Bi-Lingual Marriage Ceremonies
Cross-cultural weddings have become increasingly common in our interconnected world. They can be a marvelous way to introduce the customs and culture of your partner’s heritage to your family, and vice versa. At the same time, it can be confusing to plan a service in two languages, especially when it comes to ensuring that all of your wedding guests can follow along. These are some tips on how to plan a beautiful bi-lingual marriage ceremony.
The first decision to make is in which language the marriage ceremony will be primarily conducted. A practical way to make the choice is based on what language the majority of the guests will understand. So if the bride speaks French, and the groom comes from a Spanish speaking family, think about which family will have more people attending the wedding. If it is pretty equal, opt for either the language that the bride and groom mostly use for conversation.
Wedding programs are a necessity for a bi-lingual ceremony. They should contain the order of the service in both languages to help guests follow along with what is happening. This will be especially useful for those guests who will not understand much of what is being said, as it will prevent them from getting bored or feeling excluded. Another option is to project a written translation onto the wall behind the altar for key parts of the service like the readings and vows.
One part of a wedding ceremony that everyone really wants to hear is when the bride and groom exchange their vows. The best solution may be to have the bride and groom recite their vows in both languages. The bi-lingual vows could be repeated in their entirety first in one language, and then in the other. If the vows are short and standard, it might work just as well to have each line repeated after the officiant in both languages. When done well, a bi-lingual marriage ceremony will be a very memorable experience that all of your guests will enjoy tremendously.
Filed under Wedding Jewelry, Wedding Planning | Tags: bilingual wedding, multi-cultural wedding, wedding ceremony, Wedding Jewelry, Wedding Planning | Comment (0)Holding the Wedding Ceremony and Reception In One Venue
When you are deciding where to host your wedding, you may find that it is most convenient to have the entire event take place in one location. For some couples, having the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception all in one spot is the simplest and easiest option. This is a look at how you can combine the three distinct phases of a wedding in one venue, while ensuring that each part feels distinct and special.
A lot depends on the layout of your venue. The most challenging situation to sort out is when you have one big room to use for the ceremony, cocktails, and reception. The one thing you should try to avoid is having guests see the reception space before the ceremony. It will definitely take away from the big reveal of your gorgeous centerpieces and other reception decorations. The best scenario is one where the space is divided up so that the ceremony area is closest to the door through which guests will enter. From there, they should move to the cocktail hour area, with the reception section being the furthest back.
If the lay out of your wedding site will require guests to pass the reception area on the way to the ceremony, create a hallway out of draperies to hide the dinner area from view. It is also a nice way to delineate the spaces for the three phases of your wedding. Be sure to think about how you can preserve an entranceway so that the newlyweds will have their grand entrance to the reception. It is a special moment when the bride and groom march into the wedding dinner together, especially if she has changed into a party dress with fabulous crystal chandelier earrings.
Perhaps the most ideal set up is one where an outdoor space will be available. It can work to have the ceremony in one room, then invite the guests out to a beautiful veranda for cocktails. While they are on the veranda, the ceremony room can then be turned over for the dinner. Last but not least, consider a wedding location that has enough outdoor space to host all three parts of the event outside. You could say your vows in an area with a beautiful view, move to a patio for cocktails, and then into a tent for the dinner part of the wedding. While having your entire wedding in one venue can take a bit of creative planning, it can also be a very convenient way to keep the fun of the day going without interruption.
Filed under crystal bridal jewelry, Wedding Planning | Tags: crystal earrings, Wedding Planning, wedding venue | Comment (0)Picking the Right Style for Your Wedding
Your everyday lifestyle is always a good place to begin when thinking about the ideal style for your wedding celebration. If you are the sort of woman who favors twinsets with color coordinated shoes, you will probably be most at home in a classic location, such as a country club. Wear a white silk strapless A-line gown, carry a bouquet of pink peonies, and dance to a big band. Other options for brides with classic tastes can include yacht clubs or formal tented weddings.
A chic loft wedding will be perfect for you if you are the ultimate city girl. If you are the one who is in the know about the coolest restaurants, the best clubs, and the latest art events, you will feel right at tome in a loft. The wide open space is ideal for a modern wedding, and the blank canvas will allow your creative side to run wild. Modern minimalist or retro-chic are two great design schemes for a loft reception. An alternative to a loft is a wedding held in an art gallery, or other non-traditional space. You may need a wedding planner to help you track down some of the off-the-beaten path venues which can host your cool and unique urban wedding.
Many brides fantasize about being married on the beach. The natural beauty of a beach location is certainly beyond compare, but there is a certain lack of control which is inherent in this type of wedding. You will be happiest with a beach wedding if you are willing to put up with a bit of uncertainty or imperfections. Before committing to a ceremony on the beach, be sure that you will be comfortable with getting your wedding dress sandy or having your bridal veil being blown into your face by the wind during the vow exchange. Beach weddings are fantastic for sun-worshipers, couples who love the great outdoors, and brides who can be flexible. A short wedding dress worn with handmade beach theme wedding jewelry is terrific for a wedding on the sand.
Church weddings can run the range from formal to low-key, but in general they are fairly traditional. The number one reason to choose a church wedding is indeed tradition, as well as your religious beliefs. If you envision a formal wedding, a church ceremony is a great way to start. Feel free to choose a wedding gown with a long train, crystal beading, or ornate embroidery for a church wedding. Add all the trimmings, such as a veil, beautiful headpiece, and handmade pearl and crystal wedding jewelry. Follow a traditional church service with a reception in an equally traditional venue, like a hotel ballroom, country club, or an historic mansion.
Filed under Wedding Jewelry, Wedding Planning | Tags: handmade wedding jewelry, Wedding Planning, wedding style | Comment (0)How to Make Travel Easy for Your Wedding Guests
Send Save the Date Cards. One of the best things you can do to make travel easy for your out-of-town guests is to give them as much advance notice as possible. Wedding invitations are traditionally mailed six to eight weeks before the event, and that might not be enough time for some people to schedule time off from work, shop for a dress and wedding jewelry, get the best price on plane tickets, book a hotel room, and so on. This goes double if your wedding will be over a holiday weekend like Memorial Day or Labor Day.
Book a Block of Hotel Rooms. This is one of the most helpful things that the hosts of a wedding can do for their guests. You can do all the legwork researching which hotels will be the most convenient to the wedding venue, saving your guests the hassle. Another excellent reason to book a block of hotel rooms is to get a group rate for your family and friends. It also ensures that everyone will actually be able to get a hotel room, which can be a problem at popular times of the year. You may need to book earlier than you expect, in some cases up to a year before your wedding!
Arrange for Transportation From the Airport. While some of your guests will surely rent cars, it is very thoughtful to arrange for transportation from the airport to the hotel whenever possible. This is especially true for elderly guests like grandparents. Enlist a few local friends to run a shuttle service between the airport and the hotel where most of your guests will be staying. If this is impractical, find out about hotel shuttle vans and airport limo services and post the information on your wedding website.
Offer a Shuttle to the Wedding. When most of your guests are staying at one hotel, it is a fairly easy thing to hire a bus or several vans to take them to your wedding venue. It is a marvelous convenience, especially if you are having your wedding in a big city that can be hard to navigate. A shuttle van can also be a more eco-friendly means of transportation than every couple driving their own car, especially if you hire a biodiesel bus. Last, but definitely not least, a shuttle drastically reduces the risk of guests drinking and driving at your wedding. Everyone will be able to relax and enjoy your wedding, knowing that their considerate hosts have made all the transportation arrangements.
Filed under Wedding Jewelry, Wedding Planning | Tags: wedding guests, Wedding Jewelry, Wedding Planning, wedding travel | Comment (0)How to Politely Incorporate Charitable Donations Into a Wedding
It is a very admirable urge to use your wedding as a way to give back to your community. The bride who wishes to find ways to support a beloved charity is a refreshing break from the Me-First Bridezilla attitude that one sees more often than we would like. At the same time, a wedding is not a fundraiser, and it is important not to offend your guests in the name of doing a good deed. This is a look at ways that a couple can politely incorporate charitable donations into their wedding.
The frank reality is that people are not particularly crazy about receiving a card that says “In lieu of a favor, a donation has been made in your name to _____”. They just aren’t. It is not really a gift for them, after all, but a gift for your favorite cause. No matter how worthy the cause may be, it is not more worthy than showing hospitality to your friends and family. Keep in mind that there are some things for which a charitable donation simply cannot be substituted. It is not going to fly to give make donations instead of giving bridesmaid gifts.
This does not mean, however, that it is impossible to work in a charitable donation as part of the wedding favors. The best way to do it is to find a charity that you support who sells something nice that you can give as favors. The Arbor Day Foundation, for instance, sells little live trees that you can give as favors, and the proceeds go to support their efforts. Many charities do something similar. This is the perfect solution, because it allows you to give money to your favorite cause, while also giving your guests a nifty little gift.
There are some other interesting ways to incorporate charitable donations into your wedding plans behind the scenes. You could hire a volunteer from your favorite organization to provide a service at your wedding and then donate whatever you would have paid a professional to do perform that task. In some cases, they may be able to hook you up with a volunteer who has expertise in an area of need, such as bartending, but there are also other tasks – coat check attendant, for example – that could easily be done by any adult volunteer. By the way, there is no need to make a big fuss about your charitable donation (like printing a note about it in your programs, for instance); doing the good deed should be the motivation, not getting recognition for it.
Filed under Bridesmaid Gifts, Wedding Planning | Tags: Bridesmaid Gifts, charitable wedding, charitable wedding favors, wedding favors, Wedding Planning | Comment (0)Wedding Ideas That Are Too Good to Be True
Planning a wedding is a big undertaking, both in terms of time and money. It is only natural that brides want ways to cut down their budgets and the amount of work that goes into their weddings. However, not every offer of help or “unbeatable deal” is as good as it first appears. These are some of the wedding ideas that are simply too good to be true.
Volunteer Amateur Services: People love weddings, and many brides are fortunate enough to have well-meaning loved ones who really want to help them with their wedding. Unfortunately, in many of those instances there is an abundance of good intentions, but a lack of the skill to perform the task at a professional level. This is the uncle who offers to take all of your wedding photos to save you money. It could be your sister who thinks she can make your bridal hair jewelry, even though she has no experience making bridal hair jewelry. That “great” offer can end up with a very disappointed bride and hard feelings all around.
Knock-off Wedding Gowns: Many a bride has fallen in love with a wedding gown that she loves, but cannot afford. There are plenty of websites online that offer reproductions of designer gowns at rock bottom prices. The only problem is that the knock-offs never look anywhere near as good as the originals. The fabric, craftsmanship, embellishments, and fit are usually very poor quality from the designer imitation sites, and it is a rare bride who is pleased in the end. The wedding gown is one case where you definitely get what you pay for.
Electronic Wedding Invitation Responses: It sounds great at first: you will save on the cost of the response cards, the computer will tally up the number of guests who have accepted or declined, and your guests will all respond on time because it is so easy for them. In reality, however, there are several drawbacks to the online R.s.v.p. system. Some of your older guests simply will not be comfortable with this form of reply. Also, there is no guarantee that you will get a higher rate of replies using this system; if you have ever received an evite to a big party, you will have seen that plenty of people do not bother to reply. If you have your heart set on an electronic response system on your wedding website, make it one of several options, not the only way to R.s.v.p.
Filed under Bridal Jewelry, Wedding Planning | Tags: amateur wedding photographer, bridal hair jewelry, wedding gowns, Wedding Planning | Comment (0)DIY Flower Dying for Weddings
Many a bride has decided upon a stunning color palette for her wedding, only to discover that she cannot find blossoms in exactly the right shade. What’s a creative bride to do? Create her own custom colored flowers, of course! This is what you need to know about diy flower dying for your wedding.
When selecting flowers to dye for your wedding, it is generally best to start with white flowers, as they are the easiest to manipulate. Flowers with open stems will absorb dye more quickly and reliably than those with woody stems. Some excellent varieties to dye include carnations, Queen Anne’s lace, daisies, allium, and tulips. Gather your flowers, some standard food dye, and the vases, and you will be ready to get to work.
If you are planning to dye your flowers to a custom hue for your wedding, you will definitely want to do some experiments in the months before your event. Take notes about your samples, so that when you create the perfect shade of apricot to match the bridesmaid jewelry or the most vivid turquoise blue for your summer celebration, you will be able to duplicate the result later. Be aware that the food dye can also dye the leaves of the flowers, so keep a careful eye on how long it takes for the flowers to become the right color, without leaving them in the dye so long that the leaves take on the same hue as the petals.
When prepping flowers to dye, the first step is to cut the stems at a sharp angle under running water. The food dye will not harm the blossoms or cause them to wilt. Then place them in the vases with the colored water. The more food coloring you use, the more vivid the end result will be. So if you want to create navy blue flowers for a wedding with a “true blue” theme, right down to the bridesmaid jewelry and cake, you will need to use a high concentration of dye. Yearning to decorate your ceremony with ballet pink Queen Anne’s lace? Just a few drops of red coloring will do the trick. Allow about 24 hours for the flowers to take on the color of the water. Just think about how much fun you can have creating a one-of-a-kind flower color for your wedding!
Filed under Bridesmaid Jewelry, Wedding Planning | Tags: Bridesmaid Jewelry, diy wedding flowers, dying flowers, wedding flowers, Wedding Planning | Comment (0)Wedding Planning for “Anti-Brides”
There is an assumption that when a woman becomes engaged, she will be very excited to plan her wedding. While that is certainly true for many brides, there are also a lot of women out there who care about getting married, but not the wedding part. It can be challenging to organize an event as large as a wedding when planning parties simply does not interest you. These are some wedding planning tips for “anti-brides” to help you get through the process.
A woman that I know recently confessed that when she got married, she sat down with a friend and made up all the details for the wedding announcement her family was putting in the newspaper. The truth was that she did not know what type of flowers were in her bouquet, who designed her wedding jewelry, or what fabric her dress was made from – and nor did she care. All the bride knew was that the dress was white, the flowers were white, and her wedding jewelry was made from pearls; she simply did not find the specific details all that interesting, nor could she understand why anyone else would. This is a perfect example of an anti-bride.
While a bride-to-be may not be all that interested in the small details of her wedding, there are nonetheless a lot of details which must be attended to in order to pull the event together. For an anti-bride, the best way to handle this situation is usually ceding control to someone else. Hiring a wedding planner can be an excellent idea for a bride who does not want to spend her days looking over centerpiece designs or choosing tablecloth colors. If the bride has a willing mother or best friend, she might hand the reins over to that person to take the lead in organizing the wedding ceremony and reception.
For the anti-bride who will have to manage most of the wedding planning herself, the best advice is to streamline the process. Start by picking a wedding venue with a hands-on coordinator. If you choose a reception site like a hotel or country club which provides all of the things you will need, your job will be far easier than if you opt for a site like a tent or a loft which is a blank slate. Be upfront with your venue’s coordinator that you are going to put a lot of trust into her taste to plan a lovely wedding and that you do not need to be consulted on every little detail (except the ones which will cost you extra money!). Then give the florist, caterer, baker and the rest of your vendors a budget and general style, and let them handle the rest. An upside to that is that without being obsessed with perfection, you might actually be able to relax and enjoy your wedding day.
Filed under Wedding Jewelry, Wedding Planning | Tags: anti-bride, offbeat bride, Wedding Jewelry, Wedding Planning | Comment (0)A Welcoming Winter Wedding
A great way to make your guests feel pampered upon arrival at your winter wedding is to greet them with a hot drink station. It could be a selection of gourmet teas, served in the traditional fashion with sugar lumps, honey, lemon, or milk in elegant china. The station could feature cozy hot chocolate made from a rich drinking chocolate served in oversized mugs with big gourmet marshmallows. Or it could be a selection of hot toddies and spiced cider to chase the chills away. Whatever you choose for your hot drinks station, it will instantly help your guests to feel cozy and get settled in to your wedding.
A true coat check with an attendant (or several, depending on the size of your guest list) is an excellent amenity to offer your guests. It is customary for coat check attendants to be tipped, but when someone is your guest, they should not have to do any tipping; the hosts of the wedding should tip the coat check attendants, and place a discreet sign by the coat closet informing guests that no gratuities are expected. By the way, if you are having a smaller wedding or one at home, you can set up an informal coat closet by renting rolling racks and heavy wooden hangers. Hire a niece or nephew to help guests with their coats.
A roaring fire is always inviting on a chilly winter day. If your wedding venue happens to have a working fireplace, by all means use it! When a fireplace is not available, look into the possibility of renting a portable one. There are all kinds of styles available, from those with a very traditional mantel to modern closed fire pits. If you are wearing a sleek gown with hip crystal bridal jewelry, choose the modern streamlined closed fire pit, or if your venue is very old-fashioned, opt for a fireplace with a classic wide mantel. These portable fireplaces are designed to be very safe, but of course you will need to clear it with your venue before renting one for your wedding.
Music is another way to make people feel welcome. For a winter wedding, it would be a really fun detail to have traditional carolers singing wintery songs greet guests as they arrive at the venue. Can’t track down any old-fashioned carolers? Check out a local college to see if they have an a capella singing group to hire for an hour’s performance. Greeting your guests with song is a wonderful way to make them feel welcome at your winter wedding.
Filed under crystal bridal jewelry, Wedding Planning | Tags: crystal bridal jewelry, Wedding Planning, winter weddings | Comment (0)Things You Should Know About Planning a Catholic Wedding
It Takes Time. There are several steps which must be completed before a marriage ceremony can be performed, so most churches advise allowing at least six months to plan a Catholic wedding. Pre-marital preparation is an important part of the process. Couples will often be required to take surveys designed to assess their compatibility and to reveal any potential areas of conflict in the relationship which should be addressed before exchanging vows. In addition, there will be pre-Cana classes to attend, either as a weekend retreat or over a series of weekends. The bride and groom will also meet several times with their Priest to go over details of the ceremony, such as the readings and the vows.
Secular Music is Not Permitted. Before you ask your niece to perform a solo of “At Last” by Etta James at your marriage ceremony, you should find out if your church allows it. In general, secular music is not permitted at Catholic ceremonies. This is not to say that you might not be allowed to bring in musicians beyond the church organist, but it is likely that the musical selections they play will have to pass muster with the church. Before making any arrangements for ceremony music, consult with your Priest or the church secretary to find out the rules.
An Unofficial Dress Code Exists. Attire should be tasteful, not too revealing, and fairly traditional. Within this, there is a huge variation, but suffice it to say that a lace mini-dress might not be the best choice for a Catholic wedding. A classic white or ivory bridal gown worn with a pearl necklace and a veil is always in good taste. A little pearl beading on the gown to complement the pearl necklace would be lovely and sweet. Avoid wedding gowns which show a lot of cleavage, and be sure to ask if shoulders should be covered. Brides wearing strapless gowns should plan on wearing veils at the least, and possibly a little lace jacket for the ceremony as well.
A Full Mass is Not Required. People sometimes groan at the thought of how long a Catholic wedding ceremony can take when it is the full Nuptial Mass including the Sacrament of Holy Communion. However, a couple may opt to have a Catholic marriage ceremony without including the rite of Communion, if they wish. This is less often done to “move things along”, and more often when the guest list will include many friends and family members of other faiths. If you do choose to have a Nuptial Mass, it should be stated on the wedding invitation to give guests a hint that the ceremony will be on the longer side.
Filed under pearl bridal jewelry, Wedding Planning | Tags: Catholic wedding, Catholic wedding attire, pearl necklace, Wedding Planning | Comment (0)