Color and Contrast

Many a bride has sighed over how insipid the color white is. It is just so…bland. White on white on more white just doesn’t seem very festive. Yet what can you do? Your family insists on the virginal color to emphasize the wedding feeling of your event.

Ladies, you can tell them to relax and let color back in. There is need to paint everything the color of fresh clean snow. In fact, there is every reason to allow a hue or two into your nuptials.

First off, only the bride wears white at her wedding. Let everyone else wear stronger hues. They will provide a perfect foil for your dress. This will make you glow even more.

Second, you may be one of those modern brides who would prefer to wear an ivory, champagne or red colored dress at your wedding. That is really up to you. It reflects nothing more than your personal taste in clothes and style. The tradition of wearing white at weddings only began with Queen Victoria. In fact before that period brides just wore their Sunday best.

It does make sense though to limit the number of colors that you will use for your theme. Usually two colors are more than enough to add some life and cheer to your event. You can utilize the colors that you both love, your favorites. You may prefer to use two shades of your favorite hue. You might even use your favorite color and then simply choose a contrasting color to emphasize the first. There are almost limitless ways to choose.

Keep in mind though that the colors you choose will help set the tone of your wedding. For example, rose and green are a young color. These are colors associated with springtime and new growth. These are usually the choice of a very young bride.

Blue and silver have a more formal feel to it. They also have a certain elegance in combination. Blue has many hues from baby blue to the deepest almost black shade. Again the mood while change based on your choice.

The deeper hues have a more majestic feel to them, matching a medieval or renaissance themed nuptials. Vivid colors like burgundy and royal blue add a touch of formality and elegance without being cold. They also contrast beautifully with your white gown.

If you are a person who loves the beach and wants to bring the feel of your favorite place to your wedding, good choices are the pale blue of sky, the yellow of the sun. If you prefer, you can use red or orange and blue similar to the hues of sunrise or sunset which is usually spectacular on the beach.

Just don’t forget to choose carefully. You want your colors to be bright but not garish, elegant but not cold. It will definitely make a difference in making your wedding more alive, memorable and unique. You’ll need to choose early enough that all the professionals helping you will have sufficient time to create your invitations and other materials in the colors that you have chosen.

Do Not Forget the Ring

Did you ever witness a wedding where the officiant says, “the ring plase” and the groomsmen all start frantically searching for where it is? It can be hilarious watching them turn their pockets out before remembering it got left behind. Too late to go back and get it, right?

Since this is a scene that is only funny if it is happening to someone else, here are some tips to help you avoid having this happen at your wedding:

• Hire a wedding planner and wedding coordinator. Make sure to hire a professional who has a portfolio of successful weddings, grand and small, under her belt. The bigger the weddings they have handled, the more assured you are that they are indeed on top of their game and should be well prepared to handle your special day.
• Work with your wedding planner and make sure that every step of your wedding concept and program is clear to both of you. Many mistakes are the result of miscommunication. You’ll both be a lot happier if you are both sure that you are working from the same page.
• Go through your checklist. Be like Santa Claus and check it twice. You may not find out who is naughty or nice but you will learn what else needs doing. The checklist is your best friend in making sure that all items necessary for your ceremony and reception is in place.
• Where’s the bouquet? It sometimes happens in the rush to get ready for your event, from the excitement and laughter and chatter or even due to the very busy photo sessions, the boquet sometimes accidentally gets left behind. Brides, if you are going to let go of your bouquet at any time before you toss it to the next lovely lady, make sure to hand it to only one person each time - your maid of honor. It is part of her tasks to take care of it for you til the bouquet leaves your hands for the last time.
• The infamous wedding ring. It often happens that the men are too nervous, too tipsy, have a hangover or are just too forgetful and misplace the ring. There are cases where the best man puts it in his pocket so that he won’t forget then had to change clothes so the ring got left with the laundry! Brides and grooms, one way to avoid this is to have a ring bearer instead of having your best man carry it. The rings would then be in the brides care until you see each other at the ceremony. It will be with all the rest of the wedding accessories so is less likely to get lost. Of course, if you want the ring design to be a surprise to your bride, find a way to make sure she doesn’t peek ahead of time.

The most important tip though would still be: don’t assume anything! Better make sure that everyone involved in your wedding knows exactly what they must do. This is not just for the professionals but for your entourage as well. You’ll breathe a lot easier if you know that everyone and everything is in place.

[tags]wedding,wedding planner,wedding coordinator,wedding ring,flowers,best man,maid of honor[/tags]

Wedding Outfits

Different countries wear different outfits for their weddings. Each country has their particular wedding gear. Usually, this is also the country’s formal wear.

For example, in most of Europe and the US, the men wear a wedding suit. Usually it is made from a light colored fabric, possibly grey though it can also be blue or black. The gentlemen are given a sprig of flowers to wear on his lapel to relieve the formality of the suit.

The bride usually wears a floor length formal dress. It is usually colored white and is worn with a veil or with a hat and flowers. The entourage gets to wear formal gowns in colors following the theme of the wedding.

In Russia, the brides don’t buy or rent their dresses. They usually make it themselves since sewing is a skill that the women are proud of. The style varies from bride to bride but it is still white. The men wear white or pale colored suits as do his attendants. The ladies wear formal gowns of colors matching the chosen wedding theme.

In Asia, the outfits differ from country to country. For example, the Japanese have traditional kimonos for weddings. The males wear a black kimono top with striped pants. The bride wears the Uchikake r traditional wedding gown with a Tsuno Kakushi hood. The hood is supposed to cover her horns, showing that she will be obedient to her husband.

In the Philippines the men wear the Barong Tagalog, a very comfortable outfit made from pinya or jusi over a white shirt. The bride and her entourage usually follows western tradition and wears a white gown and veil.

In India, the outfits change depending on the region. In northern India, the groom may wear a sherwani with a churidar pyjama or a bandha gala suit or a western style suit. In the south, they too may choose to wear the western three piece suit or the traditional veshti (dhoti) and kurta. To shield their face from the evil eye, the groom wears a turban adorned with a sehera, a veil of flowers.

The ladies on the other hand wear a sari. In India, white is considered a color of mourning. Thus it is a color to avoid. The color they wear is red for their nuptials. Their bridal wear is elaborate and colorful.

Like India, the Chinese wedding color is red though the bride doesn’t normally wear it. Nowadays, the couple wears a western style gown and suit, as do their attendants. The bridesmaids are all gowned in red since this is the color of wealth and happiness.

No matter what outfits they wear though, the point of the ceremony does not change. It is about a couple becoming one. It is the merging of two people.

It is also a fashion event. This is the one day of the year that the bride and groom gets to be the star of the show (assuming they aren’t fashion models or famous actors).

Make Me Slim For My Wedding Day!

Every bride wants to look simply beautiful on their wedding day. They want to be able to look back at their wedding pictures and say, “I looked absolutely svelte and gorgeous”. The last thing they want to say is, “I knew I should have lost more weight!”

Some brides will take the extreme route. They will stop eating. They take the crash diet method to slimness. They will try every crash diet or fad diet they can to help them achieve the weight that they want. Ladies, please don’t do this to yourselves. You will do your body harm that you may not feel immediately but will truly not be good.

Just be sensible. The formula is simple. Amount of calorie intake less the amount of calorie used equals the amount left to become fat. If you burn off everything you eat, you won’t gain. If you eat food that will help your body consume more calories, such as fiber foods, you can lose even more of your unwanted body fat without starving.

Check out the 3 hours a day diet of Jorge Cruz. His plan is simple, easy to follow and tasty. Plus, you never get hungry! Team it up with the exercises that he recommends and you’ll be on the way to a slimmer more shapely silhouette in no time.

Ladies, try not to become obsessed with your weighing scale. As all dieticians, nutritionist and fitness trainors will tell you it is normal to gain a pound or two periodically. It is also normal for you to lose no weight at some point; this is what they call a plateau. In fact some fitness trainors will tell you that rather than your weight, your BMI or body mass index and the fit of your clothes can be a better guage.

It really comes down to how much time you give your self to whip your body into shape. It takes time to achieve a sustainable form. No surgery, pill or diet can transform you into a size 2 overnight.

Don’t forget that getting the weight off will only be half the battle. Once you achieve your desired size, you will need to maintain it. You aren’t likely to keep it down if you find yourself celebrating too often. Your friends are really happy that you are getting married but you don’t need multiple shower parties.

Don’t be shy about getting into a gym. Most women feel concious because it feels like everyone is staring at them; and it may be true. You can be assured though that in a good gym, that won’t be the case. Almost everybody there will be too intent on their own routines to bother you; and the ones who do nothing but stare or whisper aren’t worth your time or attention. Just focus on your vision: lookig perfect on your wedding day. That is your motivation!

You can do it. Just set yourself an achievable goal. Have clear purpose and find a good coach then keep at it. Before you know it, you’ll be sashaying down the aisle in the body you wanted.

More Than Words

Most of the wedding ceremony is a ritual. You don’t need to remember anything but I do. That does make it seem so boring, so dull. It is so much nicer to personalize it. We all know that we remember an event better if we actively take part in it.

This is true for every step of the wedding. Ask the brides whose weddings were handled, almost completely, by someone else, whether it was their mother, mother in law or wedding planner, and they will tell you that they don’t remember much about the preparation but they do remember the wedding itself. On the other hand, the women who handled their wedding preparations themselves can tell you about every moment from the proposal to the difficulty of finding the perfect venue and all the touches that would make.

The most personal moments of the wedding are the vows and the speeches. They tend to make a number of people nervous, especially those who feel they have no gift for public speaking. What in the world should we say? What in the world will they say?

The bride and groom have the easier task. There are many websites offering to help create personalized vows. These same sites have available vows that may already match what you are looking for.

Of course if there is even a little bit of a poet in you, you won’t need much help. All you need to do is to put into words how you feel about the special person whose life is about to become part of yours. You may not be Shakespeare but you’ll get your message across.

When we speak from the heart, it is easy to find the words. They seem to flow right out of us. The problem sometimes is how to curb the flow and keep your vows just short enough to last less than a minute otherwise your ceremony will last a whole day. You just need to put together in words how blessed you feel to have found each other and express exactly what you are promising each other as spouses.

On the other hand, you’ll have no control over what the toasts at your wedding will be about. Nervousness can make people develop verbal diarrhea causing your maid of honor and the best man to spill more about your past than you’d like. Even your father may be feeling very expansive or sentimental and start babbling about the time when you were still in diapers.

You may want to talk with your chief attendants about their toasts. They will understand your need for reassurance that you won’t talk about their most embarrassing moments. Usually you will have nothing to worry about. Since they are your closest friends they will refrain from putting your history on display but do expect a few comments to both make everyone laugh and to touch your heart. They will usually aim to show your guests why you and your future spouse belong together. They will express from the heart the love they feel for you and their delight in your union.

[tags]wedding,wedding planning,wedding speeches,wedding vows[/tags]

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