Archive for Weddings
What is a Practical Wedding Gift?
I’ve attended and helped manage several events this year, including weddings. I often stay for feedback of the catering service, the food, the band, the venue and other wedding quirks.
Rarely does the couple complain, if the service is fair, and the guests are fed right; but the relatives do. There is one instance though that the couple directly ‘complains’ about something. As a meddling party planner who has to stay and wait for the check that will complete the whole transaction, I inadvertently witness the opening of gifts. Here’s a sample of what I hear from the couple:
“How nice! A rice cooker!”
“Oh my, another rice cooker. We have a spare just in case the first one breaks down!”
“Oh no. Yet another rice cooker!”
Do you see a pattern here? That people do not hear the couple complain doesn’t mean they don’t. It’s just tacky to say it in front of the guests, of course, but sometimes couples receive gifts that they don’t need, or they have too much of. A bridal registry could be a solution, but not everyone knows about bridal registries. More often than not, couples do avail of bridal registry services, but the guests are barely informed about it and/or are too lazy to learn how to use it.
For this post’s gift tip, I’m going Tempur-pedic! That, of course, needs explaining. Tempurpedic is a term to describe mattresses that are temperature sensitive; which indicates that the foam is softer in warmer conditions and firmer in cold conditions.
This is a practical gift for a newly wed couple because they can use this for a long time, maybe even forever. If more than one guest gives them a Tempurpedic Mattress, they will surely find another room in their new home to put that extra one in, and it won’t be a waste of space because a comfortable guest bed (or kids’ bed) is always welcome in a new home.
Go practical. The couple will remember you and your lasting gift. And please… not another rice cooker.
Birthday and Wedding Party Favors
It’s a company that adopts the name of the most delightful phrase in the French Language, and undertandably so. This company delivers the goods and showcase the cutest party favors baby shower favors, and personalized wedding favors.
Delectability in giveaways is something that a shrewd party planner should always consider. Clients are a visual bunch, they like beautiful sentimental things that reflect their tastes and lifestyles. A sailor will want something that looks like a boat, a travelling business man may like something that his guests can carry with them on travels etc.
Why are these favors unique? Because they have that whimsical feel to their products like you’re buying something off fantasy land. Personalized anything is just like putting your name on some random merchandize, but with beau-coup products, you choose which one suits your lifestyle, which product will tickle your guests’ funny bones and which ones will make you want to relive the experience of your wedding all over again.
Seating Dilemma: Reviewing the Guest List
Sorting the List
Many hours are spent pouring over lists and lists of guests in parties, particularly weddings… and for good reason. Most tables used in parties are 10-seaters, and it’s up to the planner (you) to decide who sits with who.
Again, research. Asking if it’s a good idea to have a particular group together is safe enough if done tactfully. The rule of thumb would be to sit the relatives of the bride or the groom together. Vacant seats in tables are usual, when seating arrangements are done by family. These can be reserved for solo guests or couples who won’t mind being excluded from the general table conversation.
Sacrificing a few seats will be worth it if it means not sitting individuals or groups who might have misgivings with each other together. In this context, the bride’s mother or an older relative may prove invaluable in sorting out the guest list and deciding where to seat particularly controversial people.
Mingle Opportunities
The process should be fun, as it encourages one to imagine possible conversation topics and table scenarios. A party coordinator can even base the seating arrangement according to interests. An example would be the bride’s or the groom’s employees or bosses. They can be seated together and have business discussions that everyone else on the table can relate with.
The idea behind this is so that people who might have something in common can mingle and formally meet each other. After all, if they were invited to the wedding, there’s a good chance that they will also be invited to other affairs or parties of the newlyweds in the future.
No wedding reception is complete without wedding favors. Find Unique Wedding Favors at Wedding Things
The Ideal Bachelorette Party
Research Research!
A successful bachelorette party depends on how well the activities reflect the bachelorette-hood of the bride-to-be. Not all girls lived their single lives going out and attending parties; and certainly not everyone had more than one boyrfiend.
A party coordinator must research her love life during her single days and determine the best way to make her remember all the happy experiences. Talk to her friends, and plot to bring surprise guests, people who the bride-to-be hasn’t seen in a long time, to the party.
These guests will do a speech or bring a special gift. Some suggestions:
1. A Former Boyfriend - Someone who has moved on, and is happy now (with a wife or a girlfriend of his own or kids!). This guy must have had many fond memories of the bride-to-be.
2. A close female relative - Someone who was the bride-to-be’s confidante during her childhood, besides her mother.
3. A childhood friend who she drifted apart from - Childhood is the best reminisce memory for someone who will undergo a major change in her life. A childhood friend will remind her of that time when she barely knew the word marriage existed.
4. Her bestfriend - Though this person is expected to do a speech and has probably been the source of useful information about the bride-to-be, having her take the mic is always a good idea because she can talk about the bride-to-be like no one else can.
Does all of these seem familiar? Yes, it is like the eighteenth birthday of the bride-to-be! A debutante’s party and a bachelorette party are not as dissimilar as one would think. They both have the same purpose: to sum up the experiences of someone who embarking on a life journey; in this case, marriage.
Sex talk and tips, and naughty games will always be good additions to a bachelorette party. The main focus should be on making the bride-to-be look back on her life, and look forward to her new life as a married woman.
Click here for Free Bridal Shower Invitations. And, here for more information on Bridal Shower Planning.
Enjoy your Shower!
