Other engaged couples who want to create an intimate wedding invite each other’s parents to attend or two sets of best friends. This can provide the best ambience for an intimate wedding getaway.

Another approach that is still small and intimate but starts the marriage with a more adventurous flair is to choose a location where the bride or groom has been to once or twice. Other couple’s have friends who have recently been married away from their home town by choosing one of the popular locations that are heavily advertised for destination weddings. For many understandable reasons, mountain and island getaways have proven the most common remote wedding locations. Keep in mind that island getaways will cost a bit more due to airfare, and most often a mountain getaway is more reasonable for those with a budget.

Identifying Your Wedding Assistant

A responsible relative (mother or sister, usually) or even a best friend can be quite helpful in this sometimes complicated effort of planning a long distance wedding. Having either a friend act as a wedding planner or a competent assistant tends to ease the stress of planning a wedding near or away from home.

Rule of thumb: Planning a destination wedding can be more stressful when you are doing all the planning than having your marriage ceremony in your hometown where the majority of the wedding party, parents, and friends currently live. Still, the extra effort to plan a wedding in a location like the islands or a scenic mountain retreat will more than pay for itself in costs. Remember, having a wedding where you live usually becomes larger and larger as the guest list keeps growing. A wedding with 100 people (an average to smaller sized wedding) easily exceeds $15,000 in a major metropolitan area.

If you follow some of the following tips, you will add enjoyment to the wedding planning process by reducing the stress on yourself and your helper if you haven’t decided on a professional wedding planner.

If your helper is a friend odds are he or she is not a professional wedding planner. This is okay, but remember to help you friend and stay involved in the process.

Don’t expect them to do everything. Moreover, don’t expect to be on the phone with them every day either. If you feel their degree of responsiveness is not what you desire, gently take on more of the planning yourself in a nice and grateful way or consider finding another person to help with some of the wedding details and tasks. Treasure your relationship with your helper. He or she should be able to give you room in deciding alternatives and direction.

If you’re getting married in a popular wedding location, search the name of the city or town and the service you desire through your favorite internet search engine.

Next begin to survey the websites that appeal to you. Send off an email to each and check their responsiveness. Remember, responsiveness is the key in long distance wedding planning. If they don’t respond or don’t respond in a timely manner, try another vendor. Often quality wedding planners will also list a toll free phone number so you can chat over the details of their wedding locations and packages.

Since many companies in this day and age have to wade through so much email even though they advertise through a website it is always a good idea to just pick up the phone and call. Plus you will get a personal feeling about their services through a one on one conversation.

Also, a good long distance planner will have resources for all facets of the wedding. You won’t need to order a local telephone book through the destination’s phone company although you could and cut costs by doing some of the leg work.

Article written by Rev. Kenny Giordano of Associated Ministers Toll free: (866) 846-3487

The tradition of buying wedding gifts for the soon to be betrothed couple is believed to have originated from the days when a dowry was paid by the bride’s father to his future son-in-law and family. Family and friends would often help out if the bride’s father could not provide an adequate dowry.

The practice of buying gifts continued when the custom of paying a dowry was no longer practiced. This enabled family and friends to help the couple set up house. Most people who attend the wedding will bring a wedding gift.

Most couples prefer to receive gifts they can use for years, and most guests give gifts that would help the newly married couple start out on a good financial footing. They want to give a gift that is needed and wanted, regardless of the couples age or budget. You know yourself how good it feels to give someone a gift they really like and need. Everyone wants his or her gift to be special.

From Traditional Registries to Gift Coordinators

Traditional registries are not the only option, and may not be popular with gift givers, either. One wedding gift trend is for several people to chip in and buy an expensive gift together than the couple might not otherwise be able to purchase on their own.

Some travel agencies offer honeymoon registration, which allows others to help with your honeymoon expenses. If you decide to use a registry, be sure to register five to eight months prior to the wedding event. This ensures that your list will be in place before any parties or showers and you won’t receive duplicate items. Most companies will maintain your registry for at least one year after your wedding date. You can even publish your list on a web page or set up your very own wedding website.

Monetary gifts are also acceptable these days. In fact, a monetary gift will give you the means to purchase something you really want.

Gifts for the Wedding Party

Other gifts to consider are the gifts that the bridge and groom will present as tokens of their appreciation to the matron of honor, brides maids, and the best man. These gifts will be treasured by those involved in the ceremony. Both the matron of honor and the best man usually receive a gift that is a little more personal and different from those given to the other member’s of the wedding party.

Wedding Invitations and Cards

You’ll need to announce your engagement, invite your guests to the festivities, and announce your wedding. The proper wedding invitation is critical, whether it be a church wedding, home wedding, or beach wedding. You’ll want to send wedding invitations to friends, relatives, and acquaintances you wish to be present at your ceremony.

Wedding invitations are traditionally sent out six to eight weeks prior to the ceremony. In sending out the invitations, please remember to take into consideration the number of people who will fit comfortably into the reception area.

There are several different styles of wedding invitations to choose from. Wedding invitations should convey the overall theme of the occasion, including the color scheme and perhaps depict the type of flowers you plan to use in your ceremony. Your invitations should represent the style and formality of your wedding. If you’re having a formal wedding, traditional and classic invitations are the most appropriate styles. The traditional formal wedding invitation is engraved in black script on white or off-white stock, placed in an inner unsealed envelope. Reception information appears on a separate enclosure in the same typescript and paper.

Classic or contemporary invitations are more suitable for semi-formal weddings. Of course, you want to include the date and location, perhaps even a simple map. Always spell out the full names of the bride and groom. The date should also be spelled out. For example: Sunday the twenty third of April, two thousand and five. The year can be written as numerals (2007) if you like, depending on how formal you want the presentation to be. Maps and hotel information, printed on the same paper stock and typeface as the invitation, may be mailed with the invitation. Don’t forget to include RSVP cards as well as postage-paid envelopes or other contact information such as telephone number or email address.

Those you invite will receive a wonderful tactile pleasure, full of anticipation and delight, that comes with opening the odd sized envelope they just received. Then extracting the second elegant enclosed envelope and unfolding the beautiful heavy bond card inside.

There are many companies on the internet that offer a variety of designs for invitations that include matching party favors and accessories, however there are not a lot of choices for specialized Hawaii Wedding Invitations. You may just want to design your own invitations. The theme of your Hawaii wedding needs to be conveyed in the invitations, so guests can bring appropriate bridal gifts.

Designing Your Own Invitations

Most large stationery stores and even department stores that sell office supplies and cards have a variety of blank wedding invitation sets available complete with envelopes and card stock that you can print on an ink jet printer.

Really have some fun and come up with your own personal designs and make them as formal or playful as suits your taste. With a little searching on your computer, you can find some free or inexpensive design elements such as tasteful floral clip art, elegant fonts, even the special wording of the card. This is an excellent way to stay within a budget and still have something guests will save as a cherished keepsake.

Wedding invitations also need to provide some vital information for your guests in addition to conveying the overall theme of the occasion. Of course you want to include the date and location, perhaps even a simple map. Always spell out the full names of the bride and groom. The date should also be spelled out. For example: Sunday the twenty third of April, two thousand and twelve. The year can be written as numerals (2012) if you like, depending on how formal you want the presentation to be.

Don’t forget to include a contact phone number and, perhaps an e-mail address so people can RSVP or receive some advice for wedding gifts. If you are going to have a registry for gifts at a local store, this information is essential to include.

Your Hawaiian wedding invitations should have designs that are consistent with the theme of the celebration and match your choice of party favors and accessories. It might be a good idea to include the menu options for the reception in the invitations. Traditional Hawaiian cuisine consists of pork lau-lau, huli-huli chicken, raw fish pok’e, poi, and a variety of tropical fruits and nuts such as papaya, guava, avocado and macadamia nuts. Some guests may have specific dietary requirements that you’ll want to accommodate.

Make your Hawaii wedding invitations simple, personal, and elegant so all your beloved guests will feel honored to attend and put that lovely invitation among their treasured keepsakes.

Free Wedding Invitation Templates

There are many routes you can take in order to save money for your wedding. Many of these money-saving tips will still provide sufficient flowers and wedding cakes without sacrificing quality and adequacy.

Tips on Wedding Cakes and Flowers

Pricing: As you will start to find out, for wedding cakes most bakeries will charge on a per slice basis. Some of these bakeries may charge anywhere from three to fifteen dollars a slice. In order to avoid any surprises in the form of hidden costs, inquire about any possible delivery costs or accessory rentals.

Saving Money: There are other routes to getting your wedding cake than just a caterer or bakery. Many caterers and bakeries require deposits and setup fees. To avoid such hassles, you can always ask a friend that is a good baker to bake a wonderful cake for you.  This will save a considerable amount of money and perhaps be your friends pleasure.

Communicating What You Want: Flower bouquets amongst other types of flower arrangements can be very difficult to communicate to your florist. In order to avoid receiving a bouquet that looks nothing like what you originally asked for, do your best to tell your flower professional exactly what you want. Ask for examples, and show some pictures of what you want if possible.

Save Money on Flowers: There are many ways to cut the overall costs of your wedding. One such method involves saving a considerable amount of money on your flower expenditures. Budget carefully and be up-front with your florist in regard to your price range. Also, purchase flowers that are in-season.

Once you have realized your significant savings, you now know that the money you have saved can go towards your honeymoon or other necessities such as all the things you’ll need to decorate your new home together.

There is a wonderful tactile pleasure, full of anticipation and delight, that comes with opening the odd sized envelope just received, extracting the second elegant envelope enclosed and unfolding the beautiful heavy bond card inside.

There are many companies on the internet that offer a variety of designs for invitations that include matching party favors and accessories, however there are not a lot of choices for Hawaii wedding invitations. You may want to design your own. The theme of your Hawaii wedding needs to be conveyed in the invitations, so guests can bring appropriate bridal gifts.

Tips for Making Your Own Invitations

Most large stationery stores and even department stores that sell office supplies and cards have a variety of blank wedding invitation sets available complete with envelopes and card stock that you can print on an ink jet printer. You can also find a variety of stamps that include various colors of ink, or embossing tools.

Have some fun and come up with your own personal designs and make them as formal or playful as suits your taste. With a little searching on your computer, you can find some free or inexpensive design elements such as floral clip art, elegant fonts, even the wording of the card. This is an excellent way to keep within a budget and still have something guests will save as a keepsake and cherish forever.

Wedding invitations also need to provide some vital information for your guests in addition to conveying the overall theme of the occasion. Of course you want to include the date and location, perhaps even a simple map. Always spell out the full names of the bride and groom. The date should also be spelled out. For example: Sunday the twenty third of April, two thousand and five. The year can be written as numerals (2011) if you like, depending on how formal you want the presentation to be.

Don’t forget to include a contact phone number and, perhaps an e-mail address so people can RSVP or get some advice for wedding gifts. If you are going to have a registry for gifts at a local store, that information is essential to include.

Reception Invites and Menu Inserts

Your Hawaiian wedding invitations should have designs that are consistent with the theme of the celebration and match your choice of party favors and accessories. It might be a good idea to include the menu options for the reception in the invitations. Traditional Hawaiian cuisine consists of pork lau-lau, huli-huli chicken, raw fish pok’e, poi, and a variety of tropical fruits and nuts such as papaya, guava, avocado and macadamia nuts. Some guests may have specific dietary requirements that you’ll want to accommodate.

Make your Hawaii wedding invitations simple, personal, and elegant so all your beloved guests will feel honored to attend and put that lovely invitation among their treasured keepsakes.

You want your destination wedding to be a memorable and enjoyable occasion. One way to ensure your guests get the most out of their hotel stay for your wedding weekend is to give them a wedding gift bag or out-of-town bag, also called OOT bags, filled with goodies and neat treats upon their arrival at the hotel rooms.

Wedding gift bags can bill filled with anything from bottled water and snacks to miniature bottles of champagne and a set of plastic toasting glasses with a few fine chocolates and a scented candle. A small travel sewing kit is a winner every time. You will not believe how many of your guests will thank you for this wonderful and practical gift. It is not uncommon for guests to comment on how their sewing kit saved the day when they used it to sew on a button that popped off from a suit or dress just before your wedding.

Creating Thoughtful Gift Bags & Favors

Another idea is to research the local customs and favorite cuisines around the area of your destination wedding. Local travel pamphlets about area attractions are free in most areas. Simply contact the chamber of commerce for the area where your wedding will take place. Your travel agent is also a great resource for finding small favors to add to your wedding gift bags.

An 8″ x 5″ x 10″ paper or poly gift bag is the most common size used as gift bags. Ask the hotel host or hostess to place one of these bags on the vanity or night stand of each hotel room, welcoming your guests to your city or an exotic island or location. You may also want to make arrangements for your gift bags to be handed out by the host or hostess as your guests check in to the hotel.

You will probably want to assemble your guest welcome bags and box them up before you leave for your destination. This will make it easy to transport and deliver to your hotel. In some cases, you may want to wait until you have arrived at your wedding location so you can purchase local goodies to add to your bags. Another option is to check with your hotel to see if they have staff available to set up the gift bags for you.

Your wedding guests will be delighted to find the treasures that await them when they check in to their hotel rooms. Add a personal message by having your wedding gift bags custom printed with a personal message from the bride and groom saying “Welcome to Our Wedding Weekend” or “Thank You for Joining Us” along with the bride and grooms names and wedding date.

No matter what you decide to give as destination wedding favors, your guests will appreciate this token of your gratitude for their participation on your most special day.

My Wedding Reception Ideas offers ideas and products to brides and grooms for personalized wedding favors, accessories and wedding attendant gifts.

1. 

   Creating Green Wedding Invitations

   Used recycled paper for invitations, programs, favors.  If you choose to go with traditional invitations (versus electronic invites or a wedding website with details), buy recycled invitations with as little paper as possible.  You can get your programs printed on recycled paper as well and can explain that preserving the environment is important to you as a couple.For favors, consider giving sachets of flower seeds and/or bulbs or even a tree sapling to be planted by the guests.  You can even give handmade paper that is embedded with flower seeds that can be planted too.  The paper can be used for invitations and programs as well.

 

2. Pick an outdoor wedding and reception location.  By having your wedding and reception in the same place, your guests won’t have to travel from one to the other and will save gas.  If you choose to have a destination wedding, invite as few guests as possible or maybe even elope to save on travel. Consider getting married in a beautiful outdoor location, such as the island of Kauai, so that you and your fiance can enjoy the natural beauty and remember why you choose to be environmentally responsible.  Let your Kauai wedding planner know that you want a  green wedding, and let them handle all the details so that you can enjoy your important  day together, knowing that you’re not in an energy deficient location.

 

3. Have organic and environmentally-aware foods served at the reception.  Many caterers can provide an all-organic menu with locally-grown organic fruits and vegetables.  Look into donating any leftovers from your reception so that no food goes to waste.  And instead of paying a small fortune for a wedding cake, consider renting a cake that looks and feels like a traditional wedding cake but is made of Styrofoam. Since the cakes aren’t baked and don’t require refrigeration, they’re energy efficient. You can skip the sugary cake and serve something special that you would rather enjoy.

These are just some ideas to get you started. Use your imagination and brainstorm with your fiance on other ways that you can plan your dream green wedding!

All of these ideas and visions will also be tempered by budget considerations. Should one or both sets of parents be footing the bill, they definitely need to be included in at least the early stages of planning. They have probably seen many more weddings and will have some practical advice as to what ideas work on the special day and which would best be avoided.

Selecting a Wedding Theme

Start by selecting a theme to be carried from the invitations through the ceremony and to the reception.

One of the most important factors in determining a theme is the location where the celebrations are slated to take place. Outdoor settings generally require less decorating than indoor. A church wedding is going to tend toward more formal and traditional themes and decorations. Private homes will restrict the size of the wedding party so decorating can be restricted to the area where the ceremony is conducted and the food tables. Rented halls present the greatest decorating challenge and the most flexibility for choosing a theme.

Creating a Memorable Wedding for Everyone

When the theme and location have been decided, it may be time to talk to a reputable professional wedding consultant who will know “how-to”, “where-to” and “how-much”.

A good coordinator can save a lot of time and money especially if you want to book a band or DJ, find a great reliable caterer, get chairs, tables, limo or those special decorating materials needed to fulfill the vision of a perfect wedding.

The secret to a unique memorable celebration is to personalize it and make it fun for all. Put a few disposable cameras on a table at the entrance to the ceremony and on each table at the reception and tell your guests to shoot to their hearts content. collect them at the end of the day to get some great candid shots the professional photographer could never get.

Speaking of photos; every wedding has a guest sign in book. Have one of the attendants stand by the book with a Polaroid camera and place pictures of the guests on the page where they sign in with comments. If the ceremony is going to be videotaped, some wedding video companies offer a service where they can show a quick edit of the ceremony on a screen at the reception. This is guaranteed to remoisten all those teary eyes from the original ceremony only this time everyone will be able to hear the vows.

These are just a few basic wedding ideas. The key is to let the imagination free and personalize that very special day.

Two main considerations are choosing a theme and determining a budget. If you are the artsy-craftsy type, or can enlist some friends who are, you can have a lot of fun with this project. The alternative is to hire a decorator who specializes in weddings and work with them to make your dreams come true.

Whichever route you decide upon, remember to carry the theme and color scheme from your bouquet and gown through all of your wedding decorations at the ceremony and the reception.

Choosing & Placing Your Wedding Decorations

Church weddings necessitate a more formal conservative decorative motif. However, since the reception will be held at a different location, the party decorations can be as flamboyant or whimsical as you like. Still, you can add some color and elegance inside the church; floral arrangements flanking the altar, a pretty little girl preceding the bride down the aisle spreading rose petals, satin ribbon or pastel tulle (inexpensive veil netting) swags linking the pews along the aisle, and, perhaps, a flower bedecked arch over the spot where the vows will be taken. Remember to assign a reliable clean up crew to restore the church to its pristine pre-ceremony condition as soon as everyone leaves.

At the reception party, decorate the steps leading up to the door and the entryway with an expression of the theme and color scheme of the wedding decorations of the grand affair. Strings of tiny one color Christmas lights in a leafy arch around the door or candles set on top of rented pedestals or stands can help your guests feel they are entering a joyous new world of celebration.

Just inside the door, you can place a reception table with wedding favors as an expression of your appreciation to attendees. This is also a great place for a photo collage or collection of framed photos of the bride and groom, family and friends at various times from their past. Put a few chocolates, floral decorations and candles on the table as well.

All the tables holding decorations, favors, drinks, hors’douevres or buffet should be skirted to the floor. Elevate the food platters to various heights with bricks or books under a solid colored cloth and place votive candles and sprigs of leaves or flowers about the table.

Centerpieces for the guests’ tables and the main table are a world of art and creativity unto themselves and are considered in another article. Suffice it to say they, too, want to continue the theme and color scheme of the rest of your wedding decorations so your special day will be memorable for all who are honored to attend.

The Romans adopted the Egyptian custom of a band (iron being the metal of choice) on the third finger of the left hand encircling the vena amoris, the love vein, which connects directly to the heart. Lest you wax too nostalgic about the romantic sensibilities of an idyllic Rome, the band was part of a legal covenant of ownership; wives in ancient times were the property of their husbands and the un-removable ring was proof of title. Trusted slaves, such as household staff, wore similar finger rings.

History of Wedding Rings

Sultans and sheiks in the middle east around 2,000 years ago required each of their wives to wear silver puzzle rings; labyrinthine twining bands which probably were imported from China carried by caravans along the famous Silk Road. These exotic pieces of jewelry were pledges of devotion each wife was obligated to make to their master.

By the middle ages gold and silver bands were fashionable for those who could afford them. They were often embellished with symbolic gems; red ruby the color of a pure heart, blue sapphire reflecting the blessings of heaven, and of course, a girl’s best friend, the diamond. Precious, rare and coveted, diamonds symbolize an indestructible bond or promise between bride and groom. Still, these quite valuable wedding rings were part of a legal barter system and symbols of transfer of ownership of the bride from the father to the husband.

Engagement Ring Introduction

Incidentally, until the thirteenth century there were no engagement rings. Pope Innocent III, with his infallible power, declared that a waiting period be honored between the betrothal agreement, sealed with an engagement ring, and the wedding ceremony. This allowed time for any legal challenges to the final and irreversible marriage. Thus, the King of Germany, Maximilian I gave the first recorded diamond engagement ring to Mary of Burgundy in 1477.

Those fun loving Puritans of colonial America renounced wedding bands as frivolous pagan jewelry. Instead, a thimble was given as a more utilitarian symbol of a wife’s practical role in marriage. The irrepressible romantic nature of these wives caused them to often rebel and slice off the bottom of the symbol and create a wedding band.

Interestingly, there is little evidence of wedding rings being customary for grooms until World War Two when American GI’s wore a gold band to remind them of their beloved back home. From there the tradition of wedding rings has evolved through platinum art deco and Celtic Claddagh to tattooed bands ala Pamela and Tommy Lee