Wedding Party Help - Wedding Articles

One of the biggest questions you’ll need to decide on for your wedding is where to have it. Choosing the location for your wedding can be quite a challenge sometimes. Many just don’t want to pick the typical catering hall or everyday place. They want somewhere that is a bit unusual or unique – just like them. That’s when you start to look at unique locations that aren’t always chosen for a wedding.

Historic landmarks top the list as favorite places that are unique for weddings. Some will say they are available and others are available but don’t advertise it – you have to ask someone about it. If you are passionate about history this can be an ideal choice. Look into some of your favorite locations. In some historic landmarks catering may be offered as they may do weddings often.

An aquarium is a very unique place to have a wedding. But in some ways watching those fish glide by in the water can be quite romantic. If you and the groom have a love of the ocean and related science this can be a lovely choice. Many aquariums are open for special events. You may need to be a member of the aquarium.

Your favorite restaurant is another excellent choice. The restaurant you had your first date or the place he proposed could be a great choice as the place to hold a wedding. Getting married in a pizza place is something unique and different – not everyone is going to do it. But you do want your wedding to express your personal style and originality.

A park is another great choice for your wedding. Some parks are available for public events and you’ll need to pay a fee to hold an event or just register your event. Check ahead of time. Many parks are simply beautiful so this choice is ideal for most seasons.

It's no secret that every bride dreams of her bridal shower. This special time is spent with family and friends, celebrating the moment a bride chooses to wed that wonderful man in her life. A bridal shower has long been a way to prepare a young woman for married life. From the very practical – of giving her gifts such as a blender or a quilt for her new home – to those time honored words of wisdom that will help get her through the sweet and sometimes bitter times of married life. But best of all, a bridal shower is a great time to gather with your new family members such as your mother in law and sister in law and simply to have fun. A little "girl time" together!

But planning a bridal shower can often be stressful. There are so many details and everyone wants the bridal shower to be perfect. We'll let you in on some great tips here that make planning any bridal shower easy and well organized. Don't stress or worry about planning that bridal shower. Just follow our guidelines and you'll soon be enjoying that great bridal shower with the bride and family and friends.

Always remember that time is on your side. The more time you have, the more advantages you have. When you've got short notice you have less options. Try to give yourself as much time as possible to plan a bridal shower. This means when the bride announces her engagement start planning the bridal shower if you can. Even if you just outline what you'd like to do – then you are way ahead of the game. The ladies who wait and wait are the ones who will be sadly mistaken that things will be easy. Locations and food get more expensive when you only have short notice. You also often have far less choices. So do your best to have as much time as possible if you can.

Try to narrow down the location of the bridal shower first. This is often one of the hardest things you'll do. Holding a bridal shower at someone's home can be a great choice or even at a local restaurant. Gather the group of ladies planning the bridal shower and plan the shower for the ideal location. Choose among the dates available. Once you have the date available then start sending out invitations. You can use an online invitation service that will easily manage the invitations. Remember that sometimes these invitations wind up in the Junk Mail filter so you should call someone if they don't respond within a week. Assume the invitation got lost in their email box. Getting confirmations that people are coming helps you move onto the next step – planning the food.

Food can often be expensive for bridal showers if you don't quite know how to plan. Many women get overwhelmed and simply call a caterer. You can do a lot of your bridal shower ordering from your local grocery store if you are willing to delegate and organize responsibilities. But this does mean that someone will have to pick up the cake, pasta salad or other food items. Decide if your group is open to these choices. Otherwise work with a caterer to get food cooked and brought to the home.

Decorating can be a lot of work. Most bridal showers you do the decorating yourself. You actually don't have to do a lot. Add some bouquets of fresh flowers and some bunches of balloons and any location you choose will seem charming and well decorated. Compliment the location you choose. If it is modern, choose modern styled flower arrangements. If it is old fashioned, choose classic flower arrangements.

Delegation is actually the biggest tip we can give you. One of the most frustrating things that will happen with a bridal shower is that one or two people wind up doing all of the work. If you divide the responsibilities then things will go much smoother. The challenge is that most bridesmaids and bridal parties don't quite know how to divide things. The best way is to go according to people's strongest skills. The one with an artistic eye should be in charge of decorating. The one with business skills should be in charge of the budget. And so on. You'll have a beautiful bridal shower the bride will always remember!

Planning and narrowing down a wedding guests list and finalizing it in the end can be one of the most daunting task to perform when planning about wedding party reception or ceremony. It gets very difficult and tight when you have to reduce the number of the guests, in order to get everything covered within your allotted budget for the wedding. It does not matter if it is 500 people that you are inviting or only 50, you would always have to reduce the numbers in order to meet your limitations. In the following passages, I will highlight some important things to do while planning wedding guests list.

Firstly, you must have a clear idea about your limitations. Prior to even mentioning names make sure you have a clear number in mind of how many people can attend your wedding. Start planning wedding guests list considering your limitations and once you find you have reached your limit, stop adding names of guests in your wedding guests list.

Secondly, do not add the names of the people in your wedding guests list who are not close to you. For instance, you had a high school friend but you have not had a word with him in years then what is the use of inviting him? Skip it. You can safely avoid all such people who were not in your contact since years. For reducing the number of people even more, you can make your wedding guests list adults only list. Reducing your guests list to a certain number can be easily done by eliminating children from the list and making your wedding an adults only reception. Doing this would have a positive effect on your budget and more room can be made for the people who you really want to invite at the wedding reception or ceremony.

Finally, prepare two separate wedding guests list. What I mean here is the first list should be having the names of the guests that you surely want to invite at your wedding, while second list will have the names of people that you would like to invite but it would not make a big difference if you don’t invite them. This way, you can easily compare both the lists in order to make changes within the suitable time limit because you don’t want to leave any person whom you really want to attend your wedding reception or ceremony.

Wedding is the most important day in a person's life because this is one event which you won't be forgetting for a long period of time. It would not be just special about you and your partner but it would also be rejoicing for the people who would be attending your wedding ceremony as well. Selecting and hiring a professional wedding videographer is as important as buying the wedding dress or selecting the food or even deciding and selecting a wedding venue. Videos and pictures would be the most memorizing things because when you will look back at them you would be able to know what friends you had at time and how they enjoyed with you on the most important day of your life.

Importance of hiring professional wedding videographer starts from the observation of his/her portfolio. You should make sure that he/she is the person who would fulfill your expectations and would carry out all the things as you desire. He or she would have to understand about your expectations and desires. Professional experience and techniques followed by the videographer will also play a vital role in hiring a wedding professional as well. Before hiring, you must ask him/her about his/her past experiences and the techniques and equipments he/she would be following in order to record videos at your wedding ceremony. Also you can ask to view any past works done for other couples and pick what you like about them.

Importance of hiring a professional at your wedding ceremony is not limited to having just one. You can have two or more at the same time as well. Having a second camera would help you out because it would capture all the finished and left out points that the first one might have missed out or doesn't get a chance to shoot those moments. One for standstill shots, and the other for moving cuts will be a great combination of all.

By hiring a professional videographer you don't only please yourself but your guests will be pleased as well. When they shoot their videos and make them feel as they are an important part of your wedding party, they will recognize their importance by themselves. Once they will find videographer shooting them in the videos, they will start taking active part in the event in order to appear more participative.

By just hiring a professional videographer, you would give an extra feel to your whole event. It is not only making your ceremony special, but also make the entire moment perfect.

Wedding is the most important day of one's life and the person who is getting married would like everything perfectly arranged within suitable time limits. If you are the one who is getting married then I am sure that you would be worried about a lot of aspects and would really want to save as much money as possible because wedding is a time where miscellaneous expenses rises in an instant. So, just for you concern, in this piece of writing, I will be highlighting one of the major aspects of wedding which is wedding invitations and will provide you some tips with the help of which you will be able to save some money on your wedding invitations.

First of all, before preparing your wedding invitations, you must allocate a certain amount of figure which you will be spending on it and full story printer version » Changing Your Name After Marriage

By dan keohane | Published 02/24/2010 | Security | Unrated

A big wedding day - and after that, are you going to change your name as soon as you finally finish ting the knot? There are a few options to choose, when you decide to do so. Are you going to keep your maiden name as your middle name or combine it with your first name? Do you use hyphen in between your first name if they are 2 syllables?

Regardless of options that you choose, the process of changing name can be a bit overwhelming or at least is not easy to do, but you might need to take some time to consider and contemplate. Additionally, you will need to gather a few legal forms to gather and prepare beforehand. Among other forms, SSN form, passport, driver's license, IRS forms, utilities company forms are the ones that you will need to prepare. It is common for most brides to postpone this process and wait for months and years to finally change their name. Actually it is not that hard to go through this name change process, and in many cases you will only have to fill out forms and send them out on the mail. The only time you will have to visit the physical office is when you have to renew your driver's license that you have to visit DMV office.

In case you are planning to travel overseas, the name on your airline ticket should match what is on your passport. If you have not changed passport name yet, you better wait until you return from the travel.

Changing bride's name is not the only way, but there are cases where a groom change his last name to the bride's one. This is not so popular, but it is possible. If the groom's last name is specially long, hard to pronounce, or not what they want then they can decide to change his last name to bride's name. After all, changing your name is not so difficult thing to do as you might have thought.

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» Finishing Touches

By dan keohane | Published 07/10/2008 | Make Up Artists | Unrated

Your wedding announcements have been sent to those you want to share in your special day, the flowers have been ordered, the menu prepared, the table favors are assembled, your wedding dress has come back from the seamstress and is now a perfect fit, and all that's left is the finishing touch, finding the right fragrance.

The right fragrance can make an already wonderful day, a spectacular day. You may be wondering how that is possible when the focus should be on the wedding itself not what the bride smells like. Do certain scents trigger memories from your past, your childhood? The smell of cinnamon might bring back the memory of your mother making hot apple pies on a cold winter day, or even the smell of chocolate can bring back memories of a warm cup of chocolate after playing outside in the snow. The same can be said for the bride's perfume. The scent you choose to wear the day of your wedding will forever be linked to your wedding day, bringing those wonderful memories to the surface every time you sprits on that particular scent.

When it comes to choosing the right fragrance to wear on your wedding day you should choose a fragrance that blends with your personality. If you have a bold, outgoing personality, you don't want to wear something mild because that isn't you. Just as if you are shy and quiet you don't want to wear something that is going to knock your socks off when you sprits it on. You also want to take into consideration the types of flowers you are carrying and have displayed throughout the church. Some flower scents do not complement each other so if you are carrying a bouquet that contains peonies, you may want to stay away from a fragrance that contains marigold notes. While apart these flowers are wonderful, together, not so much.

If your wedding is in the summer months, you may choose something with a fruity or soft floral notes, such as: vanilla, peach, tangerine, rose, lavender, or grapefruit. What you want to stay away from are the heavy hearty scents such as: sandalwood, musk, and peppery scents. These 3 scents are best suited for fall and winter weddings.

If you want to purchase a new scent specific to wearing for your wedding the best thing for you to do is go and try the scents out at a cosmetic counter. New seasonal fragrances are most often put out by the cosmetic companies in the spring and fall, so for your summer wedding the new fragrances are available in the early spring and for your winter wedding the new fragrances are available in the early fall. Cosmeticians are trained in perfume notes and will be able to help you choose the perfect scent for your perfect wedding day.

Another thing to keep in mind is to choose a scent that your future husband will like and remember. Some men are sensitive to women's perfume and you don't want to choose a fragrance that will give him hives, have him sneezing or give him memories of a foul smell on your wedding day. Great ways to work around this and find the scent that will work for both of you is to sprits on a fragrance and wear it for the day, if your fiancé compliments you, or says how yummy you smell, you know you have found a winner. It may take a few trips back to the cosmetic counter to find that perfect scent but it will be worth it in the end.

Scent and memories go hand-in-hand. And for your wedding day you deserve both of them to be perfect. Once you put the final sprits on before you head down the aisle to the man of your dreams you will know that day couldn't be any more perfect if you tried.

Paige Rylann is a successful writer and entrepreneur for http://www.greatfragrances4u.com/ , with a long term interest in fragrance, style and fashion. Paige provides tips and advice on women's perfume and mens cologne and how to get the most out of the fragrance you wear.

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» Weight Loss for Brides - Drop at Least One Dress Size before Your Wedding

By dan keohane | Published 08/7/2006 | Bridal Gowns | Unrated

Your big day is fast approaching and youre terrified that you wont fit into that dream wedding gown youve bought. Follow this simple, yet proven approach for 3-4 weeks before your wedding day and drop at least one dress size.

The stress and anxiety that most brides experience as their wedding day approaches can be overwhelming for them. The amount of preparation involved and the countless number of details needing attention can make it very difficult to eat sensibly and maintain even a modest level of good nutrition. I can recall countless conversations with brides who are so stressed out in the month or so before their wedding that they abandon all good eating habits and either starve themselves or binge on junk food to handle the stress.

Many are genuinely terrified that they’ll be overweight and unattractive on their wedding day or even worse won’t be able to fit into their dream wedding gown.

I have been working with a personal trainer for the past 10 years who continually reminds me how just a few simple changes to your daily routine can make a huge difference. The four basic principles I outline below really do work. I’ve had personal success using these strategies and continue to follow them on a daily basis. Many of my clients who have requested my help and followed this advice have had remarkable results. Start this program at least 3-4 weeks before your wedding day and see for yourself.

1. Water, Water and more Water

Hydration is critical. While the benefits are countless this is one of the hardest things to implement into your daily routine. Whenever I would neglect this item my trainer would recite how water lowers body fat, flushes cellulite, improves digestion, gets rid of dark circles under the eyes, and makes you feel full. These are just a few of the benefits of drinking the required 2.5 litres of water per day.

This may seem like a lot but I found the easiest way to get into the habit is to break the amounts down into manageable amounts:

• Keep a bottle of water beside your bed. Before you go to sleep drink 1/2 the bottle and as soon as you wake up (before your feet touch the floor) drink the remaining 1/2 bottle

• Before each meal drink a half a bottle of water

• Carry water with you and sip it throughout the day

I can’t overemphasize how important this step is.

2. Go for a 10 minute Walk Every Day

Start with this...you can always increase later after it becomes routine. It’s enough to gently boost your metabolism and keep you active.

3. Eat Often but Only in Small Portions

Before I started this method of eating I would starve myself for a couple of days whenever I wanted to lose weight. It seemed logical to me at the time. When I started personal training I had to modify many of my bad eating habits. I had to start eating 6 meals a day. Don’t panic, it’s easier than it sounds. Every 3-4 hours from the time you wake up eat a little something. Your digestive system is far more efficient at handling a series of small meals than it is at tackling one large meal.

I usually eat at 7am, 10 am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm and 10 pm

Your meal portions (meat, veggies, carbs) should be no larger than the palm of your hand and no thicker than the palm of your hand.

4. Eat Healthy

I could spend days offering suggestions on meal variations but there are many excellent books that have been written to give you ideas. I will share my recommendations in another upcoming article.

So to make it simple a typical meal should be a protein, a carbohydrate and a vegetable or fruit.

Here is a sample daily meal plan that I eat to get you started:

Meal one: Protein shake with 1% milk (I like whey protein drinks such as IsoPro)

Meal two: 1/2 an apple and cottage cheese or yogurt

Meal three: Piece of chicken (no skin) and a small salad

Meal four: Cheese and the balance of the apple

Meal five: Piece of lean meat, rice or potatoes, vegetables

Meal six: Low fat chocolate pudding mixed with protein powder

5. The Best Part – Reward Yourself!

Choose one day a week as your reward day and eat whatever you want and as much as you want. Whether you like pasta, cookies, ice cream or my personal favorite chocolate.

Enjoy!

Don’t worry, you won’t gain fat if you do this because for the past six days your body has been used to eating what I term ‘clean’ food. On the seventh day your body thinks you are going to do the same and when you dont it gets fooled and eliminates the effects of the ‘junk’ food. In essence you are tricking your body that day but you must eat cleanly on the following day.

I have told many upcoming brides about this method of eating and almost all of them have emailed me back to let me know how thrilled they were at reaching their target goal of weight loss. I hope it works for you too.

As a final note of encouragement, my daughter used this method of eating and in 1 year she went from a size 18 to a size 2. This was four years ago and she has still maintained her weight to this day.

These simple techniques will not only help you quickly, safely and effectively lose at least one dress size but they will also help you feel more energetic, vibrant and healthy. Not to mention the positive effect it will have on your skin texture and overall appearance.

Stay on track and you’ll be amazed at your results. Eat well, drink plenty of water and as you progress, simply imagine your groom seeing you for the first time in your wedding gown and watching his jaw drop in speechless silence.

Visit her website at: http://www.bridalchalet.com

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» Second Wedding Dress - Encore Brides Don’t Settle for Second Best!

By dan keohane | Published 08/7/2006 | Bridal Gowns | Rating:

The "encore bride" is in a different place than when she had her first wedding. They are confident, they have more money to spend, and they know what they want. Their focus is on "simple elegance".

GONE are the days when the second time bride known as the "encore bride" has to settle for scaled down ceremonies with fewer guests.

With over 45% percent of all weddings today involving one or both partners who have been married before, its difficult to tell from the attire whether the modern bride is marrying for the first or umpteenth time. In fact, the modern bride who is lucky enough to find love again is trampling on the old traditions. Now their wedding is based on their taste and their budget. With the motto being: "This is the last time, and its got to be the best."

The "encore bride" is in a different place than when she had her first wedding. They are confident, they have more money to spend, and they know what they want. Their focus is on "simple elegance".

Whether it is your first, second or third wedding the focal point is still the wedding dress. These brides are seeking dresses that are tailored rather than poufy - a sexy, sophisticated look with the emphasis on quality fabrics.

Todays trends in bridal gowns are all about you. Your second wedding gown should reflect your personal style, your fashion sense and what kind of wedding you want to have.

When shopping for that perfect dress it helps to know your body type so you can choose the gown that highlights your best features and downplays the areas you wish you could forget.

Here are some of the latest fashion trends to help get you started:

Trains

are fine, but keep them simple, again matching the formality and style of the wedding.

Show some skin:

At this years runway shows, many designers decided to go bare. Creations featured mostly strapless gowns that place the emphasis on the bodice: gently weaved, beaded, or simple with demure jeweled straps.

Body-Conscious:

Designers are very body conscious these days, with shape taking precedence. This is good news for any bride: most of these dresses have a slimming effect. The ever-popular A-line (also known as princess) is a long cut that draws the eye downwards, and often has a built-in train. This does not mean that designers have abandoned the classic traditional gowns...the skirts still float but the cut is meant to flatter the body.

Embroidery and Lace:

These two mainstays of bridal fashion never go out of style and let’s not forget beading. Todays bride wants the opulence in beadwork with many designers choosing crystals over glass beads.

Color

: This component of a gown has never been so popular. Brides are actually thinking outside the box these days choosing jewel tone gowns in gold, silver, and a variety of pearl tones. However, second time brides still are confident enough to wear white, after all "white symbolizes commitment and faithfulness" so why not!

Where to Look:

Magazines are the traditional way a bride begins her gown search, but why not look for a gown online? Most designers now have WebPages, and a collection of name gowns can be found on a number of websites. And if youre wondering, "Will the gown of my dreams fit me right?" theres help to be found on a multitude of websites which determine your body type and then suggest the dress type that is best for your figure.

Finally Hit the Runways! The latest fashions neednt remain a trade secret. Bridal shows, which feature live runway presentations of the current trends and designers, are an excellent way to view a variety of gowns.

A wedding is a celebration of love so indulge and take your time finding that perfect gown. The number one comment I receive from second time brides is..."this is definitely it, Im not getting married again".

Author Bio

Gail Young is a co-founder of The Bridal Chalet, an online bridal boutique selling designer style couture and traditional wedding gowns and bridal accessories. A second time bride herself, Gail combines her extensive knowledge of the industry with her passion for designing couture bridal fashion. The Bridal Chalet has a collection of exclusive designer wedding gowns geared to the second time bride – the Sara Houston Collection.

Visit her website at: http://www.bridalchalet.com

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» Maternity Wedding Dresses – Gone are the Days of the Maternity Bridal Moo Moo !

By dan keohane | Published 08/7/2006 | Bridal Gowns | Rating:

Todays "Maternity Bride" or "Mother to be Bride" has an increasingly growing choice in styles, fabrics and colors to choose from for their wedding gowns. The shotgun" wedding has a new definition when it comes to appropriate attire for a dress.

With upwards of 20% of women now expecting before they marry, the pregnant bride no longer has to worry about the "shotgun" wedding. Only a few years ago the wedding dress choices were extremely limited and many brides truly had to compromise on their dream gown. However, times have changed and todays ASAP wedding has a new definition when it comes to appropriate attire for a gown.

Thankfully the days of the Maternity "Moo-Moo" and hiding the fact that the bride is pregnant are behind us. Even the once forbidden "white gown" has taken its rightful place as an acceptable color choice for maternity brides.

Even though the planning cycle is at a quicker pace for most of these weddings you finally have some choice and can select a wonderful designer gown. Todays "Mother-to-be-Bride" can select from a variety of styles and fabrics. Designs range from those featuring full and formal to sleek and clingy that leave little to the imagination.

In general look for a dress that highlights your positive features. If you want to minimize your growing tummy then look for an Empire or A-line style dress that breaks away at the bust line. These styles can be found as off-the-shoulder, strapless, detailed upper bodice or with simple lines.

On the other hand, if you want to show the world that you are a proud expectant Mom then choose something more form fitting. Sheath style gowns in soft fabrics such as stretch silks will not add bulk but will instead show off your curves.

Wedding gowns these days are designed around brides individual tastes and lifestyles. Modern women are breaking the moulds when it comes to choosing their dress. There are many exciting options now available to the Mother-to-be-Bride. Todays pregnant bride is no longer embarrassed like they were 10-20 years ago and the Maternity Wedding Dress is proof of that.

Author Bio

Gail Young is a co-founder of The Bridal Chalet, an online bridal boutique specializing in Maternity Wedding Dresses. She regularly consults with maternity brides to help them select their perfect wedding gown. The Bridal Chalet has a collection of elegant, sexy and sophisticated maternity wedding gowns geared to todays more style conscious and confident maternity brides.

Visit her website at: http://www.bridalchalet.com

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