Entries Tagged 'Groom Ideas' ↓

I’m a big fan of personalizing the groomsman gifts. Don’t get generic gifts for the guys who stood by you during your wedding! If your buddies are bikers here are some great groomsman gifts I found that are not only unique they aren’t too expensive either.

Here’s a cool humidor groomsman gift crafted with a cherry finish, cedar lining and a built-in hygrometer to measure humidity. It even comes personalized with the groomsman’s name. It’s is also on sale plus free shipping at the time I wrote this.

Here’s a couple of unique biker bar pub plaques that come personalized with the groomsman’s name. These are well under $50 too!

Sorry for the lack of regular posting but we’ve been pretty busy setting up our new online Wedding Shop!

Our Wedding Plus just went live with our new Wedding Shop packed with pretty much every wedding accessory you can think of.  Including bridal jewlery, bridal veils, wedding bands, wedding cake toppers, unity candles, bridesmaid gifts, groomsman gifts and a whole lot more!  The selection is gigantic but we have a lot of easy links on the main page and there’s also a search feature to help you find what you want!

We plan on making the wedding shop landing page prettier in the near future but we wanted to get it online as soon as possible. 

 Many times the stress of wedding planning is the first big challenge for your relationship!

How is your groom when it comes to wedding planning? 

-          Runs the other way when you bring up the topic?

-          Has absolutely no opinion when asked about his preferences?

-          Feels that it’s your day so you should make all the decisions?

Or is your groom?

-          Totally helpful to the point where you wish he wasn’t so interested?

It seems that the general consensus among guys is that this is the woman’s time and that they should just stand back and let her run the show.  Sounds generous doesn’t it?!?  Check out this video of the grooms from the Today Show Throws a Martha Stewart Wedding to see what they think their role is.  (Click here for video)

So how do you help your groom navigate his way through the wedding planning process?

Doug Gordon, who you saw in the video talking to Al Roker, wrote a book called The Engaged Groom: You’re Getting Married. Read this Book..   Doug’s advice is to have your groom work on what interests them and is inline with their talents such as working on the menu, the invitations, or building the wedding website.

Evidently this book has a lot of great advice for both the bride and groom according to the customer reviews on Amazon. 

Anyway, if you are looking for a gift to give your groom and you also want to get him to help with the planning, check-out “The Engaged Groom.”   All you have to do is click on the picture of the book above!

Okay, here’s a great idea. I picked this one up from today’s post on Manolo Brides. Never teh Bride had some great information for the groom today. But this one isn’t just for the groom.

Like I said the other day, no wedding is perfect so don’t get stressed out about it. To take some of the pressure off you about having a flawless wedding and giving yourself and your guests something fun to do check out groom411.com for the Wedding Bingo card.As Craig Michaels, the author of Thirty to Wife: The Tell-All Groom’s Guide to Weddings - How to Get Hitched Without Losing Your Mind or Your Fiancee, and owner of groom411.com put it…

“What can go wrong at the wedding? A lot.

Of course, your wedding will go as smooth as glass. Fingers crossed. Wood knocked. Minister tipped (and not tipsy).

However, you might want to hand these out to your friends just in case things get a bit bumpy. No need for everyone to have a bad time while your wedding is ruined, bride is crying and in-laws are choking you.”

Print some out and remember not to get too stressed out if things go wrong, you might just win the BINGO!

To checkout some guest blogs from Craig Michaels, click on the “Groom Ideas” category!

Sign up for our free monthly newsletter!Rhonda

Our Wedding Plus

NOTICE: Starting next Monday, Our Wedding Plus Blog will be moving to a new address! Our new address will be ..www.ourweddingplus.com/blog

We will be migrating all our past posts to this new address. We will keep this address up for a week then have all traffic redirected to www.ourweddingplus.com. So get ready to change you links, but not yet!

Did you know there are two times the groom is expected to give a toast? The rehearsal dinner and the wedding reception. Did you know that studies have shown that 70% rank giving a speech as thing they are most afraid of?

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, offers some great advice for the groom when it’s time to give his wedding toasts. Ladies, this book would also make a great gift for your man if you think he can help out a little more in the planning process. Craig gives some great advice based on the last thirty days before his wedding.

Here’s some of the advice from Craig’s book…

Rehearsal Dinner Toast
- Thank your fiancé for picking you
- Thank your parents for this event and for being there through the years
- Thank the groomsmen for their support
- Same for the bridesmaids
- Share a family anecdote

Things to do:
- Practice
- Keep it at a PG rating or less

Things not to do:
- Don’t give a graphic recount of the bachelor party!
- Don’t take too long
- Don’t lament over the one that got away
- Don’t drink too much

He also gives a list of what to say at the reception, including some suggested wording.

Any other advice for our grooms when it’s time to make that dreaded wedding toast?

For the wedding reception here are some suggested toasts:

- The standard best man toast to the bride and groom
- The groom makes a toast to the bride and her family
- Both fathers make a toast to the bride and groom

- Something new now is for the mother of the bride to make a toast

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Rhonda

Our Wedding Plus

Thanks to thetejon for the picture!

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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