Hawaii Bags A Bust As Fewer Japanese Couples Visit To Wed

Hawaiian business owners are lamenting their losses in the wedding industry, as fewer Asian couples are making the trek to the islands to marry and spend a honeymoon. Certain businesses that depend on Japanese weddings have been particularly hard-hit. One wedding chapel formerly saw only Japanese couples schedule weddings there, but over the past two years, a higher proportion of non-Japanese couples have booked the chapel’s services.

According to business owners, Japanese couples are staying closer to home, traveling instead to Guam, Saipan, and Okinawa. Since 2006. Japanese weddings in Hawaii have declined by more than 30%. Japanese brides cite the high cost of airline travel as one of the primary reasons for planning a more local wedding.

Bridal shops are also reporting a significant downturn in their business. One owner said that the number of weddings she works on has dropped from an average of 15 per month to just one or two per month in the past year. Those weddings are getting smaller, as well. Brides are not buying the more expensive dresses and they’re also renting fewer tuxedos.

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Wedding Dress Made From WWII Parachute Lands In Museum

A wedding dress made from a WWII Air Force parachute has resurfaced at the Lake County Museum in the US state of Illinois as part of an exhibit devoted to World War I. Following the war, nylon was scare in civilian circles, so US Air Force pilot John Smelcer sent the nylon parachute to his fiancée, Carol Kirkpatrick in 1947. Read more about this wedding dress

Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds Marry In Private Wedding

American actress Scarlett Johansson and actor Ryan Reynolds have married in a private ceremony which took place on Saturday, September 27at a “remote wilderness resort” outside of Vancouver, British Columbia. Few details of the event were available to the press.

Johansson had earlier announced that the couple would delay their wedding date until after the US presidential election. Johansson’s brother Adrian Johansson works for the Barack Obama campaign, and the actress had said that trying to schedule the wedding during the election season would be too difficult for her family.

The couple have been dating since February 2007, and announced their engagement just four months ago. As recently as last week, Johansson and her mother were spotted in a Monique Lhuillier boutique. Other sources said Johansson’s dress was designed by Stella McCartney.

This is the first marriage for both Johansson, 23, and Reynolds, 31. Reynolds had previously been engaged to Canadian singer Alanis Morrissette. Prior to her relationship with Reynolds, Johansson had been romantically linked to actor Josh Hartnett.

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Owl Delivers Wedding Rings For US Couple

A US couple who married in Balgonie Castle near Glenrothes and Edinburgh in Scotland persuaded a local falconer to help them incorporate an owl into their wedding ceremony. The bird was trained by falconer Wayne Poole to deliver the couple’s wedding rings to the wedding party.

Celeste Allen, who is a teacher, wanted to incorporate the owl because they are symbols of wisdom and education. Finnbar (the owl) left his perch at the back of the ceremony site and delivered the rings to Kevin Swift, the best man and groom David Swift’s son. The rings were secured with a leather strap around the bird’s leg. Finnbar executed the special delivery flawlessly, and then returned to falconer Poole.

The castle staff report that this is the first time a bird has been used to deliver wedding rings to a couple, and Poole reports that this is also a first for Finnbar, who also posed for pictures with the couple after the ceremony.

The couple considered marrying in England because one of Allen’s sons is on a temporary work assignment in York. English law requires a 21-day residency before authorising a wedding. Scotland’s rules require only a one-day stay.

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Spending Decisions And Wedding Planning

Spending and saving on wedding expenses has always been at the center of every bride’s wedding plan. With the average cost of a wedding approaching AUD$40,000, and with similar expenditures found around the world, some brides are taking a different approach to their Big Day.

But where should brides apply cost-cutting measures to achieve the greatest savings without changing their wedding dreams? Experts always advise that the guest list is the place where brides will make the biggest impact on the bottom line. In the past, parents paid for the wedding, and often had more say in who attended the wedding. Today, most couples pay all or most of their wedding expenses themselves, so the guest list is a major consideration. Paring back the guest list will produce the best savings. Reducing the guest list not only reduces the food and alcohol costs, the savings will ripple through the rest of the wedding expenses.

Brides can also see substantial savings on invitations and favours by shopping online for the best deals. Some brides will opt for do-it-yourself invitations. Kardella has a wide variety of do-it-yourself wedding invitation kits that can save money. Brides are cautioned against issuing electronic invitations to their weddings. That approach still doesn’t carry much weight with the guests. Instead, use wedding Web sites to post important information like directions, hotel accommodations and last minute details. This can cut down on the number of inserts that accompany wedding invitations, and save on postage as well.

Brides are increasingly turning to alternate sources for wedding dresses, too. eBay has a trove of wedding dresses that are brand-new or slightly used. Many brides are also selecting off-the-rack dresses not specifically designed for weddings to realise big savings. In addition, brides are putting their sentiments aside and selling their dresses after the wedding to recover some of the cost of the dress.

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Number Of Australian Weddings Up

Despite uncertainty in the economy and the rising costs of weddings, the number of weddings taking place in Australia is up. The Australian Bureau of Statistics released 2007 figures that show that the number of weddings in Australia is up to its highest level since 1990. The bureau noted 116,000 weddings in 2007, up two percent from the number of weddings recorded in 2006. About half of those marriages involved first-time marriages for both parties.

In comparison to the population, however, the marriage rate in the country has declined. On a per capita basis, the marriage rate has dropped from 7.1 per thousand to 5.5 per thousand. Bureau statistics show that the divorce rate in Australia is also dropping, and currently stands at 2.3 per 1000 people.

The median age for marriage was 29.6 years for males and 27.6 years for females. According to ABS figures, the median age for marriage has been increasing since 1988. The most popular month for marriage in Australia is March, followed by November and October.

More than three-fourths of people who chose to marry in 2007 had lived with their intended spouse before the wedding, and more than 60% of people who married in 2007 opted for a civil ceremony. Of the 37% who opted for a religious ceremony, one-third of those were Catholic and nearly 18% were Anglican.

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Inviting Singles To Your Wedding

Every bride-to-be confronts the issue of inviting a single person to her wedding. Should an invitation to a single person always include an invitation for a guest? This is one area where etiquette and finances clash. Brides looking to reduce headcount may view a single guest as an opportunity to cut corners, but etiquette rules say that all persons who are married, living together, or known to have a partner must receive an invitation for two.

But what about those who may not have a significant other, or whose “couple” status is not known? Must they also receive a “for-two” invitation? When at all possible, it’s best to invite a single person and that person’s guest. In issuing an invitation for two, brides leave it up to the guest to decide if s/he wants to bring another person along. You may find that many of your single guests choose to come alone.

Failing that, if you want to invite a single person and you don’t know the guest’s “relationship status”, you may explain to the invitee that you would like to issue a wedding invitation and you would like to know how to address your invitation. This gives the guest the opportunity to let you know whether or not a “guest” invitation is in order and should eliminate misunderstandings or hurt feelings when the invitation arrives. You are not required to issue “guest” invitations to minors, even if the minor has an exclusive boyfriend or girlfriend.

Kardella offers guidelines on wedding invitation etiquette and invitation wording. Please take a moment to look at some of the wording suggestions we offer.

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Church Of England Vicars Participate In UK’s National Wedding Show

A team of vicars from the Church of England participated in the UK’s National Wedding Show, held 10-12 October in Birmingham. The National Wedding Show was expected to attract as many as 15,000 visitors, and the Church of England was just one of 300 exhibitors at the event.

Part of the reason for the move is to help publicise the new rules governing church weddings in England. Prior to the rule change, couples could marry in a particular church only if they were members of the congregation. The relaxed rules mean that couples can get married in most churches in the UK.

According to the Rt. Rev. Tim Stephens, the Bishop of Leicester, many couples would opt for a church wedding if they knew they could have one. Research performed by the Church when the rule relaxation was being considered showed that 25% of couples would have opted for a church wedding had the option been available to them. In the past ten years, the number of civil ceremonies has increased sharply, while the number of church weddings is down by 40 percent. About 60,000 weddings each year are performed in churches in the UK, while 50,000 civil ceremonies take place each year.

In addition to explaining the relaxed rules, the vicars will be demonstrating the Church of England’s new online wedding planner, answering couples’ questions and helping engaged couples connect with the churches of their choice.

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Couples Offer Cheese Cakes At Weddings

Some couples are migrating toward a new trend in wedding cakes: stacked cheeses standing in for more traditional fruitcakes. The wedding “cake” is made from a stack of assorted round cheeses, and decorating them, much like a traditional wedding cake – save the frosting and other surgary decorations. The trend seems to have started in Britain, but is making waves around the world, especially in New Zealand.

Couples are finding that offering a “cheese” cake instead of the traditional sweet fare is a hit with guests, who are looking for something different. Brides who are considering a not-so-sweet wedding treat for their guests shouldn’t expect to save much money; a cake made of cheese will cost about the same as a traditional wedding cake. The cost will vary, of course, depending upon the variety of cheeses used and how large the “cheese” cake needs to be to serve all of the wedding guests.

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UK Couple Wings It For Wedding

Darren McWalters proposed to Katie Hodgson in the Brazilian rainforest and wanted a wedding that would outdo his proposal. McWalters got his wish as he and Hodgson stood on separate aircraft wings to make their wedding vows on August 5. The two airplanes, along with a third that carried the Reverend George Bringham, flew 1,000 feet above the RFC Rendcomb Airfield in Gloucestershire, where family and friends had gathered to listen to the ceremony, which was being broadcast from the planes overhead.

As the pair from Lancashire exchanged their vows in flight, their planes spewed white smoke. Hodgson, who wore a bridal gown for her wedding flight, says she’s always been a bit of a daredevil, but says that prior to meeting Hodgson, McWalters was afraid of heights. After landing, the couple joined family and friends inside a reception hall at the airbase and exchanged rings.

Reverend Bringham, 67, is a seasoned pro at this. He performed another mid-air ceremony for a couple eight years ago and said that he wasn’t afraid at all. Bringham did say that he thought he might lose his goggles mid-flight.

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Beyonce Knowles Shows Off $5 Million Wedding Diamond From Jay-Z

Singer Beyonce Knowles showed off her $5 million diamond wedding ring at the Conde Nast Fashion Rocks concert in New York City on September 5, 2008. The eighteen-carat flawless center diamond is part of a ring designed by jeweller Lorraine Schwartz.

The ring was clearly visible on the red carpet as Ms. Knowles entered the event, but she removed it for a duet she sang with singer Justin Timberlake. The ring made its second appearance when she sang a tribute to Etta James, whom she will portray in an upcoming movie about the singer.

Ms. Knowles and rap artist and producer Jay-Z were married in a private ceremony in New York City in April, but have not yet confirmed their nuptials. Jay-Z’s wedding ring made a brief appearance in late July, but the recording artist/producer normally opts to leave it at home when making public appearances. Some sources say that the power couple have a combined net worth of about $1 billion and the ring represents just a fraction of the couple’s assets.

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Wagner College Offers Wedding Planning College Course

Wagner College, on Staten Island in New York City, is offering an 8-week wedding planning course. The course is taught by two professional wedding planners, both of whom have planned more than 400 weddings combined.

The course covers weddings, cultural customs, wedding attire, catering, flowers, bridal shows, transportation, budgeting, etiquette, event planning and the planner’s role. The course also covers business plans, starting a wedding-planning business and working with brides and their families.

The course, which was also offered last spring, is meant for restaurateurs, caterers, hobbyists, brides and those considering a career as a wedding planner or an event coordinator. According to the instructors, the best wedding planners are people who are competent, creative, patient, and can deal with a wide variety of people. They also say that flexibility, the ability to multi-task and think quickly also help.

The course costs USD$895 and includes books as well as access to the Wedding Planning Institute.

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Groom Takes The Plunge – With The Best Man

A Sydney groom and his best man were seriously injured when they fell 15 metres down a rocky embankment upon leaving the wedding reception at the Manly Pier Restaurant. The men were exchanging farewells and engaged in a bit of horseplay when they accidentally bumped a gate near the edge of the embankment. The gate gave way and the men fell down the rocks and into the water below. The accident apparently occurred when the last guests were leaving the reception.

The groom, 32, was less injured and was listed in satisfactory condition at the Royal North Shore Hospital. The best man, 40, who hails from Victoria, was thought to have suffered a spinal injury and remains in serious condition.

The bridal couple had honeymoon plans but there was no word on whether the accident would delay the honeymoon. Neither man had been released from the hospital as of Sunday.

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Low Cost Weddings

For brides planning a wedding today, cost is a growing concern. Brides from all over the world have stepped up to the challenge and are trying to plan the most cost-effective weddings possible.

Employing tactics like buying their dresses on eBay, using do-it-yourself invitation kits, visiting the local supermarket just before the wedding to pick up bouquets of roses, putting together their own favours, choosing unusual locations at off-hours and using restaurants for wedding receptions instead of banquet halls, these brides are bucking the trend toward the expensive and putting together budget-but-beautiful weddings for as many as 100 guests.

The budget wedding is indeed possible, and many budget-conscious brides are learning that ordinary is the new extravagant. By spending less on the wedding and reception, couples are starting married life with little or no leftover wedding debts. Budget brides agree across the board that this is the way to go.

The biggest savings always come from reducing food costs. By having your reception at a restaurant, you can avoid additional charges for table linens, alcohol and servers. If you work with the restaurateur ahead of time, you can also craft a menu that the restaurant can cope with that also matches your budget. Off-hours are great for restaurant receptions, too. Avoid the typical dinner rush by having a wedding luncheon instead. You can still dine and dance with your guests, and the restaurant has full tables for the afternoon – a rarity.

If budget is your overriding concern, you’ll have to be willing to sacrifice (or at least compromise on) your “dream wedding.” Some brides actually approach their wedding with no preconceived notions about how their weddings will look, making budget celebrations a snap.

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Lucky Groom Survives Lightning Bolt On Wedding Day

A man preparing for his wedding was struck by a bolt of lightning just a few hours before the ceremony. Mike Speck, 54, from Evergreen, Colorado in the United States, was preparing his backyard for the ceremony when a bolt of lightning struck both him and his neighbor’s home simultaneously. While Speck walked away with hardly a scratch, the neighbor’s home caught fire. Speck and another neighbor sprang to action and doused the flames with a garden hose.

Speck said he was stunned and shaken by the bolt and was surprised at how bright and loud the strike was. He was given a clean bill of health by paramedics who were called to the scene to evaluate the somewhat frazzled groom and the wedding went on as planned. The bride, Dawn Speck couldn’t believe what was happening on her wedding day, but the couple didn’t miss a beat and entertained their guests.

Speck is a veteran of lightning strikes. He was hit for the first time 15 years ago and again, walked away no worse for the wear.

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Rock Slide Bride Plans Wedding In 24 Hours

The mettle of a Canadian bride in Whistler, British Columbia was torture-tested when an overnight rockslide cancelled the bride’s original wedding plans. Tracy Mercier awoke on July 30 to discover that an overnight rockslide on the Sea-to-Sky highway had closed off the main route to her wedding site in Whistler. Her wedding, an elaborate three-day affair for 80 people, was scheduled to happen Sunday, August 3.

That would have broken most brides, but Tracy Mercier sprang into action and within 24 hours had completely rearranged her wedding. The couple were able to locate a hotel that could accommodate the wedding and reception, and also supply rooms for the out-of-town guests already en route. She was also able to re-route the flowers for the wedding and located a minister at the last minute to perform the ceremony. Mercier’s original plans also included rounds of golf and a barbecue reception, but all of that fell by the wayside when 16,000 pounds of granite closed the highway.

Mercier was able to get partial refunds from the golf course and the baker who was putting together the wedding cake, but is still waiting to hear from the condo owners whose accommodations she had reserved for her guests. She’s not hopeful that she’ll be able to recover the deposits on those. The rockslide caused heavy losses to the tourist industry in Whistler, in what was supposed to have been one of the biggest weekends of the summer travel season.

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UK Couple Finds Unpleasant Surprise At Wedding

Victoria Elliott and Daniel Robinson had planned their wedding for more than a year and would have exchanged vows at the Orton Hall Hotel in Orton Longueville, Peterborough had it not been for the discovery of some World War II-era incendiary devices that were unearthed at the hotel as the guests began to arrive.

Workers were digging a trench for a new patio when they came across what appeared to be bottles with liquid in them. Two of the bottles broke and ignited. Additional devices ignited when they broke upon being dumped by the mechanical digger. The crew called off the dig, the hotel evacuated the guests and turned away others who were arriving.

A military ordnance team was called in from Nottingham to dispose of the rest of the devices, but could not move the remains until the following day to allow them to stabilise. The hotel remained closed and the wedding was a scratch.

The bride, who is a solicitor for the city, was too distressed to speak, but her mum wondered why the bombs, which had been there for more than sixty years, couldn’t be left just one more day. According to the Army, the bombs posed an unacceptable risk after having been disturbed.

The bride’s family did not indicate when the wedding would take place.

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Wedding Cake Savings

Budget-conscious brides looking to save money on their weddings are turning to bakery fakery to save a bundle. A common element for most wedding receptions is the cake, but a traditional multi-layer wedding cake can cost hundreds – or even thousands of dollars. To help avoid busting the wedding budget, some brides are using fake cakes to solve the problem.

A real layer of cake is built into a multi-tiered dessert and is used for the traditional cake-cutting event. Other layers of the cake are simply frosted Styrofoam pieces that are decorated like the real thing, and are carted back into the kitchen where the real cutting and distribution takes place. Guests are served pieces of sheet cakes, which are much more economical, easier to produce and cut, and don’t require the substantial decoration time that wedding cakes require.

The savings can be significant: one-half to two-thirds the cost of a bona fide multi-layer wedding cake. Wedding “fakes” also stand up better to heat and transportation, and guests are usually none-the-wiser.

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Princess Dianas Wedding Dress Designer Auctions Famous Pink Chiffon Blouse

Elizabeth Emanuel, who gained notoriety for designing Princess Diana’s wedding dress, has announced that she will auction the pink chiffon blouse she loaned to Lady Diana Spencer for a Vogue Magazine photo shoot shortly before Diana became engaged to Prince Charles in 1980.

The chiffon blouse, designed by Emanuel, was worn by Lady Diana for a portrait taken by Lord Snowdon, and led Diana to purchase a black dress from the design shop, which she wore on her first official royal public engagement. Diana later requested that Emanuel and her former husband, David Emanuel design her wedding dress.

The distinctive pink blouse was loaned to Vogue Magazine after the publication called the Emanuels and asked if they had a blouse with a very high neck that they would be willing to lend to a “very famous personality.” The magazine did not reveal the wearer at that time, but the couple were thrilled to learn that it was Lady Diana who would appear in their creation.

Emanuel says that financial difficulties are the reason she’ll be auctioning off the blouse, along with a collection of about 200 other garments designed for celebrities, including dresses worn by actresses Elizabeth Hurley and Helena Bonham Carter. In addition, a 16-inch miniature version of Diana’s wedding dress made from the same material as the dress itself, will also be included in the auction. Emanuel had hoped to avoid auctioning the collection, but investments in a planned business venture did not materialise as she had hoped, and she says that her situation forces the auction. The Internet auction will take place between 3 and 13 November on AuctionAtrium.com. Emanuel would not venture a guess as to how much such an auction would generate.

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Brides Are Turning To Do-It-Yourself Wedding Invitation Kits

In an effort to cut wedding expenses, more brides are looking for do-it-yourself wedding invitation kits. The most popular kits include elegant and stylish papers that give a unique look to an invitation.

Brides aren’t interested in sacrificing quality, colour or style, however, they are looking for a variety of papers, cuts and colours that will lend a beautiful touch to their wedding invitations.

Kardella has a full line of do-it-yourself pre-cut invitation cards in a number of cuts and folds that will help any bride create lovely invitations. In addition, Kardella offers a Design-Yourself invitation service that enables brides to design unique invitations that feature unique colours, cuts and innovative embellishments. Design-Yourself invitations are highly cost-effective and compare favourably to pre-printed wedding invitations.

Kardella also offers a full line of affordable original invitation designs, envelopes, wedding favours and wedding supplies. Their entire catalogue is available on the Internet. They also offer sample packs of all of the invitations. Each sample is charged at the per-piece rate, and sample packs shipped to Australian addresses are sent postage-paid, as long as the pack contains only invitation samples.

You won’t find a better selection or better prices anywhere else. When you’re looking for high quality invitations and wedding supplies at affordable prices, we invite you to shop Kardella.

Keywords: Wedding Planning, Weddingblog, Wedding

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