Save on Your Wedding With Clever Substitutions
To trim expenses while still having the beautiful wedding you designed, try substituting similar, but more affordable, elements for your ceremony and reception. You can end up with a wedding that meets your every expectation, including the total budget.
Instead of this: A six tier wedding cake decorated with handmade sugar flowers, a la Silvia Weinstock.
Substitute this: A cake with a real bottom tier and upper tiers made from Styrofoam. Once the whole cake is frosted, it will be impossible to tell that the top layers are fake. Decorate with fresh flowers instead of labor intensive sugar blossoms to save even more money.
Instead of this: A stack of diamond bracelets from Harry Winston (sorry, girls, they only let you borrow them if you are a movie star headed for the Academy Awards!).
Substitute this: A stack of sparkling Swarovski crystal bracelets. The Swarovski crystal bracelets will be glamorous and sparkly, yet won’t cost as much as a down payment on a house.
Instead of this: Custom letterpress wedding invitations, save-the-date cards, and thank you notes with your monogram on them.
Substitute this: Imprintable wedding stationery with a letterpress motif, such as a flower or a bird. The paper will have a lovely letterpress design on it, but you will save hundreds by doing the printing of the words yourself on a high quality home printer. There are a huge number of beautiful letterpress imprintable invitations from which you can order, both online and through traditional stationers.
Filed under Bridal Jewelry, Wedding Planning, crystal bridal jewelry | Tags: Swarovski crystal bracelets, wedding budget, Wedding Planning | Comment (0)Delicious and Gorgeous Chocolate Wedding Cakes
Everyone loves chocolate! Instead of the traditional white wedding cake, it can be really great to choose a rich, yummy chocolate cake instead. These days, you don’t have to hide a flavored cake under plain white icing, either; not only can you have a chocolate cake, but go ahead and frost it with chocolate icing, too. These are some fantastic ideas for delicious and gorgeous chocolate wedding cakes.
A chocolate wedding cake can be the perfect centerpiece for a grand wedding reception. Let’s say you were planning an opulent reception in an ornate ballroom in a luxury hotel. Begin by designing a cake which is very tall; five or more tiers would be good – you want your wedding cake to make a statement. Place it upon a silver cake stand and decorate it with fresh red roses between each tier. Top the cake with a small antique silver vase filled with red roses. Then decorate the sides of each tiers with a hand applied scroll pattern in crystals. The sparkling detail will really pop against the dark chocolate frosting, and is a fabulous complement to the bride’s Swarovski crystal bracelets, earrings, and bridal necklace.
There are some great modern cake designs which can be created for a chocolate wedding cake. Take three narrow layers and stack high before covering with a smooth-as-glass brown fondant. Adorn each tier of the wedding cake with circles in varying sizes done in white, lime green, and tangerine for a mod cake that will steal the show at the reception. Or opt for a modern elegant cake and decorate a fondant covered chocolate cake with an all-over damask motif in a contrasting color like sky blue. So sophisticated and definitely delicious.
Chocolate works great for a country wedding cake. A low cake with two or three wide tiers would look wonderful decorated with fresh strawberries for a summer reception. Another gorgeous idea is to decorate the cake with chocolate cosmos and pink wax flowers. Whichever decorations you choose, your guests are sure to love the sweet ending to your wedding reception!
Filed under Bridal Jewelry, Wedding Planning, crystal bridal jewelry | Tags: chocolate wedding cakes, Swarovski crystal bracelets, wedding cakes | Comment (0)Winter Wonderland Wedding Attire
Planning a Winter Wonderland theme wedding? Great! It is a fabulous and festive theme for a wedding in the cold winter months. A Winter Wonderland wedding needs equally fabulous attire for the bridal party; here is a guide to the most spectacular outfits for everyone from the bride on down.
The hallmarks of a Winter Wonderland wedding are icy sparkle and plenty of shimmer. This is a very fun idea to capture in a bridal gown. Look for a lustrous white silk gown, rather than one in ivory or champagne. Choose a style that has a grand presence, such as a very full ballgown with a box pleated skirt. Then think about the details. Silver embroidery and crystal beadwork are a must!
No wedding gown is complete without the perfect finishing touches. A sparkling headpiece is great for a Winter Wonderland bride. Choose a tiara, a double headband, a festive comb, or a set of hairpins. Crystals and rhinestones can be mixed with tiny pearls for the perfect icy snowflake look. In fact, you can even get hairpins or other jewelry that is made in the shape of a snowflake. A snowflake pendant is a fantastic gift idea for your bridesmaids. You will want plenty of other twinkling touches, too, such as stacks of Swarovski crystal bracelets, chandelier earrings, and a fabulous crystal necklace.
The bridesmaids for a Winter Wonderland wedding should also look spectacular. As popular as red is for winter weddings, it makes too strong a contrast to the icy white palette that characterizes this theme. Opt for bridesmaid dresses in a color like silver, platinum, or champagne instead. They will look just as festive, yet will not be a distraction from the décor. Certainly the bridesmaids will also want to shimmer. Sets of Swarovski crystal bracelets, earrings, and necklaces would be the perfect finishing touch.
Filed under Bridal Jewelry, Bridesmaid Gifts, Bridesmaid Jewelry, Wedding Jewelry, Wedding Planning, crystal bridal jewelry | Tags: bridal gowns, bridesmaid dress, crystal bridal jewelry, Swarovski crystal bracelets, winter wedding attire, Winter wonderland wedding | Comment (0)Wedding Exits With Style
There is a wonderful custom that when the bride and groom leave their wedding, their guests will shower them with something festive. This grand exit can take place when you leave the ceremony (especially if it is a separate venue like a church), at the end of the reception, or maybe even both. Here are some great ideas for things your guests can toss to help you make your wedding exit with style.
The toss for your exit can tie in with the general flavor of your wedding. If you are having a glitzy evening reception, with plenty of sparkle and Swarovski crystal bracelets on the bride, your big moment should have a similar, ahem, spark. When you want the sparkle and drama of your Swarovski crystal bracelets for your leavetaking, why not go with actual sparklers? They look fantastic lighting up the night sky as the newlyweds dash away arm in arm. A canopy of sprinklers held aloft also makes for some stunning photographs for your wedding album.
Of course the impact of sparklers would be lost on a sunny afternoon, so you might want to go a different direction for a daytime wedding. One very pretty idea is to exit your ceremony in a sea of bubbles blown by your guests. You can buy small jars of bubbles that are decorated in a wedding style, or take it on as a simple diy project. Get tiny jars of bubble solution and cover them with a pretty piece of paper in your wedding colors. Hot glue a few silk flowers to the top of the cap, and tie a grosgrain ribbon around the jar. It is an easy and inexpensive way to add some fun to your wedding.
There are tons of other great ideas for your grand exit. Guests can throw simple paper confetti or fly cute little paper airplanes. A shower of flower petals is always beautiful, and is lovely for a romantic garden wedding. If your bridal attitude is a little more dramatic, step out in style in a cloud of fluffy feathers wafting through the air. Whichever you choose, having a toss at the end of your wedding will make for a fun getaway.
Filed under Bridal Jewelry, Wedding Planning, crystal bridal jewelry | Tags: confetti, rice, sparklers, Swarovski crystal bracelets, wedding exit, Wedding Planning | Comment (0)