If you’re a huge fan of Cinderella, and your “Prince Charming” is willing to play along with your fantasy – there are a lot of great options out there for fairy tale theme weddings – from the elegant royal event to the over-the-top fairy tale extravaganza!

Last week we featured the extreme end of ‘happily ever after’ in our post “Extremely Happily Ever After: Fairy Tale Weddings Part 1″.

This week we will take a look at the subtler side of all things Cinderella.

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Royal Favors

Card Boxes

Since my last post I have discovered an online store dedicated to making ?your wedding fairytale dreams come true: it’s called weddingfairytaledreams.com (surprise surprise). ?They specialize in fairy tale theme cake toppers and unity candles, but they also sell unique card boxes that every princess bride should own! Guests can deposit their wedding cards here. Traditionally, guests might bring monetary gifts to the wedding reception. Today, many guests who would otherwise buy a gift from your registry choose to buy a gift card instead. Also, some guests bring a card with well wishes to the event and then deliver their gift later (perhaps the gift is large or they haven’t purchased it yet; etiquette allows one year of shopping from the wedding date).

weddingfairytaledreams.com

Ring Bearer Pillow

packageperfect.net

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In September, Get Married invited engaged couples across the country to enter to win an all-expense paid New Year’s Eve wedding in Times Square–the world’s stage – making history, as this is the first-ever wedding to take place on NYE in Times Square. Now, three month’s later, the couple has been chosen and Get Married’s online audience has voted for key details of the wedding night, from the David’s Bridal wedding gown to the Waterford Tableware. All is ready to go for the big night, and you can be part of all the action!

Whether your heading to New York City this New Year’s or not, you can be a virtual guest at the world’s biggest wedding in Times Square!  Simply “Check In ” to Party On! On Get Married.com to see all the photos and videos from the biggest night of the year as it’s happening!

From your own wedding to a fun night out, Party On is the new way to live it, relive it, share it, even download and print it. With Party On, the party’s always on. Share the news and “Check in” today on Get Married.com!

Weddings are a great time to let your creativity show. What better way to celebrate creativity than to highlight the creative process? With an art-themed wedding, you can choose from endless options inspired by artists you love, favorite works of art, or even the creative process itself. Here are a few ideas:

Venues

Museums are becoming a more popular place to get married or to have your reception, and many more museums are opening their doors for such events. In addition to offering you a unique space in which to get married, museums also come with their own decorations. You’ll spend far less on flowers and other decorations! If a museum is too formal for you, or you can’t find one in your area that will host a wedding, other venues to consider include art galleries and studios. A real artist’s studio — either for painting, sculpting, or mixed media — is a unique venue that will make your wedding memorable for you and your guests.

The Dress

You don’t need an artist to create a masterpiece for you. Here’s where you can look to paintings and design for inspiration. Do you admire the gown in a certain painting? Have a reproduction created and where it as your wedding gown! You may find that there are less traditional options depicted in many paintings  — so  most gowns won’t be flowing, white ball gowns. You can also look for inspiration in your favorite styles of art, like this art deco-inspired gown from designer Jenny Packham.

You may have trouble finding off-the-rack options that suit your art-inspired theme. However, many options are available to have a dress custom-designed to your specifications. Depending on how intricate the design, you may even be able to have the dress made for less than it would cost you to buy it off the rack.

The Cake

The cake is another place where you can have some fun looking for inspiration. There are many beautiful paintings of floral and landscape scenery, which are ideal for traditional wedding cake styles. Think of Impressionist style painters such as Monet or Renoir.

The two cakes above were inspired by paintings by Van Gogh. If you want to try something a little edgier, look to pop artists such as Mondrian, Warhol, or Lichtenstein. Work with a clear picture and be specific about what you want with the baker. If possible, ask to have a small version of your cake – or even one tier – created as a sample so you can be sure of the final product and to make sure the baker properly understands your vision.

Favors

There are many great favors that can go well with an art-themed wedding. A very simple idea would be to print out pictures of your favorite paintings to make into magnets or bookmarks. You could also choose works of art that celebrate love, such as “The Kiss” by Klimt (pictured).

Frames perched on miniature easels would also make a cute favor that can double as a name card. Just insert the card with your guest’s name inside the frame, and later, the frame can be used for a favorite picture.

You could also promote the idea of creating art by offering nice pens, pencils, or brushes as favors. Tie two together with a nice string or ribbon, and attach a card with your wedding date or a suitable quote.

Activities

Besides the traditional dancing and toasting, your guests can enjoy a number of fun and unique activities at an art-themed wedding. If you choose to have your reception at a museum, there will likely be galleries that your guests can peruse and enjoy. The museum may even make a special exhibit available just for your guests. If you choose a natural history or science museum, there will likely be hands-on activities that can be fun for guests – especially kids – and get them more engaged.

No matter your venue, you could also consider hiring a caricature artist to create fun pictures of your guests, or you could set up small stations with easels and brushes for your guests to create their own work. Sketch pads and pencils at the tables could also give your guests an opportunity to create. Your guests could also be encouraged to create a picture especially for the couple, which could become a lovely memento later.

What other creative ideas do you have for an art-themed wedding? What have you seen at other weddings to inspire you?

Maria Rainier is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at First in Education where she’s written on online MIS program along with a piece on online gemology programs. In her spare time, she enjoys yoga, playing piano, and working with origami.

Related articles

• Including Some Character For Your Marriage Ceremony Favor – Etiquette (frommyexperience.com)
• 4 Crazy Weddings Ideas for the Hopelessly In Love (myweddingideas.net)
• Royal Wedding Facts & Statistics (infographicsshowcase.com)

Today’s article is a guest post from my good (and somewhat snarky) friend Eleanor, who wanted me to add that she is unmarried and fine with it.

Young Brides

According to drphil.com, the average age of marriage for a woman in the U.s. in 2003 was 27. Men were 29. This age has jumped considerably over the last two decades (in 1980 the average age for women was 22, according to wisegeek.com). Yet young people are still getting married – 27 is just the average age. This got me to wondering if the wedding fashions have perhaps changed a bit to accomodate brides that are full grown women as opposed to the blushing young ladies of yesteryear…

I recently heard about a young bride who had become quite defensive about her choice – lots of people were offering kind (unsolicited) advice, and many others were openly not respecting her decision. In the “old days” women over 25 years old would also experience the same sort of wholesale counseling, invasion of privacy, and judgment (but for different reasons). I don’t think there’s a derogatory name for brides who get married in their early twenties yet (“starter bride” perhaps?) – unmarried women past a certain age used to be called “spinsters” and “old maids.”

So, in the interest of any young women out there who are madly (and level-headedly) in love – here are some ideas for your wedding. Also, if you are young at heart, many of these tips will apply to you as well!

Fresh Faced

Don’t over do the make up – you are a young bride, not one of the Real Housewives of Trashsylvania.

If You’ve Got It, Flaunt It

Slip dresses are the perfect way to show off naturally beautiful skin. You probably don’t need to worry about any armpit, neck, knee, or cleavage wrinkles – so you might as well show it off. Many of the popular dresses now cater to a womanly woman (think mermaid shapes, vintage Hollywood glamour, etc.). Stiffer materials and heavy fabric act as natural corsets to tame those lady lumps but you might not need this kind of reinforcement yet. If you do, you can still put the Spanks under wraps and wear something younger looking on the outside.

This ‘English net slip’ gown is made by Lazaro, and is available at jlmcouture.com.

I also like this one from preownedweddingdresses.com.

Bare It All

If you’re getting married in Summer, consider not wearing any nylons if you can pull it off. And, for heaven’s sake, don’t get a spray tan! Some natural, sun-kissed color will highlight your complexion or use a light dusting of bronzing powder to add a sun-inspired glow to your skin. I’ve heard good things about Benefit’s Jiffy Tan tinted moisturizer (but, honestly, test it out before the big day, and use it sparingly!).

Okay, are you sitting down? Good, because I am here to tell you that…

You are NOT Cinderella.

Or Belle, or Ariel, or Rumpelstilskin (oh wait that’s not right…) Anyways, your wedding may not be the best time to get your princess fantasies out of your system. Or maybe it is (if so, check out our articles about Fairytale Weddings). I’m just hinting that if you are very young and you want to be taken seriously, try not to look as if you are playing ‘dress up.’ This wedding is for reals.