To help you pick a wedding garter, here are some tips to help you.

1. Know where to purchase the wedding garter that is just right for you. You can either shop at bridal boutique or over the Internet.

2. Look at the different designs then choose the one you like best. Just like any accessories, wedding garters come in different colors, designs and sizes. Lace wedding garters, satin wedding garters and silk wedding garters are the traditional designs.

3. Choose the one that fits perfectly: not too loose and not too tight. You wouldn’t want to feel so uncomfortable during the entire event.

4. A wedding garter doesn’t need to be expensive. Why spend generously on something that your groom will just throw away?

5. If you prefer, you can make your own wedding garter. Creating a wedding garter is not so complicated, you can even find some instructions online on how to sew one.

Aside from following traditions, the important thing to consider about wedding garter is that it should be comfortable. Whatever design you choose, whether you buy or decided to make one, make sure that you can spend several hours of your special day wearing it without constricting your thigh.

To help you pick the perfect tiara, consider the following tips:

Match your tiara with your wedding gown

Make sure that the details in your tiara complements with the details in your dress. For example, if your wedding gown has floral designs, find a tiara with a similar design.

Off-white or ivory gowns would be an ideal match for pearl tiaras as these colors will enhance the pearls’ luster.

The wedding tiara should accentuate your hairstyle

Light and delicate tiaras are best for short hair. A headband style tiara is perfect as well.

Consider your hair color. Gold tone and ivory pearls tiaras are perfect for light brown hair and those with shades of red. Brides with platinum blonde hair or with darker shades will look good with crystal and silver based tiaras.

The tiara should frame your face beautifully

To make a round face appear longer, choose a tiara that has some height or one with a peak that resembles an inverted V.

A longish face will look great with a wedding tiara that has a little or no height, which should extend evenly from side to side.

With your wedding tiara, you will not just look like a simple bride, you will look like a princess. So carefully choose the tiara that you are going to wear.

Charm bracelet
There’s something special and personal about giving charm bracelets. Charms are thoughtfully selected, often based on the recipients’ qualities. Give your bridesmaids charms that reflect their personalities. For instance, if one is into horse-riding, present her a horse charm. If one of them is already a mom, give her a heart charm to symbolize her motherly qualities.

Birthstone necklace
Give bridesmaids a little individuality by giving each of them their own birthstone necklaces. You could give them the necklaces right before the wedding so they could wear it during the ceremony, as an accent to their attire.

Spa Treatments
Treat your bridesmaids to a day of relaxation with a gift certificate for spa treatment. This can also be a great way for you and your bridesmaid to bond and de-stress before the wedding.

Gift Basket
If you want a more personalized gift, you can never go wrong with a gift basket. You can have each basket filled with different items that are particular to each bridesmaid’s likes — beauty products, chocolates, scented candles, paperbacks, etc.

To help you in choosing the perfect wedding headpiece, here are some tips.

• Decide on your wedding hairdo. Your hairstyle will dictate which bridal headpiece is appropriate for you.

• Choose the headpiece style that complements with your wedding theme. As you try on different headpieces, keep a photo of your dress handy to visualize the style that works well with the look you are trying to achieve.

• Consider the shape of your face. Bridal headpieces look best if they complement the shape of the bride’s face. For faces that are oval-shaped, tiaras or crowns are the ideal choice. For those with longer faces, headbands work best.

• When it comes to stye, choose a more vintage design. Vintage hair accessories are never out of style, so ask your mother and older aunts for help in choosing a bridal headpiece. Or you might ask them to lend you something pretty from their own closet.

Brides who want a simple, intimate wedding prefer informal wedding dresses rather than stylish gowns. An informal wedding dress is ideal for a small ceremony yet it doesn’t sacrifice the specialness of the occasion. Informal wedding dresses can be as beautiful and as splendid as formal gowns. They come in a wide variety of style, ranging from the classic party gown to sundresses. While they have fewer embellishments than their formal counterparts, simple informal dresses can be accessorized for bridal elegance.

Jewelry is one of the most popular bridal accessories. May it be pearl or diamond jewelry, this type of accessory never fails to make any simple dress look more glamorous.

A pair of bridal shoes can also make an informal wedding dress look more gorgeous. Pretty much like how a pair of glass slippers transformed a certain plain girl into a beautiful princess, stylish bridal shoes can create wonders to an informal dress. Some of the popular choices are strappy sandals and colored shoes.

Brides who opt for an informal dress prefer to do away with wedding veils. Instead of the traditional veil, a carefully selected head piece can be a great bridal accessory. Combs, clips, tiaras, crystals are all appropriate to wear.

Finally, a grand bouquet of flowers can add vibrancy and texture to an informal gown. It accentuates the dress and makes the bride more attractive and elegant.

A bride should be worry-free on her wedding day. It is the day when she feels the happiest and most of all, beautiful. To achieve this, everything must run smoothly – from the ceremony to the reception.

But it would be quite painful for the bride to wear high heels or stilettos all day. Any discomfort would really make a terrible dent on that perfect event. A swollen foot could ruin a woman’s mood any day, but on your wedding day? Girl, that would be a disaster! Thank goodness for bridal flip flops.

The bridal flip flop allows you to have fun in your wedding party, without having to worry about swollen feet. This is the reason why flip flops are very much part of bridal fashion. Bridal flip flops are essential because they are ideal for dancing during the reception.

There are a lot of flip flop designs you may choose to match your dress as bridal flip flops come in different styles and materials. In true bridal fashion, some have beaded accents while there are those that are studded with small jewels for added elegance. Checkout some online bridal shops and you’ll see a wide range of flip flops to choose from.

The term wedding stationery refers to wedding invitations, save-the-date cards, reception cards, and any other paper product that the couple sends out to the people they are going to invite to their wedding.  It can incur one of the biggest costs in the wedding budget.  Thankfully there are ways and techniques to cut down on wedding stationery costs.  Here are some tips:

• See that guest list?  Make some cuts – the guest list is a very important aspect of a wedding; do not take it likely.  That guest list will affect all areas of your wedding so if you want to start saving, it’s one of the first places you look.  The more people on your guest list, the more invitations and cards you have to send out (imagine the postage – it’s not much but it can add up).  And you have to admit that you don’t really like everyone in your guest list at this point, so it would really make sense to cut some people out of the list.
• Printing techniques and other embellishments– the printing technique used in the printed materials for your wedding can help drive costs up.  Certain techniques such as engraving and letterpress printing can be a bit more expensive compared to, say, laser printing.  Study various printing techniques and pick one that works best for your budget.  Another way to save money is to keep the embellishments to a minimum.  It also helps if you keep the colors to a minimum, which is not to say that you should have plain invitations and cards.  This is to say that you use design and color wisely in order to save money.
• Be mindful of the size – The US Post Office puts a $0.13 surcharge on envelopes if the following apply :
  • It is a square letter
  • It contains very rigid items such as wood or metal
  • It has clasps, string, buttons, or similar closure devices
  • It has an address parallel to the shorter dimension of the letter
  • It contains items such as pens that cause the surface to be uneven
  • The length divided by height is less than 1.3 or more than 2.5
• Go the online route – weddings usually have a bunch more celebrations surrounding them, so instead of sending out invitations to guests every time there is a celebration, why not put up a wedding website and tell your friends and family about it so they can get updated on which celebrations they should go to.  You could also use the online website to its full extent, linking to your registry, having people RSVP online, or even send out save-the-dates to your friends and family via e-mail.

How much jewelry to wear?

This depends on your preference.  Some women don’t have a problem with layering many pieces of jewelry together to create their overall desired look, while others opt for a single piece of jewelry to serve as a focal point.  Some choose discreet jewelry that complements the dress they have on.  Perhaps one way to know how much jewelry to wear is to gauge for comfort.  You should be able to move freely when wearing the jewelry of your choice.  People will be approaching you from all angles on your wedding day, so if a piece of jewelry insomuch as restricts your movement even for a tiny bit, you should do away with it.

Which stones and gems to choose?

A safe way to know which jewelry to wear is to see what kinds of adornments are on the dress itself.  If the dress is adorned with pearls, perhaps some pearl jewelry can complement the look; Swarovski crystals on the dress merit some sparkling crystal jewelry or diamonds.

While clear, colorless stones are popular with brides, there’s no reason why other gems should be left behind.  You could certainly use colored gemstones, especially if they tie in to the colors of your wedding.

Which jewelry to wear?

The bride is certainly faced with a lot of choices when it comes to what type of jewelry to wear.  What type of jewelry to wear will certainly have to do with what the neckline of the dress is, the hair, the veil, and all those things.  For example, a bride wearing a gown with a highly-embellished fancy neckline may have to opt out of wearing a necklace or choker and settle instead for earrings, simply because that area is too busy already.  Other brides may opt to wear jewelry in their hair, in the form of tiaras that could be attached to the veil, or jeweled hair clips.  Everything has to work together in order to form a cohesive look that don’t confuse the people who’ll see you.

Time Your Wedding Date and Day

There is the so-called wedding season and that’s the time when all the prices are up.  This is because this is the time when most people decide to get married, and you know how supply and demand goes, right?  The wedding season is usually from April to October, and then once again in December.  Try to avoid these months if you want to save big on your wedding.  Just because it’s not wedding season doesn’t mean your wedding won’t be as joyous and beautiful.

As for the actual day of your wedding, Saturdays are the priciest days, so opt out of a Saturday wedding if you want to save some more.

Stay Within Your Budget and Trust Your Decisions

Vendors often play with the minds of their brides by allowing the brides to upgrade their packages at any time before the wedding.  They know that the nearer the wedding date gets, the more the bride is to prone to second-guessing her decisions.  The best thing to do is be satisfied with the decisions you have made; after all, you have done a lot of thinking before you made those decisions.

The Search for the Dress

Arguably one of the most important things in a wedding is the search for the dress.  We are all aware that designer gowns cost an arm and a leg, but the cost is usually justified by brides who say this is a once-in-a-lifetime event.  Many brides are lucky enough to have a seamstress friend or family member who is willing to sew them their gowns, but for brides who do not have this, a great suggestion is to go to bridal sample sales or to one of those big sales that bridal shops hold once a year.  The discounts in these sales are so great that you would definitely come out with a gown, or even two.

Should you find a gown that you love but it’s too big, you can always have it taken in to better fit your body.

Bridesmaids and Groomsmen

For groomsmen, tux and suit rentals are pretty much the same anywhere you go.  The way that you can get your money’s worth is to make sure that the quality of the suits is up to par and that they fit the groomsmen perfectly.

Bridesmaids have a lot of options when it comes to saving money.  For example, you can buy their dresses at prom sales, or have them choose their own dresses that they can wear to your wedding and just provide them with the exact colors you want so they could pick out a dress that fits your theme.  You can unify them with a headpiece that you can make yourself.

The formality of your wedding also comes into play.  More formal weddings may call for sit-down meals and less-formal receptions may have buffet spreads.  If your reception is held at an odd time of the day that is not close to any real mealtime, perhaps you can get away with serving finger food to your guests.  You can actually talk these options with your wedding caterer and they’ll be glad to work with you on the food choices especially if you are on a budget.

There’s a lot of tasting to be done when planning a wedding menu, and it’s very difficult to narrow down your choices especially if everything tastes good.  You can try to simplify it down by choosing one meat dish, one fish/poultry dish, and one vegetable dish.  Of course, “one” could also mean “several.”  It really depends on the number of guests you have and what you think will be the best for everyone.  You could also try to serve some appetizers before the main meal so your guests won’t be dying of hunger.  Choose from many different finger foods such as finger sandwiches, mini hamburgers, cocktail sausages, canapés, crab cakes, vegetable sticks with dip, that sort.

As for drinks, wine and champagne are customary but you don’t have to shell out big bucks in order to provide for your guests.  Some guests may also not like alcohol, so provide soda, juices, and water for them.  For dessert, tradition dictates that guests partake on the wedding cake, but you could also provide some other desserts for your guests to choose from like cupcakes, fruit fondue, truffles, chocolate, and mini cake bites.

Choosing your bridesmaids – Perhaps in this way I’m a traditionalist in that you shouldn’t just pick any random person to be your bridesmaid.  I just feel like you want every part of your wedding to be special, something to be shared with the people you love and love you back, and that includes the planning part.  The planning is one of the more challenging parts of a wedding so it’d be really great if you choose bridesmaids that could support you, help you, and be there for you through thick and thin.  This could be your sister, your friend, or a close co-worker, one that understands your moods and helps you get over setbacks.

Bridesmaid duties and responsibilities – As mentioned, bridesmaids don’t just accompany the bride down the aisle and pose for pictures.  They have a lot of responsibilities, which a lot of first-time bridesmaids don’t realize such as:

• Help the brides with the planning of the wedding
• The help the bride with errands of the wedding day.
• Helps with or the making of table decorations and or DIY wedding crafts.
• Helps maid of honor with bridal shower.
• Attend ceremony rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.
• Walk behind the bride during the wedding procession.
• Stands near her during the ceremony.
• Have a dance with the groomsmen
• Assists the maid of honor when needed.
• Help load gifts into car.
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Bridesmaids’ dresses – There are stories of brides picking out horrendous dresses for their bridesmaids just to ensure that she’ll be the fairest of them all at her wedding.  You do not want to be that bride, of course.  Some brides like to put their bridesmaids in the same dress style, so as to unify a theme.  But if you want to do that, always keep in mind that your bridesmaids have different sizes and body types, and that a particular cut or style of dress won’t do them any favors.  Perhaps it’s better to choose a universally-flattering style or better yet, have them choose the cut and style of the dress so everyone would be comfortable during your wedding.

Shopping for bridesmaids’ dresses also doesn’t always have to happen in bridal shops.  A lot of the brides I know go to normal stores or even Etsy to buy the dresses for their bridesmaids.  See, it’s not all that hard.  You just have to take a deep breath and survey your options.

Planning your wedding shouldn’t be the horror-filled stress fest that a lot of brides make it to be. Find a friend or a sister to help you and your fiancé to plan your big day. It also helps to have a to-do list that is organized into a timeline so you’ll know how much needs to be done and exactly when it should have been done. That way you won’t encounter last-minute problems. The list looks long, but keep in mind that these activities are over a 9-12 month period.

A sample wedding to do list/timeline checklist:

Upon Engagement:

• Decide on a budget
• Establish the wedding’s basic details: formal or informal? Indoors or outdoors? Beach or garden? Which town are you going to have your wedding?

9-12 Months Before:

• Set a date
• Check legal requirements (i.e. marriage license requirements, passport applications if planning a destination wedding, etc.)
• Choose your wedding entourage
• Draft a guest list. Start with the ones you absolutely want to be there.
• Book the ceremony and reception locations, as well as photographers and videographers (particularly if you’re booking hard-to-get ones)
• Start discussing honeymoon plans
• Set up a bridal registry

6-9 Months Before:

• Finalize guest list. Upon finalizing you may also choose to send out save the date cards if desired which will be sent prior to the formal invitations
• Order invitations
• Book hair and makeup appointments for the big day. You may also want to book several trial sessions before choosing one that you feel is best for your wedding
• Order your gown, or at least start shopping for it. If having a gown made, meet up with the designer. Also start discussing your attendants’ outfits
• Choose shoes and accessories
• File time off from work for your honeymoon
• Book honeymoon flights and accommodations
• Discuss wedding cake details with baker and order your cake

4-6 Months Before:

• Choose menu for your reception
• Start sending out invitations (hire a calligrapher to address the envelopes or do it yourself), not forgetting to insert directions to the ceremony and reception
• If planning a destination wedding, ensure that you and your fiancé as well as your entourage has secured passports and visas

2-4 Months Before:

• Meet your attorneys for any legal changes to your name, policies, bank accounts, etc. Discuss pre-nuptial agreements if desired
• Order wedding bands and engravings for them
• Order wedding favors
• Choose gifts for your entourage
• Finalize the groom’s attire, as well as for his groomsmen

2 Months Before:

• Mail invitations
• Have programs, menus, and place cards printed
• Check with your entourage if they have their outfits and shoes in order
• Update your wedding registry
• Schedule a tasting with your caterer and finalize the menu

1 Month Before:

• Write your vows
• Attend final dress fitting and bring your shoes and accessories with you to see if everything fits together
• Call vendors and confirm wedding day details

2 Weeks Before:

• Create a seating chart for your reception and fill out place cards
• Confirm honeymoon reservations; make a deposit
• Contact guests who have not RSVP’d yet

1 Week Before:

• Provide guests with contact details and complete directions to venues
• Have your dress delivered or arrange for pick up
• Break in your shoes (very important!)
• Organize vendor payments in envelopes
• Pack for your honeymoon (if leaving immediately after the ceremony)
• Get a facial and confirm hair and makeup appointments

1 Day Before:

• Hand rings to the best man
• Get a manicure

Day of the Wedding:

• Eat (do not forget this. You don’t want to be a hungry bride)
• Have hair and makeup done
• Get dressed

Picking out stuff for your bridal registry should be started soon, like a month after getting engaged. And don’t register for just one. Signing up for multiple bridal registries are the trend among couples, probably because it allows them to choose exactly what they want as well as giving their guests options with regards to items and price ranges. It’s nice that everything from Target to Macy’s to Neiman Marcus has bridal registries, so you really have a choice.

Before signing up for any bridal registry, you and your fiancé need to do an inventory of what you need or what you would like to upgrade amongst your stuff. Basic items to register for include dinnerware, flatware, and linens. Be sure to visit stores in person so you can check out the merchandise yourself. You always have to check if they are value for your money. You can take note of which items you like and then register online later.

There’s also a trend for less traditional bridal registries, ones that provide other gift options. There are online bridal registries that allow guests to donate to your honeymoon fund, or donate to a charity in your name. That’s certainly a very nice twist to the usual bridal registries.

The thing to remember is to not stress yourself out picking out items here and there. This is a fun activity and always remember that your loved ones are only too happy to give you the things you pick.

I did not realize that there are just so many types of wedding toppers in existence when I started researching about them.  I’m impressed by the variety and by the creativity of people that make these wedding cake toppers.  Among the toppers I saw:

Custom Toppers – do you want your cake toppers to be in the form of birds painted in the colors of your theme, and one has glasses?  Or perhaps you want them sock monkey style, dressed in Star Trek costumes?  Or perhaps you don’t want the usual couple wedding cake topper, but rather want a replica of the iconic Love Statue in Pennsylvania.  You can request that too.  Custom wedding cake toppers are limited only by your imagination.  Depending on the artist, they are made from different materials.  A lot were from wood and polymer clay.

Personalized Toppers – personalized wedding cake toppers are a bit like custom cake toppers, except that these usually have a pre-set form or face, and the artist personalizes it with different hair colors or adding the colors of your entourage to the topper.  Some may even personalize it to look similar to your gown.  The most adorable ones I saw are made from wood, but some are also made from polymer clay, ceramic, and I even saw some incorporating crochet and knitting into the figurines.

Funny Toppers – by far my favorite toppers of the bunch, and I couldn’t help laughing at the ones I saw.  At the onset they look like traditional ceramic cake toppers but if you investigate further, you’d see that they’re naughtier and funnier than their traditional cousins.  My favorites were the ones that have the bride pinching the groom’s backside and the one were the bride is pulling the groom by the leg.  These funny wedding cake toppers will surely make a humorous statement at your wedding.

Whether you pick out a custom wedding cake topper, a personalized one, a funny one, or perhaps find a way to combine all three in one cake topper, it can be rest assured that it won’t be ignored come the day of your wedding.  In fact it may even be one of the highlights.

You should know by now that wedding invitations are one of the most important parts of any wedding.  It tells people the details of your wedding and at the same time sets the mood for how the day of your wedding is going to be like.  Modern invitations can range from the very simple to the grand.  They can be custom or ready-made; they can be traditional or highly unusual.  Whatever type of wedding invitations you send out, it’s your choice.

Popular options for couples include letterpress invitations and digitally printed wedding invitations.  Letterpress invitations have that old-world appeal and still prove to charm everyone, while digital wedding invitations have a modern uniqueness about them.  Both options are equally popular among couples and are proving to be inexpensive options as more and more vendors (like Etsy, for example) are keen on providing the service.  Custom wedding invitations are made by either of these two methods, and it takes a lot of discussion between the artist and the couples before the rest are made.  Some custom ones end up to be highly unusual wedding invitations that surprise and delight the recipients.

Even more budget-conscious couples can still have wonderful invitations with ready-made affordable wedding invitations available from bookstores and stationery shops.  You may print the details on them using your home printer or you may want to brush up on your calligraphy skills and embellish the invitations yourself.

Save the Date Cards

Save the date cards are also becoming more and more common.  For some couples, they want to make sure that their loved ones are able to attend their big day, so prior to sending an actual invitation they send out a save the date card that announces that they are going to get married at a particular date with a note that an actual wedding invitation will follow.  These are sent very early on, sometimes as early as a year before the ceremony.

Some wedding invitation packages include the save the date cards to be sent prior to the invitations themselves.  Usually they look similar to the actual invitation so as to tie together a theme and have only the name of the couple and the date.

A wedding gown holds beautiful memories in all its folds. For most brides, it is a thing to be preserved and possibly even shown to their own children when they grow up, recounting all those beautiful moments which it witnessed on that special day.

Much time is spent in selecting the perfect and affordable wedding dress for the big day in your life. Hence, it makes sense to keep the wedding dress that added so much color to your wedding in proper condition.

A wedding dress, preserved in good condition, can be passed on to the coming generations as a family heirloom. This is why you must know how to take care for your beautiful wedding dress – both before and after the wedding.

1. Buy a clean, undersized, unbleached and non-dyed cotton sheet. This type of cotton sheet is easily available in the market. However, while buying make sure the cotton sheet has very little synthetic fiber.

2. Before using it, wash the cotton sheet in hot water so that any extra dirt gets vanished. Never use any type of detergent.

3. After the wedding ceremony is over, the gown should be wrapped in this cotton sheet. Avoid using a plastic gown to store your wedding dress as plastic can cause rapid oxidation of the fabric which might lead to accumulation of acid residues on your dress causing serious damage to it.

4. Store the gown in a flat position and it must be protected from direct sunlight and damp areas.

5. Within two weeks of the wedding, the wedding gown needs to be dry cleaned. If there is some sort of stain on your dress and you know about how you got it, be sure to alert your dry cleaner.

6. Select a dry cleaner that specializes in preservations of wedding gowns.

After your wedding dress has been dry cleaned, special care should be taken to ensure flawless preservation.

1. First of all buy a vacuum-sealed storage box along with archival-quality, acid-free tissue paper.

2. Use buffered archival paper for preserving a synthetic fiber gown, and for natural fiber gown, non-buffered archival paper will do.

3. Store the fabric-covered metal buttons, pins and sponge padding of the wedding gown separately as after some time metal can get oxidized and leave stains on the fabric.

4. Fold the wedding gown by putting top-quality tissue papers in between the folds to prevent it from getting permanent wrinkles.

5. And finally store the wedding dress in the vacuum-sealed storage box and make sure that it is kept in a cool dry closet, away from impurities and smoke.

6. Inspect the gown from time to time by taking it out from the box.

In today’s Internet savvy world it is not difficult to find an affordable wedding gown online but keeping it in mint fresh condition is tough. Follow the above tips and you will be able to keep your beautiful wedding dress full of memories intact for years.