Using Silk Flowers to Simplify Your Wedding and Your Budget

There are lots of ways to keep your sanity while planning a wedding. A great way to simplify the process and be easy on your budget is to use silk flowers instead of fresh cut flowers for your wedding day. Once upon a time, silk flower arrangements were associated with gaudy home décor and bad taste. Not anymore. Today, silk flowers can be so realistic looking that it is hard to tell they aren’t the real thing.

Flowers are at the very center of your wedding theme. They’re on the tables, in your hand, around the room. They define the color scheme, style, elegance and even the formality of your wedding. Fresh flowers, on the other hand, are expensive, a hassle to deliver and setup, subject to availability based on the season and they die. Using silk flower arrangements can address all of your wedding flower needs.

Save Your Budget: While some fresh flowers are more expensive than others, fresh flowers in general are particularly costly for something that is going to be thrown out in about two weeks. In fact, your floral budget is likely to be one of the most substantial portions of the total cost of your wedding. Even a simple floral design can cost $35-$50 per arrangement. At that rate, you can ring up quite a bill. Silk flower arrangements are a very economical alternative. By using silk flowers, you can get beautiful arrangements at a very affordable price that will last well beyond your wedding day. They will also save costs after your wedding is over because you won’t have to invest in preserving your bouquet. Using silk flower bouquets last forever without any additional investment.

Simplify Your Wedding Day Schedule: Because fresh flowers have to be kept cool and specially stored tol keep them fresh and beautiful, timing the assembly and delivery of your arrangements can be complicated. To ensure your arrangements and bouquets are as beautiful as possible, flowers must be shipped, assembled and delivered as late as possible. If you’ve chosen to save money by setting up your own reception, your wedding day can get pretty hectic in a hurry. Silk flower arrangements are a more convenient option. Because silk flowers are eternally beautiful, they can be assembled, stored, and placed when it’s most convenient for you. Using silk flowers can even make it possible for you to do your flowers yourself if you’re planning a wedding on a budget.

Get the Flowers You Really Want: Few fresh flower varieties are available year round. Most bloom seasonally and may not be available during the season in which you’ve chosen to have your wedding. If you absolutely have your heart set on a flower that’s out of season, you’ll pay dearly to have them flown in from wherever they are in season. For example, orchids are a beautiful, elegant and very popular flower. But they’re only available at certain times of the year in certain parts of the world. Sometimes, the flower you want just isn’t available.However, if you choose silk flowers, your favorite flower is always in season. You can always find a silk version of your favorite flower which means you can have the look you want in any time of year. If you’ve always dreamed of having a hydrangea bouquet, you can have it even in December without incurring extra cost.

Don't Forget To Have Fun: Weddings are meant to be joyful, memorable times. Yet so many weddings are characterized by stress, frenzy and financial burden. Silk flower arrangements are just one option for creating the wedding you want without taking on huge debt and ruining your special day. Most of all, it’s important to enjoy your wedding day. Don’t get caught up in the details of what goes right or wrong: how your hair looks, how the cake tastes, whether your bridesmaid is wearing the appropriate shoes. If you’re married at the end of the day, your wedding was a success.

About the Author: Leigh LaCava, publisher of FreshSilkFlowers.com loves the long lasting beauty of silk flowers and plants and has many arrangements throughout her home. Leigh lives in Los Angeles, California with her husband Jeff and their 13-year-old daughter, Ava.

Wedding Day "Emergency Kit"

Brides are so busy thinking and planning the details of their wedding day, they are bound to forget something along the way. As members of the wedding party and most likely the bride and grooms close friends or family, you naturally want to help. One item that every bride needs for her "perfect" wedding day is a leather manicure set or small leather travel bag that has everyday items that are a wedding day necessity.

Those items include but are not limited to: super glue, nail file, nail clippers, needle and thread, safety pins, bottle of aspirin or any other medications, notepad and pen, scissors, band aids or a bottle of nu-skin for minor scrapes and cuts, sun block, bobby pins, hair spray, Tums or any heartburn medicine, tide on the go, bottle of Purell, baby wipes, Kleenex, mouth wash or floss, even toothpaste and a tooth brush are all often wedding day necessities that most brides and attendants don't think about. Also any make up items, deodorant, shoe shine kit or lint brushes. Best of all these items also come in handy for the groom or anyone else in the wedding party, which makes it the gift that keeps on giving.

All of these items, except the shoe shine kit, fit into a stylish yet compact leather bag or kit that can be personalized with names and dates or initials for a memorable keepsake the bride is sure to find very useful and cherish forever. These unique and thoughtful personalized wedding gifts are available at Wealthwood Gifts Inc. where you can find a safe and easy shopping experience plus you are guaranteed satisfaction or your money back!

Submitted by: Angelique Ellerman, with Wealthwood Gifts Inc.

So You Want A Photo on Your Invitations?

While some of us can afford to hire a professional photographer, some of us are forced or tempted to save money by asking a friend or family member to do our photography for us. To help these people get better pictures, here are a few of the suggestions to catch a variety of good looking poses for your invitations.

For those taking outdoor shots, take your pictures in the late afternoon while the sunlight is getting softer but not gone yet. Whether indoors or outdoors, avoid patterned clothing; stick with simple solids. For action shots, try getting on a bike together (tandem or her on the handlebars) or in a canoe. Play chess together (but don't fight over who gets to look like they're winning!) or visit a park and swing together. Dance together--get a shot of her in the middle of a twirl or a dip. For more subdued shots, lie down in the grass and prop yourselves up on elbows, deep in conversation, or capture the elegance of feeding her grapes, or clink glasses of wine (and make sure the ring shows), or for a winter shot, sit in front of a fireplace holding steaming mugs of hot chocolate.

For photos of just the two of you without props, try laughing together, capture a stolen kiss with eyes closed blissfully--on the cheek, the forehead, or the traditional, sit side by side with her head resting on his shoulder or with her hugging one knee, capture a piggy-back ride, or focus on her ring against his shoulder as she holds him. For scenery, try an amusement park, or a reading window, or standing on a bridge pondering the water running beneath, or go for the elegance of silhouettes against a gorgeous sunset.

These are just a few suggestions to get the imagination started. Any of these would make a wonderful addition to your wedding invitations. You'll find a longer list of suggestions on my website, and I welcome more suggestions in my guestbook. Posted by: Melanie, MP Creations Custom Invitations

Do You Want To Dance?

Your first dance as husband and wife.

Will you dance like you did in high school? Or will you WOW your guests with a few moves? During your first dance at your wedding reception you will have everyone's eyes and attention. What will get your guest hootin', hollering and clapping will be a very simple thing.......

What will that take? Not much, just a few moves. It can be a grand finish with a big "dip", or a few box steps. A couple of dance lessons will do wonders: for one, your footwork, second, your confidence if your not a dancer, three, your guests will LOVE it.

To the left, you can watch a few choreographed first dance video's which are tons of fun, but you don't have to go to that extreme.

A wedding reception with friends, family, costs thousands. A romantic, intimate dance between husband and wife, priceless.

Children At Weddings

Having children at your wedding can be fun but they can also create havoc at the reception. If you are using younger children as flower girls and ring bearers, you (and their parents) must understand that if a youngster refuses to walk during the processional or cries or throws a hissie fit, don't try to force them. It just is not worth the stress to you, the child, the parents or your guests.

Some ideas for children at the reception:
1. Ask your venue to place a table in the corner. You can supply various activities such as games, puzzles, markers, paper, crayons and small toys to entertain the children. Consider hiring a teenager to engage the children.
2. Offer baby sitting services to the parents. This plan is most effective if you are using a hotel for your reception. Reserve a room and supply movies, games, pizza and enough qualified sitters to care for the children. Parents can enjoy the reception and check on the children as often as they wish.
3. If only a few children will be in attendance, prepare a goodie bag for each one. Make the items age-appropriate and place the bag at each child's seat. They will be delighted to find their surprises and their parents will appreciate your gesture.
4. Some brides put "adult reception" on the invitations and that clearly indicates children should not attend.
Submitted by Susan & Sandy, Wedding Coordinators, Wedding Belles, Inc.

Tis The Season

Are you looking to save a few greenbacks? If you are, then think of having your wedding on a "off peak" day of the week. Saturdays are at a premium and cost the most. If you change your wedding day to say, a Thursday, you will save money just by uttering the word.

Most wedding vendors will offer discounts for "off peak" days. ALL you need to do is ask. Hotels, Caterers, DJ's, Photographers, Limos and others will make hearts skip a beat when you say "I'm getting married on Wednesday". Mornings can be less expensive then evenings. The month of December is MOST expensive, due to holiday parties and corporate events.

If you're planning your wedding for December, book the date EARLY in the year, January or February are best to beat the rush for those prized weekends. TIP: Verify with your reception venue on how many events are planned for your reception date. Some will book events back to back. For all wedding vendors, get a signed contract and pay with a credit card!

TIP: Check the local happenings around your wedding city..... Airshows, Concerts, Craft Fairs.....many brides have almost missed their wedding ceremony due to traffic jams, no parking or large crowds.