Destination: Wedding: wedding tips

Showing posts with label wedding tips. Show all posts

Thursday, December 22, 2011

A Christmas Wedding

As Christmas fast approaches, it feels the perfect time to write about Christmas themed weddings. Christmas themed weddings were something I hadn't thought about until recently when I saw a Christmas themed wedding dress in a bridal catalogue. This prompted me to set out to learn as much as I could about Christmas themed weddings.

It seems one of the best things about a Christmas wedding theme is that it’s likely the wedding venue will already have Christmas decorations in place. And given that a Christmas wedding takes place around Christmas (go figure!), guests are already filled with Christmas spirit and cheer.

Theme
Choosing between a modern or traditional theme and deciding upon the colour scheme is the first consideration. The most common colours for a Christmas wedding are gold, silver, red, green or any combination of these. Gold or silver themes can be used in a stylish, minimalist way or you can create a lavish look by layering different items and textures. Likewise, with the traditional red and green Christmas colour scheme, you can use it in a simplistic elegant way or opt for a rich, traditional or even cosy rustic style. Modern Christmas colours might include purple, blue or even pink.

Wedding Dress Ideas
Although you might choose to wear a traditional white dress on your wedding day, a Christmas themed wedding gives you permission to choose an alternative. Why not consider a deep Christmassy red dress edged with white faux fur? Or I can easily see how any of the coloured dresses I recently talked about could work beautifully in a Christmas themed wedding.

Photos © S.A.S.I Corp and www.bridaloriginals.com

There are so many beautiful gold and silver wedding dresses just perfect for a Christmas themed wedding. Alternatively you could choose a white dress with gold or silver embellishments.

Decor

Baskets of pine tree cones with pine tree branches, holly, cranberries all provide an instant feel of Christmas. You can also decorate with tinsel, garlands, wreaths, bunches of flowers and foliage. A gingerbread house, some reindeer, a nativity display or Santa with his sleigh and reindeers can be added to ensure your guests know it’s Christmas. Complete your Christmas theme with a beautifully decorated Christmas tree topped with a bride angel or a bride and groom figurine.

Table Decorations

Crisp white, red or green tablecloths can lay the foundation for your table decorations which might include sprigs of holly with bright red berries, gingerbread men, Christmas crackers, bells and candles. If choosing a silver or gold theme, you can construct a lush, multilayer look by using silver or gold tablecloths dressed with contrasting texture table runners. Use shiny Christmas baubles, garlands and candles along the length of the table or grouped together to provide a beautiful focal point. Try filling a large, glass balloon vases with colour coordinated baubles for showy high-impact table decorations.

Food

For a true Christmas feel you could serve a full traditional Christmas dinner complete with turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, baked glazed ham, roasted root vegetables with Christmas puddings and fruit mince pies for dessert. Instead of a traditional Christmas dinner, you could choose a contemporary alternative with the help of a talented caterer or chef.

If your Christmas wedding will take place in the southern hemisphere where Christmas time is hot rather than cold, you might prefer a relaxing Christmas celebration by the sea. Australia and the Pacific Islands (such as Fiji, the Cook Islands and Vanuatu), are well known for their seafood which typically features on the Christmas menu. A seafood buffet or multi-course meal can include prawns, oysters, mussels, lobster, calamari and fish. Any number of delectable tropical fruits can be made into tantalising desserts and cocktails.

Treat your guests with a chocolate or egg nog fountain where they can dip skewered marshmallows or festive berries before devouring. A candy cane tower laden with candy canes can be placed in reach of children to enable them to help themselves.

Favours

Candles make a lovely favour and can be personalised with the date of the wedding and name of the bridge and groom. Personalised Christmas tree decorations are another great idea for favours and something family and friends will cherish year after year as they decorate their Christmas tree. Chocolates either customised or plain, Christmas candies, or little boxes filled with Christmas treats are bound to be received by your Christmas wedding guests.

As you can see, a Christmas themed wedding can be a fun way to combine your wedding with the festive celebration of Christmas. Do you have any other Christmas themed wedding ideas to share? Have you been to a Christmas themed wedding? how was it?

Destination: Wedding - A guide to planning the destination wedding of your dreams is available in paperback and digital formats at Amazon (UK), Amazon (USA) and from www.destination-wedding-book.com.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Destination Wedding Make-Up Tips

Image courtesy of Larsson Photography

Consider the weather

I can’t stress enough how important it is to consider the weather. Depending on the time of year your wedding is taking place, the climate can be very different at your destination to that at home. Summer time in the tropics can be quite a contrast to a chilly winter climate. The skin care products and make-up that suit you perfectly at home won’t necessarily be suitable for hot and humid conditions at your destination. Likewise, if you are heading from a summer time climate for a cooler one, you’ll find your skin care and make-up regime will need adjustment. Even if you won’t be facing such extremes, you will still need to take into account likely levels of dryness/humidity, light/shadows, sunshine/rain, and how these might impact your wedding day make-up.

Every bride is advised to wear waterproof mascara on her wedding day, this will guard against runs and panda eyes should there be tears, rain or high humidity. If you’re new to waterproof mascara or trying a new brand, be sure to trial wearing it ahead of your wedding day to check that you don’t develop a sensitivity or allergic reaction to the product. This is especially important with any products to be used in the eye area such as eyeliners, shadows and false eyelash glues.

Image courtesy of Esther Marie Make-up Artist

Consult a professional

It’s a good idea to consult a local make-up artist or beautician before your wedding to discuss the best products to use. Even if you aren't able to use their services on your wedding day (due to inability to travel, cost etc), their advice will be invaluable in making sure you choose the right skin care and make-up for your wedding day. If time and budget allow, you should meet with them before the big day for some tips and a make-up trial.

If you are using a make-up artist on your wedding day, it will save you having to buy loads of new expensive products that you may not use again once you return home. This is something worth considering when weighing up the costs of doing it yourself versus hiring a professional.

For those on a tight budget, try visiting the cosmetic counters of your local department store. You’ll often find qualified and experienced make-up artists ready to provide free advice and even complimentary in-store make-up makeovers. In some cases you will need to book these ahead of time so be sure to visit them well in advance of your wedding day.

Choose make-up to suit your wedding day theme and location

The style of make-up you choose for your wedding day will vary depending on your wedding theme and location. An outdoor, beach side wedding for example, will call for lighter more natural make-up than a dimly lit Scottish castle where heavier more dramatic make-up can be more appropriate. Research other weddings that have taken place at your destination wedding location to see what has worked and what hasn’t. If possible, ask brides what they did and what if anything they would change if they had their time over again.

Do a trial make-up session

A make-up trial is essential to ensure your wedding day make-up application goes to plan. If you are doing your own make-up, be sure to trial the make-up at home before you head off for your wedding and again before the big day. Have a special make-up bag prepared with all the essential items you will use on the day of your wedding to keep it separate from your day-to-day make-up. If you don’t wear make-up often, and feel clumsy during your trials, try making a wedding day make-up instructions list which sets out every task you need to complete in order to achieve your perfect look.

If you’re lucky enough to have a professional make-up artist doing your make-up on your wedding day, be sure to arrange a trial session with them ahead of time (check to see if there is an extra cost associated with this). A trial will enable your make-up artist to understand your needs and discover which products will suit best. They should take notes to refer back to on the day and it’s also handy to have a photo taken after the trial to see how the make-up translates through the camera lens.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Breaking with tradition – alternatives to the white wedding gown

Dita Von Teese in her Vivian Westwood wedding gown

No Shrinking Violet

When burlesque superstar Dita Von Teese and controversial shock-rocker Marilyn Manson announced they were tying the knot, no one was surprised to learn their wedding was less than traditional.

Instead of wearing white, in true burlesque style, gorgeous dancer/actor/model Von Teese

chose this luscious, deep violet Vivian Westwood designed gown for her wedding day.

She would have been a breathtaking sight as she passed through the gothic arches of Castle Gurteen Le Poer in Kilsheelan, an Irish castle owned by a friend of the couple.

A harp played and they wed at midnight. The wedding was officiated by Chilean friend, underground film director and comic book writer Alejandro Jodorowsky.

Fate and destiny
One of my favourite and most beautiful non-traditional wedding gowns is this one worn by Caitlyn (below). Her wedding took place in New Zealand’s breathtaking Queenstown against a backdrop of picture perfect snow capped mountains.

As I discovered after asking her what made her choose a red wedding gown, Caitlyn had not actively sought out a non-traditional dress. Rather, she’d happened across a wedding store and, without an appointment, reluctantly decided to go in and take a wander around. “It was found by accident hidden between rows of traditional dresses” she told me. “The staff at Astra Bridal managed to squeeze me in to try it on briefly and I was hooked!!”. It was the first wedding dress Caitlyn had ever tried on so she went on to try two other more traditional ivory dresses for peace of mind, but nothing felt quite the same as her perfect red dress.

I really love Caitlyn’s story. It just goes to show that sometimes fate and destiny can step in to make decisions for you.

Pinks and purples are hugely popular non-traditional colours:

Here are some other colours to consider:

Poinciana Red
This next red dress made for an extra special pairing with a Poinciana tree in full bloom on a beach on beautiful Hamilton Island in Australia. I just love the colour energy and synergy with the backdrop.

Something Blue
Although Michael Buble’s bride wore a traditional white dress at their Vancouver wedding, she wore this cute little blue number for their civil ceremony in her home town of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Bewitching in Black
Vera Wang sent shockwaves through the bridal fashion world when she sent her very black wedding dress collection down the runway at her recent fall bridal show.

Images from New York Times

Speaking to the Bee-Shyuan Chang for the New York Times, Mark Ingram, owner of the Mark Ingram Bridal Atelier in Manhattan described the collection as "... shocking and outrageous, but it was also fabulous”. See more of the collection at Fashionologie.

With the trend for non-traditional wedding gowns growing, what colour will you wear on your wedding day?

Friday, February 18, 2011

Ten great ways to save money on your destination wedding

1. Tag your destination wedding on to an already planned holiday

If you’ve already planned a dream getaway, why not get married en-route or at your holiday destination? It can be expensive to travel and getting time off from work can be an extra hurdle. The cost and time effectiveness of combining a holiday with a wedding makes it the ideal solution for many couples.

2. Have your ceremony, reception and honeymoon at the same location

By combining the ceremony and reception locations you save by eliminating the often complicated logistics involved in getting everyone one venue to the next. Honeymooning at your wedding location means even more savings and many resorts will provide complimentary upgrades to honeymooning couples and/or include special celebratory items such as champagne, flowers and chocolate.

3. Negotiate group discounts

If you have a medium or large sized group attending your destination wedding, check to see if you can negotiate group discounts on travel, accommodation, activities and meals. You’ll be amazed at how much you can save yourselves and your guests by negotiating a discounted group rate. It’s quite common for the savings to be in the order of 10% to 50%.

4. Consider an alternative to a traditional wedding gown

There are so many more cost effective options to the traditional wedding gown. Gone are the days where you had to spend thousands of dollars on a dress you will wear for just a few short hours. If you’re marrying overseas, check out what the local brides wear or consider dressing down for a more casual affair. If you are getting married on the beach for example, a tropical dress rather than an elaborate white wedding gown could not only be more suitable, but cheaper too!

5. Do your own hair and makeup

Doing your own hair and makeup is a great way to save money on your destination wedding. It can also be fun especially if you enlist the help of a willing wedding guest. If the thought of doing your own hair and makeup is daunting consider having only your hair done professionally and doing your own makeup. There are loads of books and online beauty sites with step by step instructions on how to achieve perfect wedding day makeup.

6. Buy local wherever possible

By choosing local you’ll save money on everything from food to flowers. Find out which flowers are local and incorporate them into your wedding flowers. Selecting local produce for your wedding menu will not only save you money but add to the experience for you and your guests as you eat like the locals do. Locally bought souvenirs can make delightful wedding favours which can work out much cheaper particularly if you’re marrying in another country with a favourable exchange rate.

7. Set up a destination wedding wishing well

Instead of guests dragging gifts along with them to your destination wedding, suggest instead that they donate the funds they would have spent on gifts to your destination wedding wishing well. These funds can be used to pay for elements of your destination wedding, activities or honeymoon. Your destination wedding gift fund can include things like airfares, dinner for two, couples massage and tours. There are companies like Wedding List Co. that specialise in managing your wishing well.

8. Send e-invites

Traditional wedding invitations are no longer the only option when it comes to inviting guests to your wedding. Consider instead the e-invite that you can design on any number of available design programs. Convert the invitation to portable document format (PDF) and email to family and friends. Most brides find that guests will RSVP via email anyway – it makes sense to save on expensive invitations and postage and take advantage of email instead.

9. Plan your destination wedding for a non-peak period

Substantial savings can be made by booking your destination wedding outside of peak tourist times. You’ll find that transport, accommodation and even activity prices are lower in non-peak times.

10. Elope!

Perhaps the biggest cost saving action you can take is to elope. Eloping (the two of you running away to be married) will reduce costs dramatically as you won’t need to host and entertain guests.

Do you have any other ideas on how to save money on a destination wedding?