Plan your wedding with advice and resources for your ceremony, reception, budget, registry and more at bridalguide.com.
Please wait...
Think of your wedding reception as the ultimate dinner party. One way to enhance your guests' gustatory experience is to pay special attention to the wine you select for the occasion. Work with your caterer or banquet manager to choose good labels.
As the date for your wedding draws near, you and your fiance will find yourselves the subjects of a whirlwind of parties. Some you will host, but for most you two will be the guests of honor, which means you get to pretty much relax and enjoy the festivities.
Wondering how to keep your wedding costs under control? Here, some recent newlyweds reveal how they splurged, saved-and stayed on budget.
Your wedding day will be over sooner than you realize, but high quality pictures and videos of the event can make the memories last a lifetime. The best way to ensure good results is to hire a professional photographer who is experienced at shooting weddings.
Even more than photographs, a wedding video truly captures the spirit and magic of your big day-in living color. And, thanks to advancements in digital technology, the quality of these videos has improved dramatically over the years.
What makes a wedding special? It's all in the details, and we've got some exciting ideas to make your celebration memorable. Creative "I Dos" 1. Ceremony seating can tie in with your wedding theme, so consider hay bales for a country wedding or satin cushions for the floor of that urban loft, says Sasha Souza of San Francisco's Sasha Souza Events.
Your wedding may be a celebration of love and commitment, but it's also the biggest party you'll probably ever throw. So pull out all the stops and make it a night to remember.
While I was planning my wedding, I worked for this very magazine, and I considered myself lucky to have some inside knowledge about how to do it right. Even so, no bride's an expert until after the fact.
Your wedding will no doubt be the most romantic day of your lives, but how can you maximize that feeling so it tugs at the heartstrings of your guests? It's all in the details. carefully chosen food and drinks, decorative touches, even a few stolen moments together, away from the group.
Helping others is easy while you're on the road to wedded bliss. Here's the good news: You don't have to turn into a self-obsessed Bridezilla while planning your wedding. With these simple, affordable ideas, you can contribute to some very worthy causes but still leave plenty of time, energy and sanity to prepare for the big day.
'Planning an outdoor wedding is a huge undertaking, since you have to bring in everything from tents to tables, chairs, plates and silverware, even a dance floor and kitchen equipment.
We're busting the wedding industry wide open in order to save you a bundle. Only the pros knew of these brilliant cost-cutting strategies-until now! We want to let you in on a little secret: You can save major bucks on the wedding of your dreams without compromising style and elegance. Yes, you read that right.
Sampling cake flavors and choosing from a rainbow of frosting colors make working with a cake designer a truly delicious task. To be sure you're just as satisfied with the end result, follow these steps to sweet success.
Food and beverages will probably swallow up the lion's share of your wedding budget. Here, clever ideas on how to eat, drink-and save money. Wedding Cocktail Hour 1. Hand pass pricier appetizers, like shrimp, scallops or other seafood items, rather than setting them out for guests to serve themselves.
As the setting for her summer wedding to Shawn Krause, Fiona Sarn picked the tiny boarding school she'd attended in Arizona.
Select a signature color palette and weave it throughout the event. One of the simplest ways to personalize your wedding is to select a signature color palette and weave it throughout the event from invitations to favors.
Believe it or not, you can save thousands of dollars on wedding costs. Here, the fees for a high-end wedding reception for 150 guests and advice from experts on how to cut that sum down to size.
There's no better measure of a wedding's 'fun factor' than a packed dance floor. That's why it's so important to arrange for first-rate music, whether you go 'live' with a band or have a DJ.
Make sure you get yourself to the wedding on time and in style. Find out how to book a limousine-plus some alternatives to consider.
Make your transportation arrangements at least six months before your wedding day. If you're getting married during prom season - late March through late June - consider allowing eight to twelve months. Your wedding reception site manager should be able to refer you to reliable companies.
The reality is, no matter how organized you are, a last-minute mishap can threaten to ruin your celebration. Read on and know how to avoid wedding-day disasters
You wake up in a sweat, thinking about all those envelopes you have to stuff. Your head starts pounding when your mother-in-law-to-be asks if she can invite three more guests. The news that the bridesmaid gowns still aren't ready, and this is the fourth time you've called, brings on tears. Are you losing your mind? Of course not. But you may be suffering from bridal burnout.
There are plenty of great bachelorette parties to suit every style and budget. Whether you want to splurge or save some dough, find the best one for your gang.
Flowers have been an essential element of weddings throughout history, thought to drive away evil spirits and to symbolize love and fertility. Here is how to work with your florist to choose flowers that are perfect for your style and budget.
While these days there are no hard-and-fast rules about who handles each element of wedding planning and rituals, it's helpful to know the traditional breakdown of roles. The bride and groom's big responsibility is to get married - but of course, there are myriad planning decisions to make first.
Think of a wedding website as one-stop shopping, a place where you can give guests all the details they need to plan ahead for your big event. It's also a fun way to communicate with everyone, sharing photos and wedding details. No matter your skill level, you can have a great looking, informative site. Here's how. Find the Right Host There are plenty of ways to get online. If you're tech savvy,...
There are many details your wedding guests will forget days or weeks after the reception. Treat your guests to an unforgettable meal on your unforgettable day with our step-by-step guide.
Even more than photographs, a wedding video truly captures the spirit and magic of your big day-in living color. And, thanks to advancements in digital technology, the quality of these videos has improved dramatically over the years.
Your wedding day will be over sooner than you realize, but high quality pictures and videos of the event can make the memories last a lifetime. The best way to ensure good results is to hire a professional photographer who is experienced at shooting weddings.
The deep reds are definitely the most romantic on the spectrum. We added gold and touches of orange and pink, so that the reds really popped and created a sense of luxury.
Hardcover photo book, $30, and greeting cards, $1.60-$2, created with Apple iLife '08 ($79), apple.com/ilife . Scrapbooking pages designed with assorted Making Memories products, makingmemories.com . Enough supplies to create 10 favor boxes in your chosen color scheme, $17.50.
Wondering how to keep your wedding costs under control? Here, some recent newlyweds reveal how they splurged, saved-and stayed on budget.
Mindful Design Go for simple, high-impact design, advises DeJuan Stroud of DeJuan Stroud Incorporated, an event-planning firm in New York City. “We created a wedding in a barn, with white tablecloths and bistroware.
An expert on eco-entertaining offers fresh ideas. Recycled glass jugs and bamboo bowl, all from the JCPenney Home Collection.
Vintage and handmade items add a charming touch. Read through this article and know more about the eco-friendly wedding products.
Whether or not you wish to be married within a particular religious tradition, whether or not you wish to recite traditional wedding vows or the wedding vows of any particular faith, you may find it helpful to read through this collection of traditional religious wedding vows.
Pink is always associated with romance, and the neutral tones lend a sense of sophistication and luxury. Sparkly elements, such as the beaded overlays on the tables and the crystal candelabras and centerpiece bowls, made the room shimmer and feel like a fantasy.
Don't make the common mistake of overlooking videography! Capturing your event on film is more important than you may think.
The bridal gift registry has to be one of the greatest inventions, for both engaged couples and guests alike. Available through most major department stores nationwide, as well as many smaller specialty stores, mail-order catalogs and websites, the wedding gift registry is a computerized operation that allows you to list your gift selections in every category, from china to sporting-goods equipment.
Bailey describes the reception's crowning glory as the 12-foot-high table candelabra, layered with roses and hydrangeas and topped with tapers adorned with lush rose-petal garlands.
Wait until you see all the latest and greatest ideas in food, flowers, music, favors and more. Lucky you! Color, color everywhere. and don't be afraid to drive into eclectic combinations. What's black-and-white with touches of green? An ultrachic table. Light up the night with sparkling candelabras and different-colored spotlights for a magical effect.
Your color scheme will spotlight the true you-whether you decide to go bright and beachy, elegant and chic or boldly graphic.
Stationery is a wedding essential: Your save-the-date card and invitation will get guests excited and give hints about the look of the event. Place cards and ceremony programs can tie together a theme. And thank-you notes will remind them of all the fun they had! Take note of these stationery tips: Find the right vendor To start, you could sort through stationery designers' websites, but be warn...
Weddings are about love, hope-and toasts! As such, most brides and grooms provide guests with lots of champagne, wine, beer and spirits throughout the night. What do you expect to serve? Here's how to stock up according to your guests' tastes-and your budget.
First long-distance wedding tip: Chill. Panicking about details when you're not physically there to oversee them will not get you anywhere. The good news is that many brides who have planned weddings from afar say it can actually reduce stress.
Bring the outdoors in by using leaves, branches and birds as your motifs. Bird's-nest favor, $11 for 12, by Beaucoup. Blue Jordan almonds. Gold-tone leaf ornaments for favors, $15 each, by Jean M. Strapless dress with tiered floral-embroidered skirt, by Monique Lhuillier.
Some wedding elements and traditions will never go out of fashion, like the cake cutting and the champagne toast. But if you're like most brides and grooms today, you probably want to go beyond those standard details and put a more personal stamp on your big day.
After all, they're going to punch up the "pretty" factor of your reception and appear in almost all of your formal photographs . At a minimum, you'll probably want to order a bridal bouquet; bouquets for your attendants; boutonnieres for the groom, groomsmen and fathers; corsages for the mothers; flowers for the ceremony site ; and centerpieces for the reception tables. But the first step is to...
Costa Rica deserves its standing as one of the world's top vacation spots. With delicate blue morph butterflies that float by ever so gracefully, you've got a breathtaking wedding setting. Here are three of our favorite locations.
Perhaps your fiance is in the military and is being shipped out in 12 weeks, or you just got a great job offer in another city and won't have time to plan a wedding while you're working. Whatever your reason for speedy nuptials, it is possible to throw a gorgeous shindig and still beat the clock.
Whether you're following tradition and taking your husband's name, hyphenating, or making any other change you want legally recognized, here are the steps you'll need to follow. (Of course, these same steps apply to him if he's changing his name too.)
As the date for your wedding draws near, you and your fiance will find yourselves the subjects of a whirlwind of parties. Some you will host, but for most you two will be the guests of honor, which means you get to pretty much relax and enjoy the festivities.
After the solemnity of the ceremony, it's time for a celebration . Many reception traditions have developed over time to become an expected and enjoyed part of the marriage ritual.
The flavors of brunch foods should generally be mild, and that's also true for the wedding cake. Flavors like strawberry and cream or amaretto-almond.
Here's our step-by-step guide to everything you need to know, from the minute you're engaged to the moment you say "I do."
Pink roses and other vintage-style touches make a personal statement about love.
At your bridal shower, you get to be the guest of honor as your closest female friends and relatives gather to girl-talk, eat...and lavish you with a truckload of amazing gifts.
With so much attention given to planning the perfect reception, couples sometimes find that they haven't given quite enough thought to their ceremony. which is, needless to say, the most important part of your big day.
Need a jump start on your to-do list? Take our crash course in wedding know-how-it's as easy as A-B-C! Getting engaged couldn't be more exciting, but once you actually start on the task that lies ahead of you, you may feel a bit overwhelmed. There's so much involved in planning a wedding: Should you have an outdoor event? Should you send save-the-date cards? When do you mail your invitations?
Think of your wedding reception as the ultimate dinner party. One way to enhance your guests' gustatory experience is to pay special attention to the wine you select for the occasion. Work with your caterer or banquet manager to choose good labels.
Out-of-town guests make matters tricky. There are rooms to block, transportation to book, directions to give and gift bags to stuff. And now it seems there are more wedding-weekend travelers than ever. Here's how to host them like a pro.
"Thanking your wedding vendors and service people with some extra money is a gracious thing to do," says Jung Lee, a partner at Fete, a wedding planning firm in New York City. How to do it? Slip cash or personal checks into envelopes and hand them out at the end of the night.
Here's what guests really think about some of the great. and not so great bashes they've attended.
Whether your taste is traditional, trendy or somewhere in between, here are tunes to suit every style: Pre-Ceremony, Bridal Party Entrance, Bridal Party Entrance, Recessional.
Planning your wedding is a huge undertaking, but those weeks and months are also some of the best and most exciting times you'll probably ever have. Of course, that doesn't mean you're not going to hit a few snags along the way. you know, like figuring out how to ensure your divorced parents and their significant others get along on your big day, or the right way to let your guests know their pr...
Nothing creates the mood of the moment like music. It can add dignity and solemnity to a wedding ceremony, excitement and liveliness to a reception. That's why you'll want to have live or prerecorded music at both your wedding ceremony and reception.
Exchanging your wedding vows will be both a public and a private pronouncement of the love you two share, and you'll want it to be unique and meaningful. Options abound for making a wedding ceremony uniquely yours.
One of your first wedding planning decisions will be to select your ceremony site/venue and your wedding officiant. Since the ceremony is the heart of any wedding, it should set the tone for the entire day. A wedding ceremony can be held anywhere from a church to your reception site to a judge's chambers to a remote mountaintop. Whether you're starting your search from scratch or you have an aff...
As you meet with vendors you will quickly realize there's a whole slew of wedding-specific terms you'll need to be familiar with in order to get exactly what you want. It pays to know the vocabulary.
The size of your guest list will greatly affect your wedding expenses, your reception site options, and the entire feel of your event. It's a rare bride and groom who don't need to edit down their original list, whether you're dealing with 30 or 300 people.
Your wedding invitations will give your guests their first glimpse of the big day to come, so you'll want them to reflect the style and special touches on which you've spent so much time.
The following examples provide the traditional invitation wording for a variety of family and hosting situations. For more general information on wedding invitations, including printing types and components, see our Invitation Overview.
How much can you afford to spend? Here, experts come up with six great reception ideas for three different budgets.
Deciding between hiring a live band or a DJ to spin recorded music is one of the biggest reception issues you'll face. Both have their pros and cons; ultimately it's a question of budget and taste.
Many brides have stories to tell about how their hired professionals-caterer, photographer, florist, etc.-failed to deliver the products or services promised. But what most of us later confess is that it may have been partly our fault: We didn't ask enough questions, check out references, read or require a contract, or we were afraid to tell the hired help exactly what we wanted.
No doubt you've worked hard to stage a wedding reception with tons of individual style, so why should your wedding ceremony be any different? Get personal, and consider writing your own wedding vows. It's not as daunting as you might think. Here's how it's done. What's Your Style? Writer's Block? There's no reason you can't rework vows that others have used.
Traditional engagement etiquette recommends that the bride's parents be the first to be informed of their daughter's engagement. Tell them in person, if possible. after all, they're going to want to hug you and make a fuss!
Before you start jotting down names on paper, you and your fiancé need to come up with a number: an estimate of how many guests to invite. This, of course, will largely depend on your budget and on the size of your reception site.