Barefoot Sandals: A Sexy Addition to Your Wedding

Who doesn't love a wedding? What's not to love - except the exhausted feet at the end of the day. With barefoot sandals you don't have that problem. By loosing the high heels - and if you are getting married on the beach you really don't want high heels anyway - you relieve yourself of the source of your feet's exhaustion and by putting on a pair of barefoot sandals you put on a tantalizing mixture of sexy, beautiful, and comfortable so you can party the whole night through!

That's the beauty of barefoot sandals. In most situations you enjoy your own wedding day just by slipping into a pair - footwear that is as comfortable on the dance floor as it is on the beach. And because they are comfortable on the beach, they can go on your honeymoon with you!

That's right. You can make your budget stretch. With little effort, you can find a pair of barefoot sandals which will look as good on you in a bikini as they do peeking from under your wedding dress!

Barefoot Sandals are not the same thing as bridal flip flops. Instead, they are a kind of bridal footwear that amounts to jewelry for your feet decorating your feet in pearls, beads, and / or crystals. The result being that you have the beauty of elegant sandals and the freedom of being barefoot.

This type of construction makes it appear as though the bridal footwear you are wearing is a fancy pair of sandals. In reality, however, with Barefoot Sandals you are enjoying the comfort and freedom of being barefoot because you truly are barefoot.

Have a Beautiful Wedding in an Ugly Venue

Every year brides across the country face the same problem: Trying to stage a beautiful and elegant wedding in a facility that's not. Of course, the obvious solution is to find another wedding location.

For many couples, however, that's not a solution at all. For some, the cost is too great. For others, there is a sentimental attachment to their own church. Other's find themselves in a situation where their just isn't any facilities available that are attractive (either in fact or for their theme). And the list goes on...

So what do you do if your wedding planning finds you in such a predicament? You do what one couple I worked with did:

Left with no options but a gymnasium for their wedding ceremony and reception this young couple (I'll call them John & Jessica) was undeterred. No amount of wedding decor within the budget of any but the richest young couple was going to make the room look like anything but a gym so rather than trying to fight it they reached for an ally - light.

Or maybe it would be more accurate to say - dark. And it was elegant.

What they did was to control all of the light in the room. They totally blacked out all of the windows (fortunately there were few in this building) and kept the lights off so the room started out totally dark (except for the exit signs that the state says have to be left on for safety purposes). Then John & Jessica went out and rented stage lights so that they could control the lighting totally. With those lights they created a pool of light where the bridal party would stand. The light that bled off of that pool was enough for the guests to be able to find their seats.

That's it.

The darkness cloaked the ugly room while the focused light drew the congregation's attention to the beauty of the bride and groom sharing their vows of love and commitment. The bridal flowers, the dress and tux, the beautiful music and all of their personal touches added to the wedding parties ability to forget about their physical location and focus on the beauty of the moment.

For the reception they had candles accenting the area and someone repositioned the lights to focus on the head table and the dance floor - once again leaving the perimeter in shadow. It was simple and very effective in creating a beautiful wedding event in an ugly building.

Ancient Greek Wedding Theme

Is your man, "Your Greek god?" Why not celebrate with an Ancient Greek inspired wedding theme?

Last night, while I was watching "Dancing with the Stars" - see inspiration can come from anywhere - I was reminded of this fun yet elegant theme that has been nearly forgotten: The Ancient Greek Wedding Theme.

For the most part the Ancient Greek theme wedding has been mostly overlooked in recent years. This is, no doubt, partly due to its popularity for frat and sorority parties on college campuses across the country. Those events are not about elegance and as a result the result is often tacky. So it's not hard to understand why the theme is not on the tip of a bride's tongue when it's time to pick out a theme for the wedding.

Still it can be fun and rewarding to play with the ancient Greek architecture and fashions (no, we're not talking toga party) when designing your wedding celebration.

Start your Greek wedding theme with pillars. It's usually most practical to have the big pillars you need made from Styrofoam. If you know a wood worker, that person might be willing to cut them for you with his lathe. Then it's just a matter of painting them to your satisfaction. For most, the spray paint designed to give a stone finish will work, but ultimately every bride should play with a few pieces of scrap Styrofoam and a variety of paints before deciding. The small pillars, for the basis of your table centerpieces can be found at most any craft store.

Accent your ancient Greek themed wedding with some elegant looking urns placed strategically around the room. These too can be easily found at most craft stores. After the wedding, keep the urns in your home or apartment with dried flowers in them or just as accent pieces by themselves - finding opportunities like this to buy something for your wedding that you can use to better your life afterwards is a great way to make your wedding budget go further.

Assuming the management of the facility hosting your wedding agrees, you could rent a fog machine to give the "Top of Mount Olympus" feel to your event - either for your ceremony, or for the dance floor at your reception - or both!

Of course, pulling off any theme reaches beyond the decor of the room. Just like a theater event, the average individual's ability to embrace an atmosphere depends largely on the appearance of the principle players. That doesn't mean that in order for you to pull off an ancient Greek themed wedding that you have to get married in a toga - no way! But it does mean that your gown and the dress of the rest of your party should be tastefully reminiscent of the styles favored by the Ancient Greeks.

Of course there are so many other things you could do to pull off the Greek theme. Hire a Greek restaurant to cater your wedding. Hire Greek dancers and musicians as entertainment and let them help you segue way into your dance. As always, the trick to pulling off an ancient Greek Wedding is to think through every detail just as you would if it wasn't a wedding at all but a theatrical show you were staging. Yes, it's work - but your lifetime of memories will be worth the effort.

A Couple Budget Trimming Suggestions

Most of the time brides could trim their budget substantially if they just took the time to understand the individual disciplines of the wedding business a little better. It's a tall order, I know, but it can be done with a little reading and a little creative thought.

Let me illustrate this point with two examples:

First, I will start with wedding cakes. Did you know that you can hold down the cost of a wedding cake by choosing white icing? The reason is that icing has to be colored by hand. It's not a complicated process but it is a long and tedious process. So if you want color accents on your cake, choose fresh flowers, or ribbons rather than paying your for your pastry chef's time and labor coloring icing. Likewise, choose butter cream icing instead of fondant which will run you about thirty percent more.

Likewise, consider those disposable cameras you see so often at weddings. They can be a great benefit to your wedding memories since you can get some great shots sometimes that you wouldn't get any other way. After all, your photographer can't be everywhere at once... They also offer the added benefit of offering your guests inexpensive entertainment since there is always one in the crowd who is a shutterbug waiting to be released and there are always more than a few looking for their moment of fame. But...

... if you are looking to save money, consider recruiting a half dozen of your friends that you've been looking for a way to involve in your wedding and who have digital camera's (these days nearly everyone has one of some sort) that they can use at your reception and commission them to go around snapping pictures of your guests at your reception. Afterwards, when you get home from your honeymoon, you can have a party with these close friends when you can upload all of your "unofficial" reception photo's onto CD's that you can keep and print at your convenience.

That's just a couple of ideas within the many disciplines that come together to makeup a wedding day. If you just take a little time to learn about the various disciplines and ask where the cost in each discipline is (hint; it's rarely in the physical ingredients) then with a little creative thought and some common sense you will usually be able to find ways to cut costs and control your wedding budget.

Choosing Wedding Cake Flavors

Every once in a while I hear a mother admonishing her daughter (the bride) that a wedding cake has to be white cake with a light color filling. If not, they continue, you will be able to see the cake and / or filling through the icing.

Perhaps that was true once upon a time. After all there was a time when man couldn't fly either. But it's not true now. The tools that modern pastry chefs have at their disposal make complete coverage of any cake easy.

As a result choose your cake flavors based on your tastes - not on a problem your parent's generation had to wrestle with.

There are a ton of options available to you. Have fun with your choices. Some bakeries require all of your tiers to be the same flavor with preset fillings others allow you to mix and match to one degree or another.

Choose what you want based on:

• Taste: We've all been to weddings where the cake tasted like sawdust covered in sweet lard. Don't be swayed by tales of the origins of the ingredients (unless you have health issues that demand it).
• Desire: Choose what you like.
• Tradition: Some traditions place great meaning into the flavor of the cake. If yours is one, don't discard the tradition lightly. You might regret it a few years down the road.
• Artistic Ability: This is especially true if you are one that values design over flavor or price. If you want a cake iced in fondant with butterflies made from gum paste nestled in hand sculpted bull rushes... obviously, you want to be absolutely certain that your pastry chef can sucessfully do it for you.
• Price: It's a grim reality, but we all have limitations on what we can spend. Don't expect the bakery to change their policies just because you can't afford their prices. Look for ways you can cut back to work with them to find something you can be happy with. If you can't, look for a less full service bakery - such as a grocery store that doesn't offer delivery and set up (it pains me to say that - set up of any wedding cake that does not place each individual tier on a separate stand is an art and I cringe and the thought of someone trying to do it themselves).

Of course there is no priority other than your own on the list above. You have to decide what is important to you. It's your wedding. Not your mother's. Not mine (it's good thing too, I'm already happily married). You choose what you want in your wedding cake.

Autumn Weddings

Since we are now officially, if not universally practically, into spring I thought I should throw a bone to those brides that are just now starting to plan their wedding. Since most brides plan roughly six months in advance that means - Autumn Weddings.

Fortunately, Fall weddings are an excellent choice for individuals to whom financial resources are limited and even better for whom resources are not so limited. The reason? Simple. Off peak season in any industry means better bargains for the consumer and in most parts of the country autumn weddings fall into that 'off peak' season.

Fall Weddings Bring Families Back Together

Likewise, the autumn wedding season itself presents an excellent opportunity to celebrate your marriage and your new life as husband and wife. With the craziness of summer behind you the fall season brings with it new opportunities for gathering friends and family together for a wedding celebration that you will remember for many years to come.

Fall Weddings Provide Unique Wedding Design Opportunities

Furthermore, an autumn wedding not only looks and feels different from your run of the mill June wedding, but because the very differences of an autumn wedding have the potential to make your wedding party spectacular. The rich yet... (more)

How Do Wedding Traditions Fit With Good Wedding Planning?

Wedding fun often means looking for new and inventive ways of doing our wedding ceremony - but that is not the definition of creating a fun and meaningful wedding. Rather, if I were to create such a definition it would go something like this:

Good wedding planning means thinking carefully about every detail in the wedding and using what best reflects you as a couple and your values.

That's it. Simple and succinct. Think about everything and use that which reflects you. Don't be tied to, "I have to... because that's the way it's done."

That sounds like a rejection of wedding traditions. But it's not. Not by a long shot. Wedding traditions have a huge place in the modern wedding.

Everything that we now consider wedding tradition grew out of either need or symbolism and either can now have a real and meaningful symbolic role in a modern wedding ceremony.

For example, the positioning of the bride on the left hand side of the groom grew from ancient Anglo-Saxon days when it was common for opposing factions to attempt to kidnap the bride. Placing her on the grooms left hand side left his sword hand free to protect her.

By the way, this is also where the tradition of the Best Man came from - as it was originally the grooms most trusted ally who would stand beside him in defense of the bride.

On the surface it's easy to look at that and dismiss it as not relevant to today's wedding practice. After all, not many brides today are kidnapped on their wedding day and most grooms do not wear a sword - nor would it do much good against today's weapons.

But... Do you feel safe in his company? Do you want the whole world to know that you trust this man with your life? Then perhaps you should stand on his left side. Perhaps you even want to have some fun with the idea and stage an (obviously fake) kidnapping attempt. Maybe not. But at least you will know why you are standing where you are and that will make the ceremony more meaningful to both of you.

Check out world wedding traditions. It's interesting reading. You'll be amazed by the similarities in the wedding traditions and marriage customs of people from all over the world.

At the same time each nationality of people seems to have their own little way to go about the union of a man and woman too. The one thing that all wedding ceremonies seem to have in common is the hope of a productive and happy union between the wedding couple. Wedding traditions developed as signs of this hope for ultimate happiness for the new couple.

Movie Themed Wedding Celebrations

We've all heard of weddings themed by a movie such as The Lord of the Rings. In such weddings often the couple come dressed like Elven royalty, or Hobbits, or??? To people that are equally into that particular movie it can be a fun an memorable experience. To guests who have never seen the movie or read the books, who only attend because of their love for you, well... at best they're probably lost.

But...

And, I've got to say right now that I don't know anything about how movie themed weddings are impacted by US Copyright Law. Does anyone know?

Having said that, assuming it's not technically illegal... I was laughing the other day with some extended family about how fun it could be to take any movie that people love to watch over and over and have the lines memorized, movies like Wizard of Oz or The Princess Bride, and have friends dressed up as some of those characters show up in the middle of your reception spouting their most famous lines.

For example, imagine the priest from The Princess Bride appearing doing his famous wedding scene with you and the rest of your guests filling the other roles. Later, Vizzini might show up with his classic scene where he tries to figure out which goblet was poisoned. Of course, my husband wouldn't be happy unless, Mandy Pantinkin's character, Inigo Montoya, showed up with his famous line, "Hello! My name is..." Have Miracle Max and Valerie push their way through the middle of the crowd as you are about to climb into your limo to take off on your honeymoon and do their mini scene, "Have fun storming the castle!"

Imagine having your actor(s), be they professional or just brave friends, leading your guests in "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" as you enter your reception. Then have the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and other loved characters / scenes all make appearances leading up to having a Dorothy look alike show up in red shoes as you are about to leave on your honeymoon and proclaim, "There's no place like home. There's no..."

Again, I'm not saying anyone should do this. I don't know about the legality of such an idea, though I'm sure someone has done it somewhere already, but I throw it out in the hope that it will spark an idea for someone to take some or all of their celebration from the same as every other wedding to one that people will talk about with a huge smile on their face for years to come.

Tips for Creating Your Backyard Wedding

Late last week I promised I'd provide some tips on how to create a backyard wedding setting. I was intending to do that this past Saturday but... life happened. So here we are. A little late, but the info is coming just the same.

One note before we get started: Before anyone sets out to create a backyard wedding setting they need to take the time to think two things through: First they need to think, very specifically, about exactly what type of garden wedding they want whether it's calla lily themed, Victorian, butterfly, bird (very popular this year), flamingo, or something else. The danger of not taking the time to think it through is that you will end up with a very vague kind of garden wedding - in other words, a nice wedding in a nice backyard. And that is probably not exactly everything you were dreaming of.

Secondly, and this follows closely with the first. Once a bride has considered what she'd like then she has to consider not only what she can afford, but how much she needs to create an effective theme. In other words, is a butterfly wedding just that if the only butterflies present are in the brides hair? How much do you need to create the image you are looking for? Ultimately the answer to that question is up to the bride - though nearly everyone is likely to have an opinion.

So, these ideas for creating a backyard wedding are more generalized. It's up to the bridal party to find a way to make them work in the theme and yard available.

• Take most of the money you would have spent on flowers from a florist to decorate your wedding and spend it instead at a nursery on live plants. This way you can create an oasis that you will be able to enjoy for years to come. Just remember, to choose plants that are either highly likely to be in bloom on your wedding date or that are so decorative that blooming is not necessary.
• Using the money you would have spent on renting another location, build a gazebo, a wedding arch, or a covered path.
• Save money by having a work party to shape the garden in your backyard. Have friends that can bring tools and work gloves. You provide the rest. Have the entire plan mapped out in advance. Have plenty of music and refreshments to make it a fun day as your entire party gets to see your wedding venue take shape in front of your eyes.
• Have a shopping party with some of your closest shopping companions to search for the accent pieces you need. Maybe it's as simple as a butterfly themed gazing ball, maybe you'll want colorful fabric butterflies to affix to the wedding gazebo. Maybe you want live butterflies to release at the end of the ceremony (check local ordinances).
• Of course, choose a wedding favor that will serve as both additional decor for your wedding and serve as a visual reminder of your special day. For example, a bride choosing a calla lily wedding might choose a beautiful, yet practical, favors like a calla lily bookmark, a glass calla lily themed coaster, or a calla lily bottle stopper (Hint: getting a mixture of all three so that your guests can make a choice and or trade with one another raises your chances that your favors will be kept and treasured).
• Be sure to have covered area to accommodate your wedding party in the event that the weather doesn't cooperate and to display your wedding cake (cakes and heat don't get along very well). There are any number of ways to accomplish this, but the simple option is to rent a tent for the wedding.

Creating a backyard wedding venue is a great opportunity, not only to personalize your wedding but to give you and your family something tangible to keep and enjoy for years after your wedding day.

Wedding Beauty Tip

When it comes to beauty tips for perspective brides there is much that can be said. Indeed an entire industry has grown out of that very thing. Some of it is helpful. Some of it is not. I'm not going to try to ferret through all of it right now. Instead I want to focus on one practical beauty area that every bride can make use of .

Let me introduce it by saying, "Your mother knew what she was talking about - and she was all washed up."

Yep. It's true. Your mother told you that you shouldn't squeeze your zits (pimples). She was right. As it turns out, the act of trying to pop one can actually make the situation worse.
Instead...

1. Keep your hands away from your face.
2. Keep your hair away from areas that are prone toward acne.
3. If you use makeup or lotions on your face be sure to use water based products. It is helpful to look for the words "non-comedogenic" on the label. Your pharmacist can also assist you.
4. Wash your face regularly.

It's this last area where "mom was all washed up." Oh, maybe yours got it right, but many over the years haven't so I want to point it out here:

• When you wash your face, don't scrub hard as so many of us have been instructed. Instead, wash with warm soap and water with only your fingertips to lightly move it around. I know that many of us don't feel like our face is really clean unless is is bright red after a good scrubbing, but it turns out that scrubbing like that can cause the same damage to your skin as squeezing your pimples. Which means it can have the same effect too. Yikes!

So as you work toward your wedding day get in the habit of using good skin hygiene so that the glow of your skin on your big day will be from your inner being and not from that zit in the middle of your cheek.

Making Your Wedding Favors Work for You

Recently, while talking to a bride-to-be, I enquired about her plans regarding wedding favors for her guests.

She waved the question away, "I'll just get the cheapest thing I can find. People always throw them out right away anyway."

I hope I'm wrong but in her case, I'd imagine they will. It doesn't sound like she's putting any thought into her decision - and there's little worse than a thoughtless gift. She'd probably be better off not spending the money in the first place.

The thing is, if she'd just put a little bit of thought into her favor choices she could find a gift which will pay off in any number of ways. Ways like:

• Decor - a well chosen favor, that fits with a well thought out, specific theme will go a long way toward extending your decor. And the great thing about it is that means that your budget for your decor either doesn't have to be as big or delivers the illusion that you spent more on decor for your wedding than you did.
• Memories - a wedding favor that closely matches your theme and is useful to your guests in some way can provide years of memories for your guests as they see that favor in their own home and think of you and your big day. Toward that end I personally prefer the wide variety of decorative bottle stopper favors because nearly anyone with a kitchen has at least one bottle on their counter top that could be dressed up with a special bottle stopper. How about a place card holder that can be used to hold photographs of a variety of sizes? You can use the place card holder then they can take it home to hold their favorite photo in it - or you could provide one! In some circles a decorative key chain can be useful to you guests. Candles, we all need to keep candles on hand in the event the power goes out. Coasters can be useful. Or luggage tags. You get the idea.
• Prayer - if you come from a community of faith, then prayer is important to you. A well chosen wedding favor, which means a wedding favor that your guests will want to keep around, will provide them a reminder of you and the support that you need as you embark on the adventure of marriage.
• Returned Gratitude - most of the people who will be at your wedding have stood with you for years, often in ways you won't be aware of for years. A thoughtful favor choice tells them that you appreciate them and all they have done for you.

The point is, you can choose a thoughtless trinket that your guests can throw away or you can give your choice a little thought and benefit from your investment in numerous ways.

Benefits of Backyard Weddings

We've all seen movies and TV shows where a wedding is set in someone's back yard. Of course, the yard is always impossibly landscaped. The grass cut in such a way that would make any NFL grounds keeper proud. In short, the way Hollywood portrays it, backyard weddings are only for those rich enough to employ an entire staff.

Fortunately, that's not true. Anyone with a yard, or access to a yard that they don't mind you sprucing up, can have a garden wedding.

It doesn't matter that your yard is not as big as the one CSI Miami staged their wedding scene in. It doesn't even have to be as big as the one in Father of the Bride. It only has to be big enough to give you room to celebrate with your friends and family.

Remember, nothing says hope for the future more than a garden wedding in spring or early summer when the blossoms decorate the trees and new growth is all around you. It’s an idyllic setting. Take a look at your yard and dream about what you might be able to do to create the setting for your wedding.

Tomorrow or the next day I will write some specific suggestions for what kinds of things you can do to create that perfect spot, but it's better that you dream a little first and come up with your own ideas.

I will say this, though. Creating a backyard wedding garden is a great way to make your wedding money work for you - by putting the money you would have spent on the rental of a wedding location into enhancing the location you already have!

Make Best Use of Your Florist

Developing your wedding theme includes every discipline. Today, I'm thinking about your florist and how he or she contributes to developing your wedding.

First, what is the point of choosing flowers for your wedding? Why do we use flowers? Is it just because they're pretty? They are that, but that's not why we a florist to add flowers to our weddings. Flowers are simply a means to an end - a beautiful and fragrant means to an end.

That "End" is to create a welcoming atmosphere for your guests through attention to detail and, yes, flowers. Secondly, it means to create a backdrop against which you will make your entrance and be viewed by your guests during the ceremony. It such a use demands just the right attention to detail. Too much and you are lost among the flowers. Too little and... well, it's like going to a photographer and having your prom photo taken against a plain wall.

So what does this mean? Simply put, if their shop doesn't draw you in and make you feel welcome or if the style doesn't fit yours, don't go in. Check out the next florist on your list. The chances are great you won't be satisfied with the job performed by the florist whose decor in their own shop does not invite you in.

Of course that's not all there is to choosing a florist, but one thing at a time.

Hidden Invitaion Danger

Have you stopped to think about the hidden danger in your wedding invitations?

Your wedding invitations are a key part of your wedding plan. They will serve you well in announcing not only the time and place of your wedding celebration but also help to announce (if subtly) whether your wedding is a formal or informal event.

But... there is a hidden danger in wedding invitations that are often not considered until it's too late to do anything about except grin and bear it.

What is that danger? Simply this. Most invitations have to go through the postal system which means that not only do you have the paper and printing costs associated with invitations, but you also have postage costs.

And that's the problem. When we buy invitations we expect postage, but we often don't think of the extra postage that comes with unusual shaped and sized invitations. And even if we do we often discount the thought as only being a few cents, but over your entire mailing list those few cents can turn into a lot of money you could have spent on your cake - or honeymoon!

So how do you protect yourself? Simple. You can protect yourself by taking a sample down to the post office before you buy your invitations and finding out exactly what each invitation will cost to send through the postal system.

How to Make a Beach Wedding Theme Work

Yesterday's post got me thinking about beach weddings. It's the time of the year to be planning your nuptials by the sea - though really, with the prevalence of materials available nearly anyone can put together a beach wedding regardless of whether they have access to an actual beach at all.

The trick to planning any kind of themed wedding is to narrow your focus. Far too often brides decide they want a beach wedding and that's where they stop their planning efforts and begin gathering decor items. As a result they pick up anything that;

1. captures their fancy, and
2. reminds them in any way of the ocean.

As a result, pretty soon their budget is spent and they don't really have anything more than a box full of sea shells, some plastic flower leis, and a few Frisbees.

Instead they should choose an aspect of beach life that stirs their imagination and look for ways to make every item in your wedding lend to your theme (it's an article on building a mermaid wedding but it serves as a great example of this point). Starting with your dress, consider how each element of your wedding serves or detracts from your theme. For a beach wedding, a dress with a long train, for example might not be the right choice. Maybe you'd want something in a shorter gown whether than means short as in knee length or short as in just to above the ground. Then you might want to choose barefoot sandals with shells and pearls instead of high heels.

For a lighthouse themed wedding, maybe you'd want to choose a restaurant on a bluff with lots of windows and get a slowly rotating light. If you did, you could play the sounds of waves crashing on the rocks and then hold your reception at night to give the illusion that your reception is being held in a large lighthouse.

To continue the lighthouse theme, you could build a wedding theme around the beauty of lighthouses what elements are characteristic of lighthouse scenes? Light? Fog? The sound of waves crashing on the beach? Lighthouses? Raincoats? Umbrellas? Rocks? Ships? Sailboats? The list goes on.

The trick, whatever your beach wedding theme, is to then do a theme specific search for the decor, favors, accessories. That way, if you choose your accessories and favors well, you won't have to spend as much on decor because your they will go a long way to creating your theme.

This is one reason that I love shopping on the Internet for nearly everything you need for your wedding. Simply put, you can do very specific searches as you look for the best decor, favors, and accessories to build your theme. That makes it easy to find what you are looking for from the comfort of your own home without wasting an entire day and a tank of gas looking for something that may or may not be available in your community - and when you do find it, it can be shipped right to your door!

I digress.

The point is that the key to building a beach wedding theme (or any theme) is focus. The beach wedding theme is entirely too broad. But by zeroing in on a specific aspect like sea animals, or surfing, or mariner, you can create a wedding theme that will be remembered for years to come.

A Fun Idea for Beach Weddings

Getting married on the beach? Have someone stash a pair of bridal flip flops for each of you (yourself and you new husband) to slip into right after you’ve said your vows. As a matter of fact, they could even have your bridal flip flops buried in the sand where you will stand so that all the two of you have to do is slip out of your wedding shoes and discretely slip your feet into your partially submerged flip flops after you have exchanged your vows.

Imagine your guest’s amusement and astonishment as they look at the “Just Married” impressions that your bridal flip flops leave in the sand as the two of you walk back down the aisle. It will be a fun wedding moment your guests will... more

The Destination Wedding Option

The destination wedding is an option that has gained popularity in recent years. This option generally abandons the idea of a large wedding in favor of a ceremony with just a few friends and family members in an exotic local that the couple can look back on forever as a wedding that was not just like every one of their friend's wedding.

One appeal of the destination wedding is the very trait that turns many off to the choice: When the wedding ceremony is over, typically the friends and family stay in that exotic location with you and help you celebrate. In effect, for at least a few days after your ceremony, your guests are there with you on your honeymoon. For some people this is a great thing. For others, not so good. Either way, it is one characteristic that a perspective couple should talk through before choosing this option.

The destination wedding option is not the cheapest option but it might be the easiest. The reason for this is that since you are coming in from out of town - unless you can afford to make multiple trips or stay there for months prior to your wedding - you have to pay someone else to take care of all of the details. So, if all goes as planned, all you do is choose your gown and show up.

Fortunately, there are companies (resorts, wedding planners, and wedding hosting companies) everywhere that I am familiar with that will be happy to do this for you. This is true regardless of whether you are wanting to be married in a Scottish Castle, or on a Caribbean island, on the Atlantic, at sunset in Hawaii, or against the rugged beauty of the Oregon Coast or Canadian Rockies.

The obvious downside to a destination wedding is that they are often most expensive option you can choose. The reason is simple: Travel. You not only have to pay your own travel expenses, but you need to be prepared to pay for the travel expenses of everyone in your wedding party as well. That's a big expense, but that's the trade off.

The obvious exception to this is a Las Vegas wedding. If you live within driving distance of Las Vegas, etc and your party is content to drive, well needless to say, your costs could be more manageable.

Fortunately for today’s bride, with a consultation with a good wedding planning service, she can choose a wedding that is as traditional or unique as she chooses it to be.

If you are unsure of what kind of wedding you would like, consult a planner who will most likely be full of with wedding ideas.

Playing with Unique Wedding Theme Ideas

Throughout most of the Twentieth Century, the Victorian wedding reined supreme in popularity. Everyone wanted that elegant white wedding. Today, the basics of the Victorian white wedding can still be seen in most weddings, especially in the color of the bride’s gown and often the style, but couples are beginning to move into more exotic wedding tastes.

Themed weddings have become the norm, and your possibilities are endless. Some very popular wedding ideas for themed weddings are the medieval wedding. Imagine a reception in a tall room with a roaring fire in the fireplace and tapestries hanging from the wall. Imagine Gregorian chants wafting from hidden speakers. Or why not hire a minstrel to entertain your guests while you all dine on roast chicken, pheasant, or leg of lamb.

One variation of the medieval, that continues to surprise me in its popularity since the movies are now several years old, is the Lord of the Rings wedding. It does have a number of quite intriguing possibilities however.

An option that has only recently come from the realm of bad jokes to something that can be pulled of with style is the Western Wedding. Another option that has enjoyed a recent resurgence is the Native American Wedding. How about an Ancient Roman themed wedding? People have even been known to get married while sky diving or after hiking up to a waterfall in the mountains.

Opponents of the themed wedding object that such events trivialize the solemnity of the marriage that it pretends to celebrate. My response to them: The trivialization of any wedding comes from the individuals involved - not the ceremony. We all have heard about couples that have traditional weddings and then throw their vows out the window - sometimes even that night!

I'm not against religious weddings. Enjoy a wedding that celebrates your religious tradition -whatever that means to you. But don't do it just because that's what everybody does. That's just plain crazy.

Wedding Planning Starts with the Details

What does this scene have to do with wedding planning?

Everything!

And nothing.

You see, good wedding planning starts a long time before he pops the question. It starts with your travel photo's and memories. It starts with your experience.

Mostly it starts with you being willing to look outside the normal venue's for your wedding location. This photo, is from my personal vacation photo book. As far as I know not one wedding has ever been held on this site - what a pity. I don't even know if the owners would allow a wedding. Still, it could be the perfect spot for the right wedding party. Maybe not yours, but this location holds an incredible amount of potential!

Oh the things that could be done in a setting like this. Imagine etherial music wafting from hidden speakers as this place is transformed (poor choice of words) into a setting for a wedding in paradise as the morning sunlight shines down on the wedding party. Imagine, a night time wedding celebration with strings of white lights. Imagine a western style wedding. The list goes on.

The point isn't that this is the spot for your wedding. The point is that good wedding planning starts with thinking every element of your wedding through to see how it lends to make your wedding a reflection of you.

Welcome

Don't you just love weddings? All the style, the romance, the elegance, and the fun. If you just didn't have to go through all of the wedding planning to get there... actually, the wedding planning is worth all the effort if you do it right. If you do it wrong then it's just work to put a party together. If you do it right, however, your imagination can be soaring all while you are finding fun and creative ways to turn a run of the mill party into a magical wedding celebration.

Stick around. We will explore wedding ideas of all kinds. Some will be inexpensive, practical possibilities that anyone can employ to add that magic to their wedding day. Others, yes, will be expensive options that most of us can't fully implement - but the value of those ideas are that they might just inspire an idea that will work in your unique situation. +

And that doesn't mean that we will only cover theme ideas. That's a big part, but a lot of pulling a theme together is in the details - otherwise a fairytale princess wedding ends up only being that because the bride is wearing a tiera and they played the theme from "Sleeping Beauty." We've all been to those weddings. The trick is to find ways to invest the money you are already going to spend - and invest it in items that move your theme along and achieve what you originally wanted from them. This might mean your wedding location choice. It might mean your choice of favors, or centerpieces, or accessories for your bridal party.

One thing is certain. There is little more fun than dancing among the dreams and watching as one or two of them settle into our own wedding plans!

If you are in a hurry, of course you can always go to my website at http://www.ExcitingWeddingFavors.com and look around. We are always adding more fun and practical ways to help you plan and develop your wedding theme because there is no reason that the wedding of two individuals should come in a cookie cutter ceremony (unless that's your theme). ;)