Keep up your winter theme with a reception room housing a big fireplace. Play winter music, such as “Winter Wonderland” or “The Gift.” Serve hot chocolate or eggnog as guests walk into the reception area, and give them roasted chestnuts in paper bags. Pick foods to serve which have warm winter memories for you. This will add a special touch to the food line.

For a fun entrance into the reception room, have a bouquet of mistletoe hanging over the entryway. On tables, place wreaths with candles in the middle of them or decorate with holly and candles. Find candle holders and wine glasses the same as your main wedding color and use them on the tables. Place red cranberries in bowls of water with floating tea candles or be more playful and place gingerbread houses around the room. A seasonal ice sculpture is stunning on the main table.

Decorate the layers and top of your cake with your wedding flowers. White, frosted pinecones are a wintery addition, as well. As an alternative to a cake, serve cupcakes on a tiered cake stand. On the top tier, have a small cake so you can cut it as a couple. Top with a sugar sculpture.

For guest favors, hand out cookie cutters with a recipe attached with your names, wedding date, and “truly cut out for each other.” Or place a sticker with your names and wedding date on the bottoms of gold- or silver-wrapped Hershey kisses. Wrap white bon bons in cellophane and tie with wedding color ribbons. 

Ready to leave your magical event? Ride away in a horse-drawn sleigh. Or a white stretch limousine never goes out of style. Have your guests throw white rose petals or, for an evening wedding, wave sparklers.

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Choosing the right colors makes the whole wedding come together. Traditional colors are reds and greens combined with ivory and gold. Mix and match them together for your favorite effect, such as red/white with highlights of green or gold. For a more modern and winter wonderland look, use silver and white, or silver and royal or light blue. Silver and white are striking combinations, as well.
               
Winter weddings dresses are exceptions to the popular strapless dresses. Opt for warmer, luxurious dresses. Look for a high-low hem (slightly shorter in front and long in the back). Add faux fur added to the hem, sleeves, and neckline. Or add a fur wrap for an elegant (and warm!) look. Long sleeves are best, while bell sleeves are a romantic alternative. Do not be afraid to add a splash of color to your dress, such as a ribbon around your waist or wearing a richly colored cape. If you want to make a statement, wear a red, velvet dress. For a snowy effect, add beads and sequins onto your dress.

The perfect accessory for your dress is long, silk gloves or even short, fur-trimmed gloves. Not only do they look elegant, they help to keep you warm! Or carry a fur muff instead of a bouquet. If you want a bouquet, carry a crystal one, especially for a snow wedding.

Your bridesmaids’ dresses should be long. Add a shrug or jacket to strapless styles. Their dress colors depend on your theme colors. Greens and reds are striking with gold accent ribbons. Light or navy blues are complimented with silver. Instead of flowers, have them carry candles, or if you are carrying a muff, they could carry one, too.

Style hair with flowers from your bouquet. Use holly, ivy, or baby’s breath and tiny berries to add a festivity or delicacy. A sparkly tiara works with silver colors. Do you have long hair? For a soft look, leave your hair down in loose curls.

The groom can wear a cummerbund matching the bridesmaids’ dresses. Or, if you are wearing a colored wrap, match the cummerbund with your wrap. If the groom and groomsmen wear vests, match them to the bridesmaids’ dress colors. A white tuxedo looks striking for winter occasions, especially with the blue/silver colors.

Red roses, while beautiful, are not the only perfect wedding flowers to choose. More inexpensively, use holly and berries. These work well together with red and green colors. Ivy is a graceful addition. Add pinecones to bouquets, along with red and ivory poinsettias. Baby’s breath adds a spray of snowy white.

Color and clothes choices made? Start coordinating them with the church and reception plans!
 

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Outdoor weddings are enormously popular in the summertime. Few of us can escape the months of June, July, and August without receiving at least one invitation to an outdoor nuptial ceremony. For those planning and coordinating these events, decorating becomes a special challenge. The great outdoors isn’t a clearly defined space like a church or reception hall. Where do you begin? In this article, we’ll cover some of the basics that you’ll need to know for decorating an outdoor wedding of your dreams.

In an outdoor wedding ceremony, there are three primary areas of decorating that need to be addressed: the entrance, the seating area, and the altar. By defining each of these areas with unique and meaningful decorations, you will help set the tone of your wedding and a theme, if so desired. We’ll address each of these areas separately.

The Entrance:

First impressions are everything. When your guests arrive, you want them to feel excited about the special occasion they are about to witness. This can easily be accomplished by creating a unique pathway to the wedding site. The beginning of the pathway should be marked and recognizable. Consider placing garden fountains on either side of the path or an arbor draped in flowers for your guests to walk through. Large urns of flowers can be used and also placed along the path to lead the way. If you are having an evening wedding, consider including landscaping lights to outline the pathway and provide lighting.

The Seating Area:

Seating is always a challenge at an outdoor wedding. You’ll likely have to rent chairs for your guests to sit on. You’ll want your guests to feel like they are part of an intimate setting, so be considerate of how the chairs are arranged. Make sure that each person has the best possible vantage point of the bride and groom. When decorating the chairs, consider using strings of flowers and ribbons along the backs of the last row of chairs to add an elegant touch to the seating area. If your guests are entering and exiting from a center isle, you might consider draping the outsides of the rows with flowers and ribbons, as well. Consider placing urns of flowers or even free standing patio trellises along the outside of the chair rows. This can add a burst of color, as well as some privacy for your ceremony.

The Altar:

The altar is arguably the most important part of decorating in a wedding ceremony. After all, the bride and groom should be the center of the day. It is important that your guests have the ability to see and hear you during the ceremony. If it will be a large outdoor gathering with more than 50 people, you may want to use a sound system so guests in back can hear you.

If the ground is relatively flat, you might also want to elevate the bride, groom, and officiant. This can easily be accomplished with a sturdy platform to stand on, and the platform can be decorated as desired with flowers, bows, and cloth. You may also want to create a special backdrop or surround for your vows. An overhead structure such as a wedding arbor or garden pergola can be a great option for this. Arbors and pergolas can easily be purchased as ready to assemble kits, and they come in a variety of colors, sizes, and configurations. After the ceremony is over, the garden structure can then be gifted to the happy couple for their new home.

Planning any wedding is a lot of work, but decorating an outdoor wedding doesn’t have to be. By paying attention to the three most important areas, the entrance, seating area, and altar, you will ensure that the event is beautifully decorated and your guests are dazzled on your special day.

Home Products ‘n’ More offers a variety of wedding arbor kits with free shipping and handling! Visit us today at http://www.homeproductsnmore.com/Arbor_Plans_s/92.htm.

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Recycled Candles In An Eco Friendly Wedding

A simple though effective way to ensure a more eco friendly wedding is to make use of candles that have been recycled and to also prefer using soy candles over paraffin candles. You can also opt to use Mason jars that are adorable especially when decked with some satin ribbons or vintage organza. The centerpiece could be created in the shape of a heart that is made from seashells.

As for eco friendly catering, you can achieve this goal by choosing a local caterer that only makes use of natural ingredients in their foods. As mints are very candy you can replace Jordan almonds or traditional forms of table candy with organic chocolates as well as Fair Trade certified candies. If you need to find these and other organic foods check out some of the organic stores including those such as NaturalCandyStore.com.

For the wedding dress it is possible to go green by shopping for organic as well as vegetable dyed fabric for the bride as well as bridesmaid’s gowns and even for the flower girls. Here again, there are several good online stores that specialize in these kinds of green dresses and Getconscious.com in particular is a good option.

Similarly, there are several good ideas for green and eco-friendly wedding invitations including using pure cotton paper and for flowers, you can choose potted plants or cut flowers (organic and certified) rather than the traditional floral arrangements. Antique or traditional rings or those which are used from generations will be good for wedding. An eco friendly honeymoon is the best choice?

The wedding flower is important for the big day and so should be chosen with great care. In fact, if not chosen properly they will, besides not being able to provide the extra life to the occasion, will also prove to be unnecessarily costly as well.

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During wedding shopping, one needs to address certain topics including: the amount of money being contributed, the theme of the wedding, the wedding attire, and the wedding stationery. Money can help tremendously in a wedding. With a lot of money, a soon to be bride can choose an experienced wedding planner.

Wedding planners help take some of the crushing stress that wedding shopping can cause. A great deal of money contributed to the wedding may even cause a bride to feel more relaxed when planning a wedding. Even though money can help a bride achieve a beautiful wedding, lack of money is not an obstacle While it is imperative that a wedding is planned with enough of a time gap, it is even more important when saving money.

A bride will need time to look at a lot of different prices when wedding shopping. There are many ways to cut corners. One way is buying a small wedding cake for display and having a large sheet cake to eat. If it is possible to rent something, one should rent it instead of buying it. While flowers from professional florists are lovely, a bride should check to see if there are any local floral design schools in her area. Checking out the work of the schools, she may be impressed, and their price is drastically lower than a florists.

The date of the wedding will even drop the price. The bride should consider having the wedding on a Friday instead of a Saturday. When wedding shopping, the theme of the wedding is very important. The theme of the wedding can determine the wedding stationery, the decorations, the attire, the food, and even the location. The theme should reflect both the couple. There are numerous themes. Most themes are from a time period, ethnic tradition, or from something that the couple admires. Some examples of themes are The Seaside, The Renaissance, A Night in Paris, or an African Celebration. If the couple chooses, they do not have to go with the traditional themes. They can create their own atmosphere. The theme wholly depends on the couple.

The wedding attire is one of the most exciting things during wedding shopping. It includes the wedding dress. Often it is one of the main things that women dream of that is related to weddings. Shopping for the perfect wedding dress can make the stress of wedding shopping worthwhile. It is okay for a bride to bring her family and friends when shopping for a bridal gown, but she should not bring them with her when she is shopping for the first time. While their opinions are interesting and important, the bride’s opinion is even more important. Her family and friends should not alter her viewpoints. She is the one who has to wear the dress down the aisle. The groom’s tuxedo should match the bride’s elegance. While the bride’s dress has to look the best, the bride maids’ dresses should be beautiful too. Their dresses shouldn’t look like they were just last minute additions.

Wedding stationery is a very important aspect of wedding shopping. It includes invitations, programs, Thank You cards, envelope seals, and many other things that go along with these items. Invitations are one of the first types of stationery that is needed. Thank You cards are one of the last things that are needed, but they are just as equally important. The stationery can be made or ordered. Depending on the numbers of guest coming to the wedding, the stationery can be a big task. With so much to buy the plan carefully, build a budget and try and stick to it. Take the money side seriously but have some fun while you shop.

Technorati Tags: Wedding Shopping, Wedding Planning

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Here’s a list of colours and their meanings in our society:

WHITE: Brides have been dressing in white since 1840, when Queen Victoria married in a white, opulent gown. Before that, brides wore any colour but black. White symbolizes purity, the innocence of childhood. In the Christian liturgy, it symbolizes the brightness of the day.

GOLD: In Christian liturgy, gold, like white, symbolizes the brightness of the day. In our culture, it often symbolizes riches. As a trim or accessory to earth tones (brown, green, orange) it may give vibrancy and glow. It also works well with bright and full colours such as burgundy, deep green.

BLACK: The traditional colour of mourning, but recently it has become the colour of sophistication. For a svelte wedding, it is perfectly acceptable to dress your bridesmaids in black, perhaps with white accessories and trim. It also can make a maturing accent with a bright or light main colour.

PURPLE/VIOLET: Way back to early Egypt, purple has represented royalty. During the Renaissance, purple, deep red and black were royal colours and, at time, ordinary people could be arrested for using those special colours. But you can use them! Purple, in Christian liturgy, symbolizes the sovereignty of Christ and repentance of sin. In China, though, purple is the colour of mourning.

RED: Usually a symbol of blood and fire, it is a conflicted colour: One side expresses war and violence, but the other side expresses love, warmth and compassion. Our brides don’t usually wear red, but in China it is the traditional colour for a wedding dress and symbolizes good luck. It is traditional in India, also. Consider using red, if you love it, at your wedding.

GREEN: Symbol of growth. Combines the spiritual aspect of blue and the emotional vibrancy of yellow. It combines beautifully with other earth tones as well as gold tones. In China is represents the Yin, the passive and receptive principle.

BLUE: colour of the sky, this colour is associated with spirituality, feminity (although it is true that boy babies often wear it,) fidelity, cleanness and freshness. There is very little negative aspect associated with this colour!

PINK: This is a "new" colour, invented in the 17th Century to describe the colour of the flowers called pinks. We think of it as a feminine, sweet colour, but in Japan, adult movies are called "pink" movies. In Catholicism is symbolizes joy and happiness.

YELLOW: Shine, light, knowledge, happiness, and joy. On the other side, it suggests deceit and cowardice. In Egypt it is traditionally associated with mourning, in Japan, courage. The Chinese connect it to the Yang principle of Yin-Yang–the active, creative male side.

ORANGE: It is reported that people who love life like orange. It is stimulating but warm. It adds verve to earth tones and, when used with white, reminds people of those childhood treats, vanilla ice-cream wrapped in orange Popsicle.

BROWN: Could be dull, but it is considered natural, down-to-earth, friendly, dependable. A neutral you can mix with many other colours to warm your celebration.

So consider your wedding image: Vibrant? Responsible? Warm? Gentle? Compassionate? A forever, steady relationship? Think about what your colours are saying!

About the Author: Sue Redman, Costumer/Owner of Costumes Galore at http://www.costumesgalore.com

Technorati Tags: wedding colours, wedding themes

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One of the first things you will do when planning a wedding is to choose your wedding invitations. There are so many wedding invitations to choose from and lots of places to look.

You may want to look online for wedding invitations. There are sites that have all kinds of wedding invitations in many styles and colors. You can even order beautiful wedding invitations online. This makes the task quick and easy. Wedding sites that offer this type of service have made the process a breeze.

You can look for wedding invitations in wedding magazines. Spend an afternoon at a bookstore or library browsing through wedding magazines and you will get a good idea of what is available. There are many bridal stores or stationery shops that have wedding invitations. These bridal invitations are available in a stunning array of styles and colors. Allow yourself enough time to look through all the books of wedding invitations.

This can be a time-consuming project but it will allow you to choose the perfect invitation. If you have a bridal notebook or folder you may want to keep track of your favorite wedding invitations. Start looking for wedding invitations several months before the wedding. If you order wedding invitations it can take quite awhile to get them. Also allow yourself enough time to have the invitations reprinted if there happens to be any mistakes. You do not want to have to send out wedding invitations that do not have the correct information or misspellings.

When you order wedding invitations from a specialty store you can usually expect to pay quite a bit. If you need to save a little money you can either make or print your own wedding invitations. There are many kinds of card stock, envelopes, rubber stamps, inks and embellishments available if you want to design your wedding invitations. For those who are creative, artistic or want a unique, one-of-a-kind wedding invitation, this is a wonderful idea. There are wedding invitations at craft and printing stores that can be printed using your own computer.

Wedding invitations set the tone for the wedding. Choose or make just the right wedding invitations for your special day.

About the author:

Craig Thornburrow is an Author and Business Owner – Get More Wedding Information at www.theworldsbestwedding.com

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This is a new generation and silk wedding flowers are the rage! Not only have "fake" flowers evolved in leaps and bounds, but they have also become very popular as alternatives to fresh flowers for wedding bouquets, flower girl baskets, corsages and boutonnieres. From the exquisite cascading bridal bouquet to the simplistic hand-tied wedding bouquet, silk wedding flowers lend themselves to every style imaginable!

Elegant silk calla lilies look lovely, whether cascading downward intermingled with ivy, or when in a hand-tied bridal bouquet. Silk roses in a rainbow of colors combine nicely with a variety of other flowers in a clutch bridal bouquet or in a cascading wedding bouquet.

The look is so close to that of fresh flowers that most people will never even know the difference. But your checkbook will! Purchasing silk wedding flower packages is what many smart brides are doing. Eliminating the stress of last-minute florist mix-ups, ordering your silk wedding flower sets from one of the online merchants is convenient and cost-effective.

With packages starting under $300, silks have made wedding flowers affordable. Beware of low-quality silks, however. Make sure that you’re getting top-of-the-line silk flowers if you want to fool everyone that they’re real. Quality silk wedding flowers are so realistic that people will want to smell your bridal bouquet! To fool them, try spritzing your wedding bouquets with rose oil or another floral fragrance.

Flower girl baskets can carry a stationary arrangement or an assortment of silk rose petals to be scattered down the aisle for the bride to walk upon. Walking on rose petals is symbolic of both beauty and of the bride walking down the path of a new life that is about to begin. Another alternative for the flower girl is for her to carry a silk floral pomander. The flowers can match those in the bridal bouquet and your little flower girl will look adorable swinging her beautiful pomander to and fro as she heads down the aisle. This is especially conducive to very young flower girls.

The ring bearer’s pillow has an alternative as well. A fabric covered ring box can be carried down the aisle by your young attendant. This is a more contemporary look for the ring bearer, who often balks at carrying a lacy pillow.

In lieu of traditional corsages, consider giving the special women at the wedding small hand-tied bouquets for them to carry. With today’s flimsier fabrics, pin on corsages are sometimes too bulky to wear. However, by using silk flowers, the weight of the corsages is dramatically decreased. Maybe you could point that out as a benefit to your mother as you gently remind her — this isn’t her wedding after all.

Technorati Tags: Wedding Flowers, Silk Wedding Flowers

About the author: Bonnie Goodwin Ray has more than sixteen years experience in the wedding industry. She is the author of Wedding Planning Made Easier and has become a leading expert in silk wedding flower design.

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The wedding ring is so important because it bonds two people together and it is the exchange of wedding rings that finalize the vow (I do). Do a check list of all your wedding plans and be sure that choosing a perfect wedding ring is one of your top priorities besides turning up on the day?

Choosing a wedding ring is not as simple as you think, much thought is needed behind your chosen design. What you have to remember the wedding band binds the happy couple together forever. This ornate piece of Jewelry with so much meaning will be worn every day so we need to choose something pretty special. Back to your budget which will play an important role when making your choice, because of the penny shortage does not mean that you can not have that piece of warm gold or cool silver, if precious stones were to be embedded or mounted in your actual design then don’t expect to many diamonds with just a fist full of dollars.

Jewelry materials like what is used in wedding rings have evolved over the years. Popular is the 14K/18 yellow gold which you will find more of a favourable option worldwide. Close on its heels is the white gold gaining more popularity by the day. Why not consider platinum, known to be one of the hardest metals and once again a fine choice in a wedding ring.

Platinum is a durable material and therefore able to hold up to any wear and tear. Platinum wedding rings look very similar to rings made of white gold which many can be excused for the mix up but at the end of the day both look stylish and elegant. However, platinum wedding rings are more expensive.

For the man it has to be Titanium which is becoming a favourite among the male species. It is light and long lasting and far less expensive as platinum. Once again Titanium wedding rings can be mistaken for the white gold in appearance.

Styles and what to choose is where you come in, only you know what you are looking for therefore it is wise to shop around before making the final decision, you would never forgive yourself if you see a cheaper ring around the corner and more beautiful. There are so many designs and styles to choose from. You have traditional plain bands to more up market exquisite ones.

Modern society designs are worth checking out. Why not opt for a two-tone wedding band. Celtic wedding rings are famous these days with couples where they bond their marriage with highly carved and engraved work of a craftsman. In some cases the bride matches her wedding ring with the design of her engagement ring. This also has to be taken into consideration when mixing and matching especially when both rings are worn on the same finger.

It is best to know the ring size if shopping out of a catalogue or online. By going into a jewellers for the wedding bands will cause you less stress where if the rings are ordered they may not be the right size or wrong design when delivered therefore all the heartache of having to send them back. Now we dont want more heartache than necessary as you have that to come with married life (Only joking) Online shopping is an easy option just be sure to have the right measurements etc and all should be hunky dory just like the hunk you are about to marry.

About The Author: Kacy Carr Dress to impress on your wedding day with the help of this fabulous site. Everthing you could possibly need when planning your wedding can be found here at http://www.your-wedding-planning-help.com

Technorati Tags: wedding rings, gold and silver wedding rings

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Roughly six to nine months prior to your wedding you should start your search for a plus size wedding dress.  Since you will want to choose the perfect wedding gown for the wedding, it is vital that you give yourself plenty of time. You also need to allow enough time for any alterations that might need to be done.

A plus size wedding dress should compliment your figure.  One type of dress that skims over the hips and is very flattering for most full figured women, is an A-line dress.  A plus size wedding dress with a V-shaped neckline is also very flattering.  Tea length dresses and ballroom skirts must be avoided, since they often add bulk and make a woman with curves look very squatty looking.

When hunting for a plus size wedding dress, do not judge the dress without actually trying it on.  A dress that hangs awkwardly on the hanger might just be the right dress.   Buy your plus size wedding dress a size larger than what you would normally buy.  Wedding dresses generally run on the small side.  This will allow for simple alterations, as well as allowing for any change in your weight.

Plus size wedding lingerie is another important part of any wedding dress. A reputable lingerie shop will carry a variety of sizes and styles for you to choose from.   However, if there are no local lingerie shops that carry plus size wedding lingerie, the Internet is a great alternative.

Plus size wedding lingerie allows the bride to show off her beautiful figure.  Most often, plus size lingerie is manufactured to look delicate and lacey, while still offering you the support needed.  Be sure that the lingerie is comfortable to wear, since you will not be standing still for very long on your big day.

Maid of Honors, often, are able to pick out their own dresses.  This is ideal as it allows her to pick a dress that suits her particular body type.  If you are trying to find a plus size Maid of Honor dress, it is vital that you know both your body type and your accurate measurements.  Purchase a dress that accentuates your curves.  The prime thing to do is make sure the dress fits properly as this is vital in getting a dress that looks appropriate and flaterring.

Another important decision that needs to be made is the Mother of the Bride’s dress. Often times, buying a plus size Mother of the Bride dress right off the rack can not only be frustrating, but less than satisfying. When looking for a Mother of the Bride dress, a great place to search might just be the Internet.  Begin by deciding the color of the dress and then the fabric.  Custom dresses allow you to choose a color and fabric that is flattering to your body type.    As with other dresses, accurate measurements play an important role in getting a dress that is both comfortable and flattering.

Purchasing dresses for a wedding can often be a stressful situation.  When looking for plus size wedding attire, the search may seem even more stressful.  However, by keeping the above tips in mind, the search can be a more satisfying one.  The most important thing is to purchase a dress that you are comfortable wearing, that flatters your body type and that fits properly.

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