The traditional church weddings and formal receptions are not that attractive to many of today’s brides. Weddings are taking place in hot air balloons, on beaches, in airplanes and in fast food parking lots, to name a few currently popular non-traditional sites.

An emerging trend, highly creative wedding receptions, is a total flight from tradition and will make memories for your wedding guests that they won’t easily forget. You and your new spouse can add touches to your wedding reception that highlight your whimsical side, major interests or elements of your personalities.

Some couples have hosted two receptions, brunch for the family following their ceremony, with some of the traditional aspects their mothers wanted and the relatives were comfortable with.

Later that evening, they host a less formal reception for their friends. This reception could be an old-fashioned ice cream social or a barbecue on the beach, with youthful music and a party atmosphere. The bride’s wedding dress and the groom’s tux are abandoned for casual attire. Friends truly happy for the new couple, a relaxed, unfussy atmosphere, a tub of iced cool ones, chicken on the barbecue and dancing barefoot on the beach in the moonlight, would definitely make memories of your special wedding.

Even if you want a reception with familiar trappings, you can still jazz it up with some creative presentations.

If your reception hall is not huge, inflate balloons, with a small, light favor inside them. This favor could be a small token, like a map to the real favors hidden in the hall or a small snapshot of you and your new spouse. It does not have to be elaborate. The appreciation would be in the presentation.

Tie them off with a ribbon long enough to reach without ladders and have a guest’s name hanging from each ribbon, including the children at the reception. Let them hang from the ceiling around the walls, so as not to interfere with the meal or buffet you will be serving. This decoration would not only be colorful, but it would give your reception an intimate, closer feeling. At some point, have the guests find their name and get their wedding favor.

The way you present your food can add dramatic accents to plain food. Buffet tables are perfect for creative presentations. Tiered plates of strawberries dipped in chocolate are always an attraction at buffet tables. Consider dipping the strawberries in the hot chocolate mixture and letting them set up on a chocolate spoon. The dramatic effect could be enhanced by dipping the berries in white chocolate and then placing them on chocolate spoons. Other fruits can be strung on a bamboo skewer, dipped in chocolate and presented in silver goblets.

Martini glasses with their stems wrapped with pretty ribbons can be used to present almost any vegetable, fruit or candy. Instead of sit-down dinners of chicken or meat, served by caterers, consider bamboo skewers loaded with anything you can combine that doesn’t need to be kept warm in a sauce.

Try ice-cold shrimp, lightly brushed with a shrimp marinade and strung on a skewer. Separate the shrimp with red or black grapes. Creative salads can be put on a skewer and marinated with an elegant dressing before placing on the buffet table. Load salad skewers with cherry or grape tomatoes, chunks of red, green and yellow Bell peppers, whole, pitted olives, cocktail onions or slices of red onions, other veggies of your choice.

If your guest list is smaller, consider a river cruise with dinner, dancing and maybe a turn at the gambling tables, if they have them. Your wedding favors could be small bags of chips for your guests to try their luck at the tables.

You could schedule a hay ride by moonlight, with a surprise barbecue or candle-lit buffet tables arranged around a fire pit at the end of the ride. Be creative.

Instead of an organized wedding reception, you might try having a mystery party, like Clue. Some cities have Victorian houses you can rent for parties and events. Let your guests have some fun discovering “Who Dunnit.” Have a special prize for the one who unravels the mystery and smaller ones (themed favors) for the rest of the participants. In one room have a buffet table and a few bottles of wine.

There’s no reason to follow the old traditions with your reception if you don’t want to. Make it fun and memorable in your own way.

Technorati Tags: church weddings, creative wedding receptions, ceremony, formal reception, couples, reception hall

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You’ve dreamed of the perfect wedding reception for years. You know exactly what you want and you’ve envisioned all the details from what the cake looks like to what the guests are wearing. But how do you make sure the guests wear the attire you’d like them to wear? Well, you could ask them.

Invitations often have a line added that mentions attire, such as “formal attire” or “casual attire”, and wedding invitations are no exception. What follows is a list of different attire labels and their descriptions.

Casual
This means pretty much anything is acceptable without being trashy or inappropriate for public viewing. This might be your choice if you are having an informal backyard barbeque reception.

Dressy Casual
When you want them to dress nicer than they would dress for “everyday”, dressy casual means slacks, button-down shirt and perhaps a blazer for the men, and dressy pants and a nice blouse for the women.

Semi-formal
This attire is definitely more dressy than casual or dressy casual. The men should wear suits and ties whereas the women should wear short dresses.

Informal
Same as semi-formal.

Casual Evening
Really the same as dressy casual except they might wear darker “night time” colors. A nice shirt and slacks on the guys and dressy pants and a pretty blouse for the gals.

Black Tie
Using this label means you want your guests to come formally attired in tuxes and long gowns or very dressy cocktail dresses with elegant bling.

Formal
Same as black tie attire.

Black Tie Optional
This means tuxes or dark suits with ties for the men, and long dress, cocktail dress, or dressy pantsuit for the women. If they don’t wear tuxes and long dresses, they should still be very dressed up.

Cocktail
Cocktail attire calls for short dresses and heels for the ladies and dark suits for the gentlemen.

Festive
This attire comes in to play at times such as Christmas. Females get to wear extra theme-appropriate bling or sparkly blouses or sweaters, and males might add a Santa tie to their suit.

Redneck
Time for people to pull out their cutoffs, tank tops, and flip flops and slap on a couple temporary tattoos!

In case you were wondering, putting the preferred attire on the invitation is not pushy; many people are relieved to know how you would like them to dress. If you decide not to put it on the invitation, people will generally look at the time of day and the wedding reception location for clues.

If it’s an afternoon wedding guys will probably wear sports coats and casual slacks while women wear dresses ranging from informal sun dresses to cocktail dresses.

If it’s an evening wedding expect to see more dark suits on the men and cocktail dresses on the ladies.

Keep in mind that even if you put your desired attire on the invitation it does not guarantee everyone will follow it. Remember that you are merely giving a suggestion and even though there are those who will wear what they want, your wedding and reception will still be the magical event you dreamed of.

Technorati Tags: wedding reception, what to where, attire, dresses, pants, suits, outfits, wedding, reception

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Weddings are a time of happiness and love, a time to rejoice and be surrounded by friends and family you hold dear. Giving each guest a unique candle wedding favor will surely immortalize your special day forever, and allow attendees to take a home a useful, heartfelt memento of this very special occasion. Shopping for the perfect favors may feel impossible to you, but there are a variety of different candles you can choose to present your guests with on your wedding day, and various resources to help you do just that.

When you plan a wedding, you also plan on the occasion being memorable, an event your guests will be hard pressed to forget. What better way to do that than with sincere favors? There are a multitude of different candles you can present your guests, and a variety of websites and specialty shops catering specifically to wedding favors. For a cute, fun little favor, you can consider miniature candles shaped like a wedding cake. These are cute, definitely wedding oriented, and will work with almost any theme. If you would like, you may also want to consider tea light sets. In a variety of colors and designs, these candles will suit almost any celebration. What is more, they are fairly cheap! Definitely a plus for a wedding on a budget.

Let us say you are having a theme wedding, and it is taking place on the beach. Obviously, you will want a candle favor that will take your guests back to that special day. How about miniature candles shaped like flip flops? If it’s a casual beach occasion, these will most certainly do the trick. If it is a more formal beach event, beautiful glass sailboat tea light holders may be just the ticket. They are classy, and they will definitely serve as a beautiful reminder for your guests. This illustrates how easy it can be to find favors that suit your unique wedding theme, for both formal and casual affairs.

You want your wedding to be as special as possible, every detail taken care of and everyone kept happy. The favors you choose for your guests will forever memorialize your special day, so you want them to be a reflection of your heartfelt gratitude for your guest’s presence. Now, your wedding guests will have something to look back on to remember a time of joy, and a time of love, forever captured in these favors.

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The most important day in your life is your wedding, and there is no doubt that you would want this day to be a grand success. Making a proper and effective wedding planning should be your top priority if you want your wedding to be remembered by all your relatives and friends for a long time to come. However, the development of the wedding planning needs to be done systematically and thoroughly so that the various steps are accomplished in an orderly fashion without any stress.

Start Early And Make A Checklist

You should start early with your wedding planning and make a proper checklist of all that needs to be done. This checklist should also be accompanied by a budget plan that matches the various expenses needed to fulfill the various activities of the checklist. Preparing the checklist should be done with proper thought and with plenty of time. Whereas you might have all the bright ideas for the checklist, it would be a good idea to consult your parents who can offer valuable suggestions based on their experience.

Decide On The Venue

The other important things that need to be included in the wedding planning are the venues of the marriage and the reception. The venue for the wedding would depend on whether you want to have a church wedding or a civic wedding. There are many people who like to have their wedding in unconventional and non-traditional places such as a ship or in the mountains or even aboard a plane. However, if you want to have your wedding in a unique place, you will have to start very early with the wedding planning.

Reception Arrangements

The arrangements for the reception also need to be included in the wedding planning as you might like to hire a singer or a musical group for providing live entertainment for the guests. Moreover, the other aspects that need to be decided well in advance are the food, the wedding cake, the flowers, and the decorations. Besides these, you would also have to organize the various clothing items such as morning suits for the men, hats for the ladies, the wedding dress for the bride, and the dresses for the bridesmaids.

Finalize List Of Invitees

Perhaps the most important aspect of the wedding planning is finalizing the list of the invitees. The activities connected with this aspect are: finalization of the wedding invitation cards, sending out the same to the various people, and making out a seating plan in such a way that there is minimum resentment among the guests.

Other Miscellaneous Arrangements

The wedding planning should not overlook many other small arrangements that have to be made. These include appointments at the hair salons for the bride and the bridesmaids, the rehearsal dinner, gifts for the bridesmaids, distribution of gift lists by the couple, center pieces for the various tables, and plenty of confetti.

A proper wedding planning can go a long way toward ensuring the success of your wedding functions.

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