My Sister Is Getting Married

My sister is finally getting married….and I am the Maid of Honor. I am very excited. And the best part is that I get to find my own dress. I can pick out my own dress. I just have to stay in the color zone that she has chosen which is navy blue. I think that is just so much better than having her pick out the dress. She is having no bridesmaids so it is really easy. I am on a budget though so I am trying to find a really nice dress that is not too expensive. I have tried Chadwicks of Boston and they have really nice dresses at affordable prices. I have had pretty good luck with their clothing and I had bought 3 dresses - 2 were nice and one was horrible. You do not have to go out and spend a fortune on a dress that you will never where again. My best friend spent $20000 on her wedding and the dress I had to get for her wedding was $300…I just do not have the sort of money to spend on a dress!!!

Wedding Guest Complaints

This WedAlert article on Top 11 Wedding Guest Complaints (I guess they couldn’t fit it all into a Top 10?!?!) is a must-read for any bride-to-be! Don’t spend hours planning and arranging only to have your guests remember that the music as too loud, or they couldn’t see over the centerpiece. I agree with almost all of them. The exceptions are that I don’t mind long wedding speeches, it’s a chance for friends and family to say what the bride and groom mean to them. How could I be annoyed at that? Also, I’m not offended by a cash bar when it’s a young, just-out-of-college couple getting married.

10. The bride and groom didn’t stop by to say hello. Make the rounds of guest tables at your reception, but don’t spend too much time at each. A quick greeting, thank you or compliment will suffice.

This one’s just common sense. Why would you invite people and then not even say hello?

Anniversary Dance

Before I tell you what a great idea an Anniversary Dance is, I should admit that I don’t like the bouquet toss / garter toss. I hate being “rounded up” with the other single girls, because it’s a break from the dancing, laughing, drinking and mingling. Which is why we go to a wedding, isn’t it? As a bridesmaid, I’ve also been asked to help encourage singles to come stand up, which basically means running around interrupting people’s conversations. If your party is going well, no one wants to stop and catch a bouquet/garter.

WedAlert has a clever alternative, the Anniversary Dance:

Enjoy an Anniversary Dance. This fun variation on the usual theme is a suspenseful event that invites married couples of all ages to be part of an “elimination” dance that ends with a nice surprise.

All married couples are invited to the dance floor for the first song. Those married less than 6 months are asked to step down for the next dance. Those married less than a year are asked to bow out, followed by those married 3 years, 5 years, and so on, until the last couple on the dance floor is the one that has been married the longest – which is sometimes 50 or 60 years! The Master of Ceremonies steps onto the floor to congratulate them and to ask for their sage advice on behalf of the new Bride and Groom. In return for their words of wisdom, the Bride and Groom offer the older couple the Bride’s bouquet.

From WedAlert 

Wedding Reception: Live Band or a DJ?

The choice is yours whether to hire a live band or a DJ for your wedding reception. There are pros and cons to each.

Live Band:

Hiring a quality band may mean spending more money. Bands will require more breaks than a DJ, usually playing in short sets. A live band adds a personal warmth that some prefer, but to get a band that reflects “you”, be sure to listen to several before hiring one. Even if a band comes highly recommended, they may not be for you.

Another thing to consider about a live band…they require more stage room. If you have the accommodations this won’t be a problem, but space should be considered when making a choice.

A live band may be limited on the variety of music they are able to offer. This may not be a problem for some, but for those who need a wide variety, a DJ may be the better choice.

DJ:

Hiring a DJ can cut the cost substantially. They require less breaks and can play music almost continually. A good DJ should have a wide variety of music available that will appeal to all ages and tastes.

A DJ and their equipment don’t require much room, so this is a plus if the accommodations are relatively small. A good DJ has working equipment and can offer a wide variety of music. They can also turn the volume up or down, unlike a live band.

In trying to make your decision, consider the DJ or live band’s availability, their reputation, their style, experience and how well they work with you, personally. This is your wedding so it’s important to hire someone that listens and understands exactly what you want.

Whether you choose a live band or a DJ, make sure a contract will be signed before hiring anyone. The contract should include the date, the start and finish time, the price, any deposit fees, the location, if there is a fee for going over time, a cancellation policy and any travel fee that may be included. Get everything in writing and ask questions until everything is clear and understood.

A DJ or a live band can be an enhancement to your reception, but good planning in relation to the accommodations, your personal tastes and your budget, will make a difference.

Boutonniere Options

Awesome boutonniere photos from WeddingBee’s Miss Tiramisu! This is a neglected bit of wedding decor, usually the bride just picks a flower from her bouquet and tells the groom he’ll be pinning it to his lapel. Some are a bit too fancy and feminine for my taste (sorry, Miss Tiramisu!), but some are really inspiring. Definately worth showing to the groom-to-be! Here’s my favorite, but you should check out the whole photopost!

Wedding B List

Don’t Be That Bride has some good advice for sending out wedding invitations, and B list invitations. Your ”B-list” holds all those guests who you would really love to have at your wedding… but for space or budget reasons, you just can’t invite. So when you receive a “will not attend” RSVP card from your A-list guest, don’t be sad! Now you can invite a B-lister!

 Don’t Be That Bride has some suggestions to keep your B-list invitees from feeling like the bouncer won’t let them into your wedding:

If you have a “B” list, make sure that you send out invitations (with the response cards) earlier than normal (Even 10 weeks ahead of time). Why? That way, if you get some “NOs”, you can then invite people on your “B” list, and they’ll be none the wiser.

Another idea is to order a few reply cards that DON’T have “Kindly respond by XXXX date”. If you have blank ones that simply say “We request the favour of your response” (or something like that), then it doesn’t look obvious if you send B list invitations out, since it’s not as if people will realize that your cut-off date was April 1, and you sent their invitation on March 25.

Smile And Listen

Just a friendly little tip to all the newly engaged women out there. People will start to come out of the woodwork giving you ideas and opinons about your wedding and what you should do. Just be polite to them, smile and listen. After all you don’t have to take their advice. Just be prepared for this, I promise you it will happen. You could always tell them you are eloping to get them to shut up.

Great Little Tip

I’m sure a lot of Brides have experience this before. Its your wedding day and you have the dress of your dreams on and oh my gosh you notice a little make up mark on your dress or some other smug. What on earth can you do? Well be sure to have a small pack of baby wipes with you. Baby wipes take out those little smugs and smears wonderfully without leaving a stain on your dress.

Brides Maid Dresses

Listen up ladies if you have every been a brides maid you might have experienced the brides maid horror dress. So Brides to be please take this little piece of advice, and your brides maid will love you. When picking out brides maid dresses be sure to have your maid of honor or all your brides maids present. Let them take part in picking out the dress. Also keep in mind any kind of A-line dress will be the best choice, that kind of dress looks faltering on any body type. Also please keep in mind that some colors don’t look good on people. After all you don’t want your sister or best friend to look yellow or something to that effect in your wedding pictures because the color of dress you picked out doens’t compliment her skin tone. If you keep these few little things in mind you will have a much happier wedding party.

Forget About The Lavish Wedding..Elope!!

Every little girls dream is to have a lavish wedding where she can be treated like the Princess that she is. Well sooner or later the awful truth and reality sets in once you’ve got that sparkling diamond on your ring finger. I may not speak for everyone when I say this but, planning a wedding is an extremely stressful task. I am the youngest of 3 girls and I watched my two older sister go through the horrible stress of planning their weddings.

My oldest sisters wedding was the worst. Her bouquet she was to carry down the aisle was completely opposite of what she order. Not to mention they mixed up the brides maid dresses so they had to be re-altered at the last minute and then there’s the cake. After minutes of walking into the reception hall the cake nearly fell over. And worst of all when her and her new husband entered the reception hall they announced them as our maiden name instead of her husband’s last name. My other sister didn’t have as much horrible luck, but there were still problems. For one her husband to be parents were divorced and caused a little scene. Not to mention the heater in her cabin she was staying in was broken and her wedding took place in November in the mountains.

So when it came time for me to get married I didn’t hesitate for a second about eloping. My husband to be and I flew to Las Vegas and got married there. I wouldn’t change that for anything in the world. People ask me all the time if I regret it and I quickly say NO! The only thing I regret is I wish my parents were there. We flew out there by ourselves and didn’t tell anyone except my parents that we were eloping.

I have had several friends get married since and they vent to me about how stressful everything is and I tell them “Why not elope”. They say they wish they could but they can’t. Well I have news for you your daddy’s wallet will appreciate you eloping and after all getting married isn’t about a lavish wedding it is about marring the person you love. So if you just recently got engaged why not seriously think about eloping.

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