A Holiday Wedding

Since a lot of couples get engaged at Christmas, it’s no surprise that a lot of couples wed during December. December is a great time to have a wedding. The month is already so magical because of Christmas and the onset of winter. A holiday wedding just adds to the celebration.

Best of all about getting married in December is that if you start planning early enough, you can get some fantastic deals on decorations. Imagine knowing a Christmas ahead of time that you plan to get married. Those December 26th sales will be beckoning you to get out and find plenty of garland, decorations, and even bridesmaid/groomsmen gifts.

While a holiday wedding can be magical, it can also be stressful. But so is any wedding, right? Guests might find it difficult to work in a trip especially for a wedding, so be careful to plan your wedding to either coincide around the time as the family get together. That way you can make it easier for out-of-town guests to come.

If I could go back, I would have gotten married in December, although my husband would have probably object since his birthday is two days after Christmas. (He already feels he gets the short end of the stick when it comes to gifts.) The most beautiful weddings I have been to have been either in December or November. It’s already a romantic, beautiful time of the year, which makes it a perfect time to say ‘I do.’

Don’t Like To Dance?

Offbeat Bride, my favorite site for wedding photos with personality, has a new article about a dancing-free reception. A bride-to-be with no interest in required dancing on her big day asks what she can do as an alternative. Offbeat bride has a bunch of fun suggestions, starting with:

First off, the easiest way to avoid the expectation of dancing is to have your wedding earlier in the day — have a brunch wedding or afternoon reception. No-one expects to cut a rug at 2pm. Your guests won’t even notice the lack of dancing because you’re breaking the whole “wedding/dinner/reception with dancing” template. Brunch weddings are rad. You get to serve mimosas!

Wedding Planning Checklist

Jen Carter, owner of My Wedding Blog, offers a free wedding planning checklist to help you to plan a wedding. The handy planner covers everything between the wedding day back to what you should be doing nine to twelve months in advance (that’s when you announce the engagement and pick a date).

The checklist suggests that color scheme and outfit planning start at the six-nine month’s mark, along with such details as music, video, flowers and caterer. By four to six months in advance, Carter says to finalize the guest list and start on honeymoon arrangements, as well as arrange for invitations and register for gifts. I love the little details she includes, such as “Start to break in shoes”. Who would think of this in advance with all the flurry of tasks and excitement over the event?

By two to four months before the happy day, you should be looking into licensing requirements, ordering decorations, transportation and flowers. This is the time to mail invitations, then keep records of the gifts received and send thank-you notes (not after the wedding).

Further scheduling tips are offered for six-eight weeks, the week of the wedding, rehearsal day, and finally The Big Day when, mainly, you show up at the appointed place and time. The website also provides tips on everything associated with weddings from Anniversary to Video and links to other useful sites.

Sample Sale Dresses

The girls at WeddingBee (did I mention how awesome WeddingBee is?) tipped me off to the Kate Spade sample sale. I’m more into Kate Spade purses than wedding gowns, but you can’t say no to 60% off gorgeous designer wear! The sale runs November 13-17th.

 

Sweetheart Tables?

I’m a fan of the sweetheart table. It’s romantic and looks great in photos. Plus head tables separate the wedding party from their spouses and dates, and lead to a lonely date table. Anyway, Carley of TheKnot.com weighs in this question and makes some pretty good arguments for both.

A sweetheart table is a small table set up for just the bride and groom at the reception. The happy couple sits together, facing their guests, with their wedding attendants and families at tables in close proximity. The advantage is that you get to spend time together and enable your wedding party to sit with family and friends.

Full article here.

How Do You Spend The Holidays

Miss Jasmine at WeddingBee has a good post up about dividing the holidays between your family and your intended’s family.

Since Mr. Jasmine’s family and my family practice two different religions, splitting holidays is actually pretty simple. My parents always get Christmas and his parents always get Eid. But our favorite holiday, Thanksgiving, is celebrated by both families. So we need to figure out a compromise that will work for everyone. 

Do you alternate? Assign some holidays to spend with your folks, and others with your in-laws? If you live close, do you try to visit both sides of the family?

No Kids Allowed

Miss Annapolis of DC Nearlyweds is having a child-free wedding, and seems to be sick of explaining to her relations and future in-laws why little Timmy and little Jenny can’t go to the open-bar, formal event. One reason stuck out in my mind:

Adults should be able to see aunt Sarah fall off her chair without having to explain it to little Johnny

Although wounded parents are calling her Bridezilla, she makes a really convincing case for the no-kids-allowed.

And to earn my title as Bridezilla… I REALLY DO NOT WANT ….

• Nursing
• Screaming
• Running Children
• Spilling drinks
• Blowing out candles
• Throwing food and favors
• Eating food from their neighbor’s plate
• Throwing temper tantrums
• Bumping chairs and tables
• Knocking over fragile and expensive decorations

All excellent points, Miss Annapolis.

What do you think? Are you including or excluding kids at your wedding?

New Rules For Brides

I saw this one on Once Upon Your Wedding, and laughed hysterically. These aren’t etiquette rules for the perfect seating chart or the ideal reception line. For example:

New Rule: Stop lying to yourself saying you’re going to lose weight in order to fit into that dress. Wedding planning is stressful. When we get stressed, we eat. Or shop. You’re an 18. The dress is a 6. Don’t starve yourself until you look like a kid from one of the Christian Children’s Relief Fund commercials. the only way you’re going to get into that dress is if you wear it as a garter. Be proud of your curves! Get a dress that fits.

Or how about:

New Rule: Balloon arches are for proms and car sales, NOT WEDDINGS. How do you equate elegance with expanded helium filled plastic?

Read the whole article here.

Don’t Be That Bride!

Don’t Be That Bride! is a hilarious look at Bridezilla behaviors.  The blogger gets awesome questions, like What Gift Do I Bring To A Shotgun Wedding? and Do I Have To Do A Choreographed Dance To ‘Thiller’ If The Bride Says To?

The whole point of my blog has been to pinpoint behavior of brides-to-be that are, well, unflattering. One of the mainstays of my posts has been the concept of the newly-affianced disappearing into an oblivion, leaving friends and family behind, in the search for the “perfect dress”, the “perfect china,” the “perfect florist.”

If you’ve been a bridesmaid, or heck, even a wedding guest, check out this blog for a good laugh!