Choose a Candy Buffet for Your Wedding Reception

by Susan

Almost all weddings are similar in that they begin with the marriage ceremony followed by the reception and end with the bride and groom leaving for the honeymoon. However, even with those similarities every wedding will still be unique. Most couples today try to add a little of their personality or something unique and memorable into the wedding.

For some couples that might mean writing their own wedding vows or singing together or to each other during the wedding ceremony. There are numerous ways to make either the marriage ceremony or the reception one that guests will remember for a long time. A trend that is becoming more and more popular is to make use of a candy buffet at the reception. For couples looking for wedding ideas on a budget, the candy buffet can take the place of more traditional wedding favors or as wedding confetti alternatives.

A candy buffet will allow you to add a little fun and a lot of personality to your wedding. There are lots of ways to tie the wedding theme or wedding colors in with the displayed candies as it creates another decorative element for the reception. For instance if your wedding is taking place on the beach, ideas for beach centerpieces for weddings are sometimes hard to come up with. If the candy buffet takes on a beach theme, a simple pillar candle can be used as the centerpiece for the tables as the candy buffet will add so much to the reception decor. Fish and sea shell shaped candies should be prominent on the candy display table. These along with hard candies that reflect the colors of the sea and the sand will make an impressive display.

If your event does not have a wedding theme, you can instead choose candy that compliments or matches the wedding colors. A table filled with candy in various shades of one color can be spectacular.

If there is no place locally that sells candy in bulk, don’t worry. There are numerous websites that specialize in bulk candy orders and these sites are a perfect place to purchase candy for the buffet table. These sites also offer a wide variety of colors to choose from.

Have fun deciding how to incorporate a candy buffet into your reception and choosing the candy to include.

Purple Wedding Flowers

by Julie

Purple wedding flowers add a feminine and romantic touch to any wedding. Purple is a mysterious and royal color that brings sophistication and elegance to a wedding. Bouquets made with a mix of cool blue-tone and warm red-tone purples can either be warm or cool.

Accessorizing with flowers is easy and one of the most dramatic ways to incorporate your complimenting color. Whether the flowers will be used for wedding table centerpieces, bridal bouquets or as decorations at the wedding or reception, these flowers are an excellent way to highlight your wedding theme and accent colors.

There are many purple flowers varieties often used for wedding flowers. Common purple wedding flowers are pansy, crocus, gladiolas, cone flower, iris, alyssum, sweet pea, snap dragons, aster, clematis and Verbena. Orchids, tulips, freesia, Gerber daisies and Calla Lily also come in purple shades.

There are quite a few freesias in the violet/purple shades. These fragrant flowers are popular for their fragrance as well as their looks. Gladioli can make a bold statement for wedding centerpiece ideas. If you can get these flowers at their prime time of opening, a simple vase with several Gladioli stems very little else can look simplistically spectacular.

Tulips make superb wedding flowers because they offer a wide choice of varieties and shades. You should be able to order tulips from winter all the way through early summer. Tulips work well in bridal bouquets and can also be continued throughout to wedding ceremony arrangements and reception centerpieces for a themed look.

Light Purple Wedding Flowers: You can achieve a delicate purple accent with lighter shades of purple. The hint of color carries the theme throughout the wedding without being overpowering. You can also add a few purple flowers to floral arrangements at the wedding ceremony location and table centerpieces at the wedding reception.

Dark Purple Weddings Flowers: For a bold statement, choose a dark shade of purple like Cadbury purple or a deeper jewel tone such as plum, magenta, deep mauve or amethyst. The dominant purple shades work exceptionally well when combined with cream colors and green foliage. Dramatic flowers, like the purple Gerbera Daisy for example, will add impact.

For weddings, popular purple color combinations include purple and yellow, purple and grey, purple and pink, purple and red, purple and green, purple and blue wedding flowers and the ever popular cream and purple. Another of the unique wedding ideas for color combinations is dark purple with lime green and white flowers.

When selecting your wedding colors and wedding flowers, remember to check with your florists or wholesalers to make sure your chosen flowers are in season. Some flowers can be difficult to find in certain months. This will reflect in their price and availability. If you have your heart set on a flower that will be out of season, consider using silk wedding flowers instead. You can use just a few silk flowers in your bouquet or use them for the entire bouquet.

The Pink Wedding Dress

by Julie

A plain and simple white dress is the traditional attire for brides on their wedding day.  However, over the years, more women opt for stylish wedding gowns with unique colors that better match their personalities. Black wedding dresses or a red wedding dress are among the more unique wedding dress designs that make a bold statement. Other women prefer to wear colors that are more subtle and unique, such as a pink wedding dress.

A pink wedding dress adds sophistication and personal taste to the gown on the day of the wedding.  Pink is an excellent color for the wedding theme since it represents femininity and romance, as well as purity and everlasting love. Another reason why a bride may prefer wearing a pink wedding gown is because of skin color. All white bridal gowns tend to make the bride appear somewhat wash out, especially if the skin color of the bride is fair. While white wedding dresses are ideal for those with darker skin tones, pink wedding dresses add color to the fair-skinned bride.

There are many different shades of pink for the bride to select from. She may choose to wear something which appears to be bolder and striking like a fuchsia or a hot pink wedding dress pink. In cases in which lighter shades of pink is preferred, she can choose shades of this color such as pastel or baby pink. White dresses accentuated in pink can also be chosen. It will help the skin appear to be more radiant and healthy.

There are a wide variety of unique pink dresses available at bridal online stores and bridal outlet and retail wedding shops. However, the bride must keep in mind the importance of matching and pairing all the wedding attire so that it will look more beautiful as a whole. This means that the shade and color of the bridal gown must be elegant and beautiful when paired with the color and style of the shoes, hairstyle, wedding bridal jewelry, bridal bouquet and all other wedding accessories.

It is better if the groom also wears wedding attire to match when paired with the color and style of the bride’s gown. The groom might choose to wear a pink bow tie and cummerbund or a pink flower to accent the bride’s dress.  The gowns of the bridesmaids must also look well and match the color and shade of the wedding dress. The bride should wear her dream gown on her wedding day, as long as it matches well the theme of the event and most especially, as long as the wedding gown makes the bride more beautiful and more elegant as ever.

Some brides worry about the opinions her wedding guests might have about the color and style of the wedding dress. However, she should keep in mind that the solemnity of the wedding ceremony is not influenced by the shade or color of her wedding dress. The bride can still wear a colored wedding dress while keeping the event solemn and special. There are a number of simple yet gorgeous designs and styles of bridal gowns which the bride can choose from. The bride may try looking on the many designs of dresses that can be seen on the internet and various styling magazines.

How to Find Cheap Wedding Invitations

by Susan

One of the most important parts of a wedding preparation is the wedding invitations. But don’t let that trick you into spending more money than necessary-  the invitations don’t have to be  expensive and elaborate in order to create a good impression to your close relatives and friends. Here are some tips to help you find the perfect cheap wedding invitations.

Work together on this one. You and your fiance both need to share ideas about the kind of color, style, and design for your invitations. A compromise may be tough to find, but is well worth it in the ling run. And ladies, a little piece of advice… if you insist that the invitations must be purple, frilly, and then stomp your feet until you get your way, you might get what you want now, but later you will end up with a man who is completely uninterested in helping with the wedding plans. So many women wonder their man doesn’t contribute more… Don’t make that mistake. Find a style you can both agree on, and work towards creating a wedding that you can be proud of as a couple.

A great place to find for affordable wedding invitations is through an online search. Many of the invitation designers you will find locally are buying their invitations from the same companies, and of course passing along a nice mark-up in price to you. If you fell in love with an invitation from one of the designers books, chances are you can find it through a wholesale company online. Maybe snag a photo with your cell phone for easy comparison shopping.

The first place to look at any online invitation store, is the discount / bargain section. You might even get lucky and find designs which are on sale or those which are already discontinued- those limited quantities can equal huge savings.

Some people may think that buying these items on the Internet can be very risky. One of the reasons is that a customer cannot touch the item to feel its texture. But this is just a minor problem. Again, most of these companies are getting their invitations from the same wholesaler a local invitation vendor would – you may even be dealing with the printer directly. Check their customer service policies and ask if they send proofs before printing the entire order. Also, most credit card companies will do a pretty good job protecting you if things really get bad.

If you want to make sure that you are buying from a reliable company, you can read some online reviews. Some customers are very honest about their experiences and most of them post their ratings of a particular company especially when it comes to items for a wedding. Use these reviews to help you decide. On the other hand, you might think that these kinds of items would look cheap. On the contrary, there are so many styles which look so beautiful and elegant but with a very reasonable price.

Last but not least, you can also choose to make or design your own invitations. DIY wedding invitations are often overlooked, but can be a great – and very affordable option. By having your own creative freedom, you and your partner can combine your ideas and come up with a personalized invitation. You will never go wrong as long as you give enough time for the design process. You can borrow ideas from your own friends as well. You can also think about the wedding venue and the overall motif of the event and then use these ideas to create design elements. You can incorporate other designs as well from various wedding invitation designs available online.

Bachelorette Party Gift Ideas

by Julie

You have been invited to your friends bachelorette party, but have no idea what kind of bachelorette party gift to bring. The rule of thumb when deciding on a bachelorette gift is to keep the bachelorette in mind. Is she the kind of girl would would love receiving the standard bachelorette gag gifts? If so, bring on the edible massage oil, naughty lingerie, French tickler condoms and handcuffs. The more reserved brides might be embarrassed by these gifts.

The standard bachelorette gift includes anything naughty or kinky and those gifts are easy to find. If you prefer to give something other than the gag bachelorette gifts, here are a few ideas to help you out;

The stressed out bride-to-be will greatly appreciate a gift certificate for a massage. If the cost of this bachelorette party gift is a little above your budget, have a friend or two go in on the present with you.

Contributing to the cost of the bachelorette party is always a welcome gift. Or, buy a round of drinks while out with the girls. If hiring a limo or a bachelorette/bachelor party bus, contributing to that cost can also be considered your gift.

Personalized stationary with her married name is more practical and sentimental than gag gifts.

The bride-to-be will certainly appreciate a Victoria’s Secrets gift card for a lingerie shopping trip.

A custom printed t-shirt with “Mrs. _____” is a fun novelty gift.

A hangover kit is a practical bachelorette gift idea. This kit includes all the ingredients needed to make a perfect Bloody Mary, sans the the alcohol. The kit might also contain ibuprofen, Alka Seltzer or Pepto-Bismol, saltine crackers, sunglasses, vitamin water, gatorade or other sports drinks, which are high in electrolytes and will help replenish the body. A banana is a popular folk remedy, as potassium can help with hangovers.

Gifts that reflect the bride’s personality are always appreciated. If she enjoys cooking, give her a new cookbook. If she likes to read fun books, give her the series of Harry Potter books. If she enjoys theater, give her tickets to an upcoming play.

Bachelorette and bachelor party ideas and the theme of the party might dictate the gift given. If this is a bachelorette party in New York, Vegas or one of the other popular bachelorette party locations, your presence might be gift enough since you will have spent a fair amount of money in travel.

Here are other great ideas:

  • Tickets to a concert
  • Gift certificates to her favorite clothing store
  • Gift certificate to a spa for a pedicure, manicure or facial.

Bachelorette party gifts typically are not expensive or extravagant, but they can be priceless. One idea is for each guest to bring a photograph of the bachelorette. Guests can then arrange the photos in an album. The bride will have a wonderful collection of memories while also having a token of her party. Hosting a Walk Down Memory Lane as the theme of the party is of the unique bachelorette party ideas that your friend might greatly appreciate.

In keeping with the wedding theme, you might have all guests bring kitchen utensils and gadgets or other household items.

While individually, a bachelorette party gift should be somewhat small, collectively you can do something big. For a group gift, collect money ahead of time from all of the guests. You can schedule a weekend getaway at a cozy B&B or the couple’s favorite spot.