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The Marriage Carriage (Getaway Car)

As some of you may remember in my previous post, I have a personal reason for preferring the “dramatic getaway” from your wedding. Unless you have a full service wedding planner I’ve seen a lot of brides try to dump the job of organizing this task on the groom. Before you do this make sure the dramatic effects are as important to him as they are to you. As wonderful as he is some the grooms just “don’t get it” when it comes to the theatrics of this event.




It is very important for you to plan ahead for your wedding transportation. Ideally you would like to have your transportation decided upon and booked six months ahead of time with 4 months being the absolute latest.









The first thing you need to do of course is to decide the type of transporation you want to get away in. There are endless options now when wedding transportation used to be pretty much limited to limousines. There are now specialist car rental companies that specialize in matching a car to the style of your wedding.



If you are staying the night in the hotel where your reception is located you can still do this just to take a relaxing ride away from all the festivities and prepare for your wedding night!

A few ideas for the getaway..
Hop in a limo and enjoy the first private moment with your loved one since the ceremony without worrying about driving.


If you had a beach or Hollywood glam theme, hop in a convertible!








If you had an upscale black tie affair hop in a luxury car like a Rolls Royce or Mercedes (which can be chauffered or not)






Think about your wedding style and explore all your options. No matter what your choice the getaway will be memorable while enabling you to get away gracefully and quickly.

Your Wedding Night

I saw this in a magazine once and the answers were a hoot - figured I'd try it here for a few giggles. So here we go...

Did you do "it" on your wedding night?

I'll start and fess up -

NO - My wonderful brand new husband invited everyone back to our house to party when the reception ended and by 1am I coulnd't hold my eyes open anymore. Better yet - everyone was still there when I woke up!

Hint: Avoid this by planning a glam exit and leaving before your guests!

The Guest List

Making the guest list is easy right? All you need to do is write down the names of all your closest friends and relatives and thats it! NOT - if it is that simple for you count your blessings now. For the rest of us here is some advice on how to handle the what can be "tricky" situations with who we invite to our wedding.

1st of all consider the style of your wedding - if you want an intimate garden wedding it wouldn't be practical to invite 250 guests. Alternatively if your wedding is in a grand ballroom 50 guests would look pretty sparse.

OK, now lets get started making that list.
**Both of you make a list of your immediate family members and the attendants on your side of the wedding party. (Yes, always send an invitation to the attendants). Next will be the officiant and his/her spouse. (Including the officiant is not a must if you simply can't squeeze anyone else in but if you can the gesture will certainly be appreciated.)
**Now add your mutual friends to the list.
**Next comes your work colleagues, children, significant others and any other optional guests.
**This part is very important, you should have a "wish list" of guests they would like to see at the wedding from mom and dad on both sides. This is where it can get sticky - if mom and dad are helping to pay for any of the wedding it's not appropriate to accept their money but refuse their input on the guest list. If they are not and you can't afford to have all those distant relatives or their freinds you've never met simply tell them you would love to have them but simply can't afford it. They will do one of two things.. Happily offer to help pay for additional guests or pare it down realizing they don't feel as strongly as thought about inviting them.

Also the guest list does not have to be split even between the bride and groom. Very seldom do 2 people get married that have the exact same size family. And it really doesn't matter who has more guests, what matters is you are both surrounded by the people you love and want to share this truly special day with.Now it's time to review it and make adjustments as needed. Is your list bigger than you thought it would be? Who knew we had so many friends and relatives lol.

The excitement of doing our guest list sometimes gets the better of us and we feel far friendlier towards old college pals and people we haven't thought about in a long time. So here are some guidelines for cutting back on the list...

1. It should go without saying that all members of the wedding party should be on the list and should all receive and invitation. Traditional wedding etiquette also states that members of the wedding party should be allowed to bring a spouse or significant other. If your budget is really really tight you can bypass it but I would keep it in mind in case you have room after editing the list. (But make sure there is room for all to bring a guest or none)
2. All immediate family members should be on this list.
3. Anyone that attended the wedding shower should be included.
4. When making cuts be sure its categorical (Example: If second cousins aren't being invited then all second cousins should be omitted) Cuts should be treated equally to avoid hard feelings.

An option you may consider is to have an A list and a B list. To do this though invitations need to be sent out early enough that RSVP's can be returned and you still have enough time to send out invitations to you B list.
Beware - you probably don't want your B list guests to find out they are B list guests. This can lead to hurt feelings and declines.

One last note - don't forget to add the bride and groom to the list in the final headcount! You would be surprised how many couples forget to add 2 more people when dealing with vendors - themselves!

Wedding Speech or toast

Making a wedding speech can be a very stressful event for those asked to make one. Delivering the perfect wedding speech is a challenging responsibility but an important one.
A dilemma commonly faced by a wedding speeches and wedding toast giver is whether to crack jokes or to keep the speech safe and serious. In order to deliver a good speech, one must decide on the topic that they wish to talk about and then prepare in advance for it. Remember, your speech must be able to capture and keep the interest of the wedding guests at all times.
Generally, the order of wedding speeches is as follows: giver-away of the bride, the groom and then the groomsman. In the giver-away of the bride speech, the father will talk about the bride, praise her, and tell stories of her childhood. He will also welcome the groom to the family, welcome the guests to the wedding, and purpose a toast.
Many wedding speeches made by the groom will mention his new mother-in-law and he may extend his thanks for a job well done in bringing up her daughter. Generally the groom's speech will be made on behalf of his new wife including himself. If he knows what is good for him he will praise her to the highest!
Next, in the groom's speech he should thank the bridesmaids for performing their duties. It then falls to the groomsman to reply on behalf of the bridesmaid in his speech. The groomsman's speech is usually directed at the groom, and is carried out in a funny and light-hearted way.
Wedding speeches and wedding toasts are completely different in nature. A wedding toast is not of the same duration as a wedding speech and is usually delivered by the groomsman. The groomsman will only have to say a few short words. The right time to give a toast depends on the wedding traditions and etiquette since it varies based on whether the wedding is a very formal or informal occasion.
An example of a wedding toast is the champagne toast when the bubbly is popped and all the guests have been served with the champagne. If the groomsman has something to say then he will have his say, raise his glass and drink to the toast. The toast must be kept short yet substantial.
Irish wedding toasts are becoming more popular. An example of a great Irish wedding toast is: "May the light of friendship guide your paths together, may the laughter of children grace the halls of your home, and may the joy of living for one another trip a smile from your lips, a twinkle from your eye."
There are services now that will write a custom speech for you. Our favorite is Fine Speeches. They have all positive reviews and also provide free help.

Should you hire a wedding planner?

in one word - YESSSSSSSSS. There is a myth floating around that has people believing that all Wedding Planners are not affordable for working-class individuals. A long time ago, only the elite society knew of and had access to Wedding Planners.
Today, Wedding Planners are very common and are hired by celebrities as well as everyday working people. Naturally, Wedding Planners that work with the rich and famous can and do charge through the nose for their services because the clients are able to afford the high-end prices. Misconceptions about Wedding Planners being pricey, comes from wedding shows that air on reality television. The truth is a bride and groom will save more money when working with a Wedding Planner because planners are trained to work within any budget and negotiate with vendors. Whether you are wealthy or not wealthy at all, Wedding Planners are a smart choice when it comes time to plan your special day.
Wedding planners will alleviate stress from the husband and wife-to be, at any stage of the planning process. Many brides and grooms begin to plan their wedding on their own or with the help of family and friends. Before all vendors are even contacted, couples find that they have exceeded their budget. Between running out of money before the big day happens and their loved-ones stressing them out about what they should or should not do for the wedding, brides and grooms are at their wits-end. Once the happy couple contacts a planner, a common practice is to meet for a consultation, which is usually complimentary. At the meeting, wishes, dreams and ideas are expressed to the Wedding Planner who will then create a magical and memorable event complete with dazzling colors and amazing centerpieces. Planners are known for building relationships with reputable caterers, bakers, deejays, hotels, florists, limousines and any other service that the bride and groom desire. Vendor relationships are the key because the planner is then able to negotiate prices as well as make sure that contracts are in order, valuable lessons that are taught in courses geared towards Wedding Planners. During the wedding rehearsal and on the wedding day, planners will be present so that all runs smoothly. This allows the bride, groom and their attendees to relax and enjoy the festivities. That luxury alone is priceless!In closing I'd like to add that after doing my own wedding the one thing that I would change is that I would have hired someone for at least the wedding day so I could have spent more time enjoying the day and my guests rather than making sure things were running smoothly. With all the competition on wedding consultants out there hiring one for the day of service has become very reasonable.