Some Tips For Choosing the Perfect Wedding Invitations
By Shaunta Pleasant

There are many vital details associated with planning the perfect wedding, and it is all too easy to overlook the importance of the wedding invitations.

You do this at your peril, however, since these little pieces of paper have a vital role to play in the success of the celebration.

Without the wedding invitations you will not be able to accurately determine the number of guests you will be expecting, and that will make it harder to do everything from rent the reception hall to order the wedding cake.

The Many Options For Choosing Wedding Invitations

Brides and grooms have many options when it comes time to choose their invitations, from ordering their wedding invitations at the local print shop to choosing from the vast selection online.

Computer savvy couples can even choose to print their own unique customized invitations on their home computer, using their color printers to create some truly innovative designs.

Get Started As Early As Possible

No matter where the invitations are printed it is important to get started as early as possible.

Wedding deadlines have a way of sneaking up on us, and it can be difficult to get it all done in time. Since the invitations are such an integral part of planning the celebration it is important to get them out as early as possible.

This is even more of a concern if a large number of guests will be coming from out of town.

If many guests are expected from around the country it may be a good idea to reserve a block of hotel rooms for their stay in town, and in order to do that effectively you will need a good estimate of how many out of town guests to expect.

Until the invitations are sent out and the RSVP cards are received back you will not know that important number.

Do Not Under Estimate The Response Cards

When choosing the perfect wedding invitations don’t forget the importance of the response cards.

Providing guests a fast and easy way to respond to your invitation is essential, and any good wedding invitation should include a handy tear off RSVP card guests can use to say they will be attending your wedding celebration.

Shaunta Pleasant is a professional writer and editor on wedding topics. Visit my site to learn
more about planning the perfect wedding at http://www.best-wedding-plan.com/wedding_invitations.html

Advice on Marriage, Brides, Diamonds and Weddings. Copyright 2009. All Rights Reserved.

Here is an excellent list covering all aspects of wedding planning:

1. The Alternative Wedding Book: Create a Beautiful Wedding that Reflects Your Values and Doesn’t Cost the Earth
2. Planning a Wedding to Remember
3. Far and Away Weddings: Secrets to Planning a Long-Distance Wedding (destination)
4. The Best Man’s Handbook: From Ring to Reception
5. Anti-Bride Guide: Tying the Knot Outside of the Box
6. The Portable Wedding Consultant: Invaluable Advice from the Industry’s Exoerts for Saving Your Time, Money and Sanity
7. Marry Like a Man: The Essential Guide for Grooms
8. Getting Married When it’s Not Your First Time
9. The Knot’s Compete Guide to Weddings in the Real World
10. Let’s Elope: The Definitive Guide to Eloping, Destination Weddings, and Other Creative Wedding Options

Detailed Wedding Planning Book Reviews

The slideshow below will tell you more about each book on our booklist! Click on the book of your choice in the slideshow to order the book discussed. HAPPY WEDDING PLANNING!!

Advice on Marriage, Brides, Diamonds and Weddings. Copyright 2009. All Rights Reserved.

1. The potluck wedding. Some Brides attempt to save money on their wedding by asking guests to bring a potluck dish for the wedding reception. Please avoid this practice! Your guests have graciously accepted your invitation to witness the most important day of your life. Many have traveled a great distance to share in your happiness. Many of your guests took time off of work, arranged for a babysitter or arranged their schedules around and have brought a gift for you and your new husband! Please don’t reward them by asking them to also provide the food for your reception. Have the wedding you can afford. If you can’t afford a sit down meal, have a buffet. If you can’t afford a buffet, then hold a cocktail and appetizer reception. Still too much? Have a cake and champagne reception. Treat your guests a guests, not caterers.

2. The cash bar. Drinks are expensive and many couples are looking for ways to save on the cost associated with serving alcohol at their wedding. Do me a favor though-don’t do it by asking your guests to pay for their own drinks. It is tacky and potentially very offensive to your honored wedding guests. Try beer, wine and champagne only. You can even have a non alcoholic wedding reception and just specialty coffee, teas and water and soda. But please, do not ask your family and friends to dig in their own pockets for drink money.

3. Again your guests have shared your special day with you and more than likely spent money on a gift from your registry that you have requested. If you didn’t order thank you cards with your initial wedding invitation package, go out and buy a package of thank you cards and hand write a nice message thanking your guests for attending your wedding and buying you a gift.

There are many web sites, articles and planning advise on the web for you to search out ways to have a budget wedding that is elegant and memorable. Just remember in the frenzy of your planning, to find ways to honor, respect the family, friends and guests by learning about appropriate etiquette. Being treated well and the happiness of the couple are what mosts guests remember about a wedding, not the type of favor they received.

By Shelli Caldwell

Advice on Marriage, Brides, Diamonds and Weddings. Copyright 2009. All Rights Reserved.

To have your wedding in the Bahamas it wont take you as much effort as you think. Thoughts of having a wedding in the Bahamas should bring to mind beautiful scenery, beautiful background music and glorious weather.

However, without the right planning then you might end up with a marriage that is not worth a rich man’s nickel. With some forethought and a little time spent making contacts, plans for a wedding in the Bahamas can take shape rather easily. The Bahamas have many wedding planners, or other businesses that will work to make your wedding day flow seamlessly.

With a little search engine work and using the words, wedding bahamas and planner you can get enough results to start your search for the perfect person to help host your wedding. You truly don’t even have to get someone from the Islands, just let a local planner know and they can coordinate all the details.

The Bahamas has certain requirements that the couple needs to follow for the marriage to be officially recognized. Most of the requirements are simple and easy to plan around.

Requirements to be prepared for:

* Arrive in the Bahamas more than one full day prior to the ceremony

* Both parties appear when applying for license

* Bring any documents concerning previous marriages, including death certificates or divorce decree

* Picture Identification

* Document proving arrival in the Bahamas (more than 24 hours before)

* No blood test

* $40.00 License Fee

* For other requirements for a wedding in the Bahamas please contact the numbers listed below.

So with a little planning, plane tickets, a hotel room, and some spare time, your wedding can have all of the benefits of an island paradise start to your marriage commitment.

Contact the Bahamas “Office of the Registrar General” @ Tel: 242 322 3316 or Fax 242 322-5553 for information about rules and requirements concerning a “Wedding in the Bahamas”.

NOTE: Marriage licenses are issued at the Office of the Registrar General located in the Rodney Bain Building on Parliament and Shirley Street in Nassau, which is open to the public Monday to Friday between the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. (Closed on weekends and Bahamian Public Holidays.) If your wedding in the Bahamas is to take place On The Out Islands, visit the local Commissioner’s office to obtain a Marriage License.

About the Author

Derek Bailey is the founder of Bizness Lists, which operates the site http://www.theworldsconcierge.com The site provides a way for Travel related businesses across the globe a way to meet the travelers they are seeking.
For more details about the Concierge website visit http://www.theworldsconcierge.com

Advice on Marriage, Brides, Diamonds and Weddings. Copyright 2009. All Rights Reserved.

What is wedding insurance?
A wedding insurance policy protects a couple who is getting married against unforeseen circumstances and reimburses them for any expenses incurred.

Is wedding insurance expensive?
The cost for this type of event insurance can vary widely from company to company. The cost will also depend on what sort of coverage you get, and what is exactly covered under your particular policy.

Basic policies that cover loss of photos, attire, gifts, food, rings and deposits for vendors can generally range from around $150 – $550. Personal liability covering up to $1,000 for accidents or injury usually ends up being a little under $200.

What are the basics covered under wedding insurance?
As widely as costs vary for wedding insurance, coverage can as well, so be sure to do your research and choose a policy that best suits your individual needs. Some typical things covered are circumstances due to weather or with your ceremony or reception sites, as well as injury or illness and problems with vendors.

What are some scenarios where wedding insurance would be helpful?
If in the unfortunate event a member of the bridal party or a family member is injured prior to the big day, wedding insurance will allow you to postpone until everyone is able to attend and still recoup your losses.

Say, for instance, your reception site goes up in flames the week before your wedding and is completely destroyed. With wedding insurance, you’d be able to get your deposit back and book another location.

A winter wedding must be postponed due to an incredible ice storm that’s paralyzed the airports and highways, making it impossible for the wedding party, let alone the guests, to arrive safely. With the right type of policy, the losses from postponing can be recouped minus the deductible.

If the bride or groom are a member of the military and get suddenly gets called to duty, wedding insurance would cover the cost of delaying the event. This could also apply to corporate moves such as the groom’s company relocating him across country at a moment’s notice.

What are the key points to consider when deciding on wedding insurance?

- Keep in mind that prices vary and so does the coverage. Make sure you completely understand what you’re getting before you sign.

- Be sure that any vendors you use, such as the caterer or reception site, aren’t already insured to avoid paying for overlapping coverage and thus wasting money.

- The sooner you make the decision to get wedding insurance the better. Some companies, however, have limitations as to how early you can purchase a policy while others encourage obtaining insurance about a year ahead of the event.

About the Author

By Adrian Adams.
Visit our Modern wedding wedding planning website with competitive prices on all wedding products and wedding insurance available to order securely online.

Article Source: Article North directory

Advice on Marriage, Brides, Diamonds and Weddings. Copyright 2009. All Rights Reserved.

By now, you should know what type of dress you want and start with fitting sessions if you are getting it made. You can start discussing menus with your caterer and choose flowers with your florist.

At four months, you can start sending invitations out and start your wedding gift register. It is recommended that you have the pair of shoes you want to wear at the wedding and start breaking them in. A lot of brides who wear new shoes on the day start having feet problems half way through the reception.

If you have any guests from out of town, then start finding out if they need help finding accommodation. Now is also the time to organise a rehearsal dinner for your wedding.

At two months, you should have gotten your RSVPs back and have a finalised guest list. From this point on, you should just be finalising your plans. Make the last arrangements for the cake, including the topper. Check the flower order and make sure you have all your papers for the marriage license.

At about a month beforehand, you can sort out your hairstyle for the wedding and start making appointments for your make-up, hair, nails and any other beauty touch-ups. Shop for the last couple of items, such as a guest book, and ring pillow.

In the last week, sort out the details with your co-ordinator for the day and pick up tickets and travellers checks for your honeymoon. Your wedding dress and attire should be finished now. Make sure that everything fits on everybody, from flower girls to the groom.

If you have planned and organised everything, then on your wedding you should only have to do one thing: be a beautiful bride and enjoy the day.

Celeste has been writes for an online-marketing company, whose client is Wedding News which specializes in giving the latest news on professional Weddings.

Advice on Marriage, Brides, Diamonds and Weddings. Copyright 2009. All Rights Reserved.

Getting your boyfriend to propose might be the hardest part to getting married for most women. However, it’s not soon afterwards, when they are trying to turn their dreams into reality, that they realise the hardest part is still to come. With so much to do and so little time, it’s best to get a checklist and start planning your wedding as soon as you’ve got the engagement ring.

The first thing is to set a date for your wedding. Once you have a date, you have a goal. Then comprise a list of guests. This will give you an indication of what type of venues, and ceremony, you can organise. The next step is to set a financial range and budget, as well as work out who is going to pay for what.

Family and finances can sometimes get a bit tricky, so it’s best to find out if it’s just you and your fiancé paying, or if parents are going to contribute. If they are, then find out what and how much they are willing to do so. You don’t want finances to became a big downer on the occasion, and it’s best that you sort this part out as soon as possible.

Most women have dreamed about their wedding from a young age and chances are you probably know exactly what you want. However, you might have to compromise a few things for the budget, or because your fiancé has a few suggestions of his own. Write and formalise the type of wedding theme you want, so that everyone is on the same page.

Do research in venues and try to go to a wedding convention to get some ideas of what is out there. Now that you know your budget, number of people you are going to host and what you want, you can ask the venue’s owner the right questions as to whether he or she can accommodate you or not.

Although you might want to organise the whole wedding yourself, think about getting an event co-ordinator in, even if it just for the actual day. The last thing you want is to be concerned about little things on your wedding day.

Consider whether you want children or not at the wedding, as this will have an influence on your guest list. This might also influence the time of wedding, as children might get tired and restless if the wedding goes on till late in the evening.

The first part of planning is mostly to do with doing research into everything from quotations on flower decorations to finding a photographer. Six to nine months before the wedding, you can finally start booking and arranging everything.

Click here for part 2 of the article.

Advice on Marriage, Brides, Diamonds and Weddings. Copyright 2009. All Rights Reserved.

Weddings are usually very happy occasion as they also serve as a reunion for family members that have not seen each other for a long time. However, time constraints and the increasing transportation costs has prevented people from traveling and enjoying these occasions.

Friends and relatives from other continents or even those who could not make it to the venue itself will still be able to witness your wedding through webcast or Internet broadcasting. Depending on the available facilities, you can broadcast your event either live while the wedding is going on or you can have it recorded for broadcasting at a later time.

Quite a few weddings already held in Las Vegas have been webcasted to the couple’s folks in the United States and even in other continents such as Asia. The only things you need to webcast your wedding is a videographers and an internet connection. Your viewers need a fast or a broadband Internet connection to make the webcast run smoothly.

Once you have finalized the details of the webcast you can send your friends and relative an e-card announcing the time it will be shown, considering of course their time zones. With this technology you can have as few as 10 guests in your venue but hundreds more in front of their computer monitors. This is ideal for those who opt for destination weddings and the location is far from where their friends or family live.

Webcasting your special day is not only ideal for couples who want to marry in style but for those who want to enjoy the privacy of their event with only a few guests sitting with them in the chapel during the ceremony. At the same time, this is also a good way of saving on a lot of expenses since you do not need to get a larger venue or to provide a lavish reception for so many people.

Why allow your friends and family to miss your special day when you an avail of this newest technology? You can ask a friend who is knowledgeable about video streaming to do the webcast for you or you can hire a company that provides this service.

Find more advice on wedding planning and wedding etiquette. In addition you can get more information on mother of the groom dresses.

Advice on Marriage, Brides, Diamonds and Weddings. Copyright 2009. All Rights Reserved.

If you have been thinking of writing your own wedding vows, you’re probably wondering to yourself that with everything else you have to take care of, when will you possibly have the time to write your vows? It may actually be easier than you think to write your vows because they come from your heart.

The best thing about writing your own wedding vows is that it’s a fantastic way to personalize your wedding. A great way to get started is to sit and jot down what you love about the person you’re marrying. Is she kind? Is he thoughtful? Is she a good listener? Does he go out of his way to help others? Really think about what you found so charming when you first met.

Next, think of other weddings you attended where the bride and groom read the vows that they wrote. What did you like about them? What did you not like about them? Were the vows too long? Were they too mushy for you? Again, your vows have to represent you as a person. If you try to write like someone you’re not, the vows won’t be representative of how you really feel.

Now that you’ve got your list and you know what vows you prefer, take a look around the internet to see what others similar to you have written. Many vows are published free that you can take and modify to fit you and your fiancé. One of the most popular wedding vows is as follows:

“Love is patient; love is kind. Love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it does not rejoice in wrong doing, but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. And now faith, hope and love abide and the greatest of these is love.” —–Author unknown

No matter how many times I’ve heard this particular verse read at a wedding, it always sounds like the first time because of the feeling that the bride and groom bring to the ceremony. It’s a great beginning or ending that may be used with your own personalized vows.

Whatever you decide to do with your wedding vows, remember it’s from the heart and that is what matters the most. Congratulations!

About the Author

Advice on Marriage, Brides, Diamonds and Weddings. Copyright 2009. All Rights Reserved.

As this is usually difficult to comply with, many couples opt to have a legal wedding in their own country, before jetting to France for a religious ceremony held at an amazing location like a fairytale chateau in the Loire Valley or in Paris and they then honeymoon in France. Either a civil or religious ceremony in France will offer you a romantic and picturesque setting for your special day.

A civil marriage is obligatory in France and religious ceremonies, which are optional, are not legally binding in any way and can only be performed after the civil ceremony. To be legal, a marriage in France needs to be performed by a French civil authority. In practice this means that the mayor or his legally authorized replacement performs the marriage ceremony.

For a civil ceremony there is a requirement of residency in France which one of the parties to be married must comply with. One of the parties must reside in the town or the arrondissement if in Paris, for the thirty days prior to the marriage. In addition to these thirty days, French law requires the publication of the marriage banns at City Hall for ten days which makes a total residency requirement of 40 days before the ceremony can be scheduled to take place at City Hall.

Documents for a civil ceremony are as follows:
1. Birth certificate not from a hospital but from the official government Bureau for recording births like the Bureau of Vital Records in the United States of America.
2. A notarized “Affidavit of Law” (Certificat de Coutume), drawn up by an attorney in law licensed in the State of residence of the party, stating:
- that this person is free to marry
- that the marriage to be performed in France will be recognized as valid in their home country
- and that publication of marriage banns is not required in their home country, neither under States nor Federal law.

3. In the case of previous marriages, a certified copy of the death certificate of the deceased spouse or a certified copy of the final divorce decree needs to be produced.

4. Prenuptial certificate of health issued not more than two months prior to the date of the marriage by a medical doctor after:
- serological tests for syphilis,
- serological tests to determine blood types and possibly the presence of irregular anti-bodies,
- and further for females also serological tests for rubella and toxoplasma.
It is possible to have these tests done in France.

Regarding prenuptial agreements, if no special measures are taken by the parties with a French Notary or an attorney at law in the States, prior to the marriage, then they are considered married under the communaute reduite aux acquets. This means that what each party owns personally prior to the marriage, or whatever comes to them afterwards through inheritance, remains their own property. Only what is acquired during the marriage is owned equally by both parties.

All foreign documents need be legalized prior to being presented in the French authorities. American documents can be legalized by obtaining the Apostille provided for by the Hague Convention which was signed by the United States on October 15, 1981. The apostille is usually obtained through the office of the Secretary of State of whatever state the document was issued in.

In all cases, it is recommended that the couple contact the Marriage Bureau of City hall upon arrival in France as extra documents may be required, such as a residence affidavit. All the documents above must be translated into French for presentation to French officials. Translations can be done in the United States of America by a Translating Agency or by a certified translator in France. If the translations are done in America the translations as well as the original of the document must be presented to the French Consulate General for verification.

American citizens holding ordinary American passports are not required to obtain a visa for a trip to France as long as they do not stay longer than 3 months. The visa exemption does not apply to journalists or to members of airline crews no matter what the length of their stay. American citizens holding diplomatic or official passports must obtain a visa before going to France no matter what the length of their stay. Other foreign nationals must check with the visa section of the Consulate General of France.

As the legal requirements for getting married in France are complex and may be reviewed or amended at any time, it is recommended that you engage a competent wedding planner if you wish to get married in France. Not only will she advise you on up-to-date legal requirements she can assist you with every little detail for your special day.

A fairytale chateau in France is a magical location for your wedding vows.

About the Author

by Corina Clemence. She runs a romantic fairytale luxury chateau in the Loire Valley, for up to fifteen people ideal for visiting vineyards, castles and perfect for a beautiful french wedding. http://www.loirechateau.com Rent a castle in France

Article Source: Article North directory

Advice on Marriage, Brides, Diamonds and Weddings. Copyright 2009. All Rights Reserved.