Popular Love Songs

Posted on February 1, 2012 by jen

Brides and grooms are always on the hunt for a romantic, non-traditional wedding song to dance to. Luckily, Signature Grand has given a few ideas! These songs range in genre and are 100% romantic!

1. When A Man Loves A Woman – Michael Bolton

2. Stand By Me – Ben E. King

3. When You Say Nothing At All – Ronan Keating

4. I Cross My Heart – George Strait

5. Come Away With Me – Norah Jones

6. Because You Loved Me – Celine Dion

7. Nothing Compares To You – Sinead O’Conner

8. It’s Your Love – Tim McGraw & Faith Hill

9. A New Day – Celine Dion

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History of the Groom’s Cake

Posted on February 1, 2012 by jen

Weddingstar

Dating back to the 19th century, the tradition of the Grooms Cake is definitely making its come-back. Legend has it that the single women at the wedding would take a slice of the groom cake home and put it under their pillows. That night they would dream about their future husbands.

These days, the Grooms cake is made of chocolate or red velvet cake and is offered as an alternative to the traditional vanilla cake. Meant to be a gift from the bride to the groom (often a surprise), the cake can come in any flavor, shape or theme.

If served at the reception, this cake can be set next to the traditional wedding cake or wheeled out to surprise the groom. If large enough, it can be cut and boxed for guests to take home. Regardless of how you serve it, make sure that you select a cake that reflects the grooms personality and style! It’s sure to be a night that he won’t forget!

Weddingstar “Couch Potato” Groom Figurine

Wedding Flower Basics of 2012

Posted on January 19, 2012 by jen

Cathy's Concepts Glass Vase Wedding Centerpiece (Set of 3)

Flowers are one of the most significant decorative aspects of a wedding celebration. Not only do they give visual appeal, but they also contribute true elegance to the love of the special couple. Because of this, it’s hard not to incorporate the orchid into your wedding.

Aside from the traditional rose, orchids are one of the most popular bridal flowers. The orchid’s structure is delicate, intricate and luxurious. Beautiful in bunches, even a single orchid flower looks stunning. Picture the exceptional beauty of a selection of these tropical flowers and their delightful colors complementing your wedding ceremony and reception.

Orchids have attained such favor as wedding day flower is because they keep their fresh look for a long time without having to add water. This is particularly important if your wedding takes place in an air-conditioned venue or during hot dry weather. Orchids can be found in shades of pink, white, yellow and light green. Their flower petals are full-bodied and bendable, they are very resistant to drying out.

Orchid can be used in several ways, such as in a bouquet, as a cut flower or floated in a crystal bowl. While orchids appear delicate and fragile, they are actually firm and sturdy.

If you’re in love with orchids but want something a little more original, consider pairing them with roses or lilies. This contrast is extremely attractive and unique, creating a floral appearance that any bride looks forward to. Whatever your wedding ideas might be, orchids will easily accommodate the special effects that you are looking for and life up to your expectations of the most beautiful of all your wedding blossoms.

After your wedding event your orchids can live for up to two to three weeks. The combination of orchids and weddings is an instinctive match. The beauty and enchantment of both the bride and the orchids are an invincible combination for an everlasting cherished marriage ceremony memory.

Cathy’s Concepts Glass Vase Wedding Centerpiece (Set of 3)

Creating a Wedding Seating Chart

Posted on January 12, 2012 by jen

Kate Aspen Miniature Gold Chair Favor Box with Heart Charm and Ribbon (Set of 12)

If your seating chart is the source of your heart burn, you might want to relax and make the task fun. Here are some useful tips for planning your seating chart.

1. The overall point to a seating chart is to make your guests happy. Think of what will make your guests happy and go with the flow.

2. Try to keep close relatives near the bride and groom table and work away – close friends, co-workers and acquaintances.

3. Don’t forget to use place cards. This avoids confusion and really fills up the tables beautifully.

4. If your tables are round, seat couples next to each other. If children are invited, they should be near the parents unless you have designated tables for children.

5. Having said that, if your tables are rectangle or long, couples are traditionally seated across from each other.

6. Make sure each guest is situated with someone they know well enough to be comfortable with so that they can socialize.

7. Try to have fun with your seating arrangement and don’t make anybody feel left out. Try to mix and intertwine guests to encourage conversations and mingling.

Once you have created your guest list, start your seating chart. This gives you plenty of time and you’ll also have time to order your place cards if necessary. Happy planning!

Place Card Holders

Selecting your 2012 Wedding Favors

Posted on January 5, 2012 by jen

Cassiani

While your wedding day is one of the happiest occasions of your life, planning the event can be very stressful. There are a myriad of details to take care of, including choosing a photographer, deciding where to hold the reception, and making travel arrangements for your honeymoon. If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed, the following article can give you a wealth of advice on how to achieve the wedding of your dreams.

Wedding Favors

It is a nice gesture to provide wedding favors for everybody, and depending on the size of your wedding and your allotted budget, there are some wallet friendly ideas out there. It can sometimes be more economical to purchase a gift that is high quality as opposed to many small things to fill a favor bag. Items that are a great example of this would be: stationery set, gift certificates, teacup and saucer set, mugs or a box of chocolates. This ensures that you provide a gift for everyone, while still saving some money.

If you need to cut costs on your wedding day, think about which items can serve a dual role at your event. For example, buy water bottles for your guests and add a personalized label to them. Not only can they be handed out as wedding favors, but they also provide refreshment during the reception.

More and more specialty wedding planners are exploring ways to keep the ceremony and reception modern and worldly while adding in subtle nods to a bride and groom’s cultural and ethnic background. For example, consider a contemporary fusion menu filled with popular dishes. Add a twist with ethnic dessert options, drinks, or edible wedding favors.

In order to plan the perfect wedding, you have to be detailed and organized. Some people start making arrangements two years in advance in order to ensure that what they want is what they get. However, if you’re not quite that thorough, don’t worry. The tips contained in this article can guide you through the entire process, from conception to execution.

2012 Wedding Favors

2012 Trend: The Dessert Buffet

Posted on January 5, 2012 by jen

Weddingstar

2011 has come and gone and so have the old wedding traditions, however this tradition started mid 2011 and is going full throttle through 2012: the dessert buffet station.

It’s common sense: everyone loves a few choices, especially wedding guests. Many brides and grooms are choosing to give their guests buffet-style options for their dessert, snack and even as favors.

Be sure to incorporate a warm beverage such as coffee, hot chocolate and even tea. This is especially a good idea for the winter months. These stations can even hold your favors if they tie into your wedding theme such as personalized coffee bags or personalized favor boxes.

If you’re going to make your own buffest station, we recommend a fondue fountain. You can easily scatter skewers with strawberries, marshmallows, pound cake squares and more!

This trend started to become huge mid-year last year and it looks like it will continue to be popular in 2012.

Weddingstar “LOVE” Plates Set

Bridal Games by York & White

Posted on December 30, 2011 by jen

Weddingstar Bride & Groom Frisbee

Everybody has been to the basic wedding reception: cake cutting, garter tossing, bouquet tossing. How about mixing it up a little with a few new bridal games!

Including the guests is an excellent way to get everybody to interact and have a great time. One fun reception game that can be played by all your guests (both young and old) is a game called: “want it now”.

In this game, you designate a person (generally the DJ if you have one) The DJ will have a list of “wants” prepared before the wedding reception. Everyone sits at their tables, and waits to hear the command. The DJ says he wants a person with painted finger nails. All the women with painted finger nails run to the front of the room, toward the master of ceremonies. Each time a table sends someone to the front first, they get a point.

The table with the most points at the end wins a prize!

If many guests are traveling a good distance to the wedding or don’t know many other guests, it’s always fun to include a game that will allow them to now only get to know each other but the bride and groom as well. For this game, you’ll need a master of ceremonies again, which can be a very outgoing member of the wedding party or the DJ. The reception guests are broken into two groups, which can be as simple as having people count off “1, 2, 1, 2″ and so on until the entire guest list is either a “1″ or a “2″. Then the two groups band together for the rest of the game.

The DJ (or appointed person) offers a series of questions relating to the bride and groom. The teams will work together to answer the questions, then as quickly as possible provide the answer. The bride and groom will confirm if the answer is correct or not. This is an excellent way for otherwise “stranger” guests to get to know one another and have some fun in the process. It’s also an excellent way to get to know the bride and groom!

Wedding games don’t have to be redundant and ordinary, with a little planning you can transform any wedding reception into a fun event where the guests interact and really get to know each other!

Weddingstar Bride & Groom Frisbee

The History of the Wedding Cake

Posted on December 28, 2011 by jen

Weddingstar A

Wedding cakes were first noted in Medieval times. This “cake” was actually a celebration bread created from wheat. They were viewed as an indicator of fertility and were often pitched at the wife.

The Romans toasted wheat and salt desserts to be eaten at a wedding ceremony. Strangely enough, the groom would eat a slice of the cake and the remaining portion would be crumbled over the woman. Again this was symbolic of fertility and prosperity and much like the rumble for the bouquet the wedding guests would war to find and snack at any leftover crumbs as to get any passive fortune.

Why are wedding cakes tiered?

As time passed, the wedding cakes were made larger and more fashionable the idea of smashing them over the bride disappeared. In fact, many brides came to protest the cake smashing and were relieved when the size of the wedding cake tripled in size!

The approach of a tiered wedding cake can also be followed back to Medieval times. In some places there was a custom of stacking as many wedding cakes as possible in the center of the bridal couple. The couple then had to aspire to kiss atop the pile of cakes.

Why are Wedding Cakes white?

A primary reason why many wedding cakes are white is pretty noticeable. White traditionally symbolizes purity and wedding cakes were generally called ‘bride’s cakes.’ A white wedding cake is to indicate the girls purity.

Another reason is simply because while in the Victorian era it was quite hard to find ingredients that may conclude in icing in any alternative color than white. For absolutely white icing refined sugar was fundamental which could be costly. Prosperous families would use white to demonstrate their wealth.

There is another form of the wedding cake, also known as the grooms cake. This cake is often a surprise to the groom and is made to suit his interests or hobbies. The grooms cake is a great way to include the groom in the wedding reception and add a little flair as well!

Cake Toppers

Planning a Seamless Wedding

Posted on December 28, 2011 by jen

Weddingstar Classic Double Heart Cake Serving Set - White

The options to having a non-traditional wedding these days are quite vast. Have you considered having a wedding ceremony that is not the normal expected? For those that are seeking an alternative type of celebration, here are a few ideas and locations that you may not have previously considered for your big day.

Reception

Not looking forward to dancing the night away in those uncomfortable heels? Give flip flops a try. Buy some white flip flops for the bride, and colored flip flops for the bridesmaids too. This can help to make the reception more enjoyable, and the dance party last into the wee hours of the night.

Try to keep the length of your ceremony to a minimum. Nobody actually enjoys the ceremony itself, so if the preacher starts to ramble on for too long, it is better to talk to him about it during the rehearsal. Leave more time for the reception, so you can enjoy time with loved ones.

The month before your wedding is perhaps the most stressful, but by making sure that these details are complete and in progress, you will be able to stay on track. So, the bride needs to have her final gown fitting, the reception and seating chart needs to be organized, and all agreements with your vendors must be confirmed.

Get married in an unusual location. The most popular venues in town will book early and will be very expensive. Consider going to an aquarium or a museum and seeing what they charge for a reception. Their packages usually include almost everything that you will need, and they cost less than other traditional venues.

The tips above will, hopefully, inspire your imagination into the alternatives that are available to you. The vows you are about to exchange with your spouse-to-be, are the most important aspect of the day with the rest just being window dressing. In saying that, your day will undoubtedly, be the most magical it can be.

Affordable Reception Accessories

Wedding Reception Planning

Posted on December 22, 2011 by jen

Weddingstar Open Loop Heart Flutes

The time to plan your wedding is here. It’s the day of your dreams and you want everything to be absolutely perfect. Finding perfection is easy, but paying for it is not. How do you get what you want, with the budget you have? In this article, we will provide you with some valuable, cost-saving tips that can really help.

Reception

Don’t be afraid to use any kind of music you want for the reception. You don’t have to set aside the music you like when you are planning your wedding. It doesn’t have to be a dance party. If you like Indie music or if you like head-banging to heavy metal, then go for it!

When it comes to weddings be sure to shop around for your reception hall. This is important because you want to make sure that not only are you getting the most for your money, but also that the hall will accommodate all of your wishes in order to make your day as special as possible.

If you are having a church wedding, consider holding your reception in the church basement immediately following the service. If your church doesn’t have a basement, they most likely have a hall perfect for the affair. Many churches have volunteer staff as well that will help decorate and provide food for the cost of the ingredients and materials alone.

Paper plates and plastic silverware can be great options for the reception on a budget. Fine china and fancy linens are nice, but they also come with a high price tag. If you choose to use paper products, your guests will probably never even notice. If they do notice, they likely will not care.

So the time has come to plan your wedding and you’re not sure how to get everything done on the budget you have. You want it all to be perfect, without have to declare bankruptcy when it is over. In this article, we have provided you with some cost saving tips that can help any wedding work with any budget. Use them wisely and enjoy your big day.

Wedding Flutes

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