Do You Need to Buy Wedding Insurance?

Of all the household bills I have to pay each month the various forms of insurance premiums are the ones I like the least. Much as I don't like paying for my electricity and telephone charges I can at least see where the money has gone. With insurance it's not so simple; the monthly premiums just go into a black hole never to be seen again. Obviously you are paying someone else to take a financial risk on your behalf and they aren't going to do it for nothing. It is only when disaster strikes that you realise how insurance can actually be a good idea. So what about wedding insurance - is this a good idea, after all what can possibly go wrong?

Well, if you're not planning to get married then you certainly don't need it - that's for certain. However, if you are currently planning your big day then you already know how expensive weddings can be. Mentions of wedding insurance at this stage usually illicit a lukewarm response - when you are writing out cheques for thousands of pounds the last thing you want to think about is yet another expense?

However, what if one of your suppliers goes out of business the week before the wedding; will you be able to organise a replacement and, more importantly, will you get your deposit back? What if the groom breaks his leg playing football and has to spend the wedding weekend in hospital?

OK, a bit extreme but you would be surprised how often these kind of things happen. Once you start to think about the things that could potentially go wrong a small one-off premium doesn't seem too much to ask after all.

How Much Does it Cost
Wedding insurance premiums are based upon a scale of maximum claims and priced accordingly. Basic cover can be arranged for less than £30 and rises in relation to the sums covered. A comprehensive policy covering the costs of an average wedding will usually cost less than around £50. So arranging suitable cover may not be as expensive as you thought?

What's Covered?
Details will vary from policy to policy, but as a guide: most premiums will provide a sum to cover the cost of rearranging the wedding if the need arises, an amount to cover potential damage or loss of your dress and/or the groom's outfit; cover for loss or damage to wedding rings, loss or damage to wedding gifts, failure of suppliers and personal liability insurance should you be held liable for an accident or injury during the event. Additional cover can also be arranged for items such as ceremonial swords and marquees.

As with all insurances there are exclusions and, again, these will vary from provider to provider and you should check these carefully before paying any premiums. Generally speaking you will not be covered for a change of heart, or if you simply didn't have a great time - there are some risks in life that no one can cover after all!

Should I take-out wedding insurance?
At the end of the day it's not compulsory, if you want to take a small risk then it is your choice. Minor things are certain to go wrong but total disasters are rare events. However, in the current economic climate and bearing in mind how economical basic cover can be, it's certainly something you should think about.

So How Much Does a Wedding Cake Cost?

Whether a couple is budget conscious or simply wanting to be prepared for their cake consultation, understanding how much a wedding cake costs is important if you want to get what you paid for. Nothing is worse than going through the whole process of selecting tiers, shapes, flavors and cake decorations only to be started by the final price. Getting an idea of how much does a wedding cake cost can be a frustrating thing to determine but is definitely necessary before heading in to the bakery.

Ordering From Cake Menus

Cake ordering can be very similar to ordering at a restaurant. While you could easily order an appetizer, soup or salad, main course, dessert and a drink or two, if budget is an issue you'd likely just stick to the main course. Cakes are much the same way with the size or number of tiers, cake stands needed, cake construction, shape, flavors and decorations all comprising the cost. If your budget is tight, there are certainly some areas to trim corners for your cake. For example, a unique cake shape such as ovals, or hearts may not be quite so interesting if it added another 15% to your cake bill.

Pricing of Cakes

Some bakers charge by the piece, ranging just about between $1.00-$5.00 a slice based on the number of guests you have attending your reception. It could also be important to inquire if your reception location will charge a fee per piece for cutting and serving costs. If a baker is using flat fees for how much a wedding cake costs, you can expect to spend approximately $400-500 for a 3 tiered cake for 100 people. Likely this cake has minimal décor involved and a simple stand. For another $300-$500, tiers can be added or extras such as fountains and detailing in the fondant or icing.

For an ornate cake without the price tag, several options are available. The use of mock cakes that are often pre-made far ahead of time by using styrofoam as the cake medium is a cost efficient way to achieve your dream cake. The cake decorator coats the exterior with fondant and piped icing or other decorative techniques. This method saves the baker time by allowing them to create your cake ahead of time and more at their leisure. One tier is created with actual cake for you to cut in front of your guests while the cake actually intended for your guests is provided with far more inexpensive sheet cakes that are taken to the reception site's kitchen and out of the view of your guests.

Asking the question how much does a wedding cake cost can help to plan a budget as well as get a handle on what is important in the design of your cake. Asking a decorator to itemize the decorating features may be the best way to understand where your money is being spent and where you can possibly cut out an unnecessary expense. One place you may not want to skimp which your guests will appreciate as well is of course, flavor.

Types of Wedding Invitations - Making the Right Decision

When it comes to planning your wedding day, there are few things more important than the look of your wedding invitations. While so many people spend a lot of time choosing the wedding dress and the location, often times the invitations are one of the last things that are even considered.

However, scrimping on the wedding and RSVP invitations does not necessarily mean that they won't be of high quality. This is because there are many types of wedding invitation options available today. In fact, it is completely possible to create, design and produce your own invitations all by yourself.

There are several different ways to create invitations for your wedding. For instance, using offset printing is the way that you normally see wedding invitations displayed. This is where typical, everyday fonts are used.

There are also invitations done for weddings which use a method called thermography. This type of style is typically used for a more casual atmosphere at your wedding. The print has the illusion of being raised because ink is heated and resin is combined to make it appear as though the text is raised up.

Engraved wedding invitations are coveted among brides and grooms. They are normally used at more sophisticated and formal weddings. People who enjoy a traditional style will likely choose an engraved invitation to make their announcement. This kind of invitation does take longer to manufacture so you need to make sure to order them several weeks in advance.

One of the more expensive types of wedding invitations would be the embossed version. This uses a raised kind of print which is very expensive to create. But the most expensive kind of wedding invitation tends to be the ones that are customized such as calligraphy invitations. These are done by highly skilled and trained artists, so it takes time and money to purchase these kinds of invitations.

There are many wedding invitation ideas to choose from but it is most important to come up with your budget in advance so that you do not get carried away in the excitement of your upcoming wedding. It is very easy to get overwhelmed at the options and make a rash decision which could cost you a lot more than you had planned.

Wedding Insurance For the Most Important Day in Your Life

It is every woman's dream, to have a spectacular wedding event. All her relatives and closest friends gathered around, to see the blushing bride and her handsome groom on one of the most important days of their lives.

These days, a major wedding event can cost a significant amount of money and so much time and effort will go into the planning of the event. If anything goes wrong with the wedding event, you will want to be compensated.

Wedding insurance offers valuable protection against the unexpected

What would happen if you need to change the date of the wedding event at the last minute, due to unforeseen circumstances, such as a major illness? You would almost certainly incur cancellation fees for cancelling the wedding reception venue, catering etc. What if the wedding event gets rained out or the caterer does not show up? You will want to know that there is a backup plan for the most important day of your life. For your peace of mind, it makes sense to purchase wedding insurance or event insurance, to provide financial compensation, if your worst nightmare happens. Wedding insurance is designed to cover the unexpected when you know that you cannot afford the unexpected to happen.

In addition to wedding insurance, if there is a honeymoon planned and you are intending to travel abroad, you should also consider purchasing travel insurance.

When you return from honeymoon and move into your new home together, you will need to purchase home contents and building insurance. Depending on the value of your possessions, you may need to purchase a high value home insurance policy. You can never be too careful, because mistakes and mishaps can be costly.

High value home insurance for your valuable wedding presents

If you are lucky enough to have wealthy parents or relatives, you may have been given a number of expensive wedding presents. These may possibly include antiques or valuable works of art. You may also have purchased expensive wedding rings for each other. You should therefore consider purchasing a more specialist high value home insurance policy that is specifically designed to protect your most valuable and prized possessions in the event that they are stolen or damaged by fire or an accident.

Wedding Invitations For The Frugal And Resourceful

If you are a relatively resourceful person, you possibly can design, create and print your very own wedding announcements. Realistically, with the amount of possible choices in internet wedding invitation templates you are able to download you do not need to be creative, just decisive. There are some things to take into consideration before you choose the do-it-yourself wedding invitations solution over buying and having them accomplished professionally. Before talking about the actual factors regarding Build-it-yourself invitations, you must understand the key benefits of choosing this method.

Creativity - Making your own personal announcements are often rewarding. It may very well be just a little time-consuming, however it also means that you can personalize your invitations as you see fit. Providing you allow for your self the required time, this absolutely should not be a problem.

Templates - If you are not keen on designing invitations on your own, you are able to pick from a number of different wedding invitation templates online. These can easily become saved and also modified however, you desire them using word processing or maybe image editing software.

Cost - Carrying out this yourself could possibly be most cost-effective solution, especially when you happen to be having a small to moderate size wedding and reception with under five-hundred guests. Even if you plan to have 500 or higher attendees you'll be able to nonetheless design and style or perhaps work with a downloaded design to print out an example and look around for bulk printing prices to save your dollars for your honeymoon. Price is most significant issues to consider, especially where your budget is concerned.

Software - There are various forms of software programs you can find which might be compatible with downloaded wedding invitation templates. MSOffice, Picasa, OpenOffice and also other software programs that will be readily obtainable can aid in the modifying and making of the wedding announcements. Some of these applications are free to utilize, while some come with a price.

Some of the considerations for printing your own wedding announcements include the following:

Stationary and Envelopes - your essential alternatives here include things like different kinds of plain printing paper, including parchment or perhaps wedding-related letterhead or cards using pre-printed patterns. It will depend on what you really are trying to achieve along with your invitations. The easiest and best method of doing your personal invitations is to locate kits that include all that you should make your wedding announcements.

Addressing - Make sure you hand write the address on your invitations as it is more personal. It is now more acceptable in most arenas to use handwritten font styles for printing envelopes, but handwriting them is still more personal.

If you obtain a kit for printing your wedding invitation templates remember to place the tissue paper in the invitation, add the RSVP card and wedding celebration invitation (if relevant) and utilize the inside as well as outer envelopes for etiquette's sake.

Using a Metal Detector to Find Your Lost Ring - Tips For The Amature On How To Use A Metal Detector

Lost a ring? Engagement, Wedding, Anniversary or Sentimental ring? Thinking about trying to use a metal detector to find it?

I lost my wedding ring and rented a metal detector to help me find it. Several months later, after hearing the story of my success finding the ring, my uncle asked me to come over and look for his wedding ring. It had been lost 10 or so years ago during the construction of a small retaining wall under a deck at his home.

After my initial 4 day ordeal looking for my own ring I was a little apprehensive about the prospect of finding his ring, but at least it wasn't under water like mine had been, plus he had a pretty good idea of where it should be. So, he rented a metal detector, coincidentally the same one I had used to find mine, and on a nice Sunday morning I went over to start digging. We broke out the shovels, a wheel barrel, a bucket and coffee.

He showed me the area, about 20 square feet, and we considered that it could be at a depth of up to a foot or two near the front. I took off my own ring and placed it on the ground to get a feel for what a good strong hit should sound like on the metal detectors speaker and then I started working the area.

In less than 5 minutes I got a good strong hit and sure enough, there was his ring! We spent more time pulling out the tools than we actually spent looking for the ring. After 10 years in the dirt his ring was back on his finger and I was now 2 for 2 finding lost wedding rings.

So, with all that in mind, here are my beginner's tips for finding a lost ring with a metal detector.

TOOLS -

• One good metal detector. Nothing super-fancy, but it should have the discriminator settings to set for rings and not coins. Set for rings, they are much more sensitive to heavier metals like gold.
  


• A good plastic trowel (small shovel). Plastic ones are better for this job since they won't interfere with the metal detector.
  


• A decent plastic bucket, without a metal handle. Again, no metal to interfere with the detector.
  


• A gold ring and a few coins. - I know this may sound silly, but when you read my techniques section it will make more sense.
  


• Shoes WITHOUT steel toes or steel shanks. If you wear steel toed work shoes or boots, they will interfere with the metal detector.
  

TECHNIQUES -

• First, make sure that you can search the area. If it is a park you are usually allowed to do it if you don't damage the grass. That means that just like on the golf course, you need to put your divots (bits of grass you pull up) back. If the location is on private property, make sure that you have the owner's permission to enter and search.
  


• If this is your first time using a metal detector, ask for some assistance from the shop where you rent or buy it and/or read the manual. If you are looking for a ring, make sure that you set the 'discriminator' to the 'ring' setting. This will help you avoid getting lots of false signals from small bits of metal like old gum wrappers.
  


• Find a nice little practice area where you can move the detector around without getting a bunch of beeps. This may mean clearing some stuff away, or you may get lucky and find a clear spot right away. Just give yourself a few square feet that you can pass the detector over without finding anything.
  


• Train your ear. Take a gold ring and place it on the ground, then place a penny on the ground about 3 feet away from the ring. Pass the detector over both of them and listen to the difference in the beep. If the detector is properly set, you should hear a much stronger beep from the ring than you do from the penny. Do this for awhile. You really want to get a good feeling for the difference between a solid 'hit' and just a small beep.
  

Once you start actually searching, work in an orderly pattern. Pick out the area you want to search and work in a methodical way. There are many different patterns you could use. One method that seemed to work for me was to do the border first, all the way around and then work left to right, front to back. However, the exact pattern isn't as important as the fact that you use one. You need to know that when you've covered an area you have really covered it.

If you hit a beep and you feel it's worth digging, move the detector around side to side and front to back until you have a pretty good idea exactly where the target is. Digital detectors (which I haven't used) will have a little indicator screen that will help you narrow in on it. Once you've decided to dig, use your plastic trowel and bring up a small area. Put the dirt and grass into your bucket and then check the area again. This will help make sure that you got the item. Don't start sifting through the bucket until you're sure you have gotten the target out of the ground.

After you are sure that the target is out of the ground, use the detector on the bucket and see if the target shows up in there. If it does, then you know you got it and something is in there. Search the bucket until you find it and the bucket reads clean (no beeps) from the detector. If it wasn't what you were looking for, get it out of the way. Don't just throw that little piece of foil or penny back into your search area (I learned this the hard way when I spent 5 minutes to find the target I had just spent 5 minutes to find and then tossed in my search area).

After you have dealt with each individual target, you must put the dirt and sod back! Don't leave the park or yard looking like a mine field! It is up to you not to destroy or deface property.

Keep working the search area until you have covered the entire area. From time to time, set your test ring and a penny on the ground and re-tune your ear to hear the difference.

GOOD LUCK!!!

If you aren't successful, can't find a rental shop, or just don't want to deal with it, there are people who do this as a side job / hobby. Expect to pay $50 to $100 to have someone search for a couple of hours. They are skilled at this and may have a better chance of finding the object that a novice.

Secrets to Eating So You Don't Gain Weight While Driving

There has been much concern lately about the health of truck drivers, so much so that the government is considering creating a National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners that will determine whether drivers can keep driving. Below are some guidelines to tell you how to eat so you don't gain weight while driving.

Take it slow. If you're already overweight, don't try to lose it too quickly. You didn't gain the weight overnight, and you won't lose it overnight either. While it would be great to completely change your eating habits, trying to change too much at a time will lead to failure.

Small changes in your eating habits can result in major changes in your health. Here are some things you can do:

1. Don't wait, get started now! You have to want to lose weight and be healthier so you'll do your best to eat better. If becoming healthier for your loved ones isn't a good enough reason, think of the prospects of losing your job because of your weight. It is a distinct possibility if you can't get your weight under control.

2. Eat fresh. The closer you can eat foods to their natural state, the better off you will be. That means eating fresh fruits and vegetables, as many as possible with the skins still on. Eat a variety of these energy-packed foods to keep you from becoming bored with what you eat.

3. Drink water. Instead of drinking soft drinks, drink. Not only is water better for your body, it is 100% natural, doesn't have the extra sugar that adds on pounds.

4. Eat smaller portions. Most people don't eat recommended portion sizes. In fact, it's rare that a restaurant actually serves a recommended portion. If the portion sizes are too large, cut them in half and ask for a to-go box for the rest.

5. Eat often. Instead of eating one large meal each day, break your meals into three regular-sized meals and healthy snacks in between to keep your metabolism and blood sugar stabilized.

6. Stuff it, your refrigerator, that is. If you have a mini refrigerator, stock it with fruits, vegetables, yogurt, and water. You can also drink fruit juice, but make sure it's 100% fruit juice and not a sugary fruit drink.

7. Choose well. Truck stops offer healthy choices, be sure to choose what's healthy over what isn't. Remember that meat and carbohydrates should be a small portion of what you eat; fruits and vegetables should cover most of your plate. Rather than eating fried meats, choose broiled or baked instead.

8. Move it. Besides eating well, get exercise a day. Park your truck a little further away from the truck stop and walk. The Schneider Institute states walking 32 times around a truck is equal to a mile of walking.

Decide now to control your eating and exercise habits before the decision is made for you. It's amazing the simplicity of how to eat so you don't gain weight while driving is. Wise food choices, exercise, and motivation is what it takes. Now get out there and do it!

Feng Shui - You Make a Better Door Than a Window

You make a better door than a window. So is it with doors and Feng Shui. Doors and the entrance ways that accompany these passageways do more than just provide a passageway or thoroughfare for people to enter and leave your abode by. In addition doors serve as the conduit by which vital qi energy of Feng Shui can enter, leave, and dissipate and in the process mold and modify the Feng Shui conditions and the temper of your home, business or establishment.

First check to see that your front door is not blocked. Ensure that nothing obstructs its view. Next ensure that the line of sight of your front door does not line up directly with that of your back or "rear "door. If this is so then the essential force of qi can easily rush in and then directly flow and easily leave your home - all in a flash before you know it. Qi has to be cultured, refreshed, saved and stored.

Next in the steps of diagnosis of what to watch out for and correct is a situation where somehow in the planning process that three doors are either in a setup row or are aligned in position so that it appears that "three doors are in a row". It this is the case you can consider it poor and very bad in terms of the storage and movement of the qi forces.

If you find that this is so and the doors must remain in place as open entrance ways then take the time and effort to shield or even obstruct these doors and openings. What can be done? Curtains, door coverings, screens, tall or even a number of plants shorter in height or even beaded hanging or bamboo curtains can be employed to create barriers and restraints to the flow of qi. At the worst if these passageways must remain open then place wind chimes or a decorative crystal in the direct flow of the doors to slow down the escape of the most vital qi. If the door is at the end of corridor you may encounter a situation where the qi is held in an area and lingers to long becoming "stale" or wasted to the rest of the home. How can you redirect the qi back into your living or working areas? Simply hang a number of mirrors on the wall, walls or even the ceiling. By doing so you will be reflecting and redirecting the qi energies back to where they can do you , your family, co-workers or customers and clients some good.

Lastly never forget that the "back" or "rear" door to your home or building is the very entrance way by which many enter. It can be said of the good luck and fortune of many that many "enter the back door, but leave by the front". One grandmother's advice to her grandchild when faced by a daunting opportunity was "child this time you come in the back door, don't lose the chance or opportunity. Next time you will come in the front door." So is it with Feng Shui and your back door. Make sure that the rear door passageways are bright, focused and obstructed. Make the rear entrance ways as open and cheery as possible, Ensure that nothing is blocking their views or paths. You never who and what good fortune can come through either of your doorways - front, rear or back.

Tips and Ideas For Hand-Made and Home-Made Wedding Cards

There is nothing more special than making home-made wedding cards that can double as souvenirs for your wedding. Creating your own wedding cards may be more tedious than simply having them made to order, but you cannot take the distinction out of something that is said to be 'hand-made.' It is also a good way to save money without having to sacrifice quality and style. Here are some tips and ideas on how to make hand-made wedding cards:

On selecting your materials:

1. First is to think up of a motif, a color and a design. It would be best if the color of you card is same or complementary to the wedding motif.


2. Second, you need to select the paper and the materials needed to put together your unique card. Paper products can be bought from your local book/stationery stores where buying bulk is cheaper. You can use can also use your computer and print out photographs or clip art. Purchased and/or home-made scrapbook and arts and crafts supplies may also be used.


3. When selecting the paper, choose one that is not too bold as to overpower the colored font of your invitation. The general size of an invitation is 81/2in by 11in, folded in half. But you can choose other shapes like squares, heart shapes, wedding bell shapes or even scroll form.


4. Always keep into mind your budget and go for home-made alternatives if you feel you are spending too much in store products.

Generally, wedding card invitations should contain the following:

1. The names of the groom and the bride.


2. The names of officiating priests or pastors or spiritual authority.


3. The names of the principal sponsors; these are the wedding god-parents and may be more than one pair, although only one pair will be signing the marriage contract.


4. The names of the secondary sponsors, which includes the groomsmen and junior groomsmen and the bridesmaids and junior bridesmaids.


5. The date, time and address and illustrated map of where the wedding is to be held.


6. The address, time and number of reserved seating for the wedding reception, which usually includes an earlier date when the guests are to confirm their attendance.

The wonderful thing about making wedding cards is that you can do it at home, you can choose your own design and it is easy to do:

1. You can choose a simple printed card using your computer and printing it on floral and wedding themed paper available in many bookstores. To add personality, you can add a photograph of the couple in one of the inserts of the invitation.


2. You can use different materials and motifs, such as ribbons, stencils, small charms or dried leaves. And even if you are not much of a creative, you can find instructions and creative examples online. All you need is a glue gun and some paper, simple materials, and you are set to go.

Wedding Reply Cards - How to Ensure Your Guests RSVP

Getting your guests to R.S.V.P. can be difficult. Wedding reply cards are a great way to make sure that your guests respond to your invitation. They should be included with your wedding invitations along with an envelope for the card, if applicable.

Choosing Your Reply Card

Many wedding invitation designs are part of a wedding stationery set which includes R.S.V.P. cards amongst other stationery items. If your chosen invitations that don't have matching cards then choose a simple plain design that will compliment any invite.

Wording

Some couples choose a simple "I/We Can/Cannot Attend" format for their reply cards. However, you can include extra information such as dietary requirements, meal choices and even a favourite song/artist request.

Reply by Date

It is a good idea to include a reply by date on your wedding invitations. I recommend that you pick a date at least two weeks before your wedding date. This gives you time to plan seating arrangements and guest numbers.

Postage

In order to encourage your guests to respond you might want to consider paying for the postage. You can buy large packs of stamps from your nearest Post Office or supermarket.

Chase Up

Even after all your hard work choosing the cards, sending them out and possibly paying for postage you will always find that some guests still do not respond. This can be frustrating as you cannot arrange your reception tables and confirm numbers to the venue and caterers. Unfortunately there is no way to get all your guests to respond, so the best answer is to contact them by phone or email.

How to Write an Insurance Business Proposal

If you are in the business of selling insurance, then you know that many clients are looking for customized insurance packages. Mass-mailing brochures that list every product and service you have to offer might seem like an efficient way to go about attracting new clients, but it's not an effective way to close the deal. Sure, you might want to use a strategy like a mass mailing or an advertisement to get people to call you for more information. However, after you've identified potential customers, the best way to secure them as new clients is to identify their needs and then write a business proposal that describes how you can meet those needs and why you are the best choice to buy insurance from.

The field of insurance covers a wide range of offerings and customer types. You might specialize in insurance for realtors or for building contractors, homeowners and auto insurance for families, or in insurance offerings for corporations, which could include life insurance, liability insurance, bonding, health care coverage, and disability insurance, as well as insurance for all corporate assets such as buildings, vehicles, and equipment. But no matter what sort of insurance services and packages you offer, the basics of writing an insurance business proposal remain the same.

How do you get started writing a proposal? First of all, you will research your potential clients, most likely by chatting with them on the phone or in person. It's vital to be able to put yourself in their position, to understand what their needs and wants and concerns are, because, for best success, you want to write a proposal that is customized for each client. Of course you'll use a lot of the same information in all your proposals, but each proposal should be specific enough to show that you are responding to the particular needs of that client. The key to winning new contracts is proving that you understand your customers as well you know as your business.

After you have a good grasp of your customer's situation, you're ready to sit down and write the proposal. All business proposals follow a basic structure: introduction, description of needs, explanation of how you will meet those needs, and then a description of why you can be trusted to do the job. That doesn't sound so hard, does it? You know your business, and after you've researched your potential client, it shouldn't be difficult to write a proposal. You can also make the process easier and faster by using a pre-designed proposal kit, which is designed especially for writing proposals and other business documents. The templates in any good kit provide instructions and examples to help you get the right information on each page.

Let's get started, working from the top page of a proposal to the last. Naturally, the first page you'll need is a Cover Letter that briefly explains who you are, why you are writing, and provides all your contact information. Following the Cover Letter, you should create a Title page, which is simply a name for your proposal, like Proposed Insurance Package for PQR Corporation or Homeowners and Automobile Insurance for the Martinez Family. If you are creating a complex document that many people are likely to read (as for a corporation), then you might want to insert an Executive Summary or Client Summary page next - this is simply a list of the major points you want to make. A page like this may be scanned by top-level readers, who are likely to pass your proposal on to lower-level decision makers for a complete evaluation. This completes the introduction section of the proposal.

Next comes the client-centered portion, or the description of needs. Here you will prove that you understand your potential customer, by including pages like Needs Analysis, Client Background, Risk Assessment, Considerations, Requirements, and so forth. Depending on the type of insurance you're proposing, you may also need to include pages that describe the items - Assets or Personnel to be insured - so you can be sure that you and your potential client agree on the range of coverage you are discussing.

After you have described your understanding of your client's needs and concerns, then proceed to describe how you propose to meet those needs, and what it will cost. You'll most likely include pages with titles like Recommendations, Options, Comparison, Policy, Premiums, Contract and Terms, Claims, Exclusions, Reliability, Bonding, and so forth, to spell out exactly what you are offering.

In the final proposal section, you will provide proof that you are the best choice to supply the insurance coverage needed. To do this, you'll include information about your company such as a Company History, About Us, and/or Experience page, and pages that mention your customer base, such as Our Clients or Clients Served. If you have special Certifications or Training, have won Awards in your industry, or have Testimonials from clients to recommend your services, you'll want to include those, too.

The final page in your proposal should be a call to action or Next Steps page, where you state what you want the client to do next, such as signing the enclosed contract or calling you to set up a meeting for further discussion.

Be sure to double-check every page to make sure spelling and grammar are correct and that everything looks professional. It's always a good idea to employ a professional proofreader or editor, or at least get someone who is unfamiliar with your proposal to scrutinize it. If you present a proposal that is full of grammatical errors, your readers may conclude that you are likely to be just as error-prone in your business dealings.

Before you deliver your proposal via mail, email, or by hand, make sure your proposal looks good, too. Use a professional design that adds graphic elements and dashes of color to enhance the visual appeal of your proposal and works with your company logo.

Limousine Service - What Are The Factors That Affect The Price?

A lot of people that come to need limousine service usually do their homework and compare prices for various limo service providers. At times, users may opt for cheaper services for events that are not too special, proms for instance, but the quality of service is also a bit lower in such cases. However, for important events like weddings, people tend to look for better quality and service. You may be surprised to notice how widely prices can vary among different service providers when you set out to shop for limousine operators.

Here are some of the reasons that might be causing this discrepancy in prices:

The Occasion

In most cases, the price depends on the occasion, or the type of need for limousine service. For instance, you may not be willing to pay the same price you would pay for hiring a limousine at your wedding when you simply need a drop at the airport. A wedding limousine would be decorated for the purpose and would come in far more expensive than the airport transfer.

Peak Season

Prices can go up during peak seasons when there is increased demand for limousine operators. If that is the case with your particular need for a limo services, you would have to pay more than the average off-season price. One instance is the prom season when almost everybody is in need of a limo that skyrockets the prices.

Limousine Make And Model

One of the more obvious factors that affect the price is the age of the vehicle. The newer a limo is, the more you will have to pay for renting it. If you do not a particularly newer model, you do not have to pay extra. Similarly, you would need to pay more for a stretch limousine than the normal limo. Keeping this in mind, you can select the type of vehicle that is best suited to your needs.

Additional Service Packages

In certain cases, the overall price includes certain additional features from the limousine service such as the entertainment system, a bar, and satellite telephone and the rental package would be higher than normal package.

The Limousine Operator

The price is also affected by the service providers. If a limo service operator is an individual who is also working as a chauffer, the price would be cheaper in all likelihood than a company. However, it can be rather tricky to hire an individual instead of a reliable limousine service that can offer many options and is a lot more sensitive about its reputation.

Wedding Invitations Planning Tip

Choosing your wedding invitations is an important step in planning your wedding. For most of your friends and family, the invitation that you send is the first part of your perfect wedding that they will experience.

The wedding invitation that you choose should be a careful choice that is a reflection of the wedding to come. The important factors to consider when making your selection of wedding invitations are the type of paper that it will be printed on, the colors used, the style, any decorative elements, and the overall impression.

Most wedding invitations are going to be made with a fairly heavy paper. Heavier paper tends to convey an impression of richness and importance, and this is an important occasion. The complex range of choices beyond that can be bewildering and overwhelming, and we lovingly recommend that you just remember to breathe through one choice at a time. You may want to start by simply choosing the paper for the invitations and ignore the other aspects until you do.

Once you've chosen your paper, you can then move on to the extensive number of choices you'll have available to you in the way the paper is designed, whether it's a placard framed within a tri-fold card, or a vellum insert, or the thousand and one other choices you'll have available to you.

The colors of your invitations should be a reflection of the overall color scheme of your wedding. Most brides tend to choose wedding invitations in the more traditional colors, partly because of the cost that used to be involved, and used their color scheme from the wedding for accents in the typewritten text or the decorative elements.

Also in keeping with the overall scheme of your wedding is the style of invitation. Wedding invitations don't have to be a formal, starchy, crisp linen stock anymore. No matter what the style or theme of your wedding may be, any printer will be happy to work you and if their existing styles aren't in keeping with your wedding, they'll happily customize for you. Want a cowboy boot shaped invitation? No problem.

You'll have a wide variety of decorative elements to pick from, as well. You may want a small ribbon accent, an insert suitable as a souvenir, or perhaps you want to use a photo of the happy couple.

With the current state of computer technology you even have the choice to print your own at home. With scrap booking being such a popular hobby these days, your local scrap booking store is a wonderful place to shop for supplies and unique decorative elements for your wedding invitations. It might even be a wonderful opportunity to have a scrap booking style party to craft your wedding invitations. You could make a small collection of decorative items available and allow your guests free rein in how they use their own creativity to apply them. While they're there, you could even have them design the envelopes. Pop them in the mail, and each guest has a unique, one of a kind invitation on their way to them.

All of these factors come together in creating the overall impression. The overall impression should be one that's in keeping with the overall theme of your wedding. The invitation is setting the stage for your big day and is the herald of what your guests can expect from your wedding.

The wedding invitations that you choose should be a careful choice that is a reflection of the wedding to come.

How To Pick The Perfect Wedding Invitation Templates

Sometimes the hardest part of the process of getting married isn't planning the reception or the wedding. Sometimes it just so happens to be the process of picking out or designing wedding invitation templates. This is because there are so many options out there for people to choose from. It can be really tough to pick one out and to have one that is truly the best one and the right one. However, this article will try to help those who are having troubles with this issue by discussing what to really look for when trying to put together or pick out a greatly designed wedding invitation.

It's important to first realize the correlation that needs to exist between the wedding invitation templates and the envelope that the invitations will be sent out in. It's important to have them mesh well together, so they should be sort of picked out or designed at the same time. It's mainly all about making sure that the colors and any key designs are the same in the invitations as well as over the envelope. Other than that, it should be a pretty easy process to matching them up.

The font being used is a really big part of all wedding invitation templates. This can be one of the hardest decisions, too, because there are many different fonts out there. It's most important to make sure that the font is one that can be easily read because if a font can't be read, it's pretty much worthless. So, try to pick out a font that is stylish and is unique but is also easy to read. If it's not, maybe increasing the size of the font can change that, so keep that in mind.

The last part to picking out or designing wedding invitation templates is figuring out what designs will be included in the invitations. For example, some templates have ribbons, vertical and horizontal bars with designs in them, or just general pictures of a variety of things, such as flowers. This is where it is really up to the bride and the groom to figure out what they want. However, any design should work well with the colors being used in the template and should also mesh well with the font style being used. In the end, it's just important to keep every little detail in mind before making any decision to make sure it all meshes well in the end.

Wedding Crafts - Homemade Wedding Favors

One great way to add uniqueness to a wedding is to involve homemade wedding crafts. There are several areas of the wedding where you can use your creativity and skill to handcraft things. Probably the most famous to handcraft are the favors. Wedding favors are little gifts for the guests. Giving them away is one way for you to thank your friends and loved ones for attending the most special day of your life.

It is always worth planning in advance about the wedding favors to give out. Your budget, time, and number of guests are the major factors when it comes to your wedding favors. Depending on your available fund, you can buy or make your own souvenirs.

If you wish to handcraft your wedding favors, you have to start working way in advance especially if you are expecting hundreds of guests. A traditional wedding favor that you can easily make is a small favor box that is made up of sweets. Or you may fill it with chocolate or some rose petals. Sweets, petals, and even confetti are available in cheap prices if you cannot make them yourself.

Another wedding favor that you can handcraft is a seed packet wedding favor. Seed packets are now in trend. These are very easy to make yourself and you can get as creative as you want on these favors. You can shop around for special paper that is perfect for this project, such as pressed flower paper or clear glassine envelopes.

If you are opting for more fun favors to make yourself, why not consider wedding crackers? These are such fun to make where your family can get involved in. You may now start saving your toilet roll tubes for this project that will sure to amaze your guests. You can fill your very own crackers with chocolates, candies, seeds, confetti, flower petals or just about anything that you would want to fill in.

Personalized wedding CD's are also a great option to make at home. You can buy blank CD's at a very cheap price. Your personalized CD favors make classic and popular gifts for your guests. Simply compile a collection of your favorite songs or your wedding theme songs, or a combination of both. When choosing songs for your CD favors, choose an appropriate mixture that everyone will enjoy listening. Make your CD wedding favors more personalized by designing the covers with your sweet photo, the date of your wedding, and a romantic quote or poem.

When it comes to unique favors, one great suggestion is to handcraft them. If you don't have time to create them all, you can purchase cheap wedding favors in bulk and then wrap or package them yourself. That way, you can still add your own personal touch on each favor. If your wedding has a theme, make sure that you choice of favor reflects theme you have chosen. Don't forget to prepare something for the kids if the main wedding favors you have prepared don't fit their age. You can provide them bags of goodies, which they would surely appreciate.

Wedding Invitation Wording Etiquette - Traditional

How you choose to word your wedding invitations is a very important part of your wedding planning so it is worth researching to get it right. The incorrect wording could result in someone's feelings being hurt or incorrect information being printed and rendering your beautiful invitations useless, and the cost of reprints can be an extra expense that could have be easily avoided with careful thought beforehand. Your wedding invitation, to many guests, will be the first notice they have about your upcoming wedding, so you need to be clear with details and share a reflection of your own personal style. There are certain rules of etiquette that should be observed when choosing your wording for your wedding invitation.

Traditionally in the past, the brides parents were expected to pay for everything at their daughters wedding, but these days with spiraling costs, that may no longer be the case, and quite often all parties involved will help with the bills. Firstly, it must be determined who is paying for, and therefore hosting the wedding. The hosting party should be the first names to appear on the invitation, which means specifically that they are solely paying for the wedding. The wedding of a son or daughter is a very special occasion to any parent and as such, having their names mentioned on the invitation, is a courteous and polite gesture, even they have no financial interest in the wedding at all.

Do you need to consider a widowed, separated or remarried parent, or parents with different surnames? Would you like to mention a deceased parent or step parent? I have given examples of these situations below.

Of course customs and traditions for all aspects of your wedding will vary depending on your family background, ethnic customs and beliefs, and changes to your wording should be made accordingly.

Following are examples of a traditional wedding invitation wording, if the Brides parents are paying for the wedding. However, if the Groom's parents are primarily paying for, and hosting the wedding, the order of names in the examples below are simply switched around to suit.

Brides Parents request the honour of the presence of Guest names at the marriage of their daughter Brides name to Grooms Full Name on Saturday, 19th September, 2009 at 4.00pm at St Anne's Church Church Address Etc. However, you may wish to acknowledge the Grooms parents as well, and in this case your invitation could read, Brides Parents request the honour of the presence of Guest names at the marriage of their daughter Brides name to Grooms Full Name son of Groom's parents names Etc.

If however both sets of parents are paying the wedding, the wording could read like this, Bride's Parents together with Groom's parents cordially invite Guest names to attend the marriage of their children Brides name To Groom's name Etc. In a situation where the Bride's or Groom's parents may be divorced and both remarried and both parents co-host, your wording could read, Brides mother and new husband names(or leave singular if unmarried) and Brides father and new wife names (or leave singular if unmarried) invites Guest Names to attend the marriage of Brides name to Groom's name Son of Groom's parents names (optional) on Etc.

Or if you would like to specify who the parent is in a remarried/stepparent situation, Brides mother and new husband's name or partner name' requests the honour of the presence of Guest names to attend the marriage of 'Brides Mother Name' daughter Brides name to Groom's name Son of Groom's parents names (optional) on Etc. In the situation where there may be a deceased parent you would like to acknowledge, the wording could read like this, Brides mother name invites Guest Names to attend the marriage of Brides name Daughter of Brides mother name and the late Brides fathers name to Groom's name Son of Groom's parents names (optional) on Etc.

The parents names can be printed using their married salutations, or full first names or both. Traditionally, the parents names would be printed as follows; Mr and Mrs Graeme Jones request the company of... Or Mrs Julia and Mr Graeme Jones request the company of... Or Julia and Graeme Jones request the company of...

Of course the line 'request the pleasure of the company of' can be changed and altered for any mood, to any number of polite phrases as follows,

o cordially invite...

o request the honor of the presence of...

o guest name are invited to share in the celebration of the matrimony of...

o would love guest name to be a part of the celebration...

o ask guest name to join us for the union of...

o invite guest name to share in the joy of the marriage of...

o ask guest name to be present at the ceremony uniting...

o invite guest name to be with us at the wedding of...

o invite guest name to witness the nuptials of...

o please join our families on the occasion of the marriage of...

The final word is that it is your decision and whether you follow tradition or create your own special wordings is entirely up to you and your fianc矇, there are no rules written in concrete, but remember, you should carefully consider any person or persons that you may offend, or upset, by accidentally leaving them off the invitation or out of your wedding planning altogether.

Wedding Invitations For Beach Weddings

Unique and crisp beach theme wedding invitations.

If you are planning for a beach theme wedding, choose invitations for beach weddings make another reason to look for the perfect invitations as unique and fresh as your wedding day. A couple who plans to get married on summer months mostly chooses to have a beach setting for their wedding day. When choosing what design is best for this type of theme, it is important that you convey how fresh and cool the event will be.

Several catchy sceneries of the wedding place are surely wonderful. Panoramic glimpses of sands or an overview of the beach is just superb and instantly convey that your wedding is something everybody should look forward to.

Wedding invitations for beach weddings allow you to choose vibrant, sunny colors. Happy colors of summer will never be overdesigned for beach weddings. Show your guests the beauty of crystal waters, the inviting white sands of the beach or the breath taking paradise waiting for them to experience. By doing this, you make your guests be more exciting as you actually are!

Some of the more common beach wedding invitation themes include the use of seashells, beaches, starfish and palm trees. If you are looking for invitations that are a little more subtle you might wish to use bright colors or summer flowers as the background or accent picture.

You can also consider having photo invitations, where you just need to have a picture of romantic projection at the beach where you will be married. This adds personal touch, gives more drama and excitement to the invitation and the event itself. When it comes to the proper wording, mostly informative formats are widely used, more fitted with a beach themed wedding.

But you can be creative and use enchanted, fairy like theme like it came from the gods of the sea. The beauty and uniqueness of your beach theme wedding invitations are endless, and mostly customizable. Don't be afraid to give some touch of individuality to your wedding stationery. It is the only key to embed your personality as a couple and makes remarkable invites that your guests will just have terrible time to skip the day of your wedding!

Choosing Beach Wedding Invitations allows you to incorporate you wonderful wedding theme into your stationery. Wedding stationery is not only functional, but it can also be a beautiful keepsake. This keepsake is not just for you (but of course you will keep some) but also for all the people you invite to your wedding, including close family and friends. So choose wisely!

Nashville Wedding Chapel

Considering a Nashville wedding chapel? As a wedding minister, I've performed weddings at just about every place in the middle Tennessee area. Listed in this article are some of the key considerations couples have in choosing a chapel as well as other locations.

One consideration is what part of town do you want to have your wedding? That may depend on where you live and where your family & friends live who will be coming. You want it as easy to get to as possible. Fortunately, there are suitable choices in just about every direction.

Another issue, has to do with the size of your wedding. Most weddings are 100 or so, and most sites can accommodate that many guests or more.

One reason couples sometimes choose a chapel for their wedding is because everything is taken care of by the staff, including details of the reception. That simplifies things and they figure that the staff is experienced and know what to do.

Will you have your own minister or officiant for the ceremony, or need the chapel to help you find one? Some have an officiant on call, or they may be able to help you find one.

Now for a listing of wedding chapels in and around Nashville.

Bridal Path is in the Opryland area, located right off Briley Parkway at Elm Hill Pike. It's been in business for years, and does provide complete services including room for the reception. They serve weddings up to about 100 guests.

Clover Croft is actually a few miles south of Nashville in Franklin, Tennessee. It is located adjacent to a new subdivision, tucked away and quiet. It is church-style in design, and yes there is room for the reception.

Juliet's is west of Nashville in Mt. Juliet on the main road that runs north and south through the city. It was a church originally and has been converted for its new use. It does have room for receptions.

Owen's Chapel is a church that is often used for weddings and is just south of Nashville in Brentwood. It is conveniently located on Franklin Road near the I-65 Concord Road exit. There really isn't room for a reception, so most couples plan their reception at a nearby restaurant or other facility in Brentwood or Franklin.

On the west side of Nashville, you have to drive out a few miles to get to the Montgomery Bell Chapel located in the Montgomery Bell State Park. It's a quaint stone structure nestled in the woods. However, there is no heat or air, so it is mostly used for spring and fall weddings. The Park has a restaurant and meeting rooms that can be used for receptions.

Chappell Acres, is a rustic, country-style setting in Coopertown several miles north of Nashville. Behind the altar is a huge picture window framing the woods outside giving a year-round view of nature.

Finally, Dearly Beloved's, with a rustic log look, is found in the Old Hickory area.

As you can see, when it comes to finding a Nashville wedding chapel you have numerous choices in different parts of town. This articles provides you an overview so you can have an idea of what some of the options are. Now you can dig a bit and find out more.

How to Write Hindu Wedding Invitations

According to the Indian Census 2011, nearly 80 percent of the Indian population identified themselves as Hindu. Quite obviously, Hindu wedding is very common in India. Moreover, with many Indian Hindu families living in foreign countries, the frequency of Hindu wedding ceremonies is growing in western countries as well. If you are currently planning to arrange a Hindu Marriage ceremony, you should know about the etiquettes and rituals of Hindu wedding invitations. When it comes to writing Hindu wedding invitations, it is important to keep in mind some common norms for writing them. Read this article to know about some common guidelines to write Hindu wedding cards.

Tips on Writing Hindu Wedding Invitations

With proper use of words in Hindu Marriage invitation cards, you can set the mood of the ceremony well in advance. When your guests receive a wedding card designed and written in accordance with the norms of Hindu culture, they can expect the ceremony to happen according to Hindu culture as well. Let's take a look at four most useful tips on writing Hindu Marriage invitations.

• Use complete sentence - It is important to use full sentence when writing an invitation for Hindu wedding. When writing parents' names, you should follow traditional punctuation courtesy as well. Let's take a look at the following example:

Mrs. Ruchika & Mr. Ajay Malhotra request the honor of your gracious presence on the auspicious day of the wedding of their daughter

Pinki Malhotra

To

Raja Sharma

Depending upon your preferences, you may also choose to include parents' names of both sides in the following way,

Mrs. Ruchika & Mr. Ajay Malhotra request the honor of your gracious presence on the auspicious day of the wedding of their son

Ashok Malhotra

To

Shivani Shrivastava

daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Swapan and Shweta Shrivastava

• Include all important information - You should clearly mention date, time, and venue of the marriage ceremony in the invitation card. Hindu Marriage event usually lasts for more than one day. In such cases, you should specifically mention all dates of invitation as well. When writing the date, don't forget to include the year. For example, instead of writing January 2, you could write Wednesday, the Second of January, 2012. When mentioning time of the event, you should write seven o'clock in the evening, instead of writing 7 p.m.

Moreover, you can use religious icons of Hindu deities, such as icons of Shiva and Parvati on top of the card.

Engagement Ring Insurance - FAQs You Should Know About!

Wow! You and your fiancee have finally bought your ring and it's really great. Of course, it was expensive too. But now you are getting worried. And the jeweler has recommended engagement ring insurance. It is not that your fiancee is a regular scatterbrain, but she can be a little careless about removing her rings when she's working (she's a doctor and that kind of makes it ok!).

But what if she simply forgets where she's placed the ring and then she cannot find it again? The very thought of losing it, is giving me a major headache. But there is no need for that to happen. You can easily make sure that you get insurance for your fiancee's ring and protect your investment.

How does this insurance work?

The process is very simple. Just as you would get homeowner's insurance on your home you can also get insurance. You can also add your ring insurance details to your home insurance policy, since you will be storing or wearing it inside your home and that dramatically increases the price of your home insurance policy. If you move after the engagement, please make sure that you transfer the policy with you to your new home and remove it from the old home where it is registered. Also note, though, that all home insurance policies will not cover the entire cost of your ring if it's lost or stolen. A replacement insurance policy is the best choice, as this policy can pay you for a new ring that is exactly the same as the old one and at the current market value.

What do you need for an engagement ring insurance policy?

You have to make sure that you have the receipts and authenticity certificates for your engagement ring ready so that you can apply for the ring insurance. You will also have to get a ring appraisal done to estimate the price of the ring; the appraisal determines the money that you will have to pay for your insurance policy.

Can jewelers also provide insurance?

Yes they can. Jewelers also have insurance policies by which they maintain your engagement ring and cover it with insurance. Your engagement right will be protected, but the coverage provided by these different varieties of engagement ring insurance policies may differ. Find out exactly how much you have to pay for insurance and what is offered as compensation when you lose your ring before you commit to the jeweler's policy.

Do I need separate engagement ring insurance?

Yes you do. The simple reason for this is that male rings use a larger amount of gold than female rings. This disparity can be balanced by women using more stones in the rings; but on the whole, most jewelers advise that you take on separate ring insurance to protect your engagement rings.Insurance is also common in the form of a VALUED AT PRICE policy; in this type of insurance, you can set the value of your ring at a higher rate and then pay the premiums. You will be paid back the higher amount that you have set for your engagement ring with this useful insurance policy.

We hope this simple engagement ring insurance policy guide has helped you find what you are looking for.

Wedding Invitation Verses: Rhyme Your Way to Love

Wedding invitations require a lot of thinking in order to be perfect for your ceremony. Why? Because to achieve perfection, your invitations must really represent your marriage. They must speak for you and not about you or about the reception or the ceremony or anything...

Although I always recommend my clients not to use wordings from other wedding invitations, some wedding invitation verses can be modified for your convenience. Below I will list a few verses I like that you may use or modify to include it in your wedding invitations.

In the spirit of the season

We have found the perfect reason

To gather our friends and family

To celebrate all in harmony...

Our wedding day,

A new life has a start

We'll share with each other

One love, one dream,

One heart...

The adventure has begun

to share all the days of our lives

As we shall become one

as the moment arrives...

The weather outside may be frightful

but the wedding inside will be delightful...

What begun only as fun

Has become true love

We want our friends and family to get a hold of

Ourselves as we become one...

It is a good idea to begin your wedding invitations with these kinds of verses because it gives your cards more personality. Instead of starting out your invitation with your name's or something like that, start them with a quick rhyme to lighten up your guests; use creative wording for wedding invitations.

The verses listed above are somewhat generic and might not suit your invitation. That is why you must think of something that combines with you, your partner and the wedding theme. Aside from you invitation wording, including a picture is also a good idea, but you have to be careful it doesn't look too cheesy. I recommend you to go to a professional and ask him o her to take your pictures.

Beach Wedding Ideas - 3 Unique Ways to Have a Fantabulous Beach Wedding

There are a huge variety of ways to have a beach wedding theme, and here are 3 unique ways to celebrate your wedding and have fun under the sun:

?Ocean Wedding Theme

This type of wedding theme brings out the fascinating life under the sea and the bright turquoise color of the ocean turns your big day into a magnificent journey of the deep blue see.

Wedding Colors: turquoise, deep sea blue.

Wedding invitation: Use wedding stationary that has prints of ocean creatures and coral reefs.

Decorations: stick with ocean colors when doing your decors. Fill your reception area with plastic/ rubber sea creatures. You can also use faux corals o your table centerpieces, and hang fish nets overhead and or serve as a wall on your reception are.

Pirate Wedding Theme

AhoymeHearties! Time to bring out the pirate in you wedding theme. Love the adventures of the high seas and treasure hunting? Then you can never go wrong with this theme. Let's weigh the anchor and hoist the mizzen" to find the joy that fills the loot of a lifetime.

Wedding colors: you can use black liberally but compliment it with a deep, dark red and/or gold.

Wedding invitation: a custom made map of your wedding details, location should be marked x just like a treasure, and add some pirate related images for a fun unique way to show your guests what to expect.

Decorations: you can use black everywhere as this is the main color of the pirates, but adding red and gold makes it a very elegant color scheme. You can have a pirate ship on your entranceway; slip the guests table assignments in a bottle for an authentic treasure-hunting theme. To bring up the glam on this theme, you can use mini decorative chests filled with gems, and faux jewelries as part of your table centerpieces.

Seashell Wedding Theme

This wedding theme is the most elegant beach themed wedding as it shows the rich and beautiful aura of the seashells and pearls.

Wedding colors: champagne and pearl white.

Wedding Invitations: you can opt for a handmade wedding invitation decorated with small seashells and starfish or you can choose a stationary printed with different types of shells, and seal it with a very small clam.

Decorations: This is the part where you can fill your reception with different kinds of shells! Make a line of big shells with tea candles inside to light up your path while walking down the aisle. Your table centerpieces should have a bowl of sand and topped with shells, starfish and clams fill the bowl with water and you can add floating candle to illuminate your tables.

Driving in a Stretch Hummer Limousine is Fantastic

A stretch hummer limo is as opposed to every other automobile you have ever ridden in. It truly is extremely a lot greater than the typical car plus the typical stretch limousine. At first glance at a stretch hummer limo your eyes grow broad with wonder. These limousines are quite fascinating to look at primarily simply because of their size. They are quite unique inside and they all can seat a minimum of six individuals easily and include all types of electronics and add-ons. The seats are arranged in an L shape and there may be generally a bar region and smaller refrigerator in each one.

The stretch hummer limo or stretch hummer limousine can easily bear more than 10 individuals within. It really is one from the largest stretch limos that may be made these days. These stretch limos are utilized for bachelor parties, proms, trips to casinos, birthday parties, wedding events and extremely a wonderful deal more. The stretch hummer limo is specially fine for that occasion "parties" basically since they can accommodate so quite a few people in them. They're equipped with state on the art flat screen T.V.'s and stereo sound techniques. There may be generally a wet bar that is filled with ice, water, soft drinks and liquor. There is caviar, snacks and even meals upon request. The carpeting inside the stretch hummer limo is plush plus the upholstery, if not leather, is soft and comfortable. You'll find tiny tables that are hidden within just the walls that appear out when needed for food service or to play games or work on company reports. There is certainly a phone to speak to the driver or to make use of for normal assistance. Little pcs are even offered in some from the quite extensively equipped stretch hummer limos. You will find many sun roofs inside a stretch limos which allows passengers to stand totally up and stretch their legs or perhaps get a much better look at on the outside world. These sun roofs are utilised more often in cities to obtain a good view than at some other time. There's a blackened glass partition between the driver along with the passengers for total privacy. However, there's a window for your driver to open and near towards the passenger location if necessary. Numerous wealthy celebrities very own their very personal stretch hummer limo because owning one of these hummers is generally a status symbol in Hollywood. You'll find a large number of limousine organizations close to the globe which have been utilised by hotels, restaurants, celebration planners, businesses and airports. All of those firms usually own a minimum of one stretch hummer limo.

There may be also really extensive mood lighting all through the stretch hummer limo. The controls for that lighting are usually on a manage panel inside the passenger region so they can change the lighting to their private particular interests. The windows in these limos are often tinted black for privacy and the ride inside a stretch hummer limo is quite smooth and comfy. The two greatest advantages to riding in a stretch hummer limo may be the privacy that it gives to its guests and the big groups it may accommodate on a single trip. All kinds of pursuits happen inside the back of one of these limousines and it could supply a good party atmosphere where you automatically possess a designated driver.

3 Business Areas to Worry About for Wedding Pianists: Product, Website and Marketing

Three business areas are described below that are suggested as the most important to worry about in order to achieve success as a wedding pianist. Looking after these areas should ensure that the gigs keep coming in.

Product

As with any area of business, you have to ensure that your product is up to scratch. With regards to playing the piano at weddings, this manifests itself in a number of ways.

Firstly, you've got to make sure that you have a varied repertoire and that you're highly polished: one slip during a performance can usually be laughed off with a roll of the eyes or a cheeky smile; two slips and it starts becoming embarrassing! I'm really clear when people call up asking for certain songs if they simply don't fit into my repertoire genre but if you don't know songs within your particular genre, you've got to be prepared to go and learn them. Remember the old adage "he who pays the piper calls the tune".

Secondly, make sure you have decent equipment. In my case, I try to play gigs where there is a lovely grand piano already at the venue but in many cases this simply isn't possible. I had a heart-rate raising situation recently where my power supply was dodgy and it only started to become really intermittent 5 minutes before I was due to start playing. Fortunately a generous electrician saved the day: needless to say, I now ensure I service my kit regularly. I'm also now saving up for my own PA system to ensure I'm totally self sufficient.

Thirdly, you need to remember that your on-the-day service is crucial to further bookings: many guests at weddings are often brides- and grooms-to-be and if they enjoy your provision of entertainment, there's a high chance you'll be invited to play at future weddings. Always ensure you're dressed appropriately, you show up on time (I always build in 30 minutes extra for journeys of an hour or more) and you're courteous to everyone you meet.

Finally, I'd strongly recommend you offer "extras". In my line of work, it means being open to take requests on the day but being polite if you simply don't know it. Quite often it's simply a "let me look into that and see if I can play it in a few songs time".

Website

I regularly get asked how I get the number of enquiries I do. It's simple: in the world of Google, it's about having a quality, natural-search optimised site that's easy to use once people are there. It's your shop window and in my line of work, much like bottles in the world of wine, people judge the quality of your product and how much they're prepared to pay for it by visual aesthetics.

Firstly, learn how to write HTML. Specifically HTML5. I was fortunate that a guy at school showed me the absolute basics about how you go about it but if you're totally new to it there are plenty of guides out there. As with anything, you'll probably need to set aside a couple of days to get your head round it.

Secondly, ensure your site is easy to navigate with good pictures and quality audio and video. Text that overlaps or looks messy just screams poor quality and (often wrongly) it's a reflection of your ability. It's not that difficult and just takes a little bit of time. I based my site colours and layout on the Audi site (although I notice this has just been updated): I figured people respect this brand so emulating some of the features they employed on their site and I wouldn't go too far wrong.

Thirdly, think really carefully about your text content. I try to keep everything as simple as possible and I keep my testimonials page up-to-date: you wouldn't buy any other product based on a recommendation that's 3 years out of date so why would you employ a musician who someone recommended years ago?! When it comes to talking about your price, think about how big brands do it: don't go shouting about how cheap you are in your meta tags or on the front page. This is someone's big day and they'll be prepared to pay for quality. Also, make sure you do your research here: charge too much and people don't respond to your quotes; charge too little and people won't take you seriously.

Finally, there are lots of ways you can ensure you get regular traffic through to your site. Perhaps register with relevant blog sites that allow you to write regular content with links through to your site. I've started my own blog that I try and update a few times each week and alongside this, I regularly post Facebook posts and Tweet links to my site. Quite often, when I play a gig, I'll check in on FourSquare at the venue then post a link so I'm almost embedded as a link to that venue. I'm sure there are other ways I haven't thought about yet!

Marketing

There are a number of ways you can market yourself. I've actually never paid a penny to do so (and it's become a personal obsession never to do so!) but that doesn't mean it's not a good idea. I just figured that I was blessed with time, not money, so I'd spend time marketing myself in all the free ways possible before resorting to spending money!

If you've got time, you'll probably want to pursue some of the following:

- Ensure you're regularly building internal and external links to your site. As I mentioned earlier, Google measures website relevancy on a number of things but particularly important are links. The more of these you can gather from a wide variety of sources the better. One particularly good way to do this is to offer to add a link to someone else's wedding business on your site in exchange for a link to your business on their's. You'll be surprised how quickly you can add links!

- Physically, you can lobby wedding planners with press kits and CDs, offer free entertainment at bridal shops and flyer venues that do receptions. They all take time, but if you have a "content plan" of the one little thing you're going to do to support your business each day, you'll be pleased with the way these small interactions lead to gigs.

If you're willing to spend money, you might try some of the following:

- Get an agent. Agents generally take upwards of 30% of your income for a gig (I'm realiably informed). If you're looking to get into the industry regularly, one of my best friends swears by a good agent and is rewarded with plenty of gigs.

- Put display and classified ads out. I had a free trial with Google AdWords and it increased traffic to my site by about 50%. I know from my work in advertising too that you can expect click through rates from carefully targeted display advertising of up to 1%, you just need to be really careful where you serve ads.

- Finally, you might try exhibiting at a wedding fayre. I looked into this once and I know that many people use them as their main source of business. If you wait until the last minute to agree, you can often negotiate the organisers of a regional fayre down do about 瞿50-瞿100 for a slot for the day and quite often you'll be guaranteed as the solus performer.

So theses are the areas that I worry about and care about the most when it comes to running my business and I try to ensure I update things regularly to ensure I'm not missing out on custom. In doing so, business success has been achieved in the last 3 years with 37 gigs completed to date.

Wedding Anniversary Invitations - Celebrate Our Love

Wedding anniversary invitations are appropriate items to send out, whether it's your first or your 101st anniversary. Of course, in this day and age, it's hard to find hopping and bumping centenarians! A wedding anniversary is a time to commemorate, reflect upon, celebrate, and give thanks for your commitment, love, and adoration for your spouse or significant other. A wedding anniversary is the anniversary of the date on which the wedding transpired. Married persons have traditionally been the recipients of gifts on their wedding anniversaries, especially in certain years, and this practice is common especially in Western countries like the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, and Canada. Each country, moreover, gives gifts and follows procedures appropriate to certain anniversary years. Each is a slight permutation on the same theme. Couples needn't be married to mail out invitations to friends and relatives. Many couples who have been living together for a certain number of years are recognized as being legally married by the state. This is called common law marriage. Sometimes, the bonds couples share aren't officially recognized by the state with a marriage certificate, but the anniversary can still be celebrated just as well, and the invitations are still appropriate. However, they might need to be homemade because there aren't very many simple anniversary-only invitations. Most invitations are prefaced with the word wedding.

As mentioned previously, each country follows traditions specific to the region for anniversaries on certain, distinct years. In the United Kingdom, the 7th anniversary is referred to as the Copper Anniversary. The 10th anniversary goes by the moniker, Aluminum Anniversary. The Silver (25th) Anniversary is very special, and the Gold (50th) even more so. The rare Platinum (75th) Anniversary is ultra-special, and extremely unique Diamond (100th) Anniversary is a sight to see. In fact, in Britain, along with all the other Commonwealth realms, one can receive a message from the King for the 60th, 65th, and 70th wedding anniversaries. In Canada, a couple can receive a greeting from the Governor General; in Australia, a couple can also receive congratulations from the governor-general. And, finally, in the United States, one can receive a greeting from the President on the 50th anniversary. The general theory is that long-term married couples have been law-abiding, tax-paying, healthy citizens that deserve a nod of respect and thanks. Invitations, though, are not sent to those prime ministers, governors, and presidents. The couple needs to apply through a bureaucratic process.

Wedding anniversary invitations are necessary for the 1st, 7th, 10th, 25th, and 50th wedding anniversaries in most Western countries. They're especially sent out to people that were present at the wedding originally. It's a special way of alerting the folks that were present at the wedding that the couple is doing fine and happy in their new lifestyle. Traditional gifts given out after wedding anniversary invitations have been mailed out includes a list of the following: clocks, china, crystal, appliances, silverware, copper, linens, textiles, fur, ivory, gold, lace, fashion jewelry, silk, pearls, furniture, musical instruments, brass, bronze, copper, or shiny precious stones. The gift ideas are numerous, but the same traditions are usually followed.

Print Your Own Wedding Invitations in 3 Easy Steps and Save Hundreds of Dollars

Even though we are experiencing tough economic times, you can still have beautiful expensive looking wedding invitations and here is how you will do it. Just follow our 3 easy steps.

Choose a Pre-Designed Wedding Template - Give yourself a running start to perfection

Pre-designed wedding templates give you a very important base to work with. There are dozens of templates in all colors that allow you to fill in your information and print. Ideally you should have an idea of your wedding colors, especially if you want to match your invites to your theme colors. Adding your own photos to your invitations and thank you cards creates a beautiful and memorable keepsake for your family and friends. Use your own digital photographs or for your wedding thank you cards, those from your official wedding photos.

Choose your Invitation Card Stock

Here you will find a huge selection of card stock available for your invitations. We recommend you choose a mid-weight card stock of approximately 100 pounds. Do not use flimsy regular paper and don't go for ultra-heavy card stock that will bump up your postage to the next level. You can find extensive selections at most of the big box stationery stores, the majority of which also have online purchase availability. White and Ivory stock are still the most popular choices and will give you the best pricing if you choose to print your own wedding invitations. There are also a rainbow of soft pastels and a number of vibrant stock colors.

It's Time to Print

Now is the time to fulfill one of your childhood dreams of seeing your name on your wedding invitation. Always practice several prints to ensure that you have the correct placement. Be sure to choose the highest quality printing output option. Your wedding invitation templates are always properly formatted for super easy printing.

Now ... Enjoy the Compliments you'll inevitably receive

Sit back and wait for your guests to be 'wowed' by your creations.

Contemporary Or Traditional Wedding Invitations?

Should you Opt for Modern or Traditional Big event Invitations?

There's a significant difference between contemporary and traditional big event invites. These differences can help you to pick which style is correct for your individual style along with your wedding ceremony style. Choosing between contemporary or traditional wedding wedding invitations is really as easy as knowing your own style!

Whenever attempting to make your mind up between modern or traditional big event invitations, you will need to understand the ambiance that you will be wanting to create for the wedding day. Is the day destined to be a classic, traditional big event? Will you be wanting to create a wedding that's something just a little different than other weddings you might have been to? Do your wedding ideas incorporate a distinct theme that's out of the ordinary? Answering these kinds of questions along with understanding your marriage ceremony theme will help you to select between contemporary or traditional wedding invitations.

When you choose between contemporary and traditional marriage ceremony invitations, you should know how to spot the distinctions. Traditional wedding ceremony wedding invitations are usually very simple. They're generally single-sided, meaning that they do not open up like a greeting card. All of your wedding ceremony invitation details are printed on the front of the card. These kinds of big event invites will often be white or cream. When there is any fluff, it is almost always similar in color to the cardstock itself. Traditional wedding ceremony wedding invitations were made to make a classic and sophisticated statement. That's why couples typically select a fancier font to be able to help make the wedding invitations look all the more gorgeous.

Modern marriage ceremony invites aren't as easy to define as traditional wedding ceremony invitations. Essentially, contemporary wedding invites are everything that traditional marriage ceremony wedding invitations aren't. Generally there really are no restrictions that are set on modern big event invites. They could be single-sided, double-sided, or open up just like a greeting card. They could have a range of pictures, graphics, and patterns in any coloring or color blend. With contemporary marriage ceremony invitations, it is all about seeking the invitation that matches in with your marriage ceremony style.

Deciding upon between traditional or contemporary marriage ceremony invitations could be as simple as choosing the invite that you like the most. Nevertheless, there's something to ponder. What's the atmosphere you want on your wedding ceremony day? Have you always dreamed of the traditional white marriage ceremony together with all of the traditions that accompany this? Then the simple answer is. You should select a traditional wedding ceremony invite. If your marriage ceremony is going to be a very stylish affair, then it is usually recommended to settle for a traditional marriage ceremony invite.

If you are planning a themed marriage ceremony or something a bit more light hearted, then a contemporary wedding invite could be more appropriate to go with your picked out big event atmosphere. They may also assist you to tie in your picked out theme with your big event wedding invitations.

Exactly why is it so important to make the best choice between temporary or traditional wedding invitations? The fact is that your wedding ceremony guests obtain a lot of information based on the big event invites which you pick out. There's a much more communicated via big event invitations than the day and location of your wedding. The style of your wedding ceremony invitation could show your friends and family what they can expect from your forthcoming marriage ceremony. That traditional wedding invitation is going to show your guests that the marriage ceremony is going to be traditional and elegant. A contemporary wedding invitation might show your guests which you have decided on a style or are having a less traditional wedding ceremony. This is important to guests so they are organized for the big event. They will understand how to dress correctly and be ready for what to anticipate at the wedding.

Choosing between traditional or contemporary big event invitations is a personal choice. This is your big event and you are the wedding ceremony planner. Ultimately the decision is yours alone. Bear in mind that it's always a good suggestion to link in all of your marriage ceremony planning with your chosen marriage ceremony theme. In the event that you decide to follow this advice, then think carefully when you make the all important decision of picking between traditional or contemporary invitations.

Why Are Wedding Celebrations So Special?

The moment when bride and groom accept each other as their life partners on their wedding day, they will be called a lovely couple. Do you know why the wedding is so special to everyone and why do we need all these traditions in order to get married? This is one of the things that the Lord has started, by himself. We might consider the wedding celebrations as special ones because; it acts as a doorway to declare a man and a woman as husband and wife in the name of Lord Jesus Christ. However weddings differ from culture to culture and also from generation to generation. For the years to come, the wedding traditions might change, but the transition would be slower.

Wedding ceremony can also be carried out in private. In private, a judge would declare a man & woman as husband and wife, instead of a priest, which is considered unofficial. In order to make it official, they have to marry again in a real wedding tradition. Wedding celebrations are not constrained only to church, but it can also be carried out in beach, park or even at your home. The important thing is that, both husband and wife should understand that they must try to make it worth to them and also to their families, when they celebrate their most special day. Weddings show the way to start the journey in life as husband and wife and so they must give meaning to it, and also should realize how special it is.

How to Reprogram Mental Eating Habits For Physical Success - 5 Tips For Great Weight Loss

Even the National Weight Control Registry acknowledged that weight loss is not easy. And when you have achieved the desired weight, maintaining is even harder. However, it may not be impossible if you know who to reprogram your mental eating habits. Here, we help you achieve your physical success with 5 great weight loss tips.

1. Reprogram your mental eating habits--For weight-loss goal to be a success, developing new eating habits is crucial. For example, when you crave for an Oreo for a snack, reach out for an orange. When you thirst for sodas, drink water. It may be hard for you for the next 72 hours; however, after three weeks of adjusting to your new eating habits, you will find that it is not that hard anymore.

2. Eat your breakfast--It is the most important meal of the day. Those who eat plenty at breakfast find it hard to eat more during lunch. The foods eaten at breakfast are vital for metabolizing the needed energy.

3. Do not skip your exercise--When you reprogram your mental aspect that you need to follow your exercise regimen, your body responds naturally. An evening walk in the park or in the neighborhood is already beneficial to your weight loss agenda if you do it regularly. One hour of enjoying the walk is good for the health too.

4. Open your mind to new possibilities and changes. Breaking out from your old habits can be a great way to have your physical goals a success. Old habits at most times offer the best of the comfort zone. And when you are on a weight-loss plan, it is not going to work unless you program your mental capacity to break out from these habits.

5. Make radical changes--When you need to change some of your eating habits, do it without hesitation even when they are radical. When you encounter difficulties, find ways to reprogram the changes into your mental capability.

Modern Day Cars, Future Classics

It's anyone's guess really as to which vehicles of today will become the classics of tomorrow. However, there are many factors that make it easy to make predictions. Many of the modern day cars currently on the road will not end up anywhere down the line but in the junkyard. But a handful of them will end up classics that are worth plenty when they are several decades old. If you're not sure if your car will be a classic, there are a few sources you can check to see what the pros think.

There is no way of knowing for certain which cars will turn out to be classics. A variety of factors play a role in determining this. The CEO of a large insurance company known as Hagerty's Insurance has put together his own list of vehicles he thinks may be classics. The Hagerty list may not match anyone else's but it is based on observations made inside the insurance industry.

There are a number of cars on the Hagerty list but some of them clearly stand out more than others. Some of these cars include the Cadillac XLR-V Roadster as well as Audi S5. Some people might be shocked to find that the Smart car is on this list as possible classics as well. It may not seem like the type to be a classic but some people said that about the Beetle once. The modern day Dodge Charger Super Bee also makes the list of future classics which is only fitting considering its predecessor models.

The classic car predictions tend to vary in places like the United Kingdom when compared to the United States. Their list includes such cars as the Volkswagen Corrado as well as many others that are not common in the U.S. and may be rather unheard of to most people.

In the past few years a few large car manufacturers have re-launched some of their beloved models of the past with a new look for the modern day. Muscle cars are leading the way in this area. From Mustangs to the new Camaros and Chargers, this classic car type is coming back from the past to set the standard for the future. These are ones to watch for sure, especially limited higher end models.

Like the muscle cars, there are other cars from the past that have been redone for the modern day. The Volkswagen Beetle and the Mini Cooper are timeless classics that are also available now. These new models may very well carry on the classic status from the past.

Of course, it's important to remember that even professionals can't always predict what will happen in the future. It's wise not to try to purchase a certain car only because you think it will be a classic. You should buy the car that you like because if it's only based on money you stand to lose a lot down the line. And of course remember that having a classic car has a lot to do with how you treat and maintain it.

9 Unique Valentine's Day Gift Ideas for Her

Valentine's Day is a day to show the woman in your life just how much you love her. Finding that perfect gift can be quite challenging and often a well planned date can have an equally romantic impact.

1. Dinner in the Dark. Take your date out for a stimulating dining experience. Dining in complete darkness, this dinner is designed to enhance the senses of touch, taste, hear and smell. This can be a real intimate experience for getting to know your girlfriend, or a new way connect with your wife.

2. Marble Picture. Locate a wedding picture of you and your wife that would look great in black on white. Have the image laser etched onto a black marble plaque with some endearing words to show her you are still in love with her.

3. Picnic Under the Stars. Having a candlelight picnic under the stars is a romantic way to spend the evening with your girlfriend. You can do this in your backyard, on your roof or at a local park. Sometimes planetarium's offer a Valentine's Day dinner event with availability to dine under the stars.

4. Loving Scrapbook. A homemade scrap book is a perfect way to remind your wife of all the loving moments cherished together. Include love letters, emails and pictures depicting your love for each other.

5. Window Box. Surprise your wife with a new window box for Valentine's Day. Have real flowers planted in the window boxes, or try filling them with handmade roses and Hershey kisses.

6. Staying at Home. Staying at home on Valentine's Day can be romantic with a little planning. Have a romantic dinner with wine and music on a blanket of rose petals in front of the fireplace. For dessert present a tray full of chocolates, strawberries and a personalized message in a bottle.

7. Visit Local Sites. Valentine's Day is an opportunity to embrace the local sites that you keep meaning to see. A local food and/or wine tasting tour are a romantic way to start the evening. There are many other opportunities to see the city that help set the mood for the night that could include carriage rides and helicopter tours.

8. Homemade Card. A homemade card is a perfect way to express your feelings for your loved one. A lot of thought and creativity in the design and words can go a long way to show your dedication while staying on a budget.

9. Scavenger Hunt. Thrill your wife this year with a scavenger hunt. Have various checkpoints where she will find loving moments and a clue to her next destination. Checkpoint ideas could include a stroll to where all of the family photos will remind her of the wonderful life you have created together or a dip in a pre-drawn hot bath with candles. Conclude the hunt on the deck where you will have a romantic dinner waiting to be shared.

Valentine's Day should represent the love you have for your wife or girlfriend. Remember it is the feeling behind the gift that makes it special.

DIY Wedding 5: T Minus 8 Months - The Wedding Website

Among the must-haves for soon-to-be newlyweds in today's digital age is a wedding website. IF you're planning your wedding yourself, you'll need to launch your own wedding website. Oh, right, while you're hiring caterers, photographers, DJ's, bands, and videographers, registering for gifts, booking hotels for your out of town guests, and shopping for your wedding dress. No biggie though, right? Right. Fortunately, there are a number of services out there for free or nearly free that purport to help you do this with as little hassle as possible. Weddingwindow.com, weddingchannel.com, and wedsite.com are just some of the many options available that have reduced making your own website to as close to "plug and play" as you can realistically get. Many, if not most, of the wedding website construction websites out there allow you to choose from or mix and match pre-assembled "themes" and add your own pictures in limited areas. Come to the table armed with your own vision, because you want your wedding website to track with the overall theme for your wedding. It hardly makes sens to have a robot-karaoke wedding website when your wedding theme is shabby-chic with accents of fairy dust, after all.

The wedding website should be the hub where all information for your guests is available. You'll want to make sure that in addition to the basic information about your wedding - date, location, time, etc. that you have links to all of the retailers where you've registered. If you've taken a cash in lieu of gifts approach, give your guests a reason why. Guests want to know that they're giving you something, not that they're just throwing money at you. If you're asking folks to help foot the bill for an extravagant honeymoon, you can set up a do-it-yourself honeymoon registry by contacting the honeymoon location that you've booked and inquiring as to whether they will accept third party payment for items that you've booked. Then you can create your own honeymoon wish list and allow guests to contact the venue directly to arrange payment if they so choose. If you're not comfortable doing that or find it too much hassle or tacky, a number of online resources have now created the Honeymoon Registry online, where you can actually register for your honeymoon and attendant fun events as if they were wedding gifts. Some such sites are honeymoonwishes.com and http://www.buy-our-honeymoon.com just a couple of options. Don't want a honeymoon but sure could use help with a down payment on a house or retirement funds? Check out ourwishingwell.com, which allows you to create your own personal registry of intangible contribute-to-my-life-fund type gifts for your guests to throw in towards.

If you are having a theme or costume wedding, or are set on a particular dress code, you'll also want to make sure this information is clearly stated on the wedding website (and on your save-the-dates and invitations)! In today's increasingly casual atmosphere, you need to make it clear that you expect your guests to show up in black tie if that is the case. If you don't, don't be upset if your frat boy second cousin shows up in jeans and a backwards baseball cap.