Wedding Breeze

A typical wedding can often be fun, lively and very memorable. However, it will still be typical and so will lack the novelty that a slightly different kind of wedding can provide – such as an eco-friendly wedding. The current interest in going green should have made you also become aware that you can still celebrate the big occasion in a more novel way while also considering factors such as pollution (including noise pollution) and think about ways and means by which you can turn your wedding into an occasion that does not contribute to the woes of the world and instead helps preserve our delicate environment.

Usage Of Recycled Candles In An Eco Friendly Wedding

A simple though effective way to ensure a more eco friendly wedding is to make use of candles that have been recycled and to also prefer using soy candles over paraffin candles. You can also opt to use Mason jars that are adorable especially when decked with some satin ribbons or vintage organza. The centerpiece could be made of heart shape from seashells.

As for eco friendly catering, you can achieve this goal by choosing a local caterer that only makes use of natural ingredients in their foods. For mints as too candy you can substitute Jordan almonds or traditional forms of table candy with organic chocolates as well as Fair Trade certified candies. If you need to find these and other organic foods check out some of the organic stores including those such as NaturalCandyStore.com.

For the wedding dressit is possible to go green by shopping for organic as well as vegetable dyed fabric for the bride as well as bridesmaid’s gowns and even for the flower girls. One can get various online stores which are specialized in these kinds of green dresses and Getconscious.com in particular is a good option.

Similarly, there are several good ideas for green and eco-friendly wedding invitations including using pure cotton paper and for flowers, you can choose potted plants or cut flowers (organic and certified) rather than the traditional floral arrangements. Antique or traditional rings or those which are used from generations will be good for wedding. An eco friendly honeymoon is the best choice?

The wedding flower is important for the big day and so should be chosen with great care. In fact, if not chosen properly they will, besides not being able to provide the extra life to the occasion, will also prove to be unnecessarily costly as well.

Choosing the right clothes for the groom is just as important as choosing the dress and choosing your castle wedding venue.  You need to give more thought to this if you have a destination wedding venue as your vision of wedding attire at your destination might not be appropriate or climate friendly.

Without question a well tailored suit or tuxedo is the most popular choice for every type of wedding except the most casual.

Not all tuxedos are the same, and choosing one that will flatter the groom is vital. To help you choose, see our tips below for bringing a style for the men together and for choosing the right style of suit for different body types.

Tuxedo or Not?
While it remains the most popular choice for most weddings, a formal tuxedo can look out of place in some situations. Many destination weddings take place on the beach or in outdoor locations where this kind of formality may not be suitable.

For such weddings, lighter coloured fabrics, light grey or perhaps even cream or white, in cool crease-resistant fabrics look great. However the shapes that work still depend on the groom’s physique and are the same whether or not the clothes are formal.

Coordinating the Men
If you have a formal wedding the male members of the wedding party should dress in a similar style to the groom, but not identically.

A deservedly popular approach is for the groom to wear a neutral coloured tie, cummerbund or vest/waistcoat while the groomsmen wear the same style tuxedo or suit but use accessories (buttonholes, ties, cummerbunds) in colours that coordinate with the bridesmaids dresses.

Choosing Right Suit
This depends on your groom’s frame. The guidelines below will help you to choose the best suit for him.

Short & Stocky Grooms
Shoulder pads make the waist look smaller, as does a deep V neckline. Avoid pleated trousers and cummerbunds which just make you look round!

Dark grey is a better color choice than black.

Short & Slim Grooms
Tailoring is key, especially choose a very well crafted jacket, 2 or 3 button works best. Pleated trousers are good and if a cummerbund is chosen it should not be deep and one in a complimentary shade works best.

Black or very dark suits are best avoided, white is good for summer weddings or any paler shade of grey.

Tall & Slim Grooms
These lucky grooms can carry off fashionable 5 button jackets or double breasted suits with ease. Higher necklines emphasise a long upper body and can look wonderful.

If you are on the thin side, add shoulder pads and a cummerbund in a contrasting colour to add upper body definition.

Tall & Broad Grooms
Go for a shawl collar and a deep V, it will make your upper body look longer. Trousers with a subtle stripe are slimming and help avoid a blocky look and darker suits are often the best choice.

Avoid a cummerbund at all costs.

Remember to find appropriate shoes to compliment his suit.  Ask your destination wedding planner if it is possible to hire shoes.  They do not hire shoes for weddings in France for instance so all the men in your party have to bring and shine their own.

Other things for your groom to consider are a hair cut, a shave without any slices.

Bleach those teeth nice and white a month before your big day.  Have eye drops to make sure his eyes twinkle on the day. 

Very importantly do not let him have his bachelor party the night before your wedding.   Have a great day at your castle wedding venue.

And if you do a trash the dress photoshoot bring your hubbie along.

Most men find it difficult to express their feelings. When it comes to the best man speech, it becomes even harder for men to narrate what the groom wants to express. But remember, the speech should not have to be difficult. All you need to do is take the time to plan and prepare and it can be much easier than you think.

It is wise to plan and prepare what you want to say. Learn some public speaking strategies to help you express the speech well. Speeches given by the best man are in honor of the groom, yet the bride should be able to recognize what the best man is expressing.

Best man speeches are also called toasts. If you prepare in advance, you will create a leading toast that includes respectful and funny messages. You will be able to create sincere and personal comments that express important words that are appropriate for the audience of all ages.

The best man speech requires of you to express messages that go between respect and irreverence. You will be able to make personal observations and ensure that the audience understands and appreciates what you say, especially if you plan and prepare your statements ahead.

Focus on both the youngest and older groups of people when you plan and prepare your best man speech. This will help you to write respectful and irreverence messages that will not upset any of the guests at the wedding ceremony. Try to plan and prepare your best man speech in advance so that you have enough time to create a groundbreaking speech that will leave an impression on the audience for years to come.

To summarize, this article has shown you some useful tips and advice on how to prepare for the best man speech. Now that you have finished reading this article, you should be ready to start writing and practicing for the big day!

Walking your daughter down the aisle and giving her away as she takes her place alongside her groom at the altar is by all accounts, a day that will long be remembered. Nonetheless, father of the bride speeches are another part of the special day that will be kept in memory long after the wedding reception is over.

Father of the bride speeches can be a very difficult task to try and approach. Often, emotions are very strong and it is hard to even consider giving a wedding speech in front of a large group of people, especially if you are not accustomed to speaking in public.

One simple idea to help you start to formulate father of the bride speeches, is to keep a pen and paper nearby so that as thoughts and ideas about your daughter come to you, you can jot them down quickly. Later, you can use the memories and emotions that you captured as a starting place for your wedding speech. In the course of a day, write down ordinary things you see your daughter doing and then make a note of how you felt at the time.

The notes can be something as simple and ordinary as washing the dishes or playing with her siblings. In fact, it is often the everyday actions and the feelings surrounding them that can be the most poignant part of father of the bride speeches. Simply recounting the pride and happiness you felt in watching your daughter perform everyday routines can be very touching.

The reason it is important to jot down these notes is that when it is time to sit down and write the speech, sometimes your mind will draw a blank. Having even a few pages of notes will be helpful at this point and if it is a theme wedding, this can also help to direct your thoughts as you prepare your wedding speech as the father of the bride.

When it is time to sit down and compose father of the bride speeches, there are some fundamental things that are almost always good to include. First off, adding a little something about your daughter as she was when she was young always adds a bit of charm and depth to the speech. This also gives people a glimpse of the bride as a youngster. This could be a short story about her if it’s fitting. Just remember that your purpose is to uplift and not to embarrass her on this special day.

Another idea, if there is not a story that you want to share in the wedding speech, is to include what she excelled in at school, her favorite teacher, class, sport and why, or even things from her first time in the work force. These little insights from her youth can be a nice way to point out some of her unique characteristics and also to help her new in-laws learn more about her.

Another component of many father of the bride speeches, is to talk a little bit about how their daughter was before meeting her groom. For example, was she more shy, not as confident, not as well-grounded, or given to a lot of ups and downs? You can then contrast that with how she has been since their relationship progressed more seriously. When this has been perfected and written with kindness, it can be the part of the wedding speech that gives people the most insight about the couple.

With these ideas and guidelines in mind, father of the bride speeches can be prepared fairly painlessly. Remember that your wedding speech should only be about 10 minutes long at the most and around a thousand words, more or less. To be sure that you come across as warm and heartfelt rather than nervous, invest a few minutes everyday for about a week before the wedding to practice your speech out loud in front of a mirror.

The best way to tell the woman you love that you really love her is to surprise her with a sparkling gold or platinum diamond ring. And, no jewelry is more versatile or longer lasting than beautiful diamonds set in precious platinum or gold. You may ask if it is really a good idea to buy something as important as your wedding and engagement rings online? Actually, you really do want to!

The carefully guarded secret is that you can get the highest quality, custom made jewelry by purchasing online rather than walking through the door of a bricks and mortar store. If you search online, you will find a larger selection of design and quality than most local jewelers can keep in stock, and the prices online will often reflect deep discounts over what local retailers ask.

It makes sense, though. Without the crushing overhead (utilities, rent, security, etc.) that physical stores involve, the world’s best designers and craftsmen can offer you treasures at a fraction of the price you would pay retail while maintaining quality and variety.

For example, consider the Platinum 2 Row Diamond Ring. This beautiful diamond anniversary ring features 2 rows of round brilliant cut diamonds for a .50 or 1.0 total carats. The diamonds are set in a classic channel setting featuring a milgrain edge that adds a touch of style. This stunning platinum diamond ring is available in four qualities of diamonds and finger sizes from 4 - 14 in one quarter size increments.

Or, consider an attractive platinum diamond wedding band featuring a row of round brilliant cut diamonds on opposite sides of the ring. The Platinum Channel Set with Vertical Lines contains 12 diamonds securely set in each channel. 24 diamonds offer a 0.75 or 1.50 Total Carat Weight. An attractive design makes this a beautiful and uniquely designed platinum wedding band. Additional comfort for the wearer is provided by a tapered band with a smaller width on the bottom portion of the ring.

There is a whole world of stunning designs in platinum, so this short article cannot possibley cover them all. Several more articles could be devoted to platinum jewelry without even bringing up the endless possibilities in gold rings. You may be astonished by the wide variety of exquisite rings that you can find online at great prices.

The internet is bringing the world to your desktop, so you don’t have to travel extensively or have a big bank account. Take advantage of the wonders this technology brings to your computer screen, and show the woman you don’t want to live without that you are not only loving, but also smart and have excellent taste.

Once you have selected your destination wedding venue, wedding dress then you need to select your wedding jewellery.  They key to your choice of wedding jewellery is really “the dress”!.

It is important not to go overboard. If every piece of jewellery you wear is stunning, then they will all fight for attention and in the process divert attention away from you - the bride!

Most people build up a “look” or theme around one particular piece of their wedding day outfit. It might take a while to settle on a theme, and it may change several times before the big day, but at some point you will probably see a gorgeous pair of shoes, or an adorable bouquet of flowers that inspires the rest of your outfit, or even the whole wedding. Whatever your inspiration, it’s a good idea to try and get each piece of the outfit to sit harmoniously with everything else.

First of all, you need to fix the budget for the shopping as mentioned before. This would help you to narrow down your search for the right kind of wedding jewelry. Wedding jewelry can get really expensive; therefore it is a better bet to fix upon a certain amount. It would help you to make a better and a faster mode of selection as well.

You do not always have to spend an exorbitant amount on wedding jewelry. Browse through your mother’s jewelry box and wear a family heirloom.

Balance is the key -

Buy for the Future
Your wedding is a good opportunity to invest in jewellery that can be worn again in the future on special occasions, even special pieces that may increase in value or become family heirlooms.

Stick to Your Own Style
If your normal style is funky and modern, you are not going to feel particularly comfortable on your wedding day with conservative jewels.

Wedding jewellery is generally fashioned out of crystals, pearls, diamante or a combination of the three, and is available in a vast array of styles and designs. As most brides wear dresses that involve either small or no straps, they choose to wear a bridal necklace, adding a little sparkle to their otherwise bare neck. The majority of bridal necklaces are white, ivory or cream in colour, and rather than consisting of a chain with a pendant are instead made up of delicate beaded designs.

  This advice bodes well for hairstyles and make-up too. You want to feel comfortable on the day.

If you are going for a theme at your wedding like baroque for a castle wedding keep your jewellery style sympathetic to this style - Whether it be design or colour.

Introduce Colour
While traditionally bridal jewellery is silver or gold, pearl or diamond in colour, there is nothing at all to stop you from introducing more drama by choosing jewellery with some colour.  Pearls look great at a castle wedding.

It is particularly effective to subtly pick up the colours of your bridesmaids dresses with an accent colour in your jewellery. Here are some suggestions:

A gentle taupe introduces soft colour. Shades like this work great with cream coloured wedding dresses or dresses with an antique style.

Sapphire or blue colours will perfectly pick up the colour of blue bridesmaids dresses, or of the bride’s eyes. Have the men wear a buttonhole with a blue flower.
 
Pink and peach shades are pretty and feminine and good with similar coloured flowers. With more casual jewellery these tones work very well at a beach wedding.

Red is the bridal colour in China, but for most of us seems quite a brave colour for a bride to wear at her wedding, but if kept as a subtle accent can work brilliantly - especially with a red rose bouquet.

You need to consider your wedding dress and the hair style that you want to go with it before you can think about your wedding jewellery.  Think about your venue too.  An up do and heavy jewels would look silly on a beach.

Another consideration is to buy well made jewellery as you will want it to be passed down to your daughter and hopefully your grand-daughter as a family heirloom. 

Is a castle a wedding locale only for the lord or lady of the manor? No way.

Castle weddings albeit favorite of the crème de la crème of Hollywood, the nouveau riche and sports greats and the crème de la crème of Hollywood, the nouveau riche and those couples where money was not an object, are surprising affordable.  They are not exclusively for this moneyed bunch.  You do not have to be Madonna, Tom Cruise, Paris Hilton or a Russian ogliarch or just  incredibly financially well off to rent one of these beautiful and wondrous locations that sometimes seem to come to life straight from the pages of a fairy tale.

Have you ever dreamed of having a wedding in France, the most romantic country in the world?

The attraction of destination weddings is that only your nearest and dearest friends and family are invited.  Forget the second cousin you have not seen for 15 years and your Mum’s bridge partners and work colleagues and your Dad’s golfing buddies.  Destination weddings are normally arranged for an average of thirty guests.  The number increases if the bride or groom come from large families. 

Destination weddings are a fresh new way to start a new life together.  They are on the rise, now accounting for 15%* of all weddings held. With nearly a 200%** increase just in the last 10 years. 

Destination weddings are popular with brides and grooms, and just as popular with the invited guests.Destination weddings are available for every budget. Destination weddings are very popular these days, as a stress-free alternative to hosting a wedding in your home town.

Because the number of guests at a destination wedding are much lower and the largest percentage of wedding budget is normally spent on the wedding venue and catering and alcohol, destination weddings even in a fairytale french chateau can work out cheaper than an alternative historic venue at home, or the Disneyland castle or Las Vegas Excalibur hotel.  

So if you want to be a princess bride go for the real McCoy - an authentic castle.  You will get that castle feel that only a genuine castle can pull off. 

These days you can rent a chateau for your wedding party exclusively for one night to a week in order to hold your wedding reception.  This way you can be the only bride on the day. {Nothing removes the fairytale princess feeling quicker than seeing another bride at the same venue also having a fairytale princess moment.}

If your budget is limited you need to think off season or wedding season mid week as this may allow you to hire the castle for one or two nights only.  If you have your heart set on a summer wedding you are probably looking at a weekly chateau rental or a day’s hire at a big chateau hotel for the same price.

There are a whole list of castle wedding venues available offering a few rooms for your guests up to castle hotels with hundreds.  The bigger your number of guests the more likely you will have to select a proper castle hotel with the added extras of an army of staff and alcohol and liquor costs to match.

There are family run chateaux that offer there luxury properties to guests specifically for weddings. These chateaux are outfitted with all of the the infrastructure for up to thirty guests and appropriately sized reception rooms with all of the tables, chairs, cutlery, crochery and linen and form a small percentage of rental chateaux available.

Some go so far as to offer very attractive castle wedding packages. A castle wedding package is not as expensive as you would think.   You can plan a chateau wedding on a budget.  Do not think that a fairytale wedding is only a possibility for the rich. Some chateau hotels even do weddings for a party of four (the bride and groom and their respective witnesses).If you dreamt of marrying your prince charming in a fairytale wedding castle as a little girl, your dream can come true.

When chosing a castle wedding package, accessibility, price and what is included in a package will all factor in your decision. 

· Accessibility – the venue and chapel or wedding location should be near the reception area.

· Package – some venues offer attractive wedding packages with discounts because of the group booking. You want flowers, decoraton, music, food and alcohol, transportation and wedding planning included as a minimum

· Price – a french castle wedding package is still typically much cheaper than a big wedding at a historic venue in England or America.For what you would pay to haire a Scotish castle for a day you can usually rent a french chateau for a week.  You really do pay to be able to drive up from London.

A castle wedding package really is an affordable option for pretty much every couple.

A castle wedding venue can be a fulfilment of a fantasy like a french wedding in a wedding chateau.

One of the most exciting things to happen in a person’s life is the wedding.

Your guests get to have a holiday and attend your fairytalke wedding.  Planning for a destination wedding will take a lot of work and could be very demanding but the rewards can be worth it.

A private castle wedding venue setting is probably the most romantic location a couple could choose for their wedding. As guests descend the long drive and entrance to a private castle they will be immediately transformed into an ancient time.

The major differences between a private castle and a luxury castle hotel are privacy, cost and service. A private castle gives a couple and their guests the most private and authentic castle wedding experience. The couple and their guests would have the exclusive run of the castle and the castle grounds whereas at a luxury castle hotel, the couple would only be allowed in public rooms, individual guest rooms and areas of the grounds open to the public.

Often luxury hotels prohibit wedding attire inside or on the grounds unless the couple has taken exclusive use of the hotel for their wedding day. In England, a standard hotel room in a luxury castle hotel can start at $500 a room, making a single night’s fee as much as $50,000 for the hotel rooms only. A typical private castle would start at $5,000 a night. However a hotel’s fees include much more than the location itself.

In a private castle you would have to pay additional fees for a chef, servers, maid service and a personal concierge. These fees can cost as much as $2,500 a day depending on the size of the staff.

When taking a private wedding castle, my first advice to a bride is to allow the location to be the atmosphere. Rarely does a private castle need to be decorated and simplicity is the key.

The first destination wedding factor to consider is who can attend the wedding location.

Out of town weddings are preferred by couples as a way to lessen the number of guests at the events. Sometimes, when the budget is concerned the destination wedding etiquette is to set aside money for accommodations and transportation for the immediate members of the family and entourage.  You might need to heavily subsidize or simply pay for some travel costs of a close poor relative. 

Destination weddings are usually attended by only a few children usually being immediate relatives.

Guests can turn the out of town wedding into a mini-vacation just by spending their time together at the venue. Do some research.  It is handy if the wedding couple have a wedding website so you can familiarise yourself with the location and possible sight-seeing and cultural activities on offer. 

Just like a wedding at home, family play a big part and help out as much as possible.

Enjoy your castle wedding venue.

One of the best things about wedding planning is that the people that are planning on getting married will never get a more wonderful opportunity to enjoy being creative in deciding what can and cannot be done on the wedding day and this of course will give them a chance to grow closer to one another. Romance will be in the air and there will also be a certain magic in being able to create the ideal wedding. The only thing to spoil this great way of doing something together is that often wedding planning becomes bogged down in unnecessary details and this is something that every couple-to-be should learn to avoid because it can get them down.

Wedding Planning Calls For Making Important Decisions

No doubt, wedding planning calls for making important decisions and sifting through myriads of ideas and suggestions; in addition, it calls for dealing with a whole wide variety of choices and dealing with different people. The fun can very easily go out of your wedding planning if you become stressed by all the choices and decisions that need to be made.

It therefore pays to approach wedding planning in a smart way and to be prepared to overcome obstacles. However, before the actual wedding planning begins you need to first of all finalize the date of the wedding and you need to also ensure that your wedding ceremony is not cluttered or too complicated because it is better to keep things simple and straightforward. This grant permission to everyone to share their most happy incidents without too much explanation or unnecessary showiness.

Next, you can get stuck with the actual wedding planning. This means understanding the need to know that delegating tasks will make the overall planning more fun and easier. For better wedding planning ideas, don’t hesitate to tap the Internet where you can get some very useful and bright ideas. Approach the wedding planning in as organized a manner as is possible and also make an effort to pick the right and appropriate theme for the wedding – one that suits your personality and defines you as well.

At last, take decision on bridal associates and also prepare complete guest list carefully. You should learn wedding planning before actual wedding take place. This means being prepared mentally and coming up with a budget to which you need to stick to closely. It also means using a wedding planner book and creating a time line within which to get everything done.

Traditionally all champagne only comes from the Champagne Region of France. If it does not say France somewhere on the label, it falls into the category of sparkling wine and is simply and unquestionnably not considered true champagne.  French champagne at a french wedding is essential

The Loire Valley really is the most beautiful wine region in the world with glorious chateaux sprinkled around every bend.

France is a country that has an amazing affinity for its land.  It is a land of 365 cheeses - a cheese for every day of the week.  French people know the different “terroirs” - the country, its micro-climate and its produce and especially its wine.They have an incredible appreciation for the effect of soil, and sun on different plots of land at a cross-intersection where one produces bottles worth 5 euros and another worth 20 and the best worth over 150 euros. You and I might struggle with this but Oz Clark describes it poetically.

Some fine well-known champagne from France include Veuve Clicquot or Moet & Chandon.   We have been able to buy Veuve Clicquot simply off the shelf one bottle at a time for 23 euros a bottle last year (part of the Intermarche empire) 4 minutes away is cheaper than lots of wine merchants who promise your good prices.

For serving champagne there are two styles of glasses to choose from. The wide rimmed round glasses with shorter stems of yester-years, perfect for a vintage themed reception, or the more modern elongated flute, which provides an elegant air.

Some venues will have both styles of glasses to choose from, while others will require you to seek an outside rental agency to provide them. You may even wish to purchase champagne flutes as a wedding favor to help guests remember what could be possibly their first taste of french champagne at a french wedding.

A tried and true decorative feature that incorporates champagne is the creation of a champagne fountain out of tiered glasses. A champagne pyramid properly phtographed looks spectacular.  If you can instruct yor caterers and your photographer that you want one.

If you are opting for a champagne pyramid you need the short champagne glasses as the tall flutes make your tower too high and are the wrong proportion. 

You could ask your caterers if they will do a display of sabering champagne.  This will need to be done outside.It is a beautiful celebratory touch for champagne for the bride and groom.  You need to be very careful.  The saberer needs to wear gloves, long sleeves and glasses.The champagne should be ice cold.Do not do this intoxicated - it is dangerous. We are talking sharp knives and broken glass and flying bits - people have been seriously injured. Be responsible.  You need to make sure that the sabered glass is collected so it is not a hazard to any one cutting themselves.  Also the bottle itself once sabered is incredibly sharp an easy for people to cut themselves on.  Be careful please.  Nothing ruins a wedding like blood. 

For a truly stylish wedding, nothing flows better than true Champagne.  If you budget just simply will not stretch that far go for Champagne Methodoise - Vouvray from the Loire Valley is a sparkling Chenin Blanc champagne style alternative. 

Champagne at the head table at your french wedding chateau is worth the cost.  It is your wedding in France and you should splash out on yourselves.