Have you ever noticed how most bouquets look the same? Sure, they look beautiful, but they don’t really have much variety.

They usually contain flowers and some type of greenery.

But who ever said that bouquets only had to contain flowers and greenery?

Why can’t they contain something a bit more exciting? How can make a wedding bouquet unique?

Like what? I can hear you asking.

Well you can try anything really, it is only limited by your imagination.

Most brides spend hours thinking about what flowers they want in their bouquets and then what flowers they want as accents to the focal flower.

I wonder what what would happen if they had something else to choose from, instead of just flowers?

Does the person you are making the bouquet for have a favourite thing that they would love to carry down the isle?

You should always ask your bride what they would like in their bouquet because it doesn’t have to be flowers.

There are plenty of other things you can add, such as:
- toy cars
- toy trains
- toy aeroplanes
- miniature teddy bears
- small dolls
- plastic horses, cats, dogs, or birds

Some other things you could add include candy, chocolates, bubble gum, fruit, vegetables, cup cakes etc. For my own wedding, I am adding lollipops to my bouquet!

You probably think I’ve gone mad! But trust me, people liked to have choice and they like to feel that they are different and unusual!

And adding interesting objects to the bouquet can be a good way to get the groom more involved with the wedding. For example, if the groom is a pilot, or likes cars, how about adding some toy planes or toy cars to the bouquet? This is sure to get him more involved!

Not all brides will want to do this, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to have more choice!

And just because you are adding a few different things doesn’t mean you still can’t have flowers. All you do is combine the two, for example, you could have seven teddy bears and nine roses. It’s really up to the person getting married.

As you know, weddings can be very stressful and taxing. So why not lighten things up a little and give people something to talk about for years to come? Hope you can make your own unique wedding bouquet.

Have you always dreamed of an elaborate wedding reception, but have become content with a simple reception to save money and/or time? Well, you shouldn’t give up on your dreams. Your wedding is a special day and you don’t want to have to look back wishing you had done things differently. It is in your best interest to create the wedding that will be most memorable and happy for you. Despite widespread notions, having a celebrity-style wedding reception doesn’t have to mean cleaning out your bank account. By using some unconventional resources you can have the wedding reception to rival those of celebrities, but without the high cost.

Get Organized
Before you can actually start putting your celebrity-style wedding reception together, you need to get yourself organized. Think about what you want. At this stage, don’t worry about how much things will cost. When you get to the shopping stage you will be able to determine what is feasible or not. The main items you should include on your list are wedding venue, decorations, food and drink, placecards, centerpieces, and music.

Enlist the Troops
If you want to save money on your wedding reception-skip hiring a professional. These individuals are typically highly skilled in what they do and their fees prove it! Your best bet is to find people who are willing to help you for free. You shouldn’t have look further than your family and friends. Enlist the services of as many people as you can. This includes children. Children can be especially helpful with repetitive crafts, so include them in your wedding reception plans. Don’t wait until the last minute to solicit assistance. Let people know way in advance that you will need them to help you with your wedding reception.

Time to Shop
With your list of wedding reception ideas in hand, it is time to start shopping. The venue for your wedding reception will probably be the most expensive part of the reception. Cheap alternatives that don’t look cheap include restaurants and church halls. If you choose to have your wedding reception at a restaurant, make sure that you can use your own flatware, plates, and glasses. You can purchase elegant versions of these at discount shops for less than $100, depending on the number of guests you invite. Simplify food at your wedding reception by having three choices from which your guests can choose when they RSVP to your invitation. Caters charge less when you order by the plate. As an added touch you can place a delicious assortment of divinity on each table. For your centerpieces and decorations, hobby shops offer the best prices. You can find design ideas that you can create you and your troops can create for very little. Placecards aren’t a necessity, but if you have assigned people at tables, placecards will help people to find their table. You can create your own wedding reception placecards by purchasing an inexpensive greeting card software program and elegant paper. You will need an inkjet printer to print the cards. Unless you know someone who will offer you a cheap price for wedding reception music, skip the DJ and the live band. Creating a few CDs of various popular love songs is a less expensive choice.

Reward the Troops
A wedding dinner with the wedding party (bride, groom, bridesmaids, groomsmen, parents) just before the wedding ceremony is traditional. It is a good idea to either invite your wedding reception helpers to this dinner or to a separate fun event. At this event you should show your appreciation for helping make your wedding reception the best ever!

One of the most important details of the wedding is the actual wedding date. This is usually the detail that is taken care of first. Factors in choosing a date include the availability of the venue where the wedding will take place and availability of friends and family on the assigned date.

It is also advisable to set a budget before you start to make plans. This way you’re able to organize the details according to your budget.

Some venues where weddings are held offer discounts on days when traditionally, weddings are not held. Also, the time the wedding takes place also becomes a factor in the expense. For example, mornings and afternoon receptions are usually cheaper than receptions held in the evening.

Venues can offer discounts depending on the time of year. Just after the holidays could be a good time to hold a wedding if you are considering the cost. This time is not considered a ‘peak time’, therefore the price tends to be less expensive.

It’s important to talk to your fiancée about the size of your wedding. Your dream wedding might not be your fiancée’s. So it’s necessary for you to discuss details such as the location of the venue/reception, the number of people who get invited to the wedding/reception, and the choice of entertainment.

It’s important to reach an agreement on the guest list. If you want to keep the wedding an intimate affair, only family and/or friends would be invited. If you wanted to have the wedding of the century, friends and family, long lost relatives, the whole neighborhood and high school buddies could be invited. When making the guest list, consider the space capacity of your chosen venue.

It’s a good idea to hire a professional to capture this momentous occasion. Sure, your friends can take good pictures and some of them may own a camcorder. But for this special occasion, you would want something special, lasting, and visually presentable. This way you could also share them with your friends and family.

Don’t forget the cake! It’s a good idea to have a tasting first, before settling on a cake. Invite your family and friends for the cake tasting. This way, this task becomes fun for everyone!

Order wedding invitations. If you want to get creative, you can always print your own. This way, you can customize them, and add a more personal touch to the invitation.

Don’t forget to start looking for a wedding gown months before the wedding so the bride has plenty of time to make a selection. Also, the groom should make arrangements to rent or buy a tuxedo preferably in advance in case there is trouble with the fitting.

Couples who don’t have enough time on their hands or just find the preparations that go into planning a wedding too overwhelming can always just hire a wedding planner. This way, everything gets organized and coordinated for them. But if you decide to go the wedding planner route, don’t forget to add this cost into your budget.

Your daughter’s wedding is announced. She has butterflies in her stomach and one thousand and one things to do. Her “butterflies” becomes yours and your thoughts are racing just like hers. You, as her mother, will help her plan her dream wedding, just like your mother planned yours. At the back of your mind……”What am I going to wear? Will I look just as beautiful as my daughter on her wedding day? So many people are going to be looking at me as well….”

Fret no more. Here are the RULES but like all rules, they may be broken or should I say improvised and revised to suit you. I say….whatever makes you and/or your daughter happy!

1. Confer with your daughter. She will come up with a color scheme for her wedding.

2. Ask her whether she wants the color of your dress to complement her wedding color/colors or almost match it. Examples of complementary colors to a red color theme is burgundy, wine, claret red, dark pink, and purple. As for a “match”, it would certainly be difficult to have an exact match of the colors, as your dress will be of a different manufacturer, style, fabric, and dye. So, do not stress over this.

3. You, as the mother of the bride, will decide on a color or colors, after consulting your daughter. Suggest to her to be flexible on the choice of colors—perhaps two or three choices would be great. Mother of the bride dresses are not made like bridesmaid dresses, the latter being preordered and tailored months ahead of time for the occasion. Shopping for a mother of the bride dress can be a headache and nightmare rolled into one, especially for the plus size woman or if you live in a rural city.

4. Do not forget to involve the mother of the groom. After you have an idea of what color you would or should be wearing, inform her. She will definitely appreciate that as she will be in a panic mode as well, going through the same motions as you will soon be, looking for that perfect “mother’s” dress.

5. Shop as soon as you can. Finding YOUR dress is important too. Understand that you are shopping for a specific style that you like and look great in, a specific color, and then a specific size. Then, you will need to allow sufficient time for professional tailoring of the dress, to get it to fit just right! Also, what about the accessories like shoes and jewelry? You will be surprised how many ladies come to my online store www.audreysmotherofthebride.com hoping to find their dress within a WEEK of the wedding!

6. Shop bridal or department stores first. You can get a first hand look at the styles out there and the type and quality of fabrics. Do not ignore online formal wear stores. Visiting an online store is easy and stress free as they are sources of good ideas of what you would like to wear on that special day.

7. Take care of yourself in these nerve-wrecking times of preparation. Remember, you need to look good as well, although it is your daughter’s wedding.

8. Now, sit back and relax. You have found your most perfect mother of the bride dress and have a few more weeks to spare. Give yourself a big pat on the back!

Hereafter are 3 important issues you should consider when you are choosing your wedding invitation vendor.

Price of the Wedding Invitation

You may need to consider the price of the wedding invitation vendor charges in the first place. This is indeed related to your budget and there is no point to hire a vendor or designer who charges so much that it becomes totally out of your budget. Of course a higher price may sometimes mean a better quality and design. You may still need to take care of your wallets.

Usually a company which provides ready made invitation templates will charge you a lower price and a company which makes tailor made designs will charge you more. A design with four color printing will be more expensive than a design with one color printing. A specially made three dimensional wedding invitation of course will cost you even more. Asking for a different options and services provided by the wedding invitation vendor will help you to make a wise decision in terms of price.

Style of Wedding Invitations

The second thing you need to consider is the style of the wedding invitation the company provides. Some companies may concentrate on producing invitations with the photos of the couples and some may be better in making formal wedding cards. You may even approach a company which concentrates on making custom made wedding invitations.

You will need to take a look at the past projects of the wedding invitation provider so that you can have a better understanding of the work they did. You may even need to discuss with the designer of the wedding invitation provider to ensure that they know what your requirements are. By doing this you may know if the designer can give you a proper solution for your wedding cards.

Reputation of Wedding Invitation Vendors

The reputation of the wedding card provider is also an essential factor you need to consider. Even if the company provides very beautiful wedding invitations and it really suits your taste, it will be extremely unwise to hire them if they are of bad reputation.

Remember that you will probably only have you wedding once in your life. You will not want any of the vendors to ruin your perfect wedding. To this end you should always choose a company with good reputation.

You can gather the information on the reputations of the wedding invitation vendors by asking on different forums about wedding. You may also consult friends and relatives who have got married. If you are going to ask on wedding forum, you have to bear in mind that the answers may be provided by the competitors of the company you are asking. Filtering the opinions from the web is an essential task otherwise you will just miss the point of asking and consulting.

It should be considered that the choice of sexy lingerie and underwear should be just as important as choosing a wedding dress and it isn’t just for the honeymoon but you should have it on underneath your wedding gown as well.

This is your day to go all out and make yourself look and feel as sexy and beautiful as possible. There are huge selections of bridal lingerie available in varied styles, colors, and sizes, especially bridal bustiers and corsets designed to enhance and support underneath the wedding gown while flattering the wedding dress you have chosen.

You should choose your wedding dress first, once you have done this now it’s time to go lingerie shopping! Remember, this is a special day. The lingerie and underwear you choose should reflect this. You also want to be sure that the bridal lingerie you choose goes along with the wedding dress. If you have a low cut back on your dress you want to be sure that the corset does not come above it.

If you are going with a strapless or off the shoulder wedding dress you will probably want to go with a bustier to really show off the dress as well as yourself! A bustier will be much more supportive, wrapping around your body and pushing up your breasts. You will definitely want to make this your choice if you are full figured or wearing a low cut back. If your dress is backless you will probably want to go with an adhesive bra though I don’t recommend it if you are large up top!

For panties you will want something that fits close to the body and if you have a tight fitting gown you may want to consider a thong. Remember you don’t want any panty lines.

Don’t skimp on the hosiery. You should choose a very high quality set of hosiery that will not be prone to snagging or tearing and at the same time is very complimentary to the dress.

Don’t hold back, go all out and make your wedding day a special one.

Congratulations! So now that you both have agreed to take the big step and get married – the excitement of a long and happy life together lays ahead for you both.

So now comes the fun of planning the wedding, the big day, the main event! The most important part of the planning is setting the budget. Did you know the average wedding costs $19,000? So you need to set your budget carefully and stuck to it. If you overrun, even a little, it could cost you thousands of dollars.

Set your budget very carefully – nobody wants to spend every last nickel they have on their wedding yet every couple dreams of the perfect wedding. Gone are the days of parents footing the bill for the wedding, in fact 4 out of 5 couples today pay for their own weddings. So that probably means you are

Fortunately there are many things you can do to have your dream wedding without breaking the bank. But be prepared for the hard sell! Every vendor out there just loves it when a newly engaged girl walks into their store – they start seeing the dollar signs! Make sure you shop around and get at least 3 quotes for each service – you will be surprised how much they vary.

Also do not be afraid to negotiate with the vendors. If you find a florist you just love but they are $1000 more expensive – then talk them. Maybe tell them you just adore their work but they are a little too expensive – ask them what they could do to make the price fit within your budget.

Additionally be very careful when telling any vendor the budget you have for their service. Somehow all the photographers will quote you $1500 when you tell them your budget is $1500! Ask them their price first. If they try to tell you they have many packages ask them what their most popular price point is. It also doesn’t hurt to let it slip that you will be visiting some of their competitors as well!

Finally don’t forget this is supposed to be FUN! Your wedding day WILL be wonderful, sure there will be some hiccups, but trust me, in the end it will go off wonderfully if you just apply a little planning and commonsense.

Enjoy your life together!

Can’t decide on wedding favors for your wedding? There are so many kinds of wedding favors you could have – from something handmade to simple flowers to very intricate, personalized wedding favors. And everything in-between.

Some brides pick the favors to reflect the wedding and its theme. Others like to match the colors of the wedding to the favors. Yes, there are some who want something simple and personalized, for their guests to remember the wedding date.

We have put together some ideas for you to come up with wedding favors for your wedding:

- Would You Like To Make Them Yourself? Some brides love making things themselves. If that is you, and you don’t have too many guests coming to the wedding, you may want to create something yourself.

On the other hand, if you don’t make things yourself, now is not the time to start. It would be better to buy simple favors, instead of spending your valuable time on learning how to make them.

- Do You Want Them To Match Your Wedding Theme? Pick something that will match your wedding theme. For example, if you are wearing a princess wedding dress, and your whole wedding is designed around a fairy tale theme, picking wedding favors that reflect the fairy tale theme as well would be the most appropriate.

- Personalized Wedding Favors are also very popular. Get your favors personalized with your names, the wedding date, the location, etc.

- Simple Favors. Sometimes you want to have favors, but you want something very simple. In that case, you might want to just buy items that you could use as favors – simple candles or flowers come to mind.

- Seeds. We love seeds as wedding favors – they symbolize the beginning of your new family, and your guests will be able to use the favors! Give them seed packets with seeds that they can plant, a favor like this will definitely be used.

Enjoy finding the perfect favors for your wedding!

Favors are traditionally given to wedding guests as a sign of appreciation for their coming to the wedding. Many times they have driven or flown from other parts of the country to see the couple, so sending them home with a little something is a good idea.

Do it yourself  wedding favors

When you’re on a budget, or just have a crafty side, then you may want to create your own wedding favors. Even if you’re not domestically inspired, these are really very easy.

You will first need an idea. For this example, we will be describing how to make little sachets. The great part about these instructions is that you can adapt them to include any sort of filling (chocolates, candles, etc.) into the bag.

You can find great prices on craft items at your local craft store, but online is always a good resource too. Many times, you can buy in bulk when you’re online, so that saves you money in the end. Determine how many small bags that you need and what color you would like them to be. Something to realize: if you’re getting bags of a finer material, the picture on the Internet will look darker than it is in real life.

Also online or at your local health food store, you can go and buy herbs and flowers by the ounce. Realize too that one ounce is A LOT when the item is dried. This is why it’s best to go to a store in person for your ingredients—lavender, dried roses, and other flowers are best. This way you can see and smell off of the things that you have chosen. Find something fragrant.

If you have smaller bags, you won’t need as much, but the larger the bag, the more filling you need.

Easy as can be

All you really have to do is mix up your ingredients and put some into each bag. Many bags will even have drawstring closures so that you can tie them up to look very pretty.

If you’re inspired, you can include a small card about the significance of the herbs that you included—perhaps there’s an old wives’ tale about weddings that is related.

And like it was said before, you can always change the ingredients to be something that suits you. Enlist the help of the bridal party if you have a lot to make!

The dress was beautiful, you got through the ceremony and reception without a hitch, but just when you thought your wedding was perfect, your pictures come back and you look awful. What can you do to make sure that your photos are as beautiful as the memories you have?

• Never scrimp on your photographer. Nobody’s going to remember if your bouquets had daisies or rare, exotic orchids. But years from now, your great grand children will be looking at your wedding album. They’re not just souvenirs, they’re heirlooms. Spend on them.

• Avoid complicated hairstyles and veils. You’ll be walking around, too busy talking to guests to check the mirror. You don’t want your veil hanging to the side, or your bangs plastered to your face. Keep it simple and elegant. If you want a dramatic veil for your walk down the aisle, look for a style that allows you to detach part of it, leaving you with something less cumbersome at the reception.

• Buy or make a small clutch bag or pouch that matches your gown. It should carry blotting paper, pressed powder, lipstick and blush. Ask your maid of honor to keep it handy for you.

• Wear waterproof mascara. You will cry a lot. It’s guaranteed. Black mascara will run and leave unflattering raccoon eyes.

• Don’t wear heavy powder eyeshadow. Again, you will cry. You will also sweat from walking around in heavy makeup, a thick gown, and hundreds of guests milling around you. Powder smears and cakes, and ends up under your eyes.

• Don’t wear sheer lipstick. You’ll eat it off. Or if you do, wear a matte or semi-matte base and apply the sheer lipstick as a top coat. Be sure to blot well, or it’ll end up around your mouth or on your teeth.

• Don’t wear heavy shimmery makeup, unless it’s applied by a professional makeup artist. It doesn’t photograph well under less than perfect lighting conditions. If you do, apply only on the eyes.

• Bridal makeup should be soft and romantic, not harsh. Natural pinks are most flattering, and really make you look like a “blushing bride”. Avoid hard-edged contouring and dramatic browns, unless blended well and kept close to the eyeline. Even lipsticks should stick to the pinks and brownish pinks. Bright reds look too harsh worn against a white dress.

• You’ll need good foundation that lasts long but doesn’t cake. The trick is to apply moisturizer first and let it “set”. This will prime your skin. Apply a matte or cream foundation, then concealer. Dust powder foundation with a brush.

• Take good photographs right after the ceremony, when everyone’s make up is still intact. You should have solo shots, couple shots, and group photos with your entourage, friends, family members.

• Ask for a few black and white photographs. They always have a soft, romantic feel.

• If you’ll be having outdoor photographs, light is most flattering in the morning and at dusk. Avoid any outdoor shots from 11 am to 2 pm; everyone will just be squinting.