that fits into your budget and theme.

You Deserve This Book! The Destination Wedding

The true objective of a hen’s night is to have fun with the girls in whichever way possible so that it becomes one of the most treasured memories for the bride to be. If you want to surprise your friend before her wedding then you can a really wonderful hen’s night gift for her. A gift need not necessarily be a thing, you have a wide variety of options and services to choose from that can make her happy. Here are some exciting hen’s night gift ideas to surprise the bride-to-be.

Make advance bookings in a local and pick her up for a night out. You can ask the bar manager to make some special arrangements for the night. Let her favorite music play and let her enjoy her heart out. You and your friends will have great fun and this can be one of the most wonderful gifts you can present to her before her wedding.

There are some unique hen night gift ideas that you can completely bowl over your friend with. Take her to the artful hen studio where you can get her sketch made by an ace painter. The artists can capture all the curves in the paper in color pastels and oil painting. You can get it framed and gift her to keep it as a token of your love. She’ll treasure it throughout her life.

If you are still confused about what you can gift to your friend on her hen’s night then you can consider gifting her with a theme pack that is tailor made to suit her likings. You may even get some nice bedroom box for her that constitutes of all the things that she would need just for her wedding. You may even give her a stress massage pack or a spa treat to pamper her senses just before tying the knot.

Origins of Hen’s Night

Though almost everyone is celebrating the hen night cultural phenomenon these days, very few of them are actually aware of the significance and the actual origins of it. Some think that it might have some connections with the Cleopatra’s best comrades, Natasha and Tanya, organizing a ‘bring your own asp milk’ party by the Nile, as a carnival of her awaiting marriage with Mark Anthony. It might also be partly due to Eve’s ‘Apple & Snake’ theme.

There is another very interesting story that goes about the origin of hen’s night and this modern interpretation came about as a result of a critical Dutchman and some good-intentioned mates of his daughter. This man’s endurance was tested when his daughter asked for his permission to marry an underprivileged miller, who was a suitor of disappointment for the father. He refused to give his permission for marriage, and at this, the non-judgmental friends of the daughter created a heap of crafts and gifts, to compensate for the expected dowry that the father hoped for. The permission was thus granted and the wedding took place giving birth to the concept of hen’s night.

In the recent times however, the event is celebrated as a practice where the friends and female relatives of the bride to be get together to ease the nervous bride and make her night before wedding truly special. It can be considered as a female version of the stag night, with bachelorettes come together to celebrate and enjoy a girl’s night out as everyone knows that the girl who is now stepping into wedlock will have less time for herself after she is married.

Although the true origins of hen’s night are not exactly known, it is generally considered as a wild girl’s night out party that is celebrated just a day before wedding.

Hen Night Ideas – Planning to Have The Best Night Ever

 
Although wedding is the most important of all events for the bride-to-be, planning for the hen night party can be as important for her and her friends. Whether you plan to keep it a simple event with just a couple of your friends or you wish to indulge in a group of girls’ night out with veritable folks, you need to organize and have proper planning for all. Here are some wonderful hen nights ideas that will help you plan the best hen night ever.

The most common and oldest of all ideas is still the best – go for a pub crawl. You may look for a local pavement that you and your entire girl gang are happy to head to, and hit the stretch. You must remember to pace yourself well or you may loose the rhythm. It can be a good idea to inform the pubs in advance of your planning so that everything runs smooth and they can make the required arrangements for you. Always remember to have a designated driver with you who knows about your plans and helps you in executing them well.

You may also plan for an exiting vacation abroad, maybe to some another country to celebrate the weekend. Consider hoping to some of the exotic parts of the Isles, Europe, or the States. The cost may be a downsizing factor for this plan but the memories of the trip will stay etched in your hearts forever. This can be a trip to remember for you and your following hens and who knows you may get some exciting adventures your way.

If you would like to go on a trip, but a weekend in another country is not on your budget then consider going for a weekend road trip with your hens. Hit the road to visit a local beach or an amusement park that you haven’t been since ages. There are many exciting things that you can do to banish those pre wedding nerves.

Couples who are planning a wedding in the wintertime may wish to incorporate the idea of winter into the overall theme of the wedding. They may also wish to give their guests wedding favors which are related to the winter season. These wedding favors can be items related to winter or the holiday season depending on the preferences of the couple. This article will provide a few ideas for wedding favors which would be appropriate for winter weddings.

Couples who are getting married around Christmastime may be planning to incorporate Christmas into the theme of the wedding. If this is the case they will have a great deal of options available to them in terms of wedding favors. One very popular idea is to give each guest an ornament with the names of the bride and the groom and the wedding date. This is an excellent idea for the wedding favor because it is not only something the guests can use but it is also a personalized wedding favor which will help to ensure the favor will be associated with the wedding and will help the guests to remember the wedding fondly.

Tiny, artificial Christmas trees are another great idea for a festive wedding favor idea. These tiny trees can be adorned with wedding bell ornaments or kept plain to allow the guests to decide how to display the favor themselves. Alternatively the couple may wish to give each of the guests a few packets of seeds for Christmas trees. This will allow each of the guests to plan their own trees if they desire to do so.

Snow globes are another example of a favor which would be very appropriate for a winter wedding. The snow globes can feature a bride and a groom amidst the snow or can simply be a winter scene which the couple finds appealing such as ice skaters or a mountain scene. This type of wedding favor is likely to be appreciated by your guests because it is not a very common wedding favor so most of your guests will not likely already have a large collection of similar items.

Another idea for a wedding favor for a wedding during the winter season is a miniature sled with the name of the bride and the groom and the date of the wedding painted on the sled. This is a rather cute decoration which can be displayed as a knick knack or used as an ornament on a Christmas tree.

Even items such as coasters can be used as wedding favors for a winter wedding. Coasters come in a wide variety of sizes, shapes and designs. You can find coasters shaped like snowflakes or featuring winter scenes. By selecting these winter themed design a very practical wedding favor instantly becomes one which is also very appropriate for the theme or the season of the wedding.

Hot chocolate, coffees and teas are also great wedding favor ideas for winter weddings. These edible favor ideas are great for the winter season because they are all warm drinks. You can even find wedding favor distributors who will personalize the packaging of these favors for you so that you can make these wedding favors even more festive and appropriate for distribution as a wedding favor.