Wedding Planning Ideas

With the tough economic times we are experiencing, many brides find it necessary to reevaluate their wedding budgets.  The following ten cost-saving tips will help you trim the wedding budget “fat” and stretch your hard-earned dollar.

1). Purchase flowers that are local and in-season.  Incorporating orchids into a winter wedding is going to cost you a pretty penny.  Instead, visit your local flower market and select seasonal white Calla Lilies or deep red roses to form your bridal bouquets or table centerpieces.

2). Have your wedding favors double as your place cards or guest escort cards.  Indicate the guest’s name and table assignment on a label or hang tag and attach it to the favor box or bag.  Place the wedding favors / place cards on a central table at the entrance of the reception room.  Guests will learn of their assigned seats as they pick up their unique wedding favors.

3). Avoid couture bridesmaids’ dresses and instead peruse through the clothing racks of popular national clothing retailers.  By selecting a color and style that the bridesmaids can use after the wedding day, you’ll assure that they can prolong the use of the dress and thus get extra value from it.  Best yet, your bridesmaids can shop at their convenience at their local retailer.

4). Think about holding your wedding on a Friday night or on a Sunday.  This alone can save you tons of money.

5). Craft the wedding invitations yourself.  Many discount stores now offer stylish wedding invitations, thank-you cards, and wedding ceremony programs that you can print yourself in the comfort of your own home.  Shopping for reasonably priced embossed wedding invitations are now as easy as shopping for pencils and printer paper.

6). Have several family and friends arrange your bridal bouquet, bridal party bouquets and boutonnieres as well as table centerpieces.  A word of caution: to avoid wilting, make sure to arrange the flowers no later than the night before.  If you have an eager and willing group of people who you trust and who understand your style, you can easily save hundreds of dollars by delegating these tasks.

7). If you have a family member or friend who would be willing to capture your wedding and portions of your reception on video, then you can nix the videographer.

8). Avoid using invitations with an odd shape. They only increase your postage which will add to the cost. Use standard-sized invitations instead.

9). Your hair and makeup can be styled and applied by a family member or friend, or even by yourself.

10). Limit the size of your bridal party to family members and best of friends.  Involve the others in other important tasks like passing out wedding ceremony programs or ushering guests to their seats at the ceremony.

Wedding is the most special time for bride and groom, and they try their best to make it memorable. Wedding shower is a special gathering, where many friends and relatives gather to shower their love and blessings on the bride. The couple is given lots of gifts so that it becomes easier for them to start their married life. Wedding shower favors are just a small gesture to thank the people who make the wedding shower more joyful. Wedding favors are most anticipated part of all the wedding festivities.

Some Great Unique Wedding Shower Favor Ideas

There are many wedding shower favors that can become memorable for all the guests. Some of the unique wedding shower favors can be favor bags, bookmarks, conversation cards, bottle opener, bottle stoppers, watering can, nail-file set, tea-bag caddy, letter opener, soft-foam toe separators, bottle stopper, metallic photo frame, miniature gold chair favor box, jeweled tea lights, swizzle sticks, soaps, stainless steel peeler, handbag holder, personalized lip balm, teapot timer, candles, water bottles, shower gel, nail files, tea light and so on.

A good wedding shower favour is one that is unique and will reflect the bride’s style and personality. Add details to them like the name of the bride, date of the shower and put them in decorative bags. People all ways like edible favours, but make sure to keep them fresh. Some ideas are shower favours are mint tins, tea sachets, candy jars, brownie pops, muffin mixes, caramel corn, chocolate bars, vinegar bottle, towel cakes, cake candles, gums, cupcake mixes, chocolate mixes, etc.

By using unique wedding shower favors, let the guest know that they are special, and that their presence has been appreciated. Personalized bridal shower mints, tea infusers, photo cookie, monogrammed brownie pops, wedding labels, lip butter, pen and notepad, chocolate lollipops, playing cards, mini glass candy jars, honey jars, cookies, goodie bags, fortune cookies, silk hand fans, love notes notepads, double-faced satin ribbon, cider mini bottles, plantable seed card, and paper hand fans are some great bridal shower wedding favors.

Where To Buy Unique Wedding Shower Favors

If looking for unique wedding favors, Internet is the good place to start as there is extensive range available to choose from. You can shop for unique wedding shower favors as per theme, price, season and type. It is also possible to get some great discounts if bulk purchase is made. Wedding shower favors should be memorable to host, as well as the guests. With a little creativity and imagination, you can also make favors at home.

A prenuptial agreement, antenuptial agreement, or premarital agreement, commonly abbreviated to prenup or prenupt, is a contract entered into prior to marriage or civil union by the people intending to marry. The content of a prenuptial agreement can vary widely, but commonly includes provisions for division of property and spousal support in the event of divorce or breakup of marriage.

In theory, prenuptial agreements set out before marriage how the wealth and assets of both parties will be split in the event that the relationship goes pear-shaped further down the line.

Many countries, including Canada (Quebec), France, Italy, and Germany, have matrimonial regimes, in addition to, or some cases, in lieu of prenuptial agreements.

As of 2007, England and Wales do not enforce prenuptial agreements, but agreements may be upheld at the judge’s discretion. These countries also do not have a provision for marital regimes.  But this is all changing.  There has been a “sea change”

The Crossley case  in the UK now highlights the fact that premarital agreements are being recognised in the English courts and, if properly constituted, are difficult to wriggle out of.  In the past prenups were perhaps entered into in the hope, rather than belief, that they would be binding. Now they offer real protection.

Courts “are looking closely at prenuptial agreements and want good reasons — such as children or significant changes in a person’s circumstances — to depart from them”.

So who should go for a prenup? They are suitable for a wide range of people, including:-

• second-time rounders, in their forties and fifties, who want to provide fully for children of the first marriage and protect their own assets (sometimes against gold-digging former husbands when they meet someone wealthy)
• professionals, young City entrepreneurs in their twenties making money through work, skill and some luck 
• business men and women used to binding agreements in their working lives
• international clients used to prenups in their home jurisdiction
• gay and lesbian clients who may have cohabited for years and now enter civil partnerships
• and those not necessarily “mega-wealthy” who favours “self-determination” and taking control of how financial issues might be resolved on divorce.

So if prenups are such a good insurance policy, why not make them legally binding? 

With hundreds of millions of dollars at stake, Hollywood stars are not inclined to risk it all on what might be a very short and misguided marriage followed by a very expensive divorce.

Of course it is not only Hollywood stars who need to think about prenuptial contracts – Paul McCartney and Heather Mills famously signed no prenuptial agreement and rumours are rife that this acrimonious split could potentially see Ms Mills walk away with over £100m from a court settlement.

In January 2008, the wedding of a billionaire’s daughter was called off at the last minute because of a change to the prenuptial agreement.

Miss Fisher, 28, is the lawyer-daughter of American hotel tycoon Jeff Fisher.  Mr Bailer, 33, is a Wall Street trader, wealthy in his own right, but not in the same league as Mr Fisher who last year sold his Innkeepers hotel chain for nearly £1 billion.  They had been dating for three years and engaged for 18 months.

The bride and groom along with 300 guests were left in limbo as the society wedding of the season ground to a halt.  Three ballrooms had been reserved for the million-dollar celebrations at the exclusive Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida.

Late in the evening, the bride, Alexandra Fisher, put in a brief, tearful appearance among her family, dressed in black.  Meanwhile, the groom, Josh Bailer, glumly nursed a drink with his best man and his 80 guests.

Three days before the wedding, the couple happily signed a prenuptial contract in which it was agreed that if the marriage failed, both sides would walk away with no alimony payments.

But on the wedding day, Mr Bailer’s father, Joe, said Mr Fisher demanded that Josh sign a last-minute amendment agreeing to pay Alexandra alimony, no matter how much she inherits from her dad.

So before you get married get up to date legal advice from a specialist family lawyer.  Get it all sorted and nailed down before last minute stress sets in. 

Most foreign couples getting married in France need to have a civil ceremony in their home country first and then their religious ceremony in France as the legal requirements for a civil wedding in France are exhaustive – 6 months (not 40 days as it was before thank you Sarkosy) residency requirement with proof of address and they now check it too.  Most guests at a french destination wedding do not even know that the ceremony is not a civil ceremony.  Sorting out a  pre-nup agreement before you leave home does not detract from a fairytale wedding in France.  If you are not mega wealthy you way want to consider a french wedding package at a romantic castle that will not break the bank.