Wedding Invitations

Don’t think of them as rules so much as helpful guidelines.  It surprises many many engaged couples who are planning a wedding to discover that there can be some unexpected rules that go along with wedding planning.  This isn’t necessarily wedding etiquette-related, though.  We consider etiquette to be more like guidelines to make life more pleasant and gracious, but by no means are they federal regulations.

As with many things in life, there are still a few wedding etiquette points that would probably be best to not try to argue or fight with.  For instance, some churches have strict rules about photography inside the sanctuary during the wedding ceremony.  Many brides who have had their hearts set on having a photograph taken of their father walking them down the aisle at their wedding are upset at the news that their church doesn’t allow photography during the ceremony.  While the first instinct might be to break the church’s rule and take photos anyway, do you really want to start off a marriage by making your officiant angry at you?  That could be a bad move, indeed.

Never fear, though, there’s great news for you.  There’s very often a workable solution around such etiquette difficulties.  Continuing with the no photographs during the ceremony scenario, one way to abide by the church’s rules and still get the photos you’ve dreamt about would be to make arrangements to have some time in the church after the ceremony to re-create certain parts of the wedding.  As an example, the bride’s entrance, the vows, and even The Kiss could all be re-created for the photographer and give you many lovely photographic memories for years to come, but without breaking the church’s rules!

Roses? Hydrangeas? Peonies?  You are certainly not alone if you are feeling overwhelmed by sorting out the flowers for your wedding.  If you are planning on honoring your mothers and grandmothers and other special women in your lives, definitely mark down corsages for these ladies.  It’s a good idea to add in a few extras for any you might have inadvertently overlooked).  Also think about what flowers to order for the reception site, the ceremony site, the rehearsal dinner site, and of course the flowers for the wedding party. 

Brides might wonder about the etiquette involved in selecting wedding flowers and we’d like to help clear up any confusion that might be out there.  Both tradition and wedding etiquette suggests that the groom himself give the bride her bouquet as a gift, as well as the flowers for the bridal couple’s mothers and grandmothers and the groomsmen’s boutonnieres.  Traditionally, the bride takes care of ceremony and reception flowers as well as the bridesmaids’ bouquets.  Another lovely gift of flowers you could make together would be to send flowers to family members who are unable to attend the wedding due to distance or poor health.

No matter how large or small a wedding is, one thing that is almost guaranteed to be a part of the day are the flowers.  Flowers adorning the church door, scattered by the flower girl, worn proudly as a corsage by the mother of the groom, and of course carried happily by the joyful bride, there’s no question that weddings and flowers go together and make a winning combination.

For other flower ideas when planning your wedding, check out these sites:

The Date Matters: Ways Save Money on your Wedding Flowers
- This might take a little extra planning with the church committee, but in most cases, if you’re willing to hold your wedding on a date that there are no special events planned, you won’t have to order any flowers at all for the chapel! …

Tips On How To Plan Your Wedding Flowers
- The wedding rush is upon us again. We’re meeting with lots of new brides and planning out our 2009 events. Some brides we meet already have very detailed ideas about their flowers, whereas others haven’t yet picked out their colors. …

Wedding Flowers…FAQ’s
- This will allow the florist to begin looking for any props or specialty items you might need. Wedding flowers can be highly specific and colors often have to be very precise, so florists need advance notice to place flower orders. …

5 Ways to DIY Wedding Flowers
- Many people don’t realize that they can have fresh cut flowers at their wedding without breaking the bank if they simply opt to create the floral arrangements themselves. Tons of floral wholesalers are willing to sell to the general …

Preserving Your Wedding Flowers
- Press It - Some companies, such as Pressed In Time Flowers, will take your wedding bouquet and turn it into a work of art as they press it beautifully into a flat frame that can be set alone or paired with a photo or wedding invitation. …

Take a glance in any bridal magazine or wedding salon and you can find short gowns, long gowns, big poufy gowns, sleek and slim gowns, lacy gowns, satin gowns, and even gowns with color.There’s a million different wedding gowns out there – a terrifying prospect to those brides-to-be who don’t love shopping.  For those who do love to shop, though, it’s one of the best parts of wedding planning. 

Don’t forget that when you are ready to go shopping for your wedding gown, many times the gown of your choice will need to be ordered, which can generally take several months to arrive.  Beginning your search early in your wedding planning might seem like you’re getting a little ahead of yourself, but brides have enough to worry about without wondering if their wedding gown will arrive on-time.

One part of hunting for a wedding gown that you might want to consider is wedding etiquette.  For example, some churches look down upon a strapless or sleeveless wedding gown. It’s also a good idea, etiquette-wise, to consider the time of day that your wedding ceremony takes place when looking for your wedding gown.  Generally, floor length gowns are reserved for indoor and evening weddings. Knee length gowns are typically found at informal or outdoor ceremonies.

You might think that there wouldn’t be a bigger etiquette no-no than to choose a non-white  bridal gown.  Etiquette actually isn’t as firm on white wedding gowns as you would think; the truth is that white wedding gowns have only become standard less than a century ago.  Prior to World War II, white gowns weren’t the high priority for brides.  Instead, brides were practical and chose special occasion gowns that they could wear again.

Here’s a little riddle for you: how is your wedding ceremony like a movie theatre? Don’t spend all day racking your brains trying to come up with the answer, we’ll tell you right now. The way that your wedding ceremony and movie theatres are the same is that both places need to remind guests to shut off their cell phones while there.

Believe it or not, it’s become quite usual for brides to have to print in their ceremony program a note about silencing cell phones. Some wedding venues even have it listed, front and center, in their event guidelines and regulations, to remind guests to silence or shut off cell phones. A gentle reminder in the program is the most ideal method to ensure no one’s raucous ring tones interrupt the quieter and more tender moments of the wedding. According to Emily Post, absolute wedding etiquette expert, it is also acceptable to have a little sign by the guest book at a ceremony. Mrs. Post notes that a verbal announcement (something like “The ceremony is about to begin; could everyone please make sure their cell phones are silenced?”) would be acceptable wedding etiquette, but the written reminders are more preferable.

The silencing of cell phones should not be limited to wedding guests, though. All too often, members of the wedding party neglect to shut off their phones, only to discover the error at a very inopportune moment in the ceremony, for instance, while in the middle of the vows! Many wedding venues or wedding coordinators are there to assist the wedding party just prior to the ceremony; you could ask them to be in charge of making sure the bridesmaids and groomsmen have silenced their phones.

It’s not just in the romantic comedy movies or TV shows where single girls rush for the wedding announcements in the Sunday paper. I know quite a lot of women – single and married — who have a habit of reading the wedding and engagement announcements in the newspaper. If you’re one such woman who is looking forward to seeing your own wedding announcement in the newspaper, you may be unsure of either the process or etiquette of the announcements.

To begin with, you should contact your local newspaper to find out their guidelines for submitting announcements for publication; no matter how large or small the newspaper, they almost certainly have someone on staff whose job it is to help the new brides get their announcement printed.

Some newspapers have a strict policy of not printing announcements until after the wedding has taken place. Some newspapers will print your announcement and photo for free, while others will ask for a fee depending upon the length of the announcement itself and possibly the size of the photo. It is because of this wide variety of policies and etiquette among newspapers that the best place to begin is to call the newspaper to talk to the person in charge of announcements.

Don’t forget to buy extra copies of the newspaper the day your announcement is printed. It’s nice to have a clipping of the announcement as a keepsake, for you, your parents, and your in-laws.

All you need for a wedding is a bride and a groom, right? Wrong! In order to make it official, not to mention legal, an officiant – be that judge, minister, or other public official – is needed to seal the deal, officially! It’s too easy, we know, to overlook the officiant, so we thought we’d take a few moments to take a quick overview of All Things Officiant at a wedding.

Obviously, if you have already chosen a church setting for your wedding ceremony, you’re most likely going to have the church’s minister as the officiant. It’s possible, though, to bring in another minister – perhaps the family’s long-time minister who baptized your husband? – to perform the ceremony. Do remember, however, that it’s good wedding etiquette to check with the church first to be sure they are okay with an outside officiant taking part. Also remember that if the officiant comes from out-of-state, there may be extra steps involved to ensure the marriage is legal.

One thing that many brides are confused over regarding their officiants is whether or not to send the officiant an invitation. While many officiants do not expect to receive an invitation, it’s a nice thing to do (and smart wedding etiquette) to invite your officiant. Of course, if your brother, grandparent, or best friend is performing the ceremony, you’re almost certainly already sending your officiant an invitation!

It surprises many many engaged couples who are planning a wedding to discover that there can be some unexpected rules that go along with wedding planning. This isn’t necessarily wedding etiquette-related, though. We consider etiquette to be more like guidelines to make life more pleasant and gracious, but by no means are they federal regulations.

That said, there are some things to do with etiquette that would probably be best to not try to go against. For instance, some churches have strict rules about photography inside the sanctuary during the wedding ceremony. Many brides who have had their hearts set on having a photograph taken of their father walking them down the aisle at their wedding are upset at the news that their church doesn’t allow photography during the ceremony. While the first instinct might be to break the church’s rule and take photos anyway, do you really want to start off a marriage by making your officiant angry at you?

The great news is that there’s often a workable solution around such etiquette difficulties. Continuing with the no photographs during the ceremony scenario, one way to abide by the church’s rules and still get the photos you’ve dreamt about would be to make arrangements to have some time in the church after the ceremony to re-create certain parts of the wedding. For instance, the bride’s entrance, the vows, and even The Kiss could all be re-created for the photographer and give you many lovely photographic memories for years to come.

One wonderfully handy thing about wedding etiquette is that it makes it very easy to find information about every detail of a wedding, from the very largest to the very smallest detail. No matter what, the odds are good that you’ll find that wedding etiquette has an opinion on the matter.

Not sure you should believe us? Well, let’s take a closer look at some examples. Maybe you didn’t realize it but there’s etiquette regarding the wedding and the engagement ring. Etiquette says that the wedding band must not be put above the engagement ring. The wedding band is worn at the base of the finger with the engagement ring (if any) immediately following, as if to stand guard. On her wedding day a bride either leaves her engagement ring at home when she goes to the church or she wears it on her right hand. She should switch it back to her left hand following the ceremony.

Another good example of etiquette taking care of every last detail is a bride’s escort. The reason the bride is on her father’s right arm is that a gentleman’s right arm is the arm of courtesy. This even extends to the groomsmen or ushers. You know that it is the duty of the ushers to show all guests to their places. An usher offers his right arm to each female guest as she arrives, whether he knows her personally or not.

While some might think wedding etiquette is outdated, the truth is that it’s a helpful guide for many brides today.

There’s a million different wedding gowns out there, and some brides might feel pretty sure that they’ve tried on nearly every one of those million gowns. Today, you could find short gowns, long gowns, big poufy gowns, sleek and slim gowns, lacy gowns, satin gowns, and even gowns with color.

One part of hunting for a wedding gown that you might want to consider is wedding etiquette. For example, some churches look down upon a strapless or sleeveless wedding gown. Also, the time of day that your wedding ceremony takes place in will also matter when you’re considering etiquette. Generally, floor length gowns are reserved for indoor and evening weddings. Knee length gowns are typically found at informal or outdoor ceremonies.

Perhaps you’re wondering if you absolutely must select a white bridal gown. Wedding etiquette actually isn’t as firm on white wedding gowns as you would think; the truth is that white wedding gowns have only become standard less than a century ago. Prior to World War II, white gowns weren’t the high priority for brides. Instead, brides were practical and chose special occasion gowns that they could wear again.

Remember, when you are ready to go shopping for your wedding gown, many times the gown of your choice will need to be ordered, which can generally take several months to arrive. Beginning your search early in your wedding planning might seem like you’re getting a little ahead of yourself, but brides have enough to worry about without wondering if their wedding gown will arrive on-time.

Many of my married friends have a habit of reading the wedding and engagement announcements in the newspaper. It’s so nice to look at the couples’ photos and read about them and how happily they are anticipating their future together. Some days there’s not a lot of happy things in the newspaper; it’s such days that the happy wedding and engagement announcements are extra appreciated, I suspect!

For those of you planning your wedding and looking forward to seeing your own engagement or wedding announcement in the newspaper, you may be unsure of either the process or wedding etiquette of the announcements. First off, contact your local newspaper to find out their guidelines for submitting announcements for publication; no matter how large or small the newspaper, they almost certainly have someone on staff whose job it is to help the new brides get their announcement printed. Some newspapers will print your announcement and photo for free, while others will ask for a fee depending upon the length of the announcement itself and possibly the size of the photo. Some newspapers have a strict policy of not printing announcements until after the wedding has taken place. It is because of this wide variety of policies among newspapers that the best place to begin is to call the newspaper to talk to the person in charge of announcements.

No matter where you stand on wedding etiquette, whether you write your own announcement, fill in a form with the pertinent facts (names, wedding date and location, etc.), or something in between, be sure to buy extra copies of the newspaper the day your announcement is printed. It’s nice to have a clipping of the announcement as a keepsake.