1. Get a feel for the price range that they feel most comfortable in. Before you pick out that robin’s egg bridesmaid’s dress that perfectly complements your bashful pink centerpieces, make sure that your girls can afford it.

2. When you’re considering dresses, take into consideration those fabulous pewter peep-toes that you imagine your girls strutting down the aisle in. A bit pricey? Realize that there are masses of gorgeous shoes out there that are less expensive for your blushing bridesmaids-to-be and let them go. It’s important to respect their budget wishes.

3. Every dazzling dress and snazzy shoe needs that perfect accessory to complete the outfit. The girl’s can’t afford that gorgeous string of pearls that would perfectly compliment their champagne dress and alabaster complexion? No problem. Outlet stores such as DownEast Basics have excellent jewelry selection for prices that won’t break the bank. Grab yourself something shiny while you’re there.

4. Can’t figure out how you want them to tame their locks? Decide on one broad style and let them take the reins on this one. Tell them that you trust their judgment and allow them to make their hair the best it can be. After all, nobody knows hair better than the person that it belongs to.

5. Looking for flawless faces for fabulous pictures? Give the girls the general style of make-up that you want for them on your special day and allow them to handle that themselves. Explain to them that gaudy won’t do today, and let them work their magic.

Remember that wedding planning, while stressful, should also be exciting. Surrounding yourself with the right women will ensure that you have an excellent day. Not forcing them to break the bank for your wedding will ensure that they have an excellent, too!

You may view this post at the Just Weddings.org Blog

Baker

Although you may have a friend in art school or a talented baker in the family that can make some really fabulous-looking cakes, it’s important to consult a professional for your wedding cake. They can tailor cakes to the exact design you want, and you can try dozens of flavors of cake and frosting to make sure your cake tastes good too. Some bakeries offer delivery so you don’t have to worry about toppling your cake en route to your location.

Photographer

You’re going to cherish your wedding photos for decades, so don’t hire your cousin’s best friend as a photographer. A wedding professional will know what equipment to use and how to work with any lighting, whether you’re planning an intimate outdoor event or a 500-person ballroom gala. Make sure you talk to your photographer and let them know what style you are looking for, as well as must-have shots during the ceremony and reception.

Hair and Make-up Expert

Brides should look stunningly beautiful on their wedding day. Your everyday make-up and hairstyle isn’t going to cut it for your big day. Find a salon in your area with beauty experts that cater to wedding parties, suggests professionals at Emerge Salon in Boston. You can find affordable customized bridal packages that even offer a trial run so you can test out your look before the wedding. Never use an expert who won’t let you test the hair and make-up beforehand. You never know when you might have a skin reaction to different make-up products until you try it.

Caterer

Feeding an entire wedding takes practice. If you’re planning on serving food at your wedding, book a caterer with experience. A professional will let you cater the meal based on number of guests, dietary preferences and budget. Never agree to a pre-packaged bundle. Always find a caterer who can make you a customized menu plan so you get the best value.

Wedding Planner

You’re going to need help to keep everything together. Certified wedding planners come with years of experience at coordinating perfect weddings. Don’t drive yourself crazy trying to keep up with every last detail of your event. Reach out to a wedding planner so you don’t have to sweat the small stuff. A good planner comes with a good network. Pick the right person, and you won’t have to spend hours looking for the right caterer or make-up artist.

Your wedding day should be as stress-free as possible. Be smart and use the professional wedding community to make your ceremony perfect.

You may view this post at the Just Weddings.org Blog

Photo credits: Ben Spark via Flickr cc

Weddings give a reason to celebrate, regardless of how small or large your wedding party is. What better way to celebrate than to have some good old music playing in the background as you walk down the aisle to forever?

However, couples may opt to not have any music at all for their wedding ceremony should they prefer to hold a small-scale event. It’s a practical decision, but it would be a shame to completely scrap out any type of music at all on your wedding day.  Music contributes not just by filling the silence, but also by setting the mood, and is a powerful method of expressing and invoking emotions.

But how can you best utilize music for your small wedding ceremony?

Finalize your venue

Once you have your location set, all else will follow, including the type of music and songs you’ll need to prepare to be played. The length of the aisle, the wedding party size that can be accommodated by the church or venue of your choice, as well as the type of venue (enclosed, or outdoors) will need to be taken into consideration when planning your playlist for your wedding ceremony. It’s always best to be prepared for anything!

Go for a more intimate sound

Since you’re having a small wedding, there’s no need to go all out with an orchestra or string quartet. Doing so may even prove to be overkill, and can drown out the rest of the important aspects of the wedding. Opt for a more intimate sound, such as narrowing down to one special instrument. One good example is a piano, which creates a sound that fits well with the solemn ambiance of a wedding ceremony, and works well in enclosed spaces. Either a grand piano or a baby piano will do, just have it situated close to your guests or wedding party.

An organ is also a good option; however, it typically produces a grand sound that can be irritating when loudly played. For small weddings, it’s best to settle with using the softer stops to produce a wonderfully soft sound that is perfect for small weddings.

Stringed instruments such as guitars and violins work great as well, but if you decide to forego any instruments and have a vocalist sing during the ceremony instead, ensure that your singer is comfortable with singing in front of a small crowd that will most likely be seated nearby.

Choose your moments

Small weddings are usually held because the couple to be wedded would much rather prefer to have an intimate ceremony with only their closest and dearest present to watch them tie the knot. As such, only having the music playing at certain moments – and playing softly – will help to create that intimate mood.

Only have music playing for a short period of time prior to the start of the ceremony, and take care to not have it overpower your guest’s voices as they mingle. The perfect type of music to play while waiting for the ceremony to begin is one that encourages people to talk freely among themselves without too much distraction.

For the bridal processional, try to use just one song rather than having to cut a second song due to the processional being done. You may even opt to skip the recessional, as well as the postlude which should allow your guests to exit the ceremony venue much quicker to be able to head on to the reception venue.

Whether you ultimately decide on having music playing on your ceremony or not, a small-scale wedding is an intimate affair that with the right kind and amount of music can be as memorable and joyful as any grand wedding of larger size, and can even make it a lot more special that if done without any music at all.

About the author: Melissa Page loves everything about weddings. She writes wedding music articles for Music for Scotland, a live music agency who represents wedding bands across Scotland such as the Seattle wedding band. When she’s not busy writing, she hangs out with her friends in a coffee shop.

You may view this post at the Just Weddings.org Blog

As the big wedding day comes nearer, you are probably hustling in your mind. Thousands of ideas swim, nervousness almost consumes you, and you still have arrangements to make, guests to invite, event planning to take care of, and prepare yourself for a change in life.

In all this rush, you’d not be hanged to death if you didn’t really think of a few ideas for return gifts for your guests. Yet, by giving away gifts for your guests, your wedding day becomes a lot more memorable (probably even more memorable than the respective wedding days of each guest who receives whacky gifts).

Here are a few crazy, whacky, and outlandish ideas for gifts you can taunt your guests’ memories with:

Subscription to a dating service
What’s a better service you could do to your friends and family than giving them the gift of meeting someone awesome (just like you found your awesome better half)? Pick out all the singles in your guest list and offer them a one-year or two-year subscription to the most popular online dating service available (wherever you are).

If they use their subscriptions well, you’ll have opened windows for their romantic world.

A pack of condoms [for single men] & Contraceptive pills packs [for women]

Safe sex is good. We all know it. Unsafe sex, however, is dangerous. You’d want none of your own people to go through anything bad that could happen due to momentary lapses of reason. So, give away packs of condoms for men and packs of contraceptives for women. That way, you’d give them something they’d need anyone and also drive home a point (as you should).

Gift-wrap them so that no one knows what’s inside yet but they’d certainly walk away wondering “whoa….” when they do open the pack, and smile at your brazenness, really.

Wild accessories

Go ahead and think of the kind of stuff most people hesitate to buy – think exotic leather accessories, sexy lingerie, knifes, swords, hedonistic art murals, and many other such whacky items. You’d need to screen out and make a list of what accessories go out whom exactly, but it’s trouble worthy enough. Give your guests things as gifts that they’d not dare (or cannot) buy.

Reignite Romance for everyone

So, you are getting married and romance is all over the wall. It might not be the same case for most people attending your wedding. While the singles will pay their due respects to dates and the rise and fall in relationships, they always have a way out. The married couples among your guests aren’t so lucky. The romance and love between most of the couples would have probably fallen apart thanks to the rigors of everyday life.  They need some kind of a push to make their relationships come back to life.

Instead of giving common gifts that they are likely to expect from every other wedding they might attend, give them something that will reignite their romance. Your budget will rule out a mid-life honeymoon but you could include bath salts, bath perfumes, free dining passes for couples, etc.

Give discount coupons

You’d not think of giving coupons out on your wedding day. Your guests won’t expect it either. After all, you aren’t a retailer or an ecommerce site owner that you’d have to worry about coupons or gift cards, but imagine this for a second: your guests are all consumers and all consumers look for discounts or ways to save money. Who knows, your coupons or gift cards might actually nudge them to buy something that they always wanted to buy.

Since you don’t know what’s on everyone else’s mind and since consumers universally look for great deals, give away gift cards or coupons for general retailers or ecommerce sites to encourage your guests to buy whatever they want, only for a better price. If your coupons are low value, add them with other gifts. High value coupons or gift cards will do for standalone gifting.

Personalized Wine Glasses

When we read Stephanie Herbst’s post on thoughtful ideas that’ll make your guests love your wedding , one idea jumped right on us: personalized wine glasses. Stephanie’s idea was to etch your guests’ name on wine glasses so that they’ll always be able to find their glasses even in the middle of a drinking fest.
We twisted that idea and thought of this: go ahead and etch names on glasses but add some more copy to it, which could go like:

• “If you are seeing this, you are blessing us again”
• “Cheers to your life. Coz’ you bought cheers to ours”
• “Here’s a round of thanks for blessing us on our big day”

You get the idea, don’t you? Your guests will remember your wedding each time they sip wine. Even if the glasses were to hang upside down off the hinges at your guests’ mini-bars at home, your wedding will something for them to cheer with. Of course, why stick with wine glasses? Go ahead and personalize beer mugs, key chains, and anything else that you can think of.

The key is to add a line of copy to your personalization and not just leave the item with your guests’ names on these items. It’s this personalized lines that’ll make all the difference.

If you don’t, you’d just be just as effective as a smart, customer-focused company.

Do you want to make your wedding day memorable? If yes, how do you intend to do it? What kind of crazy ideas can you come up with for gifts that your guests can take home but remember you for life? Do you foresee any difference in normal gifts and whacky ones?

Share your ideas with us.

Author Bio: Claudia Johnson is a freelance writer for a long time. She likes Funny and unique gifts and in spare time she loves to write about fun gift items by Funslurp for men and women.

You may view this post at the Just Weddings.org Blog

you get to the church. Getting married means you’ll be combining your life with someone else. As the vows say, that will be in good times and in bad. You’ll have a much smoother start if you talk about these five things with your fiancé before the wedding:

Where You Stand On Kids

Raising a family goes hand in hand with getting married. However, there is the issue of timing. Do you want to start right away? Should you wait for a few years while you get on stronger financial footing? How many kids would you like to have? How far apart would you like to space them? Then there is the big question: What if your spouse doesn’t want kids and you do? If this having children is a deal breaker for your relationship, then you definitely need to talk about that before the wedding.

Finances

As a single person, you’ve been able to manage your own finances. Even when the occasional shortage of funds had you applying for a payday advance loan, you were able to take care of business. There is no shame in getting help from a company like www.PowerFinanceTexas.com. Coming up short on monthly bill payments is something that happens to everyone. Will your future spouse understand this? Does she expect you to take on her financial burdens? Will you be setting up a household budget? Will there be a joint account? Next to the kid question, how you handle money is the biggest issue for new couples to sort out.

Running The House

If you’re already living together, then you’ve probably worked out the domestic duties. Of course, everything changes when you get married, right? Before you get into a situation where you’re fighting over who takes out the garbage, work out these details. Make sure the distribution of chores is an even one.

Your Values

By now you should have a strong sense of where your future spouse stands on the issue of religion and moral values. However, if there are any lingering issues now is the time to bring it up. This is works in with the discussion of raising children. If you come from two different spiritual backgrounds, you should be clear about how you’re going to present those concepts to your children.

Resolving Fights

There is an old adage about not going to bed angry with your spouse. That is certainly good advice, but it might not always be practical. You could be getting along fine now, but there will come a time when disagreements will crop up. You should talk about how you will handle fights. Perhaps you’re the type of person who shuts down when confronted. That is not keeping the lines of communication open, which is essential to a successful marriage.

You may view this post at the Just Weddings.org Blog

Invitations Are Getting Smaller

There’s no need for huge invitations anymore. In fact, invitations are getting smaller and more modest. The typical 5×7 is less in demand, and people are opting for something a bit smaller. These invitations are classier and less extravagant looking.

People Like Hand Drawn Art

The invitation looks even better if it is adorned with some sort of hand drawn illustration. These illustrations are taking the wedding world by storm, so expect to see a lot of these cute drawings this year.

Pink Is Back

The pink color scheme is starting to pick up a bit more steam. We’re not talking hot pink here, either. More of a flesh colored pink is the way to go. Check out some of the hottest wedding dress designers, or wedding dresses in NJ to see how the new colors are being used in the wedding attire.

Spicy Is In

As far as food goes, spicy seems to be a major pick for the year 2014. Spicy foods are getting more and popular, and are some of the most requested types of food for weddings. Try a spicy crab cake, or maybe a simple salsa dip to give yourself a modern twist.

Late Snacks Are Popular

Even after the main course, it’s a good idea to make sure that you have some late night snacks. These can be anything from churros, sliders, jalapeno poppers, or french fries. Though, these only make sense if your wedding/party is going on well into the night.

No More Smooth Cakes

Sleek, modest cakes are a thing of the past. This year, expect cakes with a ton of ruffles, decorative flowers, and other interesting shapes. Extravagant and decorative cakes are the way to go for 2014.

Surprise Guests With the Music

You want to make sure that all your music is something that people know. With that being said, make sure you throw a few surprises in there as well. If your party is themed, make sure the music matches the theme. For instance, if you wedding has a Mad Men theme, try to only use songs that were released in that time period.

All in all, there are many ways that weddings are changing in 2014. It isn’t important that follow all of these; you don’t even have to follow any of them. The point was to show how to make your wedding as modern as possible. Following these trends will ensure that you get the modern wedding you always dreamed of.

You may view this post at the Just Weddings.org Blog

Flowers in Teapots

This is an adorable centerpiece that has both a whimsical and a vintage look to it. Shop at antique stores, flea markets and ask your aunts and grandmothers to borrow those vintage tea pitchers. Silver, pewter, poreclin and ceramic tea pitchers can be mixed and matched with bunches of pretty cut flowers. Use spring and summer flowers or an autumn mix to match the season of your wedding. Roses, hydrangeas and peonies are especially pretty in silver vintage tea pitchers. You can approach this type of centepiece a number of ways. You can make a nice, pulled together look by using matching tea pots and having the flowers arranged perfectly. Or, you can mix and match the tea pots, and have the flowers flowing out the sides for a more carefree, relaxed look.

Little Trees

If you’re going for more of a natural look, you can use artificial topiaries to bring a little taste of the outdoors into your wedding, or even class it up with a string of lights if your venue is outside. If you have some extra money, you can buy an artificial topiary tree for each of the tables and wrap them in lights, add flowers, or even hang some of your engagement pictures around the greenery. If you’re trying to save some money, it’s easy to make your own! A visit to almost any craft or home goods store will provide you with all the supplies you need. Purchase silk-like flowers and greenery. Make one of just greenery or mix in some artificial blooms. Find a straight (real) stick for the base. Anchor it in florist’s foam in a white ceramic pot. Cover the foam with floral moss. Use wire cutters to cut branches from the greenery. Attach stems with floral wire and wrap with green florist’s tape. Ta-da! You’ve made your own centerpiece. Now recruit your bridesmaids, sisters, or mom to help you make one for every table.

Rustic Mason Jars

This idea is incredibly simple, but with the right lighting, it will create a beautiful effect. Use Mason jars for spring or fall flowers such as daisies or zinnias. A mixture of wildflowers can be used as well. Tie a plaid or checkered ribbon around the mouth of the jar. Mason jars can be bought by the case at department stores like Walmart. Get flowers from gardens or a fresh flower market. In summer, the ox eye daisies and Queen Ann’s lace works well. If you don’t want flowers, you can put candles in the jars, especially if your reception will be in the evening. Another popular trend these days is to put slices of lemons, limes, or oranges around the inside perimeter of the jar, showing off the fun summer colors, yellow, green, and orange.

Romantic Candles

Candlelight is associated with romance and candles will make beautiful and elegant wedding table centerpieces. They go especially well with a traditional or Victorian-style wedding, but as mentioned before, they can be coupled with mason jars for a more rustic or outdoorsy feel. Use only one color such as pink or white or any color that will compliment your wedding colors. You can use different sizes or heights of candles in one color, which will add variety to the tables. Depending on how big your tables are, you can display them in clusters, creating a cluster of light, which will be beautiful as the night goes on—especially if you are outside. If you only want a few candles for each table, you can put a few on a nice silver tray in the center, creating a more simple, but equally beautiful effect. Use fake candles that still light up if you are worried about fire hazards, or if you don’t want to have to worry about re-lighting candles as they go out throughout the event.

Whimsical Balloons

Believe it or not, simple balloons can make a festive looking table centerpiece for a wedding. The trick is in choosing the color schemes. Gold, pink and white or perhaps lime green, purple and silver-you get the idea. You can really display the theme of your wedding or your color scheme by using balloons as the centerpiece—they will obviously display the look you are going for. If you want to blow them up yourself you can purchase them at a party supply store and rent a helium machine. If you’d rather have someone else do it, plenty of party stores will blow them up for you and even deliver them to your event. Once you’ve decided on what colors of balloons you want, you obviously need to find something to attach them to. For a fun, classy look you can attach with ribbons to champagne ice buckets in the middle of each table. This will keep the balloons grounded, while providing drinks to the entire table at the same time!

As you can see, it takes more imagination than money to create a great wedding centerpiece. But once you incorporate your wedding colors, theme, and your own style and personality, you’re sure to create a centerpiece that reflects who you are. There are endless possibilities for centerpieces, whether you are buying them or making your own. If you are going the do-it-yourself route, Pinterest is a great place to look for both ideas and tutorials. Most of all, think big and have fun with your centerpieces—the more imagination you put into it, the happier you will be with the finished project!

You may view this post at the Just Weddings.org Blog

If you’ve been engaged for a while, and can’t wait to get married, there are some things you can do to pull off a wedding in only a few days. You need to start with a list, and you might need the help of a few friends and family members, but it is something you can pull off if you work together.

Decorations

Depending on the time of year, you can get decorations at a low cost. Wait until items go on clearance after major holidays like Easter and Christmas. You can get garlands, lights, and flowers at a fraction of the original price. It also helps to look online for people who have extra wedding supplies that they didn’t use.

Food

This will probably take the longest amount of time to pull together. Try to figure out how many people are coming to the wedding. Prepare a little extra in case someone unexpected shows up the day of the wedding. Stick to a simple menu like chicken or even BBQ. Enlist a friend to help serve so that you don’t have to hire a catering company. If there are not many people expected to attend, you could ask that everyone bring a dish and have a buffet for the reception.

Venue

If you are getting married when the weather might cooperate, instead of being too hot or too cold, then consider getting married at a local park. All you have to do is call your local parks and recreation department to reserve a shelter for the reception. You can also get married at the magistrate’s office, and have the reception at a restaurant. Another option is holding the ceremony at the home of a family member.

Invitations

It might not be enough notice, but you can mail invitations to the people you want to attend the wedding. Everyone you invite probably won’t be able to attend, but you can call family and close friends to find out if they will be there.

Flowers

One of the small details that you might not think about are flowers. If someone has a garden, then pick flowers to make a bouquet. You can also call Flower Works to get them to make a simple bouquet for you, and small corsages for those in the wedding.

Whether you want to get married in a year, or a few days, you can find a way to have the wedding of your dreams. Timing might play a part in how big the wedding is, but the most important thing is being together with family and friends as you celebrate a special moment in your life.

You may view this post at the Just Weddings.org Blog

1. Wedding Apps

Commence the wedding planning process in social media with the download of apps designed especially for event planning. Many couples are now setting up their own website homepage, linking social media sites to their event. Mobile apps interface of wedding social media within the calendar of events enables easy access from any smartphone or device. Integrate a welcome video with a QR code for mobile app scanning of new media and information details about the upcoming date. Sign up for bit.ly to create a custom wedding URL for tracking guest visitation.

2. Wedding Update

Evites digital invites connect guests to wedding update. Embed URL, RSS and social media link addresses so that guests are channeled to information about scheduled events leading up to the big day. Bridal and bachelor parties, engagement party and gift registries can be updated for details about location, time, theme and wedding couple wishlist details. Share board infrastructure to manage wedding service vendors and participating family members of appointments, ordering and logistics streamlines the wedding planning process.

3. Wedding Hashtag

Establish a hashtag on Twitter to publish wedding-related tweets, and engage guests interested in sharing thoughts and even ideas for planning.

4. Live stream

Interface live stream of the wedding ceremony so that friends and family across the globe can participate in the real time event. Ideally, the reception venue will have WiFi. Assign a point-person for managing the live stream on the wedding homepage, and social media page links to wedding guests who may in turn share across their own networks.

5. Photo Album

The day after the wedding is the time to share the wedding photo album. When the professional wedding photos arrive post those for the grand finale. Request family and guests to participate in uploading photos to your Facebook page and other image focused social media sites such as Flickr, Picasa, Instagram, and Pinterest. Add splash to your wedding photo album with a free collage maker online such as BeezMap.

While big weddings are almost always complicated to plan for, social media platforms can actually do quite a lot to help with preparation.

You may view this post at the Just Weddings.org Blog

Construction Can be an Issue

On your wedding day, you don’t want to hear the constant banging, drilling, and other noises associated with construction. You also don’t want your guests to have to walk or drive through cracked or muddy roads that are being constructed. You can prevent these kinds of construction disasters by calling your local town hall to see what projects will be occurring in the area of the venue on the day of your wedding.

Trash Handling

Many brides also don’t realize just how much trash can be created by even a relatively small group of people at an event like a wedding.  To avoid having your wedding marred by overflowing trashcans, assign someone, perhaps a member of your wedding party, to ensure that there are enough trashcans available and that they are appropriately emptied when needed.  To avoid a large, unsightly collection of trash bags during the event, you can also find a Indianapolis dumpster container rental company like Southern Scavenger Service, or a similar provider in your area to ensure that the waste during the party doesn’t continue to pile up.  This will allow you and all your guests to fully enjoy the celebration of your love without distraction.

Bathroom Preparation

You have the choice of allowing guests to come inside of your home to use the restroom during your backyard wedding, but you must decide if your plumbing system is able to accommodate that type of wear and tear. You don’t want your toilets to get clogged on the day of your wedding, dampening your festivities and requiring costly repairs.  You also have the option to rent luxury and elegant portable restrooms for your big day.  Evaluate your restroom needs based on the number of guests you will invite and plan accordingly.

Yard Work

Nobody wants to decorate a backyard that’s full of weeds and unkempt grass. It is a good idea to have the yard freshly manicured for a backyard wedding; but you probably want to do so at least a day or two in advance so that if you encounter any problems, like a broken mower or trimmer, you’ll have enough time to figure something out without going through utter panic. You can also have flowers planted by a gardener to spruce up the yard on your wedding day.

Communicate with your Neighbors

Some homeowner associations require that residents inform them when they are throwing events, such as backyard weddings. This allows the group to inform the neighborhood that there may be loud music and excessive traffic. This helps with parking as well; your neighbors may be willing to let your guest park near their homes. Even if you are not required to disclose this information, it is a good idea to give your neighbors a heads-up.

Backyard weddings can be beautiful and charming, as long as you remember to make a checklist. You don’t want to run into any issues that could ruin your big day. If your backyard wedding is planned correctly, it will be a priceless memory for you as a couple and your guests!

You may view this post at the Just Weddings.org Blog