Charitable Weddings

June 20th, 2009

I recently watched a new show called “Wedding Day” that had an interesting new premise. A team of talented wedding planners get together to throw an amazing dream wedding for a deserving couple who could not otherwise have one. This got me to thinking, it doesn’t require the magic of television to make someone’s dream come true. The friends and family of a worthy couple could get together and throw their own charitable wedding as a surprise gift to their loved ones.

First of all, everyone on the wedding planning team would pitch in their services. If the groom’s mom is a fantastic cook, maybe she could handle the catering, with some extra help from a few sets of willing hands. Maybe the bride’s aunt is a talented baker. Great! She can contribute the wedding cake. Almost anyone who is handy with a computer can design and print lovely low cost wedding invitations to spread the good news.

Of course, not everything can be handmade by a family member. For the items that will need to be purchased, one idea could be to gift it to the bride or groom in lieu of a wedding or shower present. For instance, the maid of honor could take the bride shopping to look at sets of bridal jewelry. When the pieces are made from gems like freshwater pearls or Swarovski crystals, the bridal jewelry sets can be found for no more than the cost of any other wedding gift, and jewelry makes a wonderful keepsake for the bride even after the wedding. Perhaps the bride’s parents or grandmother might decide to gift her a bridal gown, if there is not a talented seamstress available in the family.

As you are planning a charitable wedding, you are likely to find that most people who work in the wedding industry are romantics at heart. If you share the special story of the bride and groom who you have decided to help, you just might find that some vendors can be a little more flexible on their rates or might throw in some extras for no additional cost. Promising them a big thanks in the wedding programs might be a good incentive; every company loves good publicity. And surely there could be no more heartfelt wedding than one that has been lovingly assembled by the bride and groom’s dearest friends and family.

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Great Ideas for Wedding Gifts

September 19th, 2008

Choosing the perfect gift is not always simple. You want it to be unique and impressive, while still being affordable. Luckily, there are many great ideas for wedding gifts.

A good place for wedding guests to start is with the couple’s bridal registry. It would be a very rare couple who is not registered somewhere. If you do not know the couple very well, picking something from their registry can be the easiest way to go. Sometimes a group, such as the groom’s coworkers, might decide to chip in together on one larger gift instead of buying smaller gifts individually.

Another source of inspiration is the couple’s hobbies and pastimes. If you know that the bride and groom love to travel, a wonderful wedding present would be a good set of luggage, perhaps with their monogram. Gifts do not have to be objects either. If the bride and groom share a passion for a sports team, then tickets to a big game would make a much appreciated gift.

A close family member might prefer to give something personal. One of the most cherished wedding gifts that a bride could receive would be a piece of jewelry from her new mother-in-law. Gifts like wedding jewelry show the recipient how much they mean to you, and are a gracious way to say “Welcome to the family!”.

Sometimes a great wedding gift can be the practical things that you would never think to buy for yourself, but will really be able to use. When I got married, one of my bridesmaids gave me a set of storage bags designed to protect all of my new fine china. It may not have been the most thrilling gift, but it was something that I was grateful to receive.

When looking for just the right gift, keep in mind what you know about the couple. Select a gift that you know will suit their taste, encourage their hobbies, or remind them of good times that you have shared together. If you put your heart into the wedding gift, you can be certain that it will be absolutely perfect.

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How to Balance Planning a Wedding and Having a Life

August 18th, 2008

If you have planned a wedding recently, you have probably noticed that it can be a full time job. There is a reason that many couples spend a year planning their wedding, and it is not just because it is so hard to book a venue for a Saturday in June. But even if you are the type of bride who loves the planning stage, it is still important to balance your wedding and your life.

If you feel like planning your wedding is consuming your life (and I can almost guarantee that your groom thinks it is!), you have to come up with a realistic way to get your life back in balance. For brides who are planning very large or complicated weddings, their best bet is going to be hiring professional help.

You may not want to hire a wedding coordinator, but could you trust your mother or maid of honor to handle a few of the details? A nice way to do it is to let a trusted helper round up the best options, and then the bride will take her pick and make the final choice. That will spare the bride a lot of the preliminary running around, and will give her back a little of her day.

A bride can streamline the planning process through efficient use of her precious time. For instance, instead of hitting four different stores looking for a wedding gift for your groom, jewelry gifts for your mom and bridesmaids, and the perfect tiara for yourself, try to find it all in one place. If you look online, you are sure to find a retailer that carries everything that you have been looking for.

The last tip on balancing your wedding planning and your life is to start as early as possible. Anything that can be done in advance should be. If you space out the wedding planning instead of trying to do a lot of it at the end, you will find the whole process to be infinitely more enjoyable.

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