Every bride wants to feel beautiful on her Wedding Day. Your wedding hair should reflect the theme of your wedding, as well as your personal style.

Having your hair up is the popular choice for the traditional bride. But times are changing and glamorous and a modern wedding hair- down style is sure to make a statement. The most important thing is to feel comfortable with your wedding hairstyle choice. If you usually wear your hair down, having you hair up may make you feel uncomfortable on your wedding day. Alternatively by having you hair up you would be making a glamorous statement.

Let’s explore the many types of hairstyles brides choose for their wedding day;

Wedding Hair - Ups

Structured and tight wedding hair- ups are still a favourite and tend to suit a low headpiece or tiara and a low placed veil usually under the bun. Brides are now also choosing unstructured romantic wedding hair ups such as the Grecian style with a side braid or a very loose side bun curled which will add a touch of Hollywood to your day.

Wedding Hair Downs

Wedding hair down styles will generally suit a strapless wedding gown. Leaving your hair down with a slight wave is youthful and natural. A more traditional hair down style could be long structured curls which looks elegant and young and suits a headpiece and veil. Perhaps a 1960’s inspired straight style with bee hive is your choice. This style is elegant and beautiful and traditional goes well with a wedding gown with thin or no straps.

Wedding head pieces and wedding accessories can further reflect the theme of your day. Whether it is a single rose headpiece, a wedding hair band or a tiara, remember that your choice in your wedding hair accessories and head pieces should compliment your wedding hairstyle.

Be inspired by some of these examples of wedding hairstyles.

Tags: Wedding Articles, Wedding Hairstyles

An exciting moment when you have decided to spend the rest of your life with someone, and your wedding ring becomes even more important if you think about what it means. A wedding ring is meant to incorporate the circle of life and the never ending love for your significant other.

Before deciding on a style or size of wedding ring, be sure to set a budget, you don’t want to be looking at rings that you just can’t afford. It’s okay to going into debt for your wedding ring, but make sure it’s reasonable. Remember, a wedding ring is a constant reminder of the one you want to spend your life with.

Once you have set a budget for your wedding rings, it’s important to take in your lifestyle. A wedding ring that is to bold or sticks up high on your finger, can not only be irritating but also actually dangerous. You want a setting that will fit in with what you do in your world; construction workers, blue collar workers, and others that work with their hands do not need something to catch on machinery and take their finger with it. Choosing style is the second most important thing when deciding on a wedding ring.

Whether you’ve decided on diamonds or another stone, purchase the highest quality stone you can afford. It’s more important to have quality in a stone, that it is size. You’ll want to look for flaws, color and clarity in the stone and make sure that it is something that will continue to increase in value. Purchasing a larger, but poor quality stone will not increase in value and can actually break the stone through hard wear. So choose the stone within your budget and that is the best quality.

Now you’ve chosen a budget, a setting and the stone it’s time to choose a jeweler. The jeweler becomes very important because the setting of the stone needs to be durable. You may choose a jeweler that has a good reputation and then purchase a maintenance plan along with your wedding ring. A maintenance plan will allow you to take the ring in several times a year to have it cleaned and have the setting checked to make sure that you won’t you lose the stone.

Whether you’ve chosen a wedding ring set or are just looking for the wedding ring, you want them to match. Choose a wedding ring that matches with the engagement ring and fits comfortably on your hand. An ill-fitting set can not only be uncomfortable, but can actually damage each ring

Remember when it comes to choosing your wedding ring that you’re choosing something that is not only for your lifetime, but that can possibly be handed down through the generations. Choose the best quality ring you can afford and don’t go over your budget. Make sure that it’s a quality stone and purchased from a quality jeweler that will maintain your wedding ring setting.

Tags: wedding ring

An open house is not uncommon when it comes to LDS weddings, especially when the bride and groom live in different states. Couples often opt for an open house rather than a regular reception to cut costs. Although it may be less expensive, there is no reason for it not to be high quality.

Use the following tips to help you make your open house a fabulous affair.

1. You must have a well-conceived schedule to maintain wedding day sanity. Know who is doing what and when it needs to be done.

2. Anticipate for potential trouble spots.
Is there enough parking? Are there enough bathrooms? Are they stocked with plenty of accessible toilet paper and soap? Do you have the kitchen equipment and space that you will need?

3. Enlist your most organized friend to supervise the setup of the celebration, including tables, chairs, centerpieces, etc.

4. Consider a caterer. Before ruling out the option for a caterer because you plan to do it yourself, compare costs. You may be surprised. When comparing your options, remember that by hiring a caterer, you do not have to worry about food preparation and servers will be provided. One less hassle.

5. If you are planning for an outdoor open house, spray the area to control pesky bugs. Citronella candles or torches may be a nice touch as well.

Tags: Wedding Reception, wedding tips

Although it has been done before, there is nothing quite like a bride in a very formal gown with a formal wedding bouquet who sent out formal invitations arriving at her informal potluck dinner reception at the local Senior Citizen Center.

There is nothing wrong with a formal or informal wedding. The trouble comes when you mix and match the formality throughout the day. Therefore, it is important for your reception to match the style of your entire wedding day.

Below you will find information regarding three styles of receptions:

Formal

* Time: Noon or late in the day
* Food: Several course meal
* Tables: Formally set with complete service of silver, crystal, place cards, menu cards, and a centerpiece
* Music: Chamber music or jazz as guests arrive; live band/orchestra for dancing

Semiformal

* Time: Any time
* Food: Catered; seated or buffet or a bit of both
* Tables: Seat and a table assigned for every guest; centerpieces (but not necessarily flowers)
* Music: Live music

Informal

* Time: Any time
* Food: Seated or buffet or a bit of both; does not have to be catered
* Tables: Casual centerpieces; limited seating is appropriate
* Music: Live, D.J., or pre-recorded music
* Other: More intimate in nature and number

Tags: Wedding Reception

Each temple varies a bit on some of these details. When you have made an appointment at the temple, they will send you a letter explaining their specific guidelines.

Guests

* Limit the number of people you invite to the ceremony to the number of people who can comfortably fit in the sealing room.
* Guests do not need to dress in white, but should wear Sunday best. Women’s pants are not allowed.
* Guests should arrive 30 minutes prior to the ceremony.

Escorts

* If possible, an endowed female, preferably a family member, may accompany the bride and serve as an escort. If an escort is not available, a temple worker will assist you.
* The bride’s escort should arrive with the bride, groom, and witnesses 75 minutes prior to the ceremony.

Temple Recommends

* Both the bride and groom should bring two recommends issued by your bishop and co-signed by the stake president: (a) a regular temple recommend and (b) the Recommend for Living Ordinances.

Marriage License

* You must bring a valid marriage license. Be sure to check the guidelines for the state in which you plan to marry. (more…)

Tags: LDS, temple, wedding

Step 1 - Snap lots of photos.
Don’t limit yourself to just pictures of your wedding day. Shoot photos of your bridal shower, rehearsal dinner, and other special times. If you’re moving into a new house after getting married, take pictures of it! Make sure a friend or relative has a camera ready at times when you can’t be the photographer.

Step 2 - Wait for all the photos to come in.
There’s nothing worse than creating your “dream” scrapbook page, only to find weeks later that Aunt Betty took much better pictures. After my wedding, I got to choose from wonderful pictures by my mom, a few close friends, and the professional photographer we’d hired for the ceremony.

Step 3 - Decide the theme of your album.
Some brides prefer to have a separate album for their honeymoon and wedding. Others may combine the two, but have a separate album for pre-wedding events (such as dating and the engagement). This is entirely up to you.

My husband and I dated only 10 months before we got married, so I didn’t have many prenuptial photos. For our wedding album, I included everything from our first impressions of each other to pictures of our first home together. I created another album for our honeymoon memories, plus a separate album that holds all the precious wedding cards received from family and friends. Study the pictures you have and pick what’s right for you.

Step 4 - Decide the style of your album.
Experienced scrapbookers may opt to have a particular color scheme of theme running through an album. Check out Wendy Bird’s background in Figure 1 (on the layout ideas page) — it’s a wonderful mix of colors that compliment the photos. I chose to stick to pastels on my pages (Figure 2 on the layout ideas page), but you can also create more dramatic looks with darker or more vibrant background colors (see Figures 3 and 4 on the layout ideas page).

It’s also important to consider how much time you’re willing to spend putting an album together. Your primary interest might be getting your photos in an acid-free environment quickly. Then again, you might want an artistic challenge. You might want to create something people will “ooh” and “ahh” over for years. You know your skill level and the amount of time you have available. Be realistic, but by all means don’t limit yourself! Your wedding album should reflect your personal style.

Step 5 - Sort your photos into categories.
Some examples? Dating, engagement, bridal shower, shopping for your dress, getting ready, the reception, the honeymoon. Sorting your photos not only helps you to get organized, it breaks a large project into smaller, more manageable pieces. Store your photos where you can access them easily. Archivally safe folders, envelopes, and photo boxes can help store pictures safely until you can scrapbook them.

Step 6 - Shop with page themes in mind.
Boy, do I wish someone had given me this advice before I spent my hard-earned cash on wedding stickers, die-cuts, and paper! Don’t get me wrong — there’s a lot of great stuff out there — but I ended up with items I’ll never use because I didn’t think my pages through.

So how do you come up with page themes? Think of the most obvious elements of your wedding — the preparation, the ceremony, the celebration, the people. When I found decorative paper with a cake that looked just like our wedding cake, I know I had to include it in my album!

Step 7 - Consider two-page layouts instead of single pages.
They seem to make an album “flow” better. Of course, you may not have enough photos with a certain theme to create a two-page layout. You can achieve a similar effect by using the same color scheme on facing pages.

Step 8 - Personalize your album by including memorabilia.
Consider items such as fabric from your dress, receipts from the florist, notes from your sweetie or plane ticket stubs. To make them archivally safe for your scrapbook, place them in memorabilia pockets or spray them with a deacidification spray. Fabric is safe to use as is. If you’re not sure whether to include a particular item, hold on to it. You can always part with it later if you decide not to use the item in your scrapbook.

Step 9 - Include photo journaling on every page.
Write the who, what, why, when, and where. Share how you felt, the funny things people said or did, quotes and more. I recommend using your own handwriting, even if it’s not perfect. Handwriting is so much more personal than a computer font, and years from now your great grandchildren will love seeing your handwriting on the pages you created.

It’s also fun to have your spouse do some of the photo journaling. If this scares you, have him record his thought on acid-free paper. You can cut his writing out and mount it on coordinating paper. Presto!

Step 10 - Don’t procrastinate.
Choose a particular group of photos and work until you’ve got them scrapbooked. It’s amazing how much accomplishment you’ll feel as you complete your pages.

Compiling a wedding album can be somewhat time-consuming, but it’s worth it. Soon you’ll be popping a question almost as big as the one you answered: “Why’d I take so long to get started?”

Tags: wedding album, wedding scrapbooks