Escort Cards: Tell Your Wedding Guests Where to Go
Current mood: awake
Category: Parties and Nightlife

Intro: There's a difference between place cards, escort cards and table cards at wedding receptions, and this article helps you deal the cards to the proper location.

Escort Cards: Tell Your Wedding Guests Where to Go

By Susan Hawkins

Perfect wedding planning is in the cards. There are "Save the Date" cards, RSVP cards, place cards, table cards and escort cards. The last three are similar and often confused, so let's see what's in the cards and sort it all out. 

 Escort cards guide guests to their tables. These cards, sometimes called "tent" cards because they're often a folded piece of card stock with a design on one side, resembling a tiny tent. The decorated side is where you write the guest's name and number of the table at which they're seated. Escort cards are typically placed in alphabetical order on a table near the entrance to your reception room. Sometimes escort cards are tucked inside a small envelope with the guest's name on the outside and the table number inside. You can also find escort card holders, similar to place card holders, that come with matching cards to enhance the effect.

Table cards identify their table in a room full of tables. Your wedding venue usual will provide table stands and large, numbered cards so guests can see them easily. However, sometimes the bride might want special calligraphy for the numbers, or she might not want to use numbers at all, but rather a different flower, a color to match her decor or a special song title to identify each table. If so, she (or more often, the wedding planner,) will provide the table cards. If you do plan to have something other than numbers to identify tables, the escort cards must reflect your choice.

Once guests have found their tables, place cards show them precisely where to sit. This card, displaying the guest's name, is usually inserted into decorative place card holder that also serves as a wedding favor, though sometimes it's simply a tent card. Place card holders have come a long way in the last few years, with elegant or whimsical designs that fit any theme and any décor.

Now that you know how to play the wedding card game, your wedding reception will be a winner!

This article was brought to you by MyWeddingFavors.com, an online retail company specializing in unique wedding favors, wedding shower favors, bridesmaids' gifts, groomsmen gifts, and wedding accessories. We are also dedicated to providing informative articles on weddings, wedding planning, marriage, marital issues and other topics.

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Eight Exotic Ideas to Make Your Beach Wedding Hot!
Current mood: optimistic
Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes

Eight Exotic Ideas to Make Your Beach Wedding Hot!

by Susan Hawkins
 
Though we're heading into autumn and winter, keep in mind that it's always summer somewhere, so if you want a beach wedding—no matter what time of year it is—pick a hot spot and start planning! Destination and theme weddings are becoming increasingly popular, and the demand for themed wedding accessories is growing, too. Here are eight cool ways to set the mood for your wedding party in paradise…

• Use tropical-themed invitations to request the presence of your wedding guests. Themed wedding invitations are one of the wedding industry's hottest trends.
  

• Splash the colors of the tropics at your wedding ceremony and wedding reception. Bring bright colors like canary yellow, tangerine, cherry red and turquoise to your decorations, your wedding favors and your wedding cake.
  

• What's more tantalizingly tropical than Hawaii? Welcome your wedding guests with real or silk leis. The fragrance of real flowers and the spectacular colors will permeate your wedding reception and set the very mood you have in mind.
  

• Take those gorgeous tropical flowers—birds of paradise, ginger, hibiscus and orchids—and festoon your ceremony, wedding reception hall and even your wedding cake with these jewels of the islands
  

• If you want to stay true to Hawaiian tradition, include origami cranes in your wedding reception décor. According to legend, cranes live for 1,000 years and they're considered a symbol of good luck for the couple's long and happy life together.
  

• You'll go wild with wedding favor choices for a beach wedding reception! Imagine thanking your wedding guests with miniature beach pails filled with candies, a seashell bottle opener, miniature Adirondack chair tea lights, flip-flop photo frames or beach ball bottle stoppers. There are so many beach-themed wedding favors on the market, you'll have fun looking—and a hard time choosing!
  

• Got the urge to go all out? Kick your indoor tropical atmosphere up a notch with tiki huts or beach umbrellas. Speaking of umbrellas, make sure your bar is stocked with the necessary alcohol and accessories (i.e. little umbrellas!) for making those luscious tropical delights, like "A Day at the Beach", pina coladas, mai tais, margaritas, mojitos and daiquiris—banana and strawberry!
  

• Create exotic centerpieces on colorful tablecloths! Combinations of driftwood, conch shells, starfish and candles add to the ambience and impress your wedding guests. Surround glowing hurricane lamps with island flowers. Fill clear glass bowls with seashells and water, and float a candle on top. Even simple bouquets of island flowers bring a tropical atmosphere to your wedding reception tables.
  

Beach weddings are the perfect way to bring both romance and fun to the moment of a lifetime. Sunset, surf, sultry tropical breezes and a banana daiquiri topped with a tiny umbrella—rest assured your day will be a dream fulfilled for your wedding guests and for you!

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A Themed Baby Shower Makes A Lovely Touch
Current mood: aroused
Category: Life

Planning the baby shower decorations is often like asking yourself hundred questions all at once. Do you go with the sophisticated look or something more friendly and cheerful? Is there a happy medium between both?

While a lot of the final decisions should accord with the mother of honor's wishes, the two of you might collaborate on a theme to give the baby shower decorations, food, games, and baby shower favors. Themes help organize your planning, letting you focus on a few choices instead of hundreds of decisions.

Many different baby shower themes

Baby shower themes, like themed weddings or other formal events, usually circle around a particular idea or mood the mother to be and her hostess want to express to her friends. The baby shower theme is sometimes a message communicated back and forth, such as "Good luck" or "we're proud of you." These themes range from the sophisticated to the sweet.

Other themes revolve around the baby, and include design ideas a little more formal. That's not to say the party itself is a formal occasion, but that the theme's motif is more clearly defined. Some popular themes focused on the baby include "Mother's Little Star," which features an astronomy decoration motif; "Baby Idol," based on the television series; and "The Princess Child" with fairy tale accents and decorations.

Building a theme from many design elements

Themes take shape by using all the elements of a baby shower to create a whole that's bigger than the sum of its parts. When planning a theme, baby shower hostesses should commit to its motif 100 percent. This includes everything from the baby shower invitations to the games played to the choice of dessert.

The theme's decorations can include everything from banners to baby shower favors to the very choice of venue. And hostesses can adjust the level of formality to fit their wishes, too. For example, a Hollywood-themed baby shower might be a semi-formal event like a red carpet premiere or just a time for everyone to gather around to celebrate their "star" mother.

Themes also provide coherence when guests choose gifts

When guests give diaper cakes or even other "practical" baby shower gifts, they can arrange with the hostess to have the gift fit the theme. In that way, the gift itself becomes not just a reminder of the baby shower but something the mother will appreciate every time she uses it. Such keepsake gifts also make ideal presents from the hostess herself.

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Top 10 Worst Wedding Pictures
Current mood: fabulous
Category: Friends

Check out these HILARIOUSLY awful wedding photos from wedding favor store My Wedding Favors rogue writer Mr. Christopher. 

View the wedding photos here.

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Top 10 Worst Wedding Pictures
Current mood: fabulous
Category: Friends

Check out these HILARIOUSLY awful wedding photos from wedding favor store My Wedding Favors rogue writer Mr. Christopher. 

View the wedding photos here.

7:58 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Ten Wedding Tips to Make Your Friends Jealous
Current mood: sneaky
Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes

Gone with the Wedding: Ten Tips for a Wedding That Would Make Scarlett Jealous!

by Susan Hawkins

Spanish moss hanging from magnolia trees. Gentle breezes that carry the scent of gardenia and jasmine. Genuine Southern charm is still alive. For those of you who want to make the short leap from princess to southern belle on your wedding day, here are ten tips to bring the beauty of the Old South to your wedding after you've found your Rhett Butler.

• Find an invitation that mirrors the elegance and grace of the Old South, and be creative in your wording. "We invite you to step into the past as we begin our future together…"
• Set your wedding date for sometime in the spring or summer, when the warmth of the sun and sultry evenings set the mood. For your wedding venue, find an old Southern mansion with a large outdoor area for your ceremony and your reception.
• Locate southern belle-style wedding gowns and bridemaids' dresses, off-the-shoulder with hoop skirts and lots of taffeta and lace. There are a few options here. You can have dresses made, but your bridesmaids would never speak to you again—unless you pay for them. The easier option is to rent dresses at a costume shop. Some online companies actually specialize in renting antebellum ball gowns. Perhaps they'll carry dainty parasols instead of flowers. Don't forget the bonnets!
• Dress the groom and groomsmen in gray cutaways. They'll still fit the part.
• Think "southern" when choosing your décor and flowers. Magnolias, gardenias and jasmine have scents that will permeate your ceremony and reception with the feel of the Old South. Add a variety of roses for color—and more amazing aromas.
• Speaking of aromas, your reception should be a good old, down home barbecue, with corn bread, chicken, brisket, steaks, ribs and all the fabulous "fixins", like corn on the cob, potato salad, Brunswick stew, grilled peaches and pineapple, cole slaw—whatever comes to mind when you think "barbecue!"
• Decorate your tables with candles and wedding favors befitting the ambience, like double swan place card holders or mini-lantern tea lights. The tea lights, when lit, will give your reception dream-like glow.
• Along with the standard options at the bar, make sure you've got the ingredients for mint juleps. Nothing says "Old South" like fresh mint and Kentucky bourbon. Your guests will be in a partying mood in no time.
• A special theme requires special outdoor lighting. Rent large paper lantern lights and use large candles set among magnolia blossoms as centerpieces for a stunning effect.
• Engage a zydeco or blue grass band that can also play standards and some contemporary music. Mix it up. After a few mint juleps, everyone will be ready to dance the night away on their journey to days gone by!

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i-Pod Nanos for Wedding Favors and 19 Other Provocative Wedding Trends for 2008
Current mood: breezy
Category: Romance and Relationships

Oh, those crazy Brits! They're no longer the reserved traditionalists we Americans thought them to be. Somewhere along the way, England's adventurous spirit emerged and shot past our own, at least where weddings are concerned. I recently wrote a blog about America's 2008 wedding trends, which included brides changing gowns and hairstyles for the reception, color trends that hyped gray and white as the "in" colors, opting for vintage or Victorian-style wedding gowns and honeymoon-hopping to three or more locations. Pretty tame stuff compared to these 20 wedding trends sweeping England these days, according to Deborah Joseph, editor of Brides magazine in the UK!

• Black orchids are rare, exclusive, quite expensive and in vogue across the big pond. One black orchid centerpiece in the US would run about $800, give or take a few dollars.
• Red, red, red is the color of the day. Red tents, red tablecloths, red lips. Good news here, though. Compared to some of their other trends, this one is least likely to put you "in the red."
• They're promoting "couture" wedding cakes—black-and-white icing, gilded patterns, sequins, pearls and frills somewhere among lots of polka dots.
• Tent villages! Instead of one big, white tent in your backyard or on the grounds of the country club, the Brits are doing a number of smaller, more intimate tents, which they call "marquees." I can't help but think it would look more like an art show or county fair than a wedding, but I'll reserve my comments until I see it.
• Here's where it starts getting interesting. Instead of Jordan almonds as a wedding favor, give each wedding guest an iPod Nano preloaded with the couple's favorite songs. Admittedly, it's a unique wedding favor but, unless it's a very small wedding (maybe six people including the bride and groom,) you might have to take a second mortgage just for your wedding favors.
• Rent the Savoy's dance floor—apparently on which Fred Astaire and Frank Sinatra tapped a toe or two. Just $1000, plus shipping to the states and back, if you're interested.
• Something that's popular in the US as well these days —monogramming. Monogramming invitations, wallpaper, dinner plates—and the groom's buttocks, no doubt.
• Wild honeymoons are "in," like an igloo in the Canadian wilderness or a hut on stilts along the Amazon. The Brits call them "Bespoke" honeymoons. I'll have to get back to you on "bespoke."
• I actually like this one. Let's call it family-feud prevention. Instead of having a dais with multiple seating that's sure to incur hurt feelings and grudges among those who miss the cut, have a "sweetheart" table—just the two of you.
• They're hanging chandeliers over each table or a huge one in the middle of the room—all the better to impress you with, my dear.
• Hire concert-style entertainment, and I quote: "Fly in your band from the Continent and your DJ from America." Why not??
• Here's another one that's caught on in the states, too. Replace a sit-down dinner with "grazing," where you have several food stations with a variety of foods, like sushi, a pudding bar, a crepe station, a mashed-potato martini station, etc.
• Make a grand entrance! Arrive at your reception in style—Cleopatra-style, that is—reclining on a sedan chair held aloft on the shoulders of your groomsmen.
• Make a "green" entrance. Arrive at the church and reception in a rickshaw. Use electric generators, grow your own bouquet and wear Auntie Ethel's wedding dress.
• They're hand-delivering invitations. (If you have a lot of relatives in Australia, Asia and any tropical island, I'm available and ready to deliver.)
• Take a tip from the Harry Potter books. The British are turning their wedding receptions into woodland fantasies, complete with trees sprayed purple and each centerpiece looking like a scene from the enchanted forest.
• Break up the white in your décor and wedding gown with flashes of "brights," like turquoise, icy blue, orange or purple. OK.
• They're planning "progressive" weddings over there. Joseph's example starts with a Russian drinks reception, an Asian-themed lunch, a circus school for after-dinner entertainment and a Moroccan afternoon tea. Cocktails and clowns, anyone?
• Black wedding dresses. Works for me! At least, in this day and age, it's honest.
• The final trend is opting for a small, decadent wedding—pay for everyone's flight to Italy, rent a yacht for the weekend, sail into debt…

We have to hand it to the British. They've really sent wedding planning into another sphere. But this is the United States of America, land of one-upmanship! American wedding planners, brides, bored housewives—please send your ideas for 2009 wedding trends to me at shawkins@theshopsat24seven.com. Rolls Royces for wedding favors? I like it!

This article was brought to you by MyWeddingFavors.com, an online retail company specializing in unique wedding favors, wedding shower favors, bridesmaids' gifts, groomsmen gifts, and wedding accessories. We are also dedicated to providing informative articles on weddings, wedding planning, marriage, marital issues and other topics.

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The Art of Mehndi Painting
Current mood: thoughtful
Category: Fashion, Style, Shopping

The ancient practice of Mehndi painting uses henna ink as a medium for painting elaborate and intricately designed patterns onto the hands and feet. In many locales of Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Somaliland the practice usually only includes brides. But in parts of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh the groom may also have himself painted.

A common misperception is that Mehndi is similar to tattooing. But whereas a finished tattoo's ink actually rests beneath the surface of the skin, Mehndi art stays near the surface, so it's completely temporary. Typically, the henna ink lasts from a couple of weeks to several months.

Henna, the all-natural organic ink

Mehndi traditionally uses a dye produced by the henna plant found in some tropical areas of Africa and Asia. The dye molecule, called lawsone, binds with the skin's protein molecules.

Using lawsone to paint the skin dates back thousands of years, and is even mentioned in the Biblical Song of Songs and Song of Solomon, where it's referred to as camphire. Wall paintings on the Isle of Cyprus dating back to 1680 BC have depicted women with Mehndi-like body markings.

Lawsone is normally safe for people of all ages. Only in rare medical examples, such as a G6PD enzyme deficiency, can an allergic reaction present a problem. In very extreme cases, the adverse reaction can even prove fatal.

The safe, easy process of henna dyeing

Henna leaves are ground up and mixed with a paste containing acidic liquids such as lemon juice. As the paste is applied, the lawsone adheres itself to the skin, producing the colored marking. Generally, the stronger the amount of lawsone, the longer the dye will last. It's initially orange colored but changes to a deep sepia or dark brown after a day or two. The dyeing process itself takes only minutes.

Mehndi painting is for weddings and other special occasions.

The Mehndi painting is performed several days before the wedding ceremony, and often takes the form of a party similar to an American bridal shower. The bride's friends and family will sing songs and chat while the painting is performed by a trained artist. After the work is completed, the painted body part is wrapped overnight in bandages that trap body heat, helping the ink to dry and bind.

Grooms sometimes receive Mehndi designs of their own. In parts of Rajasthan, the groom's designs are every bit as elaborate as the bride's.

Medhndi isn't always limited to wedding celebrations, either. In some Arabic and Persian countries, the designs are applied to celebrate a new pregnancy, engagement, or even just a special birthday.

Description
What is Mehndi, and why has it become so popular? This article explains how the ancient practice is catching on with the modern bride.

About the Author
Michael Kabel is a Senior Writer for My Wedding Favors. My Wedding Favors offers hundreds of elegant wedding favors, unique and practical favors, and even themed favors to show your guests your lasting appreciation. Visit us at http://www.myweddingfavors.com to see more.

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Picking the Right Reception Music
Current mood: inspired
Category: Music

Is it better to have a live band or a DJ at your wedding reception? How much does each one cost? Read on for the answers…Let the Music Play: Choosing Your Wedding Reception's Entertainment

To be honest, you can't really have a wedding reception without music. Whether the songs come from a disc jockey spinning from his vast library of music or a live band that can entertain and lift the crowd into a spontaneous good time, music remains a traditional and essential part of the wedding reception atmosphere.

Choosing which music source to use – DJ or live band – depends largely on the exact atmosphere you want to create. It also depends, of course, on your taste in music.

A live band is spontaneous, but costly

The biggest advantage to booking a live band is also it's largest disadvantage. A live band is a group of people after all, and that human element plays a crucial part in the tone and shape of their performance.

A good live band can nurture and prod the crowd into having a good time. Depending on their retinue, they'll have any number of songs that can gift into your reception motif. On the other hand, they're limited to only the songs they already know or can learn before playing your event. Most professional wedding bands will take requests, and can certainly adopt themselves to learning new songs especially for a particular event.

However, live bands also take breaks between sets of songs, are more likely to commit mistakes when playing the music, and generally require more set up time than disc jockeys.

Disc jockeys bring a personal library of thousands of songs to any wedding reception, allowing them to play many different styles of music to suit an audience's varied tastes.

DJ's don't just have a standard collection of store-bought music, either. Many have created their own "mash ups," remixes, and alternate arrangements to modern and traditional music, fashioning something new and hybrid out of the original parts. This can give your reception guests a completely original listening experience and excite them with new musical innovations.

A disc jockey may not feel as connected to the audience as a live band, however, and can sometimes lack the people skills required to interact with or guide  the audience's mood.

Choosing the right entertainment

Live bands and disc jockeys alike usually offer promotional videos showing themselves performing to an audience. You can also request to interview them before making a final hiring decision, to ascertain their performing philosophy or to read their personality.

My Wedding Favors invites you to visit their incredible selection of elegant wedding favors, wedding party favors, and bridesmaids and groomsmen gifts, including gifts to fit many themes and motifs. Join us at www.myweddingfavors.com.

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Getting the Most from Your Wedding Videography
Current mood: awake
Category: Art and Photography

Most brides and wedding planners are very meticulous about choosing a wedding photographer. But fewer consider the benefits of a qualified videographer to record their wedding for posterity.

Video cameras have come a long way from the bulky and inefficient videocassette recorders of twenty years ago. The modern digital camera offers improved picture quality and sound, even while advances in computer software enable editors to create a wedding video that's virtually as good as anything on television.

Choosing the right videographer is a matter of setting a budget and determining how important a sleek, well-produced video is to your wedding keepsake collection.

Two Different Approaches: Journalistic vs. Cinematic

The differing styles of the finished wedding video represent two distinct aesthetic approaches. As its name implies, the cinematic presentation method more closely resembles a motion picture, with editing and other effects manipulated to create a mood or feeling that accentuates the wedding and reception images. Cinematic approaches to the wedding video may include montages set to music, sophisticated editing techniques, and even special graphics.

The journalistic style is more documentary-like in structure and scope, with video presented of events as they occurred in real time. Journalistic approaches may include interviews with wedding party participants, family and friends, and guests as they relate their best wishes and observations to the new couple.

A third type of style is made to resemble a family film or traditional home movie. Some wedding videographers have even begun using 8 and 16mm film stock to record images, then transferring it to digital video, in order to give a "homey" aesthetic effect.

Choosing the Right Videographer That's Right For You

All reputable wedding videographers will have samples of their work for you to browse, and most will have samples of a variety of price packages and styles. In fact, many in the wedding videography trade are professional cameramen and women who work in other forms of video media such as television news and commercial production. Their work may specialize in the journalist style.

Alternately, you may be able to find filmmakers who take a cinematic approach to the final product. As with all major wedding decisions, you should determine first how the video would reflect the tone and theme of your wedding decoration plan. In that way, you'll be able to capture the feel of your wedding as well as the sights and sounds.

My Wedding Favors understands the importance of getting every detail "just right" on your wedding day. We offer hundreds of elegant wedding favors, unique and practical favors, and even themed favors to show your guests your lasting appreciation. Visit us at www.myweddingfavors.com to see more.

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