6/16/07

Six Tips for a Great Coffee Wedding Favor


By: Lisa Carter

A lot of people love coffee. For some individuals, mornings are simply not complete without a great steaming cup of aromatic and flavorful coffee. This is probably why coffee has now also invaded the wedding scene. If you’re also thinking of handing out coffee favors then take a look at these great tips for coming up with the perfect coffee wedding favor.

Study the Basics of Coffee

Coffee brands and blends were not created equal. Coffee fanatics among your guests would notice if your coffee wedding favor is not the best kind. Take time then to get to know basic details about coffee.

Your coffee wedding favor research should start with the beans. The two major beans are Arabica and Robusta. Arabica is more popular and reputedly more flavorful. Robusta however generally has more caffeine content and is cheaper. You can have ground coffee or coffee beans in your coffee wedding favor. From your coffee wedding favor bean inquiry you can move on to choosing among the many bean variations like Kona, Columbian, decaf, organic and many more. The most common choice is to have a coffee bean blend. There are also a great variety of flavors to choose from such as vanilla, chocolate, hazelnut, butter rum, cinnamon and Irish cream.

Sample the Merchandise

The best way to choose the right kind of coffee for your coffee wedding favor is to sample the different kinds of coffee yourself. Your coffee wedding favor should be able to speak well about your own personal taste and personality. If you are not confident about your choice, you can ask a group of friends to help you choose a good blend or flavor.

Be Creative with the Package

Most coffee favors are simple packs of coffee bean blends with the details of the event up front. You can however be more creative with your coffee wedding favor. You have the choice among mugs, tin cans and baskets to hold your coffee wedding favor. The advantage with these containers is that your guests can still have a useful reminder of your special day long after they have consumed their coffee giveaway.

Be Generously Sweet

A lot of coffee drinkers prefer to pair their cups of coffee with little sweet edibles. Generously add a few things in your wedding favor like homemade cookies or chocolate candies.

Add Some Great Accessories
You may include a personalized coffee favor accessory with your coffee pack instead of having a personalized container for your coffee wedding favor. Wrap a silver spoon or stirrer or a heart shaped coffee scoop in tulle and ribbons to add to your coffee pack.

Be Considerate of Others

It’s true that a lot of people really drink coffee but there are also some who prefer tea or do not drink coffee at all. Add a few items in your giveaway for your non coffee drinking guests. The most common options include tea and chocolate drinks. You should be careful though with how you pack your wedding favor. Include too many items and it may start to look like a grocery store goods giveaway.


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Lisa Carter is an expert in wedding planning. Get her Coffee Wedding Favors here or visit her site at www.Your-Wedding-Plans.com for money-saving tips and other wedding favor ideas and other useful advise for your dream wedding

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Checklist Of Flowers For Your Wedding Day

Sky Facet, LLC

By Dawn Dingus

Weddings and beautiful flowers go hand in hand. Fresh flowers, silk flowers, dried flowers and preserved flower arrangements alike require special preparations and planning. Whether you intend to hire a professional florist or make your own wedding floral arrangements, it is a good idea to create a checklist of flowers that you will need for your special day.

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The following list includes flower arrangements for the wedding ceremony, wedding reception, bridal party members, family members and other individuals providing special services or assistance throughout your wedding day. Use the checklist below as a general guide to assist you in creating your own personalized checklist of flowers. Add or remove items from the list based on your wedding day needs. Creating wedding checklists well in advance will not only give you and/or your family time to plan and save money for expenses, but it will assist you in keeping your wedding plans organized and detailed. Once you have determined the number and different types of flower arrangements you will need, you can set your wedding flowers budget and begin researching different floral designs to coordinate with your wedding day theme.

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Flowers for the Wedding Ceremony

Guest Book Table or Stand

Candelabras

Unity Candle Table or Stand

Church Pews (with or without pew bows)

Alter

Wedding Arch

Piano and/or Organ

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Flowers for the Bridal Party, Family and Other Individuals

Bride's Bouquet

Bouquets for Maid of Honor and Bridesmaids

Flower Girl Basket and Flower Girl Crown/Hair Accessory

Corsages for Mothers and Grandmothers

Boutonniere for Groom

Boutonnieres for Best Man, Groomsmen, Ushers and Ring Bearer

Boutonnieres for Fathers and Grandfathers

Boutonniere for Minister/Officiant

Corsages or Boutonnieres for Pianist/Organist

Corsages or Boutonnieres for Wedding Coordinator

Corsages or Boutonnieres for those providing special services or assistance.

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Flowers for the Wedding Reception

Candelabras

Chandeliers

Wedding Party Head Table

Guest Tables

Cake Table

Cake Knife and Cake Server

Buffet Table(s)

Other Food Tables

Gift Table

Lattice Partitions

Columns/Poles

Free-Standing Arrangements



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About the author: Dawn Dingus is an experienced wedding planner and content writer for SouthernCraftworks.com and PersonalizeYourGift.net. Shop at http://www.SouthernCraftworks.com for wedding accessories, bridal jewelry, personalized candles, keepsakes, favors and engraved gifts for all occasions.

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6/10/07

How to Choose your Wedding Videographer

The Wine Messenger


Author: Shawn Hickman

Your dream wedding takes months of planning and lots of hard work. You’ve painstakingly researched every detail to make your wedding day perfect. When the day is over you want to see and hear the joy and excitement all over again. A quality wedding video will allow you to re-live those emotional moments again and again. Magical moments for generations to come!

Therefore you want someone you can trust to do a professional job, but need some help finding the right video production company. Lets outline some of the most important tips in finding the perfect wedding videographer for your needs.

THE BUDGET

Costs for wedding videography vary greatly. Many new add-on items like “Love Stories,” Childhood Photo Montages,” rehearsal dinner coverage, dvd creation, and large screen presentations all add to the overall costs. Narrowing down the things that mean most to you will help before you get started.

VIDEO COVERAGE

Some videographers give unlimited time while others have packages with a certain number of hours built in.

One hour minimum of pre-ceremony coverage is needed to capture the best pre-ceremony shots. This can be some of the best video coverage of the whole day.

Three full hours of reception time should be sufficient to capture most of the major events during the reception. This should give you a good idea of the total time your videographer will need to cover the important events of the day.

VIDEO & AUDIO EQUIPMENT

Most perspective brides have no idea what type of professional equipment a videographer will use, so all you can go by is your own eyes and ears. See at least two or three samples of their work. Many web sites have streaming samples that will give you an idea of that company’s style and artistic flow. Video quality can be harder to see due to the inherent compromises compression puts on a streaming video via the web. Closer examination of their work can only be seen in person. This gives the added benefit of meeting your videographer and seeing how attentive they are to your needs. Remember they will be representing you at the wedding!

VIDEO AND AUDIO QUALITY

I believe that video quality starts with acquisition. The camera and audio gear used by wedding professionals varies greatly as well. Therein lies some major cost differences between video companies. Some lenses cost as much as some professional cameras. “High-end” videographers use the best gear money can buy. Great sound quality can only be achieved through expensive audio support gear and proper preparation. Trust your own ears when viewing demo samples and compare to any great movie or television show. This is an often over-looked feature, even by professionals. Great audio is crucial to the overall production. While listening to sample clips, pay attention to how clear the vows, music, readers, and minister’s voices sound. A good videographer may even run a remote feed back to his camera directly out of the DJ or band's sound board. Ambient audio can then be mixed in during editing for an even better sound mix. After all, with home theatres becoming more common, your wedding movie could rival anything seen on TV today!

FLOW, CONTENT, AND EMOTION

Editing is not just deciding what stays in and what goes out of your wedding video. Editing can emphasize all the emotions and create a visual and audio experience that will captivate. Great movies are edited for film and editors win academy awards. The same is true of your videographer. Did you cry watching someone elses wedding video during the demo appointment? Video is an emotional experience that is enhanced by subtle editing techniques. Many hours of time will go into your wedding video. For those who just want raw footage, with no audio “sweetening”, slow motion, music, and opening or closing/recap montages, maybe your videographer will adjust his price for you. However, this can take out a lot of the “magic” editing can bring to your wedding movie!

INTERVIEWS

Even though your videographer should be as unobtrusive as possible, please point out it may be your wish not to put any of your guests on the spot for interviews. Discuss who is important, and who should be interviewed. Ask the videographer how he approaches people for an interview.

PERSONALITY

Personality is important so you get along well with your videographer. How well does the videographer listen to you? Your videographer should be flexible on what you would like. Ask as many questions that pop into your head and observe the way they answer your questions. I often watch bridal chat forums to hear how sweet their photographer or videographer was. This is important and shows they care about you.

STYLE

Styles also vary, but a really good videographer can deliver many different styles. Just like photographers using the “photojournalistic” approach as opposed to the traditional and formal posed shots, videographers can offer their own style of documentary as well. Many videographers offer the “short edit”, which is either on add-on or part of their package. Please ask how long the typical edited video might be for your wedding. An eight hour wedding day could be condensed to a 35 – 45 minute total program with the “short edit” concept.

REPUTATION

Reputations for professionals are built and earned. The good ones usually have a long track record in their field of work. Quality control over many years will make or break most companies. Again, this is where the cost factor definitely comes to play as an expensive wedding video production company can targetr their talents towards a more discriminating audience, albeit smaller. These companies may demand a premium, but will more than likely provide more than what you expected. These higher-end videographers do far less wedding videos per year, but demand a higher price. If they were not in demand they would go out of business.



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About the Author: Need a wedding venue... Holy Trinity Reception Center
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6/5/07

Bridal Shower - 6 Ways to Create an Unforgettable Invitation



*Author: Anthony Lee

Here are the ways to create an unforgettable bridal shower invitation.

1. Use pop-ups - Hey, it's not just for kids and pre-teens. Pop-ups make a nice statement and a pleasant surprise. Use an ordinary paper-folded pop-up or a wire pop-up that springs into position when the envelope or invitation is opened. Pick an element taken from your shower theme such as a pair of hearts, a church, wedding bells, flowers or a pair of doves for the pop-up.

2. Ticket to the shower - Why not make give your bridal shower invitation a different flavor by making it look like a concert or theater ticket? Print the title of your invite on one side and include the details (place, time and dress code) on the other side. When guests come in through the door, assign a 'ticket taker' to tear a portion of the invitation and let the guests keep the rest.

3. Use natural materials - Go green with your bridal shower invitation and use recycled paper and bio-degradable materials. Use pressed leaves and dried flowers to decorate the invitation. To make a nice-smelling card, use dried fragrant flowers like roses, gardenias and lavender.

4. A sparkling affair - Why not include rhinestones in your bridal shower invitation? Rhinestones shine and sparkle even when used in small quantities. If your invitation has a drawing of a rose in front, glue a rhinestone in the middle or on one of the petals. Rhinestone can also shine inside an illustration of a martini glass or between two hearts.

5. Go handmade - Handmade bridal invitation cards are a smart and beautiful way to send out invites to a special occasion. Since they are handmade, no two invitations are exactly alike. Plus, you can also customize to include your favorite design elements.

6. The scent of things to come - Want to make your bridal shower invitation memorable? Using your favorite cologne or perfume, lightly spray or dab the invitation before sealing it in an envelope. The scent will stay on for several days and will still smell as good even if your guest opened it a few days later.


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