Wedding Planning Ideas

While all eyes should be on the bride at her wedding, that doesn’t mean that the bridesmaid dresses should be anything less than perfect as well. The bride should also take her maids’ preferences into consideration as well before making a final decision, as it never hurts if the dresses are such that they could be worn again to another event. Be honest with yourself and if you know that you would not want to be caught dead in that bridesmaids formal gown, then it is best not to ask your friends to do so either.

Of course, most brides will say something like, “It is my wedding and I should make these decisions based on what I want.” Yes, that is true, however sometimes these dresses are picked because the bride does not want to be outdone or over-shadowed by the formal dresses her attendants will be wearing. When in reality if she wants her wedding to be as close to perfect as possible that means everyone needs to look good, including the bridesmaids. Additionally, if you are having a flower girl, then you should have fun deciding from the many adorable flower girl dresses available.

While it may not be possible to make everyone happy it doesn’t hurt to try to come as close as possible. Try to consider your friends’ complexions and sizes when deciding on the bridesmaid dresses, as pastels are usually a fair choice as it goes with most skin tones. Unless you want lots of frowns and snickers try to stay away from overdoing the embellishments, such as bows and ruffles, especially if you are looking at plus size dresses.

You also want to take the season and weather into consideration for the bridesmaids formal dresses. Nothing is worse than having the entire wedding party look drained and wilted because the long sleeve Victorian style dresses nearly suffocates them during an outside wedding. Likewise, you don’t want short sleeve sheath styles when it is snowing outside.

Ok, you have personally searched every store within 100 miles and scoured the internet looking for a dress style that will try to please everyone, but so far there is nothing that everyone agrees on. Some of the girls love the short and fun cocktail dresses but you want your maids dressed in long, formal dresses. Since it is not written in stone that all bridesmaid dresses must be exactly the same, you may want to consider allowing a little variation in the styles of the dresses. If they all have the same color then it will still bring your theme together and everyone will be a little happier, reducing the stress on you.

Is getting married on your agenda?  Do you have some great friends that have helped you out a lot and you want to say thank you in a very personal way?  There is nothing better than personalized bridesmaid gifts, and not just personalized by some stranger for you, but really personalized.  As a bride there are some really simple things that you can do for your friend that will let her know that you really appreciate all of her help and her friendship. 

A great idea for bridesmaid gifts is to make your friend something.  Do you sew?  If so, create something special for your friend and pin a note to it telling her how much her help and support has meant to you.This could be something without much cost but it will be more likely to be remembered than some small common item or would ever be. 

Another great personalized bridesmaid gift is to write your friend a poem.  Sound too simple?  It’s really easy, just put all of your thoughts onto paper, print it out beautifully on regular paper or have it printed for you, find a frame you like, wrap the frame, and give it to your friend!  It really is that simple and it will bring tears to her eyes when she sees it!Everyone would like a gift like this but it’s not something that they would ever ask for. 

Do you make jewelry?  If so, you can make your friend some jewelry that she will love.  You can make her something that she could wear to the wedding or something that she can wear with her favorite outfit.  These are the type of bridesmaid jewelry gifts that she will not expect but she will really love and she will appreciate well into the future.  When she sees that you took the time to make something specifically for her she will love it, no questions asked! 

As you can see, personalized bridesmaid gifts don’t need to be something that you buy; in fact a truly personal gift may not be something that is purchased at all but comes directly from the heart.No one else can pick out the kind of gift that you should choose to give,still; it pays to know that it is important to know that it is not necessary to spend an extravagant amount of money or take significant amounts of time but the most important thing is that it comes from the heart.

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Wedding favors used to be simple gifts of chocolates or almonds presented in a small box or voile bag. However, these days they have become something much bigger requiring far more time and attention.

The range of items sold as wedding favors has become a mind boggling selection of candles and photograph frames, bottle stoppers and cookies. For many brides choosing their favors can become as big a decision as deciding to get married in the first place!

One of the biggest challenges brides face with their wedding planning is coordinating their wedding favors with the style and colors of their wedding. Whilst for some choosing the actual favor is not a problem, finding the right way to package and present it becomes a much bigger headache!

At the start of your wedding planning you will have chosen the style and/or theme of your wedding along with a choice of wedding colors. Each of these will be applied to the various elements of your wedding including your stationery, cake and of course your favors. It is usual to present your wedding favors at each place setting, with some brides doubling them up as place cards by adding their guest’s names to each one. If choose to present them this way too then it is important that they match your wedding as they will provide the finishing touch to your tables and help to unify your colors and scheme.

Colors needn’t be a tricky task either. Favor boxes, bags and packaging come in a wide range of colors these days and if by any chance your chosen color is not available then you can always add some ribbon to make them match. Tags, labels and stickers can all be customized to fit with your style, theme and colors as well and can make useful decorative accents to your favors.

Wedding themes require a little more creative thinking and some research. Often wedding themes will center around a period of history such as medieval times or the 1920’s, so you will need to coordinate the favor itself and the colors you use. Packaging can also be incorporated into the theme. For instance, a medieval wedding theme could have gold coins for favors (chocolate ones of course). Present them in a velvet pouch in colors such as dark red, forest green or midnight blue, which were all popular at the time.

There are perhaps occasions where the theme is too difficult to match a suitable wedding favor to, so here it is perhaps best to concentrate on making them blend in with the whole wedding scheme in terms of colors and decorative accents to the packaging.