Lord Thompson Manor Taking Pictures

Author: Allison Campbell

If you’ve begun to research reception venues, photographers, and other “high-ticket” items on your wedding to-do list, you’ve undoubtedly experienced a good case of sticker shock by now. You may find yourself thinking: “How can they get away with charging this much?!!”

It’s a fact. The wedding industry is huge, and anything with the word “wedding” attached to it is likely to mean “expensive”.

So is it feasible to hire a photographer who doesn’t necessarily focus on weddings, or a band that wouldn’t be found in your local bridal magazine? Absolutely!

To get started on this road less traveled, begin by asking recently-wed family, friends or colleagues for any good wedding leads. Perhaps they’ll know of a fabulous bakery that was less expensive than all the larger ones in the area. Or an art student who just graduated from college and is looking for work as a calligrapher. Maybe there’s a friend of a friend who’s an aspiring photographer and would be able to capture fantastic wedding photos for you on your big day.

Next, move your research online and check out the local wedding chat boards in your area at TheKnot.com and WeddingChannel.com. Look for posts like “Rave Reviews” and “Highly Recommended” - and be sure to also take note of any vendors that received negative reviews from other brides and grooms. Another excellent free resource is Craigslist.com. Musicians, photographers and other artists post their services regularly here in areas across the country. If you see a post that catches your eye, just send a quick email to the poster to get more information, or submit your own ad describing exactly what you’re looking for.

Finally, head to Amazon.com or your local book store and buy at least one good wedding planning book. This will be your trusty reference book and will help you know just which questions to ask, so that you can make an informed decision about a particular wedding vendor. For example, knowing the various costs that are typically associated with catering will allow you to ask for only the items you NEED, and avoid paying for anything you don’t. In fact, knowing a bit about each type of wedding service vendor - caterers, musicians, DJs, etc. - will actually help save you money no matter which vendors you talk to, “professional” or not.

Author: Joe Palladino

Choosing the perfect wedding favor for your guests can sometimes be a bit difficult. We all know that getting married and choosing the perfect theme wedding favors are important because they tell your reception guest just how much you appreciate them for attending your special day. What you need to remember when shopping for the perfect favor is to try and choose a unique wedding favor that fits your lifestyle and of course your wedding fame.

There are many different options you can choose from when deciding on exactly what will make your wedding day special. For example if you are getting married at the beach the obvious choice are beach wedding favors such as beach wine bottle stoppers, seashell coasters and wedding favor beach frames to name just a few. If you are getting married in the fall auto bookmarks are a good choice and if it’s a winter wedding snowflake wedding candles for your wedding guests and you can complement that with snowflake place cardholders to inform your guest where they will be seated.

Selecting your perfect wedding favors for your special guest actually is not a difficult choice to make. Just keep in mind what theme event you have in mind and also your choice of favor should reflect your personal lifestyle and what you like to do. Following these simple rules can make shopping for that special wedding gift for your reception guest a simple one.

To enhance your choice of favors keep in mind useful favors after the wedding is over is always a big hit with your family and loved ones. For example wine bottle stopper wedding favors can be used over and over again for your favorite beverage. Useful favors such as table place card picture frames can be used initially to number your tables at your reception and later can be handed out as wedding favors so they can take home these mementos and placed her favorite picture inside the frame.

When trying to decide on what will be the perfect unique leading favor you first need to decide on the time of season, the location and the theme choice of your wedding. Once you have these three key components you can then move forward on deciding what type of unique wedding favor you should buy. Unique wedding favors should express your deep devotion and love for those who attended her special day. To help celebrate your memorable occasion unique wedding favors can help illuminate your celebration.

Finally a favor that is really unique and always catches the moment is the camera wedding favor. Place a camera at each table in front of every chair and have your guests take pictures throughout the day of your reception celebration to catch the moment and have a ball. Once your event is over your guests can take these cameras home developed a film and keep these photos to remember a very special time.

Author: Chrystal Holman

Making your own flower seed wedding favor items has many benefits, including saving cost and having a lot of fun. Let’s see how you can do that.

A wedding is an expensive affair to say the least. On the other hand, it is also your very special day that you want to be absolutely perfect. You probably want people to remember your day for many years to come.

One of the decisions you need to make is what to give to your wedding guest as favors.

You could buy pre-made favors, which will save some time but will also cost more money.

Making your own wedding favors enables you to give your wedding guests exactly what you want. By giving them a packet of flower seed you give them something that they can use. Something edible as wedding favor seems to be the norm. However, once consumed the wedding favor is forgotten.

With flower seeds, when the flowers bloom your wedding guests can admire them and remember that they received the packet of flower seed from you at your wedding. One can say that the beautiful flowers will remind friends and family of the blooming love between you and your spouse.

Pick the flower seed to be of flowers that can be planted during the next planting season following your wedding. It’s of little use if you give your wedding guests a packet of flower seed during summer that can only be planted the next spring.

Give them flower seed as a wedding favor that can be planted in fall if your wedding is in summer, and flower seed for planting in spring if your wedding is during the winter.

To make your own flower seed wedding favors, the first thing you will need to buy is bulk flower seed.

Do not buy the small individual packets. It will be far more expensive than buying in bulk.

Secondly, you will need cards for the personalized message to your wedding guests and small containers to hold the flower seeds.

For containers you can consider tiny wedding favor buckets, small rectangular or triangular boxes, teeny-tiny shopping bags or beach bags, or any other suitable container that will fit your wedding theme.

Make sure that you buy the cards and containers from a wedding favor store, so that your wedding favors look professional and not like something picked up from a dollar store.