Posts Tagged ‘groom’
Finding The Right Wedding Professional For You
What does a wedding professional do? They help brides plan their weddings. They might help for a few days as the wedding day approaches, or they might be your guide through the entire wedding process. While the wedding professional’s job is to help you with your wedding, your job as the bride is to make sure you choose the best wedding professional for you.
How do you decide who is right for you? The first step is to meet with the professional. What’s your first impression? Is this a person you would want to have lunch with or is this someone whose personal taste doesn’t mesh with your own?
In order for the person you hire to do the best possible job they can, they need to understand the direction you want to take with your wedding. As well, they should understand your individual tastes and be able to listen to what you want and translate that into a reality.
There are no magicians in wedding planning, however, there are some very talented wedding professionals who know how to create the wedding that you’ve dreamed of since you were a little girl. As with most things in life, you get what you pay for. For a few hundred dollars, you aren’t going to get a lot of help. You might get someone who can direct the flow of your wedding on your wedding day, but if you want someone who can personalize your wedding invitations, cake, flowers and more, then go with someone who has experience.
How do you know what you’re getting? More and more people are turning to the Internet and sites like Wedding Wire to make a decision. Wedding Wire is a compilation of wedding vendors, planners, florists, photographers and more from across the country. Each venue or vendor is rated by people who have worked with them.
Take a look at all the reviews. One bad review doesn’t mean you have chosen a terrible person. We all have bad days and we all have good days. What do the majority of the reviews say? Are they positive?
You may also want to speak with people your wedding professional has worked with in the past. People will always share the positive parts of their experience, but feel free to ask what the most difficult part of the process was for them. If a wedding professional is unwilling to put you in touch with any of their clients, this may be a red flag.
Once you have cost, reviews, interviews and met with a few wedding planners it’s time to make up your mind. Go with your gut instinct. If you liked one planner over another, but you aren’t sure why, trust yourself. Then don’t look back. Have fun with the process, have fun with your girlfriends and family!
For an elegant wedding ceremony, visit VillaSiena.cc. For an indoor or outdoor wedding venue in Arizona, the beauty and style of Villa Siena creates memories that last a lifetime.
Accessorizing A Banquet Hall For Less
The importance of the banquet hall can’t be underestimated. When guests enter the room and see the accessories and lighting jewelry, the response is often ‘ahhhh.’ The other ‘ahhhh’ moment and possibly the most looked-forward to moment of a wedding is when the bride makes her first appearance. Because so much of the reception takes place in the banquet hall, making an impression is a top priority for many brides.
It’s easy to create a lasting impression when money is no object. However, if you’re working on a budget, there are a few tips that can help you create a spectacular setting without spending a lot of money.
A room lit by candlelight casts a soft glow over everything. While pillar candles can cost a lot of money, votives and tea lights don’t. In fact, you can buy a bag of 100 for less than $20.00 at a lot of discount stores. Buy a couple hundred and adorn the room with them. Light the wedding cake, light the tables, the chandeliers and more.
An idea that doesn’t cost anything but a bit of time is creating an impressive fold with the napkin. This adds a visual dimension to the room. There are several ways to fold a napkin that include the rose fold, bird of paradise fold, crown fold, opera fan fold and more.
Another inexpensive idea is printing table cards and menu cards at home. Add in a design element, a symbol you like, or an image that reflects the city you’re in or the theme of your wedding. Or you can use colored ink and colored paper to dress it up. Layering one style of paper inside another is a great way to bring in color themes. By placing the table number in a stand, the table takes on visual depth.
Flowers are a part of almost every banquet hall design. However, you don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars on each display. The arrangement doesn’t have to be enormous. Instead, think of using fewer flowers, but incorporating flowers with height for a ‘wow’ factor.
Color is another element that can be brought in at a reasonable price. Using colored napkins with a chair tie, will help make the entire room feel complete. This also helps personalize the room and add your own flair to the festivities.
A banquet hall, in essence, is a blank canvas. You can fill it with color, with flowers, with style. You don’t have to spend your life’s savings to have a memorable banquet hall. With a little thought and a little creativity, you’ll have your ‘ahhhh’ moment.
For an elegant banquet hall, visit VillaSiena.cc. For an indoor or outdoor wedding venue in Arizona, the beauty and style of Villa Siena creates memories that last a lifetime.
How Wedding Themes Dictate Wedding Location Ideas
There are thousands of wedding location ideas around the world. You may feel overwhelmed at the choices out there and wonder how you’re ever going to choose. By bringing a theme into your wedding, you just might help narrow down the places that will be a good fit for you.
* Summer, spring, winter fall. You may have always dreamed of being married when the first buds on the trees were opening, or at the top of a mountain covered in snow. These choices will help narrow down places you can have a wedding. But don’t let your wedding be dictated by a particular month. Some people go to Alaska to have a winter wedding during the summer or Arizona to have a summer wedding in December.
* Ethnic Weddings: Bringing your heritage into your ceremony is really important for a lot of people. Some people have bagpipes playing and groomsmen in kilts. Others offer elaborate dress and huge feats. An ethnically themed wedding doesn’t have to take place in the country of origin. In the US there are many themed areas that are elegant and classic. If you want an Italian wedding, consider an Italian Villa in Arizona.
* Disney Themed Weddings. Many girls dreamed of being a princess and having their love ride up on a white horse and carry them away. This can happen. Horse-drawn carriages create a romantic setting as the couple rides off into the sunset. Any favorite character can be incorporated into a theme. Guests can be asked to participate by dressing as their favorite Disney character, or as a character from a favored movie.
* Celebrating an Era. Some people loved the seventies, others related to the sweeping ball gowns of the ‘Gone With the Wind’ era. No matter the decade or year in celebration, wedding locations can be transformed to another time, another place. Guests can also participate. It’s great to see how elaborate guests can be with their costumes.
* Bringing the outside in. Some people want an outdoor wedding without the guesswork of whether or not the weather will cooperate. For them, there’s ways to bring in lighting to recreate a starry night, or use plants and flowers to create a tropical paradise.
* Color themes are very common and can touch upon anything from flowers, to dresses, to candles, to lighting preferences.
* Saving the earth. To save on the amount of resources a wedding can use, some brides opt for an environmentally friendly wedding. This can be done by sending e-vites instead of cards or regular invitations. The bride might choose to wear her mother’s dress or to buy a previously worn dress. Having organic foods is always fresh and exciting.
No matter your choice of wedding theme, your decision will mostly likely affect your wedding location ideas. Have fun with your wedding. Choose a backdrop or architectural venue that reflects your taste and style and serves as a theme in and of itself. Think about the things that are important to the bride and groom and bring those loves and passions into the wedding.
For Arizona’s premier wedding location idea, visit VillaSiena.cc where your wedding dreams will come true.
Why Weddings Take Place
It’s a scene out of a movie, but it’s happening to you. The love of your life ushers you off in a canoe for a picnic. The sun is shining; the water is the same blue of your love’s eyes. You paddle for a while before coming to a deserted island where there just happens to be bubbly, delectable chocolates and more. Like your dreams, he bends down on one knee and looking up into your face asks if you will do him the honor of becoming his wife. You are so excited, all you can do is kiss and hug him. You feel you could conquer the world your love is so great.
As the afternoon fades, you row back to shore and start calling everyone you know to share the good news. They have questions – when, where, how? You don’t have answers yet, but it’s time to start planning. The wedding process can take a year to plan and execute.
When she realizes how much there is to be done, the bride can sometimes feel stressed out. There are dresses to pick out, a place to have the wedding, flowers, food, drinks and more. The husband-to-be does his best to be supportive, although planning a wedding was never on his list of top ten things to do. The bride feels alone – everyone has an opinion of how things should be done. The feeling of conquering the world starts to shrink a little.
Take a time out. There is a reason for all of this. You love him. You want to spend the rest of your life with your groom-to-be. Yes, work needs to be done, but it’s important to find a way to enjoy the process. This is about the coming together of two people, not frustrations due to minor details. The focus of the wedding should be your love, your commitment to one another and the self-sacrifice and hard work that will need to be a part of your marriage in order to make it succeed.
This part of the wedding, the love, can be overlooked with all the little things going on. So how do you make this time fun?
Keep the spark alive. Do what you have to do to have some time together where there is no talk of a wedding, no talk of wedding favors, guest lists or color schemes. Have a weekend away, or take a few hours on a weekend to do something you both enjoy, but remember no talk about the wedding during this time.
During the week, have one night where the wedding is forgotten. This is the time to get dressed up and go out, or cook in. Take this time to talk about what’s going on, how you’re feeling. This is the start of a new life. If you love to play tennis or golf, go out and do that together. If the groom is constantly leaving the bride at home to go out with the boys, she might get frustrated or feel alone and resentful. While the groom doesn’t have to be a part of every detail, he should be considerate of the amount of work that’s going into this. Both the bride and groom should be sure to support each other during this time. Don’t let the wedding planning cause any rifts in your love.
Marriage takes a lot of work to be successful. Planning the wedding will be a test as to how the two of you cope with stress together. Learning to be open, honest and supportive will be the building blocks of a life of love and happiness.
For elegant weddings, visit VillaSiena.cc. For an indoor or outdoor wedding venue in Arizona, the beauty and style of Villa Siena creates memories that last a lifetime.
categories: wedding, courtyard wedding, outdoor wedding, wedding in arizona, arizona wedding, bride, groom, wedding venue, wedding location
Deciding On Wedding Locations
So you’ve found a couple of wedding locations that you like. Now it’s time to narrow them down and make a final decision. You find yourself unsure of where to begin when comparing them. They all have things you like about them. It can be difficult. The main reason is venues bill themselves differently. They emphasize the key points that are the best attributes, but these aren’t the same in every venue.
Most people make their decisions of a venue based on price. The biggest mistake you can make is trying to decipher each individual cost and compare them line by line. If for example you say the salmon here costs $24.00 per plate but here it costs $30.00 per plate, but the wine here is $15.00 per bottle but here is $12.00 per bottle, you will make yourself crazy.
Instead, look at the final costs for each place. Ask yourself which place you prefer and if it’s worth it to pay a little more it or not. This way you are basing your decision on what your total cost is going to be and not apples and oranges.
Another consideration for wedding locations is whether or not you want a private or public venue and if that matters to you or not. A private venue is one in which your wedding is the only event happening that day. A public venue would be some place like a hotel where other events may be happening and other people will be around.
Some people want their wedding to feel as if this moment is the only moment happening in the world. For them, a private venue would be the place to go. For others it’s more important to have a venue that is easy to access, where transportation isn’t necessary and out of town guests are already at the location.
What else does the venue offer besides a room? Do they have a wedding coordinator? Are there private rooms where you and your bridesmaids can wait before the wedding so the guests don’t see you? Do they serve appetizers and drinks while you’re waiting? While you’re being photographed?
How many weddings has the venue hosted before? Is this their specialty or do they do any event that comes up? Will they help you organize the timing of events? If you’re moving from outside to inside, will someone help direct guests? Are there indoor and outdoor spaces so part of your wedding can be outside?
This is just a quick guide to help you evaluate what you’re getting. Figure out what your costs will be and what the most important amenities are for you. Once you make the decision, stick with it and have the best wedding you can have.
For an elegant wedding location, visit VillaSiena.cc. For an indoor or outdoor wedding venue in Arizona, the beauty and style of Villa Siena creates memories that last a lifetime.
Planning A Wedding Without Stress
Most brides seek out wedding planning advice, however few ask the simple question, how can I have a stress-free wedding?
A wedding is more than just the day. It’s hard to enjoy something that has been a source or stress or frustration for close to a year. Even if everything else goes right, the bride might not be able to enjoy the process as much as she should. So here are a few thoughts on how to enjoy the process and not get overwhelmed or stressed out.
1. Have the Right Attitude. Happy people have happy weddings. Stressed out people have stressful weddings. It’s important to see the wedding in context of your life. This will be a fabulous, romantic, extraordinary wedding as long as that’s how you view it. Your feelings are transferred to your family, friends and guests. Getting frustrated by every little detail is going to leave you feeling frustrated with the whole planning process and when your wedding day comes, you will be so focused on everything that’s not perfect, you won’t be able to enjoy all the beautiful, perfect moments that are happening around you. Don’t sweat the little stuff. Stay focused on taking care of yourself so you can enjoy the big day.
2. Money. More fights happen over money than anything else. It’s the source of most of the problems with weddings. One way to get over that is to figure out how much money you have to spend. Figure out your ideal budget, and then have a meeting with everyone who will be contributing. This may just be the groom or it may be the bride’s parents or the groom’s parents as well. Once you know how much money you have to spend, stay within that budget. Even if it’s not as much as you had hoped for, create the most incredible wedding with what you have. You might need to get a little more creative than usual, but make that a fun challenge.
3. Be Kind To The Groom. While little girls dream about their weddings and plan it for years in their imaginations, men don’t. They usually don’t care what dresses the girls are wearing or what colors you choose for a color scheme. This DOES NOT mean he doesn’t care about you. He does. When he tells you he wants you to choose what will make you happy, he means it. So be kind. If he wants to be involved, let him, but if he’d rather watch football, then set aside a little bit of time each week to get his input, then make the decisions that will make you happy.
4. First Thought Best Thought. When you make a decision, let that be it. Don’t second-guess yourself. Once you’ve decided, then go to the next decision otherwise you will make yourself crazy. There are so many options for dresses, hair, table settings and more. You know what you like, so go for it and don’t waste time with regrets.
5. Coping With Family. Not everyone gets along with his or her family. Some people are resentful of a parent getting re-married or an aunt or uncle who has treated them unfairly. Weddings are not the time to rehash hard feelings. As the bride, you set the tone for the wedding. Stand above petty arguments and hurt feelings. Embrace everyone who has come because they are your family and this is a time for celebration, a time for love. Negative feelings will bring you down and this is your time to shine. Forgive the past, even if it is just for this day. Others will notice and the emotional rewards will be priceless.
Despite this advice, there will probably be times during the wedding planning process that you are stressed out. Don’t dwell on those moments. Get past them as quickly as you can and don’t look back. Focus on the positive incredible moments that are happening. Look to your bridesmaids and loved ones and feel their love and enjoy it. This is your wedding, your life and your future. Set the tone for it without stress
For an elegant wedding, visit VillaSiena.cc. For an indoor or outdoor wedding venue in Arizona, the beauty and style of Villa Siena creates memories that last a lifetime.
How To Decide On Wedding Favors
What you choose as a wedding favor can be something that is reflective of your interests, the things you enjoy, or they can be a traditional gift such as chocolates or truffles. But why not get creative and let your guests take home a little bit of who you are to better remember your wedding. The following are a few ideas for creative wedding favors.
Is there a hobby that interests you or your groom? For example, some people like to picnic in open fields as they travel throughout the country having picnics in exotic locations. If that’s you, then a great way to share that with people is to have a miniature picnic basket at each table filled with cheese or a recipe for the ideal picnic. Maybe you’re a photographer. If so, think of giving a photograph as a gift. It can be of a place you both have enjoyed or something else creative.
While food is fairly traditional, you can get creative with the presentation. This can include having cookies or chocolates shaped like something you appreciate. You might have heart-shaped chocolates, or cookies that look like dog bones. Candies can be made with images on them. You can have a picture of you and your husband scanned onto the chocolates or just the date of the wedding. Another popular way to give candy is to set up a candy table and let people choose what they want to take home.
Donations. A really nice way to share your passion is to give a donation in each guest’s name to your favorite charity. Not only does this let people know what cause is important to you, it helps out people in need instead of giving a trinket that will sit in a closet or end up in the garbage.
Environmental Twists. To promote a healthy planet, some couples give a tree sapling that can be planted in a back yard, or wildflower seeds to be sprinkled around. The growth of the plants will not only remind others of your love, but will also symbolize the growth or your relationship.
Career Favors. For the doctor who has just graduated medical school or the artist who has had their first gallery opening, think about something that can reflect this. Maybe a miniature rendering of a piece of art would make a great gift, or a personalized invitation to view the gallery. For the doctor, how about candy shaped like a stethoscope, or candy ‘medicine.’
For those without a lot of money to spend a simple poem can be a beautiful way to give people something to remember you by. A story is another great idea. If you’re a musician, then how about a CD of your work? Give people something to talk about and enjoy long after the wedding has passed.
There are all types of favors that show a little bit about whom you are. They let you share a bit of your interests and create a memorable keepsake.
For Arizona’s premier wedding venue, visit VillaSiena.cc where your wedding dreams will come true.
Wedding Coordinators
You may have heard of wedding coordinators. Their job is to make your life easier. They can help plan your wedding, organize your wedding, or give you moral support. They can be involved in as many details of the wedding as you like, or as few. Some people choose to hire a wedding coordinator the minute they find out they are getting married, while others find one when they get overwhelmed with the planning process. However, before you hire one, find out if you really need to spend the extra money.
Before you spend a lot of money on a wedding coordinator, you may want to decide on your wedding venue. Some places offer their personal wedding coordinator at no extra charge. Hotels, however usually only have a catering manager. Therefore, if you want help with the little details, decorations and ceremony ideas, a wedding coordinator is highly recommended, at least for a day or two so the bride and groom don’t have to worry about the details on their wedding day.
Private venues often have on-staff coordinators. A person is usually assigned to your event and is present for the day of the wedding. Their job is to ensure guests know where to go, the DJ is set up and makes announcements on time, food comes out smoothly and guests are happy.
Wedding coordinators are there to make sure you have everything you need, including musical entertainment, decorations and more. As well, they are the person that helps any guests who have questions and directs people where to go and when.
Some venues offer a coordinator from the moment the contract is signed. Others only offer free service during the week before. The benefit of using an on-site coordinator is they are familiar with the vendors and with how events work best in that venue. They can often guide brides and grooms to make the best decisions as to whether they want an indoor/outdoor ceremony, how to organize the room, where the dance floor should be and more. They also have access to vendors and caterers familiar with the facilities.
If a coordinator is not included with your venue, then you may choose to hire one on your own. Wedding coordinators start at $500.00 for a day of work up to $10,000 dollars for someone to be with you every step of the way. Most brides appreciate the experience and extra help they get. Be sure to find one you work well with, as they will be a big part of your life during the planning stages of the wedding.
Be sure to take the time to talk to your wedding coordinator to be sure they understand your needs and your tastes from the beginning. The more information your wedding planner has, the better they can help you realize your dreams.
When you’re looking for a wedding venue, knowing a wedding coordinator is available at no extra cost can be an added incentive for booking a venue. It should be calculated into the wedding cost when comparing one venue against another. Their experience is often invaluable, and can help set the bride at ease on her wedding day, knowing she doesn’t need to take care of any details.
For Arizona’s premier wedding venue and wedding coordinators, visit VillaSiena.cc where your wedding dreams will come true.
categories: wedding, courtyard wedding, outdoor wedding, wedding in arizona, arizona wedding, bride, groom, wedding venue, wedding location
A Guide To Organising Your Stag Party
If you’re ready to take the dive and tie the knot, you way as well go out in style! A stag party is the last chance for a man to make the most of his freedom and more importantly enjoy the company of his friends before they are destined for nights on the sofa and ‘couple’s parties’.
In the past most stag parties would venture to some large city in the UK but with the advent of budget airlines and backpackers hostels, many are travelling a little further. Top of the list is Eastern Europe or the Greek Islands but some people are going as far as Thailand or even Las Vegas. If you are planning one, you should consider if your friends will be able to afford what you have planned, the last thing you want is to exclude your best man because the flights are too expensive.
The key to the perfect stag do is planning, it’s not something that will just happen and you don’t want to waste something that doesn’t come along very often. You will need to begin planning in advance and if you have a wedding date make sure there is a period of recovery time before the big day, enough time for arguments to settle and eyebrows to grow back.
Once you have your date and destination sorted, come up with a theme, something outrageous that immediately makes all your mates scared of being seen in public. It’s also much easier to find your friends in a club if everyone is wearing fluorescent lime green man-kinis. If you can’t think of a theme good enough then consider charity shop roulette, each person can spend 10 in a charity shop on a full outfit that they may or may not wear, then put each outfit in a black bin bag and hand them out at random, you MUST wear what you are given. This way everyone ends up wit ha horrendous outfit that they had no choice in buying, the outcome will be hilarious.
If you are going abroad you will probably go for a long weekend so unless you just want to recover during the day, it is worth considering some activities to make the weekend memorable. Paintballing ensures teamwork and competition, if you are all on the same side your friends and relations will all get to know each other a lot better, if you are on opposing sides you can take pleasure in turning each other purple.
When planning and especially returning from a stag weekend, it is important to remember that most of the attendees other halves will probably have issue with them going and probably won’t be greeting them with open arms on their return, so try and make the whole escapade seem a lot less adventurous than it is, make everyone agree that ‘what goes on the stag do, stays on the stag do’, if there is need for a cover story make sure everyone is clear of what it is. Bringing home a gift for your loved one is also a good idea as it might make them forget about the pictures of you with strippers all over facebook!
If you are planning a stag party for the groom, make sure there are a few novelty gifts and unique gifts waiting for him along the way to make things interesting.
categories: wedding,stag party,bachelor party,groom,marriage,wife,bride,stripper
Wedding Ceremony Traditions
America has few traditions, however there is one that is well known and celebrated in a similar manner by thousands of people every day and that is the wedding ceremony. It’s surprising really that so little has changed in hundreds of years. Whether in a church or not, most brides and grooms follow the same steps for the ceremony and reception as their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents.
Family and friends are invited to celebrate the joining of man and woman. Friends and family show up and are seated in rows, either in a church or at a ceremony site. Someone conducts the ceremony and might include a priest, rabbi, or justice of the peace. As the ceremony commences, the mother of the bride and groom’s parents are walked down the aisle and seated. Then come the bridesmaids, one in front of the other until it’s time for the bride to make her appearance. Everyone wants a glimpse of the gown and her radiant beauty. The proud father walks he down the aisle.
Vows are taken and promises made. Rings are exchanged. There is a beautiful kiss and then the couple turns to their guests and returns down the aisle to greet their friends and family as Mr. and Mrs.
Other traditions that have remained include the ’something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue,’ tradition. Even brides that choose non-traditional ceremonies often follow this rule The old and borrowed can come from something the mother passed down, jewelry or more. The blue can be a garter, or sapphire earrings or a necklace. Something new is often the dress or a gift the bride was given for the occasion.
Most brides also generally choose a white or ivory dress. The custom of white dresses started with Queen Victoria who wore a white dress to be married instead of the customary silver dress. Other brides wore their best gowns, while today women have dresses custom-made, or try to find something that best suits their personality. White also marks the innocence of the bride.
In the past, people have thrown rice to celebrate the end of the wedding or the end of the nuptials. Today, understanding rice can kill the birds that end up eating them, some people opt for flower petals or bubbles or fireworks.
The last tradition that is still popular is the first dance of the husband and wife. The couple takes the dance floor and spins around in each others arms. Friends and family may join them, or they may dance the entire dance alone.
There are all types of weddings, with many different traditions. The above is the most popular one practiced in the United States. It is a way to bring people together and to share a moment of beauty and the first day of the rest of that couple’s life together.
For an elegant wedding ceremony, visit VillaSiena.cc. For an indoor or outdoor wedding venue in Arizona, the beauty and style of Villa Siena creates memories that last a lifetime.