You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Wedding Planning Help’ category.
The styles of weddings have changed so much it’s almost hard to see the tradition behind them. I am not saying change is not a good thing, and as people change so do their perceptions of what is “in vogue”. From the way a marriage is proposed to the type of honeymoon the couple plans, modern concepts are mere shadows of what they were in our parents time. But since our ideal of self-worth and need for individuality is paramount, couples are finding the most creative way of expressing themselves. I applaud their imagination….
I personally have professionally photographed hundreds of weddings since 1983, and I was seeing slow changes in the way couples planned their big day. When I got married, the only available limousines were rentals from funeral homes….which I happily dismissed the possibility. After a year or two of covering weddings, limousines became more and more standard until every single wedding had at least one limo if not two or three.
Those same changes encompassed tuxedo colors and styles, traditional bridal veils were often replaced with tiaras, headbands or fascinators, and there were many brides whose photographs I took that had to more or less hide their ballet type shoes they wore to “be comfortable”. These “tradition” alterations made each wedding unique & I can recall certain couples due to their personality, sense of humor, or particular style. That is what most brides and grooms to be are striving for….to be remembered & talked about for years to come.
One aspect of weddings that have changed the most is cakes and especially cake toppers. The old common plastic figurine couple is dead and gone. At every wedding you attend the cake decoration is almost guaranteed to be different from the last. The day will come when you walk into a reception to check out the cake, and the topper will cause you to drop your jaw. This will be the wedding you remember most.
We specialize in wedding, anniversary and special event cake toppers, and have been getting increasingly creative for 13 years since the introduction of our first website in 1997. We are constantly looking for unique, and “over the top” ideas for cake toppers to please those couples who want that jaw dropping reaction from their family and guests. One style would be more popular than even we imagined, and there is no doubt these toppers were the conversation piece of all the wedding receptions they were featured.
Morbid Romance Is The Rage
Skeleton couple cake toppers have been so very popular for almost ten years, and we recently found several new poses. Halloween weddings this year will have some new “faces” to choose from….
Immortal Paradise Wedding Cake Topper
So next time you walk into a wedding reception and you see something like this sitting atop the cake, you know you have entered into the 21st century and the new “tradition” of cake toppers !
Whenever anyone does something kind or thoughtful for someone else, they hope to receive at least an acknowledgement of this act. On an even larger scale a hearty “Thank You” should be offered without hesitation. In any social setting, acknowledging and saying thank you should be automatic. It is the only way to reward the giver for the time and/or thought they put into their good deed.
With this in mind, then whatever happened to the centuries old tradition of sending thank you cards for wedding gifts ? There is a very sad trend started a couple decades ago, of not bothering to send these all important notes to wedding guests who took time out of their busy lives to attend a friend’s or family member’s wedding. Those guests either gave a monetary gift or a gift specifically picked out for the couple. Not only did they deliver this gift of affection, but they marked their calender to be there to share and be a part of this couple’s big day.
There are several styles of notes that are available. Probably the most popular is the cute or formal graphic on the outside cover, and blank inside for your personal message: Blank Thank You’s. There are also photo insert styles where you can include a beautiful photo from your wedding with your personal note to your guests: Photo Thank You Cards .
Being from the “old school” of social manners, the very first thing I would be immediately inclined to do for any thoughtful act, would be to call with a heartfelt “thank you” or to write a note explaining how much I appreciated the gift. If they took the time to do something for me, the very LEAST I could do is take a moment to acknowledge and thank them.
I sincerely don’t know where this thoughtlessness came from. Somewhere in my generation we lost the respect & kindness of going out of our way for others. Thankfully I am not one of that particular mindset. Within one year’s time, I sent out hundreds of thank you cards for my bridal shower, wedding, baby shower, birth of my daughter & her christening. Talk about writers cramp! But since everyone was there for me during these memorable times, more than anything I wanted to make them feel good. I wrote out the most detailed thank you’s I could and sent them out within a month or so of each event. No matter if I liked the gift or not, it was a generous gesture of the giver, and I appreciated it.
Not having the time is NO excuse. It doesn’t matter if you work one or two jobs, go to school, take care of a family or ALL of these…….spending even a few minutes a day writing out a couple of notes is entirely possible & should be made a priority. Your family & friends are worth those few sincere words. Thank you notes should be hand written and not a generic form letter. It should be directed specifically at the giver with an explanation of how much you liked the gift and what you plan to do with it. Be creative and make the reader feel they are very special to you. It really isn’t very hard.
If you need ideas of how to write out thank you notes, here is a page of suggestions you may find very helpful: Help With Thank You’s
Let’s bring back the old tradition of thank you notes. They make you look good, they make your guest feel good, and there is always a reason why traditions last for centuries……
