Wedding Mania - 750 Guests...

Wow - my week has been filled with wedding, wedding, wedding! I helped plan and execute a wedding Friday night which had approx. 750 guests. Big wedding! Here are some photos of the wedding (taken by photographer Amy Kassler):

In my next post, I'll give you a more complete run-down including wedding colors, ceremony flow, catering, and much more. Stay tuned! In the meantime, visit www.NWweddingplace.com for more wedding planning tips, articles, photos, shopping, & more.

Reception Father/Daughter Dance Songs

The wedding father/daughter dance... such a special moment. You want to choose a song that beautifully represents you and your dad... I've often thought about this myself, "What would be the perfect song to play when I dance with my dad?" I was randomly listening to songs one day on Yahoo, and began to hear the perfect words... "You were my first love, always there for me, you taught me how to walk and how to dream, God gave me your eyes, but it was you who showed me how to see..." It's called "Always Be Your Baby" by Natalie Grant. It's such a beautiful song, perfect for this emotional dance...

There's other songs that I've thought would be really good, especially the new one by Steven Curtis Chapman "Cinderella" . That song is sure to bring you, your dad, and all your guests to tears. :) Then there's the classic song "Butterfly Kisses" by Bob Carlisle, a sweet song I've loved for a long time. Before I decided myself on "Always Be Your Baby", I was set on "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. This song is special to me, because it reminds me of my dad. He's from Hawaii, and Israel is a famous Hawaiian singer... So when choosing your song, it doesn't have to be a traditional song, it just needs to be meaningful to you and your dad. What song would you choose?

-Ask Sarah http://www.nwweddingplace.com/

It's September 11th... Light a candle in memory of those who tragically lost their lives in New York, Washington DC and on Flight 38.

Candles can also be used at weddings as memorials for family members and friends who've passed away. I've seen couples set up a special table with pictures, candles, flowers, personalized vases, or other items in memory of loved ones who could not be present for their weddings. In my opinion, that is a great way to show love and respect to those individuals who are missed, and those who were close to them who are still here.


Where can you find memorial wedding items? Shop right here... Wedding Memorial Items

http://www.nwweddingplace.com/

Bridal Hairstyles? Name Your Favorite!

Hello readers!

So what's your vote on bridal hairstyles? Up-do? Wear it down? Big curls? Sides up and back down? If you're a bride planning for your upcoming wedding, you'll need to figure all this out. Or maybe you're a bridesmaid and you still need to make the same decision! Unless the bride is deciding that for you...

In my humble opinion, I love to see a good up-do on a bride for her wedding day. It's just something out of the ordinary, and it seems to work well with tiaras, veils and such. However, now that I've put my vote in... the wedding "up-do" has a massive amount of options in itself! A simple bun, a twist, pinned up with curls cascading, etc. Check out this cute up-do photo from a bride friend of mine.

If you're looking for more, visit our "Idea Gallery". We also have several wedding hair articles & tips in our wedding planning section.

Did you know you can "see" yourself with a style online? Do some experimenting here:

On Location Wedding Report

Hello readers,

The 3-day Labor Day weekend was a busy one for weddings. People love to take advantage of the extra day off to extend their honeymoons and make it easy for traveling out-of-town guests to attend.

I was the matron of honor this weekend at a local wedding! Here's how it went... Saturday afternoon, all the bridal party converged on a local hotel room to get ready. The bride, all the bridesmaids, flower girls, ring bearers, photographers, and helpers were packed into a room for 2 hours getting ready. It was crazy, but fun!

The bride wore a beaded A-line gown, a long one-layer veil, a gorgeous tiara, and matching jewelry. The bridesmaids wore flame red dresses, all in different styles (all available from www.NWweddingplace.com of course :-). After we all put our wedding dresses on, touched up our makeup, grabbed our bouquets, etc., we headed out towards the wedding ceremony venue. It was at a local park approximately 6 minutes away. The park has a lovely rose garden area, which is a perfect setting for outdoor weddings... Except when it's raining :-(

As we drove down the street closer to the park, the rain started. Outdoor weddings in Washington State are always a gamble - no matter what month it is! The groom and groomsmen were already at the park and had to take shelter in one of the park's shelter areas. We ended up having the ceremony in the park shelter instead of in the garden itself, but the couple seemed unfazed by that hiccup!

The reception followed directly after the ceremony, with the bridal party entering last because of the post-ceremony photo session. The reception was at a local banquet hall, complete with buffet-style catering, a DJ, dance floor, fabric linens, 3-tiered wedding cake, no-host bar, simple red and white table decor, etc. Lovely, and fun!

Wedding Sand Ceremony vs. Unity Candles

For an upcoming wedding, a bride and groom are ordering a sand ceremony set from us instead of using a traditional unity candle set. So what should people know?

• Do either a sand ceremony or a unity candle, but not both.
• A sand ceremony uses a larger vase or container to pour into and hold the sand. The bride & groom each have a small vase with colored sand (each a different color) that they use to pour into the main container. Children can also participate by having their own sand and adding it into the mix.
• Unity candles use two, smaller taper candles which are lit first (one taper for each person). Then, the bride and groom jointly light a larger, center candle that usually is personalized or has a saying imprinted on it.
• Both of these 'ceremonies' signify the blending of, or the joining of two people into one.
• Both of them also make great keepsakes for years to come.

Need to buy a unity candle set or sand ceremony set?

Click on this affiliate site link to shop now

Things to remember:

• Unity candles can be difficult to use during outdoor ceremonies... wind... !!
• Sand ceremonies can be difficult to transport afterward, so make sure your container has a lid of some kind or is very secure in a vehicle!
• Some wedding venues do not allow open flame.
• Don't collect and use wet sand from a beach for your sand ceremony. It is not clean and you may end up with mold!

Enjoy! Visit www.NWweddingplace.com for more wedding planning help & info.

What is a "Yodio Wedding?"

No... not rodeo wedding silly :-). Yodio! We have recently discovered a really cool web tool - excellent for weddings! It's Yodio! Yodio is a Pacific Northwest based company (which we love of course). Click this short Yodio (video) below to see an example of how you could use Yodio to display and share your wedding photos & memories: It's free!

Check out more information at www.NWweddingplace.com/yodio.htm

Thanks! Free is good...