Entries from April 2007 ↓

When you picture a wedding invitation what do you see? Is it flat, rectangular, the standard? Well, here are a few wedding invitations that break the mold. Since your wedding invitations give your guests their first impression of your wedding, this is your chance to make a big impression! Just like you, Tom Cruise and Katy Holmes, wanted to make a big impression so they got their wedding invitations at Soolip in West Hollywood. As you might expect, these aren’t your standard wedding invitations and aren’t meant for those on a tight budget! Here are some very unique wedding invitations that can be found at Soolip.

This wedding invitation from has “…floating elements of nature, a wistful feather or nature’s pod, are framed underneath a sewn sheath of milky paper.”

These wedding invitations are made from Nepalese Lotka paper and both it’s envelopes (both outer and reply) are tubes!

These unique invitation pieces are connected by colorful stitching “…a paper quilt or Tibetan prayer flags.”

See you tomorrow with more unique wedding ideas!

Rhonda

Our Wedding Plus

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I’m so blessed. And not in the clichéd kind of blessed. I mean the real, down-home, 110% blessed. I’m a wedding photographer and I couldn’t picture a better profession in the world. Not only am I privileged to document the most important day of a bride and groom’s life, I’m able to meet the most amazing families, experience the amorous vows of two people pledging their lives to each other, and eat wedding cake at the end of the night! Like I said, I’m blessed.

I want to thank Rhonda for inviting me to be a blog contributor and it’s my goal to offer sound wedding photography advice every week. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to leave them in the comment box…creating dialogue between industry professionals and clientele is imperative to developing stronger cords of communication. So don’t hesitate to speak your mind, vent, or just drop a lil’ warm-n-fuzzy

THE ENGAGEMENT SESSION
Often times, I’m asked by my clients the importance of an engagement session and whether it’s necessary. I could expound in great detail about the vitality of an engagement session, but for brevity’s sake, I’ll keep my encouragement to three main points:

1. Workin’ Out the Kinks…
At almost every engagement shoot, my clients will initially appear awkward and uncomfortable in front of the camera…and this is totally understandable! It’s not the norm to coquettishly interact in front of a lens, much less kiss in front of a photographer. During the engagement session, I’m able to stand back and watch the dynamic of my clients’ relationship, as well as photojournalistically capture their personalities. By the end of the shoot, my clients are laughing, enjoying the simple moments, and just being themselves. My goal is to show up to a wedding and have the bride and groom feel like I’m just a friend with a professional camera.

2. Do You Trust Me?
An engagement session proffers the opportunity for my clients to trust me. Really, really trust me. I’ve asked clients to run along the Pacific shore fully clothed, kiss in front of brightly-colored dumpsters, and lay on the ground in public spaces…I’ve pretty much asked my clients to relinquish their preconceived notions of photography and let me take the reigns. After the engagement session is commenced, and the pictures are produced, my clients are able to see from my mind’s eye. They know when they’re wedding day arrives, if I ask them to do something out-of-the-ordinary, I have their best interests in mind…and the pictures will prove trust was the cornerstone of our relationship.

3. For Posterity’s Sake
An engagement session is the most fun way to document my clients’ personalities. It’s not often when people have professional pictures taken, so I try to maintain a level of normalcy with each shoot. I always have my clients choose the photography location and encourage them to go somewhere that truly reflects their love for one another. This is the best way to capture emotion because they’re comfortable in their surroundings, allowing them to be real. After all, pictures are but a brief moment frozen in time…capturing who my clients are for the posterity of their family and future generations.

-Jasmine Star
Website: Jasmine Star Photography
Blog: Jasmine Star Photography Blog

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Hope everyone enjoyed Groom’s Week! During my week off, while Craig passed on some great ideas for the grooms, I got to thinking. What can I do to better help all you ladies and gentlemen (I hope there’s some of you out there) have the best wedding planning information possible. As you know, there are lots of wedding blogs out there each giving great wedding ideas. Most of the time there’s only one blogger giving information from their perspective and from their knowledge base. So I thought I might be able to kick this up a notch and add wedding professionals to Our Wedding Plus to form kind of a team blog so you can benefit from the knowledge base of a few wedding professionals. So, I turned to some of my friends who happened to be top-notch wedding professionals and I’m excited to say they agreed to participate in this new venture! So, starting next week you will see some new bloggers posting on Our Wedding Plus. In addition to my standard posts, each contributor will be able to post wedding tips/ideas about their area of expertise! I’ll also be adding an “Ask the Experts” section on the right column where you can email the experts and ask them what ever you want to get some inside info about how to plan your wedding.

Now let me introduce them…

Wedding Photographer: I’m honored to have Jasmine Star, owner of Jasmine Star Photography added as a contributer to Our Wedding Plus, she’s a very talented wedding photographer from Southern California. I wrote about her a couple of times in my blog. She also runs a blog at Jasmine’s Blog/. Jasmine is going to pass on wedding photography info and I’m sure you’ll be impressed by her work

Green Wedding Planner: I’m also honored to have Nelle Johnston, owner of Zahzoom Wedding and Parties located in San Francisco, Ca and a green wedding planner signing on as a regular contributor on Our Wedding Plus! Nelle is also a blogger at http://www.zahzoom.blogspot.com/. She will be passing on “green wedding” planning ideas coming from her years of experience as a Green Wedding Planner!

Wedding Health/Fitness: Finally, I’m honored to introduce Randi Ragan, the owner of Green Bliss Eco Spa, ranked in the top ten Holistic Spas in Los Angeles by http://www.wholelifetimes.com/. Randi is a former Hollywood screenwriter and has spent over 10 years in the wellness industry as a yoga and meditation teacher, lecturer, spiritual retreat leader, and creator of customized healing ceremonies and rituals. She will be guest blogging on natural health, wedding stress reduction, and fitness.
So check in next week for some great wedding planning info!

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Rhonda
Our Wedding Plus

Hi everyone! It’s our final day of Groom’s Week. I’d like to thank Craig Michaels for guest blogging the entire week for Our Wedding Plus! If you haven’t read this weeks posts please take time to, they were very informative and different than what you normally see on a traditional wedding blog. Hopefully we had some grooms following along too! Guys, it’s okay to admit you’ve been reading along, at least this week!

If this is your first time checking in this week let me get your caught up…Craig Michaels is the author of the popular book Thirty to Wife: The Tell-All Groom’s Guide to Weddings – How to Get Hitched Without Losing Your Mind or Your Fiancee (rated 5 stars on Amazon), guest blogging with us this week. If you are having problems getting your fiancé involved in the planning process or if you are just wondering what’s going on in his head read through Craig’s posts. Craig’s book is the ultimate guide to help the groom through the planning process and help him to help you keep your sanity! It recounts the last thirty days prior to his wedding in which he confesses his mistakes to hopefully help future grooms avoid them. I encourage you to pick-up a copy of his book. Here’s Craig’s final post

Thanks Rhonda. Today I’m going to wrap things up with:

Top 5 do’s and don’ts for the groom

The do’s

1. Focus on the trees, not seeing the forest.
A wedding is made up of thousands of decisions. If you stop and think about this for too long, you might panic. Or shutdown. Carve out a niche in your checklist and worry about just a few details, not the whole wedding.

2. It’s all about her, not you.
Yes, both of you are getting married, but your fiancée has been thinking about the wedding much, much longer than you. As such, you should step up and take care of her needs. Your opinion still counts, but pick your battles. And once in a while, take her out on a surprise date. You’ll be rewarded handsomely for your (even feeble) efforts.

3. Start smelling the roses.
This is a once in a lifetime event (don’t listen to the statistics). Enjoy the ride. Enjoy a second bite of wedding cake samples. Spin your fiancée listening to prospective bands. And, yes, smell the roses that will adorn your tabletops for the big day.

4. Think a few moves ahead, even if you aren’t a chess master.
While you might not realize it, every decision, suggestion and opinion can have far-reaching consequences. From serious religious concessions to frivolous seating charts, think before you speak. It’s not that you should feel paralyzed or afraid to speak up. It’s just that tensions are high and you don’t make things worse.

5. Practice makes perfect–or at least not disaster.
Yes, you might have been to tons of weddings. But that’s not going to fully prepare you to be the groom. There are certain moments during your engagement and wedding that you should practice. Some obvious ones include your toast (no matter what you think, you are not a funny drunk), your tuxedo (make sure you have all the pieces), your first dance (try not to always wear sneakers during your lessons) and wedding night “activities” (ok, I threw that one in as a bonus).

The don’ts

1. Don’t try to avoid wedding responsibilities with really lame excuses, like:
They’re replaying Super Bowl XII. And you know how much I love the Cowboys.
The wedding planner made a pass at me the last time.
I got into a fist-fight. It hurts, but you should see your dad.

2. Don’t let stress get to you, much less your fiancée.
Go for a run. Walk the dog. Get a dog, then walk the dog. Visit someone with an Xbox. Google ex-girlfriends. It doesn’t matter, you have to let out the steam.

3. Don’t forget about after the wedding.
Yes, you’re both thinking how the heck are you going to get the wedding off without a hitch, but there’s life after the I do’s. Take time to think about and discuss things like housing, finances, family and even where you’ll be spending holidays.

4. Don’t play the family feud.
Be patient, supportive and diplomatic with your future in-laws. As for your own family, be a good son, get them involved and make sure opinions are shared. Especially if they’re kicking in some money.

5. Don’t bury your head in the sand.
Be prepared to defend your fiancée from her family, your family, the caterer, wedding planner, photographer and just about anyone else you have to write a check to.

I enjoyed sharing my ideas with you this week. Please go to my website for a lot more information and resources to help the groom navigate through the wedding planning process.

Craig
Groom411.com

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As you probably already know, we are honored to have Craig Michaels, author of the popular book Thirty to Wife: The Tell-All Groom’s Guide to Weddings – How to Get Hitched Without Losing Your Mind or Your Fiancee (rated 5 stars on Amazon), guest blogging with us this week. If you are just checking in, checkout the last three posts to get caught up. Craig’s book is the ultimate guide to help the groom through the planning process and help him to help you keep your sanity! It recounts the last thirty days prior to his wedding in which he confesses his mistakes to hopefully help future grooms avoid them. So guy’s stay out of trouble, pick-up a copy for yourself, and ladies it will make a good gift for your fiance, from which you will reap the benefits!

Here’s Craig…

Today’s topic is :

Cost saving tips for the groom to try to pinch pennies without his bride pitching fits:

Plan ahead. While this goes against everything a man stands for, you’ll save money by booking things early. Besides avoiding rush charges, you can also avoid any bidding wars over the “must-have” vendors.

Embrace technology.
It’s the Internet Age, so go online to find vendors. Besides getting favors drop shipped direct from China, you should take advantage of the tools right under your nose, like laser printers, digital cameras, CD burners, and e-mail.

Go all-in. In-clusive, that is. Many venues offer package deals that include services you would normally have to secure elsewhere, like catering. They might also provide day-of wedding planner support to make sure all goes well on your big day.

Start early. Whether it’s earlier in the day, earlier in the week, or earlier in the season, you might save a bundle by avoiding the sought-after Saturday-night time slot.

Mix and match. Pick a few lower-cost appetizers, consider hosting a buffet, serve only wine and beer during dinner, limit alcohol to custom cocktails (e.g., martinis and cosmos), and, if you invite enough people, have two cakes (a fancy one for showing and eating, and a plain one for just eating).

Call time-outs. Limit the photographer and/or videographer’s schedule. Just make sure the shots you want occur during the actual filming time. Although can anyone really know when a conga line will form?

Do it yourself. Break out the warehouse club card and bring your own alcohol. Apply summer-camp arts-and-crafts skills and make your own party favors. Go to work early and use your company’s printer. Wait until dark and clip your own roses.

Go off the beaten path. Think about an out-of-the-way place for your reception. It might even be worth checking out just the surrounding towns. But, be sure to strike the right balance between saving money and costing your guests a bundle just to get to the wedding. And if you find a real bargain site, keep telling her “it’s rustic, not run-down.”

Adopt a less-is-more attitude. When possible, pick the simpler decorations, choose less labor-intensive foods and flowers, minimize the band, and reduce the guest list. Besides saving you money, it’ll probably save you time and anxiety in the long run.

Elope. The granddaddy of cost cutting. And if you play your cards right, you might still get some presents. Especially if you throw a casual post-elopement party for your friends and family.

Tomorrow I’ll finish up with the Top 5 Do’s and Don’ts for Grooms.

Craig
Groom411.com

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Hi everyone! Hope you are all enjoying Groom’s Week! We are honored to have Craig Michaels, author of the popular book Thirty to Wife: The Tell-All Groom’s Guide to Weddings – How to Get Hitched Without Losing Your Mind or Your Fiancee (rated 5 stars on Amazon), guest blogging with us this week. He has been passing on some great tips to help brides and grooms work together to plan their wedding. His book is a great resource for the groom to help him through the planning process. So ladies, Thirty to Wife will make a great engagement gift for your fiance that will wind up helping you out too! So here’s Craig…

Today I’m going to write about a tough subject:

How to avoid family feuds

Your family. Her family. Your family and her family together. Think you’re going to get through things without a fight? Think again. Unless you follow these tips.

Be patient. It’s a trying time for everyone. Understand others’ perspectives. Especially those paying for things.

Be supportive. Give in on the little issues. It’s not worth the fight. Plus, you look like the accommodating one.

Be involved. Help with the planning. Act interested. Spend time with everyone. You might want to avoid discussing politics and the time you partied all night at the Playboy Mansion. Unless your fiancée was Miss November. And even then, tread lightly.

Be diplomatic. Watch out for family arguments. You might be forced to take sides. Always remember who you’re going home with every night.

Be a cheerleader. Make your family want to like your fiancée. Bring her home every now and then. And as for your family, you don’t always have to share everything with your mate. Try to highlight the positives.

Be a good son. But also a good husband-to-be. Keep in mind you’re about to be the head of a new household. The time to hide behind your mom’s apron is long gone.

Be a communicator. It might be a good idea to discuss with your fiancée how you’re going to handle holiday visits, especially if your families live in different cities.

Be a host. Try to get your families together before the wedding. It doesn’t have to be long, heart-wrenching visits, but you want them to be somewhat friendly for the guests, the officiant, and, especially, the videographer.

Tomorrow I’ll be giving the grooms some wedding cost saving tips.

Craig
Groom411.com

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Welcome back to day two of Groom’s Week! We are proud to have Craig Michaels, author of Thirty to Wife: The Tell-All Groom’s Guide to Weddings – How to Get Hitched Without Losing Your Mind or Your Fiancee guest blogging this week! He will be passing on tips on getting the groom involved in the wedding planning process. So Ladies, if you haven’t already get your grooms to read Our Wedding Plus this week and we will let you hang around also, so you can better understand what is going on in your grooms head! Checkout yesterday’s post if your missed it. Also, pick up a copy of Craig’s book, rated 5-stars on Amazon. Here’s Craig…

Today I’m going to cover:

Tips for the Bride to get her Groom to Help Out

Can’t get your fiancé off the computer long enough to pick a china pattern?
Are his thumbs too Blackberry’ed out to express a floral opinion?
Wondering how to put his My Space obsession to good use?

Don’t fight it. Embrace it.

Appeal to his techno-strengths. If he’s a spreadsheet whiz, ask him to optimize the wedding budget. If his iTunes bill is more than the rent, have him suggest the music playlist. If he has more online friends than “Tom,” encourage him to build the wedding website. Incorporate such cyber-related topics as the following into your conversations–personal or electronic–to transform wasted computer time into wanted wedding time:

Planning makes perfect
Answer wedding-related questions, from fastening bow ties to curing tongue-ties. (bestweddingsites.com, theknot.com, ehow.com)
Research and book travel plans. (farecast.com, fodors.com, travel.state.gov)
Track every detail, including checklists, guest lists, expenses and contacts. (smartwedding.com, theweddingtracker.com, elmsoftware.com, frogwaresoftware.com)
Design invitations, table cards and wedding programs. (crane.com, youreinvited.com, thefrontdoor.com)
Create gift registries, from zapping dishes with a bar code gun to clicking linens online. (weddingchannel.com, crateandbarrel.com, homedepot.com)

Broadcast wedding news faster than CNN
Build a wedding website, using pre-made templates or creating from-scratch masterpieces. (myevent.com, ewedding.com, wedquarters.com)
Blog (an online journal) daily, hourly or per-minute planning updates. (blogger.com, wordpress.com, movabletype.com)
Podcast (a personalized radio show) updates direct to your guests’ ears. (podcaststation.com, widgetpress.com, feedburner.com)
Wiki (a sharable document) for everyone to contribute wedding ideas (yes, mother-in-law filters are available). (jotspot.com, wikispaces.com, editme.com)

Wire up your wedding day
Fine-tune the band or DJ’s song list. (itunes.com, rhapsody.com, emusic.com)
Design custom favors, including music CDs, T-shirts, picture frames and chocolates. (roxio.com, cafepress.com, hersheygifts.com)
Project a slideshow or video montage. (apple.com/iphoto, adobe.com/photoshop, microsoft.com/moviemaker)

Take the leap from “I do” to “We share”
Show heartwarming or embarrassing video clips. (youtube.com, filmloop.com, mac.com)
Create photo albums. (flickr.com, smilebox.com, snapfish.com)
Print custom photo or blog books. (shutterfly.com, kodakgallery.com, blurb.com)
Produce a video epic of the big day. (apple.com/finalcutpro, adobe.com/premiere, sony.com/vegas)

Tomorrow I’ll be talking about how you can work together to avoid family feuds.

Craig
Groom411.com

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Hi everyone! It’s Groom’s Week at Our Wedding Plus! We are honored to have Craig Michaels, author of the popular book Thirty to Wife: The Tell-All Groom’s Guide to Weddings – How to Get Hitched Without Losing Your Mind or Your Fiancee (rated 5 stars on Amazon), guest blogging with us this week. If you are having problems getting your fiancé involved in the planning process or if you are just wondering what’s going on in his head (if anything) stay tuned this week. Craig’s book is the ultimate guide to help the groom through the planning process and help him to help you keep your sanity! It recounts the last thirty days prior to his wedding in which he confesses his mistakes to hopefully help future grooms avoid them. It’s informative and funny, it had my husband laughing, alot!

I encourage you to pick-up a copy of his book and give it to your significant other. It will pay dividends for both of you! Ladies, it might be a good idea to get your fiancé to read Our Wedding Plus this week to get some ideas. Tell him not to worry, we won’t tell anybody that he is reading a wedding blog. I promise there won’t be talk about flowers, dresses, or china. Now I’m going to hand over the reigns to Craig…

Thanks Rhonda…I understand your audience is mostly women so this week I want to pass on some tips on how to get your man involved in the planning process.

I’m a happily married man, but the memory of my wedding planning is still fresh in my mind. Besides writing Thirty to Wife, I operate Groom411.com, an extensive Web site serving as a sounding board to help grooms not make the same mistakes I did.

I’m going to start the week with:

Reasons Why Grooms Should Help Out With Planning

Not too long ago, the groom’s role was much more about just showing up. And worrying about life after marriage. In many cases grooms were purposely excluded from planning as weddings were strictly the domain of the bride and her mother. But not now. When by choice or by chance, grooms need to be involved. And here’s why.

Location, location, location.
Over 15% of all weddings are “destination” in nature. And, according about 30% of weddings are being held away from either the bride’s or groom’s home. Whether it’s out-of-town or out-of-country, there’s significantly more planning pressure when you can’t just reach out and strangle a florist. Therefore grooms should be lending their expertise, from location scouting to travel planning to vendor negotiation.

Money doesn’t grow on trees. And most isn’t supplied by mom and dad.
The average wedding costs almost $30,000. And a recent survey by American Express and The Knot revealed that almost 60% of couples felt that dealing with wedding costs was the most daunting aspect of the wedding planning process. Brides and grooms are paying for more expenses, whether by choice (for more decision control) or necessity. So as more checks are being written by the bride and groom, it makes sense that the groom should be more involved. To some, more involved might translate into more objections to the expenses, but hopefully, to most, it means more time spent on choosing the best way to spend their sports car, retirement, or big screen TV fund.

So many plans, so little time.
Couples are now going into the engagement as a team, giving grooms the chance to shine, especially if other priorities are taking time away from the bride. Dual careers, compounded by out-of-town venues, almost demands groom involvement. Hopefully getting married later (the average age of grooms is 28) has also helped in the “maturity and responsibility” department. But if, not hit him where it hurts, namely in the “between the sheets” department.

Multiple parties = multiple plans.
Today’s weddings involve more events that are more elaborate with more choices. Besides groom-only events (e.g., the bachelor party, where you can be sure he’s helping plan) there might be different religious or ethnic events that he should handle if you are an interfaith couple. And when in doubt, apply some peer pressure to help him help put on a good show. He might spend much time in the playground these days, but that doesn’t mean he won’t respond to a good “double dare.”

Now that you know why the groom should help out, tomorrow I will let you know how to get him involved.

Craig
Groom411.com

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Hi everyone, wanted to pass on a special announcement! Next week is Groom’s Week at Our Wedding Plus!

One of the most common issues I’ve seen in the wedding world is the lack of male involvement in the planning process. Are you struggling with your groom to help you with the wedding or at least act interested? You are not alone.

Next week we have a special guest blogger. Believe it or not he is a, no kidding, expert in helping grooms get involved as well as helping brides understand grooms.

Check-in Monday to see who it is! And, it might be a good idea to get your groom to read Our Wedding Plus next week too!

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Rhonda
Our Wedding Plus

You may think, it’s just a ring, it’s small, what’s the big deal? How much can it hurt the environment? Well, large scale mechanized mining used to obtain the gold for that ring causes mass destruction to the land and poisons the surrounding environment. In many cases mercury and cyanide are used to extract the gold from the rock. The miners in destitute areas have no choice but to work in these mines and they come into contact with these lethal chemicals causing serious health problems.

If the consumer demands its gold to be from ecologically and socially friendly sources we may see a stop to this environmental damage and human suffering through ethical mining or better yet the use of recycled gold.

I’m going to pass on more eco-friendly wedding, or green wedding ideas today. So far I’ve written several green wedding posts, I’ll put the links at the bottom of this post so you can find them easily.

Today, I’m going to show you some alternatives to your standard wedding ring. These are unique wedding rings, not only in their appearance but because they were produced in an ecologically and socially responsible way. Do you want your wedding ring to be a product of the environmental destruction shown above? If not read on…

The wedding rings shown here are from greenKarat a retailer and proponent of ecologically and socially friendly gold jewelry. They are just one example of a “green” jeweler. They provide information about each of their products explaining why if is eco-friendly, you can even track the “ecological footprint” of their product through “Green Assay.” Here are some unique examples from greenKarat.

Do you have a pebble that means something to you? Maybe it’s from a camping trip you went on with your fiancé, or you found it at the place you met. You provide the pebble and they will cut it and put it into the ring…

For the computer lover, you can have a personalized message written in binary code put on your ring…

Science lovers? These rings have a depiction of amino acid chains that actually have an encrypted message…

greenKarat is just one option here are more:

Brilliant Earth
Sumiche Jewelry
Touch Wood Rings

Hope you have a green day!

See you tomorrow,

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Rhonda
Our Wedding Plus