Wedding Ideas
Medieval Celebrations: Your Guide to Planning and Hosting Spectacular Feasts, Parties, Weddings, and Renaissance Fairs
Jan 20th
* Full-color, revised edition
* Plans for weddings, holiday parties, and Renaissance fairs
* Ideas for properly decorating the dining hall
* Lyrics and music for songs and dances
* Recipes for food and drink
* Patterns for period costumes
* Games and plays
Bride Ideas and Frock-Ups: A Book of Wedding Tips and Slips
Jan 20th
Bride Ideas and Frock-Ups: A Book of Wedding Tips and Slips
A highly informative, entertaining, and slightly irreverent look at one of life’s great ceremonies
Exposing the real-life insanity behind those picture-perfect wedding days, this collection comforts the soon-to-be-married with the knowledge that one’s “perfect day” doesn’t have to be quite so perfect. This volume of wedding anecdotes, superstitions, and jokes—with some statistics thrown in—features both dream wedding days and disasters. Fresher in perspective than a how-to guide, it offers a trousseau of tips and short-cuts from the photographers and author and from other couples who have been there—all stunningly illustrated by real photos of real people enjoying real weddings.
Weddings Valentine Style
Nov 12th
Diann Valentine makes magic and weaves dreams. For more than a decade, she has produced inimitable celebrations of love for a host of top talents, as distinct as Lela Rochon and Antoine Fuqua, DeLeon and Gary Sheffield, and Kelis and Nas, in cities as different as Toledo, Ohio, and the Big Apple. “I’m definitely living up to my name,” says Valentine.
In Weddings Valentine Style, this unabashed romantic with a commitment to quality and a keen eye for excellence reminds readers that a classy, unforgettable wedding is not about merely serving up fine caviar and champagne but rather about envisioning the triumph of a stunning centerpiece composed of a single stem of dendrobium orchids rather than a crowd of carnations or mums. Ultimately, Valentine insists, “It’s about making choices that speak to your own beat.”
Valentine has been featured in InStyle, Essence, O: The Oprah Magazine, and Grace Ormonde Wedding Style, among other periodicals, as well as on InStyle Celebrity Weddings, Entertainment Tonight, E! News Daily, and VH1 Rock N’ Roll Weddings. She receives constant applause for her extraordinary ability to trump continuously her own creativity in producing one-of-a-kind celebrations, her energy never failing from vision to execution. Her signature style is clean, simple elegance with touches of eclecticism, meshing tradition and innovation. And in Weddings Valentine Style, she offers lovebirds with and without big budgets a treasury of information and inspiration for dreamweaving a glorious “I Do” day.
The Natural Wedding: Ideas and Inspirations for a Stylish and Green Celebration
Oct 30th
The Natural Wedding: Ideas and Inspirations for a Stylish and Green Celebration by Louise Moon and Marc Wilson
Green is the new white for today’s environmentally conscious couples— this timely yet stylish book is an inspirational guide to making that special day perfect. Louise Moon, a leading wedding planner, shows how to “green” the most important day in any couple’s life. From one or two thoughtful features, like using organic, locally grown food for the reception, to more imaginative solutions for making the entire event as low impact as possible, The Natural Wedding has everything couples need to make their special event naturally romantic, conscientious, and sustainable. The book shows that green weddings can be even more stylish than a traditional wedding and covers green options for all aspects of the big day: menus, the location, invitations, bridal party attire, flowers, the ceremony, the reception, gifts, the honeymoon, and beyond (since living “green” doesn’t stop at “I do”).
Inexpensive Garden Themed Wedding Favor Ideas
Oct 22nd
By: Janet R.
Planning a garden wedding is actually a practical idea if you are on a tight budget. You can really save money because you don’t have to rent a hall where to hold your wedding ceremony and reception. You don’t also need to have too many decorations because there is already a beautiful backdrop at your garden.
When it comes to your wedding favors, don’t worry because there are lots of inexpensive options you can choose from. You can thank your guests for coming with beautiful mementos that they will surely take home and cherish for years to come, without spending a fortune. Here are some of the inexpensive garden themed wedding favor ideas:
Seed Packet Wedding Favors -these are perfect for a garden themed wedding. You can either provide single packets to everyone or tie a number of them together with a ribbon in a color that fits your wedding theme. There is a perennial selection when it comes to seeds or seeds of your wedding flowers. You can have the paper packets printed with fun words, or perhaps your names and wedding date. Seed packets make inexpensive wedding favors, yet are unique and can last for a lifetime.
Baby Sapling Wedding Favors -these are not just inexpensive, but in fact you can sometimes get these from the arbor foundation in your area for free! You can purchase special paper where to print your names or monograms, and wedding date on, and then tie them in a bow around the saplings. These are really a very practical treat for a garden themed wedding.
Terracotta Pot Wedding Favors -you can get very creative on these pots. If you are good in painting, well it’s a plus! Paint the pots with whatever design you want (maybe butterflies or flowers) and you may add your names and wedding date to make the pots more personalized. Your hand-painted pots can actually inspire your guests to plant something, and that’s not a bad idea isn’t it?
Baby Food Jar Wedding Favors -you can place different kinds of items in these cute jars, such as seedlings. You can decorate these inexpensive wedding favors with a glued ribbon around the edge of the jars, and also to cover the lip.
Personalized Garden Stone Wedding Favors -now if you are looking for a real inexpensive wedding favor, this could be the best answer. Just simply collect stones in various shapes at your garden then paint them. You don’t have to be an artist on this idea. In fact, simple images or writing messages on the stones would make a really nice idea. You can nicely place the stones on the tables so that your guests will be reminded that they have something to take home.
Garden wedding favors don’t have to be really expensive. Other beautiful ideas that you can think of are butterflies, flowers, and wedding bubbles. By surfing the net, it is a lot easier to find some ideas for inexpensive wedding favors, be it your wedding is a garden-inspired or has a really unique theme.
Jnet is an author for a variety of lifestyle issues and topics including weddings. If you’re looking for unique favors, visit the website Bridalweddingfavors.com and browse their extensive collection. Find wedding favors to make your wedding extra special!
Colorful Weddings – Open up a New Window to Your Guests
May 16th
By Felix Lehmann
Gone are the days when weddings evoked images of pure white. White gowns, white flowers, white lace, white bouquets are now giving way to splashes of color. Colorful weddings are becoming the norm. They not only create a sense of excitement not only for the bride and groom and wedding planner but also give the guests something new and creative to forward to.
Colorful weddings needn’t cost a fortune, although reports that cover big celebrity weddings give you that impression. With a little creativity and innovation and a little hard work a colorful wedding can be held within the constraints of a regular wedding budget. It is very important of course to prioritize and calculate how much you want to spend on each aspect of the wedding. Once this is done you have a base to build on.
Before picking out colors, you need to study environment of the venue. If it is open air then of course any color will do but if the walls of the hall are say brick then obviously choosing bright pink will be a disaster. So to begin with choose the venue and then pick out suitable colors – everything needn’t be in one single shade – a combination of 2 or more colors will break the monotony and bring life into the place.
Five essential elements of any wedding are attire, invitations flowers cake and thank you gifts. Consider each aspect one by one. Firstly attire. The wedding gown can be accentuated with various colors. The bridesmaids and flower girls attire of course can simply splash out color. Since they will be very conspicuous throughout the day their costumes play a very important role in designing the wedding. Secondly – invitations. Your invitation will set the guests mood. Apart from the ribbons and the design also make sure that the print is clear coz you don’t want your guest to develop a squint trying to figure out the date and time of your wedding. So choose the colors wisely. Thirdly – flowers and décor. The beauty of nature is that you cannot outdo its color. So no matter what color theme you choose you will definitely find flowers in various hues and sizes of that color.
So your bouquet and the general décor can be nicely spruced up to look warm and inviting by mixing and matching various shades and types of flowers. Fourthly – the wedding cake. This is simple enough to imagine – sugar icing can be done in any color and any shape so that the cake looks like a part of the decoration. Fifthly – favors or thank you gifts – now make sure that you don’t pile your guests with useless gifts just because you want it to match your theme. But strive to get as much of a balance as possible. Gift wrap and ribbons can add to the colors of the day.
So now your colorful wedding is all set to dazzle your guests. If you have time and can spare the effort and the finance look into color coordinating smaller details like the table cloth, napkins, the ring pillow and maybe even the menu!! Don’t compromise on the food taste and combinations though – we don’t want our guest to turn red and green and blue – there is too much of a good thing after all – even while having colorful weddings!!!!!
Champagne Theme Weddings
May 16th
By Bridget Mora
Nothing says “celebration” quite like the pop of Champagne corks! The effervescent beverage has long been a symbol of joy and luxury, which makes it a wonderful part of a wedding celebration. These are some great ideas for planning Champagne theme weddings that will be just as festive and fun and the bubbly itself.
Start your wedding planning with an invitation which embraces the Champagne theme. This is not to say that you need to choose stationery with an image of clinking glasses (a bit too obvious, really), but you can bring out your theme in a more understated fashion. For a modern wedding, a pop art bubble design would be fantastic for the stationery. Or select a more subtle invitation with a blind embossed bunch of grapes on the top. Another idea would be to design a custom invitation which resembles the label on a bottle of your favorite Champagne brand.
Welcome your guests to your Champagne theme wedding with a glass of bubbly as they arrive. The pre-ceremony drink has become a more common trend in recent years, and it is one which guests definitely enjoy. Play up the idea of a festive celebration with your attire. For the bride, an elegant gown with plenty of sparkle and beading will be ideal. Choose crystal bridal jewelry to complement the sparkly gown. Sophisticated crystal bridal jewelry such as long stiletto drop earrings or even a lariet style necklace dripping down the back of a wedding gown with a low cut back would be fabulous. The groom will look dashing in a classic tuxedo. Might as well make your Champagne theme wedding black tie, since it is definitely a theme which will work best for an evening wedding.
You can bring the Champagne theme to your wedding reception in a number of ways. Decorate the hallways of your venue with framed vintage maps of the Champagne region of France to set the stage. As your guests arrive, they can be directed to tables which have Champagne themed names. You could use names of famous labels, such as Dom Perignon, Cristal, and the like, or choose bubbly related terms for your tables. Words like vintage, cuvee, and brut will be fun and maybe even educational.
The glamor and sophistication of Champagne should be your main focus for the rest of the reception décor. Tall vases overflowing with white roses would be stunning for a classic style wedding, or opt for a more contemporary yet equally stylish centerpiece such as submerged orchids. Rent crystal chandeliers to suspend over the dinner tables for even more elegance. Tablecloths in a luxurious fabric like damask will dress the tables in style.
Of course, a fine Champagne is at the heart of a wedding based around the bubbly for a theme. This is no time for a sparkling California wine! Pair the drink with luxurious foods like caviar, fresh ripe berries, and Brie during the cocktail hour. At dinner, serve a complementary still wine along with a French meal. A light cake, such as lemon with raspberry filling will be a wonderful dessert to finish the reception. And for the favors, either give your guests splits of Champagne, if the budget allows, or small boxes of Champagne truffles as their parting gift. It is sure to be a wedding that no one will ever forget!
Virginia Wedding Source: www.isnare.com
A Fresh Spring Wedding
Jan 8th
By Bridget Mora
Every year spring feels like a breath of fresh air after a long winter. Just as a winter wedding should feel cozy and rich, a spring wedding should capture the essence of its season by feeling crisp and new. These are some ideas on how to plan a fresh spring wedding that will be just perfect.
Think crisp, fresh, and simple for a spring wedding. Nothing too fussy or overdone is needed. A simple elegance should be the goal. Cheery colors such as yellow and grass green are amazing for the spring, and pair beautifully with neutrals such as pure white and navy blue to create that fresh feeling. There is a reason that the first spring collections in the fashion world, known as either resort or cruise, usually feature an abundance of those colors, and it is because they feel new and clean after the dark and rich colors that are in fashion for the winter months. Using this design for a wedding will make for a beautiful atmosphere that your guests are sure to enjoy.
A great place to begin is with the wedding invitations. White stationery with a spring motif embossed across the top would be lovely. Some ideas for the motifs include a watering can, a tiny bunch of flowers, or a dragonfly. A yellow detail on white paper would be subtle, or go a little brighter with a grass green accent. Navy lettering would be a great alternative to basic black ink – still relatively formal, but with a little personality. A striped envelope lining will tie it all together.
As for the bride and her bridesmaids, crisp fabrics such as silk mikado, shantung, or organza would be ideal for the dresses. A simple strapless gown in a silk white with tailored details would be stunning for the bride. Complete the look with a ribbon edged veil and pearl bridal jewelry. For the bridesmaids, striped dresses would be fantastic in faille or shantung. A toned down version would be an organza dress in a solid color with a contrasting band at the hem and neckline. The navy would be a great accent color on either a pale yellow, grass green, or white knee length bridesmaid dress in an A-line shape. Classic pearl bridal jewelry like a tin cup necklace would be a pretty finishing detail for the bridesmaids.
There are many wonderful flowers which would be gorgeous for a spring wedding. The freshest effect will be created by selecting wedding flowers with clean lines, such as tulips or mini daffodils. A small bouquet of yellow mini daffodils handtied with a green grosgrain ribbon would be just right for the bridesmaids. For the bride, a combination of white tulips, yellow mini daffodils, and a bit of greenery, such as spring green hosta leaves will look as fresh as a spring morning. Keep the size of the bouquets modest and the ribbons simple.
Keeping this same color palette throughout the rest of the wedding will create a harmonious look. White tablecloths banded with wide borders in one of the signature colors will make a crisp background for the tablescape. Or try something more whimsical, such as a woven ribbon table topper in grass green and pale yellow. It is a great way to add character to basic white linens for your reception. Striped napkins and centerpieces in clear or white vessels will be the perfect finishing additions to your fresh spring wedding.
Virginia Wedding Source: www.isnare.com
