Entries from June 2007 ↓

It’s the weekend! That means it’s time for the TOP FIVE WEDDING BLOG POSTS OF THE WEEK! This week we have a great line-up.

1. Our first pick comes from a great wedding blog called Bridefu. They have a lot of great informative articles. The one that made my top-5 was is called Have Your Wedding at Home. This one caught my eye because it is in-line with my post this week about having a traditional wedding. With wedding costs going up and up, people definitely need some help keeping the costs down. Having your wedding at home is one way.

2. This blog post deals with one of the major problems that pretty much every couple has to deal with…the uninvited guest. You invite your cousin and she asks if she can bring her new boy friend. Or, you want to have an adult only reception and someone from out of town asks you for an exception to bring their kids. You get the idea. Checkout the post from Weddingbee this week called “Open Question: Uninvited Guests”

3. And once again, Weddingbee got two of my top-5! This post had a different idea, one that would appeal to both young and old at your wedding reception…the soda bar! I also liked the lemonade dispensers for an outdoor summer reception. Checkout the post called “A Completely Original Idea”

4. This post I found through Style Me Pretty. It is actually on a new blog called SocialDesign, created by a couple of creative ladies who own an event design and coordination company with a focus on wedding and special events. I loved the colors of the wedding they posted in Black and Yellow. Check out this new blog for some great ideas!

5. Not really a wedding blog but applicable nonetheless. Want to make you man feel like a million bucks? Check out this post, 10 Compliments that Wow a Man, on Yahoo Health. It’s a great post with some great tips that can help make any relationship better by making your man feel good about himself! Give it a try!

If you found anymore posts out there share them, or if there are other wedding blogs that you don’t think I found let me know about them!

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Rhonda
Our Wedding Plus

Celebrity Party / Wedding Planner David Tutera made an appearance on The View to demonstrate how to make Summer White Sangria which would be great for an outdoor summer wedding signature drink or any other summer entertaining you may be doing.

Check out the video to see how to make it, looks tasty!

Want to get the exact wines David Tutera used in this clip? Click on the next line…
Making summer sangria? Try MyWinesDirect’s wines, As Seen On The View.

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Rhonda

http://www.ourweddingplus.com/

You spent a lot of money on your wedding invitations, you have a tremendous and might I say expensive wedding reception planned and its two days before your RSVP deadline and guess what? Only 50% of the people you invited have bothered to send you their RSVP, in spite of the fact that you included addressed and stamped response cards with your wedding invitation package!

This seems to be a universal problem. So how do we handle it? Is there a trick to get people to be courteous enough to give you some sort of a response? Well, maybe, here’s a couple that might work. If you have other suggestions share them with us.

1. Give your guests the option of RSVPing online. Some “personal wedding websites” allow you to track your RSVPs online. How does this help you with your RSVP deadline predicament? A few days prior to your RSVP deadline, send a friendly email reminder to those guests who you haven’t received a response from and provide a link to your RSVP page on your wedding website. The only issue here is you have to have their email address. But, since most people are communicating with family and friends via email this should be becoming less of an issue.

2. I read about a trick on About.com:Entertaining, where someone suggested leaving an important piece of information off of the invitation. In this case she left off the time of the event. This way if you want to go to the event you will have to call to find out when it is. Seems a little devious, what do you think? While this may work for small weddings, I can see this being a problem for larger ones.

3. Call them. Hmm. Is that correct etiquette? I guess it is possible that the invitation was lost in the mail.

It’s a tough one, but I think I’d go with a combination of 1 & 3. I would attempt to contact as many through email as possible and give them the option of RSVPing online. Then if that doesn’t work, the day after the RSVP deadline, I’ll try to call them. After that I give up.

Sidenote: The response card shown above is an accessory to a very finely made letterpress wedding invitation from William Arthur. If you are interested in see the invitations and the rest of the wedding invitation accessories, click here!

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Rhonda

http://www.ourweddingplus.com/

Feeling stressed about the cost and complexity of your wedding? You’re not alone. The average cost of a wedding is over $27,000 and according to Women’s Health magazine 32% of couples are paying for their own wedding. It doesn’t have to be this crazy, in fact I think we are going to see more couples opting for a more traditional more affordable wedding in the future. Here’s my five ideas to have one of the most memorable, meaningful and quaint weddings while also keeping it affordable.1. Have your ceremony and reception outside at a park or in a family member’s yard. Mother Nature provides some of the most beautiful ceremony and reception sites; and She’s pretty cheap! Chautauqua Park in Boulder, Colorado has about 40 weddings a year on the lawn shown in this picute. You can see another picture in yesterday’s post. But, be careful of the weather, I recommend you rent a ceremony tent so you’re not rained out.

2. Pool your resources, leverage the talents of your family members. I believe this is the best way to bring real meaning to your ceremony and reception. Your wedding is also the joining of two families so what better way to bring your two families together than to have them involved in it? The most memorable and romantic wedding I’ve ever been to was my sister’s. The best cooks in the family volunteered to cook for the reception. The groom’s father even made the arbor under which my sister and her fiancé exchanged their vows. At the end of the reception, they drove off in my brother-in-law’s car, that was decorated by their friends!

3. Use a handed down wedding dress. There is nothing more meaningful than getting married in an heirloom wedding dress; maybe one your grandmother or mother wore. It may not be the current style but does that really matter?

4. Have a natural honeymoon. What is the meaning of a honeymoon? Is it to spend a lot of money on an extravagant vacation? Or, is it to finally get away with your new husband or wife and spend some quality time and make memories that will last a lifetime? Some people may say yes to both, but I don’t think you need to spend a fortune to have a meaningful and memorable honeymoon. Stay close to home, check out some of the United States’ natural beauty. You don’t have to go to an all inclusive Caribean resort to have a good time. Checkout my post about unique honeymoons.

5. Pick your own music. You don’t need a DJ or a band to keep the party going. You can have an “iPod Wedding” and make your own playlist! Pick songs that you like, that are personal between you and your fiancé. But, to keep the party going, I recommend you ask someone close to you to be the Master of Ceremonies during your reception. You will have to rent some sound equipment for this.

Are you sick of the wedding rat race? Any other ideas out there?

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Rhonda

Our Wedding Plus

Hi everyone, I’m back from a great week in Boulder, Colorado. We took this picture of the “Flat Irons” at Chautauqua Park. What a beautiful place! My husband was there for a class and I went along. We did some hiking, horseback riding and a lot of eating! I was initially gung-ho to find a yoga studio, which I did, but never seemed to make it there. But I did also find a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and a few other great places for desert which I was able to make it to about twice a day! Sorry, I didn’t post a “top-5 wedding blog post” last week. Got pretty busy being away. Anyway, I did find out some interesting Colorado wedding facts.

Did you know…

Colorado is the cheapest and easiest places to get married in the US? No blood test, no waiting period, no pre-marital counseling, no residency requirement and it only costs $10. Combine this with one of nature’s most beautiful backdrops and you can have an amazingly beautiful wedding pretty easily and cheaply!

I’ll post a little this week about some of the great places in Boulder, Colorado to get married and some ideas to try to make any wedding affordable anywhere. So, stay tuned!

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Rhonda

Our Wedding Plus

Want to make a grand entrance? Want something different than a standard wedding limosine? Checkout these horse drawn carriages. A couple of things to think about…

- Don’t plan on using a horse drawn carraige for a 20 mile ride from the church to your reception. Actually, a horse drawn carriage only goes about 4 miles/hr. So, I would say 4 miles should be the limit. You should probably consider the routing available. You don’t want to have the horses going down highways to get to your reception site.

- Think about the weather - If you have a rain storm your entrance may not be so grand. Since you have to plan at least a couple of months out, you may be looking for a last minute backup plan if this happens.

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Rhonda
Our Wedding Plus

Click on the Photos for Photo Credits

Since most of you are preparing yourselves for the BIG day, and I’m sure you want to be radiant, I thought you might be interested in a skincare line that I just started using and love! First of all, I struggle with very dry sensitive skin, so if you can relate this may be for you too. It is the MD Formulations Sensitive Anti-Wrinkle Kit.. My problem is everything I use including my sunscreen causes some kind of reaction, whether it is dry patches or bumps that are hard to see, but I know they are there. Living in the Mojave Desert and being outside with my horse almost all day, I can’t live without my sunscreen. So this is what led me to try this Anti-Wrinkle Kit, I was desperate to get that glow I see so many other women with.

Well I think I finally cracked the code, at least for all of us with dry sensitive skin. I’ve been using it for about a week now and my skin is looking great, and no more bumps!

Oh yeah, the only bad thing (for me) is I found it on Amazon for $10 less than I paid on another website. If you want it click on the picture above or on the link.

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Rhonda
http://www.ourweddingplus.com/

There are some rituals that American Culture associates with weddings, which a few of us embrace happily (if not blindly), and many of us look at and say: “What is that about, anyway?”

Let’s look at some of our classic American wedding traditions, and learn what they’re all about, and how to approach them consciously and sustainably…

THE BRIDE IS ESCORTED BY HER FATHER:

If it weren’t for the Hallmark nature of it, this tradition would not have survived feminism. A daddy’s girl myself, I certainly understand the appeal. However, the tradition of being escorted down the isle by ones father has come directly from times past when the bride was given into marriage, as property, from one man (her father) to the next (her husband). This symbolism shows a troubling disconnect with our modern ideals of egalitarian partnership.

This is not to imply that it is misogynistic to dream of marching to Cannon in D on Papa’s arm, but consider that there are alternatives:

Some brides walk alone; some walk with their mother and their father; others have the bride and the groom escorted by both parents at different points in the processional…

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING BORROWED, SOMETHING BLUE:

This is a Victorian tradition. The “something old” corresponds with the bride’s relationship to her family and her old life. The “something new” is, of course, symbolic of the couple’s new life together and their future hopes and dreams. “Something borrowed” from a happily married woman is meant to impart marital contentment on the bride; and the “something blue” represents marital fidelity.

If you’re a rabbit foot on the rearview kind of bride, you may identify with this ritual. And, of course, including handed-down family heirlooms and borrowed articles in you wedding attire can be a sentimental and eco-friendly approach (just source the ‘new’ item thoughtfully).

Again, there is a little age-old sexism here if you scratch the surface. This ritual is traditionally about the woman’s transition into her new life (her husband’s life)… And, as of yet, we’ve very few grooms following suite with such metamorphic symbolism. Perhaps both halves of any duo could use some good luck charms?

THE WHITE GOWN:

Thank you Queen Victoria! Apparently this Royal abandon court tradition and created a lasting following when, instead of the customary silver gown of a queen, she chose to wear white on her wedding day.

The color white has maintained its reputation as a symbol of purity and virginity, and is often associated with brides and weddings for this reason. However, with the changing face of marrying couples: maturity; remarriage; and same sex marriage; the stigma of premarital sex is virtually a thing of the past.

Before the dawn of the white wedding, all a bride had to do was wear her ‘Sunday best’ to the chapel. Today, more and more women are splurging on knock’em dead gowns in a rainbow of hues… Opting for something stunning, even comfortable, and from a sustainability perspective, reusable!

WEARING FLOWERS:

Doth he wear his lady’s colors? In medieval times, knights wore colored flowers to symbolize their affection for a particular lady. Boutonnieres and bouquets have long been used as decorative symbolism in weddings. Today, we use flowers to decorate and to honor the members of our wedding party or closest family. Flowers and colors can be read to have meaning, from the promise of health and good luck to subtle messages of passion or faithfulness. Orange blossoms can signify purity, daisies are associated with loyalty, violets: the ever modest flower, and of course, the red rose of true love.

Consider local, seasonal flowers for your wedding. Tropical lilies for San Francisco in July might be lovely to look at, but is it worth the plane flight they took to get there? And what chemicals were they sprayed with to preserve their beauty?

If you are against cut flowers altogether, look into live plant options for décor. And always consider gifting or donating your left over arrangements…

WEARING RINGS:

Spouses wear wedding rings as an outward symbol of their commitment to marital fidelity. The tradition purportedly began in Egypt where the endless circle of a ring was symbolic of an eternal bond, while the open center symbolized an opening to the unknown future.

This tradition was later adopted by the Greeks, after Alexander the Great conquered Egypt in 332 BC. Up to this time, engagement rings were usually made from natural materials on hand, such as leather, bone, hemp rope or ivory. The early Romans’ material of preference was iron, instigating the tradition of metal rings. Precious metal rings were rare, and became a particular symbol of trust… more pointedly, that a man could trust his wife with his valuables.

The “ring finger” commonly refers to the “fourth” digit, (next to the pinky). Wedding rings are traditionally worn on the left hand. This is a relatively new trend, however. During the 17th century, the English sometimes placed the ring on the thumb, and the Gauls and Britons wore their rings on the middle finger.

The Latin, “vena amoris”, translated as vein of love, refers too the belief that this vein ran directly from the fourth finger to the heart. The wedding band was placed there to signify everlasting love.

The engagement ring is traditionally worn only by the betrothed woman, as a symbol that she has been promised to one and is not to be courted by other men. The modern romance of a marriage proposal has kept the symbolic gift of the engagement ring going strong, but not every woman wears a ring before she is wed.

As you buy rings, think about sourcing conflict free diamonds, or forego diamonds in favor of another precious stone or jewel. Inquire as to where your materials came from and try to use a jeweler who sources from responsible miners. See greenKarat or Brilliant Earth.

THROWING RICE:

Throwing rice at the newlyweds is an old tradition. Rice was considered a “life giving” seed and so it was superstitiously thrown on the couple to ensure fertility. Rice throwing has gone out of favor in the last couple of decades, and has been linked to a (false) rumor that grains of dry rice can kill birds as they expand in their tiny stomachs. More realistically, rice creates a giant mess and many venues prohibit the ritual for that reason. If you enjoy this tradition of fanfare, consider having guests throw rose petals or bird-seed (but beware, one talented slugger in the crowd, and you may have birdseed in your hair for the rest of the evening!).

INTRODUCING THE WEDDING PARTY

Introducing the newlyweds and their wedding party is a popular modern tradition. This ritual usually happens just after the guests are seated for dinner, before the food served or toasts are made.

This is an introduction of the couple’s nearest and dearest, their wedding party, to their families and guests. Each member of the party makes an entrance, and finally, the bride and groom are called in, with name changes if applicable. This final introduction, especially, marks the couple’s transition into marriage. The announcement is usually made by a DJ or MC.

From a greening perspective, this ritual also justifies saving paper by forgoing programs for the ceremony!

CUTTING THE CAKE

The tradition of a “wedding cake” evolved from literally breaking bread over the bride’s head, and sharing the crumbs with the guests. Later it manifested as elaborately stacked sweet rolls to be shared among the guests, and finally, to a cake, a symbolic ‘breaking of bread’ between the partners, with their family and friends. The traditional cake cutting ceremony is characteristically the first task that bride and groom perform together as husband and wife. They cut first piece of cake together.

Into the 19^th century, serving “bride’s cake” or “bride’s pie” was exclusively delegated to the bride. She would cut the cake and distributed it to her guests. Cake cutting became more complicated with early multi-tiered cakes, because the icing had to be hard enough to support the cake’s own weight. This necessitated cake cutting as a joint project, and made room for a symbolism of partnership and shared responsibility.

After the cake cutting ceremony, the couple feed each other the first slice. This intimate and often fun-loving ritual symbolizes the couple’s commitment to provide for one another.

Looking for organic cake? Try Miette, in the Ferry Building, San Francisco.

THE GARTER AND THE BOUQUET:

It is said that the garter once represented the virginal girdle. When the groom removed the garter he was symbolically making a public announcement about the brides change in virginal status.

In the 17th and 18 centuries, today’s garter was a silk sash tied below the bride’s knee. The groomsmen considered the sash a trophy. Whoever got a hold of it would wear it in his hat for the remainder of the celebration.

Today, there is often a theatrical component following the bouquet and garter toss, where a single woman, having caught the bride’s bouquet, has the garter placed on her own leg by the single man who caught the garter… This can get a little burlesque!

Some modern brides feel that the bouquet and garter ritual is distasteful, because it puts single women on the spot. Others forgo the tradition because of stories of children or older guests getting trampled in the toss and scramble.

If you enjoy the tradition, consider the fate of your tossed bouquet. The bride may want to hoist a bridesmaid’s bouquet into the hungry crowd, and preserve her own.

[Posted by Nelle Johnston, ZahZoom.com]

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This week I’m out in Boulder, Colorado with my husband. What a beautiful place! This is my first time in Colorado and it is amazing. Hot too, mid-90s, I didn’t expect that! Since I currently live in the Mojave Desert in California, not one of my favorite places, ts nice to see green trees and grass rather than the brown I’m used to. Anyway, while I’m out here I’m going to try to find a yoga or Pilates studio to keep me busy during the day. I love yoga and I love Pilates. I think they are great workouts for both the body and the mind.

So, getting to the point, I wanted to pass on some info I came across that might be a great option for our stressed out brides out there. My stress always settles in my back. It never fails, when I get stressed or I’m worrying about something my lower back starts hurting. I found this video from very popular yoga instructor Rodney Yee. It focuses on the back and might help my lower back issues.

I’m going to try it and I’ll let you know how it goes after I do it for a while.

By the way Gaiam.com has a lot of yoga stuff, if you are interested they are currently running these coupon codes.

1) Coupon Deal: $25 off orders over $150
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Valid from Apr 23, 2007
Valid to Dec 31, 2007

and

2) Coupon Deal: Free shipping on orders over $75
Coupon Code: AFS2
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Rhonda
http://www.ourweddingplus.com

Here’s some exotic Wedding Limousines. This is for people who really want to go above and beyond. A standard wedding limousine doesn’t really do it for you? Or, do you have a very large bridal party that won’t fit in the standard wedding limousine? Well check out these beauties…

Here’s a 18-passenger Hummer H2

This is a 12-passenger Chrysler 300

And if you’re feeling a little wild, here’s a 12-passenger Lincoln with leopard print seats!

I found all these limos at Dubai Exotic Limos

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Rhonda

Our Wedding Plus