Wedding Planning Blog by I Do! Wedding Favors

After being involved with wedding vendors and consulting and purchasing unique wedding favors for more future brides and grooms than I even care to count, I inevitably get asked the same question again and again; how can I make my wedding different and special?
One quick answer is to make be who you are; personalize it to reflect the bride and groom and who everyone there knows them to be. But how do you do that? Read on.

There are so many aspects to every wedding that to cover personalizing all of them would take tons of pages, so I will discuss them one by one. This first part will cover the area that is so precious to the bride – her wedding gown.

Tradition says that for the first time bride, she can and should wear white. And if fate has it that you get married more than once, don’t you dare wear white. You are then degraded to a faded shade of pale. But do we really have to abide by archaic rules? Not on your life! It’s your party and you don’t have to cry because your favorite color is pink and you’re stuck wearing white!

Today, you will notice in Bridal Shops and Boutiques that there are so many gowns with different colors splashed throughout the dress. And many gowns are even in different colors. You can actually have some gowns made in any color you wish. But if you really like the more traditional, white gown, there are arrays of ideas which will allow you to personalize it and make it your own.

One wedding that I consulted on brought the bridal gown to a whole new level. The bride chose a gown that had rose-like pink and lavender flowers going down the train of the gown as well as a few at her waist in the front. And she had it match her unique wedding favors. She requested I come with her to see the gown to help her personalize the bridal party and the entire wedding. The gown was breathtaking, and it didn’t put a dent in her budget. Immediately I knew what had to be done. I spoke to the bridal boutique owner and seamstress. We then presented the bride with my ideas.

What I knew about a wedding, I told the bride; that it has to look like one theme throughout the day and in that, there is great elegance and individual personality. Even if you are having an October wedding, you can match your unique wedding favors to the accents on your dress. I then showed the bride a very simple lavender bridesmaid’s gown, the same style and cut as her own. What I knew would be very beautiful, is if the bridal shop ordered extra pink and lavender flowers (the same as on the bride’s gown) and the seamstress sewed them running down the back train and on the waist, matching the bride. Also, the flower girl would be wearing an identical dress as the bride (a good seamstress can do this for nearly the same money as a normal flower girl dress), with the same flowers again.

The bride was ecstatic and she had a very unique and personalized bridal party. We also continued the theme throughout the wedding; same flowers, same colors, even to the point of putting some on each dinner plate to accent the food. The wedding was a huge success; people talked about it for weeks afterward. And more than that, the bride was thrilled and felt like the wedding truly was a part of her.

You’re engaged. You’ve found your gown. You know where your
reception is. So what’s next? Trust me on this; it’s time to pick
out your wedding invitations and your 99 cents favors! My suggestion is that
you do this VERY early. The reason being is that it is one of the
things that can fly under the radar and you’ll forget about. And it
can’t be forgotten about because then you will have no guests to
celebrate with you!

There are many beautiful wedding invitations to choose from. Some are
very simple. Some are more elaborate. I’ve consulted on weddings that
have spent thousands on wedding invitations and others that have
printed them on their home computer themselves. Depending on the
extravagance of your wedding and your theme, if price is an issue,
looking early is definitely in your best interest. Remember, satin
lined envelopes and those cute little ribbons add hundreds of dollars
to your budget.

Next step, what should the invitation say? There are so many versions
of invites, that it would take me all day to name them. Just remember
that you want it to sound like you and your future spouse and it would
be nice if it matched your edible wedding favors And sometimes you have to stray
from the norm with the sentiment on the invitation. For example, when
there is more than one parent or sets of parents or any other
combination, that has to be worded properly. As a very general rule,
the parents who are paying for the invitations (and usually a good
portion of the wedding) are the ones that should be issuing the
invitation. One way to accomplish both is:

Mr. and Mrs. John Doe
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Ms. Jane Jean Doe
to
Mr. Groom’s Full Name
Son of Mrs. New Husband’s Name (or) Son of Mr. and Mrs. New Husband’s Name
and Mr. Groom’s Father’s Name (or) and Mr. and Mrs. Groom’s Father’s Name

The last line is where you can add whomever you choose. This is nice,
clean and nobody gets offended or left out.

An invitation is a beautiful thing. It’s very personal and should
emulate what the wedding will be like and even the colors and wine wedding favors
that the bride and groom may go with for their special day. Don’t jump
at the first thing you see. Set aside a few hours and browse through
collections on the internet. There are many style to choose from that
will fit any budget. Just do it early. You want to sent them out up
to 10 weeks before the wedding date, especially if there will be out
of town guests.