Personalize Your Wedding Postage

Stamp.com specializes in personalizing your postage for any wedding occasion. Place stamps on your Save-The-Date Cards, Wedding Invitations, Engagement Announcements, Bridal Shower Invitations, RSVP Cards, Attendant Gifts, and Thank You Cards.

Stamp.com allows you to upload a photo of the wedding couple and create a personalized and customized look to your cards or invitations. The postage stamps come in a standard horizontal shaped stamp. Brides and Grooms can select different fonts, borders, and colors. This is a user-friendly website, and it is designed for the novice computer user.

This is beautiful way to share the moment with your guests and wedding party. Personalize all your wedding correspondence with Stamp.com. The website is an approved licensed vendor of the United States Postal Service.

Why should brides and grooms use a ceremony program?

Ceremony programs are essential for any wedding event because they clearly list the sequence of events that will transpire during the ceremony, it also informs the attendants, officiant, and musicians when it is there time for their contribution to your ceremony.

It is important to include all of these steps for a clear outline of the ceremony, which should be an introduction, ceremony proceedings, and wedding party. The introduction information should list the full names of the bride and the groom, date of event, and location. The ceremony proceedings should list the each step of the service from the processional to the recessional. Please be sure to include customs, traditions, special readings, poems or scriptures would be entered in this part of the ceremony. Examples of the titles would be Rites of Marriage and Exchange of Vows, Blessing of the Rings, Lighting of the Unity Candle, Second Reading, Nuptials, Closing Prayer, and Recessional. The wedding party should be the last section of the ceremony program, which lists the Mother of the Bride, Best Man, Matron/Maid of Honor, officiant, and other key members who participated in the wedding program.

Additional information to include in the ceremony program, if your reception is held on-site or off-site, please be sure to note that in the ceremony program and include where it is held and a physical address of the reception site. Always include thank you to your guests who are attending as well, because after all they are taking time out of their schedule to celebrate this special occasion.

Either couples can have wedding programs professionally designed or the couples can design one for themselves, and the decision is up to the couple what they want for their wedding. Couples can be unique with their design as well by matching the wedding theme or ceremony fans.

Ideas for wedding programs-For beach themed weddings have a seashell holding down the ceremony programs or for a traditional ceremony, you could even have a beautiful basket with a large bow attached and place the programs inside. For a winter themed wedding, couples could attach a Christmas ornament to the program. Whatever the couple decides after they create the ceremony program, make sure the ushers hand out the programs to guests or programs should be visible for guests, so they can take them before they enter the ceremony site.

Additional personalization to the ceremony program would be for the couple to share their story on how they met, where the proposal took place, bride’s “something old, new, borrowed, and blue”, favorite love quotes, lyrics to your first dance song, all so the guests feel included in your wedding day.

Be sure to include a reception program for the reception as well. Information to include in your reception would be announcing of the wedding party, introduction of the bride and groom, close relatives, the wedding couples entrance, blessing and prayers, toasts, dinner, slide show, and then dinner activities, which would include cake cutting, first dance, father-daughter dance, mother-son dance, money dance, tossing of the bridal bouquet and garter toss, guests dancing, and last dance.

Here are some great examples of ceremony programs:
-http://www.docstoc.com/docs/2629625/Free-Wedding-Program-Template
-http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates

Ask the Wedding Expert: Prenuputial Agreements

Ask The Wedding Expert Question:
A bride has just been asked by her future husband to sign a prenuptial agreement and she is very upset by this request and feels like she is being asked to plan for the “failure of her marriage.” The groom owns a home and earns significantly more money than the bride.

Ask The Wedding Expert Answer:
First, as a wedding planner I am like the brides best friend, I would listen to her feelings and then encourage her to speak to her future husband about her feelings. Second, I would also inform the bride it is just an agreement or an understanding between the couple and it is another step in the process for their lives together. Third, I would suggest discussing it in a premarital counseling. Premarital counseling sessions are to help strengthen your relationship and prepare couples for marital challenges and conflicts that arise through out the marriage.

Do you have a question you would like to ask the wedding expert? Email me at weddingexpert@wicksncandlesticks.com.

Free DIY Bridal Emergency Kit List

Brides should always be prepared at her wedding for any type of emergency on your big day, so please keep your bridal emergency kit in the dressing room, and make an additional bridal emergency kit for the maid of honor. Please be sure that these bridal emergency kits travel to locations, such as the reception hall. For easy functional purposes, place these items in tote bag or organizer cosmetic bag. Pick up your essential supplies at your local CVS or Walgreens. Most items you can find in the travel size department of the store. Here is a list of suggested items to include in the bride's emergency kit. To download the list at http://www.wicksncandlesticks.com/store/pdf.php

The History of Bridal Tiaras

Tiaras slowly came to be used more and more as the years progressed. Later on the popularity of the tiara would spread to ancient Rome, Greece, Assyria and soon all over the world into what we have today – bridal tiaras or wedding tiaras. The tiaras that we use these days started making an appearance and becoming more popular roughly around the 1800’s in Europe and brides today wear them as a showcase of elegance and regality even.

Bridal tiaras or wedding tiaras were traditionally given to the bride the day before her wedding by her father. The tiara would be a magnificent sight to behold, adorned with diamonds and precious stones like gems which made the tiara sparkle and enhance the beauty of the bride on her wedding day. The tiaras would also be adorned with diamonds, because diamonds are the ultimate symbol of perfection plus, they do say that diamonds are a girl’s best friend and diamonds are forever, which is perfect for the wedding.

When picking out the bridal tiara, like everything else about the wedding, there are a few things to keep in mind when making your selection. First of all, think about the kind of dress you will be wearing on that day and make sure that the tiara is something that will go together well with your beautiful wedding dress. Especially keep this tip in mind if you are planning to pick out a tiara that has a little color in them or with some decorative gemstones and jewels that have some color in them. There is nothing that can ruin an outfit more than something, even if it is just one little item, that does not go together well.

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Source: This article was submitted by MyDreamWedding.ca, an e-commerce store and wedding blog for Bridal Tiaras and Bridal Accessories in general.

What is Special about Online Gift Registries?

Online Gift registries are important to couples because they inform guests what they are truly looking for if they wanting gifts. Without having a registry, sometimes the couple receives gifts they do not necessarily need or get too many of the same items. Therefore, having a gift registry is the best option because guests know exactly what the couple will want.

Before registering, a suggestion is to see what each couple has in the combining household. The bride could already have a brand new toaster and the groom does not have one, so therefore they would not need that gift because they already own one.

If you want to go into a store to set up your registry, couples have that option, but many brides and grooms are having a registry website. Many working professionals do not have time to shop at the store, so having a registry online is very convenient for your guests. Another convenience about online registry is that it is automatic and sends you email notifications when an item has been purchased and you can e-announce your wedding registry as well.

One great registry we found online is www.myregistry.com. Wow, this website has tons of options for brides and grooms. When you first sign up for an account you get a checklist of items you would like to have on your list. You can also create buttons for Wedding Fund or Honeymoon Fund and that money can even have money transferred to your PayPal account and than the couple can transfer the money into their regular bank account.

There are coupons and promotional codes to use towards stores on their website. You can even use this website for social networking on your Facebook account and they have active updates on Twitter.com.

The features with this website does not end here, you can add any online store to www.myregistry.com! For example, I just set an account up for myself and I just added WicksnCandlesticks as an ‘Add Offline Gift’ and uploaded an image to our website, so family and friends could see I wanted two of our candle gift baskets as a gift.

Brides and Grooms, in my opinion, I believe it would be an easy and convenient online registry and shopping for the bride and groom as well as your guests. Please check take a moment to view this website, it is www.myregistry.com. We also have a link to the website on www.wicksncandlesticks.com main page.

Baby's Breath Bouquet, Boutonnière, and Centerpieces

Today, my goal was to look for the cheapest way I could make centerpieces and bouquets and my inspiration was this photo I found online (LI,2009). I placed a telephone call to the local florist and asked how much it would cost for the florist to design bouquets and centerpieces and also researched pricing cost per item for me to design it myself and here is the information from my research.

DIY Real Baby’s Breath Bouquet and Centerpieces
$ 2.50 a stem (Good Sized Bush)
Supplies (Website: Save on Craft):
-Diamondnette Pins Tops (Cost: 100 for $3.58) or Round Pearl Tops (144 for $2.99)
-Floral Tape (Green Stem Wrap Floral Tape -60FT for $2.19 each
-Glass Cube Vase or Candleholder (3 x 4 x 3) clear weighted glass ($2.99 each)
Note: Silk Flowers, Floral Tape, and Vase at discount and bulk discount prices.

Florist
$ 2.50 a stem (Good Sized Bush)
Cost: $300.00 for 1 Bridal Bouquet, 2 Bridesmaid Bouquets, and 12 Centerpieces

DIY Silk Flowers
Website: Save on Craft
Supplies:
- Cream White Queen Anne’s Lace 21" tall with 12 stems on each (Cost:$3.84 each)
- Diamondnette Pins Tops (Cost: 100 for $3.58) or Round Pearl Tops (144 for $2.99)
- Floral Tape (Green Stem Wrap Floral Tape -60FT for $2.19 each)
- Glass Cube Vase or Candleholder (3 x 4 x 3) clear weighted glass ($2.99 each)
Note: Silk Flowers, Floral Tape, and Vase at discount and bulk discount prices.

Wedding Candles, Candle Favors, Wedding Menus, and Wedding Favors, can all be purchased at WicksnCandlesticks.com.

Brides, if you do not have the time to create a beautiful centerpiece or bouquets, hire a florist or hire a silk florist. If you are a do it yourself bride, you could host a design party night with your bridesmaids and maid of honor to create beautiful bouquets and centerpieces.

DIY Wedding Table Napkin Decor

Are you looking for different ways to save and still have your tables look beautiful at your wedding? You can decorate with your napkins by tucking them into glassware (Watch the Video). This picture shows a napkin in a white or a floral themed wedding, but nicely inserted in the wine flute to make the table look like a very formal wedding table setting (Recipes for Us, 2009). Add white roses and candles add to the decor to make it a beautifully decorated table that you and your guests will remember. Also remember, this table setting guide for candle lit dinners as well.

Bridal Chandelier, Pierced & Clip Earrings

If you do not have pierced ears, than an option is to purchase and wear clip earrings. Sometimes it is very hard difficult to truly beautiful pieces of artwork. I have recently found this website named Crazy4Clips.com, which has beautiful jewelry and offers great pricing points.

After reviewing their website, they have a variety of earrings styles, which are by theme, sizes, style, material, and they even offer pierced earrings as well. You can even choose your backings that you want on your earrings. As I was reviewing the bridal earring selection, the earrings are just amazing and I cannot get over how attractive the Beautiful Chandelier earrings are for brides or even the bridal party. They even offer fantastic prize entries as well, so make sure you follow Crazy4Clips on Twitter.

If you have not purchased their earrings or shopped on this website, it is a must-visit website for any online shopper. Please visit this website at http://www.crazy4clipons.com/. I promise you will not be disappointed.

Bed and Breakfast Ceremony Wedding Sites

Bed and Breakfast's are overlooked treasures at times for brides and grooms. Couples can get their monies worth by utilizing a good bed and breakfast, especially one that has great features that offer outdoor ceremony, indoor ceremony, lodging, dance floor, table decor, and more! You can easily spend no more than $5,000 dollars and you can even adjust this budget to be less than that amount(Click on Photo for Itemized Budget). You have to figure out what is important to you, to make it the most successful wedding ever.

Unity Candle Alternatives

I found these great unity candle alternatives to have at your wedding from a Yahoo Blog and thought I would pass on those ideas onto brides and grooms (Yahoo, 2009).

Rose Ceremony: A simple unity ceremony where the bride and groom exchange roses. Other variations: the families exchange roses, the bride and groom exchange roses with their families, the bride and groom exchange roses, then present their mothers with the roses.

Wine Ceremony: The bride and groom each take a carafe of wine and pour it into a single glass, which they both drink from.

Water Ceremony: The couple each pour a different colored water into a single glass, creating a third color. You can base this off the colors of your wedding theme as well.

Sand Ceremony: Similar to the water ceremony, the bride and groom both pour different colored sand into a glass (See Figure 1). You can base this off the colors of your wedding theme as well (Photo Bucket, 2009).

Salt Ceremony: Indian weddings often include a salt ceremony, where the bride passes a handful of salt to her groom without spilling any. He then passes it back to her and the exchange is repeated three times. She then performs the salt exchange with all the members of the groom's family, symbolizing her blending in with her new family.

Breaking Bread Ceremony: The bride and groom tear off pieces of bread, and then each eat a piece. Sometimes the bread is also shared with family and friends. It symbolizes their future as a family together.

Garland Ceremony or Lei Ceremony: The bride and groom exchange garlands of flowers. This is a common part of Indian weddings, where the ceremony is called varmala or jaimala, and represents a proposal by the bride and acceptance by the groom. It also represents their new unity, blessed by nature. In Hawaian weddings, the bride and groom typically exchange leis. The families may also exchange leis with the couple. Leis represent the love and respect you have for the person you are giving it to, and the unity of the new family.

Circling: In Eastern European ceremonies, the bride and groom circle the altar three times, which are their first steps together as husband and wife. In Hindu ceremonies, couples circle the fire seven times, sealing their bond. The unbroken circle represents the unbroken commitment to each other.

Broom Jumping: An African-American tradition that has its roots in slavery times when slaves couldn't marry. Typically the family places the broom on the ground, and the bride and groom jump over it together. The broom can then decorate a place of honor in their home.

Lasso Ceremony: Lasso or rope is placed around the bride and groom's shoulders, usually by the officiant. Sometimes rosary beads, or orange flowers are used instead of rope. It can also be placed around the couple's necks, or wrists.

Wishing Tree

A tradition for brides and grooms to have at the reception is to have a Wish Tree. It is similar to a wish bowl, wish box, or wish vase. This is where the wedding guests fill out the small card and place the wish card on the tree (Purchase Wishing Tree Items at www.wicksncandlesticks.com).

Brides and Grooms can make their Wish Tree by purchasing one from a craft store. There are different types of Wishing Trees you can purchase, there is metal one, or you can purchase a potted tree or branches. You can even decorate your tree with a strand of white ribbon, pearls, or beads match the color theme of the wedding with your Wishing Tree

After the wedding, one of the bridal party members can take a picture of all the wishes collected, then remove the wishes, and store them in a keepsake box, scrapbook, or album. The Wishing Tree is a great way for guests to feel apart of their wedding day and offer their best wishes to the bride and groom.

Wishing Tree Ideas:
- Decorate Your Wishing Tree
- Purchase Your Tree from a Craft Store
- Place Framed Photo of This Poem By the Tree
- Petals or Greenery around the base of the Wishing Tree
- Accent Lights or Small Spot Lights around the Base of the Wedding Tree

Wishing Tree Poem:
These cards will be
for our wedding book
a modern twist
on the standard look.

As we begin our Journey
A brand new Mr. and Mrs.
We could surely use
Your Advice and good Wishes.

Jot down a Memory,
A reminder of the day.
Draw a doodle or picture
If your not sure what to say.

Share with us your Wisdom
About Marriage, Love, and Life,
The secret to being a good Husband
Or a thoughtful, loving Wife.

Please don't forget
It would be such a shame
to hang your card on the tree
Without signing your Name.

Give us words of love or fun
Write or draw your own design.
Hang it on the tree once you’re done!

- Unknown Author

Our First Wedding Gift- A Cook Book

We were a bride and a groom on a budget and only had $5,000 dollars for our wedding. We had a tight budget, but one of the things we decided to do was not to hire a wedding caterer. The reason we opted not to hire a caterer was that this was our second marriage and we wanted family to do something special for us. We wanted people to bring a dish to pass for our BBQ cookout instead of purchasing gifts. The maid of honor was in charge the dish to pass list. The bride and groom purchased the index cards and mailed the two index cards each, detailed instructions, wedding invitations and RSVP cards, which were mailed back to the maid of honor.

On the day of the wedding guests brought in their dish to pass with index cards to the reception site before heading to the wedding site. A friend designed beautifully decorated popsicle sticks to match our BBQ theme reception, attached the recipes to the popsicle sticks during the wedding, and put the rest of the index cards in a recipe binder to create our first cookbook. This cookbook meant more to us than having any other gift because it was a gift made with love, thoughtfulness, and care from our guests. Some recipes that were donated were from generations past, so that made the cookbook even more meaningful to us. The guests brought some great recipes on our wedding day to fill our first cookbook and we also had plenty of left over for people to take home.

Today, we still use our first cookbook everyday when cooking in the kitchen together and we have fond memories of our wedding that will last a lifetime.

Would you like to learn how to create your first cookbook-Learn How at http://www.dvo.com/products_accessories.html

Welcome To The Budget-Minded Bride Blog by WicksnCandlesticks

The Budget-Minded Bride Blog will share tons of information regarding bachelor parties, bachelorette parties, beautiful dresses and gowns, beauty tips, books, bridesmaids, bridal showers, cakes and desserts, candle favors, contests and giveaways, diy weddings, destination weddings, flowers and silk flowers, food finds, fun stuff, free wedding tips, go green great gifts, personalized gifts, grooms, groomsmen, honeymoons, inspire me, invitations, introductions, outdoor weddings,reception ideas, real weddings, second weddings, stationery, table designs, wedding themes, wedding registry, trunk shows, unity candles, vendor spotlight, wedding ceremony, wedding expert, wedding favors, wedding candle favors, wedding planning, wedding photography, wedding receptions, wedding trends, wedding venues, and much more. I have learned tons of money saving tips and ideas I like to share with brides and grooms.