Brides Maids Bag

There are as many types of brides as there are temperaments. Are you a people-pleaser? Then you will want to make sure that you don’t let your mother hijack your wedding! A born star? Then go for a dramatic look with plenty of crystal bridal jewelry. A very caring person? Then plan an organic wedding with a low carbon footprint.

The best thing about knowing your own temperament is that it can help you to have the wedding that will feel right for you. If you are an earthy type, then the diva’s satin ballgown and crystal bridal jewelry will not feel natural to you. You will feel more at ease, and therefore more beautiful, in a simple wedding dress with more organic jewelry, like unique keshi pearls.

The shy bride who can recognize this trait in herself will be able to plan a day that doesn’t make her feel too overwhelmed. A very small wedding will be a better fit than one with a 300 person guest list. In addition, a bride who shuns the spotlight can make choices such as not walking down a long aisle or having all eyes on her for a first dance.

Extroverted brides will find that their temperament calls for a big, boisterous reception. Hire the best band or d.j. in town to really make your party a lot of fun. This is the bride who will regret it if she chooses a venue or band that is too buttoned-up. Indulge your love of a good time!

The temperament of the groom should be taken into account when planning a wedding as well. After all, if the bride loves a big party, but the groom is painfully shy, then some compromise will have be be found so that he can enjoy the wedding also. Hopefully, you have found a groom whose main personality trait is patience; many brides can use a patient listener during the wedding planning process.

There is no good or bad temperament; it is only about being aware of your own innate traits, and working with them instead of fighting against them. Once you have identified your own bridal temperament, you will be ready to begin planning the wedding of your dreams.

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Country style is always comfortable, never stiff or formal. When planning a country style wedding, keep that in mind when selecting your reception venue. Instead of a fancy ballroom or a generic hall, consider places like meadows, rustic barns, and country inns. These are places where you can create the welcoming sort of atmosphere that epitomizes the country.

Food is an important part of a celebration. For a country wedding, plan a menu with foods that are familiar and unfussy. They don’t need to be fancy – just delicious! Ideas include down home favorites like country ham, homemade macaroni and cheese, and fresh berries.

For drinks, big glass jugs of lemonade would be the perfect refreshment. Iced tea would be another good drink to have on hand – sweetened if you live in the South or unsweetened if you are a Northern bride.

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Fresh and casual flowers like gerbera daisies, wildflowers, or poppies would be beautiful. You can arrange them in simple glass vases, pop them into galvanized steel buckets, or even loosely arrange them in white pitchers (a basketweave design would be ideal). Another idea is to choose potted flowers displayed in baskets. Tie a gingham ribbon around the basket for a lovely country detail.

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The bride’s attire should also have a less formal look. Fabrics like linen, Swiss dot, or organdy would be lovely choices. The idea is to choose a gown that makes sense in your setting and enhances your theme.

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Your accessories should also look at home in your setting. Handmade wedding jewelry would be beautiful for the bride and her bridesmaids. Look for wedding jewelry that has been handmade with fine details like freshwater pearls and sterling silver. When you find the right pieces, you will have the pleasure of being able to wear them again after the wedding.

Whether you grew up in the country, or are a city girl looking to create a welcoming environment for your reception, you can’t go wrong adding some country details to your wedding. The warm and relaxed feeling of a country wedding will make it a day that everyone will enjoy.

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They say that the best made plans may go awry, and that is certainly true of weddings. You plan and you plan, but sometimes things pop up at the last minute that have to be dealt with. These are some of the things to think about…

One of the main reasons that couples need contingency plans for their wedding is inclement weather. If you are having an outdoor ceremony, you definitely need to have a rain plan. Either rent a tent (and a floor if it is a really soggy day), or have an alternate indoor location. If your wedding does end up being moved at the last minute, be certain to get word to all of the guests!

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The wedding bands are a very important part of the ceremony, so be sure that you give them ample thought in advance. If you will have a ring bearer, you might want to reconsider putting the actual wedding jewelry on his little pillow. Many couples tie a pair of symbolic rings to the pillow, and give the real ones to the best man (who is hopefully more responsible than a young child! If not, give the rings to someone else to hold.).

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What are some other wedding contingency plans that couples should have in place? A big one is a plan in case uninvited guests show up at the reception. If you are diligent about following up the R.s.v.p.s, hopefully you will not encounter this problem, but it does happen more often than you may think. If there are a few guests that you have not heard from that you think might make a surprise appearance, have a plan in place with your caterer.

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Every wedding has a few surprises, and there is no way to plan for all of them. Once you are confident that you have contingency plans in place for the big issues, allow yourself to relax about the rest of it. As the old saying goes, “Don’t sweat the small stuff”!

One of the most meaningful parts of the wedding ceremony is the readings. It is a chance for the bride and groom to personalize their wedding, so you will want to choose the passages carefully. You can also invite a close friend or family member to do a reading, which is quite an honor.

In many wedding ceremonies, the couple will follow a fairly standard format. If you are having a religious service, your readings might well be your only chance to put anything of yourself into the ceremony. In many churches, you will be given a list of suggested readings, which are usually Biblical passages. The bride and groom will then get the chance to select the two of them that they feel best suit them and their relationship.

If you have the freedom to choose your own readings, it can be both a great opportunity and a bit overwhelming. Where to begin? Well, the idea is to have the reading reflect something about you as a couple. It could be a poem that you both love, or a passage from a book. You could choose words or a story that will tell the guests something about your relationship. If you are stumped, try looking at a book of classic love letters or romantic poems.

When you are having a small wedding, it can be wonderful to invite all of the guests to participate in the readings. You can pass out sections from a poem, and ask each guest to read a line in turn. You can also try a call and response reading, where the officiant leads the way, and the assembled guests read a response. It is very meaningful to have the guests take part in your wedding.

Although it is not mandatory, it might be nice to give your reader a small gift of thanks. For instance, if you are giving pearl bridesmaid jewelry to your attendants, then while you are shopping, you could pick up a little something for your readers. The gift could be similar to the one you give your attendants, but perhaps done on a smaller scale. So if you have chosen complete sets of bridesmaid jewelry for your attendants, you might give your reader a simple pearl pendant.

Give yourself plenty of time to select the readings for your wedding ceremony. The readings are a part of the wedding that the bride and groom should definitely decide on together. It is a nice time to reflect on yourselves as a couple, as well as on your upcoming marriage.

Every wedding needs that one special element or theme that will bring it all together. Sometimes that concept can be rather unexpected. One surprising wedding trend right now is to beautify your wedding with butterflies.

There are countless ways to incorporate butterflies into your wedding design. Since they are associated with flowers, that is a good place to start. A tight round bouquet with multi-colored flowers would be even more gorgeous with one or two butterflies adorning it. Look for butterflies that are made from either sheer fabric or feathers, with little clips that you can use to attach them to things.

The wedding cake is another great place to use the butterfly motif. You can use more of the fabric ones, or have your baker create them out of gum paste. It would be just beautiful to have a cake with elaborate frosting flowers, and then to enhance it with graceful butterflies. What a romantic design that would be.

Butterflies can also adorn the bride herself. I have seen stunning bridal gowns that have pastel butterflies embroidered on the bodice or on the train. As long as they are done in a soft color palette, the effect can be subtle and sophisticated. Of course you would want to avoid anything that looked too childish.

For the bridesmaids, there are a few great ways to include them in the butterfly theme. Rather than going overboard with butterflies all over their dresses, choose more subtle accents. A single small butterfly clip in the hair of each attendant would be very pretty. Another idea is to forget about adorning the bridesmaids with a literal representation of a butterfly; instead bring out the luminous colors from your motif by giving them crystal bridesmaid jewelry.

The one type of butterfly to avoid using in your wedding is a live one. Although it looks beautiful to release a box of the fluttering creatures at the end of your ceremony, the sad truth is that they rarely survive very long. It is much better to use faux butterflies as a way to make this wonderful theme come to life.

It seems like these days everyone is looking for ways to cut costs. When it comes to planning a wedding, it is easy to feel torn between saving money and throwing the wedding of your dreams. Luckily, there are some ways to cut costs without cutting down on style.

The bulk of your wedding budget will end up going towards your reception, so this is the also place with the most potential to save. Sometimes couples think that they can save money by having the wedding at home instead of renting a venue. The truth is, though, that by the time you have dealt with renting everything from a tent to silverware to a porto-potty, having a wedding at your house is probably one of the least economical options.

The music is certainly one of the most important parts of the reception, especially if you prefer live music instead of a d.j. One great way to save on the entertainment is to look for musicians at a local college. For instance, if you live near New York, why not audition students from Julliard? With a little research, you can find a band or soloist that is very talented, but also quite affordable.

When trying to save on wedding flowers, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. The first is that if you go with blossoms that are in season, you will save a bundle. Forget about flying tulips in from Holland for your autumn wedding; instead look for another option. Another way to save is to ask your florist to recommend flowers that are less expensive than the ones you see in the magazines, but that have a similar look.

Another way to cut costs for your wedding is to do much of your shopping online. You will often find much more reasonable prices on everything from invitations to bridesmaid jewelry gifts. When you purchase your gifts, like bridesmaid jewelry, over the internet, you will have the added bonus of a much better selection from which to choose.

Your wedding is a once in a lifetime event, and you never want to look back and wish that you had done things differently. When you know where to look, it is possible to have your dream wedding without overspending. This way you reflect back on your wedding, you will have fond memories as reminders, not outstanding debt!

So what is an anti-bride? She is the one who does not flip through bridal magazines at the newsstand, could not care less about the subtle distinctions between ecru and eggshell, and is not about to promise to “obey” anyone. Above all, the anti-bride cannot imagine wearing a big poufy dress, cathedral length veil, and sparkly crown. In other words, she is not into the “princess for a day” fantasy.

If you become engaged and come to realize as Carrie Bradshaw once said in Sex and the City that you are “missing the bride gene”, you may indeed be an anti-bride. Although you may feel that you are surrounded by people pushing you into a nightmare of tulle, ice sculptures shaped like swans, and other things that make you hyperventilate, do not panic: you are not alone. There are, in fact, plenty of other women out there just like you, anti-brides who want to have a great wedding, but on their own terms.

The key to being a happy anti-bride is to be true to yourself. So if your mother tries to push you into the wedding of her dreams, or your co-workers just don’t understand why you would wear a red wedding gown, be prepared to stand your gown. Chances are that you have been doing this most of your adult life, anyway.

If you are an anti-bride, your good friends can also lend you a lot of support as you plan your ideal wedding. They will be the ones who back your decision to wear the wedding gown of your choosing, no matter what anyone else thinks of it. They will also be the ones who will keep your spirits high even on those days when the whole wedding thing is driving you nuts.

Be sure to acknowledge them with special bridesmaid gifts. Something unique that suits their individual personalities is ideal. If you are an anti-bride, the chances are that you will only be having a couple of your closest friends as attendants (instead of a platoon of girls dressed identically in aqua chiffon), so it gives you the freedom to customize your bridesmaid gifts for each of your friends.

The good news for anti-brides is that weddings are all about personal expression these days. There are tons of organic caterers, creative seamstresses, and others out there to help you plan a wedding that truly reflects who you are. Bride or anti-bride, that is really all that most women want from their wedding in the end (other than the groom, of course!).

When you start planning your wedding, you probably give a lot of thought to the major elements, such as location, flowers, and music. One thing that many couples do not give enough consideration is the lighting for their wedding. Don’t overlook it though, because lighting is one of the easiest ways to create an instant mood.

If at all possible, try to visit your site at the same time of day as you will be holding your reception. This can be critical; if you pay an afternoon visit to a spot with great natural light, but you are having an evening wedding, it may look completely different. What if their idea of lighting a space is to turn on a couple of flickering florescent fixtures? That will certainly not create a romantic glow!

An easy place to start is with candles. Lots and lots of candles. For any evening wedding, their flickering glow will create a beautiful mood in a flash. The best part is that everyone looks better by soft candlelight. Think about how lovely the bride and her bridesmaids will look with the glow of candles dancing on their crystal bridal jewelry sets, and putting a twinkle into their eyes.

There is more to lighting than candles, of course. Other types of lighting fixtures to bring in include chandeliers, paper lanterns, and hurricane lamps. Each will create a completely different mood from the other. The chandeliers are pure elegance; the paper lanterns are festive and can be used for an informal atmosphere or an Asian inspired reception. The hurricane lamps are ideal for an outdoor evening wedding. Dress them up with a beautiful floral wreath around the base.

The lighting that you choose will go a long way towards setting the mood for your wedding. It can take a decent looking venue into the realm of the enchanted. Whether your taste is romantic, elegant, or dramatic, there is a lighting scheme that will be perfect for your wedding.

Whether you are a native of Maine, or have just fallen in love with its beauty on a vacation, Maine can be a great place to have a wedding. There are so many fun elements that you can use to celebrate Maine as you celebrate your marriage. A Down East wedding is sure to be a great time!

Maine is famous for many things, including lobsters, boating, blueberries, and its’ unspoiled forests and mountains. There are countless ways that you can incorporate the best of Maine into your wedding plans. All you have to do is to pick one or two motifs that you can incorporate throughout your wedding scheme.

A great place to start is with the famous Maine lobster. This makes a great motif that you can use in many ways. To set the tone, choose wedding invitations with lobsters on them. For an informal wedding, you could use stationary with a large red lobster; if your style is more formal, then an understated gold engraved lobster would be nice on the top of the invitation.

For attire, the men can wear navy blazers with khakis. Of course they will want to wear navy ties with tiny red lobsters on them! The bride should look for a simple and elegant gown to coordinate with the informal attire worn by the men. A strapless gown with pearl bridal jewelry would strike just the right note. Make sure that your bridesmaids are equally well-turned out by giving them gifts of pearl bridal jewelry to wear, as well.

Couples who want to go with a nautical Maine theme will find countless options. A sailboat motif is one great idea; another would be a nautical map or ship’s wheel motif. These graphic designs will work very well on everything from invitations and place cards to the favors and even the wedding cake. To really bring a nautical theme to life, look for a reception venue that is near the ocean. A yacht club or an outdoor setting near the water’s edge would both be good choices.

Whichever way you decide to express it, you can’t beat the charm of a Down East wedding. The great state of Maine has so much to offer. It is up to you to pick the perfect Maine theme to create a wedding that your guests will never forget.

Fall weddings are all about enjoying the warmth and richness of the season. Unlike a summer wedding, when food should be light and refreshing, in the autumn, you can indulge in richer flavors. And when it comes to a rich wedding cake, this can only mean one thing: chocolate!

Many people absolutely love chocolate, and want to use it instead of the classic white wedding cake. At some times of the year, brides are more likely to hide the chocolate cake under white or pastel frosting, or to relegate it to the groom’s cake. But in the fall, the warm color of chocolate icing is a perfect match for the colors of the season.

There are certainly a large variety of chocolate cakes from which to choose. You can go with the classic basic chocolate, or choose a more exotic flavor like chocolate fudge, mocha, or truffle. Another tasty idea is to layer a chocolate cake with a fruit filling, such as raspberry or apricot. And then there is the frosting: you can opt for the smooth-as-glass effect of fondant icing, or go for the more natural look of a buttercream based frosting.

Chocolate cakes can be created in a design to match any wedding theme. You will want to make sure that your cake coordinates with the rest of the affair.

Because the cake has become such an important style element, brides look at them almost like another accessory, like their headpiece or bridal jewelry. In fact, it is very common for brides to choose the details of their cake based on the elements of their bridal jewelry, such as using a crystal monogram as the cake topper to tie in with the crystals in their wedding jewelry.

Fall weddings often have a rustic look, and you can very easily bring that into your wedding cake. Chocolate frosting with a rougher bark-like texture makes the perfect backdrop for tiny little fall pumpkins, gourds, and flowers. These can either be real, or created from marzipan or gum paste. The tiny little sugar fruits and flowers are truly works of art.

The best part about having a chocolate cake for your fall wedding is that it will be as delicious as it is good looking. Imagine how happy your guests will be when they walk into the reception and spy the tasty chocolate wedding cake. And just think about how happy you will be when you get to share that first piece of yummy cake as husband and wife!