Wedding etiquette is essential when it comes to letting the world know about your new upcoming marriage and the invitations that you send to your guests.  Getting this right really does set the stage for what your guests will think and feel about you for the next months.

Your Wedding Invitation should include the following:

• The name of who is sponsoring the wedding.
• The names of those getting married.  The bride’s surname may be left out but the groom’s should be included.  If you use Miss at the beginning of her name, her surname should also be included.
• The date of the wedding, include the day of the week with the date.  It is proper to do this several ways including, “Saturday, the tenth day of June,” or “Saturday, June tenth,” as you see fit.  The year can be eliminated or included.
• There should not be any abbreviations used in the invitation, excluding Mr. and Mrs. Do not abbreviate drive, street, or the state.
• No punctuation is used at the ends of sentences.  You should use a comma to separate the city and state.
• After the date is listed, the next line should include the time of the event.  This too should be spelled out.  Do not use am or pm, but if the timing is not obvious, then you can add in “in the morning” for a sunrise wedding or “in the evening” for a sunset wedding.
• This should be followed by the location of the wedding.  List the name of the location, Grace Church.  On the following line is the church’s address. You do not always have to include the address, especially if it is a church.  You should include it if the wedding is being held at someone’s home, though.  People can easily find this information on maps included with the invitation or by a simple internet search.

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A Wedding Shower generally entails the following:

• A greeting by the maid of honor, host and the mother of the bride.
• A wedding shower should include a meal of some sort.  It can be as simple as a buffet or cold cuts or as complex as a formal dinner.
• The shower should provide comfortable tables for the guests to relax on.  Assigned seating is generally not necessary in an informal wedding shower but can be used in a formal.
• The shower should provide for refreshments including a cake or other deserts.
• Most of the time there is some form of music, but generally it is not live entertainment.
• The opening of the presents is generally held after a meal is provided to the guests.
• The bride and the groom should walk around and talk to everyone, thanking them for coming and chatting with guests.
• The wedding party should be thanked by the bride and the groom before or after dinner is served.
• Afternoon wedding showers are the most popular, although they can be held at any time of the day.  Weekends are the most common.

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The bride and the groom may be the stars of the big day, but the wedding cake definitely deserves a nod for it’s time honored, supporting role.

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In ancient Rome, guests broke a wheat bun over the bride’s head to bring good luck and fertility. Fortunately, the buns sweetened up, and in the 17th century, a creative French baker stacked and frosted them! The very first tiered wedding cake was born.

Cake Bake Off

White cakes, butter cream frostings, columns and dazzling sugar flowers are wedding cake classics, but feel free to break away from tradition. If you prefer a trendy design, try a colorful southern red velvet cake, a mango creation that boasts Caribbean flair or even an Asian inspired creation with red frosting.

As colors go bolder, style and form are also changing. Askew cakes, whose tiers are placed off center, are gaining popularity. Even wilder, Krispy Kreme, a popular donut chain, has seen a number of requests for multi-tiered cakes made entirely of the donuts - one for each guest. Krispy Kreme Executive Chef, Ron Rupocinski, has created several templates so brides can choose the look that best fits their reception.

Beyond The Taste Buds

So what’s on top? Joining the ranks of the plastic couple, new toppers are simple and design oriented: a slim, petite vase with a single rosebud, a layer of flower petals, a plain tiny top tier. Family is in, and
some couples are choosing a portrait of themselves, a sentimental keepsake like a key chain, or their initials that can be sculpted into shapes.

Cake presentation is also an important aspect at the reception. What’s surrounding your cake is just as visible as the cake itself – especially in photos - so plan ahead! Possible cake surroundings include a nature inspired display of twigs spread on the table, baby photos of the bride and groom or a handmade tablecloth from Grandma.

Cake Mistakes

Cakes are a beautiful addition to your wedding, but sometimes they can go terribly wrong. Here are several “do not’s” to keep in mind:

• Do not frost with butter cream at a summer wedding unless you want sticky hands (the icing melts extremely quick).
• Do not put your cake in front of a bathroom or distracting wall ornament. It deserves center stage.
• Do not Forget to cut it with a knife suited to the cake’s composition of texture.
• Do not forget to talk with your florist about safe, edible blooms if you intend to have your wedding cake decorated with fresh flowers.
• Do not let the photographer take distant photographs of your cake. It’s an important part of your ceremony, so get up close to capture the details!

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This is the savings trend of all savings trends!  Get married over Thanksgiving Dinner.  Or, Christmas.   The Fourth of July even!  More and more couples are opting this as a way to kill two birds with one stone.   You don’t have to worry about paying for a reception hall if you don’t want to.  You don’t have to worry about paying for extra food if you don’t want to!  I believe this is the ULTIMATE wedding savings trend.

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A budget may be the first thing a wedding coordinator will want to go over with you.  But, a wedding theme is the second.  You don’t have to have one, however a wedding theme can give you some direction with your planning.  For instance, I recently attended a theme wedding where the couple played out Cinderella complete with glass slipper and horse drawn buggy.  None of the bridesmaids could fit the glass slipper.  It was really cute.  Take a look at these themes and let me know what you think!

Rose Riches

As it’s name suggests, roses, roses and more roses make up the theme to this wedding.  The idea is to buy as many as you can afford, then fill in the gaps with lots of greenery.  I’ve known people to beg, borrow and steal from relatives to get the potted plants out of homes and backyards.  You’ll save a lot of money that way.  You can also use ribbons in the color scheme that you’re using to tie around the plants.  You can even add silk plants in with the live ones to add a dramatic effect.  You can add wrought iron benches to create the garden affect as well.

In The Park

This theme is as its name suggests.  You can pick a park to get married in and ship in more and flowers as needed.  I’ve known couples that added everything from candle towers to portable streetlights at night to create the desired affect.

Hearts Mixed With Flowers

You’ll want to use lots of hearts all over the place with this theme.  You can buy many different kinds of heart shaped items in your local party store. If you’re really looking to save money, you can make your own.  I know a couple that made hearts out of construction materials like poster boards.  My favorite hearts shaped items are thrown on tables for decoration.  The pink, red, gold and silver like hearts are about the size of a flat pea.  You throw them on the table and they sparkle.

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