Royal Wedding Accessories: Sep 27, 2011

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Greek Weddings: The Tradition of Threes

One interesting thing to know about traditional Greek weddings is that vows are not exchanged as they are in many religions. There is trust that the couple getting married are there for the exact reasons stated in vows, and that there is no need for vows to be read aloud.
Greek weddings are very romantic and symbolic. Each part of the ceremony, as in many cultures, symbolizes union and traditional values.
To begin, the wedding guests wait patiently outside the church for the bride and groom. Once the bride arrives, usually adorned in a veil of orange or red to protect her from evil spirits, the guests follow the soon-to-be-wed couple into the church where they are seated together. Guests are not separated into families of the bride and groom, but sit all together.

Fiji Weddings - Get Married in One of the Most Romantic Places in the World

Wedding Traditions and Custom Made Wedding Dresses
Fiji Weddings: Traditional or Exotic
If are considering getting married in Fiji, you have a myriad superb locations to choose from. You can also decide whether to have a simple traditional wedding ceremony, or you can choose a more exotic ceremony on the beach. There are many lovely churches in Fiji where you can get married. If you wish to have a Catholic wedding, however, you will need a Letter of Freedom from your church, along with your baptism certificate. These need to be given to the Fijian priest who will marry you at least 2 to 3 months in advance.
Fiji Wedding Resorts and Planners
What is also so wonderful and unique about getting married in Fiji is that your entire wedding can be planned out for you from start to finish. By staying at a Fiji wedding resort, you can let the resort plan out your entire day for you as you and your partner the most magical day of your lives surrounded by your friends and family.

Indian Wedding Customs - Eastern and Western Indian Wedding Traditions

Eastern Indian marriages
Eastern Indian wedding ceremonies are not as opulent and extravagant as their North Indian counterparts but are equally elaborate in their own way. There are scores of simple but meaningful rituals, many of them very interesting and actually rooted in ancient logic and reasoning. Weddings in India are also an occasion where long-lost close friends and relatives bond and share memorable moments during this happy occasion.
West Indian marriages
Western Indian weddings, especially Maharashtrian weddings, usually take place in the morning. Prior to this, the engagement ceremony, known as Sakhar Puda (exchanging of a sugar packet) takes place to formally declare the betrothal.
In the morning, a puja is conducted to worship Lord Ganesh (the elephant-headed God of prosperity). The groom's family arrives in the morning at either the bride's residence or the mandap and is treated to a lavish breakfast.
After this, as per the auspicious time already set in consultation with various astrological almanacs, the girl's maternal uncle escorts her to the Mandap (marriage hall). Tradition dictates that the girl and boy do not see each other while the Antarpaat ceremony takes place. In this a silk partition (Antarpaat) is placed between them. Then the shlokas are chanted by the priest after which Antarpaat is removed. The friends and relatives gathered shower unbroken rice on the couple as an auspicious sign. The bride and the groom then exchange flower garlands and take the Seven Steps (Saat Pheras) around the ceremonial holy fire.

Wedding Traditions and Custom Made Wedding Dresses

Up until the 1900's, brides hardly ever had custom made wedding dresses made up, opting for their best and finest regular outfit instead. However, the colour green was especially avoided, as it was thought to be unlucky. There was also a different connotation to avoiding the colour green. To say a girl had a 'green gown' implied the girl in question had loose morals, because her dress would be grass-stained from rolling around in the fields! It led to phrases such as 'married in green, ashamed to be seen!' White custom made wedding dresses were made popular by Queen Victoria, who broke the tradition of royalty always marrying in silver. Although green was definitely a colour to avoid, and silver was the hallmark of royalty, there were many other colour associations with wedding attire:
Married in white, you have chosen right
Married in grey, you will go far away,
Married in black, you will wish yourself back,
Married in red, you will wish yourself dead,
Married in green, ashamed to be seen,
Married in blue, you will always be true,
Married in pearl, you will live in a whirl,
Married in yellow, ashamed of your fellow,
Married in brown, you will live in the town,
Married in pink, your spirit will sink.

Groom Wedding Speech - Wow the Crowd With the Perfect Words

The thought of standing in front of a crowd of people and saying the wrong thing was a constant fear and it was actually making me less enthusiastic about getting married believe it or not. Writing the perfect groom wedding speech is a fear for most men as I later found out. I just wish I had learnt that sooner.
Eventually I built up the motivation to write the speech and I did not know where to start. Do you go for a funny speech or something more emotional and sincere? How to get the balance write was very difficult. The best thing I learnt though was to get some words down on paper. When I started writing it got the ball rolling and the ideas started flowing.
If you are in a similar position my advice is to think about the story of your relationship and just start writing. Do not worry about the order of the speech yet, just think about your partner and the best moments of your relationship and put it all down.
I would highly recommend getting a guide to help you with the structure and tone of the content or at least speak to a friend who has been there before. This helped me greatly as a groom wedding speech presented in your home is much different from a crowded wedding hall. The main point though is to speak from the heart and try to capture the way your partner makes you feel.

Etiquette of Great Groom Wedding Speeches

6Tips for Groom Wedding Speech Etiquette's
•The speeches should always follow the father of the groom wedding speech.
•The groom should warmly welcome the entire guest for coming to the wedding and thank them for being part of the wedding reception and ceremony. This should be done at the beginning of the ceremony and special attention should be given to close family members of the bride.
•The presentation should mention a warm gesture to the bride's parents by thanking them for giving away their daughter and re-assure them that you are going to take care of their daughter.
•Introduce the bride, make a statement that makes her feel special, praise her and express how happy you are being with her.
•Include in the groom's wedding speech a toast that thanks all the people that helped make this day a reality, mentioning anyone who went that extra mile for you on that day. Also, add a special mention to the bride's maids and compliment their attire (nothing over the top - remember whose special day it is).
•In the presentation, mention the best man and thank him for coming and maybe, if time permits, say a few brief words about your history or a funny short story.
Final Remarks
To make the presentation flow and be great, make sure you take the time and rehearse it a number of time in front of the mirror or to a friend to see if they can comment on how to improve the speech. Remember to include all the grooms wedding speech examples above & the wedding speech will be unique, memorable and contain all the content it to make your wedding speech great.

The Groom Wedding Speech

Your wedding day is crazy enough, with getting to the church on time and remembering to call the woman you are marrying by the right name. On top of all of that, you have to deliver a speech at your reception, in front of all your family and friends. Here are some simple tips on how to write a groom wedding speech that will impress your beautiful wife and your guests.
The first thing you must do is to take a deep breath and relax. Creating a dialogue that outlines your relationship with your new wife, in a short essay, does not have to be stressful. Take some time to figure out exactly what you want to say, and how you want to say it. It can be serious, with a lot of conviction and sentiment, or you can give it a humorous twist that makes everyone laugh. The main point is to thank everyone, especially your wife for marrying you.
Once you have written everything down, practice saying it out loud. Stand in front of a mirror and read it over and over until you are confident in the way you want it to sound. Read it to your best man and get him to critique it for you. Sometimes running it by someone can give you a better perspective on whether it will be a success or a flop.

Gay Weddings And Why They Are A Good Thing

For many many years gay and lesbian people have been fighting for these type of rights and have lived in fear and the feeling of being a second citizen. Having to live with this over many years, afraid that something could happen or say they didn't want them here, would of been awful and no way to live your life. Gay weddings have opened doors for full same sex rights in the eyes of the law. We call it a gay wedding but really it's a civil partnership, which isn't full marriage but close enough to it. Gay weddings finally show that people do recognize love between people of the same sex is acceptable and the love is just as strong as a straight couple.
The fact that gay weddings are now allowed is a huge sign if not the final sign that it's all OK to be gay and people accept you for what you are. Of course as like anything there is still a small group of people who don't like it. You will find that not every country is as liberal as others and just by being gay you could be in serious trouble or even put to death. Its a matter of gay rights and having gay weddings in a country is a massive step forward in the right direction if not the final step into gay rights. There is the whole thing about gay adoption but that is for another time.

Budget Savvy Wedding Reception Decoration Ideas

Decorations are extremely important to me because I truly believe they help set the overall mood of the events. Believe it or not, guests do take behavioral cues based on how the room looks. Sounds silly doesn't it? But, think about when something is decorated for kids; It's usually in bright, playful and vibrant colors that make you feel young again. Now imagine being in a room that is decorated for a formal event. Sitting at a table where there are three forks, three knives, and three spoons in front of you, doesn't make you feel like turning cartwheels. You will probably feel more appropriate sipping on some champagne and chatting with friends. So, reception decorations set the mood for all of your guests. But with so much to plan, where should you start?
You should always know what you want before buying or renting anything for your space. That doesn't mean that you must know every detail, but there should be certain buzz words in your head. Are you looking for simple elegance or over-the-top fabulousness? Are you going with a particular theme? Or do you have a motif that you want to use throughout the day? These are important questions to ponder in order to get great wedding reception ideas. It is also important to understand that your wedding reception décor should reflect your personality and the level of formality that you are looking for. So think about your buzz words, because they should sound off, in your head, whenever you look at any décor elements. For example, I am truly simple when it comes to decorating. I don't like things to be over-the-top, so simplicity is a really big buzzword for me. Although I want things simple, that does not mean I want a picnic in the park for my wedding day. I think more about a simple, sophisticated style because I think it reflects my personality. Thank goodness that my fiancé is the same way. Anyway, your buzzwords will help give great wedding reception ideas.
Now, I know that no one has to tell overly excited brides this, but you also need to flip through wedding books and magazines to figure out the look that you want. One of my favorite wedding pastimes is to go to the bookstore, get a stack of magazines, find a corner, and dream. Look at the décor elements featured in the magazine. Notice the tablecloths that are being used on the tables as well as the shapes of the tables. Think about the elements that you like and how you would want it to look differently. Pay close attention to how each detail sets the right mood. Browsing through these books, magazines, and online wedding websites helps to shape your wedding reception decoration ideas

Green Reception Ideas For a Wedding - Frequently Asked Questions

Are Flowers Bad For the Environment?
The commercial flower industry often uses harsh pesticides and poisons when growing their products. These chemicals unfortunately do not stay on the plant, they also run off into the soil and eventually contaminate the groundwater. To avoid this, consider shopping for an organic florist, which will source their flowers from growers who have committed to using all natural methods for their production.
How Can I Recycle My Wedding Leftovers?
Although many wedding decorations such as flowers are perishable, they will certainly still be beautiful in the days after your wedding. So many flowers and centerpieces are thrown away and end up in landfills, when they could bring happiness to others before their usefulness is gone. Consider donating your leftover flowers to nursing homes, hospitals, and other places where they will brighten someone's mood. The leftover food will be welcomed by a local foodbank or shelter.
What Other Green Wedding Reception Practices Should I Consider?
The linens and napkins that people often rent for their receptions are typically dry cleaned in a solution known as perchloroethylene, or "perc" for short. This chemical is a known carcinogen and is bad for the environment. Also, the fabrics themselves may be artificial and be made from petroleum products. Consider hiring a vendor that uses green dry cleaning methods such as liquid carbon dioxide, and provides all natural table linens made from cotton or wool.
How Much More Expensive is a Green Wedding Reception?
Honestly, it does not have to be much more expensive than a traditional reception at all. Many of the techniques described above simply take a little extra planning ahead of time, but cost absolutely nothing. Organic farming has become mainstream enough at this point that most larger metro areas will have several options for florists and caterers that will provide organic and lower impact options. At the very least, if you are a socially conscious person it is worth exploring your options before you select traditional vendors and methods for your reception.
As you can see, reception ideas for a wedding that has less impact on the environment are really not all that hard to come by or a lot more expensive than usual. You can see that by choosing organic alternatives in your flowers and linens, insisting on less harmful dry