Guide To Hiring A Wedding Coordinator/Planner

After reading everything in this book, you may be concerned that you don’t have what it takes to plan your own wedding. Perhaps you feel that you’re too busy or that you’re just not creative enough. That’s okay.

Finding help

Wedding coordinators and planners are professionals at making your special day memorable and stress free. They know the ins and the outs of planning a wedding. And since they’re local for the most part, they also know what your city is like. They will know where the good places to have a reception are, or where the best catering can be found.

They do the work for you and come back with options for you to select from. You work together until you find something that suits the both of you. They’ll help you work within a budget, make all the calls that you need, and even remind you of things that only you can do.

They’re really a day planner for your wedding day creation.

For the busy couple that doesn’t have the time, or needs to travel a lot, a wedding coordinator or planner can provide a sense of security and ease. A good one with attend to your every need and desire in a beautiful wedding, while also relieving you of going through the motions.

Not for everyone

One of the main reasons that couples don’t always enlist wedding coordinators is that they do charge a fee for helping throughout the process. This makes sense because it is their time and their livelihood. However, if it’s an investment in your sanity, it may be well worth the extra check.

Another thing that you may want to consider before hiring someone to help you is whether or not it will make you less stressed. Those brides and grooms that enjoy planning and being in control of tings may find it hard to relinquish that to someone else. They end up calling the planner constantly, making additional plans without their knowledge, and other destructive behaviors. This is why sitting down with a few different coordinators will help you to choose one that complements your personality and your wishes.

A wedding coordinator or planner will be with you from the first step to the last, helping you navigate the details and doing the busy work. If you’re concerned that you’ll fall behind on the wedding planning, or you just want someone else to handle it, interview a few wedding planners and see if there’s someone who can help.

Wedding Hair Style Tips: Choose Your Wedding Day Hairstyle Carefully

Women like to look glamorous, elegant and sexy on their wedding day so they usually take the time to choose an extravagant dress, stunning shoes and make up, and then there is the hair style. Whoa boy! Women usually have a stylist visit them when they are getting ready for the wedding, which costs a fortune, or they visit the parlour early in the morning before their wedding to get their chosen hair style done.

A woman’s hair may be her crowning glory, but getting a new ‘do’ just before a big event in your life can be a major mistake. Plan ahead with any chemical treatments – bleaching, colouring, streaking, perming or straightening – and if you’re considering any radical changes in length or style do it at least six to eight weeks before the big event, this way it gives you and your hair time to adjust together and get a “working relationship” on the go.

On your wedding day, hundreds of eyes will be on you, and your chosen wedding hair style can either complete the picture or detract from it. That is why it is so important to choose the perfect formal hairstyle well in advance of the big day so that you and your stylist can get it right and make custom additions to your wedding hair style. Nothing is worse than a hastily crafted coif decided upon only minutes before the ceremony, take the time with your stylist to go over what looks suit you and what looks don’t, obviously avoid the looks that don’t suit you. Larger figures should wear their hair up as this draws attention and slims the face down, slimmer brides should look at curls which accentuate the face and shoulders.

Men may seem as though they don’t care about their wedding hair style and women are none the wiser to it, but in fact the bride groom spends at least 15 minutes making sure all the gel is in the correct plane and he has no sticky up bits!!

A great wedding hair style is crucial, especially for those wedding pictures, make sure it’s not some kind of style which is going to fall all over the place or is going to be blown around in high winds! That way you can be sure of looking great in those pictures!

Make Your Wedding Special With These Bridesmaids Tips

It is customary to honor your bridesmaids for their participation in your wedding with a gift of appreciation. Traditional gifts include a piece of jewelry such as earrings or a necklace that complements their bridesmaids dress and can be worn on the wedding day but many bridesmaids will truly appreciate a more unique gift idea. With careful consideration you may be able to give your bridesmaids gifts that show your appreciation for their assistance and also demonstrate that you understand their personality as well.

Camping is one alternative to the traditional bachelor party. You may choose to either rough it by backpacking to a location with only the gear on your back to help you survive the elements for a few days or you could choose to drive to a spa facility that offers well appointed cabins and five star gourmet meals. Whichever option you choose, you are bound to have a great deal of time relaxing and enjoying the company of the rest of the participants in your bachelor party. A camping trip offers the groom a quiet atmosphere to reflect with his friends on the journey he is about to take.

Sporting events are another great alternative to the usual bachelor party ideas. You may find that married life does not offer you as much free time to spend with your friends as you used to have so take this chance to enjoy a little bit of fun with your friends. Whether you choose to partake in a sport of your choice or purchase tickets to see your favorite professional athletes it is sure to be a great opportunity to bond with your male friends in the last few days before your wedding.

It is wise to try choosing a sport that all of your guests will be able to participate in especially if you plan to include very young or very old guests. In this situation playing a game of football may not be the best idea but taking everyone to play a round of golf might be an activity that all of the guest can enjoy.

Personalized cosmetics bags can also be used as unique bridesmaids gifts. You could purchase attractive cosmetic bags and have them embroidered with your bridesmaids’ initials and the date of your wedding. Another nice touch with this gift is to include a few items such as lipstick or nail polish that complement each of your bridesmaids’ style and complexion.

Co-ed bachelor parties that coincide with the bachelorette party are becoming increasingly popular as well. One common practice involving these adjunct parties is to have the bachelors and bachelorettes meet at separate restaurants for dinner and then join each other at a nightclub to cap off the night with some dancing and a few drinks. These types of parties can be a great deal of fun because they allow both the bride and the groom some time apart to spend time with their friends and then they reunite the couple at the end of the night in a chance for them to spend time with all of their friends without the pomp and circumstance that is likely to accompany their wedding reception.

Unique gift ideas for the bridesmaids can also stem from the wedding theme. For example if you are having a beach themed wedding you might want to give your bridesmaids a gift of a tote bag, a beach towel and a novel to enjoy on the beach. This unique gift idea ensures that your bridesmaids will remember your wedding fondly the next time they are at the beach. Traditional bridesmaid’s gifts such as jewelry and jewelry boxes are always welcomed but if you have a large group of friends and most of them will be bridesmaids several more times as more of your friends get married it might be nice to give your bridesmaids a gift that is unique. Unique gift ideas convey your message of appreciation but also let the bridesmaids know that you put a great deal of effort into choosing their gift.

Choosing The Perfect Wedding Hair Style: Tips And Advice

The same frustrations with hair that plague women in daily life often show up during wedding preparations. While you will begrudgingly accept a “bad hair day” every once in a while, you don’t want to have such a day with your wedding hair style. You want everything to be perfect, right? Well, very few things about weddings or life for that matter are perfect. It is better to focus on how you can do your best. When it comes to your wedding hair style, there are some ways that you can attempt to make sure your wedding hair style doesn’t turn into a “bad hair day.”

If you purchase your wedding dress from a bridal shop, the consultants will undoubtedly show you accessories for your hair, such as a tiara, flowers, or headband that complement your dress. Wearing a headdress will influence your wedding hair style. You will need to inform your hairstylist if you intend to wear a headdress. The stylist will want to create a wedding hair style for you that not only accommodates a headdress, but that also stays in place when you remove the headdress.

In addition to what you are wearing, the wedding hair style you choose to wear on your wedding day should first reflect the style of wedding you are planning to create. Are you planning a formal or informal ceremony? A wedding hair style that is dramatic is appropriate for a formal wedding, while a hair style that is more playful and loose is appropriate for an informal ceremony held at a beach, for example.

Last minute decisions are common during wedding preparations. One thing you don’t want to put at the end of your checklist is what wedding hair style you are going to wear. If you don’t have a hair stylist, find one in advance of your wedding. You don’t want a wedding hair style that is tacky and you definitely don’t want a hair stylist who won’t deliver a special wedding hair style. It is customary for brides and bridesmaids to block off four hours or more before the wedding ceremony to obtain their wedding hair style. Be sure your hairstylist can accommodate this or make other arrangements. It’s a good idea to avoid having the bridesmaids take care of their own wedding hair style. Otherwise, the result could be everyone with a different wedding hair style.

Although your hairstylist can offer suggestions for your wedding hair style, it is a good idea to give them some idea of what you like. Browse popular bridal magazines and other magazines featuring various hairstyles until you find a wedding hair style that appeals to you.

5 Tips To Select The Best Wedding Reception Location

Being disc jockeys, we get the opportunity to evaluate many reception facilities while having little or no bias to “sell” one location over another. Most Brides and Grooms know where they will be holding the ceremony before they decide where to have the reception, so we have compiled five observations that can help you when selecting your venue.

Distance - If people have to drive a long way to get from the ceremony to the reception, some will get distracted or decide to do something else. Try to keep the reception within a 15 to 30 minute drive of your ceremony. If it is not possible to get a reception hall close to your ceremony, make a caravan. Have the Bride and Groom lead the parade, and people will follow you to your reception.

Time - Time is just like the distance issue. If your reception is several hours after the ceremony, people will get busy doing other things and not show up for the reception. Try to start the reception within an hour or two of the ceremony. If you don’t want to start your wedding dance at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, have a Meet and Greet mixer before your reception. Serve some punch and get people to mingle. This will be one of the few times that both families will be together. Encourage family members to share stories about your childhoods.

Size - People like their personal space, and they have most likely spent an hour packed into a church for your ceremony. If you let them spread out, they will enjoy themselves more. Make sure your reception hall has plenty of room for your guests. The people renting the location might tell you it holds 200 people, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will hold 200 people comfortably! Make sure to visit the venue before booking.

Climate Control - Having a summer wedding? Is your reception hall air conditioned? If people sweat while just sitting, they won’t dance. On the flip side, if they are cold they won’t dance either (who wants to dance in a parka?). Also make sure you know who has control of the thermostat so the temperature can be adjusted if needed. Chances are your reception will be warm and stuffy while all the guest are there, but as they trickle out during the night the room will begin to cool down.

Smoking - This is a hot button issue, but if your reception hall is non-smoking, you can fully expect smoker’s to leave your reception for 15-30 minutes every hour. If enough of them leave the reception area, you may find a large percentage of your guest just hanging out in the smoking area. This can be a big problem if you have many smokers in your wedding party. You don’t have to allow smoking, but it is something you should consider, especially if anyone has any health problems like asthma or allergies that could be triggered by smoke. If you decide not to allow smoking in the reception area, how close is the nearest place for a smoker to go? Is it close enough that you will be able to get needed wedding party members during events like the bouquet toss or garter auction?

Facility coordinators will no doubt bring up several other factors for you to consider when you interview them for your booking, but these are often missed items, especially if they don’t favor the potential venue. If you keep the overall picture in mind and work with your wedding planner or event coordinator on the decorating ideas, you will no doubt have an enjoyable and memorable wedding reception.

Tips On Choosing Your Wedding Invitations

This is your big day and you want everything to be absolutely perfect, so the invitation is the best way to send the right impression to your guests. You want to show the theme of your wedding as well as give important details, so there’s a lot to consider.

Setting the tone

If you’re a fun loving person, then there’s no need to pick a stodgy old wedding invitation. And why would you? You want to show your guests the real you (and that includes both soon-to-be spouses) as well as what they can expect for the events of the afternoon or evening.

Decide with your fiancé or fiancée what the overall theme of the wedding will be. If you’re stumped on that, perhaps you can choose more than one idea and figure out invitations for each. A lot of couples will actually choose a theme from the invitation, rather than the other way around.

Not only are the pictures or illustrations on the invitation a way to show guests the colors and the atmosphere, but the wording can be a sign as well. By choosing casual phrases like ‘May 28’ instead of the ‘28th of May in the Year of Our Lord,’ you can signal to the recipient that your reception and ceremony may be a little less formal.

Buying or making?

Of course, you may have looked in various bridal magazines or at print shops for wedding ideas, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to purchase them. A lot of couples decide that they want to make their own and add another personal touch to their wedding affair.

But for the busy couple, having your invitations made to order is the best course of action. By looking at samples and choosing the wording that you would like, the invitations will be personalized (even the envelopes can be printed for your convenience), so all you have to do is buy stamps and find the nearest mailbox.

If you have a little more time and patience, then you may want to consider creating your own wedding invitation. You will find that this process takes a bit longer than you think, but the results are tremendous.

Sit down with that book of samples for the printed invitations and see if there are any that you like, and can duplicate. Many times you can even use a home computer to do the printing for you.

Tips for Planning Wedding Flowers

When planning your wedding flowers you must consider them to be the bride’s arrangements, reflecting the spirit of her life’s happiest day. From bouquets to decorations and wedding reception flowers, many brides are clueless about which one of them to select.

Flowers should be chosen according to the bride and groom preferences, color of the bride and bridesmaids’ dresses, church and reception places, and sticking to the decoration theme, if any.

Another point to consider is the season because most floral varieties are easily found year-round, but seasonal flowers are cheaper and easier to find. Fresh flowers are the most viable option when it comes to planning the wedding day, but a few brides prefer dried flowers or artificial ones made of silk.

Having an overall perspective of the flowers available throughout the different seasons of the year may help to save money on flowers and yet allow you to select the most appropriate flowers for the big day. Wedding Flowers can be classified into Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter and Anytime categories.

Spring Wedding Flowers to choose from are tulips, violets, greenery, fern, pansies, peonies, ivy, daffodils, lilacs, lilies and lily of the valley, dogwoods, irises, forsythia branches, hyacinth, larkspur, sweet peas, apple or cherry blossoms.

For summer, the seasonal Wedding Flowers are daisies, roses, dahlias, zinnias, asters, iris, larkspur, Shasta, stock, calla lilies, delphinium, geraniums, hydrangeas, sunflower, sweet William, greenery, beech leaves, ferns, meadowsweet, stock, goldenrod, Jacobs ladder and Queen Anne’s Lace.

During the fall, most wedding arrangements include both flowers and foliage but not necessary. The mix of these elements is always a decision of the bride who can choose from a single flower theme to combined floral arrangements with or without specific foliage any time of the year.

In Autumn, Wedding flowers include asters, dried hydrangeas, roses, zinnias, statice, marigolds, chrysanthemums and gerbera daisies while the most commonly used foliage are autumn leaves, yarrow, rosemary and rosehip.

Wedding Flowers for winter include the classic poinsettias, as well as orchids, amaryllis, camellias, jasmine and forget-me-nots in addition to accents of pine, ivy, fem, spruce and rhododendron leaves, so there is no need for dried or artificial flowers as many brides still believe.

Apart from the flowers already mentioned, there are some others available anytime when brides seek fresh flowers, including a variety of carnations and roses, besides of gardenias, baby’s breath, snapdragons, stephanotis and ivy mainly used in wedding bouquets.

Wedding flowers are part of your special day, but can take a large portion of the wedding budget if not planned in advance. However, their importance should not be underestimated because they are symbol of joyful celebration, prosperity and fertility contributing to the atmosphere of love joining the bride and groom’s lives together.

Tips For A Great Wedding Portrait

Each and every important event that happens in a person’s life should ideally be commemorated through portraits; because pictures, as the saying goes, can convey more than a thousand words. Through portraits, you’ll be able to remember just how it was that day, the people you were with and the relationships you had with them.

Of all occasions, it’s weddings though that has an absolute need to be memorialized in portraits. After all, for most people, you only get married once so the event is incomparably special. If you are about to be married, do have a wedding portrait made of yourself, the more the merrier. And if you’re worried about what you should do and consider when it comes to wedding portraits, here are a few tips.

A wedding portrait done in real-time could take a few hours or even days to be made, depending on the want and skill of an artist. If you prefer to have your wedding portrait done in this fashion, you may be forced to do so after the wedding already. On the other hand, you could also try considering having your wedding portrait based on photos taken of the occasion. This could be more practical, albeit less romantic, as you would have a lot of poses to choose from.

Ideally, a wedding portrait contains only the figures of the bride and the groom. But remember, this is your wedding so it’s what you two want that counts. If you feel that you prefer a wedding portrait done of the whole family then by all means, do so.

If you opt to have your wedding portrait done with your family and/or friends, keep in mind that it would probably be best if you just have a photo of the whole group taken then give this to the artist.

Last but certainly not the least, it’s time to think about poses and settings. After all, these factors have great influence on how a portrait turns out. Naturally, if you’re willing to have your wedding portrait based on photos, you would have a wider selection of photos to choose from and more freedom when it comes to the settings.

A bride could have her picture taken just before she leaves her home, as she steps out of the car and so on. The two lovebirds may also opt to have the moment they released the doves crystallized for eternity. On the other hand, if you decide to have your wedding portrait done at the studio, you’ll be able to determine which pose for the two of you is better.

Wedding Gowns: A Guide For Making The Right Choice

Marriage is – ideally – an once-in-a-lifetime event. There isn’t much leeway to practice or make mistakes. So to make the bride’s entrance down the carpet perfect and memorable, one must take great pains to ensure that everything is done correctly – down to every little detail on the wedding dress.

From watching fantasy-like weddings on TV, or reading about them in books and magazines, or hearing about them from other people, many brides-to-be form an image in their minds of the kind of wedding dress they would like to wear on their wedding. Many people take a watch and learn stance as they formulate, plan and dream up their ideal wedding dress.

If your time has come, and you are shopping for the perfect dress to make your wedding dreams come true, then you have come to the right place. Here are a few tips to help you get over the wedding dress hump will less sweat.

1. The Dress Comes First
   Although it may go both ways, the theme of your dress should follow your desired theme – or vice versa. Some couples choose a theme before choosing a gown, and in effect, they make the gown fit the theme they have chosen. But for some people, the choice of gown comes first, and the theme of the wedding follows the gown’s theme. So if the gown that catches the bride’s fancy is ultra beaded and formal, then the wedding may tend to be more formal. If the bride chooses a less formal dress, then the wedding may follow a less formal route.
2. Don’t Overwhelm Yourself with Choices
   Yes, it may be tempting to try every gown that comes your way. But what if you find yourself buried under a pile of 20 or so gowns you think you really like and can’t make a decision? That sort of scenario will prove to be a terrible headache – not to mention a great source of stress.To avoid this, try making decisions in stages. You could try an ‘American Idol’ style way of choosing a gown. You could vote off the least liked one and then reevaluate the remaining gowns. Another method is trying 5 gowns and then choosing two of the best. These ‘champions’ will be pit against 5 more new gowns. Continue the tournament until you get to the perfect gown.

It may become tempting to say, “Aw, but that other gown might have been better.” Try to make sure you make your final decision among 5 gowns. If you end up with too many to choose from you may get overwhelmed and end up choosing an inferior gown, or choosing the perfect gown but forever asking yourself whether you made the right decision or not.

Choose Wisely

And choose a wise companion; take along one or two of your closest friends or confidants who know a thing or two about wedding dresses and style. Their advice will come in handy when choosing a gown. Also, make sure you check the durability and quality of the gown, the material and the accessories. You don’t want your gown falling apart on you during the ceremonies.

Saving On Wedding Dresses

Saving on wedding dresses is something that every bride wants to learn how to do. If you are planning to get married anytime soon then you need to get up on all of the best ways to save money on wedding dresses. And it is good to note that there are plenty ways to save on wedding dresses and most of them are easy to find online.

One of the simplest ways for you to save on wedding dresses is to get one from a family member. If your grandmother or your mother or even your sister had a great dress when she got married then you should consider asking them if you could wear one of these wedding dresses on your wedding day. Not only will this save you money on wedding dresses it will also add to the sentimentality of the entire day. You will be helping to build a tradition in this wedding dress.

There is another very handy way for you to save on wedding dresses and this is to purchase a simple wedding dress that does not have a lot of details on it. These plain types of dresses tend to be much less expensive. Oftentimes when wedding dresses are purchased the high costs are due to the expensive embroidery or the fine details like lace and or pearls and other gems. If you get one of these plain types of wedding dresses you can then add your own details to it. If you are good with a needle you can even sew on your own pearls turning your wedding dress into a work of art. This is one of the most fabulous ways to save money on wedding dresses.

These are only a couple of was to save money on wedding dresses if you would like to read some more ideas all you have to do is a search online.

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