Entries Tagged 'tips and tricks' ↓

Do you have to toss your bouquet?

Of course not!

For one thing, it probably cost you a fair amount of money and no-one would blame you if you wanted to take it home with you and put it in a vase. Or give it to your mom as a special thank you for all her love and hard work.

Yes, it was fun thirty years ago, because the single girls at a wedding reception were- in all likelihood- considerably younger than they are now, and they had different priorities- marriage and children being at the top of their lists! These days, the bride’s single friends are often successful business and career women with either no intention to marry (even if they are happily involved with someone), or they could be unhappily single and don’t want attention drawn to that fact!

So why was the bouquet ever tossed at all?

One theory tells of how, in ancient times, it was exceptionally lucky to get a piece of the bride’s dress. It was accepted that she was unlikely to ever wear it again so single women would chase the bride and try to rip pieces off her dress! Sounds absolutely charming doesn’t it… Not!! As weddings became bigger and bigger events, wedding dresses started costing more and more money, and women started wanting to keep them to perhaps pass on to a daughter one day- leaving the bride in tatters became rather unpopular. So brides began to give away other objects instead, like their garter and their bouquet.

There are ways of giving away your bouquet where it doesn’t have to be thrown into a crowd of women who are more likely to scatter than try to catch it!

You could play a dancing game and eliminate couples on the dance floor until the couple remaining is the one that’s been together the longest and give them the flowers. Or if you have a hand tied bouquet of single flowers you could untie it and give each lady a single flower. Or blindfold the bride, have all the ladies stand in a circle around her and when the music stops the person nearest the bride is the one who gets the bouquet.

If you are going to be tossing your bouquet into a crowd standing behind you, make sure to check how high the ceilings are, that the ladies don’t stand too far behind you, and that there are no ceiling fans that could interfere with the flowers’ trajectory!

The possibilities are endless.

And there are no rules.

A monogram can be a gorgeous and surprisingly useful addition to your wedding’s theme! There are a few things you may want to keep in mind when designing your monogram.

Its considered a bit of a no-no to include what will be your married surname’s initial in your monogram before you are actually married, so the monogram on your invitations, save-the-date notifications and bridal shower thank you letters should have only your first name initials in it. The ceremony programs (if you have them) are up for discussion- some feel its still too soon to use your new surname on these whilst I think its the perfect time to show your new monogram for the first time!  After the ceremony of course you can use it anywhere and everywhere- a jewelled decoration on your cake, on your bonbonnieres, traced in petals on the dance floor, printed on your thank you letters, embroidered on your serviettes- you name it!

As for the order of the letters, the bride’s name or initial must be first. Why? Because the man’s initial should never be seperated from his surname. Yes, I know it sounds antiquated, but that’s how it works. Naturally if the bride is keeping her maiden name then a monogram with the groom’s surname won’t even be considered.

There are endless options when you design your wedding monogram. You can use just your first names and initials, you can use just your new surname’s initial with a little decoration, or you can use only your initials and the first letter of your new surname, in which case the surname’s initial should be bigger than the first name initials and it should be in the middle. I used mine and my husbands first name initials on our cupcake collars!

There are no rules!

Have you discovered Pinterest yet? I wish it had existed when I was planning my wedding…

Its a fantastic place to pin anything and everything you think you might want to incorporate into your own wedding, and its SOOO much easier than adding a website or a link to your shortcuts or favourites list! I don’t know about you but half the time when I am looking for something I’ve seen- I go to Google, not my “Favourites”. Using Pinterest you can immediately see a picture showing you why you pinned it to your board, and clicking on the picture will take you back to the link you liked in the first place!

Its awesome!

I now have several wedding-related boards on Pinterest. It started out with just one, but I’m gradually splitting them up so they’re easier to look at… Here they are:

If you are planning to have a wedding cake at your reception, one that you will cut in a traditional type of ceremony whilst having pictures taken, there are a couple of things you may want to keep in mind.

Etiquette dictates that the bride must pick the knife up off the table (it must never be handed to her) and the groom must then place his hand over hers on the knife to symbolise their shared life. They then feed a small piece of the cake to each other- the groom feeding the bride first- to symbolise their providing for each other in their new life.

After the photographs have been taken, the cake is often discreetly taken to the kitchen (or not) and cut up for the guests to enjoy. Beware- some venues will charge you for cutting up your cake as this is a time consuming procedure, so be sure to check with your service providers. If you want to keep the top tier to save it for your first anniversary or a honeymoon treat be sure that someone knows this and can take care of it for you. If you are having a cake with several tiers, there is a possibility that one of them may be a decorated polystyrene “dummy”, so check with the bakery to make sure you don’t cut into the wrong tier!

And of course, you don’t have to have a cake at all! You could have cupcakes or a macaroon tower or even a cheese board and you could still feed each other a piece of something to symbolise your providing for each other.

While you’re having your wedding photographs taken, or during your Trash-The-Dress (AKA Rock The Frock) shoot, or during your “day-after” photoshoot, take a photograph of the two of you- smiling directly into the camera- with a sign of some sort that says “Thank You”.

Make a sign that looks cool and suits you or suits the theme of your wedding. You can write a pretty message on a white board you can both hold. Make a sign out of cardboard. Stick wooden letters onto some bright cardboard. Paint a banner even. Anything you can think of.

Ask your photographer to take some of the same shot in portrait and in landscape format so that you can use either one on your thank you cards.

And looking directly into the camera for this shot makes it look like you are looking at the recipient, and you are saying thank you specifically to the person looking at the card after you send them out.