Wedding Help

When in the quest for new and interesting table decorations for your wedding, you are sure to come across the idea of using goldfish bowls as part of your table centerpiece. In fact, I even bring it up as an option in one of my earlier posts, Wedding Table Decorations. I’ve been to many events where the host or hostess has used goldfish bowls with decorative rocks and mirrors, and it can really be a pretty centerpiece, and quite unique as not many people go this route. However, there are some benefits and downsides to using goldfish bowls that you may want to consider before going out and buying everything you need for this centerpiece.

Why Goldfish Bowls are a Great Idea

There are lots of reasons to choose goldfish bowls while doing your wedding planning for your table centerpieces. The bowls, rocks and fish are relatively inexpensive, and in the end you’ll have a unique living centerpiece. Not only will a goldfish bowl centerpiece be unique to many of the other table centerpieces that your guests have been used to, but having a living goldfish in the bowl will provide your guests with some entertainment watching the fish swim around especially if you have kids at your wedding. But perhaps the best part about using goldfish bowls as table centerpieces it that you can give away the goldfish bowls at the end of the night to your guests. You can put a tag on each goldfish bowl at the table with who the bowl is to go to, or just leave it up to the table about who goes home with the fishbowl. Whatever you choose to do with it, in the end you won’t have a dozen or more goldfish bowls to take care of when you get back.

Why You May Want to Think Twice

When I have been to an event that used goldfish bowls, at times they have been rather disappointing. Goldfish are not typically known to have long lives, and sometimes the goldfish died before the event was over. Call me crazy, but having goldfish floating belly up on your wedding tables could be a bit of a downer. Plus, who wants to take home a dead goldfish? Again, it could just be the goldfish that were bought for the event that I attended, but it is still something to take into consideration when deciding if goldfish bowls are right for your wedding ceremony.

Goldfish bowls can be a charming and unique living centerpiece that your guests will love.  Having a table centerpiece that is living can really provide a lot of entertainment for your guests, and is something to consider. If you have any goldfish bowl centerpiece stories, please write and let me know.

Tags: goldfish bowl centerpieces, table centerpieces, Wedding Reception, wedding table decorations

When I was choosing the bridesmaids for my bridal party, I didn’t have very much of a problem at all, not like some people have anyway. My husband has 3 sisters, I have one and I also had a very good friend from church that I wanted to be a part of the wedding as well. Luckily enough, my husband had a group of 5 men who were cousins and brothers that he wanted to be in the wedding and so our numbers matched perfectly. Not everyone is that lucky though when they are looking at their friends and family to be a part of their bridal party. One big problem that many brides face today is that they have a dozen or more good friends and/or sisters who would like to be a part of your bridal party. This could be a big problem, seeing as you don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. So what do you do anyway? You may be asking yourself some of the following questions: How many bridesmaids is too many? How many bridesmaids should I have? Only you can answer that question, but here are some tips to help you decide.

Consider the Ceremony Location

A great way to determine how many bridesmaids you should have is to look at your ceremony location. Sit back and look at it carefully, and be honest with yourself about how many bridesmaids and groomsmen will even fit. For example, our church is very small, and I knew that anything over 5 bridesmaids would look cramped and someone would have to be standing next to the piano player to make it work. Not the best idea. Now, if you are getting married in a large church, or outside, then space really isn’t an issue and you can look at having more bridesmaids in your bridal party.

Consider the Groomsmen

Before you go and ask a dozen of your closest friends to be bridesmaids, talk to your fiance and make sure that he has enough men he wants to be groomsmen to match the number of bridesmaids that you have. While the numbers do not have to match exactly for it to work, it will definitely look odd if you have a dozen bridesmaids and your groom only has 5 groomsmen. For my sister’s wedding, she had one less groomsmen for the bridesmaids, and one of the groomsmen escorted two of the bridesmaids on the way out. It worked out fine, but it wasn’t the way she had planned it, one of the groomsmen just didn’t show up to the wedding.

Consider your Friends

Not all of your dozen friends need to be bridesmaids. Consider your friends carefully and choose the friends who will be there for you on your wedding day, who will help to make your day easier versus the friends who are a little more high maintenance. There are plenty of things your friends can do who are not bridesmaids, such as helping plan the wedding, planning bridal showers, taking care of the guest book, cutting the cake, and much more.

I know how hard it is to choose between your friends when it comes to choosing your bridesmaids, and how many that you will have. Just be honest with yourself and the character of your different friends. You may hurt some feelings, but if they are true friends then they will still stand by you in your wedding, and be happy for you. If you need any further help with this topic, or have any additional advice, please comment and let me know!

Tags: bridesmaids, choosing your bridesmaids, how many bridesmaids

Square wedding invitations are perhaps the most popular type of wedding invitation that brides purchase today for their weddings. They show off a newer style, more hip and trendy than the standard rectangular wedding invitation of times past. Square cards and wedding invitations have been around for quite a while, and it doesn’t appear that they are going anywhere soon. Personally, I really like them a lot. When I went shopping for our wedding invitations, I didn’t go specifically looking for square wedding invitations, but in the end that is what I ended up with. In my opinion, the square wedding invitations just have a newer and yet still elegant style that I liked. As much as I loved my square wedding invitations, I had to admit that there were some downsides that I had to deal with. So, before you go and choose your wedding invitations, here are some things to consider before choosing square wedding invitations.

Square Wedding Invitations Cost More to Send

This is something that I knew in the back of my mind, but never thought about when I was shopping for my wedding invitations. Since the square wedding invitations have a different shape than the typical rectangular wedding invitation, the post office will charge you nearly double to send them. Ouch!! Luckily, I got out of this one without any problems. When I received my square wedding invitations, they came with rectangular shaped envelopes with a slotted area for the square invitations. While it looked a bit odd (many said they never noticed though), I saved a bunch of money on postage. So, when you are shopping for your square wedding invitations, make sure to ask the company if they will come with square wedding invitations or rectangular. My sister wasn’t as lucky with her wedding invitations, and she had to double stamp both her wedding invitations and her response cards….so it pays to ask!!

Square Wedding Invitations Have Less Room

This typically isn’t such a big deal for most people, as they only need a few lines to give the necessary information. Due to my family situation though, I chose to do something different with my wedding invitations. I did not list our parent’s names, but instead had a short verse at the top of our wedding invitation which took up several lines, and in the end left me trying to reword everything on the invitation so that it would fit the square wedding invitation that I had picked out. In the end it worked out great, and I was really pleased with it.

Even though I was only listing the downsides of square wedding invitations, they are still undeniably my favorite kind of wedding invitation. If you have any experiences about your square wedding invitations you’d like to share, please comment and let everybody know!

Tags: square wedding invitations, Wedding Invitations

Most women like going to bridal showers. It’s not for the fancy finger foods or other snack platters that will be served, or even to sit and watch the bride open gifts. For most women, the fun in a bridal shower comes from the different bridal shower games that are played during the bridal shower. It’s a time to have fun and play games with friends, family, and possibly new people you’ve never met before. Bridal shower games are easy to put together, and can really help to liven things up or to help serve as an ice breaker for a group of ladies who don’t know each other very well. I love bridal shower games, and have done several articles on them in the past, like Christian Bridal Shower Games and Great Bridal Shower Games. There are tons of ideas for bridal shower games, and here are more of my favorites.

Famous TV Couples Bridal Shower Game

To get this fun bridal shower game going, make a list of at least 20 - 25 famous TV couples, such as Fred and Wilma Flintstone, or Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. Then, during the bridal shower, pass out a piece of paper and pencil to each lady, and call out only one of the names of the couple, and have the guests fill in the name of the other person. The lady with the most correct names at the end wins the game.

Touch and Feel Bridal Shower Game

To prepare for this bridal shower game, place several ordinary household items such as a remote control, large fork, light bulb, spatula, and so on, in a small cloth bag, or bag that is not see through. Then, at the bridal shower, pass out a piece of paper and pencil to each lady. Pass each bag around and have each lady feel the bag and guess on their paper what each item is. The lady with the most correct items wins the game.

The Apron Bridal Shower Game

I was able to play this bridal shower game a while back, and it was really fun. Have someone buy or bring a large apron with lots of pockets for the bride to wear. Then, bring as many different kinds of kitchen utensils you can find. Have the bride put the apron on, and help her fill up the pockets of her apron with the utensils, letting each guest see the utensils as you place them in the apron. Then, have the bride walk around the group of ladies a few times and then leave the room. While she is gone, have each lady write down as many things as they can remember that are in her apron, in as much detail as they can remember. After about 5 minutes have the bride come back in and pull everything out of the apron. The guest with the most correct wins the game.

Bridal shower games are great fun, and to me a bridal shower just isn’t the same without some great bridal shower games to go along with it. Bridal shower games are fun for both the bride and her guests alike, and will really help everyone to have a great time at your bridal shower. It only takes a few minutes to put together some of these great bridal shower games, and trust me, your guests will really appreciate it.

Tags: bridal shower game, bridal shower games

Your wedding thank you cards can really be anything that you like. Many companies offer wedding thank you cards that match your wedding invitations, and they’re really not all that expensive if you choose to go that way. Or, if you prefer, you can purchase different kinds of wedding thank you cards separately off of the Internet. However, if you are crafty, you could also make them yourself, which is the route I chose to take. I won’t go into much detail about it right now, but you can check out my other article about it, Making Your Own Thank You Cards. I loved my wedding thank you cards, and the time and effort that I put into making each one really helped make each one of them special. I still see them on people’s refrigerators when I visit friends and family.

Wedding etiquette mandates that wedding thank you cards should really be sent out within a few weeks to a month after you get back from your honeymoon. This means that you need to dedicate some time to getting them finished once you get back from the honeymoon. To help them go by quicker, enlist your husband to help, perhaps writing some of the wedding thank you cards for his family and friends. This will make it go by faster. People do expect a wedding thank you card, and even if it is later than a month after the wedding, your guests will still appreciate the thought to send them a card.

Make sure they are handwritten, pre-printed wedding thank you cards are lazy, and most people would rather not receive a card at all than to receive one of those wedding thank you cards. For your wedding thank you cards, you should also remember those who helped you plan showers, run errands, and those others who really helped you get ready for the big day. Thank them for their time and thoughtfulness in being there to help you out.

Take the time to tell your guests how much you appreciate them being there for you, taking the time out of their lives, and be genuine and sincere. Everyone knows that you are busy with wedding plans, but your friends and family will still be there for you after the wedding, so treat them well.

Tags: thank you cards for weddings, wedding thank you cards, wedding thank yous