The Church Wedding

The large church wedding can be a daunting one. From the baptism certificate to deciding between confetti and rice that is biodegradable. Who sits where? Ushers and bridesmaids Your best men and flowers. Flower girls, music, wardrobes and hairstyles, the rings and the stressful vows which describes how you feel about your partner to your entire family. Don’t forget you have to rehearser all this stuff.

Reception

Then there is the reception. Deciding on the right hotel or venue and caterers can be a stressful task at times. Plan the menu, the bar and the overall service. Have a style on top of all that adding the inside feeling that nothing will go wrong because if it does it is all on you. Could you be the one to ruin the day and don’t forget to Wedding Cake!

The photographer and the daily arrangement of everyone. Look good and don’t blink and do you want video or stills. How are you getting there or anywhere for that matter. Did you get all the invitations done ? Did you do them correctly, who are you inviting?

We will take a breath there. The list above only represents a tiny part of getting the day off without a hitch. It is the tip of the iceberg and there are so many smaller yet stressful chores to be done starting months before right up to the day of your wedding.

The only reason you should not consider a wedding planner is your budget but that reasoning can be questioned as wedding planners can not only guarantee better quality of service but will also have contacts within the industry to get you great deals on so many items saving you thousands, basically evening out the whole ordeal. You will also not go over your budget once it is agreed with your wedding planner. Will things go wrong without one? Probably not – but they will definitely not go wrong with one.

remember you still have to work, perhaps you have children or perhaps you just want to enjoy family and friends that will be around more coming up and during your wedding.
A professional wedding planner can help make your wedding a dream day and not a very stressful day of a million and one things to do. Hire one, sit back, relax and enjoy the planning and day of your wedding.

The post Is Hiring A Wedding Planner worth it? appeared first on The Imagination Shop.

A lot of couples are enjoying taking on this challenge and want to proclaim their love in this way to their partner.

If you do decide to write your own wedding vows, then below are a few tips to help you.

It’s all about feeling

Don’t over think the actual words used. It will be sentiment on the day that will make it real. Say words natural to you. When you begin to write you vows you will see and think of all the reasons why you want to be with your partner. SImply write them down in your own words and don’t grab a thesauraus. It is the meaning behind the words, not the words.

Get Help

Don’t be afraid to get help. It does not mean you are cheating in any way. Reading a book or an article or searching online on how to help you write vows will just help get the creative writing juices flowing. It is you who has to personlise it. You can even look at sample wedding vows online and borrow some thoughts or ideas. Taking a general statement and changing it suit youself.

Poetry

Use poetry. There has been many beautiful poems written on the subject of love and so if you want to end your vows with a bang or add some creativity then use some beautiful lines from poets such as Keats, Browning or Gibran

Lyrics

Another simple tip is to use lyrics that depict what you want to say from a song that you or both you like. A song from a moment you shared or a special song from your first dance. You can use this song at your wedding reception for your first dance making it all the more symbolic of your love for each other.

Take Inspiration from you Life

Some people get bogged down in the emotion of love when it comes to vows. But there is more to your relationship then your loving bond. The bond grew over commonalities. Share these common bonds in the words you write. Your interests, your personalities and lifestyle choices can all be brought into you vows.

Share

People tend to over think the sharing of their vows with their partners. If you yourselves don’t see it as a big deal, then it isn’t and why wouldn’t you share what you have written. You can bounce ideas of each other and make it more fun. It is not something that should be adding pressure and stress to your wedding. It will benice to relive special moments with each other and also remember moments that were only special to one person. This can especially be a nice feeling.

Plan

Be sure you let the person whom will marry you know in advance you are writing your own vows. They can  let you know what should be included and often give you a few experienced pointers.

Don’t worry

People can get nervous about saying their vows in front of everybody, but you are not, you are simply speaking to your partner. If you stumble it is no big deal, the nerves will make it all the more real and you will be able to correct yoruself. Simply practise a it a few times before your special day and have fun with it. Practising it will give you the confidence you need

The post Eight Tips for Writing Your Vows appeared first on The Imagination Shop.

Items like the venue are harder to scrimp on simply because the more you spend the nicer the venue, but this is not the case for every item in a wedding and the wedding dress itself is one of them. You do not need to spend a huge amount on your wedding dress and this does not mean in any way that you can’t have an elegant, beautiful dress.

Maybe you want an amazing DJ or don’t care. Maybe you want an amazing reception or don’t care. WHat is important to you and not all woman need the cinderella dress.

Your Mothers Wedding Dress

Do not overlook wearing your mothers wedding dress. If she still has it and is allowing you to wear then you’re in luck! All dresses can be manipulated slightly to modernise them or change the cut which will be much cheaper than buying a new one. With some slight alterations the oldest of dresses can be made to look amazing and more than likely your mothers wedding dress is still in great condition because it is one item people tend to take care of over the years.

Clearance Sales at Bridal Shops

Wedding dresses are no different to any other item of clothing and you can always find amazingly beautiful dresses in clearance sales. You need to begin looking the moment you know you will be getting married (or maybe even sooner). Stores discount items all the time and Bridal stores are no different. if the nicest dress in the world is not sold it is simply taking up space and if new stock is coming in then it must be discounted.

It is not a crazy thought that you could find the perfect dress that once you put on you will know in a clearance rack at a Bridal store. In your local town go to every Bridal store and ask them when they will be having their sales

Department Stores

Do go to department stores too. Have a coffee and stroll. You are probably looking for something a little more formal but you never know!

Clearances and Sales at Department Stores

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If you are looking for an informal wedding dress then large department stores can often surprise you.
Special occasion dresses get discounted all the time and if one fits you perfectly it can make you look a million dollars. With the right accessories and shoes you can pick up wedding dresses for under $150.

Online Wedding Stores / Department Stores & Online Sales

There are many online auction sites for wedding dresses and you can get unbelievable deals that you would never get at a stores. All you need is patience but again with the right attitude it can be fun. Sitting around with your girls and some snacks and wine, each on their own laptop, browsing through wedding dresses in your pajamas.

The post Advice on Finding a Wedding Dress That doesn’t Break the Bank appeared first on The Imagination Shop.

1. A Unique Setting

If you really want a unique wedding the simplest way to do it is to have it in a unique place. It is becoming more common for couples to stray away from the traditional ceremony at a religious setting followed by the hotel ballroom to a more adventorous setting. This could be anywhere beautiful whether it be a beach, a mountainside, a beautiful garden or on board a yacht. Underneath a lighthouse or in a countryside mansion. The locations are only held back by your own ambition and imagination. Candlelight and tables and chairs can transform anywhere.

2. A Wedding Abroad

Why not combine your honeymoon and wedding by having your wedding abroad. Again the popularity of destination weddings are becoming more popular and because it is not the norm as of yet, people are more likely to only invite close friends and people are happier to accept it if the wedding is abroad. It can save time, money and stress combined with a beautiful summer vacation.

3. The Tiny Wedding

It is your day so why bother with over 300 guests. You invite as few people as possible and make it an intimate and personal affair. y trimming your guest list right down you can really share a beautiful weekend with your closest friends and family making it a truly beautiful affair for everyone.

4. Fun Catering

The round tables with 8 guests per table is out dated. It can be tough for guests to mingle and if you both have large families you want your families to mix and get to know one another. To solve this little issue you scatter your catering. You bring your guests on a culinary adventure with small sample stations scattered through out the venue. Beautifully made drinks and small tantalizing bite sized food gets everyone moving around and makes the whole evening more fun and relaxed.

5. Do away with Assigned Seating

People tend to get nervous about this idea but remember, there people not animals. With no assigned seating everyone figures it out and people will be sitting everywhere. It creates a fun mood and allows you and the brides to move more freely throughout the day between tables getting to chat to friends who you might have struggled to chat to if you were seated at the head table.

6. Disco Disco

Wedding decor tends to be swanky and fancy but leaning towards the stuffy end of things sometimes. Lean it more towards the club end of the spectrum by transforming your reception area in a swanky romantic lounge areas with little quiet areas, low lighting. Your creating a flirtations and sexy world with big couches and low coffee tables. It can make the night and make the weekend

7. The Warm Welcome

WIth the world a smaller place friends and family members can be all across the world so having a big warm welcome to everyone who arrives can be a great treat for the traveller who has come along way. Each guest getting a welcome basket can make anyone immediately feel relaxed and right at home.

8. Go Lady Gaga

Who says you have to have white and muted pastel colours. Especially if you are having a summer wedding brides and bridesmaids can go crazy with bold colours which can set a tone for the entire wedding. It is a lively event and we are all here for a good time. Of course dressed with bold colours such as purple and orange can still look amazing and classy when worn correctly.

The post Outside the Box Wedding Tips to get your creative juices flowing appeared first on The Imagination Shop.

You need to feel comfortable while writing your speech and feel relaxed when speaking your speech.

1) A simple first step when beginning a speech is to thank everyone close to the bride and groom and everyone who helped make the day special. This can eat into quite a lot of time settling you into the speech.

2) Leave thanking the bride and groom’s parents till last to make it extra special and in helping make the day possible.

3) People tend to over think the ‘funny aspect’ of the speech and try and tell a story that is ‘hilarious’. The problem with ‘hilarious’ stories is they usually involve something that might not be too appropriate for everyone at a wedding. Remember it is the bride and groom’s special day, and your nerves of how good your speech is do not justify telling a ‘vulgar or rude story ‘simply to get a huge laugh. It is quite alright to tell an ‘amusing’ story. A simple PG tale that lightens the mood in preparing everyone for the great night ahead. The ‘hilarious’ or perhaps ‘rude’ story can wait until you are the bar.

4) A great way to end your speech (If you feel comfortable) is to try and give some small advice or insight into anything you personally might have learned about relationships along your path. Be very careful to not ‘preach’ at your friends, but keep it a more general look at how you feel love can grow between 2 people and perhaps what is required. You are simply  wishing them the best of luck on their journey.

5) If you are completely nervous then cheat! Its a wedding speech and they been made a million times. There are hundreds of sites and hundreds of books that can give you simple speechs that you can simply reword into your own style. You memorise it, you take a deep breath, you say it. No problem, the important thing is to relax. It is not your day.

6) I’ve said it already but I will say it again – Relax. Simply wrap your head around the fact that the only aspect of what you are nervous about is standing up in front of people. But it is a wedding. It is a fun day and as long as you don’t insult anyone or say anything vulgar or rude everyone will think you said a wonderful speech. 2 hours after no one will care.

The post Hints And Tips for Writing The Perfect Wedding Speech appeared first on The Imagination Shop.

In the ancient art of hand reflexology an area which corresponds to the heart is situated just under where your wedding ring resides on the left hand but not the right hand, which you have to admit is an interesting coincidence.

The wedding ring finger was also the last place touched by the priest who quoted the ‘Trinitarian formula’, “In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.”

In days gone by the wedding ring was a symbol of promissory as it represented quite a financial cost. People saw it as somewhat of a down payment on the grooms behalf and  discouraged broken engagements. If an engagement was broken it was quite common for punishment to be 3 years of excommunication.
The custom of using 2 separate wedding rings, 1 set of engagement rings and 1 set of wedding rings is a relatively new idea which has been widely adopted. Before using the same ring for the engagement and for the actual wedding ceremony was the norm.
A more practical logic for why the wedding is worn on the left hand is the majority of the world is right handed and so be less a chance of it breaking or being chipped.

However the wedding was traditionally not always worn on the left hand, believe it or not.
There was a time when wedding rings were worn on the right hand and also on the thumb so Elizabethans could show off very large rings as size was popular at the time.

Of course there are many superstitions about wedding rings and it was always seen as bad luck if the ring was damaged, lost or broken before the wedding. Even today many people don’t buy wedding rings on Friday and it is custom for no one to wear their rings before the wedding day.

Your wedding rings however are personal to each and every couple. They are seen as a symbol of eternal love right through the ages in different cultures all around the world.
Your wedding ring has no beginning or end being the perfect symbol of a lifetime of endless love.

The post Trivia on the History and importance of Wedding Rings appeared first on The Imagination Shop.

Organising a wedding can of course be stressful and sometimes a little overwhelming with so many balls in the air. Below is a basic checklist to help you focus and go through each one which in turn will help you remember a few personal items.

1 YEAR BEFORE THE WEDDING

1) Lets set the date. Once the date is set, arrange a time to meet you priest, registrar or minister.
If you don’t who you meet (Some people don’t like some people_ find another one. It’s your day.

2) Go through every detail with yoru chosen priest or minister whether you think they need to know or now as you never know what can and cannot be allowed.

3) A tricky one, but decide on a budget and stick to it.
Decide on a budget and stick to it.

4) Once you have your budget create your ceremony to suit such  budget and this does not mean in any way not being able to suit your personal taste or wishes. Imagine the best wedding designer in the world was given your budget. Do you really think they wouldn’t have some tricks up their sleeves to make the wedding look amazing – of course they would. Don’t automatically assume to fix any issue you have is to throw more money at it. Slow down and think outside the box.

5) With your partner or with a pen and paper, mark out everything that needs to be done; everything!

6) A simple tip that a lot of couples don’t do is to have a theme, specific style or type of wedding. This can help in focus in on certain options. Because there are so many options you can become quite confused and flustered. If you from the start on a theme then certain flowers, dresses etc can be crossed of easier as they simpy do not fit the chosen theme. Once you decide on a theme stick to it!

7) Decide on a venue and arrange meetins with the people in charge. Again get a feel for the type of person they are. If you like the venue but where not to impressed by the manager I would always be wary. Something small happens on the day – Extra chairs are needed, we ran out of ice. A nice manager will go out of their way to get everything back on track. It can go a long way on the day.

8) The above advice is the same for your hotel, caterers and musicians. Make arrangements ti meet and leave the meeting with
a) You met a professional
b) You thought they were nice, good people.

They will be such an important part of your day

Plan and book your
a) Wedding cake
b) You car or cars
c) Your photographer
d) Your florist

STICK TO YOUR BUDGET AND THEME. Things can always be simple and elegant.

Discuss and plan out your
a) Wedding clothes
b) Other costumes needed for others involved in the wedding
c) Your Bridal dress
d) The blend of how fabrics, colours and accessories match the theme and/or wedding dress

Please Note: As mentioned when you choose your theme, stick to it. This will help clarify your choice of styles and colours that will carry through all items and the day. So make sure to discuss your theme with your dress maker, florist and caterers.

9) Discuss with your partner a Pre-Marriage course. This is nothing to do with being a solid couple. It is simply advice on the early days of marriage. It can be looked upon as a fun thing to do together.

10) Start looking into your Honeymoon and please try and remember it is a Holiday! Yes it is a honeymoon but booking a holiday should be an exciting and fun adventure that you should be looking forward to the moment it is booked.

6 MONTHS BEFORE THE WEDDING

1) Wedding stationary needs to be ordered with cakes boxes and favours.
HUGE TIP regarding wedding stationary. This is such a specific item that always seems to stress the bride. But it is one item that you do not need to stress about for a single moment and you do this by simply trusting your graphic designer. Do not use a Print company – Use a graphic designer. Simply write out what information needs to be known by your guests. Dates, locations etc and the give this information to your graphic designer and forget about it. They are professionals and they will design your wedding stationary for you. Also by trusting oyour graphic designer to do their jobs and allowing them some creative freedom (which never happens when it comes to wedding stationary) they will give you a much better design. 

2) Plan out the order of the service with your priest or Minister performing the ceremony and decide on service sheets for your guests.

3) Discuss your menu with your Caterers and or hotelier for your wedding day.

4) Decide on a store or actual list for wedding gifts.

5) Decide on your rings.

6) Go to a doctor and dentist and get a check up. Last thing you want is a toothache or some little niggling pain near your wedding day. It will only add a huge amount of stress to the day.

7) Plan inoculations for your honeymoon if they are necessary.

8) Also organise any necessary visas, and your passports, making sure they are in date etc.

9) Pack and have ready your honeymoon clothes or simply a list of all items needed so when the time comes it does not add a moments stress to your life.

3 MONTHS BEFORE THE WEDDING

1) Double check all your Pre Marriage documents and certificates.

2) Finalise any details for colour schemes, bouquets, flowers, buttonholes with your florist.

3) Decide on finished wedding guest list and post invitations

Please note:/em> keep a careful track of your replies.