Bridal Registry at Bed Bath & Beyond - A Review

You're planning a beautiful wedding, and you are working hard to make sure that every detail is perfect. The one thing you don't have a lot of control over is the gifts that people give you. However, at Bed Bath & Beyond, you can easily take care of that detail, too. They have a Bridal Registry where you can list the items you'd like to have, and then make the list easily-accessible to friends and family.

When you register you'll gain access to an electronic Bridal Toolkit which will make many aspects of your wedding planning so much easier. You'll love the great selection of merchandise available, too. You will also like knowing that if you get items and decide they aren't exactly what you wanted or you got two of something, the store promises you very easy returns. Registering your wedding with Bed Bath & Beyond just makes good sense. Below you'll find more details about everything you'll get there:

1. Ease of use - To save you time, you will be able to set up your Bridal Registry online if you choose. The site is set up so that you can shop by both category and brand. Or, you can go to an actual store where you'll receive friendly personal service from the staff which will assist you every step of the way. One of the greatest features of your Bridal Registry is that your guests will be able to shop for your gifts online. This is particularly convenient for those who don't live near a physical store. Online they will find your wish list as well as prices and shipping fees.

2. Selection - You won't believe the huge selection of merchandise you will find to choose from. They stock everything you could need to start a new household. You will find categories for bedding, bedroom essentials, kitchen appliances, dish sets, glassware, silverware, knives, and home furnishings. In addition, you can find window treatments, rugs, electronic items, seasonal merchandise, and even things for infants and children. They also have keepsake items which you can choose for yourself or select as gifts for your bridal attendants. The staff will make suggestions if you're stuck on some point, too.

3. Perks - The bridal toolkit you'll receive as part of the service includes a number of planning guides and organizers for you, which include a task manager, a timeline, a personal wedding site, a gift list management system, and a seating arrangement tool. You'll find that the list of pre-wedding tasks in the toolkit numbers over 200, and the kit will help you organize every one of them.

When you tell everyone that you have registered at Bed Bath & Beyond, make sure you let them know that if they want to select a gift from the registry, they can't wait until the last minute. If they try to buy something from the list in a store at the last minute, they're going to be out of luck, because the stores don't keep everything in stock like the online store does. By buying online they'll be able to get any item you have chosen, but they need to be aware that it may take 4-6 weeks for delivery of some things.

I'm sure you can now see the advantages of registering with the Bed Bath & Beyond Bridal Registry. They offer you every kind of assistance and amenity while making it super-easy to both register and buy gifts online. Once you've signed up, you'll find yourself well on the way to your perfect day.

Delayed Wedding Receptions

It is not always practical or desirable to have a reception immediately following the wedding ceremony. That does not mean that you can't have a party to celebrate your union - it is entirely appropriate to have a reception at a later date. These are some of the things to keep in mind when planning a delayed wedding reception.

There are a variety of reasons why a couple might choose to have their wedding ceremony and reception on two different dates. One of the most common reasons is in the case of an elopement. Other couples might choose to have a very intimate marriage ceremony with only immediate family, and then to have a big party later. Another reason that you might separate the two events is for geography. If most of your family and friends live in California, but you and your fiance plan to be married in New York, a delayed reception in your hometown would make a lot of sense.

When you are planning a delayed reception, the first question is one of timing. Ideally, you would like to schedule the two events as close together as is practical. This way, you are still in the spirit of the wedding, before real life starts to creep back in and take the edge off of your bridal glow. It also makes the party more exciting for your friends and family, if they are getting to see you for the first time after your ceremony at the party. If you have been married for months and months, it might feel more like a regular party than a wedding reception.

If you are planning to have a delayed reception, you will want to be sure to word the invitations carefully. It needs to be clear that this is a party in honor of the newlyweds, not an invitation to actually witness the marriage ceremony itself. The wording can be tricky, especially when you are issuing the reception invitations before the nuptials take place. It is much easier when the invitations are sent out after the fact. All you have to say is something like, "Please join us for a reception in honor of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. David Smith (Julie Frank), who were wed in a private ceremony on March 1st." Then go on to provide the details of the date, location, and R.s.v.p. information for the party.

Most brides will choose to wear their bridal gown and wedding jewelry for the reception. You may want to also wear a veil for part of the event, especially if you are doing a ceremonial first dance.(It looks so pretty in the pictures.) Your guests will be delighted to get a glimpse of you in your wedding dress and jewelry. It would be somewhat anti-climactic for the bride to appear wearing regular party clothes. If your ceremony was an elopement and you did not wear a wedding gown, the delayed reception can be your chance to wear a fancy bridal ensemble. You do not want to feel as though you are wearing a costume, but a simple A-line gown could be very nice (you can skip the veil if you did not wear one for your ceremony).

The delayed wedding reception can really be exactly like one that follows directly after the vows, other than the timing. It can be a very practical solution for many situations, and is no less special for being slightly delayed. In fact, you may even find that having a little time between the wedding ceremony and the reception makes you feel more relaxed for the party, and that you will enjoy it even more.

How Much Do Wedding Invitations Cost?

The first element of your wedding that your guests are going to see is the invitations. Through this, your guests will have an idea of the motif or theme of your wedding. In deciding for your wedding invitations, you may want to use professional printer or doing it yourself and be creative using your own ideas and generating from a template.

For choosing a professional printer, you may want to check out at least three dealers for comparison. Each dealer is sure to offer different kinds of packages, and so you want to take the chance of knowing all of these. There are quite several factors a professional printer considers to determine the cost of wedding invitations, such as the paper stock. Supplies like silk and cotton are significantly more expensive than lightweight card stock. Another thing that would determine the cost is the types of printing. Obviously offset printing will cost less than raised lettering or embossed and engraving. All of these should be kept in mind before your printer can entice you with wonderfully made sample invitations with added elements like embossed letterings, cording, ribbon, colored ink and textured paper. Professional printers can also compute for an estimate, and you may want to ask for it that includes envelopes and RSVP cards, so you will have a reference for comparison in the decision-making. Usually, a minimum of 150 invitations would cost roughly about $475 to $600. If this amount is too much for you, do not be discouraged right away. Some printers are willing to work with their customers by catering to their budgets. So ask if there is something you can do to lower the costs and your printer can show you less costly options that are still beautiful.

On the other hand, do-it-yourself invitations are too easy on the pocket since you will not be paying for any time, labor and machinery. The average cost of do-it-yourself invitations is about $3 each, and still depends on the materials you will use. In choosing this method, extras like envelopes and RSVP cards should be included when finalizing the cost.

What you're going to find out is that there are many variables that are going to come into play. You're going to want to make sure that you compare at least three prices before setting out to purchase your order, as you will find that most services are going to greatly vary in pricing.

Tips to Choose Cheap Wedding Invitation Cards

The ongoing economic downturn has forced many people to cut their wedding costs and fix an affordable budget to make their wedding truly memorable. So, if you are looking for economical yet impressive ways to memorize your wedding day, choices are endless for you. Doing research beforehand and consulting experts can really save time and a lot of money as well.

Don't compromise the quality:
Just because, you want to save few bucks, you can not afford to compromise on the quality of your wedding arrangements. Obviously, it is your wedding day and you want to get the best of everything. To get the finest quality services, look through possible resources that keep you updated on ongoing fashion trends. For example, if you are about to choose a wedding card, think properly about your style, design and pattern.

Look for an appropriate theme:
People who prefer fashionable arrangements can find flipping through the pages of fashion magazines and books truly worthy. Get new ideas about designs, patterns, and styles and incorporate the styles given there in your own way. Create replica of the cards available there and get instant fame among your loved ones.

Find a wholesaler stationer:
Clubbing with a wholesale stationer helps in lowering the overhead costs of the wedding event. A wholesaler can give a wide range of choices so that you can get the best card as per your needs. You can choose DIY cards for your wedding. However, you need to ensure that you finish the work beforehand.

Give a personal touch:
Wedding invitation refers to the official invitation to people to come and solemn your wedding with their presence. Available in a variety of sizes, shapes, patterns and colors, wedding invitations can be customized and personal imprints have been given to make it truly memorable forever.

Useful Tips For You to Find Cheap Wedding Invitations

Due to the current economic condition, most couples will want to save money on their wedding. As a result, you will probably want to know how you can cut the costs of various items associated with your event. To this end, you will certainly want to find the ways to get cheap wedding invitations.

In fact, it is not difficult for you to find cheap wedding invitations. However, you will need to do some researches before you can really get it. You have to search on various websites and wedding forums in order to get them.

Remember, being cheap does not mean that the wedding invitations will be of low quality. It is totally possible for you to find something inexpensive and elegant. Yet, you will not be able to do so if you are not eager to spend the time on searching for them. There are a lot of vendors which can provide elegant wedding cards at a relatively lower price.

Particularly, there are some wholesaler who will also want to do business with you. You can get your wedding invitations at a very reasonable price with these wholesalers. Yet, be sure to ask for samples before you order. You need to make sure that the cards will be something you love.

One last point is that, you should try to add some personal touches to the wedding cards so that you can make them special. You do not need to spend a lot of money in order to do so. For example, you can write the contents of the card yourself by your hand. This will certain make the cards more special. You can also save money by doing so. This is because you do not need to ask the vendor to print the wordings!

Wedding Insurance - As The Scouts Say Be Prepared!

I was never a scout, but I do agree that you should be prepared whatever it is that you intend to undertake, but especially so if it is a major expense like a wedding. You would therefore need to have some form of wedding insurance.

In days or yore, when people honoured agreements and promises, the matter of cancelling a wedding was out of the question. People simply did not cancel wedding plans. This probably had something to do with the fact that they were controlled by parents. However, modern weddings, and by that I mean in the last 20 years, are usually planned and controlled by the bride and groom in association with the parents. In fact, the parents are often merely the providers of some or all of the necessary finance, although more and more couples are financing their own weddings.

Because weddings these days are typically costing 瞿20,000 and more, it is not just a simple decision to cancel a wedding and re-arrange it. For most people, their wedding costs come only third in their list of most expensive items to their home and their car.

So, we are going to be looking, in the next series of five articles about wedding insurance, at the most common reasons to have to make a claim under your wedding insurance policy.

The number one reason why most people have to claim under their wedding insurance is cancellation. To make things clear, we are talking about unforeseen events causing cancellation, and not just somebody changing their mind!

One of the more poignant reasons why a wedding may have to be cancelled and thereby trigger a valid claim is bereavement close to the wedding date. This could be a close family member who would otherwise have been involved, or even the bride or groom. Unfortunately, it does happen, and when you have spent a large amount of cash making arrangements, you do not want to have to proceed with things whilst still suffering from the loss of someone close.

Another old chestnut is the venue. Amazingly, one of the most common reasons for cancellation of the wedding involving the venue, is that it has been double booked. Whether you would have any sort of legal claim against the venue owners is beyond the scope of this article, but you would almost certainly have a valid wedding insurance claim.

Cancelling a wedding these days is not some cursory decision made on a whim, because the financial implications are too severe. So, if you are involved, either as a bride or groom, or you are the parents of a couple who are planning a wedding, please make sure that the first port of call is to arrange wedding insurance before you put pen to paper arranging anything else. Be sure to evaluate every item of expense and add it together and add a little on top to come to a figure. You will be surprised at the total and you must be sure to cover your total expenditure before you complete the insurance documents and put them away.

Loading Photos From Your Camera Onto Your Computer Easily!

Okay, lets get started.

Many people just plug there camera in and a supplied programme downloads the images, but what if you can't do that, how do you go about it?

1.Open your card slot in your camera and take the card out.

2. Place the card in the card reader......

Whats a card reader I hear you ask......most modern computers have a card reader in them, there will be a slot marked SD/XD/....if your computer doesn't have one don't despair, any computer shop will sell them for about $20 & they plug into your USB port.

3. The card only works one way up so if at first you don't succeed try again!!!

4. Now click on the start menu....that's the round circle on the lower left hand side of your screen, with a windows symbol on it.

5. Go to My Computer...you will see it on the pop up window....left click on it.

6. When the window opens you will see a list of drives, such as C:/, D:/, E:/DVD, SD/MMC(or similar) with a card image next to it. This is the one you will click on.

7. Double Left click on card icon....Now either your pictures will appear(Go to step 10) or a small folder with writing next to it, ie DCIM

8. Double left click this folder.....Now either your photos will appear (Go to step 10) or another folder will appear with writing next to it, ie 159_Fuji or similar depending on the brand of camera.

9. Double left click folder.....your photos will now appear!!!

10. Left click on "edit"...this is found on the top bar of the box next to 'file'

11. Go to "Select all" and left click.

12. Go to "edit" again and now you can left click on either "Move to folder" or "copy to folder". At this stage I would recommend copy.

Move deletes the images off your card and puts them onto your computer whereas copy transfers them onto your computer but they are still on the card. Then if anything goes wrong, you still have them.

13. A new popup box appears and it says "select where you would like to copy these images to"........ Most people copy them to "My Pictures"

14. If My Pictures or Pictures folder appears then left click on it, if it doesn't don' despair!!!! Click on the My Documents folder instead.

15. Scroll down till you come to the "My Pictures" or "Pictures" folder and left click on it.

16. Now in the bottom left hand corner of this box there is a button with "Make new folder" on it, click this.

17. A new folder will appear and next to it the words New Folder will be highlighted. just type in the name you want to call this folder. ie Denmark trip then press the "enter" key on your keyboard.

18. the photos will now begin transferring. A little pop up box will come up saying where it is transferring the photos to and approximately how long it will take.

19. When this pop up box disappears, all your photos are now on your computer.......Well done, you did it!!!!

20. I recommend you now check that the images have transferred properly. To do this, click on "my pictures" and click on the file you named and "ta da" the pictures should all be there!!!!

21. If they are not or if you have any problems, please feel free to contact me. My details are on my webpage which there is a link to below.

22. Hang on a minute I hear you say, what about the photos left on the card...I want to clear the card so I can take more pictures....Easily fixed....

23. Remove card from your computer or card reader and place back into camera, turn camera on and go to Menu. Under menu you will see a delete or erase, go to this and it will say Delete all? click YES and "ta da", photos deleted and you are ready to start again.

Have fun taking pics and if you would like to check out some of my images click on the link below.....I would recommend you make yourself a drink first, you deserve it, you've done so well....then sit back and enjoy some of my travels with me.

Wedding Invitations and Wedding Stationery Timeline

Getting married is a big undertaking. While it will be one of the most exciting times in your life it can also be one of the most overwhelming. There are many different things to organise and plan. One of the most important, yet overwhelming things to plan for your wedding is your wedding stationery. The truth is that your wedding stationery needs extend far beyond simple wedding invitations. Thankfully, if you stay organised and on top of it you can be sure that you will get all of your paper products picture perfect for your big day.

12 months out

About 12 months before your wedding day you want to start thinking about your overall wedding theme. Why? Your wedding invitations and supplemental wedding stationery is the first thing that your guests will see. It will give them a true idea of what to expect from your big day. You should think about the formality of your event, your location, your colours and any overall decorative theme. As you decide on these details you will begin to get a clearer vision for your stationery needs.

9-12 months

Somewhere between the 9th and the 12th month you want to finalise your guest list. This is often the most difficult task, but it is vitally important. You are going to need to know how many wedding invitations you need, as well as the specific guest information in case you are having any of your wedding stationery printed. For example, many brides to be save time by having the guest's names and addresses preprinted onto the mailing envelopes. The best way to compile this information is in a spreadsheet. This can be used by the printers. During this time period you are going to want to order your save the date cards if you are planning on using them. They are a great precursor to your wedding invitations, especially if you are planning a destination wedding.

7-8 months

If you are asking your guests to travel, you want to give them some notice, and that is why about 7 or 8 months prior to your wedding you want to get those save the dates in the mail. They do not have to have the full details that your wedding invitations will have, but you do want to give a date, the location and maybe even accommodation options.

3-6 months

Between 3 and 6 months prior to the big day you will need to order your wedding invitations. This will give you time to have them made prior to mailing them out four months before your wedding. While you are ordering your wedding invitations you may also want to order your other wedding stationery. If you go with a professional printer they can coordinate the design of your wedding invitations with your place-cards, programs, reply cards, and even your thank you notes. By coordinating all of your paper goods you will create a consistent design theme for your event which will only enhance your guest's experience.

Don't forget the thank you cards!

While you may feel like your wedding planning is done when you walk down the aisle, the truth is that you still have one more job to complete. Chances are that you are going to get beautiful and thoughtful gifts from your guests, and you need to thank them. This is where those beautiful thank you notes that you ordered come in. You need to try to get all of your thank you notes out in about 2 months after you've said your I do's. However, the sooner that you can get them done the better, that way you can enjoy married life with no more wedding plans!

Wedding Planning Checklist - Two Months Before Your Wedding

You're within two months of your wedding day! It's time to finalize the headcount and logistics with the vendors. Following is a wedding planning checklist of tasks to complete when you're within two months of your wedding day.

• Make final checks on everything: catering, honeymoon, photographer, videographer, florist, musicians, officiant, rehearsal, etc.
  
  


• Make sure announcements are addressed and arrange for someone to mail them on your wedding day.
  
  


• Think about what you are going to take on the honeymoon, decide when you will pack.
  
  


• Buy traveler's checks for honeymoon.
  
  


• Arrange for someone to house sit, pet sit or babysit while you are on your honeymoon.
  
  


• Send your travel plans and contact information to a family member and your house sitter (in case of an emergency).
  
  


• Finalize the seating plan and write place cards.
  
  


• Get final guest counts to caterers, wedding cake company, party rental company and/or reception site coordinator.
  
  


• Write toasts for the rehearsal dinner and reception.
  
  


• Pick up your wedding dress.
  
  


• Try on your wedding shoes and wear them on carpeted surfaces around the house.
  
  


• Attend your bachelor/bachelorette parties, if you're having them, and wedding showers.
  
  


• Send thank you notes to the hosts of your pre-wedding parties.
  
  


• Write thank you notes for gifts received at wedding showers.
  
  


• Pick up your wedding bands.
  
  


• Obtain the marriage license.
  
  


• Arrange for pick up of guests and attendants arriving at airports.

Use this wedding planning checklist as a guideline for tasks to complete when you're within two months of your wedding day.

Wedding Invitation Cards: A Popular Alternative to One Page Invitations

A large number of wedding ceremonies take place in the United States, each year. A large percentage of these wedding ceremonies include an extensive guest list. To notify friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers of your wedding, it is likely that you will use wedding invitations.

Planning a wedding involves making a large number of decisions. Some of these decisions are larger than others. When it comes to a wedding, all decisions are important. If you are getting married, one important decision that you may have to make is the style of wedding invitations that you want.

Wedding invitations are important for a number of different reasons. They help to notify friends and family that you are getting married. In addition to notifying guests, wedding invitations are also vital to the planning of a wedding. Knowing how many guests will attend your event is the best way to prepare seating, food, and drinks.

As previously mentioned, wedding invitations are important to the success of a wedding. Since they are important to the success of a wedding, there are many couples who spend days selecting the perfect wedding invitations. Wedding invitations are fun to select, but at the same time they are difficult. This is because there are a wide variety of different wedding styles to choose from.

Perhaps, the most used wedding invitation style is a one page invitation. One page wedding invitations are invitations where all the information is placed on one page. They are simple way to notify friends and family of your upcoming nuptials. The only problem with one page wedding invitations is their size. Because they are only one page, only the basic information can be displayed. To allow more information, such as a favorite song or poem, many couples make the decision to purchase wedding invitation card sets.

Wedding invitation card sets are similar to traditional, one paged wedding invitations. Wedding invitation card sets often include invitations and matching envelopes. The only difference between the two is the invitation style. Instead of being only one page, a wedding anniversary card has a traditional card style. This means that the initiation will fold.

Wedding anniversary card sets may not be the most popular type of invitation, but they are used quite a bit. They are popular because they allow a wedding invitation to have a personal touch. In addition to a favorite song or poem, many wedding invitation card sets also include a picture. This picture can be a generic one or it can be a picture of your and your spouse.

Each year weddings are hosted, but each wedding is likely to be different. That is often what makes a wedding unique and memorable. If a wedding can be different than so can the invitations. If you are interested in sending out custom made invitations to all your guests, you should at least consider ordering a wedding invitation card set. Why order wedding invitations that are just like the rest, especially when you can order your own unique invitations?

The Pros and Cons of a Beach Wedding

When planning a wedding, the location always comes in mind. Where will you have the wedding? Will have you it on your backyard or on a chapel? What about having it on a beach? Choosing the beach as a location will surely surprise the kids. Well, who would not like to go and enjoy the beach? However, before you choose this place as your location, you have to know its pros and cons. This article will help you in that matter.

Pros of a Beach Wedding:

• Cheaper. You don't need to pay the venue if you will have your big day on a beach. The beach is a public place (unless you will go to a private beach) and thus, you are free to use it. Moreover, with a beach wedding, there is no need to spend a fortune on the wedding decorations. Simple decorations would do.

• Relaxed atmosphere. The beach is a very relaxing place. The sand and the breeze can relieve any burden that a person might be carrying. Kids won't feel bored in anyway because they can play around while the ceremony is going on.

• The same venue for the ceremony and reception. If you will celebrate your marriage the traditional way, you will have the ceremony at the church and then the reception at a hotel or at your house. The rent of the hotel is another expense. However, that would no longer be an issue if you will have a beach wedding. After the ceremony, you can have the reception on the same spot as well.

Cons of a Beach Wedding:

• The weather is unpredictable. Due to the global warming, weather is already unpredictable. Even if it is summer, there is still a chance that it will rain. Therefore, you have to be prepared for any unexpected elements. Take tents, umbrellas and hats with you as these can save you regardless if the weather is too hot or if it is raining.

• Beach rules. Every beach has rules that must be followed. Make sure to check the rules of your preferred location to ensure that you will not violate any. There are some beaches that don't allow any alcoholic drinks within their premises. Check your preferred beach to see the things that are allowed and those that are prohibited.

Every location has its own pros and cons. If you are planning to have a beach wedding, make sure that you will consider the pros and cons that are outlined in this article.

Tips and Ideas for Cheap Wedding Invitations and Stationery

There are loads of easy ways to save money on your wedding invitations and stationery. Below is each item of stationery and the best tips and tricks to cutting the cost of each.

Save the day cards

Once the date is set, many brides send out ´save the date´ cards. This card simply announces the engagement and requests the guest to save the date of the wedding in their diary. This is a very American tradition, but it is now becoming popular in the UK too.

The best way to cut your cost here is send an email! If your guests don't have an email address, I can guarantee that your mother has already told all your relatives, so even Great Aunt Maud has the date of your wedding fixed in her head.

Cheap wedding invitations

I firmly believe that one of the best ways to cut your costs here is to make your own wedding invitations. You can find plenty of ideas from looking at wedding magazines or wedding stationery suppliers. Creating your own wedding invitations will not only save you money, it will make your wedding more personal and unique.

RSVP or acceptance cards

When sending out your invites, traditionally you send an RSVP card as well. In these modern times, it's perfectly acceptable not to include this card at all. You can easily pop a postal address or email address for people to respond to.

For my own wedding, we used an email address and it worked perfectly. Those who didn't get back to us, we simply called up to double check they were coming. You'll need to do this anyway, as not everyone will remember to send you back their RSVP.

If you're really keen on an RSVP card, try to use a postcard instead of a small card and envelope. This will reduce the amount of paper you need to buy as well as the cost of postage for sending out your invites.

Another alternative is not to provide a stamped address envelope as a reply card. Let the guest buy the stamp! It will save you a few quid.

Order of service

Often the Order of Service is simply a plain piece of folded A4 paper. It's easy to type and print out the information, so why have it printed professionally? If you wanted, you could always continue your theme on this piece of stationery too.

Seating plan

A seating plan can easily be done on a computer as well. Just make sure you include everyone who is coming (I managed to miss one friend off. Luckily he took it lightly, so it wasn't too embarrassing!)

Table place cards

A hand-written place card for each guest is a cheap alternative to getting them printed as well. They're very cheap to buy and most good stationers stock them.

Thank you cards
There are hundreds of thank you card designs in stationers and generally they're reasonably priced. So there's no need to get them professionally printed.

In most cases, once the big day is over, most of your guests are on to the next big wedding of the summer, so keeping to a theme is not so important. Your guests will be more concerned that you've recognised the fact that they bought you a gift, not that your card matches the rest of your stationery.

If you're still feeling creative, then you could make these as well to match your invites.

The last word
If you're still dead-set on getting your wedding invitations and stationery professionally printed, make sure you follow the golden rules:

- Set your budget and stick to it

- Get three quotes and compare like with like

- Get some extras, just in case of mistakes - reprints later will cost you much more

- Perhaps limit the professionally printed pieces to only key pieces such as invites and RSVP cards only

- Avoid fancy printing techniques such as embossing or metallic colours

- Use second class postage

Selection Of Father Daughter Wedding Songs - It Depends On The Choice of Dance

It could be quite complicated to make a pick from all the father daughter wedding songs. So, how does one choose?

This is the decision of the individuals, but a number of factors require consideration.

Both the bride and the father of the bride have to determine what will accommodate their personality best. The dad may be the introvert type and the daughter the extrovert type. So do you go for a conservative dance which will suit the father, or a funky dance that suits the daughter?

Of course, one of the options is to do both. It is becoming more popular to do a combination of a long-drawn-out dance, converting to a quick, informal dance and ending it off again with the slow dance.

If one elects to go for the above mentioned exercise, needless to say the numbers chosen should be complimentary.

Another thing to think about is the level of dancing skills of both the father and the daughter. If both the dad and daughter are not very capable of dancing, they ought to definitely consider dance lessons. There are a number of outstanding online dancing courses available. These courses can grow both of you into competent dancers within a few hours. A worthwhile reason for spending money on it.

The selected songs need to remain a secret between the dad and the bride. Guests are always curious about this dance and what it will be about.

Whatever you resolve to do, plan it well because this is a very important dance to the dad and the daughter.

Select your father daughter wedding songs or song as early as possible. It is crucial to come up with a variation of ideas for the song and of course to practice ahead of time. If it doesn't work you will need extra time to create something else.

There are numerous routes or themes you can go with, whether traditional or modern. There are no rights and no wrongs. It is correct that too many weddings end up playing father daughter wedding songs that has been played out over the years, for example "Butterfly Kisses".

Your pick has to be unequaled and special.

Both father and daughter need to remember this dance for the rest of their lives, and the music choice should lend itself to fostering exactly that.

The Internet and related websites can be helpful to come across father daughter wedding songs that will make your special occasion something else and be remembered forever and a day.

Affordable Wedding Ideas That Could Still Make a Dream-Like Wedding Celebration

Planning a wedding on a small budget nowadays can be a very daunting task to do on the part of the newly engaged couple. Thinking for all the possible ideas on how to have a dream-like wedding celebration without costing you a fortune will soon follow the marriage proposal. The thought of trimming down the wedding costs without sacrificing your own personal desire do not always go hand in hand. The cost of your wedding can easily get out of control when you begin to discuss them all with your partner. However, with some creativity and cost cutting techniques, you can always have your dream-like wedding without a needing too much fortune.

There are great affordable options to help trim down the cost of your wedding. From your wedding invitations and/or programs, florists, musicians to even your wedding dresses, it is no longer a surprise that you can really find bargain choices that fits your tight budget. Merchants will quite often over charge you for the mere mention of the word wedding. These costs can be cut dramatically without giving up taste or style.

You can cut cost of your wedding flowers by ordering seasonal flowers. You may also use roses that are less expensive and are very beautiful during weddings, too. Instead of hiring professional wedding singers and musicians, why not ask a musician club from a University? They too can better create wedding tunes and the good thing about them is, they don't really care if you will pay them according to what you can only afford.

We often heard of renting tuxedos for grooms and his groomsmen, but today brides and bridesmaids may rent a dress too. The wedding dress is a perfect place to slash the cost of your wedding. There are bridal shops where you can rent beautiful gowns at a fraction of cost. Or perhaps, if you do have some skills of remodeling dresses, you can make your own wedding gown. You may ask a bridal shop if they have some unfinished bridal gowns that they want to sell at a lower cost. Really, these ideas have really made sense especially what's on the line is your small budget. Or, you can go to a trusted seamstress and get her to create the perfect wedding dress you've been desiring to wear.

Your wedding reception is perhaps one of the most expensive part of your entire wedding celebration. The location, number of guests and the theme of the wedding will tell how much will your wedding reception cost you. Wedding reception costs take a huge chunk of your budget and this is where creative planning will work in your favor. You don't have to hire a wedding consultant or wedding planner if you have the some basic skills and determination to pull them all together. After all, it is your wedding so who else will have your best interests in planning your wedding?

Lastly, you don't want to spend a thousand just to please all the people who are at your wedding. You You can save money by thanking your female attendants with inexpensive gifts for bridesmaids, as well as discount groomsmen gifts for your male attendants. And instead of giving out extravagant wedding favors, why not settle with cheap wedding favors that are beautiful and are as useful as other expensive favors.

Limousine Rental Guide

There are different occasions wherein hiring a limo service is most appropriate. However, you have to make sure that you get satisfaction with the money you pay. Renting limousines is not always the option of a lot of people because of the high cost. If you decide to hire a limo service, consider booking one on an early date to avoid hassles. When planning your luxury transportation experience, consider the following:

• Occasion - There is an ideal limo for each type of occasion. A limo best used for weddings is different from the ones that can be used for birthdays. The limo service company may customize available limos for your event. A regular one can be decorated depending on the occasion. This is why the company offering limousine transportation service would ask details about the event that you will be attending.

• Cost - Limousine services are for the high-class market, but the price can also shift depending on the size of the vehicle, distance of transportation, and the time of the year. There is no need to make unnecessary splurging. Get only the right service for your budget. Note that each limousine company has its own pricing scheme. Usually, limo rentals are charged on an hourly basis, but you may be surprised to find companies providing flat rates and packages. Limousine companies may also charge fuel surcharges on top of the base fees. Now, drivers would have customary gratuity fees that are around 20% of the base charges. So, make sure you know all the costs you may incur when looking at your options.

• Packages - Limo companies offer luxury transportation service packages for weddings, proms, concerts, casino tours, and other special occasions. These packages are ideal for events whose start-end durations are determined. The number of hours that the luxury vehicle will be used determines the price of the package.

• Vehicle - There are different kinds of limousines, although they all seem to look the same. A limo can be small, accommodating only one or two people, or it could be long and stretched, like the ones you see at casinos or concert venue parking areas. It is recommended that clients should check out the cars before making arrangements with the company. They may post pictures of their cars on its website, but it is better to actually see the limo units in person to come up with a better choice.

• Booking - Limo service reservations must be done as part of your event planning. If you are planning for your wedding and you wish to rent a chauffeured limo, make reservations a year before your wedding date. For events like proms and parties, book a limo a few months ahead. Make sure you have confirmed your limousine reservations, and do not forget to call the company a few weeks before the scheduled event to further confirm.

• Safety and Insurance - Some limousine transportation companies do not have appropriate insurance that will protect their passengers in case an accident happens. Trust only companies who will look after your welfare. At the same time, make sure the company is legitimate and registered.

How To Have a Cheap Beach Wedding

Spending too much money on a wedding might be okay if you have a million dollar savings. However, if you do not have that much money, then you can have a cheaper wedding but still manage to make it look extravagantly elegant. The trick is to be creative and imaginative. You will need to do all the planning. To make it more manageable you could always ask the help of your family and friends.

To get started, you will need to have a wedding checklist the same way all wedding planners have. You have to put all important details such as wedding venue and theme, gowns, food and wine, cake, flowers, honeymoon venue, invitations, and the minister.

Time management is very important for you to carry out this task accordingly. If you do not have proper time management you might be lagging behind your wedding date schedule. You do not want to have an awkward moment during your wedding ceremony.

If you are planning to have a Hawaiian beach wedding, then your venue, invitations, gowns, flowers, food, must coincide with your theme.

The venue must be held in a beach resort to match up the theme. Search for beach resorts that do not offer high rates for usage of their area. Write down your choices and check if they are available to hold the venue on your wedding day. If they are available, book them immediately.

To save on wedding invitations, you can recycle old bottles and create a message in the bottle invitations. Just clean up the bottles and replace it with accessories such as sea shells or star fish. Put your invitations inside and use a cork to seal it. If you want to add more accessories to change the suggested accessory, you may do so.

For your wedding gown and the rest of the entourage, the gowns must not be too long as you might be uncomfortable walking with long gowns on the beach. You can either wear flip flops or choose to be bear foot during the ceremony. The entourage gowns must be colorful, soft and flowing. The bridal gown can have few bead accessories or some embroidery stitches.

Choose flowers that are not too pricey. There are some inexpensive flowers that will look like you spend thousand dollars on them once you decorate it creatively. You can use spring flowers. They are not expensive and it will match up with your wedding theme. You can use them as wedding bouquets and wedding centerpieces.

If you manage to achieve having cheap but elegant wedding, you can still have money for your honeymoon. The trick is to be open to a lot of ideas. Open your imagination and think of what you want for your wedding. Let all your ideas flow and before you make a decision, finalize what idea you want to achieve. Once you have finalized your decision, then you can make that idea come true.

With all these tips on hand, rest assured that you will have a cheap but elegant beach wedding.

5 Tips To Shine On Your Wedding Day!

Every bride wants to look stunning on her wedding day... if you didn't you wouldn't spend hundreds of dollars on the gown, designer shoes and your beauty regime. You want your guests to tell you how stunning you look and how much fun they are having at your wedding. However your guests take their cue from the hosts... which is ultimately the bride + groom and their families. If you're running around not enjoying yourselves then your guests won't either. I guarantee you that all eyes will be on you and your families the entire time, so it's important to have a good time while you're there.

Here are a few of my tips to ensure that you can be the stunning beautiful bride but also ensure your guests know your wedding is amazing!

Steph's Bridal Advice:

1. Accept Compliments- When someone says that you look beautiful... it's simple... say thank you! When they tell you that they are having a wonderful time, don't start complaining that the venue didn't serve the right food. Unless you point it out... your guests have no clue what was supposed to be right or wrong.


2. Smile, Laugh, Dance + Have A Good Time- Your wedding will be over before you know it. At the end of the night you won't believe how fast it goes by. So make sure that you enjoy every single moment. Smile, laugh, eat the yummy food, smell the roses, hug your guests, dance like mad, kiss your new husband and just soak it all up!


3. Glow Like The Star You Are- On your wedding day you cannot be the star in the spotlight and the director behind-the-scenes. Even though you have this wedding perfectly planned, you need someone there to oversee the entire day from the time you wake up until the time your last guest leaves. You want someone there to help communicate your wishes to your vendors and venues. To help with the set up to ensure that everything is how you wanted it to be. To ensure that the services you've paid for is up to your standards and as per your contacts. And that if any problems or issues arise, someone with the proper experience and expertise will be able to handle the problem with grace and quickly without panic.


4. Walk with poise, grace + beauty- Practise walking around in your designer shoes several weeks before your wedding day. Concentrate on feeling beautiful, graceful and confident. Here's a DIVA tip I heard from Beyonce... to wear your shoes with socks while you begin to break them in to prevent blisters.


5. Stress-less the last few weeks prior to your wedding- What helps you unwind? I love singing + music... it empowers me. So sing in the shower, sing in the car, rock to work with your favourite tune. Perhaps you love the spa- get a package and spend a day at the spa have a facial, a massage, get your nails done. Journal- starting to go a little crazy just before the big day. That's okay, this is very normal. Grab a journal and start writing out how you feel... vent to your journal and get it all out. You'll feel so much better.

Consider hiring a wedding day coordinator + team to help you the last few weeks prior to your wedding. This is the most crucial and stressful time during your planning, and a professional wedding day coordinator is your insurance policy that the money you've spent on your wedding day can be thoroughly enjoyed by your guests as well as your friends, family and yourself.

Is There Any Travel Insurance For A Wedding Dress?

It's a no-brainer to say that a wedding is a major investment. In the United States, the average cost of it is in the tens of thousands. Weddings are the culmination of years of love, trust and lots of savings, with families laying their hearts and bank accounts on the line. Given the expense and extravagance and the dozens of factors that put a wedding at risk -tropical storms, illnesses, deaths, caterers and dress shops that go bankrupt and cold feet (to name a few), it should come as no surprise that more and more families are purchasing insurance.

Wedding insurance is a type of insurance that covers the numerous potential disasters surrounding a wedding (depending on which plan you buy), and puts those who lay out massive sums of money for the celebration at a reduced financial risk.

It might surprise you that the number one most common wedding insurance claim occurs when a bridal shop suddenly goes bankrupt and the bride is out a dress. Since the dress is such an integral and fragile part of it, it is often a key point of concern for those who buy wedding insurance.

People who travel for their weddings might be considering travel insurance and wondering if the dress is covered. The answer to that question depends on the parameters of a traveler's insurance policy. Traveler's insurance is different from wedding insurance, and a traveler's insurance policy will likely cover your possessions as you travel -i.e., the dress. However, that is not guaranteed. If you choose to purchase traveler's insurance for your wedding, go over the policy with the salesperson and be sure the dress is covered.

Many wedding insurance plans extend their coverage throughout the United States and offer additional travel insurance. If you are planning a destination, then I recommend purchasing a wedding insurance policy that contains provisions for travel.

These kinds of insurance policies typically cost no more that 1,000 dollars. For a wedding that's around or above the average cost of 27,000 dollars, that's a huge bargain. In addition to covering a damaged or misplaced dress, most insurance policies will cover broken or lost gifts, damaged photographs or videos, deadbeat caterers, or in some instances a change of heart in the bride or groom.

All in all, I would say travel insurance and/or wedding insurance is a fairly good investment. I'd hate to see someone I love have their wedding marred or ruined by unfortunate circumstances. And I'd hate it even more if I was footing the bill for a celebration that went awry and had to be re-scheduled. In recent times we've seen incredible disasters like the 9/11 terrorist attacks, hurricane Katrina and the massive tsunami. All of these horrific events took place in locations where one might want to hold a destination wedding, which should be a stark reminder of why it is so critical to cover your bases and get traveler's and wedding insurance.

Critical Condition: How Health Care In America Became Big Business-And Bad Medicine:

Title: Critical Condition: How Health Care In America Became Big Business-And Bad Medicine:

Authors: Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele

ISBN: 038550453

The following review was contributed by:NORM GOLDMAN: Editor of Bookpleasures:

REVIEW

Investigative reporters and the only journalists in history to be awarded two Pulitzer Prizes and two National Magazine Awards, Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele have presented a riveting exposé of the critical state of the health system in the United States with their book Critical Condition: How Health Care In America Became Big Business-And Bad Medicine.

Beginning with the assertion that American health care has been transposed from one of compassion to a system motivated by profit- the authors present a distressing analysis as to what went wrong. Where forty-four million citizens do not have health insurance, and tens of millions more are underinsured. And yet there seems to be this enduring myth propagated by many that the USA has a "world- class health system."

As mentioned by the authors, the USA spends more on health care than any other nation, when you compare it to Germany, France, Japan, Italy, and Canada. However, in these countries citizens do not think twice about seeking care if they are ill. They do not worry who will foot the bills.

In the USA, it has become a lottery. If you are fortunate to be employed by a large company providing generous health benefits, you win. On the other hand, if you are self-employed or work for a small enterprise providing little or no coverage, you lose. You may even go bankrupt and lose your home in order to pay your medical bills.

Relying on interviews, studies from various organizations as the World Health Organization, the US department of Health and Human Services, legal suits, brokerage reports, congressional hearings, newspaper articles, magazine stories, SEC filings, professional journals, and a reservoir of many other sources (all of which are mentioned in the Notes section at the back of the book), the authors deliver legitimate arguments illustrating how an assortment of factors have crawled into the system with calamitous effects.

Broken down into six chapters, Barlett and Steele judiciously examine some of these elements as: rampant overcharging of patients who do not have insurance, dissuading people from purchasing drugs from Canada with false information concerning the Canadian pharmaceutical industry, caving into the demands of special interest groups, the non-existence of independent monitoring of diagnostic test results and hospital mistakes, permitting politicians and business people to assume key roles to the detriment of the welfare of the citizens, a culture of cronyism giving rise to blatant fraud in many instances, doctors having to deal with conditions apt to be found in undeveloped countries, peopled shuffled around by individuals who do not have the foggiest notion as to how to deal with them.

In addition, we are informed of how private enterprises connected with Wall Street financiers and Madison Avenue advertising firms have been permitted to join in as if health care was analogous to the selling of cars or MacDonald's franchises. As the authors rightfully ask: "Is this what health care in America has become?"

Although the authors portray a certain amount of cynicism, there is a glimmer of hope, as evidenced by the concluding chapter, wherein suggestions are offered as to how to revamp the ailing system.

However, the question lingers on. Will Americans reconsider their values, priorities, budgets and options and elect people, who will first and foremost take care of its citizens when it comes to health care? Something most civilized nations do.

Entrepreneur in Floral Design

In spring it's light and airy. In winter, it's a sparkly fairyland draped with berries and wreaths. Always, colorful aromas draw casual shoppers in, making them linger. Nestled in Martin City, at 511 E. 135th Street, nearly hidden by its steakhouse neighbor, is the shop Karyn Brooke is proud to call her own because, as she says, "it's not the typical flower shop." Sidelines Custom Floral Designs overflows with wildly imaginative flower arrangements and gifts that are in a class of their own.

Sidelines just celebrated 25 successful years. There was a time when Karyn thought she would be in law enforcement like her Kansas City MO mounted police officer father. But he envisioned her as a business owner. Sometimes, Father knows best.

Before criminology took her fancy, Karyn dreamed of being an interior designer. A high school part time retail job led to her management of the window dressing of all 21 stores in that chain. Then, "I needed new window ideas so I bought a book on floral design from the Brookside Dime Store. Next thing I knew I was taking floral design classes, which I eventually taught myself." In college she studied business advertising/marketing, not criminology. And worked part time in floral shops. So often, it's the dreams of youth that are the path life takes.

After college, a hopeful floral design business partnership ended abruptly and Karyn landed with zero income. The contacts she had made in business wanted to continue contracting her design services. "I began a business out of my parents' basement. I did all the marketing. I took the orders, made them, delivered and billed. Dad bought me a used postal service jeep for deliveries." Cash flow was tight, so this determined young woman managed a cleaning service at night for 18 months until she landed a big wedding design contract for a local businessperson. She was able to end the second job and hired her first employee, who is still with her. Soon after, Sidelines found a permanent location.

"I know my business would be nothing without my team of talented, devoted employees," she comments, also noting that "an important role of any business owner is to create jobs." Tight economic times "are good for business because they motivate." She's convinced that businesses that start during economic seasons like the present can be highly successful because everyone works harder. If you're starting a business now, Karyn adds, "Be tenacious. Be willing to sacrifice and give up some personal life today for greater success tomorrow."

"My husband Robert is my calm and strength in any storm," Karyn says of her greatest supporter. He has taught her that regardless of any business accomplishments, none of it matters if she doesn't take time to stop and smell the roses. Karyn does take time to enjoy life so that she can design the beauty she delivers into people's lives. Visit Sidelines Custom Floral Designs Monday through Saturday, and let the creativity of Karyn and her team meet you at every glance and awaken all your senses.

Do You Need Wedding Insurance?

Planning a wedding is a big undertaking. For some couples, the stress of organizing the event is made even worse by their fear that something might go wrong. To be prepared in case a problem does arise, some couples are opting to purchase wedding insurance.

There are two types of wedding insurance. The first type is cancellation insurance, and the second kind is liability insurance. If you decide to get wedding insurance, be sure to read the fine print carefully to determine which type you are getting. Some families will get only one or the other, but many people who are concerned enough to get wedding insurance will choose to get both types of coverage.

So how do you know if wedding insurance is something that you really need? The two deciding factors are going to be your investment in the wedding and your peace of mind. This is where the cancellation insurance comes in. There are many scenarios that are unlikely to occur, but would be covered by wedding insurance if they did.

Probably the biggest worry for most couples is weather. This is especially true if you are planning an outdoor wedding or a destination wedding. If you are planning a beach wedding in the Caribbean during hurricane season, for instance, that might be an excellent reason to purchase wedding insurance. That way, if your wedding has to be postponed, you will not lose your money. Another reason why a wedding might be postponed is if the bride or groom suddenly falls ill, although this is probably less of a concern than a weather issue.

Other things typically covered by wedding insurance include things like a venue closing its doors, or a bridal salon going out of business and taking brides' deposits. The sad truth is that when a business such as a bridal salon, photographer, or wedding venue does unexpectedly close, they are probably not going to be returning your deposits, even if you have a contract (and who wants to go to small claims court with someone who has already declared bankruptcy?) This is where the wedding insurance would not only provide peace of mind, but also the funds to get another bridal gown or photographer.

Another event covered by some forms of wedding insurance is lost or stolen gifts. Let's say that you are traveling to a destination wedding, and your luggage containing the jewelry gifts you had selected for your bridesmaids gets lost in transit. If you have insurance, they will reimburse you for the cost of your bridesmaid jewelry gifts. This type of policy will also cover situations such as having your wedding gifts stolen from the trunk of your car.

The other main form of wedding insurance is liability insurance. This covers you for things like damage to the venue caused by one of your guests. Let's say that your clumsy uncle Dave has one too many glasses of Champagne and knocks over an antique vase worth $1000. This is the type of event that liability insurance would cover. It also is useful for things like slip and fall injuries or alcohol related situations. Liability insurance can be purchased either through a company specializing in wedding insurance or through the same firm that does you home or auto insurance. The cancellation insurance, though, usually must be obtained through an event insurance specialist.

Most weddings go off without a hitch. Wedding insurance can bring peace of mind to couples who are very concerned about the "what ifs" that are part of planning a wedding. For those brides and grooms, the comfort of having the insurance may be well worth the price.

Preparing For Marriage? Things to Do Before Saying I Do

A lot of marriages failed, mostly in their first five years as a couple, because of unpreparedness before saying their "I do". A lot of couples fell in love and directly thought that this is the man/woman they are looking for. After the wedding and a blissful honeymoon, everything became a nightmare because of a lot of reasons. Some of the main reasons are high expectations, lack of communication, money problems, and the worst, an illicit love affair.

Let us not talk about the last reason above. Rather, let us understand why these things happened. Since this article is all about readiness before marriages, then we will focus on this side of marriage.

Preparation before marriage must be taken into consideration. In fact a lot of divorce or separation could have been avoided if couples went through counseling sessions or seminars before the wedding. My husband and I went through these counseling sessions before exchanging our wedding vows. The only thing I can say is that I am really grateful that we did it. Now, I will share the things we have learned:

1. High expectations. A lot of marriages started nice and good but when the wife/husband realized the weaknesses of the partner, things started to change. "This is not the kind of woman I wanted to marry." "I never expected that my husband snores a lot." The complaints will not end there. Slowly the other looks on the other in a negative manner.

Counsel: Think of your partner as a unique/special person. Your partner has good points, too. That is the reason why you fell in love in the first place. Rather, think on how you can complement your talents and gifting with each other. Try to look on your partner in a positive manner.

Course of action: After the counsel we were required to write down all our expectations with our partner and, the things we like and dislike as a person. We, also, wrote the good and bad points that we saw toward our partner. Then I shared my list to my husband and he gave his list to me. Think of our reactions as we read the list. Through those lists, we talked about how to work things out even we were not yet married at that time. Then we kept doing this course of action once in a while, even until now. My husband and I will be having our wedding 18th anniversary this December and our relationship is getting sweeter in every moment.

2. Lack of Communication. This is one of the marriage killers in the history of mankind. Men tend not to openly communicate their feelings while women are very expressive. Also, women, most of the time, assume that the partner understood their actions without verbally explaining it. See the big difference?

Counsel: Human beings are quite like idiots a lot of times. How can one understand the other person without saying it through words? That is exactly why we should verbally communicate what is in our hearts. My husband always says he loves me every day on a of lot ways. I know what these actions means because he told me his codes. One of his codes is that he just simply taps me three times and that means "I love you."

Course of Action: We were told by our counselor to share the things in our minds to our partner without thinking of rejection and we treat the other the same way. We were told to think of it as a way to improve ourselves. At the same time, to try to listen first what the other has to say without reacting negatively right away. With this practicum, we were able to practice sharing our thoughts with each other. This practicum always reminded us on how to communicate well until now.

3. Money Problems. This problem can, also, be part of lack of communication. Budgeting is a major issue as well.

Counsel: In marriage, there is a possibility that either one of the couple is careful when it comes to money matter while the other is the opposite. Each should learn to communicate when money is concerned. Both must learn to live according to their means and not through their wants. Both must talk first if one will purchase a major item for the household or for personal use. Even if the couples earned from their own jobs but sharing your thoughts to your partner is all about trust and friendship as a couple.

Course of Action: We wrote down our incomes on paper. Then we prepared a list of expense priorities for the family. We, also, wrote the things we wanted to see in our household, like owning a house, and the preparations for the future, like insurance. Then we tried to budget our money based on our priorities first then for the other things. This experience enabled us to go back to this course of action every time money problem comes in and before we make major decisions.

I can keep on writing but to cover the major issues is an accomplishment as well. Hoping this article will help you as you prepare to be tied forever to your special somebody. These counsels are also applicable to already married couples. I hope this helps you because it helped us a lot.

South Indian Wedding Cards: Kick Start to Your Wedding!

Did you know that few years ago in Kerala, holding a "mock wedding ceremony" was quite prevalent among some communities? In this ceremony, the girl was married to a guy who had perfect astrological compatibility with her. However, the bride and the bridegroom could go their separate way once the ceremony ended. Indian weddings signify traditions that have been continuing for millennia. To give a perfect start to your wedding celebrations, what could be better than choosing the right South Indian wedding cards? In most wedding cards, you will find a motif of Lord Balaji placed outside or inside the card. Paisley and floral designs are in high demand too. However, amidst designing, styling and customizing your invite, you tend to overspend. Let us see how you can maintain your budget while selecting your South Indian wedding cards.

Budgeting for South Indian Wedding Cards

While selecting and finalizing your South Indian marriage cards, your budget might fluctuate. There are certain factors that could add to your expenses. Let us see what these factors could be:

• Paper Quality: It is better to use light and fine quality paper rather than heavy paper. South Indian wedding invitations tend to become expensive when heavy and rich quality paper is used.


• Color: Try keeping your card simple and stick to a few colors rather than using a huge range of colors. When you use more colors, the printing costs tend to rise.


• Special Designs: Avoid intricate and detailed design. Floral designs are cheap and cost effective. Non-paper materials, such as silver, gold and pewter, add to the cost as well.


• Inserts: Use the space in the cards effectively and try mentioning at least two-to-three events on the same page rather than adding different inserts for each ceremony.

You can personalize your South Indian wedding invitation cards as per your budget by keeping the above mentioned points in mind. Once your card is finalized and delivered to you, there must be systematic delivery of the cards to your relatives and friends. Here are some things you should k keep in mind when delivering these invitations.

Delivering South Indian Wedding Invitations

Personal delivery is the most appropriate way of distributing South Indian wedding cards. However, at times, you might have too many things to do to be able to personally visit each invitee. In such cases, it becomes very important to keep the following point in mind:

• Make sure your wedding invites are properly sealed.


• The name and mailing details should be in a legible handwriting.


• If you are posting the invites, ensure you use the right amount of stamps.


• When sending out the invitation through courier companies, enquire about the delivery schedule.

The most important thing after designing the South Indian wedding invitation is to ensure that they reach their right destination.

Home Decor Crafts to Decorate Modest Homes

You can enhance the look of your home interiors by using home d矇cor skills. Home d矇cor expertise made of simple materials give your place a luxurious look. If you are not satisfied with the cheap d矇cor crafts available in the market, you decorate your dwelling with some household crafts.

Here is more about the variety of home d矇cor crafts which you can use to decorate your interiors.

Cheap Home D矇cor Crafts

Most of us really do not appreciate spending a lot of money on decorating crafts. If you are searching for cheap d矇cor dexterity which suit your home interiors perfectly we can help you.

You can visit your nearby craft store and purchase the cheap wooden picture frame which will be available at a very low price. You can use these wooden frames to make cheap homemade decoration artistries.

You can make a shabby chic kitchen furnishing by framing a brand new kitchen towel in this wooden frame. Select a shade of towel which will match well with your kitchen interiors.

You can make a frosted faux window by using the cheap wooden frames. You can take mirrors and spray paint them with frosted glass paint. Then enclose it in the wooden frame and hang it on your wall so that it appears like a real window.

Here we have just listed out two of the many cheap d矇cor artistry you can make using wooden picture frames.

Homemade Crafts

You can also decorate your place with easy household crafts. You can use your child's craft and drawing work to change the look of your room.

Framing these crafts is one of the best alternatives.

You can also spray paint old goods in your dwelling and give it a whole new look. Then you can use these items to decorate your little place.

Now we have already told you the simple and cheap options which you can use to decorate your place.

Artistry in Dining Rooms and Bedrooms

If you have the habit of making hand woven crafts, you can use these as tablecloths. They look great. You can even attach these crafts to old pillows and give them a novel look.

You can spray paint coasters to give them a fresh new look. Coasters look good in bright colors especially if your home interiors are of a brighter shade.

If the bedrooms and dining spaces are complemented with proper lighting, it will look great.

Advantages

You can make many cool home d矇cor abilities just by sitting at your place and making use of the old things in your room. So the one big advantage of using home d矇cor crafts is you don't spend much and you get rid of the old stuff in your house in a constructive way.

Most of the cute dexterity are made just by investing a little time. So enjoy decorating your interiors by using homespun design crafts.

Keychain Favors: Practical and Classy, But Cheap!

Keychains are some of the most popular souvenirs for vacations, parties, promotional items and events. What makes keychains so popular? Because they are useful of course! With the exception of children - everyone has keys: a house one at the very least. Often we have several: for home, for work, for our cars, for our mail box. Some of us even have keys for neighbors, family or friends houses. So what is the best way to organize them all? With different keychains of course! That is why keychains are popular gifts for so many events.

Also known as key rings, these are practical and useful, but they are also relatively inexpensive. If you are looking for a classy but cheap party or wedding favor key chains are it. Available in many different shapes, sizes, colors, finishes and textures there is a keyring to suit every style, taste and budget. Ranging from as low as sixty nine cents to as high as several dollars - will determine the quality and engraving availability.

If you are looking for a cheap favor to give to your guests these seem like the perfect choice. I would recommend for those who are looking for some inexpensive to stay under two dollar range. These are sturdy and durable and come in pretty packaging, often with thank you or personalized tags. This is a type of gift that can be used by both the men and women on your list so make sure you select a design which is gender neutral. Of course if you want to give a heart to your guests, by all means do so, but keep in mind that the men on your list may not actually use a heart key chain.

When purchasing key rings keep in mind the materials used will determine the costs. Cheaper ones are often made of plastic and the actual holder for the keys is often smaller and thinner in the grade of material used. The slightly more expensive ones will give you more bang for your buck offering things like rhinestone accents, chrome plating, a sturdier and larger ring. These tend to look better, be a bit larger in size and longer durability. The packaging for these items tends also to be a bit prettier offering better display boxes and thicker ribbons and tags. Remember, when purchasing your wedding favors you get what you pay for!

Chauffeur Car Insurance

Chauffeur car insurance is very different from any other type of insurance. When it comes to choosing chauffeur insurance it is important that you choose a proper insurance. There are many types of chauffeur insurances available in the market. You need to choose a proper insurance that suits all your needs.

Chauffeur insurance is taken for drivers who are frequently changed in order to transport people from one point to another. Some vehicle owners take additional coverage along with the chauffeur car insurance, like the vehicle insurance. Most common vehicle insurance that is taken is for luxury vehicles like the limousines because they are very expensive and any damage to the car will require a huge amount of money towards repair and remodeling.

If you plan to open a chauffeur operated car hire service then you need to consider buying a whole new set of insurance. For example if you have multiple vehicle sand multiple drivers operating these vehicles then you need to consider buying what is known as the fleet insurance policy. This policy is a comprehensive policy which covers almost all the aspect including road traffic accident, damage due to vandalism, fire accidents, theft or loss of property and third party liability along with the Chauffeur car insurance. This policy is unique in many ways; basically it is a single policy which provides coverage to multiple vehicles owned by a single owner or a company. The uses if this policy is immense. First and foremost a single policy means less paper work and also cheaper premium installments that one needs to pay annual towards the insurance policy.

Most Chauffeur car insurance comes with what is known as the public liability or the third party liability option. This is very essential if you are in a business. This policy protects your business when it is being sued due to damage to public property or to any third party. Along with this many companies also offer passenger protection policy, which covers any hospital charges which might occur if the passenger is involved in an accident while traveling in one of your vehicle.

The best place to get a cheap Chauffeur car insurance is to search on the internet. Many websites offer a clear description of various policies available. One can log on to these sites and get to read about various policies and if interested can buy them online. These sites also offer a huge reduction if they are purchased from there site.

Tips For Managing Photography Business Costs

Here are a bunch of tips for up and coming photographers to help manage the cost of operating a photography business.

1. Image Editing Software.  You'll pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars to stay current with Photoshop products.  If you haven't made the commitment yet, try Paint Shop Pro. It's as feature-rich as Photoshop, with nearly all of the capabilities, and some of its own that are unique and allow you to be creative and productive.  You can also use most Photoshop plugins in this program.

2. Desktop Office Suite.  OpenOffice, a free suite, available from OpenOffice.Org, has spreadsheet, word processing, database, presentation and other tools.  You can read and write Office files.  This will keep you from needing to pay hundreds of dollars for Microsoft Office products, and you are supporting the open source community.

3. Studio Lighting.  If you are starting off with studio lighting, Alien Bees are tough, functional and not prohibitively expensive.  You can add a light each year and grow your capabilities slowly.  And  they offer great light modifiers such as umbrellas, stands, soft boxes and more.  They even have portable power and ring flashes.

4. Print Fulfillment.  There are many good and affordable labs.  Most of them can print far more efficiently than you or the shop across town.  Find one which will meet your price, quality, product and service needs and will give you a generous sample print experience.  The ability to accept orders from your computer and ship quickly will be important to you.

5. Inexpensive Online Communities.  There are some free forums such as dpreview.com and studiolighting.net which are great sources of information on cameras, lighting, editing and other technical aspects of photography.  Digitalweddingforum.com is a reasonably priced and very professional forum for sharing all manner of business, creative and technical information regarding most people photography.

6. Professional Organizations.  Society of Sports and Event Photographers (SEP) is oriented to event photography such as sports groups, but there are overlaps to other business areas as well.  Their annual cost is very reasonable.  Professional Photographers of Americal (PPA) is affiliated with SEP, and is more business oriented.  They share venues for their annual conventions.  PPA also offers some insurance and legal protection.  Wedding and Portrait Photographers Internations (WPPI) also offers reasonable annual fees and access to great resources and conventions.  Attending a convention periodically will get you charged up and it's often a great way to get discounts on gear from the trade shows.

7. Insurance.  You need to decide what to insure and for how much, but as a photographer, I strongly recommend Liability Insurance of at least $1 million.  You can decide whether you want to cover your equipment separately or modify your homeowner's policy to cover it.  Often, bundling car, home, liability and equipment to one insurance provider will save you money.

8. Storage.  External hard drives are now under $100 for 500 gigs.  You can't afford not to back up your data in multiple places.  Also buy DVD blanks and burn copies of your client and business files to store offsite.

9. Midwinter seminars.  Often a large national lab or group of businesses will sponsor a "tour" of one or more photographers, and provide a mini trade show.  Often costing under $100, you get a solid day of education, dialogue, ideas and product awareness.  You'll come back with a notebook full of ideas.

10. Conventions.  There are probably a dozen large regional or national level photography conventions each year.  Pick one every year or two, and manage your travel costs by sharing rooms with other photographers and planning your transportation and dining carefully.  You can often save more on the product purchases than the cost of the convention and travel.

11. Web Site.  Inexpensive web templates can be purchased for under $100.  These templates can be customized by you to include your images, words, color scheme, logo and design elements.  Often hosting can be bundled with this, or purchased separately for under $100/yr.  You will want your own domain name on a site that doesn't have someone else's ads.  Also consider building your own shopping cart and gallery capability if you don't have one now.  Using fotoplayer.com and the Jalbum engine, you can create great albums on your own website with integrated cart and Paypal payment for under $100.  And you can build a blog on your site or another site for free.

12. Studio from Home.  It goes without saying that a home-based studio has far lower operating costs than a separate property.  You can also potentially take tax deductions for business use of the home.

13. Hired Help.  Paid internships are great opportunities for younger people to gain experience, and for you to have talented assistants.  Consider contacting schools and universities in the area, or hiring a local person who has great work ethic to assist you.

14. Energy.  This is both financially and environmentally important.  Change your lighting, heating, driving and office practices to lower energy costs.  Compact fluorescent lights, setback thermostats, good tire pressure, hybrid cars, trip management, computer shut-down logic and your printing practices can all be utilized to lower your operating cost.

So, now you know how to save a bundle and keep your bottom line strong!

Beach Vs Garden Themed Weddings - Which Is Better?

Traditional weddings have always been the preferred choice of couples, in which the image of a victorian steepled church, a red carpeted entry way, and a blushing white bride. Today, however, many more young newlyweds are exploring new environments to exchange vows. Among many new contemporary settings to celebrate the special day include beaches and gardens. While both offer the benefit of fresh air and a large crowd capacity, there are several reasons why a beach is most definitely the best choice for most weddings.

While garden weddings are aesthetically pleasing and offer a paradise-esque atmosphere with many perks and luxuries, there are several reasons why a garden wedding might have some disadvantages. Food cost and venue arrangements are just some aspects to consider when comparing beach and garden weddings.

Newlyweds might expect to pay a small fortune for just the bare essentials of a garden wedding. A small fee will be required for utilizing a garden located on both public and private property. Expect to pay hundreds of dollars for just a few hours of use if choosing a garden wedding theme.

Another important ingredient that should be considered is the cost of food and alcohol. Catering services costs can range in the thousands of dollars when including brunch and the dinner reception, not to mention potential costs of serving alcohol or wetbar services. All in all, newlyweds can expect to pay about a fourth of the total costs in food service for a garden wedding.

The wedding venue arrangements are another critical factor in planning a garden wedding. Most wedding receptions should be in close proximity to the wedding site. Couples need to make sure that a reception site is conveniently located for a garden wedding and that all guests are adequately prepared for changes in weather such as rain.

While there are several drawbacks to garden weddings, beach weddings offer many advantages. The best part about having a beach theme weddings is that it's free! There are no fees to holding a beach wedding as long as guests are responsible with their trash and pick up after themselves.

Barbeques are an excellent alternative to food catering services at a beach wedding. If feeding a large crowd, steaks, hamburgers, or baked potatoes can be served on paper plates on picnic tables that face the ocean. The bride and groom can cut their food bill in half by using such a simple approach.

Beach theme weddings just give wedding guests so much more freedom and independence to roam, mingle, or just enjoy the beautiful scenery. The only problem the bride and groom will have is wearing themselves out sending all of those beach wedding invitations!

While both wedding styles are a nice departure from a traditional church wedding, a beach theme wedding allows newlyweds to really step out of their comfort zone as well as cut venue and other costs in half. The next time you plan a wedding, consider a beach theme for ultimate convenience and breathtaking scenery.

Unique Ideas For Sophisticated Wedding Invitations

Planning a less formal wedding? Modern weddings nowadays are often made up of unique ideas, yet still look sophisticated that classic traditional weddings typically have. The only difference is that modern weddings are more edgy than traditional ones. To plan a less formal wedding, it is usually preceded by equally less formal wedding supplies, including wedding invitations. These special printed papers are normally used to inform family and friends about the wedding.

One important thing that you should do to your invitation is to make them fit to the style of wedding you are planning to have. If you want to have a semi-formal wedding that is unique, then the invites must also look that way. To make that happen, here are some unique ideas to come up with sophisticated wedding invitations...

One of the most classic ideas that is usually included in traditional weddings are monograms. Basically, monograms are consist of a combined initials of the groom and bride, and are very popular until now. Today, monograms can be created with a modern twist, creating a sophisticated touch on an item, yet unique. There are stylish wedding invitations these days that use classic swooping font on initials that intertwined by an ornate ampersand. Additionally, you can also find monogrammed invites that use or introduce sophisticated colors, unusual to most traditional invitations that are common to our eyes. Combining classic designs with those bold sophisticated colors is another great way to play with tradition, yet keeping a unique look on the items. Another way to have that look on your invitation is if the paper is surrounded by a simple stripe border, consider using colors like magenta, fuchsia, or purple for the border.

There are also some other trendy color combinations that you can use to create a sophisticated, yet unique appeal on your wedding invites. Basically, these combinations help transform a formal wedding invite into a modern look, but yet still sophisticated. One of the best colors you can incorporate is gold. You can add this cutting-edge color to add a classy accent on some areas of your invites as well as envelopes. Or, you can use gold as the font color of your printed names and other wedding details.

Now if you are looking a real sophisticated color combination, consider using a steel gray with incorporation of robin's egg blue or raspberry red. This edgy color scheme is a perfect contrasting idea from the common combination of chocolate brown and blue wedding color scheme. You can flair it more by adding color-matching organza ribbon and use envelopes with either robin's egg blue or raspberry red lining.

Don't underestimate the shape of your invitations and how they will be packaged. These two are vital factors to come up with ideal wedding invitations that are according to your plan. A Square or Z-fold wedding invitation is one of the most popular sophisticated shapes your can use for your invites. You can embellish any of the two shapes with classy colored or glass beads, gold or silver glitters, or your embossed combined monograms.

You can find some more sophisticated yet unique wedding ideas online. Aside from wedding invitations, you can add those ideas as well on your wedding favors, wedding centerpieces, place card holders, cake topper, and a lot more.

Make Your Wedding Invitations - Can You Make Seal and Send Wedding Invitations?

Planning a wedding is a big undertaking. You have so much to consider. Prioritising what you should spend the most money on is difficult. Making seal and send wedding invitations can mean saving money.

Let's face it, you are more concerned with your wedding gown and the reception decorations and meal than your invites. But you do want a nice invitation. You do realize that the first impression many of your relatives and friends will have will be your invitation.

You want a nice wedding invitation but you don't want to put several hundred dollars into it. Why not make seal and send wedding invitations? These are perfect. You will only have the cost of a single sheet of card stock for each invitation.

The idea is to make an all in one invite. You can even call your local print shop. If they print on large parent sheets they may have scrap the size you need it. This means you might get 200 sheets of 6 x 14" white smooth cardstock for less than $10.00. Many shops will sell you the scrap for the cost of cutting it to size. You want to make sure it will print on your printer so don't get mirrorkote or something shiny.

So what are the advantages of seal and send wedding invitations. Once you set up the invitation you just print them and put a nice score or fold line in two places. You will then add a perforated line that can be tore and mailed back to you. This will make your RSVP postcard. You address that back to you and presto the perfect card.

Seal and send wedding announcements can be made easily. They can also look very good. You can use a nice font and add some fun wedding clip art to have a one of a kind wedding announcement.

You will save postage, you only have to put a postcard stamp on your RSVP. You also won't have to be too concerned about adding extra postage because of all the extra inside. A regular invite will have the RSVP card, the envelope for it plus the reception card. You may have extra postage if you have too much weight for standard mailing. With these seal and send wedding announcements you won't have all the extra bulk. You can mail at the standard rate.

By saving money with seal and send wedding invitations you can have more money to spend on your wedding gown, your reception decorations and all that other stuff.

Finding the Best Cheap Beach Wedding Invitation

Preparing the beach wedding will require a detail preparation, including the cheap beach wedding invitation. It will complete the other preparations like themes, supplies, accessories, and also decorations. Anyway, it will be the exciting concept for many people, since it is unique and fresh idea. To perform a romantic beach wedding, the advices from a bridal expert will be certainly required.

Suitably Named

Having the cheap beach wedding invitation kit will be a significant help for you, because you can make your own invitations by using your computer. The ideas can be got from the websites including Seaside Love and Laguna, Love on the beach even Beach Companions. Those will give you the inspiration to create a unique and fresh invitation style.

Themes

Further in talking about this type of invitation, there are some common themes you can adapt into your wedding invitations, including blue ocean views, seashells, tropical themes and sandy beaches. Then, it should not only be made according to the destination of the wedding, but the time of the year as well.

Attractive or Simple?

You will be amazed with the reality that you can get the really beautiful and cheap beach wedding invitation from the internet. Then, just write the address or asking the help of your friend or family member if you think that your handwriting is very poor. Also, don't forget to use pretty stamps. It will not be ignoring your style, but will be great for saving your money.

In general, this type of invitation will truly reflect what kind of party you will hold and present to the guests. So, be sure to obtain the most appropriate theme with your mood and the nuance you will bring in the occasion. The light and simple style of this type of wedding will be great for everyone.

Don't make yourself in doubt, see more on cheap beach wedding invitation.

Windshield Wonder Review

I wanted to wait awhile to do my Windshield Wonder Review because I really wanted to put this product through the ringer. Most as seen on TV products seem to be things you use a couple of times and either break, or get rid of. But, I really liked the concept of the Windshield Wonder and really wanted this thing to work. So I ordered it and put it to the test.

I will say that when it arrived I was not really impressed. It seemed a bit flimsy for such a miracle product. For those who don't know, the windshield wonder is a product designed to make cleaning the interior windows of your car easier. This has always been a huge pain for me because I can never reach the bottom of my windshield and hate twisting over the seats to jam a rag into the corners of my rear window. So something to make this easier would come in handy.

So after noticing that this thing wasn't the most solid thing in the world, I put my first impressions aside and got down to work. The windshield wonder is nothing more than a long handle, pivoting head and micro-fiber bonnet to clean the glass but it works great! You can just sit in your front seat and glide it along the windshield and clean every smudge and streak. It's really quite a difference when you don't have to make window cleaning such a hassle. I usually get out of my car dizzy, sweating and exhausted so using this handy little product was awesome.

One advantage to note is that you do not have to use a window cleaning solution. Water works fine which saves a little money and also saves you from breathing fumes in the confined interior of your car. Speaking of being confined, the commercial clearly shows people using the windshield wonder in their homes so I tried that too.

As far using it to clean windows and sliding glass doors it's terrific. You still will have to bend and reach a little bit but the job is a whole lot easier. It's terrific for bathroom and hallway mirrors as well. You can use a glass cleaner if you like because the cleaning bonnets are machine washable. I haven't bothered to actually try that, but I do rinse them out thoroughly in the sink and seem to get clean and keep in tact. I'm not completely sure where you can get replacement bonnets but as the product starts showing up in stores, I'm sure accessories will be available as well.

Overall, I've been pretty pleased and use my little tool whenever I wash my car. I will say this. In the past, I used to konk out after washing and waxing my car and never really had the energy for the interior, but now I always have a few minutes to make my glass squeaky clean.

Ideas For First Year Anniversary Gifts

Whether you are looking for a first anniversary gift for your partner or friend you will want to find something that is a little different and special to celebrate this milestone.

Traditionally paper is the gift given to those that are celebrating their first year anniversary and this can be sent in many different ways including a newspaper from the year the marriage took place or even a pencil drawing of the couple, this type of unique first anniversary gift will become a lasting keepsake. Poetry makes a worthy choice, because not only will your gift be made out of paper, it will also contain your heartfelt messages of love, which after just one year, should be alive and well. However, they say that the first year of marriage is also the hardest, so you might need an opportunity to say 'sorry' as well.

Roses are always associated with love and there are many companies that will supply red paper roses which are a grand romantic present that can also be personalized, this type of gift is usually given from husband to wife or wife to husband. The benefit of giving paper roses is that they will remain as a memory of the special occasion and are in keeping with the traditional theme of paper on the first year anniversary.

Because paper is traditionally given for the first anniversary you could also consider a message in a bottle, not only will the message be something personal it will be written on paper which will keep with the tradition for this year of marriage.

If you are looking for a gift for your husband or wife you really want to choose a gift that shows how much you love them and have thought about the gift they are about to receive. Whether the anniversary gift is homemade or purchased from a shop it must be something from the heart to be truly appreciated.

Many people these days, for one reason or another have simple low key weddings which take place in registry offices with only the bride and groom and witness present. If your wedding was this type and you did not celebrate by having a traditional reception it may be an idea to celebrate your first year anniversary by throwing a big party for all of your family and friends that were unable to attend your wedding.

Alternatively you may wish to celebrate such a special anniversary with just you and your loved one. A good idea would be to book a romantic night or even a weekend away together. Make sure if you if you decide to do this that you book well in advance and whilst booking why not try your luck and let the hotel know its your first year anniversary as you never know they may throw in a free bottle of champagne or a bunch of flowers at no extra cost.

Whatever you decide remember that your first year anniversary should be one that you never forget as it signifies the first year of your marriage and the start of a happy and loving relationship with your partner.