Get Crafty!

Add some activities to a bridal shower to make it more fun. If you give everyone something to do with their hands you’ll have less awkward small talk and more fun overall – particularly if your guest list is made up of a bunch of people who won’t know each other very well. These ideas could work at a bachelorette party too, depending on the tone of the event.

Ring Fling

Provide an assortment of materials and let guests craft their own engagement ring. Offer prizes for the most outrageous, most realistic, etc. Raid your craft supplies – if you’re not a big craft nerd like me, you can also go to a dollar store or craft store and pick up: metallic-colored pipe cleaners, large beads, ribbons, glitter glue, and whatever else you see that will work.

Check out this impressive looking ring from craftbits.com (visit the site for a tutorial).

Garter Fun

Everyone makes their own garter and then make all the guests wear it out on the stagette, if you like! Or everyone could make one and then the bride picks which one she will actually wear at the wedding.There’s a tutorial at applebride.com. Another option, buy simple and inexpensive garters for every guest and then ask them to decorate them instead. This is a quick and easy activity that could start off a fun evening. Garters should include the guests name or role in the wedding and the decorations will serve as an icebreaker when everyone is mingling at the party. It’s also a cheeky way to identify everyone in the group if you are heading downtown for the second half of the evening.

A plain white garter at koyalwholesale.com is only $2.99 (while on sale). Ideas for decorations: feathers, flowers, felt hearts (or other shapes), beads, gems, lace, ribbons, charms, etc. Also consider buying some fabric pens or self-applicating paint.

The garter pictured below is from mypromstyle.com.

Tampon Brides

Each guest makes a bride from a tampon for a fun craft activity that promotes lots of laughter and female bonding. Provide the following materials: tampons, glue gun, paint, pipe cleaners, yarn, embroidery thread, cardboard, glitter glue, beads, etc. This craft was inspired by the infamous Tampon Angel – I was pleasantly suprised to find a whole website dedicated to tampon crafts (tamponcrafts.com- their angel is pictured below).

Here are some great ideas for wedding favors that you can make yourself! A great way to set your wedding apart from the rest – when you make your own favors they can be truly unique and customized to your character as a wedding couple. You can also save a lot of money!

Sweet Deals

Check online for stores that sell wholesale chocolate and buy your candy favors in bulk. For example, you can get a 6 pound box of delicious almond bark at candywarehouse.com. Available in white, dark, or milk chocolate – if you need more than one box, mix it up so that you can offer a selection to each guest.

You can buy favor bags and boxes online as well, or check out your local dollar store, craft store, or discount department store for sales. Sandscripts.com offers a wide variety of fabric bags, gift bags, and gift boxes. You can also order customized ribbon for your event for a very reasonable price.

Cookie Cutter Wedding

Another idea – invite a few of your friends over for a cookie crafternoon. Bake the cookies beforehand if possible, and then get together to decorate and package the goods with your friend (ask them to bring over some bottles of wine to get the creative juices really flowing). Check out sweetopia for instructions for these beautiful butterfly cookies, as well as lots of general tips and links to other online resources for cookie decoration.

If you’re not confident about your cookie skills – bake and decorate simple cookies instead and then focus on presentation, instead.

Or, buy cookie cutters in bulk, attach your favorite recipe and your wedding date with a beautiful ribbon, and you’re done (no baking required!). Tip: buy the cookie cutters from an online cookie cutter store rather than a specialty wedding store for better prices! Check out cookiecutter.com for lots of options: flowers for a spring wedding, hearts, brides and grooms, etc.

Recently we looked at the beautiful possibilities presented by a wedding with a white theme (White Weddings That Are Hot, November 10, 2009). This week we’re going to look at a different kind of white wedding: one that happens when it’s snowing outside.

Winter Wedding Wonderland

A snowy setting can be a winter wonderland but it also presents it’s own challenges. For example, it’s cold out and we want the beautiful b-r-r-r-r-r-r-bride to look gorgeous (and comfortable) in the photos.

What to Wear

Winter Wedding Photography Tips is an article that offers some expert advice (it looks like they are based out of Utah so they know what they are talking about). They advise you to bring a cape or jacket to keep warm between shots, bring hand warmers, wear warm leggings under your dress, and that you can wear boots in the snow because your dress will hide them!

Light Up The Night

An evening wedding in a snowy setting give you an opportunity to shine. Select a venue with floor to ceiling windows looking out on to a park. Decorate the outdoors with hundreds of tiny white lights and stage your entrance for maximum effect.

Arrive in a horse and carriage.

www.whisperingpinesranchandcarriage.com

An outdoor arrival also allows you and your wedding party the exciting opportunity to dress for the occasion! Check out this stunning floor length fur cape.

romanticgowns.com

silkandsable.com

Bring the Outdoors Inside

Run a luxurious white carpet down the church aisle and decorate the aisle seating with white feathers that will evoke fluffy snow. Make sure you have an ice sculpture at your reception, of course – or, go all out and get an ice bar!

Some Cool Examples

Most importantly, no matter what the season, your wedding should also be FUN for it to be a success. Here are some examples of beautiful weddings that don’t take themselves too seriously.

Crystal Mountain Resort & Spa Michigan – the bride wears a white coat over her dress and the children in the wedding party wear black bottoms with white winter coats. The snow (and the exercise!) accentuate her rosy cheeks, making her a true blushing bride. From the footage it seems like the wedding manages to be fun and beautiful at the same time.

Another fun example from Sun Peaks resort in British Columbia Canada. The wedding took place at a cute mountain chapel on clear, sunny winter day. The flower girl leaves petals along the snow path in vibrant colors. The bridesmaids wear dresses with cute winter boots. The father of the bride looks cool as can be in sunglasses to shield his eyes from the sun bouncing off the snow (or to hide his tears if he get misty!). Check out the end when the bride casually snowboards down the slopes in her dress!

This is the first in a two part series about monogrammed items for weddings.

Today we feature wedding cake toppers in the monogram style.

How Do Monograms Work?

Here are some guidelines for how to create a monogram for you and your fiance(e). The bride and groom should decide what letters will make up their monogram, and it is proper etiquette for others to ask before having any gifts or wedding items monogrammed.

3 Letter Style

Traditionally the middle letter is the first letter of the groom’s last name. The letters go in the following order: first letter of wife’s first name, first letter of groom’s last name, first letter of groom’s first name. For example, if John Smith and Roberta Aster marry, their monogram would be RSJ.

1 Letter Style

The letter used here would be the shared last name of the married couple (if appropriate). For example, if John Smith and Roberta Aster marry, their monogram would be S.

topperswithglitz.com

4 Letter Style

This style works for blended last names (for example brides who will hyphenate their last names or just keep their original last name). For example, if John Smith and Roberta Aster marry, their monogram would be RSAJ (first letter bride’s first name, first letter bride’s last name, first letter groom’s last name, first letter groom’s first name).

2 Letter Style

This is another option for blended last names, where you just use the first letter of each last name (beginning with the bride’s last name). In the example above, this monogram would be S-A.

shopbakersnook.com

Ampersand Style

For a more contemporary and less formal look you might choose to use an ampersand (that’s the ‘and’ symbol). In this case, you use the first letter of both first names (example: Roberta and John turns into R&J)

Heart Style

Another fun look – connect the two first names with a heart (example:  Roberta hearts John)

beau-coup.com

Last Names – Other Guidelines

Last names that start with an apostrophe or Mc (examples: O’Reagan or McDonald) still use the very first letter (in these examples: “O” and “M”).

Simply Elegant

Here is the classic monogram style for a cake topper. This style will work well with an ornately decorated cake. It would also suit an overall simple, understated look too if that is what you’re aiming for.

weddingfavours.ca

Classy Glassy

This engraved glass cake topper becomes a keepsake for your china cabinet after the event.

stellarglass.com

Crystal Clear

A sophisticated version of the Swarovski crystal monogram cake topper, available in a highly polished gold or silver finish.

weddingaccessories.net

Or glam on the glitz with a glittery Swarovski version like the one below (available in all of the colors of the rainbow).

beau-coup.com

A topper with Swarovski accents is a nice look, too.

beau-coup.com

White Wedding

Another simple look that is surprisingly effective – white letters.

goodthingsweddingfavors.com

Modern Bride

These silver-tone metal toppers are perfect for the couples who are anything but old-fashioned.

stuartscreations.com

stuartscreations.com

Destination Weddings are becoming more popular every year. They are a great way to make your special event even more special. And, perhaps surprisingly, they are often less expensive than a traditional wedding in your hometown!

There are websites that will help you plan your destination wedding.

destinationweddings.com

This site boasts that 89,101 weddings have been created with its site. It allows you to create a free website for your wedding event. The site has exclusive offers for destination weddings all over the world (including cruise ships). It generates a ’save the date’ announcement that you can send to your invited guests. Guests also make their travel arrangements through the same coordinator so that everyone can benefit from the same group rates and hotel/air packages. Guests can also purchase your wedding gift online from the honeymoon registry, which might include a day at the hotel spa or flowers for the honeymoon suite!

islandbrides.com

This site offers many of the same services but specializes in island weddings in the Caribbean (over 30 destinations).

luxedestinationweddings.com

This site advertises itself as specializing in “unique, luxury group destination weddings”. The website is impressive and worth a visit. It offers a wide variety of locations as well and allows you to customize your event with special features. This site also offers several honeymoons in its Luxe Honeymoon Collection.

After the event, photos and video of the wedding ceremony and reception can be viewed at the couple’s wedding website.

Destination Weddings: Trip Tips

1. Marriage Licenses and Laws

Laws governing marriage differ from country to country (and in some countries, the are different in each province or state). One example close to home: many people think they can just run off to Las Vegas and get married but that’s not quite true. It’s wise to get your marriage license beforehand – otherwise you might end up in a long line up. Also, the office isn’t open 24 hours so it’s not like you can suddenly decide to get hitched at 3am and then hurry over to a chapel. Getting married in Mexico? There is a 2-3 day waiting period and mandatory blood tests that cost $125 each.

2. Travel Arrangements

Don’t forget about your guests when making your travel arrangements. It’s much easier to get a group rate or package and then offer it to everyone so that your guests are all staying at the same location and you have some control over their arrival/departures. This will be easier if you find out approximately how many guests will be attending and what dates work for them first. Then you can make some plans and get back to them with an estimate of the cost before you ask them to commit.

3. Don’t Take It Personally

If you decide to have a destination wedding, be prepared that not everyone you invite will be able to attend. The positive side to this is that you extend an invitation to many people (which will make them happy) and that you will end up spending much less on the reception dinner, wedding favors, etc than you would if you had your wedding locally! The negative side is that some people you really care about may not be able to afford the travel expenses. Never, ever put pressure on them – this will only take away from the fun atmosphere at the event. This may be one of the biggest days in your life, but remember that your guests have lives of their own that they need to pay for.

Destination Weddings for Less

Expert Advice

Marcy Blum, famous event planner talks about Destination Weddings on howdini.com.