Wedding Planning: the First Steps

While some couples hire a professional wedding planner to arrange everything, many couples prefer to do the planning themselves. Your wedding may be the single biggest event you ever plan, so it pays to keep close tabs on the planning process. Before getting down to the details, though, you need to decide on the big questions.

Set a Date
The first item on your checklist is choosing a date. If it is important to you to be married in a particular venue, then your first step will be to find out when the venue is available. The next consideration is to choose a date that the majority of your guests (and all of your wedding party) will be able to attend. A good rule of thumb is to avoid choosing a date that will already be significant for many people, such as graduations or holidays. Keep in mind that local events may compete for reception space, create traffic jams, or cause the price of lodging to spike for your guests.

Agree on your Budget
Equally important in wedding planning is your budget. Decide how much you want to spend on the wedding, and commit to not exceeding that amount. With careful advance planning, you can stick to even a tight budget and still have a beautiful ceremony. If parents are paying for the wedding, be sure to consult with them to find out how much they can reasonably afford to spend. If you and your fiancé are paying for the wedding, decide together how much you will spend, and hold firm to that agreement. Don’t forget to budget at least some money for unexpected expenses and overspending.

Choose the Wedding Party
Inviting friends and family to take part in your wedding is indeed joyful, but it can also be difficult. Perhaps you want a small wedding party, but there are so many people to choose from: siblings, cousins, and friends. A good rule of thumb is to choose one attendant per 50 guests invited, though this is not written in stone. While you will want to invite your closest friends and family members, keep in mind that some people may feel hurt if they are not invited to be in the wedding party. Weigh your decisions carefully. You may also wish to have special tasks for those who will not be in your wedding party to allow them to participate actively in this special occasion. Such friends might serve as candle lighters, soloists, or even read verses during the ceremony.

Once you’ve made these three big decisions, you can move on to the many other delights of wedding planning: choosing clothes, flowers, menus, and so on. Happy planning!

Keywords: Wedding Planning: the First Step, Weddingblog, Wedding
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Wedding Cake Traditions

What wedding would be complete without a wedding cake? Wedding cakes seem to be the one aspect of weddings that people all over the world agree upon. But not all cakes are created equal! Many countries around the world have some very different—and amazing—cakes as a part of their wedding traditions.

Lithuania
One of the most unusual wedding cakes in the world can be found in Lithuania. The shakotis, or tree cake, is a tower of confection that looks very much like a pine tree. Traditionally, a shokotis is baked on a revolving spit over an open fire, a custom which dates back to medieval times of cooking before the hearth. The shokotis has a light texture and is not too sweet, so it appeals to a variety of palettes.

Bermuda
On this island, wedding cakes are topped with a small sapling. After the wedding, the newly-married couple may plant the tree and watch it grow throughout the years.

France
For a truly indulgent wedding cake, it’s hard to beat the French creation, croquembouche. The name translates as “crunch in the mouth,” and it’s easy to see why. A croquembouche is made a stacking cream-filled pastries into a cone, then dipping the creation in hot toffee or caramel. The topping hardens, and individual portions are broken off for each wedding guest. A croquembouche may be drizzled in chocolate and decorated with ribbons and flowers, as well, making it a wedding cake that is both delicious and beautiful.

Peru
In Peru, it isn’t the wedding cake that’s different, but the tradition associated with the cake. Charms are placed between the layers of cake, attached to colorful ribbons. At the ceremony, each single lady pulls out one of the ribbons, and the lady who finds the the “ring” charm will supposedly be married within the next year! In recent years, this tradition has migrated to the southern United States, though sometimes a special cake with ribbons may be made for the bridal shower rather than the wedding itself.

Norway
The traditional Norwegian wedding cake isn’t cake at all—it’s bread. White flour was once scarce in Norway, so bread was highly prized. Brudlaupskling, the wedding bread, is topped with cream, syrup, and cheese, then cut into squares to serve to guests.

These are only a few of the interesting wedding cakes and wedding cakes tradtions from around the world. Perhaps one of these cakes will inspire your creativity!

Keywords: Wedding Cakes, Weddingblog, Wedding
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Stewart Scratches Seven-Year-Itch

Rod Stewart married his fiancée Penny Lancaster in a weekend wedding in Italy. Stewart and Lancaster have been an item for seven years, and have a 19 month-old son, Alistair. Stewart and his bride held a private ceremony at the Villa Durazzo, attended by just two witnesses, Lancaster’s parents. The day before the wedding, the couple held a large celebration at the Hotel Palace Excelsior in Rapallo, Italy as well as a reception, which followed the ceremony. Five of Stewart’s seven children attended the reception. Eldest daughter, Sarah Streeter, was reportedly not invited, and son Sean did not put in an appearance. This is the third wedding for the 62 year-old Stewart, and the first for Lancaster.

Streeter is Stewart’s eldest daughter, born to him and Susannah Boffey when the yet-to-be-famous singer was just 18 years old. Stewart abandoned mother and child after the baby’s birth, and Boffey gave up their daughter for adoption after just a few months as a single mother. Streeter was told the identity of her birth parents when she turned 18, but she and Stewart have never had a warm relationship. In interviews, Stewart acknowledges only six children, a point which has caused Streeter no small amount of pain.

Weddings can be very good at generating awkward moments and resurrecting fractured family relationships. Everything, from who gets invited, to where guests are seated and whose names appear on the invitation, is up in the air, and sadly, it falls on the shoulders of the bride and groom to sort things out, and help keep the peace.

Keywords: Wedding News, Weddingblog, Wedding
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Wedding Invitation Wording: Modern Families

Gone are the days when every bride and groom had a traditional nuclear family, with the typical mother and father, siblings, cousins, and so on. Families today are much more diverse than they were even a few years ago. Remarriages, life partnerships, step-families, and adopted families have all changed the face of familial relationships today. So what is a bride and groom to do when it’s time to send the wedding invitations?

Second Wedding
If the bride or groom is marrying for the second time (or third or fourth), wedding invitations often reflect this in the wording. Some couples, especially those who have already had time in life to become financially secure, host their own wedding instead of having parents host the event. In this case, the wording will often read as follows: “The honor of your presence is requested at the marriage of Marina Smith Wilson and Robert Allen MacKenzie.” For second marriages, some couples also include wording that indicates the special nature of the event: “Please join us as we celebrate new beginnings.”

Including Children in Your Wedding
Some couples may be merging families when they marry. In such cases, it is appropriate for the children to play a role in the wedding ceremony if so desired. The wedding invitation may request the honour of a guest’s presence “to celebrate the marriage of Marina Smith Wilson and Robert Allen MacKenzie, together with their children Clarissa, Ellen, and Raymond.” It can also be charming to have the invitation read as if the children are hosting the ceremony: “Ms. Hannah Brody requests the honour of your presence at the marriage of her mother, Ms. Lena Brody, to Mr. Hitoshi Sato.”

Divorced Parents
For a bride whose parents are divorced, the wedding invitation wording should reflect who is hosting the wedding. If it is one parent only, the invitation may read, “Ms. Rachel Harding requests the honour of your presence at the marriage of her daughter.” If both parents are hosting, then both names should appear on the invitation.

Stepparents
If the bride’s parents are divorced and have remarried, it is proper etiquette to include all parents on the wedding invitation. If one parent has remarried, the invitation could be sent from “Mr. and Mrs. Linsley and Mr. Jonas Wright” as they celebrate the marriage of “their daughter, Lisa Claire Wright.” Similarly, two sets of remarried parents may both be mentioned.

Using the proper wording on a wedding invitation may be confusing, but most guests know and understand the situation without needing explanation. No matter who makes up your family, there is a way to include anyone you wish on your wedding invitation. After all, it is your day!

Keywords: Wedding Invitation Wording, Weddingblog, Wedding
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Wedding Cars: to Chauffeur, or not to Chauffeur?

When hiring a wedding car, one question to ask yourself is whether you wish to have a chauffeur or to do the driving yourself.

Why hire a chauffeur?
Who doesn’t like to be pampered? Having your very own chauffeur to drive your wedding car is an indulgence that many couples enjoy immensely. First of all, it’s just plain classy. You’ll feel special every time the chauffeur opens the door for you and respectfully greets you as “Mr. and Mrs.”

More important, having a chauffeur allows you to concentrate on the events of the day, rather than concerning yourself with traffic, getting lost, parking, and all of the other worries that come with driving. Imagine that you’ve just gotten married. Wouldn’t you rather spend your first moments together as man and wife relaxing in the back seat of your wedding car, rather than driving? While you two lovebirds simply enjoy the ride and each other’s company, your chauffeur will take you wherever you need to go, effortlessly. Why drive, when you can snuggle up with each other (and perhaps a little champagne) in the back seat?

Another reason to hire a chauffeur is for peace of mind. Should you happen to be involved in an accident as a passenger in your wedding car, your chauffeur may be counted on to take care of the attendant paperwork and hassles involved. Most chauffeurs are fully insured and safety-conscious to ensure the well-being of their passengers.

Why drive your own wedding car?
Let’s face it—driving can just be FUN! If you love the feel of the road under your feet, or the wind in your hair, you may wish to drive your wedding car yourself. Many couples who hire wedding cars enjoy the thrill of driving themselves to and from the events of the wedding day. If you can’t afford to buy that gleaming Jaguar, or don’t want the maintenance involved in owning a classic convertible, hiring one to drive as your wedding car can be a luxurious indulgence that you’ll never forget.

Driving your own wedding car also offers something that a chauffeur can’t—complete privacy. Some couples may not feel comfortable with a stranger taking part in their special day together (no matter how unobtrusive a chauffeur may be). They may feel more inhibited in speech or action than if they were simply alone together; the couple may not feel free to “be themselves.” If you prefer to keep your private moments just that, then driving your own wedding car may be the best option for you.

Another great aspect of driving your wedding car is that you have total freedom to do whatever you like. Some couples decide to hire their wedding car overnight, which opens up many possibilities. Want to hit the open road after your reception and just go wherever the road takes you? You can do it, without worrying about a chauffeur being on the clock. You can take your wedding car from the reception directly to that charming little bed-and-breakfast you both love, stopping along the route whenever and wherever the fancy takes you.

But what’s the hardest part of driving your own wedding car? Deciding who gets to drive first!

Keywords: Wedding cars, Weddingblog, Wedding
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Wedding Invitation Extras

There are certain things that almost every wedding invitation includes. Besides the wedding invitation itself, there is usually an RSVP card, a reception card (if the wedding and reception are held at different locations), and a map or directions to the ceremony. However, an invitation can include many other items as well. Oftentimes, the various inserts for wedding invitations are printed on the same cardstock and with the same motifs for a unified look.

A Save-the Date card is a notice that is sent far in advance of your wedding to out-of-town guests. You should send the card no later than three months in advance. This gives your guests time to make travel reservations, submit vacation requests, and secure accommodations. It is recommended, though, to send a Save-the-Date card even earlier than that: from 5 months to a year. These cards may match your wedding invitation, or may be more casual. For example, if you’re having a beach wedding, your Save-the-Date card might have a beach theme.

An accommodation card may be sent to out-of-town guests to help them find appropriate accommodation for their stay. An accommodation card is a thoughtful addition to your wedding invitation, as it saves your guests the trouble of researching area hotels. It is a good idea to include the names hotels in various price ranges, preferably all within convenient distance of your ceremony. If a particular hotel has been chosen for members of the bridal party or for relatives, you may wish to inform the other guests that this hotel is your preferred location.

Thank-you cards are generally ordered to match your wedding invitation, and may be imprinted with the words “Thank you,” a monogram, or other artwork. The inside of a thank-you card is blank so that you may write a personal note to the person receiving the card. It is traditional to send a thank-you card for every gift received, at every event related to your wedding. Thank-you cards should be sent promptly for gifts received at bachelorette parties, bridal showers, the reception, and so forth. There is no need to wait until after the wedding to send thank-you cards if you receive gifts before the event takes place. It is a good idea to order plenty of thank-you cards, as you will very likely use more than you expect.

Wedding invitations are such a memorable part of your wedding. You and your guests will cherish this memento for years to come, so be sure to include all the parts that make your invitation complete.

Keywords: Wedding Invitations, Weddingblog, Wedding
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