Family Tips

For a casual fun wedding, brides and grooms usually put on their favorite clothes - those that will show their true selves; they choose a favorite color, style or designer. You may also ask your friends and guests to wear your favorite colors, or choose an unusual wedding cake decorated to show your new home.

Exchange gifts showing how much you love each other. Share foods from your cultures to represent your bond to each other. Give each other roses that symbolize your feelings and love and say “I love you” and promise to do the same in the future. Sign a ceremonial marriage contract and ask your friends to add their names to the list.

Do at least a brief research into your and your spouse’s cultural traditions. Such traditions are often simple but powerful. You may make Japanese good luck origami heron or take a hint from Orthodox and Jewish traditions and pass round the ceremonial table to reinforce your marital bond. For a fun you may even jump the broom to honor the African-American heritage.

The season of your marriage may be emphasized by using blooming flowers from a garden. Your choice of a place for a wedding ceremony can be a symbol of your personalities and the values you share.

Your friends will be happy if you call them. Give some time after they return from their honeymoon journey and then call to tell them how much you enjoyed witnessing their special day.
It is always useful to make some more calls. Writing a note to the bride’s parents is always in good taste, and is that very point of etiquette which is often forgotten. If during the wedding you happen to meet the manager of a company you’d love to work for, call him or drop him a note the week after the wedding and tell him how much you enjoyed meeting him. You may also call that bridesmaid or single woman you met, and ask her out.
The general advice as with anything, a little foresight, a few questions and a lot of common sense will get you through a wedding. This day is very special for your friend and his bride so try to do your best to make it memorable in all the possible good ways. Be provident, attentive, helpful and respectful and you’ll be remembered for a long time as the “best guest.”

When you are asked to say a few words to the wedding couple, give them your best wishes and be sincere. Don’t say funny but not appropriate jokes, for example about divorce lawyers. These videos will be viewed by many people for many years and what seems funny now won’t be in the future.

Some cultures have so called money tree or money dance, so bring some small bills just in case.
Be sure to say thank you before you leave, do not forget about the parents of newly wedded.

Some things which you should avoid during the wedding.

It can become destructive and annoying when guests repeatedly clink their glasses with their forks to get the newly wedded to kiss.
No matter how much champagne there are or how good the shooters taste, never get tight at a wedding. You’ll risk to bring to an end your friendship with the groom.
Do not undress. If you feel hot or uncomfortable, you may take off your jacket and loosen up your tie at the reception, but only if several other men have done so. You may look like a mess with your sleeves fully rolled up and your shirt unbuttoned.
Be reserved and don’t walk around with a pile of food on your plate, or worse, two plates. And it goes without saying, do not to take food home.
Avoid making song requests. The couple usually gives the DJ or band a playlist, so don’t ask to play “this or thatâ€?.
In short, never do anything that will attract attention and remove the focus from the main characters in the play.

Your attire should be appropriate for the occasion. The place indicated in the card will give you an idea how formal the occasion will be. Some may arrange a wedding on a beach and plan a poolside party, so jeans and a shirt might be acceptable. Lighter suits are good for morning and early afternoon ceremonies, and darker colors for later afternoon and evening one.
Keep in mind religious customs that impose the dress code. In any case, it’s better to be overdressed than underdressed.

Arrive on time. To fulfill this claim you should know how to find the place and have additional time for traffic surprises and parking. Don’t be late, but if you are, sit at the back quietly so that you don’t hinder the ceremony.
Don’t go around waiting for the bride’s limo to arrive. You should take your seat 10 to 15 minutes before the ceremony is scheduled to begin.

Knowledge of customs is very important, as each religion and culture has different marriage rituals. You’d better to inquire about the one you’re attending beforehand. At a religious ceremony, follow the directions of the officiant and do the same, as the other guests: stand, sit and kneel.
A marriage ceremony is a grand solemn occasion. So be respectful and try not to cough or talk during the marriage vows.

Introduce yourself to the guests. Say hello to the families of the wedded couple and especially to older relatives: they remember you as “the young well-bred man”. Try to make a good impression and carry a few business cards if someone asks for one.
You shouldn’t make a toast provided you are not specifically asked to in advance. You should avoid jokes. And be sure to say several nice things about the both of the couple.

Many people are hesitating, when it goes about the invitations to the wedding, but some useful advises and practicing wedding etiquette will help you to feel confident.

So, you should respond promptly to the wedding invitations. Return the reply card right away to inform whether or not you are going to attend the ceremony. People organizing the wedding need to know the total number of guests to order the food and do seating arrangements. If you’re invited to the ceremony and the reception, attend both. But if it happens so that for some reason you can not attend one of them, explain that on your reply card. It’s a sign of respect.
Do not bring uninvited guests. Generally if you are married or living with someone, your date’s name will be indicated on the invitation. If there is your name only, don’t bring along your date, or children, if you have them.
If your plans change for some urgent reasons and you are unable to attend the wedding, inform about it at least two weeks in advance. Otherwise, unless there’s a tragedy, you should show up.
Don’t think that you’re already invited and ask for an invitation. Weddings can be an expensive entertainment and the wedding couple may unable to invite everyone, so don’t take it to heart.

Choose wisely gifts for wedding. Don’t buy that one that you want for yourself or that only your friend would like. You should find that one that will be appreciated by both. Think of teaming up with some of your invited for the wedding friends to buy a bigger gift than each of you would buy individually.
Don’t make a gift that can be a challenge at its price. The rule of thumb is to give the equivalent of the cost of your meal, so if you’re brining your date, double the amount. Rather common guft among many cultures is cash or a check.
You may ask in advance if it would be convenient bring your gift to the reception or it is better to send it to the bride before the reception. If you are sending your gift, do not forget to include a card with your full name.
If for some reason you’re unable to attend the ceremony, you must send a gift in any case to honor the occasion.

The main point in creating a romantic honeymoon is to spend time celebrating relationship and a new life together as a married couple, as romance is more for the heart than for the body. But that doesn’t mean that a young couple should put the candles together with all the rest romance away. Here are a few ideas how to increase your merriment.
Intimacy is a key part in creating a romantic mood. While it’s often difficult to start sharing your thoughts, a game or book of questions can help. A good choice for this can be The Book of Questions by Gregory Stock. It contains hundreds of ethics questions, like “What would you do if . . . ?â€?. You may try this variant driving in a car or sitting in the airplane on the way to your honeymoon holiday resort.
You may try one childish game, like writing letters to each other about your dreams for your marriage, exchange the letters, then save them in order to read on your wedding anniversary.
Take photos and make small notes on the backside to keep in mind the most pleasant moments.
And share your love with others. An amusing thing about love is that by giving it away you always get more. Do kindness random acts toward each other and unknown people. It is always pleasant to help someone and such activity for a change will add a magical touch to your honeymoon.

Many children dream of a Wedding Day, special and magical. But the truth is that to fulfill this wish you should plan it as a movie producer and be very patient.
To have fun of this day you should do some planning and organization.
During your wedding day you have a lot to do in a short time, so time is your enemy, not to speak of money involved. If you can develop a good thought-out schedule and stick to it you can do a lot. Do your planning back from the time you and your caterer have decided you should arrive at the wedding party. This is a crucial time point because all of invitees will follow this point. Remember that if you have booked a 6 hour reception that begins at noon and is set to end at 6:00 PM, you can usually suppose that at 6:00 the caterer will begin to clean over the hall for the next 7:30 reception.
If you are even a half hour late getting to the hall, either the meal will begin to get cold, or other activities will be done in a hurry. By the way, if you will be offered a separate room for the Bridal party to spend there some time during the cocktail hour, let your bridesmaids use it, but you’d better spend your time with the guests.

Many couples would like to plan their own wedding but are afraid of the stress situations. Planning own wedding can be less stressful and you really can have fun during the process itself. There are some main factors that will significantly help you to reduce the tension. To enjoy you should have the right attitude, start your planning as early as possible, work on available budget and share your tasks with others.
The right attitude is necessary first of all. You should remember that wedding is a very happy occasion and its planning should not be boring for you. Wedding planning will allow you to try on beautiful clothes and accessories, visit beautiful places, and taste delicious foods or cakes.
Start your preparations by gathering ideas and attending local bridal shows, purchasing appropriate magazines, talking with married friends, shopping around. Starting early will allow you to be better organized, use more possibilities and leave you free time to relax.
One of the most important things which you should do is to estimate how much available money you are going to spend on your wedding. The more detailed your budget, the better.