Family Issues

A wedding is supposed to be a really special event for the couple. So the couples take a long time in planning to make everything great and special fro them. How I see it is quite different though. Because the couple takes a long and hard time planning and preparing the event, the event becomes more special for them because they worked hard for it.  Also they enjoy the wedding and the honeymoon because after that, thee is no more room for much fun.

If you are the type of person who doesn’t want to wait for a long period for an event to finish, here are some advices to get your wedding over quickly. Although it is really advisable to plan for a longer period so that you can prevent miscues.

•    Don’t get hysterical about the price your wedding may rack up. Instead, after getting some initial costing, try to figure out how you can lower the cost by looking for vendors that are of the same quality and may have the product you want cheaper.
•    Important factors to consider during the wedding date should be the availability of the guest and weather conditions.
•    Try to see the specifics of every contract you have with the different vendors, try to see things such as additional costs that include sales tax, over time and traveling. If they do not want you to see the contract much better be suspicious.
•    The photo sessions should be efficiently done with your photographer and the guest. The guest should be properly informed as to where and when the photo sessions take place, while the photographer should not be pressured by the couple because it will distract them.
•    Even though the groom may not like it, make him have some inputs about the wedding plans. Even if it might only be the kind of cake or food. If he says he wants beer and pork loins at your wedding, at least he gave some inputs.
•    Do not be pressured with the wedding that may get you stressed up and end up fighting someone.
•    During the ceremony, when you or guests plan to make some speeches or anything special, please make it short. We already went through with the boring wedding.
•    When using children during a wedding, they may be cute, but they may provide more headaches because of their unpredictability.
•    If the mother’s tend to stick their noses way too deep, tactfully say “shut up”. Of course, I was only joking, tactfully say that this is your wedding.
•    The bride should always be prepared and have a baggage that’s for two days that includes blouses, dresses, make-ups, etc.
•    Don’t bring your check book during the wedding because vendors may get you hustled for being in a giddy attitude during your wedding.
•    Don’t be too excited to immediately leave for your honeymoon, relax for a while let the actual wedding stress slip away for a while.

The best advice to consider when having your wedding plan is simple. There will always be a small chance that something will go wrong no matter how good your plan is. So relax and instead of being stressed out about the wedding, just enjoy it and look forward to a life of commitment.

Tags: Starting a Family, Wedding Invitation, Wedding, Wedding Guests, Getting Married

To certain people, especially women, a wedding is an important of their life. To some men, such as me, I don’t have any idea what’s so special about a wedding. I don’t even know what the difference is between a big wedding and a wedding at Las Vegas. But guys to guys like who really love their fiancés they will eventually need to do everything right to make the woman they love happy. Here are some tips, so that if you do plan on having a big wedding, you won’t screw it up and won’t end fighting on your honeymoon.

It is better to plan your wedding longer, the more months you plan the more options you will have. It will also give you more time to negotiate with the vendors to be able to bring down the cost a bit and be able to find the best vendors that fit your budget. The logic here is simple, the less time you plan, the more the wedding may fail. But if you tow really love one another, who cares if the wedding fails?

When planning the dates of the wedding try to consider the following factors. The weather, the commitments of your guests, the land and air traffic that people going to your wedding may encounter.

Here’s a perfect example of wedding date gone extremely wrong. If you plan your wedding during hurricane season, people will be afraid to go; they can not go or will not go. Plus going to your wedding on hurricane season, especially when there’s a strong one coming will cause extreme traffic. People will become too lazy to go because of the traffic and probably say, just send me the video tape. If you also plan your wedding during hurricane season, there’s a chance that you and your bride will get carried away by the hurricane. Unless you really planned the date of your wedding during hurricanes season, so that no pesky in-laws will disturb you and will have more cake for you.

A great loving example of a wedding gone wrong is when hurricane Katrina affected New Orleans and a couples wedding. Despite their problems from the hurricane that nearly destroyed New Orleans, they still held their wedding where they were relocated. This wedding only proves, that sometimes the wedding event is not really important, what’s important is that the two of you will be together and love one another.

Tags: Wedding, Wedding Invitations, Marriage, Wedding Invitation, Starting a Family

Can you remember the time when you first received a wedding invitation?  Do you recall that carefully-crafted, elegant and carefully designed envelope and intricately worded invitation? While it has been the favorite choice for generations, this wedding invitation has its roots during the olden times.

At the time of old England, wedding invitations were put into public bidding and any person within striking distance participates in the bidding. The 18th century saw the publication of wedding invitations in the newspapers. In Wales, upcoming weddings were announced through the sending of bidding letters. Smoke signals, partnered by inscriptions from a birch bark, were used by Native Indians to invite guests.

Illiteracy was high during the Middle Ages so that any written document was considered difficult and a waste of time. The coat of arms was inserted to any document as a way of identifying a person much like the signatures of modern times. To this day, it remains as a symbol of class and uniqueness, and most of the time is affixed at the top of a formal wedding invitation.

The first wedding invitations were believed to have been written and designed by the monks of Europe during the Middle Ages. These monks were masters of calligraphy. Persons of royalty and belonging to the high society hired these monks to make their handwritten wedding invitations because they could afford to pay them. The 1600s, saw the birth of metal plate engraving bringing about the popularity of engraved invitations. To prevent smudging, tissue papers were placed on top of the metal engravers.

Until the middle of the 19th century, when the machine was made possible, fine stationery was anonymous. Engraved invitations were sent by the Victorians. To friends and family, notes were simply handwritten and mailed two weeks before the wedding. Double envelopes were devised because of the unsure mail system that existed at that time.  Until the 20th century, all wedding invitations were hand delivered. The double envelope served as protection for the invitation being soiled while traveling to its desired recipient. Riding on horseback, messengers delivered it to the butler. The butler throws away the outer envelope and puts the inner envelope in a silver tray ensuring that the recipients hands would not accumulate the dirt of the mail. The mailing system has long advanced, and most invitations are received through mail but the double envelope is still practiced up to this day.

As we brace ourselves for the 21st century, more alternatives would be added.  But our desire to announce one of the most momentous occasions in our lives will never fade and cease.

Tags: Wedding Guests, Wedding, Getting Married, Starting a Family, Marriage

Invitations are part and parcel of planning a wedding. Just as important is the wedding invitation. The invitation envelope is the first thing that is noticed by prospective guests so a bride should be careful with the choice of envelope that may be reflective of  the colors or theme of the wedding.

Wedding invitation envelopes may come in different forms and designs. Traditionally, outer envelopes are designed to be larger and heavier and the smaller envelope containing the actual invitation.

This practice has an interesting story. Prior to the 20th century, almost all wedding invitations were personally brought to their recipients and in the early 18th century, the practice of sending engraved invitations began with the upper class. The maid or butler receives the (probably untidy) envelope from the messenger, removes the seal and gives the inner envelope to the house-lady. From them on, the practice continued until the modern times.

Wedding invitations may be chosen by the bride in local bridal shops, printer, or online. She is faced with nearly endless options - envelopes made of heavy paper, parchment, vellum, in square or rectangular shapes; she can choose the “pochette” which is an envelope square in shape, folded on each side and folded in to make the envelope. The bride may choose any color she can imagine.  In fact, the color of the envelope may even equal the color of her bouquet, if she wishes.

Wedding invitation envelopes can also be plain, inside and out. Other envelopes may be lined in colorful foils similar  to the color of the ink on the invitation.  There are envelopes using colors complementary to the paper.

The envelope made of parchment done with subtle marble finish, is an example of a formal but traditional version of wedding invitation. Parchment gives the envelope a handmade appearance because of its “deckled” edge, giving the edge of the paper a torn look.

Wedding invitation envelopes may be engraved or hand-addressed as demanded by wedding etiquette.  Though address labels or computer-printed envelopes are gaining headway, hand-addressed ones are demanded by etiquette.

The price of wedding invitations includes as a “package” the price of most wedding invitation envelopes. However, brides are willing to pay extra for envelopes that are lined, made of parchment and vellum. It is important that brides order their invitations early so that corrections can be made if something is incorrect with the finished invitation. The bride must also list other options so that she can find the best price.

Tags: Wedding, Starting a Family, Tying the Knot, Wedding Guests, Marriage

Everything is set.  The wedding date has been finalized.  The venue for the wedding and reception has been confirmed.  The primary and secondary sponsors have been completed.  All the other stuff like souvenirs and program have been sorted out and cleared except the wedding invitations.

Inviting for a wedding is one of the nitty gritty things in preparing for a wedding.  The couple decides the manner of the wedding invitation – whether formal or informal.  In the informal type of invitation, the couple passes on the invitation to their friends, relatives and family through verbal means or word of mouth.  Another informal type is by informing the guests through the telephone or through e-mail.  It is very important to give the details of the wedding such as who, when and where the event will happen.  When doing the informal invitation,  the couple can use their originality and creativity.  If the manner of inviting guests is through email, just make sure that a landline address to respond to is included because others may be uncomfortable using email.

The more formal invitations, on the other hand, are printed and designed on specialty papers using specialty fonts and well-though out text and graphics.  They come in different forms and styles as determined by the couple – embossed, engraved, glossy – and other styles.  The wordings are either customized or follow a pre-designed pattern.  Reception information is usually included on the invitation.   Reception invitations are often used when a reception is being held at a different time than the wedding, or when some are invited to the reception but not to a wedding.  In case of divorced parents, one issues the wedding invitation and the other the reception invitation.  This holds true when both the mother and father of the bride are hosting the wedding.  The reception invitation includes information, such the dress code although typically it is not mentioned.

The next step is sending out the wedding invitations. Before, the bride’s parents distribute the invitations since they shoulder the wedding.  Now, the couple shoulder the cost for their invitation.  Out of respect for their parents and tradition, couple is covering the entire cost of the wedding.  The envelope address is just as important as the invitation.  The envelopes must be handwritten unless the computer can duplicate handwriting.  It is not advisable to use computer generated labels.  For professional and elegant looking labels, many couples hire a calligrapher.  Outer envelopes are necessary but inner envelopes are optional but helpful since this distinguishes who is invited and who is not.

ow the invitations are ready for distribution.

Tags: Starting a Family, Wedding Invitations, Wedding, Getting Married, Wedding Invitation