Wedding Pictures Ideas: August 2008

Wedding Ideas - 50th Anniversary Gift Ideas

A 50th anniversary gift commemorates a milestone most married couples wish to reach. What can you possibly give a couple after 50 years of marriage? The most meaningful wedding anniversary gift is one that comes from the heart: to express your love and appreciation towards all that they mean to you, how their staying married through the thick and thin of life has influenced you, to tell about the warm and loving memories you shared with them throughout the years.

The 50th anniversary is commemorated by gold and the flower is violet. A gift certainly doesn't have to be gold, wrap a gift in gold paper or paper decorated with violets.

50th anniversary gift ideas for the couple

Keepsake personalized anniversary gifts, such as a photo quilt or pillow
Monthly or quarterly lo-carb, dietetic or fruit gift baskets
Restore their wedding photo and place in a gold frame
Have a painting or caricature made out of their wedding photo
As they probably don't cook for themselves as much, gift certificates to restaurants would be appreciated
A gift of theater or concert subscription tickets. Make them a patron with VIP privileges
The children can create a 50th anniversary keepsake journal gift. Ask family and friends to write a paragraph or two to share a memory with their parents. Or ask for a photo with the couple that the children don't have and write a caption about it
Instead of a guest book, buy a music box and fill it with messages of love written on gold or handmade paper from family and friends
Are they up for a cruise? Take them on a weekend or week long cruise. They probably will enjoy sharing this vacation with others
What could help them personally? Can you lease a car for them? Pay for a kitchen or other home renovation?
Do they golf? Pay for private lessons or a VIP membership at their favorite club. Buy 2 clubs, have them engraved and then gold plated
What hobbies do they enjoy? Give them gift certificates for a spending spree at their favorite craft or hobby store
Buy tickets to a favorite event and pay for their lodging and food expenses
Do they volunteer or have a favorite charity? Contribute to their favorite organization. Find out if a plaque or some other special mention can be made in their name

The best 50th anniversary gift for the couple is one that helps them to enjoy life more. Many couples don't even want to receive gifts. Give a gift of your time and help. Make up "Gift of Time" or "Labor of Love" coupons to take them out to their favorite restaurant, make them a home-cooked meal, chauffeur them on a shopping trip, run errands for them, take them to a show or movie, have a local landscaping company take care of their property, have their home repainted. Find out what will make a difference in the quality of their life.

Your love and attention will be the most appreciated 50th anniversary gift you can give your parents or a couple. Make the time for those you love!

Wedding Ideas - 50th Anniversary Gift Ideas

Wedding Ideas - Wedding Anniversary Gift

Wedding Anniversary Gift Ideas

Corset Back Wedding Dress

Do you love the corset back wedding dresses and formals, but don't like the idea of lacing it up? Corset back dresses don't have a zipper. They have loops and a lacing cord, usually make of the same fabric as the dress. Underneath is a modesty panel, a solid panel that snaps in with clear snaps to hide your back and bra. Wearing the modesty piece is optional, if you have bra cups sewn into the gown, you may not want to wear the piece underneath. The modesty piece may be in two pieces. The lower piece is sewn in on one side and snaps on the other side. This piece covers the hip and low waist area so it hides your behind and the top of your optional crinoline. The top piece snaps in or out. If your gown is strapless, the modesty piece is boned to stay up.

PROS of the corset top dress:

If you are between sizes, you can adjust the top to fit your body
If your weight fluctuates up or down 5 pounds, you just adjust the lacings.
Few bodice alterations are necessary.

Cons of the corset top dress:

It is difficult to lace
It is difficult to take off the dress
It takes time to lace up.

Making it easy!

Take two large safety pins and pin them through the ends of the lacing. This will keep the lacing cord sturdy at the end and make it easier to put through the loops. This is a professional secret!
Line up the lacings so that they are even.
If you are wearing the modesty piece in the gown, have someone snap it inside the gown. if the gown has an inner elastic waist band, attach the band and adjust for comfort and make sure it hits at the waist line. Start lacing the gown at the TOP of the bodice.
Have the person wearing the gown put their hands at their waistline and push back toward the lacing, but not enough to distort the fit of the top. This will make the gown stay in place and your waist look smaller. Lace the gown and tighten the laces as you lace it down. Make sure you don't twist the cord and that it lays flat as shown in the photo below. She is wearing the gown with a modesty piece.
When you get to the end of the lacing, tie it securely in a bow or a knot. Tie a small bow if you are wearing it outside trailing down the gown. Remove the safety pins from the ends. If you don't want the excess to show, tie it in a knot or using the ends with the safety pins relace it ACROSS both of the last bottom laces and tuck it inside the dress. There is a space in between the lacing and the modesty piece at the bottom where you can tuck it in. Remove the safety pins.
Lacing a Corset Back Wedding Dress The Easy Way

For a practice trial on the dress buy a couple of yards of upholstery ord, the silky cord available at the fabric store.
You may need to put scotch tape on the edges of the cording to keep it from fraying. Put the safety pins in the ends to lace. The smoothness of the upholstery cord will make it easy to lace up for a trial run of the fit. It will save wear and tear on the lacing that matches the dress.
There you go, professional tips to making getting into your dress easier and faster!

Corset Back Wedding Dress

Green Wedding Gown Tips

Looking for ways to make your wedding gown a little more eco-friendly? Sure you can buy vintage, or have an organic hemp or silk gown made for you, but there's an even simpler way to cut down on waste: choose a dress you will wear again.

The idea of the one-time-only gown is relatively new. Until the early twentieth century, brides chose gowns that they could wear for multiple occasions. Wealthy women would often recycle the wedding gown for fancy dress parties or for their presentation at court, while poorer women would wear their dress for church or, often, as a nicer everyday dress. Dresses were frequently dyed a different color after the wedding, including black if a mourning dress was needed. Bridesmaids dresses worked the same way, and could often be a woman's one new dress for the season or the year.

Today, though, we're all about the throw-away wedding gown, which is environmentally unfriendly for lots of reasons: gown fabrics are often treated with chemicals, to preserve color and appearance, cleaning and storing a wedding gown requires even more chemicals, and the dress often sits in a closet or box without ever being worn again, which is just wasteful.

Instead of choosing a gown that can only be worn on that ONE day, look for something with life beyond the wedding. A lovely silver cocktail dress, for example, is appropriately bridal but can Also go out for dinner or to your holiday party

Green Wedding Gown

Ideas for Summer Wedding

May through August is the number one most popular time of year to get married, and for good reason too. Summer weddings are full of sunshine and warmth, and allow you to get married outside in good weather. Take full advantage of the season and all it has to offer you when planning your summer wedding with these tips and ideas.

Summer Wedding Dresses and Attire for the Bridal Party

Summer Wedding Dresses

The bride who marries in the warmth of May, June, July or August is a lucky one; over 75% of dresses that you'll find are sleeveless and/or strapless, making them perfect for the season. Look for light fabrics such as organdy, linen, chiffon, crepe, georgette, and other light weight silk, so as to not add too much bulk.

At a beach wedding, look for an easy and elegant slip dress such as Carolyn Bissette wore when she married John F. Kennedy Jr. in Hyannisport. The bridal party can all go barefoot, and the men can wear dress shirts with slacks, or linen suits. For a garden wedding, ; consider big straw hats, either for just you or for all the bridesmaids. You might choose brightly colored dresses or short floral cocktail dresses for the bridesmaids to really evoke the season. The men in the bridal party can go for the classic navy blazer with khaki slacks, or beautiful suits. For a more formal affair, there's no reason not to choose morning suits or tuxedos (depending on whether it's an evening or daytime wedding) but give a nod to the season by replacing the black tuxedo jacket with a natty white dinner jacket.

Of course, for all the women in the bridal party (and some of the men!), you must think about what heat, humidity and moisture will do to your hair. Most importantly, don’t try to fight your hair in the summer: straight hair will get straighter and limper, and wavy hair will get wavier and frizzier. Updos by a professional who will design a long-lasting style are one of your best bets. A crown of flowers, or a single large flower tucked into your hair will look summery and beautiful.

Summer Wedding Dresses

The Setting for Your Summer Wedding
Summer weddings are ripe for an outdoor setting such as a beach, a garden, or a beautiful yard. Take advantage of the long days with an afternoon wedding, or highlight the glorious sunsets by saying your vows as the sun goes down behind you. Use fresh fruits and vegetables to decorate -- perhaps including clementines and cumquats in your flower arrangements, or simply filling a large vase with bright yellow lemons. Bring light to an evening wedding with torches and strings of lanterns in the trees. An extra-summery idea is to use gingham tablecloths with a few sunflowers in metal watering cans as centerpieces.

Food for Your Summer Wedding

Food For Summer Wedding

Celebrate the bounty of the season by filling your menu with fresh fruits such as watermelon, and berries, and fresh vegetables such as corn. Between courses, or as an additional dessert, offer refreshing granitas and sorbets. An elegant summer wedding menu could include a bevy of fresh seafood, including lobster and oysters. For a more casual affair, consider a backyard barbecue, or traditional picnic food including potato salad.

Wedding Favors

Send your guests home with a taste of the season: in August, a fresh pear, or earlier in the summer, a ripe peach. For a beach wedding, you might consider giving out perfect sand dollars, seashells, or beach-themed candles. Summer weddings are is also perfect for seeds or small pots of flowers as favors. If it will be warm or extra sunny, give out beautiful wooden fans or paper parasols to use during the ceremony and then take home.

Wedding Favors

Summer Wedding Flowers

Summer Wedding Flowers

You can't go wrong with an abundance of flowers at a summer wedding. There are so many varieties in season, you may have a tough time narrowing your choices down! Fill the scene with bright and cheerful flowers such as roses, sunflowers, red and yellow calla lilies, dahlias, gerber daisies, cosmos, mums, and zinnias. Bright purple dendrobium orchids are much less expensive during the summer months, so you can feel like a queen without the budget of one.

An alternative idea is an airy summer look with mostly white and light colored flowers such as roses, stephanotis, white phlox, elegant white calla lilies, huge and fragrant casa blanca lilies, hydrangea, snowball mums, and daisies (also known as Shasta daisies).