Ways To Personalize Your Wedding

Planning a wedding yourself can be very challenging, but there are plenty of advantages that will come along with it. There's nothing else that will make your wedding so you than working on details yourself. You can make your wedding more personalized by doing it yourself, and by considering the following ways below:

Through your wedding invitations...

You can personalize your wedding through wedding invitations that could be handmade or feature a several details about you and your husband-to-be. Don't limit yourself to monograms alone, because there so many personalized ideas you can use to create a more personal invitation. You may consider folded origami-style invites that would look like a crane once folded. Or you can use calligraphy for a small monogramming. There are even wedding invitations that feature a brief story of how the bride met his groom, while there are others that go beyond that story. Just think of possible ideas you can include to your invitations in advance.

Through your wedding songs...

Another common way to personalize your wedding is through your wedding songs. Compile some of your favorite songs that will be played on the day of your wedding. You can have some songs played during the wedding entourage or in some parts of the wedding ceremony, while the rest are to be played at the wedding reception. Pick songs that you both like and have inspired you throughout your relationship.

Through your wedding decorations...

Use your photos to create personalized touches on your wedding centerpieces. For example, you can use photo glass vases to hold flowers on each table. These photo glass vases are available in many online stores at relatively cheap prices. Or, you can include monograms to your place card holders and centerpieces if it is possible.

Through your wedding favors...

There are so many personalized wedding favors available today. These favors could be edible or non-edible, which can be personalized with your names or monograms, and wedding date. If you wish to make your own wedding favors at home, that would also be fine and a personalize idea as well. Personalized wedding favors could also be cheap monogrammed candles or soaps. If you want something elegant and classy, you can find engraved pewter favors. Almost everything can be personalized, it is all up to you to choose which is the best and personalize it with the right specifications.

Personalizing your wedding doesn't mean you have to spend a lot. If you can make some of your wedding supplies, feel free to do so. Personalized favors, and centerpieces could also be something inexpensive. You can find lots of cheap novelty items at your local thrift stores or online stores that can be personalized. You can find also personalized wedding favors on many e-stores that come with free engraving. You can really save a lot on these choices of wedding supplies, plus you'll get a chance to create additional an touch that reflects you and and your spouse-to-be.

Why You Should Start Your Wedding Planning Early

If you are a bride to be in 2010, here’s some top tips why you should start your planning early!

Get The Dates You Want

Remember, there are only 52 weeks in a year which means only 104 weekends to choose from! Take away all the inauspicious days in 2010 and you’re left with not much choice at all! Starting your planning early gives you a better chance at getting and securing the dates you want early.

Get The Venue You Want

There are lots of nice places to hold your wedding but chances are if you thought it was nice, so did a hundred other brides! Its no secret that some wedding venues get booked up to two years in advance so get in there early to choose your dream venue.

Get The Wedding Photographer You Want

Wedding photographers just used to be an add-on to your wedding checklist to document your wedding story as it unfolds. However, some popular wedding photographers today have become the main focus of the wedding with some brides willing to move their wedding dates just to suit the photographer’s availability! So if you simply must have that brilliant photographer, contact him or her and block off their calendar quickly! Most of them get fully booked a year and a half in advance or more for popular dates!

Once you’ve blocked off these big items, breathe and enjoy the rest of your wedding planning! If you haven’t, don’t fret…its just January 2010 but do make sure you get to it soon!

To Wear or Not To Wear - A White Wedding

As a little girl… or even now… I am sure that you have laid about dreaming of marrying Prince Charming, looking gorgeous in your wedding dress. Of course, what color is the wedding dress every time you do this? I am guessing that more often than not it happens to be white and not red like some santa suits. Millions of women and little girls dream of getting married in a fairytale white wedding dress. But wait. Where did a white dress come from and why is it so popular?

Believe it or not white wasn’t always the traditional color for getting married in. Honestly, the tradition of a white wedding dress hasn’t even been around for ages and ages. A white wedding dress is something that every girl is instinctively born with today. You can’t get married in anything but white. Well, while this may be true for some and not so for others, white is worn to symbolize the virtue of the women and to just carry on the tradition.

Not surprisingly, the white wedding dress came from a place full of legends, and where tradition is important. So, low and behold, the white wedding dress was started in the English Monarchy. Queen Victoria was the first “celebrity” that was looked up too, who wore a white wedding gown. Because of her, the popularity of white dresses has become a true tradition among women around the world.

The marriage of Albert of Saxe and Queen Victoria in 1840, was not surprising. The gown she wore though caused quite a stir. It was considered flamboyant and did not start the white wedding gown tradition instantly. Many of the upper class women though, saw this as a unique fashion statement and had no issues in copying the Queen by marrying in white dresses.

A white wedding dress though was worn to show wealth. Virtue was not in the meaning at all. If you could get married in a elegant white gown then you had to have money. White was not easy to clean, so a white wedding dress was something that you most definitely weren’t going to wear again. Spending money on a white gown was something that only the wealthy could do.

Only the wealthy and vain women insisted on being married in white. Most women still married in dresses of different colors and styles after Queen Victoria’s fashion statement. During the Edwardian times however, the white wedding dress gained popularity once more when Coco Chanel unleashed its brand new design….. a knee-length wedding gown, with a huge train in none other than white.

During the world wars though, most women couldn’t afford to wear white. Most just wore whatever they had when they were married. Only the rich kept wearing white wedding dresses. After the 1950’s though many Hollywood stars and royalty still wore white at their weddings. This sealed the deal and tradition of being married in white.