Worried about drunk wedding guests but you don’t want to spend a lot of money on a caterer? If your wedding is smaller you might want to consider making your own cheese tray. The Kraft Canada Cheese site has some great pointers about how to do this. For an impressive display you should have about five cheeses per tray. The idea is to present some variety in the selection. For example try combining an old cheddar cheese with a goat cheese, a spicy havarti chasse, a sharp blue cheese and a buttery mild Edam cheese. For best results it is recommended that you present the cheese to wedding guests after it has been left out to soften for about half an hour. Harder cheeses should be cut up into chunks but the softer ones can be left as round and served with a small knife and crackers. For a lovely and tasty effect serve the cheese with olives, dried fruit, jams and grapes.
Photo by burningkarma
Attach small fresh flowers to the top strap of your shoes. If you’ll wear a short skirt or one with a dramatic slit up the side, a little showing of flower on your strappy heels will make something even more special out of your flash of a little leg. Attach a cluster of fresh flowers to your purse or handbag. Of course, you can use silk flowers for this as a lasting keep-sake, but this is an option if you want to carry your floral touches out to your accessories. Attach a cluster of fresh flowers as well to your “gift purse,” or the embellished oversized satin bag where you and your groom will place any envelope gifts handed to you by your guests.
Get a look at the amazing types of flowers out there by stopping at an arboretum, an extensively stocked nursery, or a flower show, and take some notes on unique flowers that might be perfect for your wedding day look and colors.
Go with the colors of the season. Deep oranges and yellows, cinnamon colors, and burgundies are perfect for a fall wedding, for instance, while those bright reds are ideal for the winter holidays.
Go with all color! Forget the all-white bouquet. Today’s brides are walking down the aisle holding bright red bouquets, deep purples, blush pinks, soft blues, bright and sunny yellows, and autumn oranges.
Photo is from www.CanadaFlowers.ca
Divorce has become a regular part of American culture, and sad as that is, it may impact many brides on their wedding day. If you are one of the many women who now has two dads, it can be hard to choose who to walk you down the aisle. Are you closer to your step dad but afraid to offend your birth father? If the men get along, and you get along with both of them, then there is no reason that your dads cannot walk you down the aisle. Yes, both of them.
Take your trip down the aisle with a dad on both arms, and you will have a rewarding experience as well as the pleasure of knowing that no one has hurt feelings or sorrow over the loss of an opportunity to be close with you. This is a great solution in a day and age where children are growing up in multiple households, but it is still possible to love and be close to everyone.
This solution applies to later in the day, too. Father daughter dance? Take turns, switching off halfway through a song or even dancing twice, one song per father. Most fathers and step dads will not be so immature as to care who goes first. You can also try switching things up. If you want a traditional look then talk to both of your dads to decide which one will walk you down the aisle, and which gets to have that traditional dance with you.
Making your own wedding favors? If you’re saving some money and choosing to make the favors yourself, you might need some boxes to create a nice table presentation. Here are some pretty and inexpensive options:
Custom candy wedding favor boxes
These custom boxes fit together to form a wedding cake shape. You can fill them with candy or other small items. This is a great idea if you want to create one display rather than little displays for each table.
Formal Wedding Favor Box
Accent your reception tables with these elegant favor boxes. Box comes decorated with a black tuxedo or a white lace dress. Your choice of candy is also included inside, or you can fill them with your own items.
I Do Favor Box
These elegant turquoise blue favor boxes comes assembled with your choice of candy, a white satin ribbon and decorated with two brass interlocking wedding rings.
Are you and your groom coffee drinkers? If so, give your guests a personalized cup o’ joe with these unique favors from HQ Wedding Favors.
These are great for the tables at your reception, or you can use them as girls to your wedding party. You can choose from bride or groom designs, and each favor comes with a cute little heart spoons for scooping the coffee as well as 2 ounces of a gourmet blend.
If you like this idea but want more choices for coffee, why not try something like this on your one? Purchase some decorative boxes and your favorite brand of coffee, tie on a pretty spoon with some white ribbon and you’ve got even more highly personalized favors! Invite your bridesmaids over for a day of putting together these creations, and it shouldn’t take long to create an assembly line and get them done.
Hiring a wedding videographer can be stressful, but it doesn’t have to be. You can just hire a friend, but make sure they film it in a format that can be made into a DVD. However, if the video is really important to you, you might want to rely on a professional. Plus, it might save your friendship if the video doesn’t turn out as planned. The main thing we can suggest when deciding who to use as your videographer is to watch a sample of the videos they have made in the past. One great thing you can also get for your wedding is a video montage set to music. Check out this one below. It is a sample of a variety of wedding videos set to music from www.ANikoProductions.com in Portland Oregon.
Vodka is not a bad choice at all for a signature wedding cocktail simply because it is one of the less toxic of the alcohols that are available. SKYY Vodka has some really interesting vodka cocktail recipes on it’s website. Many are truly innovative and are sure to be unique while at the same time tantalizing the Tate buds.
A good example is the Sky Wedding Bliss Cocktail which is a mixture of Cinzano, Vodka, a Vanilla Bean and crushed ice. This would be a great choice for a fall wedding. There is also a “white version” of this cocktail called the Wedding Bliss which is a mixture of Cinzano, Vodka, lavender simple syrup and Vanilla Bean.
Another merry looking orange colored cocktail is called the Blushing Bride. This is a mixture of vodka, peach schnapps and cranberry juice served up in a martini glass. Yet another interesting cocktail is the SKYY Made With Honor, which Is lime, juice, vodka and ginger beer mixed together to create a lemony looking concoction.
If you and your beloved love wine or are getting married in vineyard near Niagara Falls or in the Napa Valley then you might want to consider giving some wine related wedding favors. There are many companies online that are offering personalized glass wine stopper and Swarovski Crystal wine stoppers that can be used as keepsakes. You can aloe get wine cork place holders and corks that are inscribed with the bride and grooms initials or names for a real rustic touch.
Yet another popular contemporary wedding favor is Vineyard wine charms which are bunches of grapes suspended from a hook that is set on the side of a drinking vessel so people don’t mistake their wine glasses for each others.
If you have deep pockets you can also go all out and pass out bottles of wine that are in paper jute bags that are inscribed with your wedding date and your names. Another nice gift suggestion is a wine glass filled with wine flavored jellybeans for each guest to take home. http://www.beau-coup.com/wine-wedding-favors.htm
One of the most classic of treats that are served up at weddings are the chocolate covered strawberries. Strawberries have always been “in love” with chocolate and have a magical and tasty alliance. There are many sites online that will sell exotic versions of this treat to you. A good one is Berry Scrumptious, which sells berries dipped in white or dark chocolate. You can also get a berry dipped half in white and half in dark chocolate. Another amusing twist on the treat is the berries that are dipped in white chocolate and then in flaky coconut. Of course you don’t have to spend a mint on the gourmet version of these. They are easy enough to make yourself if you have a double boiler and a refrigerator. You simply dip the berries in melted chocolate and then place them on waxed paper in a refrigerator to harden. They must be made at the last minute to stay fresh.
One of the most beautiful places in the world to get married is Florida’s Key West. The water is the color of old green Coca-Cola bottles and the sandbars are an elegant grayish beige.
Key West is known for being a resort area and it is also famous for its quaint outdoor chapels which consist of freestanding arbours with thatched palm roofs and beautiful arbors.
The food in Key West is usually state of the art simply because it is so influenced by the fusion cuisine that comes out of nearby Miami. A beach buffet is relatively inexpensive and is about fifty dollars per person. Luxury wedding dinners in Key West resorts can cost $100 a person but include such delicacies as raw oysters, a sushi boat, clams in the half shell, salads, mushroom turnovers and delectable main courses such as Fresh Florida Lobster and Prime Rib Steak.
Florida is also known for its key lime pies and limes flavored wedding cakes, not to mention its cocktails made with muddle limes or processed with booze and ice through a whirring blender.
For more information, visit www.floridakeysdreamweddings.com/
Photo by Andrea Peverali
