Now that all is said and done, it’s time to write your thank you cards. Whether your loving friends and family gave you a gift, a gift card or an envelope full of cash, and whether you liked the gift or not, common etiquette states that you must send a thoughtful, hand-written thank you card for everything that was received. Continue reading
Wedding Planning
Wedding Planning IX: Flowers
For me, no symbol represents a bride quite as quintessentially as the bouquet. This probably has something to do with the miniature bouquets my mom used to make for my Barbie brides. Though, when you think about it, there really is no other time in a woman’s life that she gets to proudly carry a bouquet, than when she is participating in a wedding. There will be other times to wear elaborate dresses, and veils can still worn at funerals, but this is the only situation where a lady will have the opportunity to carry a bouquet. Continue reading
Wedding Planning VIII: Wedding Invitations
Many couples today are following the trend of making their own wedding invitations using do-it-yourself kits, and why not, you can buy any pone of the multitudes of pretty designs, write exactly what you want and conform to no man – all at a fraction of the price of sending them out to be professionally done. For me, finding the perfect wedding invitation kit was almost as emotional as finding the perfect wedding dress. It took me forever to make a decision, fearing that I would settle for one style only to find one I liked better the next day. Of course this fear was realised every time I stepped into the wedding isle of my local craft supply store to pick up another item for the wedding. Eventually I had to say to myself, “the invitations you picked have pleased your mother, the toughest battle has been won,” and stop worrying that a more perfect option would or had come around. Aside from this inevitable circumstance, the whole process was a primarily positive experience. I would recommend this option to any bride on a budget. Continue reading
Wedding Planning VII: Cake
In a perfect world, you should be thinking about and placing an order for your wedding cake nine to twelve months before your wedding. In the real world, I would recommend doing this at least three months prior to your wedding date. As with every other step along the path to planning a perfect wedding, you will be asked many, many questions about the big day when placing your wedding cake order – and you better have the answers if you want this step to go smoothly. What to know before you go:
- The date of your wedding
- Time of day of your ceremony and reception
- The number of guests you will be inviting
- The number of people in your wedding party
- The locations of both your ceremony and reception
- Your colour scheme
- The flowers you will be using in the bouquets
- The flowers you will be using to decorate with (centrepieces and what-not)
- The theme of your wedding (if any)
- What kinds of cake toppers you like
- The type of meal you will be serving at your reception (formal sit down vs. buffet)
- How you want to cut the cake
- How you want to have the cake served
- What other desserts you will be serving
- Your budget
You can then expect to taste some different samples of popular wedding cake choices, both traditional and exotic. Next you will choose the flavours you like best, colours, decorations and style of wedding cake you want. The size of your cake and number of tiers will be determined by the number of guests you will be inviting. The baker you speak with will be able to make well informed recommendations and will be very good at helping you make decisions. If the person you meet with does not ask you an almost overwhelming amount of questions you may want to shop around a bit more, as they are only doing so to give you the best service and outcome possible.
Although my fiancé and I did meet with the baker of this beauty,
Wedding Cake from Sweet Celebrations
we ultimately decided to go with an untraditional chocolate truffle “cake”: a hollow chocolate shell in the shape of a traditional wedding cake filled with high-quality, gourmet chocolate truffles. Possibly the best part, we get to smash it open instead of cutting it. As you can see, wedding cake options today are endless. The time for the traditional fruitcake wedding cake has come to an end; from any flavour of cake desired, to any colour of fondant icing imaginable, to cupcakes, to chocolate truffle “cakes” the time has come to have fun with your wedding cake.