The Wedding Check List – 3 Months Before the Wedding
January 23, 2010
There is no way you are going to survive wedding planning with your sanity intact if you refuse to use a wedding check list. There are just too many things that need to be addressed for you to merely remember & keep track of them all. Trying to do so will not only cause a ton of hassles, it probably even end up costing you a whole lot of money too.
Wedding Check List for 3 Months Before
- Start searching for the appropriate flowers for your wedding. Make sure you purchase flowers that are in season rather than those out of season if you wish to save money.
- Once the right flowers have been found for your wedding, place an order.
- Talk with your partner about honeymoon destinations. Once decided on, plan out and book the honeymoon trip.
- Choose the attire for the groom, best-man, as well as for the usher.
- Learn about the requirements for a wedding license in your state.
- Congratulate yourself, as you’ve just completed the 3-month wedding check list.
Ways to Save With the 3 Month Wedding Check List
1. When it comes to the wedding flowers, try to save in any way you can. Professionally arranged flowers can be insanely expensive, so consider arranging them yourself or with the help of a friend. Another way to save is by using flowering potted plants and NOT cut flowers.
2. Look for discount honeymoon packages and check online travel websites. If you plan on having your wedding during wedding season (late spring & early summer months), the trip will be more expensive than if you had waited until the fall/winter months. However, no matter what time of the year it is, there are always ways to save.
3. Rather than buying the tuxedo for the groom, rent it instead. It’s far cheaper and more economical considering it’ll probably never be worn again.
With this 3 month wedding check list and the three easy ways you can save, you should have a much easier time planning and organizing your wedding.
Blogs Tips for Wedding Suppliers
September 2, 2009
Simply put, the main aim of a blog on your wedding website is to show your customers that you’re an expert in your field, that you’re someone to turn to when they have a question.
This can be done very simply by offering your customers some useful advice and information. Lets say you are a florist, then your blog posts could talk about the latest trends in wedding flowers, or how to choose flowers on a budget, for example. If you’re stuck for ideas, then think about the conversations you’ve had today with people who’ve contacted you offline. What did they ask for? What did you tell them? Now write it down and use this as the basis for your post!!
And blogs are fantastic for being able to start a conversation. Ask your site visitors to leave comments about what they like and what they don’t like. Most important for this is that you respond to them, either by adding comments to your own blog, or featuring the replies in a new post. Either way is fine, but the important thing is you engage with your site visitors.
You will increase your credibility by doing this. A recent statistic showed that the percentage of women that use the internet to research their wedding is as high as 90%. Providing helpful tips and advice establishes trust. And they are likely to turn into actual customers if they are happy with the information provided.
Using video is the next important aspect…
You may already have started to feel a bit worried about this, but there really is no need! I’m talking about short 3 to 4 minute videos on your blog that really let couples see what you are about. You really are becoming a real person in the eyes of your site visitors now, and this is probably the closest you can get without physically meeting them!
So what does video on your blog provide?
Well, there aren’t many wedding suppliers using video on their sites or blogs right now in this way. The only ones Im aware of are videographers, and their videos are primarily examples of work.
There are two ways to go about adding video to your blog. One way is to talk directly to your site visitors through your camera, giving them advice and information on specific topics. The other way is to take a video of work that you have done and add audio with your message later.
It makes no difference which method you use; all you need to keep in mind is that the message should be clear, to the point and not over 4 minutes long. You can check out some good examples of videos on you tube for ideas and who knows, if you get it right, the next viral video might just be yours.
Mark Strefford is a leading marketing expert, specialising in helping wedding suppliers attract Brides to their business using the internet. You can watch his free video on marketing to Brides using the internet at bridalmarketing.net.
Choosing Flowers for Your Wedding
September 1, 2009
What makes your wedding day very special are usually the flowers that are used on the occasion. It matters a lot, especially to the bride. Some even go as far as patterning the flowers with what the bride will be using. The thing about using flowers on your wedding day is that they are the most attractive thing and one of the items that gives a burst of colors on your wedding venue. Imagine a wedding without flowers–it might come out as lifeless and less refreshing than how it could actually be. This is the reason why regardless of the venue, you should expect colorful flowers to pepper the place.
Here are some important things you may want to consider before you come up with the perfect flower pieces for your wedding celebration:
1. Where it will come from – This is very important because, after all, flowers are plants and would have to be shipped if it’s coming from a far location. This will also depend on the kind of flowers you choose, but whatever it is, it would still be best if you choose a flower shop who can take care of your arrangements a few blocks away from the venue. The shipping procedures may have an effect on the flower and before you knew it, the freshness may have been lost once the flowers finally reach the wedding venue.
2. Make a floor plan where the flowers will be needed – Whether the place will be inside the church or right at the wedding reception itself, it’s a great idea to consider crafting a rough floor plan where the flowers are strategically scattered. This will help give you a better idea on what kind of flower would be best for the occasion. It’s hard to figure out the flowers that you actually need when you can’t see visuals and it’s also not advisable to get flowers based from what you like. You have to make sure that they are well coordinated with each other.
3. Consider your budget – Keep in mind that flowers are expensive. So to help give you a better idea of how much will you likely be spending for it, it’s good to do some canvassing first with different flower shops. You might want to compare prices between your local shops versus that which can be found online. These days, it seems that online shops has got better prices to offer because they also incur less overhead costs to keep operations running.
When it comes to choosing your flowers, you also need to make sure you cover those that will be used by the people in your entourage. They would also need flowers as symbolic embellishments to use. If you have to splurge, it might be a better idea if you do that on your bouquet. Keep in mind that as a bride, you will be the center of attention especially during the wedding ceremonies. Think of your bouquet as your very own centrepiece throughout the wedding too.
Create Rhythm in Your Wedding Bouquets
August 25, 2009
When you design your do it yourself wedding flowers, you want a sense of rhythm in your bouquets or arrangements. When there is rhythm, you have movement created by regular repetition of some element or feature of your design. This movement stirs your emotions.
Rhythm is more often associated with music than with artistic expression. The movement from musical rhythm can be varied. It can be slow and leisurely, smooth and flowing, fast and cheerful, or choppy with abrupt breaks. Rhythm can be created in your wedding flowers through careful placement of flowers, foliage, and accessories. You want to create a design where your eyes rest on your focal point and then travel along a visual pathway that travels through your design and then leads you back to your focal point again. The movement of your eye is created by the rhythm of your design.
You can create rhythm 3 different ways – repetition, radiating lines, and transition.
Repetition
Repetition is probably the easiest way of creating rhythm. You can repeat colors, textures, shapes and lines. If you have bright, warm colors throughout your bouquet, your eye will naturally move away from your focal point to elements with the same color. Texture carefully placed in different places can create soft or subtle rhythm. repeating lines is the most noticeable way to create movement. Curved lines cause your eye to move. Repeated horizontal lines produce a slow, relaxed rhythm whereas vertical and diagonal lines cause your eyes to move rapidly from your focal point to the outer edges and then back again.
Radiating Lines
Lines radiating from your focal point naturally cause your eye to move from your focal point to the perimeter of your bouquet and then back again. You need to be careful to keep the stems from crossing each other so you don’t interrupt the movement, ruining the rhythm of your design.
Transition
Transition is when you change from one form to another. You can change from one texture to another or from one color to another. You do this by having an intermediate color between the 2 points of interest to help your eye naturally move from one color to another. For example, if you have an area of red and an area of yellow, you can create a transition by placing orange between them to create the visual pathway.
If you can create rhythm in your do it yourself wedding flowers, you will have a bouquet that captivates attention and produces pleasure.
Are Your Wedding Flowers in Scale With Each Other?
August 25, 2009
A scale is something that measures an object in comparison to something else. A flower, leaf or container is only large or small when it is compared to something else. The elements of a wedding bouquet or arrangement need to be in scale with each other. The bouquet or arrangement also needs to be in scale with its environment.
We can look at scale in 4 ways
- flowers in scale with their containers
- flowers in scale with other flowers
- flowers in scale with foliage
- a bouquet in scale with its environment
The container that you choose for your arrangement is very important because its size and shape determines which flowers you will use. Large, dominant flowers look better in bulky containers. Fine, delicate flowers go very well with intricate, smaller containers.
Your flowers need to be in scale with each other as well. This does not mean that you can’t use different sizes of flowers, but extremes should be avoided. For example, very large, full-sized sunflowers would not look right beside a cluster of tiny, delicate lily-of-the-valley.
The flowers you choose should be in scale with your foliage. Again, this does not rule out different sizes, but extremes are distracting. If, for instance, you have a rose bud arranged in front of a large banana leaf, it simply won’t look good. It would not be in scale and would look completely unbalanced.
An arrangement or bouquet needs to be in scale with its environment. Think hotel lobby and a tiny bud vase. The flowers would not be noticed. They would be lost in all the space. Now think very large arrangement with numerous birds of paradise and protea squeezed into a little hospital room. The huge design will make this small room look even smaller. This combination simply does not make sense.
A few more tips to keep in mind are that shiny or course textured flowers, foliage and containers look larger than they are because they attract your attention. Similarly bright, dark, and warm colors catch your eye more than dull, light, and cool colors and therefore look larger.
When you arrange your own wedding flowers, remember to keep your flowers, foliage, and containers in scale with one another. the overall look will be much more pleasing to the eye if you do.
Cheap Wedding Flowers that Dazzle
August 16, 2009
Wedding flowers & décor are one of the easiest ways to save on your wedding without anyone noticing. The price of flowers these days- especially when you add the word “wedding”- can go through the roof in a blink. Once factoring in all centerpieces, bouquets, boutonnieres, ceremony arrangements, buffet table arrangements, pew pieces, and accents, you’re easily looking at $1,500. What if you could spend under $500 on your flowers, knowing it would still look fabulous?
Here are some do-it-yourself flower ideas that will help you save a lot of money on your wedding flowers:
Centerpiece: $10 each
2 stalks gladiolus
Gladioluses are beautiful, tall, majestic flowers that come in a variety of colors. They are about $4 per bunch (8 stalks) at your local grocery store. This will be able to cover 4 tables for $4 ($1 per table)!
3 Lemons
Cut the lemons into ¼ inch slices and then cut them in half (like half moons). Lemons are about 60 cents a piece.
Vase
Buy 8 inch tall, 3-4 inch diameter circular vases from a craft store or online discount store. You should be able to get these vases for $4 each.
Mirror
Buy circular mirrors from a craft store or online discount store. You should be able to get these for $1 each.
Rose Petals
Buy silk rose petals to sprinkle around the centerpiece from a craft store or online discount store. Think about whether you want to get yellow to accent the lemons or the color of the flowers. You should be able to get 500 silk petals for $8 (you will only need about 20 petals per table)
Directions
Buy the flowers no sooner than 2 days before the wedding. Assemble the centerpieces the day before the wedding. Each centerpiece will only take 5-10 minutes to put together. If you are covering 15 tables, you’re looking at 2 ½ hours max for one person. Enlist the help of family and friends and get it done in an hour!
Snip the gladiolus stalks to the appropriate length for the centerpiece vase. Rubber band 2 gladiolus stalks together with a green rubber band (to match the stalk/ stem), so that the flowers are facing outward. Put them in the vase. Fill the vase around the flowers with lemons to hold the flowers in the center. Fill the vase with water. Put the centerpiece on top of the circular mirror, which will reflect the colors nicely and make the centerpiece appear to expand outward. Sprinkle the rose petals around the centerpiece.
If you have 15 tables, you’re looking at $150 total.
*If you have about $5 extra dollars per centerpiece, go ahead and add 3 votive candles in glass holders as accents around the centerpiece with the rose petals.
Ceremony and buffet table arrangements: $35 each
Buy large 24” tall glass vases with footing (around $30 each online), fill each with 8 gladioluses (around $4 per arrangement). Gladioluses come with palm like grasses that you can use as an accent. Either wrap the palms around the perimeter of the vase horizontally or manipulate them so that they are sticking out with the gladioluses. With all of the palms from the centerpieces that you won’t be using, you’ll have plenty to work with. If you are using 2 ceremony arrangements and 2 buffet table pieces, you’re looking at around $140.
Bridesmaid Bouquets: $18 each (max)
3 camellias, 3 daisies, 6 cornflowers, palms from gladiolus as accents (can bend them over to be upside down tear drop shapes). Wrap in florist tape and ribbon. One person hold the bouquet together, the other person wrap in tape and ribbon.
You can add a few flowers to the maid of honor’s bouquet to make it stand out or make her flowers a different color.
*Both of these flowers are available in some color in each season- not always available in all colors. These are cheap but beautiful types of flowers.
Have a bridesmaid luncheon the day before the wedding and include bouquet making/ centerpiece assembly. Each bridesmaid will assemble her own bouquet while you are assembling your bridal bouquet (with help from a couple other people). It may sound like you’re asking for a chore from them, but it’s actually quite fun– I did this for my own wedding.
Total time: 30-45 minutes per bouquet
If you have 4 bridesmaids, you’re looking at about $75 total.
Bridal Bouquet: $35 (max)
3 large lilies (or other favorite flower), 5 camellias, 8 cornflowers, palms and/or other greenery for accents. Similar assembly as above. Don’t forget to cut the stamen out of the lilies- they will stain your dress!
You will most likely have to buy a bouquet of lilies- you probably won’t be able to just get 2 stems. Use the rest of these lilies to accent your cake and buffet table.
Boutonnieres: $5 each
Wrap a camellia and accent foliage (can be a piece of palm from gladiolus) in green florist tape and push a straight pin through it. Wiring may or may not be necessary, depending on sturdiness.
Follow detailed instructions on
http://howtoweddingflowers.blogspot.com/2009/07/how-to-make-boutonniere.html
If you have 4 groomsmen, you’re looking at about $20 total.
Pew Pieces: $4 each
Use large tulle bows instead of flowers. You can stick leftover flowers in the bows if you wish. If you have 4 reserved rows and you want to put 2 on the back 2 rows for decoration, you’re looking at about $25 total.
Visit www.budgetwiseweddingmd.com/tricks.html
What Color Should Your Wedding Flowers Be?
August 12, 2009
The colors you choose for your wedding flowers is very important. Colors have psychological effects and they set the mood for any floral arrangement. They can be classified into 2 general categories – warm and cool.
Warm Colors
The warm colors are red, yellow, orange and other colors with the same hues. These colors are called warm because they remind us of warm things like fire and the sun. Warm colors appear to be larger and closer – they are very noticeable. They are happy and cheerful colors, making any arrangement of flowers noticeably cheerful. Some people find too many warm colors in a small space annoying. It’s all a matter of personal preference.
Cool Colors
These colors include blue, violet, green and other colors with the same hues. These colors are called cool because they are associated with cool things like water, ice, mountain shadows and grass. They create a feeling of being restful, tranquil and peaceful. Because of this, they are considered not as friendly as the warm colors. Cool colors appear to recede and therefore make the objects appear smaller. They are not very noticeable when seen from a distance.
You need not stick to either warm or cool colors. If you choose to stay with a monochromatic color scheme with your wedding flowers, you know they will blend very well with harmony. However, you can very carefully combine warm and cool colors to give a stunning effect. You can create visual cheerfulness (with the warm colors) and yet have depth (from the cool colors). You can create a balance of advancing and receding flowers. This in turn creates unity and harmony. In short – beautiful.
Which Color Scheme Would Work Well For Your Wedding Flowers?
August 12, 2009
When choosing the colors for the flowers in your wedding bouquets and arrangements, try not to just choose a favorite or even a well-known color combination. Taking a close look at the color wheel will help you think of unusual color combinations to create truly unique bouquets and arrangements.
Using the color wheel as your guide to create your wedding flower color scheme, you can have a scheme that will be related, contrasting or discordant.
Related
Related or monochromatic color schemes have 1 common hue yet have varying intensities of that hue. For instance, you could have very light blue, light blue, blue, darker blue and very dark blue. Related schemes are “safe” in that harmony is easy to achieve, yet there is a danger of being boring or bland. It has to be done tastefully. For example, if you chose red as your base hue, you could create a bridal bouquet with red roses, deep burgundy/maroon oriental lilies, and pink carnations to lighten and blend the red and maroon.
Contrasting
Contrasting color schemes are more lively because they have colors from different parts of the color wheel. Contrasting schemes can be divided into complementary and triadic.
- Complimentary colors are opposite each other on the color wheel. When they are placed together, these hues complement each other. Examples of these are red and green, yellow and purple, and blue and orange. These have more life and depth than related color schemes and create emotional excitement.
- Triadic schemes involve 3 colors from the color wheel, with each color being equally distant from the other. Since these colors don’t complement each other and aren’t related, they can be difficult to work with. A common triadic scheme is red, yellow, and blue – the primary colors. A trickier triadic scheme to work with is orange, purple and green – the secondary colors.
Discordant
Discordant color schemes are more for the advanced designer. They use 4 colors made up of 2 pairs of complementary colors. Wedding bouquets and arrangements with a discordant color schemes are difficult to create with harmony because, unless done with skill, you will have 2 colors beside each other that clash. If they are designed well, they have a lot of energy and depth.
If you are a beginner and haven’t designed many wedding bouquets or arrangements, you should probably go with either a related or a contrasting color scheme. Discordant color schemes are great for experienced designers, but if they aren’t designed with harmony, they will be hard on the eyes.
How Is Balance Important For Your Wedding Flowers?
August 12, 2009
Do it yourself wedding flowers don’t magically fall into place and look wonderful. There are so many things to remember and balance is one of them. The elements of your wedding bouquet or arrangement (your container, flowers, foliage, and accessories) need to “fit” or work well together.
We as people have a natural pull toward balance and order. Imbalance is naturally avoided – it’s in our subconscious. We naturally avoid things that are dangerously imbalanced such as a tottering ladder or a crooked shelf. Even though an imbalanced floral bouquet or arrangement isn’t a threat to us, we have a natural tendency to balance and order. A bouquet or arrangement needs both physical and visual balance.
Physical Balance
Physical balance can also be called mechanical balance. To have this type of balance, the arrangement simply needs to be able to stand up on its own without falling over. The container you use needs to be the right size, weight and shape for the flowers you put in them. You also need to have your flowers and foliage arranged so they are evenly distributed. If you have them placed so your design is either top heavy or so that the flowers are mostly on one side, your arrangment will fall over.
Visual Balance
This is when a floral design looks balanced. If it is mechanically balanced yet looks like it’s about to topple over, your instinct is to reach out your hand to catch it from falling over. You want it to look stable. You can have 4 different types of visual balance: symmetrical, asymmetrical, radial, and open balance.
- Symmetrical - This is created when you have exactly the same flowers and foliage on both sides of an imaginary line. Bouquets with symmetrical balance are formal and are often seen at graduations, funerals, and weddings. You need to be careful that this type of design doesn’t look stiff or forced. You can avoid this by using near-symmetry where you use very similar (but not exactly the same) flowers and foliage on both sides of your imaginary line.
- Asymmetrical - You achieve this by placing more weight on one side of your imaginary line than the other. You don’t place too much weight on one side so it looks imbalanced. You need to have something on each side of your “line” to balance out the other side. This is harder to create than symmetrical balance, but it’s more pleasing to look at and remains interesting much longer than perfect symmetry. You can have some large, light colored flowers on one side and off-set them with either darker or bright small flowers on the other side. Darker flowers look “heavy” so they have enough weight to balance a greater number of larger, light colored flowers.
- Radial - You create radial symmetry by having your flowers and foliage radiating out from a central point just like the spokes of a wheel, the rays of the sun, the petals of a daisy, the lines of a hand-held fan or the pattern of a shell. The central point can be in different positions. The spokes of a wheel and the petals of a daisy radiate out from the center whereas the lines of a hand-held fan radiate from the center of the bottom and the pattern of a shell radiates from one side. Radial balance is most often in bridal bouquets.
- Open - Open balance isn’t symmetrical or asymmetrical. It is open, relaxed and unstructured. You will find this in contemporary design where there are no formal rules, yet the overall design looks balanced.
If you are a beginner, symmetrical, asymmetrical and radial balance are easier to achieve because you have some “rules” to follow. Open balance comes with practice and experience. Your do it yourself wedding flowers need to be balanced. Choose which type of balance is most appealing to you and work with it.
The 10 Things You Need For Creating Your Own Wedding Flowers
August 7, 2009
After you’ve made the decision to make your own wedding flowers, you need to gather specific tools and materials to be able to do a proper job. For the actual arranging itself you will need the following items:
Cellophane - This is used to line flower/bouquet boxes that are not water proof. It can also be crumpled and placed into containers as a flower or foliage support. This works very well in see-through containers.
Chicken wire - This is used to hold floral foam in place in containers. This is usually done for larger arrangements. Chicken wire can also be crumpled and placed inside containers to use as a flower/foliage support. (Not recommended for see-through containers).
Floral foam – This needs to be cut to fit the container and then placed into the container. Tape it securely to the container if needed. Fill the container with water so the floral foam will absorb the water. Oncer the floral foam is thoroughly wet, you can begin inserting flowers and foliage.
Florist’s Scissors – These are special because they have a serrated edge. This helps when cutting stems and even wire.
Spray bottle - You use this to gently mist (not soak) the flowers and foliage after they have been arranged.
Florist’s tape - There are 2 kinds of tape -
- * rubber coated tape that is used to cover wires and secure them to the flowers and stems
- * sticky florist’s tape is sticky on one side and is used for anchoring the floral foam to its container
Knives - 1 long and 1 short. Use a long one to cut floral foam and use a short knife to scrape stems.
Pruning shears - Use these to cut thick, woody stems.
Ribbon - You need ribbon for covering up wires on bouquets, posies, corsages and boutonnieres. You can also use it as decoration in long tails or bows or in loops for garlands, swags or pomanders.
Wire - This is necessary for lengthening, strengthening and positioning your flowers and foliage. There are a lot of different gauges of wire, but there are 4 main sizes that are commonly used -
- * 20 gauge (0.90 mm) for wiring heavy flowers such as lilies
- * 22 gauge (0.71 mm) for wiring medium strength flowers like roses and peonies
- * 28 gauge (0.38 mm) for wiring more delicate flowers such as violets
- * 30 gauge (0.32 mm) for wiring very delicate flowers like lily-of-the-valley
Be sure to have all of the above items collected and in one place before you being to make your own wedding flowers. Because putting wedding flowers together is such a big job, you want to be prepared for it ahead of time. You will need all your time for arranging. Gather your materials about 2 months before your wedding day to make your job that much easier.
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