15 Easiest Wedding Reception Table Decor Ideas Ever!

By Krista Dunk

Are you looking for some really easy, simple to set up wedding reception table decoration ideas? You've come to the right place. Everyone wants their reception tables to look great and match their overall wedding theme. But, your tablescapes don't need to give you a headache or break the bank. You are going to be quite busy the day of your wedding, so you need quick, easy centerpieces! Many of our ideas are quite affordable, as well as no fuss!
1. Seasonal fruit in decorative bowls or baskets. Did you know that you can spray paint inexpensive bowls to match your color scheme if necessary? Go "green" - Give guests beautiful centerpieces, and snacks at the same time! Beautiful color, and no waste.
2. Tulle fabric table runner with floral items or arrangements. This combination can be as simple or as elaborate as you'd like, and will easily adapt to any color scheme. Use your bridal party bouquets as some of the floral accents - especially at the bride & groom's 'head table'.
3. Pre-made floral arrangements. Probably the most simple, yet beautiful way to spruce up any table. Short or very tall are best for conversation. Be cautious of tipping with very tall, slender floral arrangements on small tables & outdoors.
4. Shells, candles & sand. Gorgeous possibilities await with this summer wedding centerpiece idea. Do a practice layout before the wedding day and take a picture of it when you get it just right (so your helpers know how you want the elements arranged). Have a shoe-box sized plastic bin available for quick clean up of the sand after the reception.
5. Fabric napkins, stemware & votives. Don't underestimate the simple, crisp beauty of glass and candlelight! Beautiful, inexpensive & eco-friendly!
6. Petals and tea light candles. Arrange them into swirling shapes or randomly spread them out for a soft, easy look. Use buds or whole flowers too (just the heads) if you like! Make a heart shape with the tea lights on round tables.
7. Stemware, petals & wine bottles or sparkling cider. Set up in the middle of round tables or in clusters at rectangular tables, this combination would be both practical and lovely. Go "green". Could be set up on a colored cloth.
8. Fresh cut greenery, candy canes & candles. So easy, fragrant and fun for holiday weddings! Use white Christmas light strings if your venue doesn't allow candles to be lit.
9. Pre-made wreaths (lay flat) and candle. Not just for the holidays, wreaths can be created to match any theme and color scheme. Simply lay them out! Works especially well for round tables. Wreathes also make nice gifts afterwards for the bridal party or for other helpers as well.
10. River rocks. Go "green" - Consider using polished, river rocks as decor. As soon as your event is done, bring them back to nature... Use a large size and have guests write inspirational words on them as keepsakes for you!
11. River rocks, bowls & floating flowers. Easy to assemble and has a very natural look. Can easily match any color scheme. Eco-friendly centerpiece!
12. Mirror, confetti and candle(s). Adding petals also would soften this look. Very easy to set up and adds lots of shimmery color and light to your tables.
13. Balloon bunches. Lots of bang for your buck! You'll need something heavy to anchor them down, although you can purchase them with plastic heart-shaped 'anchors' on each balloon. Make sure strings are kept long to foster conversation at tables.
14. Candelabras with ivy. Classic and so simple to set up. Ivy could be fresh cut or silk. Candles can match your color scheme. Candelabras can be rented!
15. Fresh cut flowers in vases. Use seasonal flowers from your yard, a friend's yard, florist, or grocery store. SO simple to set up and clean up. Give the flowers to your guests as they leave the reception so they can be put to good use afterward. Ask your venue, florist or caterer if they have vases.
Krista Dunk, Founder & CEOhttp://www.nwweddingplace.com/"Helping Pacific Northwest Couples Plan Their Dream Weddings & Successful Marriages™"Olympia, WARead our Blog at: http://www.nwweddingplace.blogspot.com/Copyright 2008

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Personalized Wedding Favor - Special Wedding Guest's Gifts

By Janet Verra

Another great and unique option of thanking your wedding guests is by giving them personalized wedding favors. Also, many couples agree to give such favors to extend their heart-felt gratitude for the support and effort rendered by their wedding participants, including their families, friends and colleagues. Gifts for wedding attendees are known as wedding favors. Personalized favors in particular, are most popular souvenir selections made by brides and grooms to show how thankful they are to have their circle of friends share their precious time with them on their big day. However, searching for personalized favors for your wedding is quite challenging. Though there are a plethora of personalized items widely available, the real challenge is how to find the ideal favor to fit into your wedding.
Consider your wedding theme, your theme can help and guide you in choosing different wedding essentials, primarily, your wedding favors. According to your wedding theme, your should opt for items that have coordinated style, design and colors to the environment of your celebration. Example, if you have a beach wedding theme, choose souvenirs that you usually see during summer outings at the beach, like shells, sand, stones, rubber slippers and the like. Also, the color schemes you want to incorporate are those pastel shades. Think of these ideas or have some research about different wedding themes, in that way, you can have helpful information on what favors to buy.
Most elegant-theme weddings choose metallic souvenirs like gold, silver, platinum and more. Some of these items include crystals and gemstones to add more elegance. They can be turned into personalized keepsakes also by engraving scripts such as names, messages and more. If you have enough budget for these souvenirs, grab this idea for they can really make a great difference on the overall appeal of your wedding. Plus, give it away and allow your guests to remember your one of a kind wedding celebration with elegance!
Some inexpensive favor choices can make a practical option. Think of functional and useful items that are ideal for everyone's use. Such items are pens, mugs, pocket knives, place card holders and picture frames. These items may turn into personalized wedding favors by means of engraving. Personalized pens in particular, can make very useful souvenirs to all your guests. Pens are used by majority, therefore you've done a smart pick if you have pens as favors for your wedding. There are different cool options for personalized pens, you may find themed pens for different occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, valentines. Different scriptures on pens are also available, from religious to funny messages to fit everyone's personality.
Personalized pens may also be presented during pre-wedding parties, consider them as your bridal shower favors. Actually, not just personalized pens can make a great wedding souvenir option for you, opt for something else, other personalized favors could give a unique touch and likely appreciated by your attendees. Feel free to choose, save enough time to shop around and make comparisons. The important thing is, you've experienced a fun time roaming around while looking for personalized gifts for your supportive guests!
Janet is an author for a variety of lifestyle issues and topics including weddings. If you're looking for personalized pens, visit the website Americanbridal.com and browse their collection. Find unique wedding favors to make your wedding extra special!

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Ten Things to Consider Before Booking a Beach Wedding

By Clive West

A beach wedding is often seen as the most romantic way of getting married but, before you take the plunge and commit to making those vows in some faraway place, think about some of the consequences. Here are ten things to ponder upon when considering a beach wedding.
Unless you are planning a very private and small wedding, your guests will also have to travel to your chosen destination for your beach wedding. Many people will find this difficult from a point of view of finding the time and also because it is likely to work out very expensive for them - especially if they just stay a day or two.
On the same theme, some guests - eg disabled or elderly may not be able to travel for a beach wedding and children may be too young for a long flight or have school commitments. Children may also not be welcome if the resort is purpose-made for couples.
No matter how you time the beach wedding or where you locate it, there are going to be many guests who just cannot make it and, even if they did, the hotel will probably not be able to accommodate them.
With a 'local' wedding, the bride and groom will have a chance to meet the main service providers - eg caterer, musicians, photographer, priest (or registrar) and so on. With a beach wedding, these people will be assigned by the hotel or travel company and their standards or style may not meet the couple's expectations. Enjoy it now, pay later
Because the beach wedding is going to be so far away, there will be no opportunity for 'dry-runs'. Everything will literally be live and unrehearsed - this will make for a much more tense ceremony than if it had been possible to rehearse it all beforehand.
With the hotel or travel company assigning all of the services and facilities for your beach wedding, there is considerable opportunity for many additional fringe charges to creep in. The couple will be a captive audience - there are no alternatives and, on the day itself, it is going to be easier to agree and worry about the cost later than to appear to be mean in front of the guests while you argue about what is and isn't included.
Although the beach wedding ceremony and reception should be an enjoyable event, one of the great pleasures of the day is the escape. Getting into that car and driving off; exhausted, relieved its over, slightly the worse for wear and looking forward to your new life together. With a beach wedding, you are already on honeymoon and there is nowhere else to go. Next morning, you will meet your hungover guests and family members over breakfast and, later, over dinner.
Even if you have the reception before going off for your beach wedding, you can be sure that the hotel will have made it public knowledge that you are newly-weds. Nods, smiles, knowing winks and pointed questions will mean you are 'on show' for the duration of your honeymoon.
Many beach wedding resorts don't just offer beach weddings, they specialise in them. As a result, the services may be rushed and the performers appear jaded.
With more weddings every day, your own beach wedding may lose some of its magic as the resort begins to look grubby and the ceremony appear to be more of a production line than the special occasion it should be. Many couples do have a lovely and highly memorable ceremony and honeymoon - there is no reason why you can't have that too. Just bear in mind these points when planning your beach wedding.
Clive West has been married to his wife, Damaris, for 18 years. They are retired now and live in Central Italy where they are modernising a rebuilt Umbrian farmhouse. You can see more about living in Italy or other free helpful guides on their websites.

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Sweet Old-Fashioned Wedding Customs

By Bridget Mora

One of the most charming things about weddings is their link to the past. There are many wedding customs that may seem old-fashioned to modern brides, but that doesn't mean that they are not worth including in your wedding. Take a look at some of these sweet old-fashioned wedding customs, and see if they might be right for you.
There are several traditions involving the bride and groom before the wedding. One was that they should not see each other the night before the wedding, and the other is that the groom should not see the bride in her gown before the wedding. Many couples today do not bother with these customs, perhaps finding them to be inconvenient when the couple already lives together before the wedding. Before you decide not to bother with these traditions, keep in mind the old saying that absence makes the heart grow fonder. Besides, the last night before her wedding is a very sweet time to have your best friend stay with you and help you get ready to be married the next day.
Another custom that many brides do not bother with is the blusher veil. In fact, many brides do not wear any veil at all. You might be surprised, however, at how many grooms picture their bride walking down the aisle towards them with her face covered by a veil. The veil is the part of the ensemble that takes you from a woman in a white dress with lovely handmade wedding jewelry to being a real bride. In some religions, the veil is required, but even when it is not, it can be a lovely part of your wedding.
A very cute wedding custom is having charms baked into the cake. Each little charm represents something happy for the guest who finds it. For example, a horseshoe stands for good luck. A tiny wedding band means that the person who finds it will soon be married. It is a charming homespun tradition that would be wonderful to include in a wedding or a bridal shower. Just be certain to alert your guests so that they do not swallow the charms!
In these days of over the top weddings, few brides consider having more simple weddings. The custom used to be that the bride wore her very best dress (in any color), maybe with a special piece of wedding jewelry that was handcrafted for her mother's wedding, and got married in front of close friends and family. Now, few brides today are looking for such a low-key affair, but it is something to keep in mind as anecdote to the extravagant weddings that we see everyday on tv and in the magazines. A reasonably sized wedding can be just as meaningful as the one with the elephants and fireworks.
Oftentimes, the most special customs of all will come from within our own families. If you are not aware of any particular wedding customs in your own family, talk to your mother and grandmothers about their weddings. It may be that you could carry the same flowers in your bouquet as your grandmother or dance to the same first song as your mother and father did thirty years before you. It is these types of traditions that will make your wedding especially personal.
Many brides become so consumed with having the latest and greatest at their weddings that they make forget about some of the customs from an earlier time. Although they might be old-fashioned, some of those wedding traditions can be very sweet. You may want to include some of the older customs in your own wedding.
Let us know if you need assistance in any area of planning your wedding.Take advantage of Bridget's experience helping clients select jewelry and accessories. Handmade wedding jewelry makes a wonderful family heirloom.

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Ideas For Giving Unusual Wedding Gifts

By Donna Ennis

So you want to get some about-to-be-married friends or family members a nice wedding gift, but you're bored with the usual sort of linens, crystal, china, or kitchen gadgets. A lot of couples nowadays are not really interested in such things, anyway. So what's the secret to giving really great, even unusual wedding gifts? Read on for some clues in the ideas below:
* Artwork - if you know the couple well enough to know their tastes in art or décor, a nice piece of framed art that suits their tastes would likely be much appreciated. (Since taste in art can be highly subjective, however, please do the couple a favor and include a gift receipt just in case you were a little off in what you thought they might like.)
* Furniture - if the soon-to-be newlyweds are young and just leaving home or getting out of school, chances are they have very little furniture. Just like more traditional wedding gifts, furniture comes in a range of prices, so you need not buy the couple a leather sectional couch if your gift budget tends more towards a coffee table. If their taste tends more towards the quirky, you may want to offer to take them on a shopping spree through local second hand stores to help them find something unusual or offbeat.
* Entertainment - many couples these days are paying many if not all of the expenses for their wedding, so their post-wedding entertainment budget may be stretched pretty thin. Give them a break from watching rented DVDs - buy them tickets to see a favorite performer live in concert or to see their favorite athletic team.
* Alternative to Cash - Stocks and bonds make a nice alternative to cash and offer you, the gift giver, a way to personalize your gift by buying shares of stock which interest the couple.
There are, in fact, a lot of unusual wedding gifts you can give that can provide a welcome relief from the mundane. One note of caution, though - be sure the couple will be happy with something unusual! Straying from the safe, pre-approved confines of a department store wedding registry can be risky for the gift giver. Remember that a great gift is a reflection of both the giver and the receiver. While you may not want to "spoil the surprise" you may be doing yourself and the couple a favor by approaching them before the wedding and bouncing ideas off them for what you would like to give. And that's the secret for giving a really great wedding gift (and what is perhaps the greatest gift of all) - thoughtfulness.

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How to Sell Your Wedding Dress

By Ray Blake

For most people, wearing your wedding dress is a one time thing. After that, it just sits in storage and occasionally you may pull it out to reminisce, but for the most part it will just sit collecting dust and taking up space. Well the great news is that you can sell your wedding dress and enjoy several benefits at the same time.
The first benefit is obvious, you get some extra money that could be used for many different things, after all, we can all use extra money. Then you are freeing up space for other items such as clothing or things you may need to store. Third, you are helping someone else at the same time, who may need a wedding dress but cannot afford a new one.
So, how can you get started selling your wedding dress? The good news is that it is really very easy. Just follow these steps outlined within this article and you will have your wedding dress sold in no time at all.
The first thing you want to do is make sure you take it to the dry cleaners. You want to make sure you get it there as soon as you possibly can. If there are any spills or stains, make sure you tell the dry cleaner so that they can be sure to focus on those stained areas.
Now, you also want to make sure that everything on the dress in intact. This means you want to be sure that all buttons, beads, and trimming are in place. Depending on how you decide to sell it, you want to make sure that your wedding dress is in perfect condition or as close to it as possible. This will help sell your dress easier and faster.
Now you will need to decide how you want to sell your wedding dress. Do you want to put it up online to sell, do you want to use a consignment store, or do you want to place an ad in your local newspaper? This is important for several reasons. You want to research and discover the most appropriate means of selling for you. You also have to consider costs and percentages if you decide to use a consignment shop or some other method where someone else is doing the selling for you.
You do have several choices when it comes to selling online. However, you want to make sure that you make the advertisement appealing, but truthful. If there is a stain, say there is a stain, if there is a slight tear, say so. If you choose this route, make sure you take full length pictures of the gown. You should also take close ups of different details and features to highlight those in more detail. Color photos are always best; make sure that all photographs are clean, crisp, and very clear.
By making sure you follow these steps, you will be insuring that you have the best possible chance of selling your wedding dress and getting the price you are asking for. Make sure that you research all of your options before settling with one, of course, there is nothing wrong with covering your basis and going with several options at the same time, it just increases your chances of getting your wedding dress sold.
Ray Blake is CEO of http://www.sellyourweddingdress.com/, the premier place to buy and sell used wedding dresses. For a complete line of wedding products, please visit http://www.sellyourweddingdress.com/

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Wedding Reception Flower Arrangements

By Karen Lincoln

Wedding reception flower arrangements are creative extensions of your theme and color palette. While the flower arrangements can provide a focal point for your reception or be a simple statement, they are a great opportunity to be creative and original. Gathering some ideas about the style, types of flowers and design can be helpful to consider prior to heading to your floral designer.
What Flower Arrangements
During the planning stages of your floral design, there are several additional arrangements that should be considered. Along with your floral designer, you should consider creating a floral arrangement for the cake table, head table, guest sign in table, seating arrangement card table and potentially the gift table as well as table centerpieces. The design of the reception location may also warrant additional arrangements, such as the entry to the reception area, around the dance floor or along a buffet table.
Flower arrangements originally created for the wedding service can potentially be re-used for the reception. However, you will want to verify ahead of time the expectations of your wedding service locations. Many churches anticipate that the flowers will remain for weekend services so be sure to check ahead of time.
Creative Reception Flower Arrangements
The focus of the floral design for a wedding traditionally revolves around bouquets, boutonnieres and flowers for the wedding site. Wedding reception flower arrangements are a great opportunity to add a personal and customized touch to your reception site by choosing a design that reflects a wedding theme or the personalities of the pride and groom. Wedding reception flower arrangements can set the tone of a reception, adding anything from a romantic ambiance to playful whimsy.
Wedding reception flower arrangements do not necessarily have to be composed of strictly flowers. Floral designers typically have colorful accents for your arrangements such as artificial fruit coated with shimmering glitter or decorative ornaments that coordinate with your color palette. Candles are another option for your flower arrangements.
The use of baskets, vases, bowls and decorative containers are all additional required selections during the floral design process of wedding planning. Floral designers also typically have a wide range of stands and structural components to create wedding reception flower arrangements. It will be important to consider whether you want an arrangement that is raised off the table to allow guests to easily see and speak with each other, one that is low to the table or one that is entirely artistic as well as large enough to be a focal point for the room.
Using Artificial or Real Flowers
These days it is often difficult to tell whether a flower is silk or natural. For brides interested in creating the majority of their arrangements, artificial flowers provide the opportunity to create wedding reception flower arrangements ahead of time. While a very efficient and crafty bride may be able to pull off creating the arrangements with live flowers prior to the event date, it would be far more difficult and consuming during a time that should be spent celebrating.
Wedding reception flower arrangements provide a great opportunity to show some creativity and personality. The ability to set the tone for a reception with unique and beautiful arrangements should not be overlooked during the planning process. Designing unique flower arrangements will create a memorable evening for you as well as your guests.
My name is Karen and I love to help brides-to-be plan for a wedding, check out my site for more ideas for wedding reception.

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