Wedding Hairstyles

Every bride wants to look their best on their wedding day. While many women are comfortable styling their own hair, many more would rather leave their strands in the hand of a professional. You may even be able to find a hairstylist in your area that specializes in wedding day hairstyles.

It’s common for the bride and bridesmaids to have complimenting hairstyles. As the bride, you may not want to have the exact same hairstyle as all of your attendants.  The best practice is to choose the style you want, then choose the style for your bridesmaids.

If you can arrange it, have at least your maid of honor with you when you visit your stylist to try different wedding hairstyles. Your maid of honor will give you a third opinion on your chosen hairstyle, and will be able to help you choose what styles you want for your attendants.

Keep in mind that each of your bridesmaids has different hair, that is probably different lengths. A professional stylist will be able to you style both short & long hair so that the hairstyles are complimentary, both to the wearer and within the overall group.

If you have chosen a specific theme for your wedding, perhaps Medieval or Civil War, then you will want to make sure that your chosen hairstyles fit with the theme. If you or one of your bridesmaids has short hair, and your theme calls for long hair, you may want to check out wig options.

Hair can make or break the feel of a theme wedding, especially in the pictures. This is also true of traditional weddings, if one of your bridesmaids decides to show up with pink spiked hair. This may be perfectly fine any other day, but if that’s not what you want for your wedding, then you will need to make sure this is clear before hand.

You may want to have a hairstyle party with your bridesmaids well in advance of the wedding to choose styles and iron out any differences. You will probably also want to ask your fiance to talk to his groomsmen about their hairstyles and facial hair. Ask the men in your wedding party to make sure they are either clean shaven or neatly trimmed for the wedding.

To ensure your hair is healthy & beautiful for your wedding day, make sure you eat healthy, drink lots of wate, take a good multi-vitamin,  and use quality hair care products. If possible, don’t try out a new style for 6 months before the wedding. Keep your hair trimmed to avoid frizzies and breakage. Start this at least 6 months before your wedding and by your wedding day your hair will be gorgeous  in whatever wedding hairstyle you choose.

Wedding Themes

Your wedding should be one of the most memorable days of your life. You will still remember a cookie cutter wedding, but personalizing the details of your wedding according to your personality (and your soon-to-be spouse’s) will turn that boring wedding into an event you’ll remember forever!

Now more than ever, couples can spice up their wedding in ways that make their day unique to them alone, and unlike days gone by, no one will bat an eye. Traditional wedding protocol is still popular, but that doesn’t mean you need to follow it to the letter.

Before you start calling reception halls and caterers, sit down with your partner and discuss what the two of you want for your wedding. Write down your ideas for the perfect wedding. Keep these ideas in your wedding organizer for reference later.

Theme weddings are very popular. These can be very subdued events, or crazy and outrageous. Remember, this is your wedding, your special day. Don’t be inhibited by what you think others will think. As long as you and your partner are having fun, then your theme wedding is a success!

If you want to have a theme wedding that is fairly elaborate, then be sure to allow yourself plenty of time for planning. It may take some time to find the right place to hold a pirate themed wedding, or a caterer that can make an elegant castle cake to go with your fairytale theme. Remember to give your guests plenty of time to find costumes, if you choose to extend the theme to them as well.

You may think a wedding planner is a useless expense. However, having someone else to take care of all the minute details of a theme wedding (or any wedding for that matter) might be just the thing you need to take the stress off your shoulders. A planner that specializes in theme weddings will know shortcuts and vendors that will make your wedding a fantastic success.

Be sure to interview several wedding planners before making the final decision to hire one or not. Prices for their services will vary depending on how elaborate and large you want your wedding to be, and how involved you want the planner to be. When balancing the cost of a wedding planner against your budget, keep in mind that using a wedding planner will allow you to continue your busy daily schedule knowing that every detail of your wedding is being handled. That alone could make a good wedding planner well worth their price.

Wedding Vows – Write Your Own

Writing your wedding vows is not something that should be rushed. This is definitely one area of your wedding planning that you will want to take some time sot think about. While you can always chose to use the traditional vows that couples have been saying for years, writing your own vows may suit you and your partner better.

Once you recite your vows, you will be man and wife. Your wedding vows are promises that you and your chosen make to each other, with your family and friends as witnesses. Make your wedding vows even more special by writing personal promises to your future spouse.

Your vows are a great place to insert your personality into your wedding ceremony. Unique wedding vows not only add a personal touch, but they also tell your partner what you hold special in a marriage. You can not only make promises about your future together, but you can also take this time to express to your future spouse why you are getting married and what they mean to you.

Traditional wedding vows go something like this:

“I [your name] take you [partner's name] to be my lawful [husband/wife], to have and to hold, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, from this day forward until death do us part.”

These vows may be act as the basis for your wedding vows, that you will then embellish with phrases that express what you wish to say. However, some people find traditional wedding vows to be more formal than what they want, or may not suit your personalities and situation. If so, you will probably want to take some time to either re-write this vows, or write completely new vows.

You may need some inspiration to find the right words to say to your intended. Listen to love songs, read some poetry, or search the Internet for some ideas. Ask your closest friends for some ideas or feedback. You may want to write your wedding vows with your partner, instead of trying to surprise each other with your romantic vows at your wedding.

Your wedding is your special day, and wedding vows that touch you personally are a great way to celebrat your day. However, if writing your vows is causing stress and removing the fun from planning your wedding, don’t forget that traditional vows have worked for thousands of couples for hundreds of years!

Handmade Wedding Invitations

Like many people, you are probably on a tight wedding budget. You don’t have to sacrifice style to fit into your budget though. There are many areas where you can cut costs. Handmade wedding invitations will save you money and add an extra personal touch to your wedding.

Your partner may want to help out with making the invitations. If not, then ask your wedding attendants to help out. Make it a fun, early hen party that your younger attendants and flower girls can also attend.

If you like to scrapbook, you may already have some ideas for invitations, and the necessary supplies. If you need some ideas for designs, check out some scrapbook magazines at Barnes & Noble or your local scrapbook store. Don’t forget to browse your wedding shop’s invitation catalogs for some design ideas. If you find one you like and you can’t get a physical sample, you can always check out the company’s website and print a copy.

Many couples who choose to make their own wedding invitations like to incorporate a favorite photograph. Some ideas include a photo of you holding hands featuring the engagement ring, or a professionally done portrait of the two of you.

If you are making your wedding invitations, make sure you leave plenty of time to make the invitations, and still get them out to your guests in time for them to respond. To be on the safe side, add an extra day or two to your time line to allow for mistakes and re-dos. You may find that your chosen design is harder to make than you first thought, or you may change the design after making a few. Leave time in your wedding planning for this.

Before making the final decision on whether to make your wedding invitations or to have them commercially printed, you will want to price out the materials. In most cases, doing it yourself will be much cheaper, unless you need to purchase expensive tools. Ask the local scrapbook store if they have a cropping room with tools that you can use if you don’t have them at home. This will save money.

Handmade wedding invitations maybe the perfect alternative to high-priced commercial invitations. If you want to do it yourself, but aren’t feeling creative, check out one of the many print-it-yourself wedding invitation kits on the market. You can find these at most office supplies and stationary stores, and stores like Target and Walmart. Your local wedding store may also carry these low-price alternatives as well.

Summer Weddings – What is the Best Dress

A big question of many brides’ minds is what type of wedding dress should they choose for a summer wedding. Most traditional wedding dresses are made with heavy material, such as satin, and have multi-layered petticoats under them to poof up the skirt. Needless to say, this sort stiff, heavy dress isn’t well suited to most summer weather. The last thing a bride wants perspiration marks under their arm and down their backs. So, what type of wedding dress is best to help you stay cool?

Fortunately, traditional wedding dress colors – white or pale colors – are perfect for hot weather. These colors reflect the heat, rather than absorbing it like dark colors do. Try to keep this in mind when choosing bridesmaid dresses too!

Summer brides can wear white easily, but may want to choose a lighter fabric. Whatever your fabric choice, remember that a good lining in an absorbent material will help soak up any perspiration and will help keep marks from showing on your dress. Look for a dress with a natural fabric lining, if possible.

Fortunately, bride’s have a wide choice in dress styles. Popular styles include lightweight, flowing fabric that are perfect for hot weather. When you try on the dress, make sure to leave it on for a few minutes to see if you heat up right away or not.

Of course, if you are having a more informal summer wedding, you may choose to go with a nice sun dress or even a prom dress, rather than a formal wedding dress. Choosing a more informal dress may open up a larger range of styles, colors, and fabrics. It may also be easier to choose complimenting bridesmaid dresses that won’t give you attendants heat stroke!

Choosing an informal dress has another advantage over traditional wedding dresses in that it is usually less expensive, even if it is custom made. This will free up your wedding budget for other areas, perhaps flowers or the cake.

Summertime is also the perfect time for a beach wedding. Sand can wreak havoc on traditional length dresses, so a beach bride may want to opt for a slightly shorter dress. But keep in mind that beaches are also often windy- you don’t want to show that garter until the reception!

If you live in an area where the weather is sometimes hot and sometimes cold in the summer, you may want to look for a sleeveless wedding dress, but keep a shawl or wrap handy in case the weather turns.

Beach Weddings

Beach weddings are very popular due to their casual and very romantic feel. Whether you choose a local beach or one in Fiji, beach weddings are memorable and unique. As a destination wedding, they are also an great way to combine your honeymoon with your wedding, and to give your friends and family a chance to get away on their own mini-vacations.

Receptions for beach weddings are usually held right on the beach or at a nearby hotel. This usually means fewer expenses for the reception. However, keep in mind that you may have to budget extra for air travel and hotel rooms for guests, especially if your chosen beach is in another country.

When choosing a beach to hold your ceremony and/or reception, keep in mind that most beaches are not private. You will want to make sure that your ceremony isn’t interrupted by beach-goers. You may want to contact a local tourist authority or state park office to find the best locations, and to find out what regulations there are. Also keep in mind any elderly or disabled guests that may need extra help in getting to the ceremony site. Wheelchairs and walkers don’t move smoothly through sand.

Fortunately, there are many ways to solve these problems, and most are not that expensive. Carpets can be laid on the sand to make the area more accessible. You may want to plan for extra ushers to help people move to the ceremony site. If possible, plan your wedding for the off season to avoid beaches crowded with tourists.

Of course, an off season beach wedding can run into weather problems. Many beaches are sunny one minute and cold and windy the next. Plan ahead for these changes by looking for beaches sheltered from the wind, using tents in case of rain, or having just a quick ceremony on the beach and the reception inside, preferrably in a place right on the beach, to keep the romanitc flair going.

Also be sure to check out the local tide tables, and know where the tides comes up to on the beach. Last thing you want during your ceremony is for the ocean to over your feet! If the beach is big enough, you may want to have your wedding a little further back to avoid this issue all together.

Beach weddings, like all other weddings, take careful planning and preparation, but the payoff is huge. Considering hiring a wedding planner to take care of the details, allowing you to just soak up the romantic sun on your wedding day!

Wedding Planning Checklist

One of the first things you should do once you decide you are getting married is to create a wedding planning checklist of all the things that you think are necessary to create a smooth running event where all your needs will be met.

You will be quite surprised as you start writing out your checklist how it will grow and grow over the weeks and months as you move towards your wedding and getting additional input from your partner and other people will help you realize everything that is required.

Rather than trying to go into too much detail right from the start it is best to begin your checklist with the most important items and then go into more depth on your list as you think more and more about those items.

So you would start your list of the basic headings of: dress, flowers, reception, guests.

Then under each of these headings you would go into more detail so that under a heading such as dress you would list your wedding dress, your bridesmaid’s dresses and possibly even your mother and mother-in-law’s dresses as they will be in the wedding photos and will need to coordinate their clothes with yours for the best photo results.

Then you would start listing the various different places you need to investigate to get your dress sorted and that might include getting wedding magazines, contacting dressmaker’s, going to wedding dress shops and trying on the various dresses and so on.

Then you drill down even further in these lists and write down prices of the various solutions that you have found.

As you can see the list will grow bigger and bigger until you find every solution that suits your needs.

You can then create another list of items that have been solved and these can be checked off as they are implemented; for instance the second list might have the date where you will get your dress fitting, the name address and phone number of the dressmaker and other such details that you will need at hand at all times.

By staying well-organized at all times and keeping all these details in one place you will find that the time leading up to your wedding will be a lot less stressful and quite possibly less expensive.

Bridal Bouquets – How to Make Your Own

If you are on a tight budget for your wedding, or if you just like working with flowers, you might try making your own bridal bouquet.  You may run into some problems that can be avoided by paying attention to our checklist for making a bridal bouquet.

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Wedding Flowers – How to Make Your Choice

Wedding flowers are one of the largest expenses for a wedding. Besides the bouquets and boutonnieres for the wedding party, brides usually want flowers to decorate the church, the reception hall, and for various members of their family. This expense can add up very quickly.

There are several important things to consider when choosing your wedding flowers. The first decision has to be whether you want fresh or fake- either paper or silk- flowers. Fresh flowers will generally cost more, especially if you choose flowers that are not in season. Fake flowers make not have the look and smell of fresh flowers, but are generally much cheaper. A good compromise may be fresh flowers for some items, such as reception centerpieces, and fake flowers for things people won’t be close to, such as bouquets and boutonnieres.

As a bride, you will also want to take into consideration any allergies that members of your bridal party may have. The last thing you want is an attendant sneezing all through the ceremony. No one will probably notice the red eyes- just write that off as emotions.

If you have already chosen your colors, this may dictate what kind of flowers you can choose for your wedding. If you are going with paper or silk flowers, you can choose any color you wish. However, fresh flowers only come in certain colors, unless you want to pay extra to dye their petals.

When choosing your wedding flowers, keep in mind the general style of your wedding (formal, theme, etc), and the colors of your attendants attire. Usually, attendant flowers are similar to the bride’s bouquet, which should make that choice fairly easy. However, you may wish coordinate flowers for the wedding party mothers, grandmothers, siblings, etc. with the color of their dresses.

To make sure no one has to figure out where all the flowers are going after the reception, you may want to mark a plate at each table as a winner. Whoever sits there gets the prize- the beautiful centerpiece!

Chose Your Wedding Colors Early

Perhaps one of the most important decisions you will make when planning your special day is choosing your wedding colors. Everything from the invitations to your jewelry will be affected by what palette you chose. Make your choice of wedding colors early to avoid major headaches down the road.
Tradition may say that your wedding colors should be soft and pastel, but that’s not the case for the modern bride. Throw caution to the wind and start with your favorite color, no matter what it is. This is your day; why not surround yourself with your favorite color? This will act as your base color for your wedding palette.

Once you have your base color, use a color wheel to chose complimentary colors. Using a color wheel will insure that your palette creates a pleasant visual backdrop that isn’t glaringly obvious. Keep in mind, however, that there are a few instances when your wedding colors may need to be adjusted beyond your chosen palette.

Theme weddings may demand particular color palettes in order to create the feel of the theme. If you have a particular theme in mind for your wedding, such as Medieval, Pirate, or beach, then your choice of wedding colors will probably be driven by the theme.

Hiring a professional will make the choice of wedding colors much easier. They are trained in helping brides chose colors that will not only look good together, but will also compliment the bride and her wedding party.

If you can’t afford to hire a professional wedding planner, don’t worry. Comb through bridal magazines for ideas for wedding colors. Cut these pictures out and keep them in your wedding organizer. Make sure to also keep either fabric swatches or pictures of the bridesmaids’ dresses. Take this organizer with you when you chose flowers, invitations, your cake, and your decorations. Having all these ideas in one place will help you see what colors work together and will help you create the wedding and reception of your dreams!

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