Having a New Years Wedding

There cannot be a more a romantic way to ring in a new year than with a celebration of marriage! We put together some ideas and tips to help plan your New Years Eve Wedding.

Invitations:
Send out "save the date" cards as soon as you know the date, and send out your invites three months in advance instead of two just to give your guests plenty of time since it is a holiday.
For the invitation style, choose white and gold or white and silver. Also to make the wording special by adding a phrase like, "A new year, a new beginning" or "A countdown to the rest of our lives


Favors:
Small bottles of champagne with personalized labels, chocolate covered fortune cookies with a new years fortune, a cd with your favorite hits from the past year with a personalized label, bells with a label that says "ring in the new year with your names", have someone take each guests instant photo as they arrive and place the photo in a personalized frame for them to take home with them when they leave.

Colors:
New years eve colors are typically black and silver or gold and silver.

Decorations:
To make a festive atmosphere, place noise makers , Party hats , candles, and confetti on the tables. Place balloons, white lights, and glittery snowflakes throughout. Place a large clock right behind the DJ to countdown, or have a large screen tv to watch the ball drop! Also, place balloons in netting over the dancefloor to drop down at the stroke of midnight.

Time:
Try to make it a late event, starting around 8:00pm. You want your guests to stay through the stroke of midnight to ring in the new year!

Food:
If you decide to serve a full meal, remind guests to have something light to eat before the event since they will be eating dinner later than usual(if your event starts at 8PM), but let them know you will be serving a full meal and to come hungry!

You may want to skip having a full meal and opt for hot appetizers offered throughout the night. You can serve hot wings, chicken/beef sticks, scallops and bacon, etc. Or, you can have stations set up so guests can help themselves.

Be sure to have plenty of coffee available throughout the night, or consider a coffee station when serving dessert.

These are just a few ideas to make your New Years Eve wedding special, but there are so many more possibilities to use your own creativity to add something unique to your special day.

Unique Wedding Favors For Your Reception

Unique Wedding Favors

You are a unique couple so you definitely want unique wedding favors to give your guests to thank them for sharing your day with you. Depending on your taste, there are so many options for unique wedding favors. Concerned about our world? Choose green wedding favors that your guests can plant in their yards or use again. Great options are wildflower seed wedding favors.

Unique Wedding Favors

peyton manning's wedding

When it comes to weddings, the focus is usually on the bride. Everyone thinks of it as her special day, that event she’s been looking forward to since she was a child and the time when she’ll be the center of attention as she embarks on a new life. But what about the groom? It’s his day too, and one that he should plan just as carefully as the bride. Ideally it will be a once-in-a-lifetime occasion for both bride and groom, so they should share the planning and the enjoyment of that magical day equally!

peyton manning's wedding

peyton manning's wedding

Wedding Flower For Sale

Wedding Flower

Choose flowers in shades of white that will compliment the color scheme of the wedding, the reception, and the bridesmaids' dresses.

A Rainbow of Colors
Rich colors can really make a floral bouquet stand out and draw the eye. Choose colors that enhance the color scheme of the wedding and the bridesmaids' dresses. Select from the full spectrum of flower colors including soft pinks to deep, rich cranberry, delicate mauve to deep purple, butter yellow to bright rust, and blush pink to hot fuschia. Flowers in colors that match the dresses will look subtle, while contrasting tones will call attention to the flowers.

Hand-Tied Bouquets
For an elegant, custom look, have your bridal bouquet and bridesmaids' bouquets hand-tied. Wrap the stems to the bottom with complimentary ribbon or let the stems hang loose. If you'll make the hand-tied bouquets yourself, have the flowers delivered with long stems. Keep the bouquet in water until needed, then clip off about 1" at the end and dry off the stems so they don't bleed on the gowns. If the wedding day is going to be long and hot, consider making two bridal bouquets, so that you'll have a fresh one for photos.

Ring of Flowers for the Hair
A flower girl will look almost angelic with a delicate halo of flowers on her head. Bridesmaids, too, will love the special touch of a blossom or two tied into the hair.

Wedding Flower

silk wedding flowers

For as long as anyone can remember flowers have been a timeless tradition at wedding ceremonies across the world. Perhaps more than at any other time in one's life, do the love and friendship the flower symbolizes seem more relevant. Their soft petals and beautiful colors add beauty and elegance to an already perfect day.

silk wedding flowers

That is...unless your chosen style or color isn't in season. Or they may just not be in stock. You may also have to add in the extra cost of shipping the flowers you want, having your florist working over time to get all one zillion of your arrangements done within two days of the ceremony to be sure the flowers don't fall apart of wilt or both before your big day. If it sounds like a hassle, that's because it's a hassle. Fresh flowers aren't cheap, portable, or made to last.

silk wedding flowers

Luckily, artificial flowers are now more beautiful and natural looking than ever. They are becoming widely used in wedding ceremonies for a variety of reasons.

When using silk flowers for you ceremony keep a few things in mind before you make your selection. With all the options in flower combinations you'll want to be sure of each one's meaning in combination with the others. Your florist may be able to help you, or you can check out a book on the topic. When shopping, you may also want to bring along a real flower to hold up to the one you are considering to be sure that it looks authentic.

You truly can get all the beauty of fresh flowers at your wedding without the trouble or expense. Quality silk wedding flower arrangements will perfectly compliment your special day, and many days to come.

silk wedding flowers

wedding photography tips

Wedding Photo Tips for Amateurs - One Shot

This is it! You get one chance and one chance alone at this, the couple have probably prepared for over a year for "The happiest day of their life" . Weddings cost money and your time and photography skills are no exception, they are paying for a professional wedding photographer and that is what they should get.

Now don't get me wrong, you don't have to produce award-winning wedding photography every step of the way, like you see in magazines or in the portfolios of some of the greatest wedding photographers! By professional I mean courteous, polite, ON TIME , efficient and happy. Remember, this is a happy day for everyone.

You should consider taking out indemnity insurance against any eventuality that may arise, the couple are quite within their rights to sue if things go wrong.

Wedding Photo Tips for Amateurs - Reliable or Liable?

wedding photography tips

When the wedding couple asked you to photograph their wedding (even if it is just friends) they put their trust in you 100% . They will have enough to think about on the day and trust me, the photographer is furthest from their mind. Your photos will hopefully adorn their coffee table for a long, long time as something for them (and you) to be proud of.

But it's not just the couple. I have on more than one occasion, had to put a wedding photography album, or DVD together for both sets of parents too, and even some guests. Of course, nowadays many people take cameras to weddings, but it is you that is ultimately responsible for recording the event, and you are getting paid for it usually.

Wedding Photo Tips for Amateurs - Are you ready?

How can I say this without sounding like an old school book? "Prior preparation prevents poor performance"! Oh well, I can't, but it does make sense, especially with wedding photography.

If you haven't bothered to meet most of the wedding party, done a practice run, visited the church and reception or found some nice, suitable areas for the "special" shots, then you are not ready. How embarrassing would it be to get the couples names wrong, or turn up late because you got lost? Your number one priority other than taking the photos, is to prepare for the day.

As I said before, the couple have probably prepared for a long time so the least you can do is the same. See the checklist at the middle of this page. You would do well to print it off for reference too.

Remember, the list is just a general guide for you to plan your day. Most weddings are shot "reportage" style these days and this list is now quite dated.

Wedding Photo Tips for Amateurs - You DO have a camera?

I read a lot of the photography forums on the web and one question about wedding photography that always crops up is "What equipment will I need?". If you are asking that question, you are still a way off from being ready to photograph a wedding. Many people reply by saying it's not the equipment but the photographer that makes the images! Whereas I agree with this to an extent, it doesn't mean you can turn up to a wedding with a digital compact camera and a step ladder.

The minimum quality I would use is a 35mm SLR film camera or an 8 mega pixel Digital SLR, both of these are capable of producing up to A1 prints.

A selection of lenses ranging from ultra wide angle to medium telephoto for a start, and if possible with a large aperture of F2.8. At least one decent speedlight, preferably dedicated to your camera so you have less to think about. Oh, and I was serious about the stepladder earlier, sometimes it is needed for the really big group shots.

I remember once having to climb up a 4 stepladder to get all 130 people in. Doesnt sound that bad, but when both hands are operating the camera it gets quite hairy. (Quick tip: A huge shout from me and a 5 shot burst later, I do believe we got everybody in the wedding party looking at the camera, including babies).

You must know your equipment inside out. You must understand how it works and how to make instant changes to cope with unforeseen circumstances. You must have a spare camera and batteries, and the batteries must be fully charged (it is easy to forget simple points like that, I have known, ermpeople who have had to stop at a garage on the way to the reception, to load up!)

Above all, once you are confident, have fun and enjoy the experience. Unfortunately, it comes with the territory of wedding photography, that you will at some point get in the way, and you may get some grief from the guests. As long as you are polite and as efficient as possible, the day should go smoothly.

wedding photography

wedding favors

Wedding favors are small gifts given as a gesture of appreciation or gratitude to guests from the bride and groom during a wedding ceremony or a wedding reception.

The tradition of distributing wedding favors is a very old one. It is believed that the first wedding favor, common amongst European aristocrats, was known as a bonbonniere. A bonbonniere is a small trinket box made of crystal, porcelain, and/or precious stones. The contents of these precious boxes were generally sugar cubes or delicate confections, which symbolize wealth and royalty. (In this era, sugar was an expensive commodity and was treasured only among the wealthy. It was believed that sugar contained medical benefits).[citation needed] As the price of sugar decreased throughout centuries, the tradition of providing gifts to guests reached the general populace and was embraced by couples of modest means.

wedding favors

As sugar became more affordable, bonbonnieres were replaced with almonds. For centuries, almonds were commonly distributed to wedding guests to signify well wishes on the bridegroom’s new life. In the thirteenth century, almonds coated with sugar, known as confetti, were introduced. Confetti soon transformed to sugared almonds, which later evolved into the wedding favor for modern day weddings. Traditionally, five Jordan almonds are presented in a confection box or wrapped in elegant fabric to represent fertility, longevity, wealth, health and happiness. The bitterness of the almond and the sweetness of the coated candy exemplify the bitter sweetness of a marriage.

Today, gifts to guests are commonly known as wedding favors and are shared in cultures worldwide. Wedding favors have become a part of wedding reception planning, especially in the United States and Canada. Wedding favors are diverse and usually complement the theme or season of the event. Classic favors can range from the classic sugared almonds or individual chocolates to candles and scented soaps. Modern gift trends include: CDs with the favorite music of the bride and groom, shot glasses filled with colored candy or silver picture frames with a photo of the couple. Gifts may also be personalized with the couple's names, initials or wedding date.

wedding favors