5 Tips for Affordable Pre-Wedding Celebrations

Perhaps one of the most popular and best loved wedding traditions is the pre-wedding celebrations like the wedding shower and bachelor parties. Usually these parties are supplied by the mother of the bride or the best man etc. Some couples find that they would rather host their own either out of necessity or desire.

Really, it does not matter who throws the party because in the end, it should still be affordable. There are ways to make this happen.

1. Throw a jack and Jill party which combines the bachelor and bachelor party together. If it is hosted at a home, your guests can bring their own alcoholic beverages.


2. Have your bridal shower at your own home providing home cooked food.

3. At your bridal shower purchase decorations that can also be used as parting gifts such as personalized candles etc.

4. Celebrate your wedding at a local pub or tavern. This will give you the benefits of having all of your friends with you and none of the financial responsibility. Basically this night is no different than spending an evening with friends to celebrate a promotion, only the focus is on your wedding instead. Many couples will do this together instead of a bachelor/bachelorette party.

5. If you or a family member have memberships at a local legion, you can often convince them to let you use their halls for you bridal shower.

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Wedding planning 10 essential tips

Getting Married? Congratulations! You just set the date for the most important day
in your life. Your wedding day. Imagine...It is your wedding day. Your very own wedding day! It will be fun.


Here are ten essential steps that will make the preparation fun too.


1. Keep within your financial limits. Budget your wedding. You do not want to start your married life in debt. If you are organized have a plan and are creative, whatever your budget, a "wedding to remember" will be yours.


2. Now Visualize. That's right, visualize. Close your eyes and look at the tasks at hand. The list may SEEM overwhelming but it isn't.


3.Don't try to do everything all at once. Start by gathering information. Use the Net to gather ideas from around the world. Make an extensive list of "things you LIKE", "things you WANT" and "things you MUST HAVE" (see the difference?)


4. Now you are ready to make a Top Ten (or top eleven or twelve) list.


5. Break your list it into small manageable portions that you can successfully
accomplish. Use categories like... Before the wedding - During the wedding - After the wedding.


6. Now use sub categories. Include ideas for related events such as, showers, receptions, and honeymoon.


7. It is YOUR wedding. It reflects YOU. No one should dictate to you what to do and
how to do it. You may seek advice, ideas and wisdom but in the end each final decision is yours.


8. What this means is don't be shy! Accept assistance when offered and solicit involvement, help and ideas from those you believe will be an asset.


9.Add your personal touches. For example; if you have children you may consider making them an important part of your wedding.


10. Pick a few aspects of your wedding and make them personalized. A personal touch makes a wedding meaningful to the bridal couple, their attendants, family and all invited guests.


In summary, your wedding is a serious moment for declaring your love and commitment to each other. Make your wedding truly a one-of-a-kind event. Fill it with cherished moments and keepsakes. Whether you choose a favourite theme, a special setting or an intimate gathering of friends and loved ones, enjoy the journey. Perhaps, the memories and keepsakes may stay with you forever. Treasure them! And may you have a Happy, Happy day!

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Maid of honour duties

Being chosen as a maid of honour is a great privilege, but it also requires a large number of responsibilities in the wedding planning process. The maid of honour will likely be spending a great deal of time with the best man, since their duties are often the same and require them to work hand-in-hand in order for the wedding to be a success. Once you have dealt with the excitement of being part of the wedding party and of wearing a great dress, it's time to start planning immediately. Here is a list of common duties the maid of honour must fulfil:

1. It is the maid of honour's responsibility to shop with the bride and attend all dress fittings. The maid of honour may want to help the bridesmaids shop for their dresses as well.

2. The maid of honour will be required to help with wedding invitations, wedding favours, flower arrangements, centrepieces or anything else at the bride's request.

3. A large part of the maid of honour's duties requires her to throw the bridal shower and bachelorette parties. The maid of honour will be responsible for planning and hosting all of these parties. If the couple decides they want a stag and doe (as opposed to bachelor and bachelorette parties) the maid of honour and best man will work together to plan and host the event.

4. It's the maid of honour's duty to record the names of the guests at the bridal party as well as their gifts. It is also her job to send out thank you cards to all guests.

5. During the wedding ceremony, it's the maid of honour's responsibility to hold onto the groom's ring (the best man is required to hold onto the bride's ring).

6. It's the maid of honour's responsibility (as well as the best man's) to sign the wedding license as a witness.

7. Finally, it is tradition for the maid of honour and best man to dance together at the reception.

If you are a first-time maid of honour and need help planning there are many people who would be eager to help out starting with the bride's mum or the bridesmaids. There are also a number of Internet resources to assist you with bridal planning and ideas.

The maid of honour has many responsibilities, but it's important to remember that the bride would not have chosen you if she didn't think you were capable of fulfilling these obligations.

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Don't let a friend shoot your wedding

Your wedding budget is starting to get a little high and you need to cut a few corners to save some cash and so you ask your buddy to get behind the camera. Wrong move. Never let your friend, be it your best friend or even a close family member, run the camera at your wedding. There are a few reasons for this.

First off, there is so much more involved in capturing a wedding on video than your friend will think about. Sound, lighting, positioning, framing, storyline, style, each of these broad categories has numerous tiny little elements where if one is off the whole thing doesn't look or sound right. Normally a friend will wait until the last minute to get equipment and then not know what they need usually showing up with a less than quality camcorder and only a built in microphone. Batteries, tapes, they don't think about these things. The less they know, the less they will show up with.


Secondly, holding a camcorder and capturing a wedding and reception isn't like being there enjoying the moment, It's work and you need to concentrate on what your doing such as how the shot looks, sounds, where you need to be next, iris, focus, and a bunch of other little nuances. That lends very little time to enjoy the wedding and the people involved which is what you want your family and friends to do while they are there.

Lastly, if something should go wrong it could possibly ruin a friendship. It's happened many times before and will happen again, a friend wants to be involved with the wedding and only shoots a little bit of footage and not good video because he wants to get that part over with. Or, he forgets the sound, or he forgets to hit record, or he's out of focus or he just doesn't know where to be and when, all in all the video recorded isn't good and most of your wedding is unusable. This will definitely put a strain on any friendship because a wedding video is very important, avoid this potential hazardous situation and hire someone, outsource the videographer, it's your best bet.

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Wedding jitters and cold feet

You are about to get married, tie the knot, jump the broom, make an honest man/woman out of someone else or any other of a number of ways to describe a wedding.

Its no wonder that getting married is said to be one of the most stressful events in a person's life and almost everyone suffers from last minute nerves,wedding jitters or extremely cold feet! The important thing is to keep these wedding jitters under control and not let them ruin your big day.

Having a few nerves and jitters is perfectly normal and the adrenaline can actually help you cope with being the centre of attention if you are a little on the shy side. One of the best ways to help calm wedding jitters is to sit quietly, just before the service and, if need be, remind yourself exactly why you want to get married!

Often the bride or groom will have a drink or two before the ceremony to help lessen their wedding jitters but don't let this go too far. Too much liquor can make for a very forgettable day!

It is nice for the bride-to-be to share a glass of champagne with some of her closest female friends while she is getting herself dressed and having her hair and make-up done. This can often relax her and create a celebration atmosphere which will dispel any serious wedding jitters or cold feet.

I think that the main cause of wedding jitters is often the thoughts of something going wrong on the big day, rather than actually being worried about whether they are making the right decision.

Although promising to share your life with someone is a big step once you get to this point you should be pretty certain that this is the right person.

Preparation is always the key and if you are panicking about whether the rings are safe or if you will fluff your words then don't let these wedding jitters get in the way of what is going to be a beautiful day.

If you think about the worst that can happen for example the rings get lost then think of a solution, borrow someones, then the worry should ease off. There is so much emotion involved that fluffing your words can be almost inevitable and no-one actually notices!

Whatever happens its your day and people will only remember the good bits. If things do go wrong everyone will pull together to fix it and in years to come you will look back and laugh.

Relax and enjoy!

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Wedding Planning – Do It Yourself…

It can be tempting to avoid the whole wedding planning fiasco by hiring a professional, but these individuals do not come cheaply, so taking charge yourself can be an excellent way to save a great deal of cash. Wedding planning is an art and a lot harder than it looks, so don’t underestimate the time and effort that you will need to put into even the most basic of weddings.

Wedding Planning – The Basics

The basics of wedding planning is to be organized and thorough; it is well worth having at least one extra person to help you with the arrangements, two heads are most certainly better than one when it comes to wedding planning.

A great way to start is to make a list of the dates and items that simply cannot change, for example the venue or the key guests. This is fundamental, as all other aspects can be altered and planned around the key items.

Secondly, when it comes to wedding planning, it is important to decide on the ‘feel’ that you want for your wedding. For example, do you want your wedding to have a relaxed or informal theme? Is there a common hobby or activity that you can draw on as an underlying idea for your wedding? For instance, do the bride and groom both love dogs or do they both enjoy water sports? A very simple lead can be just enough to get you started!

Wedding Planning – Behaving Like a Professional

Wedding planning professionals are generally individuals who are full of ideas, are organized and can get the most out of providers. Whilst a professional may have many ideas at their fingertips you will have to look around and think carefully about what you are hoping to achieve. Why not get ideas by asking friends and relatives what they have seen in recent weddings that worked particularly well (or indeed did not work at all), so that you can take the best ideas and ditch the worst!

Stay organized. Keep accurate records of everything that you see and do. Go overboard with your records as, at some point, you are almost certainly going to be in the position of not being able to remember where you saw that special item!

When it comes to wedding planning, communication is key. Make sure that all providers are fully aware of what you expect, when you expect it and what you expect to pay. Get everything in writing and ensure that you tell everyone if there is any change (no matter how small it may appear).

Be professional, be realistic and keep the suppliers informed; believe you me it will really help to ensure that everything runs smoothly.

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7 Ways To Celebrate Your Wedding Anniversary

Your wedding anniversary is a major event. Prepare for your wedding anniversary celebration in advance so that everything goes smoothly.

1. Start off right. Get up before she does to prepare a quick breakfast. Serve her breakfast in bed. You might want to plan out the menu and buy the necessary things you need to cook a great breakfast the day before your anniversary. Take a shower after that and return to her side. On the other hand, if you are the sort who makes a major mess of the kitchen whenever you cook anything or even when you make a cup of tea, then skip the breakfast in bed part. She might have a fit when she sees the kitchen after that.

2. Present her with a bouquet of roses. Order the roses a day or more in advance and have them delivered right to the doorstep. She might chide you for wasting money, but she would be secretly very pleased with that romantic gesture.

3. If your kids are still young, book a babysitter in advance. You don't want your night to be ruined by crying babies at your table in the restaurant when you are trying to have a romantic candle lit dinner for two. Do go for a candle light dinner. Just the 2 of you in a favourite restaurant.

4. Relax together and take a break from your regular routine. If you both can, take a day's leave from work. Make your arrangements in the office in advance. If you can't try to go home early for a change, so you can spend more time together.

5. Don't forget the anniversary gifts. There is a different gift for each year or marriage. You might want to go with the traditional or modern gift this anniversary.

6. Each year, give your loved one a wedding anniversary ring to signify that year of marriage you have just shared together.

7. On your 10th wedding anniversary, have a party. Invite those who are dear to both of you to attend. In the presence of everyone, renew your wedding vows and exchange a pair of wedding anniversary rings, to commemorate the event.

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