What Every Bride Should Know When Planning A Wedding

I subscribe to many wedding magazines and one in particular has the most wonderful favors, bouquets and hors d’oeuvres. Unfortunately, all the wonderful favors, bouquets and hors d’oeuvres tend to be very expensive to purchase and extremely time consuming and costly to make yourself.

I recently came across a wonderful article in a magazine for decorating chairs with bows. After doing a little research it turned out the ribbon used to make the bows was an expensive French silk that had to be a special ordered because of the width and retailed for around $76 a 10 yard bolt and each bow required 5 - 6 yards (15 to 18 feet). A wedding with just fifty chairs would cost a minimum of $380… for chair bows! Of course you can use substitutes but be careful, go too cheap or sway to far from the size of ribbon and the look is lost and even worse your attempt at an elegant look will end up looking cheap and pitiful.

In my experience the best ribbon is stiff and the width size is 71/2 – 8 inches. This type of ribbon is not usually available in craft stores and when it is the price tends to be rather high. I have found several sites on the internet that specialize in ribbon and carry the extra wide widths. It’s worth the trouble to do a few searches before buying at a local craft store.

It is so important to remember that the pictures seen in magazines are staged for the photographer and are not necessarily practical or safe for real weddings. However, you can achieve the same effects if you are willing to think outside of the box.

I once had a bride ask that I decorate her cake and buffet table the same way as a picture she had found in a wedding magazine. The bottom of the cake and buffet tables were outlined with tealight candles. The picture had been taken at twilight and the setting was quite beautiful and very romantic. I had to explain to her that we could decorate that way but it might prove dangerous for anyone in slacks, longs skirts or a wedding gown, not to mention the table linens if the tealight candles were bumped or there was a breeze. We compromised, creating small florets of light by using mini cluster lights. secured with electrical ties to gutter nails. The nails were pushed into the ground to keep the lights in place, the clusters where then covered with small glass floral bowls. The effect was lovely and we achieved the same romantic feeling without creating a fire hazard.

I guess the point is, you can achive just about anything if you stay open to everything. Only you can limit the possibilities available. Stay open, stay healthy and smile, you’re getting married!

© 2008 Mary Spies All rights Reserved