Wedding Craft - Reduce Wedding Costs with these Wedding Craft Ideas

by: Brigitte Smith
Weddings are a joyous occasion but can get expensive in a hurry. With wedding crafts you can insert a personal touch and hold the price down as well. Here are a few ideas for wedding crafts to add sparkle and creativity to your big day.

It is not that hard to create your own wedding veil. To make this wedding craft, you will need a length of bridal illusion in the desired length. You will also need a comb to attach it to your hair and a hat or headpiece to cover the comb. Sew large running stitches about an inch from the end of the illusion and gather it tightly. Now sew the veil to the comb. Top with hat or headpiece. As an alternative, you can decorate a wide-brimmed straw hat with silk flowers, ribbon, and pearls.

The bouquets and floral arrangements can also be personally crafted. For a simple outdoor wedding, consider wild flowers. They are free and have a charm all their own. Bouquets can be arranged in large clear vases, with a bow tied elegantly around.

Favors for the guests are particularly appropriate wedding crafts. Refrigerator magnets are a simple and well-received favor. A really nice idea is to make a magnetic picture frame and include a picture of the couple. You could cut a frame out of craft foam in one of the wedding colors, arrange over the photo, and glue all onto a cardboard backing. Place self-adhesive magnet tape on the back of the cardboard. Decorate the front of the frame with foil heart stickers and a monogram of the couple's last name.

Bows for the ends of the pews or rows make simple wedding crafts. Wide velvet ribbons are nice for fall and winter weddings, while satin is more appropriate for spring and summer weddings. Loop some flat lace in with the ribbons. In the center of the completed bow, attach some silk flowers and pearl sprays with a hot glue gun.

Perhaps you'd like to try your hand at decorating your own cake. Check the craft section of the department store for pans and gadgets of all types to help you create a cake to remember. Do remember, though, that it takes a steady hand. Be sure to practice before starting on the real cake.

Preparing for a wedding can be expensive, but with wedding crafts, you can take some of the sting out. Plan early, however, because it will take a little while to make favors for everyone and all the other little details you will want to take care of. Maybe creating wedding crafts will even relieve some of those wedding jitters. In any event, crafting your own wedding items is a way to have a personal, beautiful, and less expensive wedding.

About the author:
Find out more about making your own unique wedding favors here:

http://www.LearnHowGuides.com/WeddingFavors/index.html

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Wedding Dresses – Getting the Best for your Budget

by: Elsie Gilbert
Weddings are a very expensive business and costs can quickly spiral out of control. Most brides want to ensure that they look their best, so it is little wonder that wedding dresses are the one area that seems reliably to run over budget in almost any wedding arrangement.

But, you don’t need to spend a fortune in order to look stunning and to generate admiring glances from all around. Wedding dresses are a matter of very personal choice and it is often the case that imagination can be a much greater asset than pure cash!

Wedding Dresses - Clever (and cheap) Ideas

Most weddings have an underlying theme and wedding dresses should be included within this theme. For example, if you are having a medieval theme, it is possible to choose a darker bodice or even an impressive hairpiece to accentuate an otherwise very plain dress.

As a general rule, wedding dresses do not need to over elaborate. One, well-thought out accessory can be much more effective than a very large and excessive dress. A plain dress is often a lot cheaper and with a little thought, a classic, simple style can actually look more sophisticated. Many brides often change their wedding dresses, before the evening celebrations, as these formal style dresses tend to be cumbersome and heavy.

Doesn’t this seem like a huge waste of money? Why not have two-piece wedding dresses that will allow you to change your skirt for a shorter, lighter version, whilst keeping the shaped bodice as well as any theme that you have developed?

Wedding Dresses – The Key to Accessorizing

Depending on your body shape and the type of wedding you are creating, different wedding dresses will suit different accessories. For example, if you are considering the traditional tight bodice, tapered in at the waist and flowing freely over the legs, you may like to concentrate on accessorizing your middle with the use of a thin belt. As every bride wants to look her best, accessories should be used to accentuate your assets. By using key accessories, wedding dresses can remain rather plain and simple, meaning that they are not only cheaper, but may actually be usable for other occasions, in the future.

A bride with a fuller waist but an impressive bust may wish to consider wedding dresses that simply skim the middle part of her body and cling to the bust and hip area. In these instances, it is worth drawing attention to your neckline with a large necklace or even a shawl. Take some time to shop around for those finishing touches; sometimes there is nothing better than a pure, single fresh flower, so don’t always assume that expensive is best. Think simple and think classic. Plain wedding dresses can be just as effective as the most sensational designer wedding dresses, if given the personal touch. Above all, your dress is guaranteed to be unique!

About the author:
Elsie Gilbert offers great insights to all different types of wedding ceremonies, wedding styles, wedding accessories. From traditional to the exotic she makes it easy for the bride and groom to review and choose. For more details on all types of wedding ideas visit this site now www.weddingceremonyhelp.com

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Wedding Gowns – Getting the Best Out of Your Photographs

by: Elsie Gilbert
One of the most important things to any bride is the wedding photography that captures the magical day, for years to come. Most wedding gowns are made to make the bride look absolutely stunning; however, not all wedding gowns photograph as well as they should, so it is important to consider what your short listed wedding gowns will actually look like, in the photographs.

Wedding Gowns and the Accessories that Make Photographs Special

The types of wedding gowns that will look best in your wedding photographs depend largely on the style of wedding photographs that you have chosen. If you are opting for the contemporary style of photographs that are not staged but actually follow the day, on a more informal basis, then you need to be aware that your choice of wedding gowns will be viewed from every angle.

On the other hand, if you are opting for a small selection of formal photographs purely from the front, then your choice of wedding gowns should focus on the detail at the front of the dress. If you have chosen to have only black and white photographs, it is worth considering what your chosen colors of wedding gowns will look like in monochrome.

Top Photography Hints for Wedding Gowns

Never forget how important the detail on the back of wedding gowns is. During the ceremony, your guests will have little to look at other than the back of your wedding gown. Therefore, it is important that all wedding gowns have some special detail and unique look; it is also a great opportunity for the wedding photographer and a picture from the back of the ceremony venue can be stunning!

Bear in mind that accessories can look a little strange in wedding photographs so it may be worth investing in accessories that are detachable from wedding gowns, so that you can choose whether to have them in a given photograph or not. This is a really good idea when the accessory is particularly detailed as it may be superb as part of a close-up picture, however, it may just look like a stain from a distance!

Another good idea is to have a cardigan or jacket as an accessory for your choice of wedding gowns. This way you can vary the photographs and the look that you present, throughout the day. Wedding photographs can appear a little repetitive; therefore it is a great idea to have a range of accessories and additions so that you can vary the photographs and make it look like you had several wedding gowns and not just the one!

Remember, your choice of wedding gown is going to be captured in your photographs for years to come. When you are choosing your perfect dress, consider its ‘photograph ability’ as well as what it will look like in the flesh – they are both equally important!

About the author:
Elsie Gilbert offers great insights to all different types of wedding ceremonies, wedding styles, wedding accessories. From traditional to the exotic she makes it easy for the bride and groom to review and choose. For more details on all types of wedding ideas visit this site now www.weddingfinery.com

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Wedding Rings

by: Elsie Gilbert
don’t tend to get the public airing that they deserve, in your average wedding celebration. However, wedding rings are likely to be worn for the rest of the bride and grooms’ living days, so they are, arguably, the most important element of the wedding accessories.

Wedding Rings – The Basics

Wedding rings are exchanged as part of the ceremony, normally as vows are said by both parties. The guests do not normally see the wedding rings until after the ceremony is well and truly over, so it can be tempting to skimp on this element and save money.

Bear in mind that the bride will almost certainly wear her wedding ring alongside her engagement ring. It is essential, therefore, that they both rings work together well. This is particularly important if the engagement ring is of an atypical shape or with a particularly large stone.

Always consider your everyday jewelry. Although it is possible to accessorize on your wedding day to complement you choice of wedding rings, this ring will be worn every day, for many years, so it must fit in well with your general style. This is equally important for the groom, as he too will have to wear the ring for some time, so he should also consider what would go well with his usual attire.

Contrary to popular belief, it is not essential to choose golden rings. If you prefer silver colored rings but want to retain the quality, why not consider white gold? It is also possible for the bride and groom to have different styles of ring, so do not feel pressured into selecting matching styled rings.

Wedding Rings – Ideas for Slashing the Budget

Whilst you want the best wedding rings possible, you do not need to spend a small fortune! Often, wedding rings are passed through the generations, particularly on the male side, so find out whether this is the case so that you can avoid the time and energy of searching for the perfect wedding rings!

When you are selecting an engagement ring, it may be possible to negotiate a discount on wedding rings, if they are purchased at the same time. Another possible option is to consider using cheaper wedding rings for the ceremony itself and to purchase the more permanent wedding rings, at a later day. The real point of this is to spread the major expenses – weddings do not come cheaply!

A great way to make cheaper wedding rings look unique is to have them engraved with your wedding date and your initials.

With a little imagination, wedding rings can truly look magical, without costing the earth!

About the author:
Elsie Gilbert offers great insights to all different types of wedding ceremonies, wedding styles, wedding accessories. From traditional to the exotic she makes it easy for the bride and groom to review and choose. For more details on all types of wedding ideas visit this site now www.weddingceremonyhelp.com

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Wedding Video - Selecting a Wedding Videographer

by: Shawn Hickman
Selecting the right wedding videographer is very important because wedding videos hold special moments from your wedding day. Just like you need to find the perfect wedding dress, it should be without question that you need a quality wedding videographer.

Now I don’t mean a wedding videographer that asks Aunt Gretchen to say a few words about her little niece Sharon who is all grown up. And I don’t mean a wedding videographer that likes to force everyone to smile in the middle of dinner time because he is always in your face with that video camera. Run from those wedding videographers.

The Right Wedding Videographer
Albert Ling of Encore Weddings, was the right videographer for me. He was unobtrusive (we hardly knew he was around), he didn’t use crazy special effects in his previous wedding videos and he had a demeanor that made it easy to feel comfortable around him. Don’t worry, the right wedding videographer for you is out there. And once you find him, hold on tight because he is an important part of your wedding budget and he (along with the wedding photographer) has your once in your lifetime moments in his hands. Make sure your wedding videographer is experienced. You wouldn’t believe how easy it is for someone to just call themselves a videographer. Do you really want to be one of their early wedding video mistakes? Albert had hundreds of video that my husband went through with him during the consultation but even though he had done so many wedding videos, our wedding video was still different from all the others.

I just popped in my wedding DVD (that’s right, I didn’t get my wedding video on VHS) in order to give you some important tips on what to look for in your wedding videographer’s portfolio. Yes, you need to see the wedding videographer’s portfolio.

The Wedding Videographer’s Portfolio
You need to make sure he hasn’t done 1,000 wedding videos that are exactly the opposite approach you want. It also matters if he clearly understands what you want from him. Can he produce that? And has he done that before? You don’t have to see all his videos but you don’t want to see a video montage of what he thinks are his best clips. You want to see what he has done from start to finish. See if the videos were steady if he uses a hand held video camera instead of a tripod. Watch for editing – do they make sense? Are you going from the wedding ceremony to the reception or from the reception decorations to the ceremony? Has he captured all of the members of the wedding party? Was he too slow and didn’t get the “here comes the bride” entrance? Where the close ups “too close up”? Are you having an outdoor wedding? What if it is windy? Does he have unobtrusive mikes for the wedding party? Or will you end up with the sound of wind on the wedding video and muted voices? You also want to be able to speak with happy clients from the wedding videos you liked the most.

One Videographer or Two? One Video Camera or Two?
For my wedding, we had one videographer with one handheld camera. Having a second camera can help obtain extra points of view which may be needed during editing and sometimes if the first camera man is unable to get a shot, the second camera will hopefully be able to pick it up. Our wedding videographer was experienced so we didn’t feel like we needed a second camera or videographer.

Wedding Video on DVD or VHS?
After watching the wedding video once, most people don’t sit through it in full many times after. They usually fast forward to parts that they like which over time wears out your wedding video. If you choose to have your wedding video on DVD, you can easily jump to the parts you want to highlight instead of having to sit through a few hours or constantly fast forward and rewind your videotape.

And speaking of wedding videos that last a few hours - please spare your friends and family. You don’t need every single moment from your wedding day on the wedding video. My wedding video is 30 minutes long. It was set up like a story book with scenes from throughout the day highlighting the wedding ceremony, my father’s speech and the cutting of the cake. The other scenes were played with one of four songs we chose.

Special Additions to Your Wedding Video
The wedding videographer will probably offer you a few additions to your package. I personally felt they were unnecessary but you may feel differently. You may include a prelude of some wedding planning, commentary about the couple from their family and friends, photo montages and video from before the couple met and special effects (slow motion and fading in and out).

Wedding Videographer Cost
You can expect to pay anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000 for your wedding video. The wedding videographer will be one of your biggest wedding budget expenses.

And now some advice that was given to me that I want to share with you.

My matron of honor gave me some advice when I was planning my wedding … even if you are on the fence about a wedding video – just get it! You may never watch it or your grandmother may be the only one that watches it but one day if you want to watch it and you don’t have a wedding video, you will feel incredibly sad about not having one to watch.

One last thing! Make sure you include your wedding videographer (and camera man) on the list for a meal at the reception or else you risk having them take an hour break so they can get some lunch/dinner. (Remember they are working straight close to 8 hours if not more! Feed them! No exceptions.)

About the author:
Find more articles at www.media43.com

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Wedding Photography That will last a lifetime

by: Amy Spade

Having pictures that you can look at in the years that follow your wedding is just one of the things that you want to invest your money in. But if you’re on a constricted budget, then there are also options for you.

Things to consider

One of the main things to consider when it comes to photography is what you want from your pictures. Do you want pictures of your while family or mainly of the two of you? If it a larger wedding or is a more private celebration?

You and your soon-to-be spouse should sit down and list all of the pictures that you would like to have in your wedding album—that is, poses for pictures. With this list, you’ll be able to see if you should invest in a professional or consider other options.

Where do you want your pictures taken? Some couples like to have outdoor shots, so they will need to find a photographer that does that as part of their services. The length of time you would like the photographer to be at the wedding will also factor into the price.

Look at photographer samples to see if your styles match. If they don’t, the photographer may recommend someone else. They want you to have good pictures, even if it’s not with them.

When you’re on a budget

If you’re nervous about spending a lot of money on your photographer, but still want a lot of pictures—you’re in luck. With the new and improved digital cameras, you have a better shot (no pun intended) to get great pictures.

Have a good friend (who isn’t in the wedding party) volunteer to take the pictures. Since digital cameras show you what the picture looks like instantly, you can take as many as you need in order to get it just right. And the quality is just as good as many professional photographers.

Another way to get a lot of chances for good pictures is to place disposable cameras at every table. People love to take pictures of other people, so you’ll get a lot of candid shots of your relatives and friends. Plus, the quality is pretty good, so you’re not wasting your money at all.

It doesn’t matter who takes your pictures as long as you get the ones that you want. If you want to have someone else do it, then invest in the professional. But for the budget conscious, having a friend or relative take charge is just as good.

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Choosing the best sites for your wedding and reception

The perfect wedding day has been pictured in your mind and dreams almost your entire lifetime. If you're like most, you may already have a vivid picture of how you want your wedding and reception to look even down to the last detail such as which flowers are going to be included in your flower arrangements and decor. But did your daydreams and imaginings include where you want to the sacred event to take place and where you are going to celebrate your union with family and friends?

If not, there are a few things to keep in mind when selecting the perfect spot to hold your wedding and reception: budget, amount of guests, theme and type of wedding, and whether or not you want your ceremony and reception at the same location.

Let's start with the budget first. By keeping in mind your budget throughout the whole decision making process, you can prevent heartache in the end. Suppose you found the perfect dream wedding spot only to learn that you could not possibly afford to hold your wedding there? Likely if you chose to have your ceremony in any other spot it would pale in comparison and be a disappointment when compared with the one you couldn't swing.

On the other hand, what if you threw caution to the wind and indulged in the more expensive site? In this case, you might become bitter about your wedding day when the bills start to pile up or when you have to forgo your honeymoon to cover the costs. These two scenarios illustrate why it is very important to evaluate the cost before investigating any particular wedding or reception site. If it's over your budget, don't even look at it.

Your theme and type of wedding are also very important when choosing the perfect spot for your wedding nuptials. If you are having an informal country wedding, it would not make much sense to book an elaborate reception hall. A better choice may be to have an outdoor reception on a farm complete with a bonfire, country band, and wagon rides for the little ones.

If you're just looking for a little inspiration and a list of great wedding sites to investigate, your local chamber of commerce can supply you with sites, historical and modern, that can be rented for functions such as weddings. This may be a great help when you're trying to find a spot for your wedding that is unique and truly reflects your personality.

Remember, it's your wedding and your dreams. Do not give in to family pressure or be tempted to take the first place that comes along. Do your homework and you will be guaranteed to realize the wedding of your dreams.





About the author:
By Rose Lenk
For more wedding information and articles visit http://www.weddingseasy.com

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