Wedding Planning|Wedding Planning & Wedding Advice

Getting Married Soon?

An Independence Day Bachelor Party

Why? Well, July 4th usually involves outdoor fun, barbecued food, and beer so it sounds like a perfect day to get the guys together and celebrate your groom-to-be’s independence one last time. Here are some ideas…

Patriotic Spots to Celebrate

If the groom is a history buff, this is the perfect opportunity to take him on a weekend that celebrates his heritage while you celebrate his impending wedding. Tripadvisor.com lists top 10 Patriotic Attractions, here are my picks:

Freedom Trail (Boston Massachusetts)

“Boston’s Freedom Trail is a two-and-a-half mile path through 16 significant U.S. historical sites where Revolutionary War heroes fought for U.S. independence, including the site of the Boston Massacre, the Old State House and Bunker Hill Monument, to name a few” (tripadvisor.com).

Mount Rushmore (Keystone, South Dakota)

“A famous 60-foot mountainside carving created by sculptor Gutzon Borglum and completed in 1941 pays homage to the most influential U.S. presidents in our country’s first 150 years: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt” (tripadvisor.com).

Revolutionary Refreshments

It doesn’t matter what you serve as long as you grill it and then stick it with a lot of American flag toothpicks!

Barbecuing is as American as, well… apple pie!

Patriot Games

Don’t forget to organize some games. This truly American football is available from carnivalimports.com (irony somewhat intended).

The baseball is from chinawholesalegift.com.

Clubplanet.com lists 5 different drinking games for the 4th of July.

All American Stories

End off the night (or the next morning) with an All-American movie perfect for some all-American guys: Saving Private Ryan, The Outsiders, American Pie, Dazed and Confused, Animal House… whatever suits your group of friends the best (any other suggestions?).

Don’t Forget Your Independ-pants

…and shirt, and shoes…

This cool shirt is from onlinesports.com.

You might also consider throwing your stagette or bachelorette (or Jack and Jill party) on Independence Day!

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Lots and Lots of Gummy Bears

Of course, the most important part of a Gummy Bear themed party will be gummy bears of all sizes…Candywarehouse.com has what you need.

Tipsy Gummy Bears

The Gummy Bear Margarita

Photo: Voodoo Tiki Tequila. Recipe: cocktails.about.com as reported by Colleen Graham.

The Gummy Bear Martini

Photo and recipe from grinandbakeit.com. Also check out their instructions for infusing the bears with vodka, for a candy dish with some kick!

Gummi Bear Decorations

Artist YaYa Chou has exploited the luminosity of gummy bears – using them to make candles and chandeliers. You can create decorations by stringing gummy bears together. A beaded gummy curtain? Gummy braclets for guests? Share your ideas with us in the comments section!

Also, leave gummy bears in glass dishes around the party: use different shapes or sort the bears by color.

Buy tablecloths, plates, and napkins in the classic gummy colors: red, green, orange, yellow…

These gummy bear lamps from itsugar.com would also light up your venue.

Gummy Bear Snacks

Don’t forget to decorate all of the other goodies at the party with Gummy Bears, too. Check out these delicious looking rice crispie snacks from crispiesweets.com.

Gummy Bear Soundtrack

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Today we start a new continuing feature here at weddingsetups.com: a look at wedding traditions from around the world. You can use these articles to honor your family’s heritage during your wedding ceremony, wherever it takes place. Or, you can celebrate the bride or groom’s culture during a pre-wedding party (an article with ideas for these parties will follow).

German Wedding Traditions

Festive Felony

In the smaller villages, the bride may be ‘kidnapped’. The groom looks for her in the local pubs, often picking up the tab for all of the customers or inviting them along in the search.

Housewrecker

There is a house party before the wedding that ends with all of the dishes getting smashed for good luck. The “lucky” bride and groom have to clean up the mess.

German Wedding Food

The bride and groom snack on bread when they first arrive at their home after the wedding, to symbolize that they will never go hungry.

Wedding Cake

The traditional wedding cake is Baumkuchen, which is often made in stacked rings but can also come in the shape of a rectangular cake or small squares. The one below is from konditorei-werner.de, warning: if you visit this site it will make you want to fly to Germany for some dessert!

German Wedding Attire

Tasty Accessories

Traditionally, the bride carries bread and salt to symbolize a good harvest and the groom carries grain, which is a symbol for good luck and health. This is also an aspect of traditional Polish Weddings, to read all about them please visit polishwedding.blogspot.com – a very useful and informative source. Photo: Polishwedding.blogspot.com.

Yes, but how far can you throw it?

In Germany the bride passes her veil on to the next woman to be married, rather than throwing the bouquet.

German Wedding Decorations

Sharing a Cup

Another tradition is for the bride and groom to drink from a special cup that lets them both drink at the same time. This is based on the “Legend of the Maiden Bridal Cup” and you can buy one of the beautiful cups at mayhemltd.com.This cup would also make a thoughful gift to the bride from the groom. The cup, and it’s beautiful story could also be used to propose!

Flower Horse Power

In Germany, real flowers are used to decorate the cars, rather than the ribbons, bows, and plastic flowers often used in North America.

Important German Words

Wedding: Hochzeit

Bride: Braut

Groom: Brautigam

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Happy AND Healthy?

A health-conscious party can still be a lot of fun!

If you are organizing a pre-wedding  party for a bride who is either extremely health-consious, is dieting for her big day, or has eating restrictions due to an allergy or condition – you might consider catering your celebration to meet her needs so that she can enjoy herself.

Some of this is obvious: don’t throw a pig roast bachelor party for your friend if he’s a member of PETA or a vegetarian (or both). However, sometimes it’s not that clear. For most of us, fattening baked goods and fatty appetizers are so closely associated with parties that you wouldn’t even consider changing the menu for a friend. This won’t be appropriate for everyone, you will know if this is what your friend would prefer (and if you’re not sure, it is always wise to check). The last thing you want to do is offend the bride or groom.

Activities

Party activities should be exactly that: active. Include activities so that guests aren’t standing around eating the whole time and they are less likely to notice that the menu is a bit different. Make the stag party a hike instead of a pub crawl, if that’s what the guest of honor would prefer! Or, if the bride loves adventure – plan for a group of you to go skydiving.

Community Events

There are so many charity runs, walks, and cycling events out there you might consider honoring your guest of honor with an event that is appropriate to their achievements. Create a team and invite everyone to participate instead of the bridal shower, bachelor party, or bachelorette. Participants can donate money to the cause rather than purchasing a gift. Make t-shirts for everyone and have fun! Spread out a buffet at your house for after wards, or pack a picnic for everyone and meet at a nearby park. Family members who are unable to participate can cheer from the sidelines or might volunteer to help with the snacks after wards.

Fresh Ideas

If your party includes physical activity, make sure you provide lots of hydrating drinks. Water is always the best choice (but not that exciting). Glam it up by using fancy pitchers, like this one from thekitchenoutlet.com. You can make water more exciting by adding flavors.

Large fruit and vegetable platters are always a good idea. Salsas and hummus are healthier dip choices,  or look for healthy versions of your favorites such as this no mayo spinach dip posted at Recipezaar.com.

Everyone is ready for a fun party when it’s Halloween, so it’s a great time to plan a Jack and Jill wedding bachelor/bachelorette party!

Famous Couples Theme Party

Costumes

Ask guests to dress up as their favorite famous couples (or, get even more specific and ask them to dress up as famous married couples). Single guests can pair up with a friend or dress as one half of the couple (some might get very creative and dress up as both, like in the photo below).

enchantedgc.com

Games

You can create a party version of the “Newlywed Game” by asking couples to answer questions about each other in front of the group. Pick a new couple, a couple that has been together for a long time, and the engaged couple to participate.

Ask the groom to write down the title and a few lines from 5 of their favorite songs, then read them out and provide the following explanations (song 1 – how you felt after your first kiss, song 2 – your memory of your first night together, song 3 – description of the honeymoon, song 4 – a year after the wedding, song 5 – after 50 years).

If you’re not throwing a costume party, or not using a couple’s costume theme, you can play this game instead: tape the name of one half of a famous couple to the back of each guest – they can ask questions until they guess “Who am I” correctly.

Refreshments

Cocktail ideas: The George and Ginger, Jack and Ginger, or the Jose and Ginger.

The Gender Blender

Costumes

Ask the men to dress up as women and the women to dress up as men.

thefrisky.com

Games

Costume Contest – Let guests vote for “Most Believable”, “Least Believable”, “Prettiest”, “Most Confusing”, etc. Make sure you split up other games into the “girls” vs. the “boys”. There are also board games out there that would work, such as Battle of the Sexes (below).

gamedaze.com

Refreshments

Offer Pink Lady cocktails for the “ladies” and a Blue Cowboy for the “men”.

Elementary School Party Theme

Costumes

Ask everyone to dress up like they are in grade one (make sure you specify that you want them to dress the way they actually dressed when they were 7 years old – this will be even more entertaining if guests grew up in the 1970′s!).

awkwardfamilyphotos.com

Games

Lots of kids’ party games are even more fun when you’re a ‘grown up’! Try spin the bottle, twister, and hot potato and fill a pinata with adult-themed treats (adult stores often sell sample sizes of massage oils or lotions, candies in naughty shapes, etc).

Refreshments

Consider sophisticated, gourmet versions of hot dogs or macaroni cheese and serve Killer Koolaid cocktails or spiked Shirley Temples and Roy Rogers drinks at the bar.

artofdrink.com

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