Wedding Traditions & Superstitions: Part 4

Weddings are all family and friends! who better to share your biggest day with then they? Oh well, them, and some good food that is! During this episode of wedding traditions and superstitions we will look into...

Food and Family

41. Legend says single women will dream of their future husbands if they sleep with a slice of groom’s cake under their pillows.

37. In South Africa, the parents of both bride and groom traditionally carried fire from their hearths to light a new fire in the newlyweds’ hearth.

40. Queen Victoria’s wedding cake weighed a whopping 300 pounds.

38. The tradition of a wedding cake comes from ancient Rome, where revelers broke a loaf of bread over a bride’s head for fertility’s sake.

36. In Egypt, the bride’s family traditionally does all the cooking for a week after the wedding, so the couple can…relax.

39. The custom of tiered cakes emerged from a game where the bride and groom attempted to kiss over an ever-higher cake without knocking it over.

 

42. An old wives’ tale: If the younger of two sisters marries first, the older sister must dance barefoot at the wedding or risk never landing a husband.

Happy Planning!!!

xoxo

Katherine

Oh! You Succ-ulents!

Succulent Bouquet

Floral Faves

Over the last few weeks, we've covered some of the top fashion and decor trends. One of the easiest ways to pull both of those together is through my favorite element of any wedding- flowers. 

Flowers are the window to the bride's soul.  They represent everything- beauty, modernity, romance, softness, simplicity, and even high maintenance.  They also represent a large part of the budget!

Succulents are a trend that emerged last year that I think are going to be huge in the coming years.  There's a few reasons:

1) They are versatile:

Succulents can be modern, vintage, rustic or organic; they are a little bit of everything!  They work with almost every type of style, trend and color combo too!  They can add amazing texture to a bouquet.  

Yellow and Grey

Bright summer bouquet

 

via pinterest

texture bouquet

Colorful bouquet

                                                                   









#2) They are eco-friendly:

Some floral wholesalers use pesticides to keep flowers longer (especially those that are not local and being shipped) which can harm the environment.  For those of trying to minimize our carbon footprint on such an extravagant day, succulents are great.  They are easily replanted and almost impossible to kill making them great bouts, centerpieces, escort cards and/or favors for your guests to have an everlasting memory of your big day!

Succulent centerpiece

Boutineers

Succulent centerpiece

Centerpieces

Succulent place cards

Succulent Escort Cards

 

#3) They are affordable.

For all of you DIY'ers out there succulents are pretty easy to find at your local home and garden store.  A warning though, large chains get there prices low from buying in bulk and sometimes lower qualities, for the best selection and advice see your local florist.  They can also help with ideas for how to bring the look together.

Check out these amazing combinations and this succulent themed wedding from the Wedding Wire Blog.  (BTW- Since I can't have another wedding....yet....I think I'm going hang succulents all over my house thank to one of these pictures.)

Modern yellow board

Colorful rustic chic board

Rustic pastel board

Vintage board

Modern summer board

Modern favors

 So what do you think?  Will these work for wedding?

TTFN

Rachel

Shrinking Down Style

courtesy AllenAimPhotography

 Little People, Looking Good. (and hopefully behaving...)

via Flickr

Awww!!! Aren't they cute?!  The only people that are (sort of) allowed to take some of the spotlight away from the bride and groom are these little folks.  When styling your bridal party the little ones can easily help pull the whole look of your wedding together.

The options are endless when it comes to too cute looks for kids.  Doesn't anything miniaturized look cuter? There are a few thing to keep in mind though that will keep you flower girl and ring bearer's parents really happy.  Keep in mind the same concepts that you consider when styling your main ladies.  Check out these great style selections from greenweddingshoes.

With the little one's things like price are important.  They grow so fast that's it's not like you can you justify wearing it again.  Kids are expensive, parents will appreciate your attempt to keep the price down.  Work within your theme if you have one to really hammer home the look, plus mom's won't have to worry about them getting stains out of satin and organza.

Keep them age appropriate.  Some dresses for little girls can be questionable, but a good seamstress can help add sleeves or  length if you're matching your FG to maids.  This goes for boys too.  Your eleven year old nephew would probably rather wear a tux than dress like Mickey Mouse for your black, white and red Disney theme wedding.  

Deciding to include young ones in your big day is an important decision.  While they certainly can offer some laughs and adorable photos opps, they can also create some (cough, cough) potential disturbances.  We all hope for this:

Here's what can happen:

When inviting little one's we often forget that they're cuteness doesn't overcome the fact that they are little.  Coordinators can often help to serve as stand in for mom and dad while they are dancing, having fun or taking photos with the bride and groom.  Another help to everyone is to include a kids activity table and be sure the venues have a quite room for the little ones to nap.

Since I have a two year old, I can say with love that kids are messy-little-stubborn-creatures of habit.  While they may be excited to do the job at the rehearsal, things change when naps are missed, they get stage fright in front of the large crowd, they get bribed with lot of sugar, and they want mac-n-cheese over prosciutto and melon.  Make you sure think about these things when choosing to include the littlest members of your family.

TTFN

Rachel

DIY Friday: Rainbow Flowers

Here we are again! Thank Heavens its Friday everyone! As we are a mere 6 days away from the start of February, I seem to be starting cabin fever a bit early this year. I have found myself perusing the inter-web for the pinochle of spring perfection: Flowers. As we are all well aware, flowers can make a wedding celebration. From bouquets and centerpieces to corsages and flower girls petals, flowers can brighten any celebration. For our DIY project this week, I came across a hands on (obviously) easy and stunning DIY for us to work on!

All steps and pictures brought to us by ColorMeKate and her fabulous designs, I couldn't help but share her work!

RAINBOW FLOWERS

Step 1: Find any pretty white flower

Step 2: With a sharp knife and a steady hand, split the end of the flower's stem into four sections.

Step 3:  Put each section in a different cup of colored water.

Step 4: Wait....(cricket...cricket)

Step 5: TADAAAAA!!!!

How cool is that!!!!

Happy DIY-ing!

xoxo

Katherine

Wedding Traditions & Superstitions- Part 3

This is our third edition of Traditions and Superstitions! We've brought you bad and good luck and engagement rings galore so now its time for.....

Fashionable Lore!

25. Brides carry or wear “something old” on their wedding day to symbolize continuity with the past.

26. On her wedding day, Grace Kelly wore a dress with a bodice made from beautiful 125-year-old lace.

27. In Denmark, brides and grooms traditionally cross-dressed to confuse evil spirits!

28. The “something blue” in a bridal ensemble symbolizes purity, fidelity, and love.

29. Most expensive wedding ever? The marriage of Sheik Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum’s son to Princess Salama in Dubai in May 1981. The price tag? $44 million.

30. In Japan, white was always the color of choice for bridal ensembles — long before Queen Victoria popularized it in the Western world.

31. Queen Victoria started the Western world’s white wedding dress trend in 1840 — before then, brides simply wore their best dress.

32. In Korea, brides don bright hues of red and yellow to take their vows.

33. In Asia, wearing robes with embroidered cranes symbolizes fidelity for the length of a marriage.

34. Ancient Greeks and Romans thought the veil protected the bride from evil spirits. Brides have worn veils ever since.

35. Of course, Jackie Kennedy’s bridesmaids were far from frumpy. She chose pink silk faille and red satin gowns created by African-American designer Ann Lowe (also the creator of Jackie’s dress).

Happy Planning!

xoxo

Katherine