What are the themes to consider for 2012?

Vintage is the new glamour in 2012. If you Google the wedding options for 2012, vintage is by far the most popular theme suggested by most wedding experts. Victorian-themed weddings are something to look forward to next year. In fact, you can already find plenty of Victorian-inspired dresses online, which goes to say that many brides would be wearing those Queen Victoria-type wedding dresses—long skirts, corsets, and high necklines, all but with a modern edge. Popular fabric choices for the bride’s gown include lace, linen, cashmere, silk, organdy, and tulle. If you would go for this theme, aside from concentrating on the entourage’s wardrobe and the overall decoration, you may also incorporate the Victorian-inspired theme in your invitations, wedding favors, flowers, and cakes. Fill up the church with roses, for gardens during the Victorian times are filled with these symbols of love. Candlesand lanterns would also be popular choices for lighting, since Victorians are all about being romantic.

Match your theme with the season.When you say “wedding theme,” it does not have to be something grand or something super crazy since your guests might think they are attending a birthday party rather than a wedding. If you prefer something simple yet memorable, you can match your wedding with the season.

Spring is a wonderful time for weddings and if you plan to get married during this time, you may consider matching your wedding theme with it. Yellow, along with other bright colors, is not much of a wedding color next year. Go for subtle tones instead such as peach, apricot, and blush. Aside from the fact that these colors are pleasing to the eyes, they are very feminine, highly chic, and exceptionally romantic.

Match the decorations and the bridesmaids’ dresses with the wonderful colors of spring.

Do-It-Yourself. Many couples are now into DIY weddings, not only because they want to add their personal touch to their wedding but more importantly because of budget considerations. This is a good choice for couples with plenty of time to spend before the big day comes as well as for those who have creative hands so as to make everything pleasing and presentable to the guests. In addition, it is an opportunity for the couple to bond well before the big day comes. If you are running out of time, you can simply choose three to five items to personalize: invitations, favors, playlist of wedding songs, guest book, and table decorations. Do not forget to add a signature or something that would tell the guests that you personally created and arranged those items.

Preparing for a wedding is something that couples should take seriously. Deciding on a wedding theme is one way of getting your wedding organized, for not only it creates a unifying idea for your wedding where you can get all things started; it also makes your day extra special for everyone to remember.

Elegant Toast for the Bride and Groom

People often relate toasts with celebration. A toast is a ritual often used to celebrate success  or new beginning . A person, usually the host, speaks first about the person to whom the toast is dedicated, after which all in attendance will raise their glasses and drink to the person honored.

In wedding receptions, a toast is one of the many traditions that must not be missed. Although anyone can propose a wedding toast, normally the father’s bride proposes the first toast. The father thanks the guests for joining the celebration and expresses happy wishes to the newlyweds. The best man follows and his speech is often filled with humor and other playful interjections for the couple. The last to propose is the maid of honor, who directs her wishes and advices to the bride. The final toast is done by the groom, by expressing his thanks towards his in-laws for hosting the affair as well as the guests for attending the most important day of their lives.

When and how wedding toasts began is not exactly known. Some say the tradition comes from the Greeks, wherein the host of the wedding ceremony would drink wine first from a common pitcher to assure the guests that it is not poisoned. After which, the host would pass the pitcher to the guests. There are some sources who say that it used to be the host who drinks last from a cup of wine, which was passed around accompanied by a piece of toast. After drinking, the host would eat the toast as a way of honoring the guests.

Meanwhile, wine or champagne has been the traditional beverage used when making a toast. Wine has been a symbol of love, abundance, life, and vitality. For those who have experienced drinking wine from a common glass, it has been a symbol of deep and intimate sharing.

Whatever the origin of wedding toast is, the fact that it has become embedded in the tradition of wedding makes it one of the most anticipated parts of the wedding reception and ceremony.

Wedding flutes are integral part of a wedding reception but they are often overlooked in favor of other details such as table decors. While it is uncommon to give toasting flutes to the bride and groom, for those who are fond of giving advanced gifts, it is a wonderful choice to the would-be spouses. If you are planning to give these as a presents, or you are one of those people helping the couple in organizing their wedding, or if you and your partner are personally selecting your toast glasses, it is important to select elegant toasting flutes for the big day.

Toasting flutes add a touch of elegance on the reception tables. Unlike ordinary glasses, their goblet shape, tall frame, and delicate material add to their sophisticated look. There are the classic ones that are made of pure glass; there are also the more special ones that are designed with crystals, engraved with the couple’s names, wedding date, or personalized message, or edged with gold lines. Engraved toasting flutes are especially popular these days especially to couples that really want to treasure every piece of material and decor that has been used in their wedding. Some can also be customized for a more personalized touch.

Wedding flutes are necessary accessories that required as much attention as the food during the occasion. A wide array of colors and designs are available for anyone who is interested or looking for such item. There are those that can be uniquely crafted according to your preference. You can even match the goblets that you will buy with the theme of your wedding.

ecause toasting flutes are customary to make every wedding day an affair to remember, make sure to carefully select toasting flutes that represent the couple best. For not only the speeches that a toast can be made memorable, it is also through the elegant toasting flutes meticulously selected for the bride and the groom.

Home Wedding

You may prefer to be married in your home or a parent's home for a number of reasons. Home weddings tend to cost less and provide a more intimate atmosphere. Many celebrity couples choose to hold their weddings at home because this type of ceremony allows for more privacy. Because of space limitations, good planning is essential for the comfort of your guests.


Determine the maximum amount of people that can comfortably fit into each room or outdoor space at the home.


Calculate if the space can accommodate your entire guest list. If not, you must either edit your list so that it fits on the property or find a new wedding venue that can accommodate all of your guests.

Decide whether you want to host all of the wedding festivities or just one component


Vendors, such as caterers, bands, and videographers, require space and electricity. Make sure your home can provide them with the tools and real estate they need.


Think about what location in the house will work best for the ceremony and how many people will comfortably fit in the space. Include the number of vendors who will be present. You should also make sure all vendors will have ample space to work with.


Contact vendors and ask them if they are willing to work in the house. Be sure to cover any specific accommodations they will need and whether they will charge a fee for travel. This also applies to the wedding officiant. If the location is remote and/or a long distance from where he is located, the officiant may request transportation and/or housing.


Have an inspector come out and make sure the wiring and structure of the home are safe to hold the wedding. If you will be using a lot of electricity (for catering and the band's hookups, for example), you don't want to run the risk of blowing a fuse.


If you are committed to hosting your wedding at home, first determine how many guests your venue will allow. Then begin making and refining your guest list. Make sure to take full advantage of your space by envisioning the potential seating arrangement and floorplan.


Check with your neighborhood's governing body to see if you need any special permits. If you will hold the reception in the yard, perhaps with music, you may need a party or noise permit to avoid getting a ticket or disturbing your neighbors.


Have a parking plan, and explain it to your guests in the invitations. If parking will be limited at the house and/or the street leading to it, consider using a nearby parking lot and shuttling guests.


Open up as much of your house as possible, including the yard, to guests. This will help diffuse the group, making it less crowded.


Run the air conditioner. No matter how nice it is outside, packing your house full of people will send the temperature upward. Your guests will already be stuffed into uncomfortable clothes as is.


Be considerate of your neighbors, even if it is your wedding day.


If parts of your wedding are indoors, then run the air conditioner. No matter how nice it is outside, packing your house full of people will send the temperature upward.


Don't rely on the yard as your only option for the ceremony or reception. You need a backup plan in case of rain.


Make sure to schedule home maintenance well in advance of the wedding date. Call at least a month in advance and book the gardener and a maid service to service the home on the day before the wedding.

Avoid Wedding Dance Embarrassments

Many envision the first dance at their wedding as a scene straight out of a fairy tale: Cinderella and her Prince Charming gracefully gliding across the stage. Some fun-loving couples want to show their pizazz with a number that looks like a scene from "Footloose." Whatever your dancing dreams may be, it will take some time and effort if you weren't born with a talent for fancy footwork. Take these steps to eliminate embarrassment and bebop to your heart's desire.


Dance lessons can always boost one's self confidence and skills.


Check with local dance studios to see if they offer engagement classes to teach you the basics and choreograph your first dance.


Be sure to practice dancing in the actual shoes you will wear at the reception.

How to Prevent a Dance Disaster


Take a class. If you are paranoid about waltzing onto the dance floor with two left feet, gain some confidence and skills by taking a wedding dance class. You can either take a group class with a bunch of other couples, or sign up for private dance lessons to focus where you and your fiancee can customize a first dance. Look up dance studios in the yellow pages or check with your local Parks & Recreation Department to see if there are community lessons.


Learn from a video. Maybe you aren't comfortable breaking loose in a classroom setting in front of other people. Perhaps the classes are too expensive or inconvenient. The next best thing to classroom instruction is an instructional video. You can view thousands of user-created wedding dance tutorials on YouTube, or purchase a recorded instructional DVD.


Wear the proper shoes. To minimize the chance of twisting your ankle or doing a face-plant straight into the groom's cake, don't wear five-inch stilettos. You're better off wearing something flat and comfortable, such as ballet slippers. Trust me; your calves will thank you in the morning. Even if you want to wear stilettos during the ceremony, you can still slip into something more practical for the reception. As for men, be sure the soles of your shoes still have proper grip. You don't want to sliding across the freshly waxed dance floor.


Set a boundary for the booze. Although alcohol might make you feel like a top-notch dancer, odds are it won't make you look like one. Limit your consumption of alcohol until after you are finished dancing or at least until there are enough people out on the dance floor to minimize the humiliation of you attempting Tom Cruise's dance solo from "Risky Business."


Select the right song. Don't pick a song that's so fast your feet can't keep up with the tempo. Don't pick a song so slow that you end up awkwardly swaying like you're back at high school prom or so long that your guests start snoozing in the buffet line. For a good mix of songs to choose from, visit Richmond Presents. Pick a song that expresses your feelings for each other but is easy to dance to.


Practice, practice, practice! Try and steal a few minutes with your fiancee on the day before the wedding to run through the steps in the actual space. Adjust your first dance for the limitations of your dance floor.


Aside from your choreographed wedding dance, dance with your fiancee to modern dance songs that you think will be played at the wedding.


Dance in large groups or circles if you're not confident enough to dance with only one other person. Watch the rest of the dancers for the pace and rhythm of a song if you're unsure what to do.


Memorize a few wedding staples, such as the Chicken Dance, Macarena, and Electric Slide.

Weddings on a New Year's Eve

Romantics enjoy the idea of starting a new life together at the stroke of a new year, but there are some logistics to cover. You can create a special atmosphere planning a New Year's wedding whether on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day.


For the New Year's Eve wedding, the obvious is to have noise makers and confetti for your guests. Here are some additional ideas for New Year's weddings:


• Hosting your ceremony around 7 and the reception at 8:00 PM is a good rule of thumb. Typically a venue allows 5 hours, so this way it will last from 8 PM until 1 AM. You want your guests to stay at least until the stroke of midnight.


• In the center of the dance floor, have a huge sack of balloons tied up, ready to release at the stroke of midnight. Pile on noise blowers, party hats, confetti, streamers and even funky glasses to use by the guests. The reception hall can be decorated with these colorful party items as well, or can be kept to a classic black and silver theme. As the night wears on, the hall will become more and more festive as guests take it upon themselves to play with the party supplies. Also, set up a large clock to count the seconds with your guests.


• Consider having an espresso or cappuccino machine set up as well. Having a dedicated barista is a nice touch for a New Year's Eve wedding. This is useful for guests who are not used to staying up late.


• New Year's Eve wedding calls for a cocktail party dress code rather than black tie. Instead of serving a full seven course meal, serve items such as hot wings, scallops and bacon, mini sandwiches and lots of desserts. A chocolate fountain adds a special touch to a late night.


• Have guests make New Year's resolutions at their tables, seal them in envelopes, and leave them in a basket by the door. You will mail those out later in January to your guests as a reminder of the resolution and of your wedding.


• One of the hurdles to overcome is the cost factor, venues charge more for their use on this night. You will need to book early and let your guests know at least a few months in advance since they may have standing plans. With that said, New Year's Eve wedding is a night with lot of fun.

Valentine's Day Wedding

Weddings are romantic. Period. There is no question about that. Many couples decide to get married during the most romantic season of the year. And, why not? Valentine's Day is a romantic holiday; add a wedding to the day and you have the setting for some special happenings. Here are some ideas you may consider for a Valentine's Day wedding:

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  Choose a romantic setting: a lovely church, a romantic country inn, bed & breakfast or winery, a castle or historic mansion. Cozy, intimate and charming should be the words for the day!
  
  


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  Greet your guests with romance from the moment they walk in. You can do this beautifully and simply with white floating candles and red rose petals in crystal bowls of water on either side of the entrance.
  
  


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  Have the ushers give flowers to each of your female guests as they arrive.
  
  


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  Go with a red, pink, and white color scheme. Rich red tablecloths, touches of pink in the flowers, and white linen napkins can give a striking appearance to your reception. Add white votive candles and red or pink confetti sprinkled on the tables, and you have pure romance.
  
  


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  Use heart-shaped everything at the wedding and reception like heart-shaped candelabrum, unity candles with hearts on them, a guest book in the shape of a heart, heart shaped chocolates, napkins with hearts etc. Have two intertwined hearts printed on the front of your programs.
  
  


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  Have place cards or table numbers written on heart-shaped cards. Obviously, don't forget the heart-shaped wedding cake. Top it off with a hand blown glass figurine of two hearts. Gifts for your bridesmaids may include heart-shaped jewelry either to wear at the wedding or for their personal enjoyment.
  
  


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  Consider a gown in a pale shade of pink, or wear a traditional white gown and dress your bridesmaids in varying shades of pink or the traditional Valentine's Day red velvet. Accessorize with heart-shaped or ruby jewelry. Wear roses in your hair. Carry a bouquet of one dozen red roses.
  
  


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  Have your florist send a balloon bouquet, heart-shaped, of course, to your groom on the morning of your wedding. Write a love poem and attach it with a pretty ribbon. What a romantic way to start the day!
  
  


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  Consider ending your Valentine's Day ceremony with a lovely dove release, or have your guests shower you with rose petals from petal cones.
  
  


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  Celebrate LOVE!
  
  

Mystical Wedding Dresses

Are you ready to see the bridal collection of your dreams? If not, you'd better get ready, because the wedding dress masterpieces we're showing here are truly breathtaking! The author of these impeccable wedding gowns is Atelier Aimee. And they can be found on their ultimate Prêt a Porter Collection released for 2012. We love Atelier Aimee's lines for they always managed to surprise us and leave us breathless.

The exquisite beauty and perfect fit of these gowns is really hard to refuse or overlook. We are positively sure that all brides who will come across this article will fall in love with at least one of these fabulous models. The gowns created for this collection are 100% prêt a porter. We wouldn't change anything about these gowns. They look absolutely impressive and outstanding although the lines are simple and the silhouettes are clean.

This finesse of the fabrics is actually the element that makes these gowns look so ravishingly beautiful and one of a kind. We adore the refinement and the naturalness promoted by an Atelier Aimee wedding dress. The bold cuts and the funky details used for these pieces add the right amount of drama, originality and contrast needed to make an Atelier Aimee bride stand out from the crowd.

High class, unique, glamorous and figure-flattering, these silhouettes are ideal for pretentious brides who are looking for the perfect attire for their wedding. We adore the stylish sheath and straight line silhouettes and the immaculate white fabrics. The high necklines are chic and coquette and they are specific to the prêt a porter style. The unparallel beauty and elegance offered by these gown masterpieces can fit and flatter the preferences and the highest expectations of any bride.

We believe these adorable pieces can fit the charm of any classic, vintage or modern woman. The gloves, the boat neck cuts, the textures bodices and the floral appliqués made for these gowns are the "ingredients" that add to the charm, nonchalance and unique appearance of the silhouettes. Any bride who decides to wear an Atelier Aimee wedding dress on her wedding will benefit of many admiring glances and applauses.

The gowns promoted in this collection can be included in the category of "almost informal" wedding dresses. And this is because these creations are not too fluffy and ample and not too structured. The overall look or effect of these Pret a Porter gowns is of lightness, smoothness, softness and delicacy. This collection is a tribute to femininity and haute couture. We promise to get back with more of these fascinating gowns from Atelier Aimee's new and older collections any time soon, so don't go anywhere!

Elizabeth Dye Wedding Dresses

One of our favorite bridal designers of today is Elizabeth Dye. She is a phenomenal couturier and creator of chic wedding dresses inspired by the romantic English flair and style. Her gowns are charming in their ultra feminine lines and details. The type of elegance this designer proposes to her brides is delicate, warm and casual.We believe any bride who is a big fan of the vintage style and wishes to wear something refined and soft at her wedding will love this line of dresses. We should mention the fact that these pretty gowns can be found in Elizabeth's latest collection released for 2012 and it is called "The English Dept". The designers who work for Elizabeth create gorgeous dresses for brides and other special occasions, as well as unique accessories and jewelry addressed to the chic independent woman.

The English Dept is the name of the intimate boutique that contains all these pretty things for ladies and it is located downtown Portland's West End. The shop sells exquisite bridal collections and accessories for fancy events. Elizabeth promotes her exclusive designs in this shop but also her handpicked creations from other independent artists and designers.We find her dresses adorable and hard to resist. The softness, delicacy and gracefulness of the lines play with the modern details and chic cuts used for the silhouettes in a very unique ravishing way. Elizabeth tries to create fashionable wedding gowns in both short and long lengths for those women who wish for something coquette and dainty for their wedding.

These pieces are definitely ideal for the delicate type of brides who don't want anything too pompous and busy. You can find these enchanting gowns in white, tea, blush and ivory fabrics. The lightness and finesse of the fabrics used for this collection are the elements that can touch even the most insensitive bride's heart. Elizabeth likes to play with the finest and most romantic cottons, English tulles, satins and silk shantungs and scalloped and French chantilly laces in creating both vintage and contemporary designs.We love the natural and empire waist silhouettes. They look so feminine, dreamy and one of a kind! The drapes used for the bodices can also be found on the skirts in diagonal and straight patterns. The big flower blooms used to accentuate the waistlines are fashionable and they add the right touch of romanticism and originality. Some of the pieces available in this collection are simple and clean, following a natural flow down the body, while others are accented with details and ruffle appliqués that look trendy and chic. Te fabric combinations add a unique texture to some of these precious gowns.

Mistakes in wedding Dresses

For many years now, an innumerable number of women who planned their wedding all to the last detail fall into the trap of making their sole mistake in choosing their bridesmaid dresses. While the main attraction, for the most part, continues to be the bride and her elegant wedding dress, the magical aura could easily be destroyed by horrendous bridesmaid dresses that overwhelm pictures. There is an unspoken rule in wedding couture that dresses should always compliment, but not overtake, the attraction of the wedding dress. If this rule is broken, fashion disaster that the bride would carry for the rest of her marriage and family life would ensue. This could be avoided, though, if women are familiarized by the common mistakes that are done by brides over the years in matching their wedding dress.

Perhaps the most pertinent, brides have the tendency of choosing horrendous dress styles that clash with the wedding dress in design, color, and texture. The vital part in choosing and designing the wedding dress that will compliment your wedding dress is the material to be used and the color palette. One of the shockingly funny cases of wedding couture mishaps happen when the dresses are in unusually shocking colors, and in atrocious styles. The more scary mistakes happen when couples choose weird wedding themes. Wedding themes that were amusing, not because of their exceptional style but rather because of hilarity, range from cowboy wedding couture, disco wedding couture, and other weird wedding themes. We understand that there is a certain range of freedom given to women in choosing their wedding themes and dresses, but going overboard could turn your wedding into a hilarious fashion disaster. Do not make the mistake of going for extremes in choosing wedding dresses and bridal dresses. What should be a sacred and solemn event could just turn into a mosh pit of hilarity.


Thankfully, though, wedding dresses and dresses in Toronto, one of Canada's centers in wedding couture, have experts in wedding designs that would not let you make the mistake in wedding fashion mishaps. Bridesmaid dresses in Toronto are off-the-rack, but you are given the chance to have them adjusted and altered to fit the design you want. Taking into consideration the wedding dress design itself, dresses in Toronto which are available in varied styles and material could be specially ordered, even if you are from far places in the world. The secret of Toronto wedding couture stores is in keeping dresses simple, but elegant. This way, they could be altered and customized for their customers without sacrificing the sophistication that they exude. The various designs of dresses in Toronto also ensure that customers are not going to make the mistake in clashing the designs of the wedding dress and the bridesmaid dresses.


A woman's wedding would forever be remembered as one of her fondest life moments. One should not risk tainting it with wrong fashion choices when in comes to wedding dresses and bridesmaid dresses.

Cleaning Silver Wedding Jewellery

The majority of the wedding jewellery that is ordered is silver and silver needs a little looking after to keep it shiny and tarnish free. This tarnishing is a normal process that happens with all types of silver and it's a chemical reaction that happens on the surface. But because it is only on the surface even the most tarnished pieces of silver wedding jewellery should be salvageable but the best thing to do is to prevent your wedding jewellery from getting tarnished in the first place.

Silver tarnishes because it comes into contact with Hydrogen Sulphide which is in our atmosphere and every day objects. You can't stop the tarnishing process but you can slow it down by caring for your silver wedding jewellery properly.

As silver tarnishes when it comes into contact with Hydrogen Sulphide there are a number of things you can do to slow down tarnishing such as keeping it in a dry airtight container as humid environments speed up the tarnishing process. Don't store them in paper, cardboard or wool as these also contain Hydrogen Sulphide. Handle your wedding jewellery as little as possible as the natural oils on your skin will accelerate the tarnishing process.

If it's only lightly tarnished and not an intricate piece then you may be able to restore the shine with a silver polishing cloth. These cloths are really inexpensive and often leave an anti tarnish barrier helping to prevent against further tarnishing. If your jewellery has a yellow tinge then you might need to clean it in a silver cleaning solution or use this nifty trick. Grab yourself a bowl, kitchen foil, bicarbonate of soda and boiling water. Place the piece of wedding jewellery in the bowl with the kitchen foil and sprinkle the bicarbonate of soda of it then pour over the boiling water. The reaction between the foil and the bicarbonate of soda removes the tarnish.

I've used this method with jewellery containing Swarovski crystal beads but haven't tested it on other gems or pearls so take care not to destroy your jewellery if it isn't created from Swarovski crystals and silver.