April 2, 2006 - Do it yourself wedding ideas that look professional.
We're always talking about making a big difference with the small details on this site and today is no exception. A lot of the details in your wedding that will make a difference will do so because they're unique - literally like no other. And that means you can't buy or get whatever the thing is from a place where everyone else can get it. Then it wouldn't be unique. That leaves you in the uncharted waters of do it yourself projects...
It used to be that the phrase "do it yourself" meant big projects that took forever to finish and required special tools. Buying those tools, taking extra time, and everything else that went with it kept do it yourself projects in the hands of hobbyists and people that just weren't that busy.
When it comes to wedding decorations, wedding invitations, and other wedding accessories to which you may want to add a personal touch, there's lots of interest in do it yourself projects. You can trade a little time to save money this way but there's still one problem.
How do you make your do it yourself project look professional? More than ever, wedding invitations, wedding favor labels, and other wedding planning projects are available in a do it yourself format. But still, there's that barrier. You can usually tell they're homemade.
This has given us another mission in the wedding world. In an upcoming section, we'll talk about and offer solutions and products that help solve these problems. In the end, you'll be able to save time and money, have do it yourself wedding items that are totally unique, and that look as if they're professionally done. The answer lies in the tools and the techniques but that's all we're going to say for now.
April 6, 2006 - Outdoor weddings - Don't worry about the weather outside. Just make sure it's sunny inside.
Since we're about to do a section on outdoor weddings, we thought we'd kick it off with a fun little story...
So I finally gave in to my wife's begging and pleading year after year and agreed to go camping. The truth is - it wasn't her that changed my mind. It was my sons. They're just getting old enough to do a lot of those fun things that kids want to do. It just so happens that one of those things is sleeping in the dirt all night like an animal and getting bit by bugs while contemplating what to do about the lack of proper amenities.
"Oh, it'll be fun!" my wife said. And you know what? She was right. Because I'm sure that somewhere on this planet, trying to sleep under a moldy tarp that drips condensation while lying awake all night because you're afraid that at some point, you'll have to get up and trudge through the forest to find the not very clean bathroom, is a step up - maybe even such a step up that it could be called fun.
The real excitement began the moment we opened our brand new tent, fresh from the store - or so I thought. It turns out that it had been returned by someone else and restocked. Moreover, it had been packed away wet, with the dirt still on it. So it started out with mold all over it, wet, with leaves and dirt stuck to most of it. Plus, many of the stakes were bent, rendering them less effective if not useless.
But, it was too late. We were out in the middle of nowhere and had to make it work. After a brief bout with selfish frustration, I realized that the objective was to have a good time as a young family, not to admire the tent problem. Okay, I can't take credit for that - my wife made demands in such a way that I had to realize it. But that's why marriage is such a good thing. You get perspective packaged in the form of another person with the added benefit of eternal love.
As soon as she turned my attitude around, everything was fine. In fact, we had a great time with lots of memories we might never have had. No, I still didn't sleep very well and no I didn't grow a fondness for mold and tarp fungus. But it got me thinking about outdoor weddings and the problems associated with turning control of a very big day over to the elements.
I've seen an outdoor wedding where the weather was perfect. And I've seen an outdoor wedding where it rained like crazy with no end in sight.
The funny thing is - the one with the most problems was the one where the weather was perfect. There were some people issues that created clouds no one could lift. The one where it rained like crazy still has people talking today. The bride and groom laughed, got wet, and had a great time. The family had a great time because they were able to cry during the ceremony without anyone knowing. And in the end, everyone dried off and had a great time at the reception because there were no more worries about looking good. There was lots of laughter about the day and just plain good times and now, good memories.
The moral of the story is - if you have an outdoor wedding - make contingency plans for, but don't worry about the weather outside. As long as you keep the barometer steady inside - you that is - the only weather that matters will be absolutely perfect.
April 24, 2006 - Glossy brochures, Caribbean weddings, bad hotels, and good solutions.
As the spring rolls around and your weather still feels like winter, those glossy brochures full of great looking, fit people frolicking in the surf amidst perfect views of crystal clear waters in the Caribbean seem like the perfect solution to your weather woes.
You jump online and find that you can afford it, too! There are lots of cheap flights, cheap hotels, and the whole thing looks very doable. But before you plan a Caribbean destination wedding, honeymoon, or even long weekend in the islands, read on because the Caribbean is unique in its ability to under-deliver on its promises of peace, happiness, and fun.
My wife grew up in Ohio and she'll tell you that after a certain point in the winter, any place over 70 degrees feels like heaven. That little fact is what keeps lots of seriously substandard hotels in business in the Caribbean all day, every day, 365 days a year. The sheer variety of islands and hotels means that most visitors won't necessarily return to the same hotel on the same island that often so the average hotel doesn't have to worry about repeat business. Besides, at some point, you're so desperate for a getaway from the cold that you don't really care if everything is perfect or not.
Perfect is not required, but many places fall far, far, short of that. The trap is easy to fall into - you're desperate, the price is cheap, and the place is by the water with a pool, views, and all of that. Besides, you can always leave the place and go to some local area with lots of fun stuff to do if you don't like it there so much. Some of these things are true and some of them are not.
Don't despair though, there are solutions. In fact, there are solutions for those of you on a really tight budget and there are solutions for those of you that don't want to do a ton of research to make sure everything is going to be okay. We'll get into them tomorrow.
For a sneak peak about the solution, see our pages on Caribbean weddings at our Beach Weddings Index page on the navbar or just follow the link at the end of the article. If you're thinking about Caribbean weddings at all, don't miss this bit of info and the easy way you can avoid the things we're talking about.
April 25, 2006 - Glossy brochures, Caribbean weddings, bad hotels, and good solutions...continued.
So we left you with an uneasy feeling about the Caribbean yesterday, and today we'll fix all of that. Here's the deal when it comes to the Caribbean.
If you don't like your hotel, you won't necessarily be able to go out and spend all your time down the road at some other tourist area to take your mind off of your awful accommodations. In the U.S., you can definitely do this. In most tourist areas, you can stay in a budget hotel and there will be plenty of safe, fun, possibly inexpensive things to do - public beaches, state parks, shopping malls, and so on.
If you go to most Caribbean islands, once you get off of the hotel grounds, unless you're truly adventurous, you'll find much, much less to do. True, there are some islands with tourist shopping areas, outdoor markets, and restaurants. True, there are activities available that vary with the island - trails, beaches, and so on. But generally speaking, you will not find what you're expecting at the level of comfort, safety, and fun that you're expecting if you're used to traveling in the U.S. In many islands, you'll be fairly disgusted with the lack of options available.
This means that you're going to need to be reasonably sure that your hotel is a good one. And in the Caribbean, the standards for hotels are quite different than what you're used to in the U.S. We are not kidding here. You can run into absolute dumps that feature rooms with carpets soaked from fixtures that leak rusty water continuously.
They'll say in the brochure that they have a casino - one or two slot machines that may or may not be working. They'll say they are oceanfront on a lagoon - probably true since most islands are small islands with big rocks/mountains in the middle. You'll try with little success to trade in your brittle, old towels to the staff members that do not care even a little bit - you'll know who they are because they will be the ones ignoring your complaints as they drink beer with their breakfast in the morning.
Now there are a lot of fantastic hotels that you won't want to leave there too and we don't want to steer you away from them. In fact, the purpose of this article is to steer you to those places so you don't get severely disappointed.
How do you find those places if you've never been there? There is one source that is better than any other at helping you figure that out. Go to tripadvisor.com and read reviews about your location from people that have recently been there. Read lots of them because different reviewers have different tastes and standards. But you'll be able to figure it out quickly.
And if you don't have the money to splurge on a great hotel but you still want to go to the Caribbean, there is still a fantastic way to do that - CRUISE! You'll see the best the islands have to offer with all the comforts of a great cruise ship and you can even arrange your wedding through the cruise line. Plus, with all the low priced options out there for cruises, you'll be sure to find something that fits your budget. That's all for now but you can read more about it at the link that follows.
April 27, 2006 - Do it yourself destination wedding planning - the easy way and the hard way.
Planning a destination wedding can be as simple as a few phone calls and emails or it can be a nightmare. It all depends on how you want to do it. If you are going to a foreign country or even somewhere far away like Hawaii and want to control every aspect of your planning, there's a very good chance that it will be a nightmare.
So do what you're supposed to do when you're going to a vacation location and find a way to enjoy yourself. That means using a wedding package from a place that does a lot of weddings. Then the details will be taken care of. You won't save a lot of money by trying to do it yourself. The argument could be made that you'll spend a lot more by trying to do things yourself in a foreign country where you have no ties, friends, vehicle, and so on.
It can be as simple as this:
Do some easy researching online: go to tripadvisor.com and put your city/island name in the search windows. You'll get a listing of hotels ranked in order of reviewer ratings. You will learn so much that you'll never get from the brochure. One recent review talked of a big name Caribbean resort that had plush grounds but was within view of a really bad area with seedy characters staking out the area and harassing the hotel's visitors. By the time you finish this process, you'll have a really good idea of what you do and don't want and where to go to get it.
Then, simply compare pricing and availability for the locations you've found that you like. Because of competition, many hotels offer very comparable wedding packages for a lot less than you would think. Just be sure to check what's included for the price. The hotel that takes care of the planning will be able to tell you what things you'll need to take care of on your own.
Everything else is just icing on the cake. And if you can't come up with a good solution from the steps above but still want to get married in the Caribbean - go on a cruise! Cruise lines have wedding packages, too. In fact, this may be one of the easier ways to get friends and family to come along. And having a group together will make it that much more fun.
April 29, 2006 - Do it Yourself Wedding Ideas That Look Professional
One of the simplest ways to make a lot of do it yourself wedding projects look professional is to use an embosser or stamp. You can get custom designs or pick from monogram styles and then have at it. Combined with blank cardstock, you can add custom accents to any stationery item you use by using the embosser or stamp.
If you tried making your own wedding labels on a computer and that didn't work out, you can always default to using a stamp. If you don't go about it the right way, using a computer can be a little frustrating. Watch our RSS feed or updates page for an article about that in a few days.
Stamps create labels that look professionally made and you get the benefit of the custom design as well. And when you're done using it there, you can use the stamp elsewhere to carry your theme, logo, or motif. If you're using wedding favor boxes that you assemble, you can add your embossed logo to those if they are made of cardstock or similar material.
This simple touch, adding your embossed or stamped design onto something, is an inexpensive way to add customization that would cost a small fortune to have done professionally.
