The traditional “white wedding” is an affair in elegance and formality.  The traditional custom of the bride wearing white in her wedding originated in the Victorian era when the white wedding dress was recognized as a symbol for purity.  The wearing of a white wedding dress was only appropriate in the first marriage for both bride and groom.

Today the term “white wedding” means that the event is going to be traditional or semi-formal.  The term is actually speaking in terms of the color of the gown, white, which has come to symbolize purity of heart and body.

The Influences of World War I On The World Of Weddings

Prior to World War I, most women wore formal style dresses during their wedding that were useful and could be worn later for special occasions.  The modern bridal gown as part of a formal wedding began post World War I when mothers began to plan large events for the marriages of their daughters.  In many cases, young women of today begin planning their dream marriage long before they ever meet the man of their dreams. 

Bride’s Magazine, a popular bridal magazine created in 1934, began as an advertising leaflet that created the idea of formal weddings.  Their competitor, Modern Bride came into existence in 1949.  These two magazines significantly affected the “white wedding” as it is known today.  With the influence of these two magazines, the small family event once known as a wedding is now a multi-billion dollar industry.

The White Wedding Of Today

Today, a traditional “white wedding” is an event that includes a formal wedding service at a church or religious facility.  Only guests that received formal wedding invitations attend the event.  The guest list is made up of family, friends and business associates.  The ceremony is followed by a reception that usually includes a meal, an elaborate wedding cake and champagne toasts to the newlyweds.

The reception provides an opportunity for guests to meet the bride and groom and to celebrate the wedded union.  In addition to the meal, there is usually a first dance between the bride and groom, the cutting of the wedding cake and the throwing of the bouquet and garter.

Today brides in a traditional “white wedding”, usually follow an age old tradition found in a wedding poem, “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue”.  It is considered good luck for newlyweds if the bride carries something from each of the stanzas of the poem or if she is able to find one item that fills all the categories.  Often times she will receive a gift from a family member that completes the poem and provides a special memento from this special day.

Weddings are some of the most joyous occasions in life whether it is your own or that of a loved one. It is a time to celebrate love and commitment and thanks to these sentiments, weddings often bring people together who may or may not see each other often. This makes it an even more special occasion.

When a couple plans their wedding, they create a guest list of all their friends and family. The bride and groom want to surround themselves with their loved ones on a day that they will remember forever. Weddings are the perfect time for everyone to come together and have a good time.

Since families often live far away from one another and friends move away and start their own families, weddings are a wonderful reason to take the time and make the trip to be together. This is an excellent time for the bride and groom to reconnect with old friends and distant family. Weddings give people a reason to put their own lives aside and celebrate the love of the bride and groom.

Weddings and the Dysfunctional Family

In the world we live in today, few families are still completely intact. There is divorce and there are personal grudges and weddings can be difficult to plan when these problems exist. The bride and groom want everyone to be with them during their wedding and they must find ways to not only get everyone to the wedding, but to also keep everyone happy.

Depending on the severity of the disagreement, many people will agree to bury the hatchet when it comes to weddings. People will set aside their own differences in order to make sure that the bride and groom have an amazing day. They may also be doing this for the selfish reason that they actually care about the bride and groom and really want to attend the wedding at any cost.

The bride and groom must consider these differences during wedding planning. Weddings are not easy to plan and throwing this wrench into the works can add a significant amount of stress. It is important for the bride and groom to speak with the guests and make sure they are willing to behave for the sake of the wedding. Once this is agreed upon, the bride and groom should try to accommodate the guests to seat them separately so they do not need to have much contact. Weddings sometimes help bring these people together and unite on common ground and perhaps even get them to talk.

Weddings are meant to be beautiful, perfect days! These days are filled with love for family, friends, and especially the bride and groom. The day should be relished and spent enjoying with friends and family instead of sorting out squabbles!

More people are choosing their own wedding vows rather than leaving it to their priest, pastor, Rabbi, or other religious leader to decide which vows the bride and groom should make to one another.  Many more people are taking an active role in this decision.

One way to choose wedding vows is by faith.  For most people, getting marriage is a commitment of body, soul, and faith.  Getting married means marrying the whole person and that person’s family as well. Therefore, making the wedding vows reflect their deep commitment to each other and the life they will build together is a good idea.

Common American Faiths

Christianity is the most predominant religion in the United States, and as a result many people prefer to vow to their future life partner in the name of God and their church.  There are many faiths considered to be Christian and each individual branch may have somewhat different wording to their particular vows.

Non-denominational wedding vows will hit many of the traditional points of commitment between two people, omitting the direct mention of God in any form. People being married by judge or justice of the peace may prefer to use nondenominational vows if, religion is unimportant to them. Or this could take place if each person practices a different faith and they would prefer that neither religion was the focus of their wedding ceremony.

Jewish wedding vows are commonly given when the rings are exchanged.  The focus of the vow is a commitment to be wed to that person by the laws of Moses and Israel. In addition to this is the promise of love, honor, and appreciation of each other for the rest of their lives.

Muslim wedding vows are more of a contract between two families which state the conditions desired and expected by each family and a commitment to uphold those conditions in the name of Allah.

Buddhist wedding vows give the two people an opportunity to voice their love, dedication, and future hopes for their lives together with respect given to their shared religious beliefs.  Their use of meditation and contemplation to make their lives and marriage stronger is an important part of their vows to one another.

Pagan wedding ceremonies are often preformed by a priest and/or priestess, which will join the couple under the name of the deities of their preferred branch of faith within the heading of Pagan religions.  Many Pagan wedding vows will require the couple to commit to each other as partners in life until love ends, rather than until death separates them.

Wedding vows are a personal choice that can only be decided by the people to be married. The bride and groom can choose traditional vows of their faith, to write their own wedding vows, or to allow the person performing their marriage to choose the vows.

Every wedding usually has several wedding toasts. These wedding toasts are ways for people to express their thoughts and share their love for the bride and groom. Some of these wedding toasts will be planned while others will be spontaneous. The bride and groom should make sure that there is a special time set aside during the reception for the wedding toasts to be given.

Best Man and Maid of Honor

Any guest at the wedding is free to toast the bride and groom, however, there are often specific people who will give the wedding toasts and these people are well prepared. It is customary for the Best Man to toast to the bride and groom first. Most people expect for him to give one of the wedding toasts and once he is done, others may give toasts as well.

It is also becoming quite common for the Maid of Honor to give one of the wedding toasts. While the Best Man is often toasting to the groom and his new bride, the Maid of Honor shared her well wishes to the bride and her new husband. This ensures that the two people who know the bride and groom best will share their thoughts and memories with the wedding guests.

Parents

The parents of the bride and groom may also choose to partake in the wedding toasts. Often, the father of the bride will say something and it is customary for the father of the groom to make a toast to welcome the bride to the family. There is no rule or etiquette stating that the parents should make a toast, but many parents are overwhelmed with love and pride on the wedding day of his or her child that they are moved to make a toast.

Bride and Groom

The bride and groom may also give wedding toasts. They will toast to their new spouse and once again declare their love. This is the time to share memories and stories that may not have been expressed during the vows. These wedding toasts will also be as much for the guests as for the bride and groom. The bride and groom should thank all of their guests for joining them on their special day and make a toast to all of them.

Wedding toasts are always going to be an important part of any wedding. The Best Man, Maid of Honor, parents of the bride and groom, as well as the bride and groom may give one of these wedding toasts. Regardless of who gives the toast, it is about celebrating the love and commitment that the bride and groom have made to each other and that’s what makes it so beautiful.

Weddings can cost thousands of dollars and so for people with limited budgets the thoughts of an expensive wedding can become very burdensome.  But, there are ways to make weddings affordable while maintaining beauty and style.  One way to decrease the cost of a wedding is to find affordable wedding supplies.

One great place to find affordable wedding supplies is on the internet.  There are many sites which offer discounted wedding supplies.  Everything is available on these sites from cake toppers to wedding favors.

These internet sites are great because they usually have many choices available in all the wedding categories.  This makes it easy to come up with some unique ideas for wedding supplies.  For example, wedding cake toppers come with all different types of styles.

Instead of just having the basic bride and groom figure on the cake, one might choose a comical bride and groom scene, a beach bride and groom, or even interchangeable bride and grooms to allow for ethnic diversity.  There are also wedding cake toppers which have initials, hearts, or Asian themes.

Precautions

Internet wedding supply sites probably offer the most choice in all different categories and may also be able to offer the best prices because they deal with quantity.  Some problems with the sites are the inability to see the products before purchasing and hidden shipping costs.  Sometimes what looks good on the computer screen may be totally unacceptable in reality.

It is important for the purchaser to allow enough time for the wedding supplies to be exchanged or replaced if they are purchased on the internet.  It is important, also, to always take the shipping costs into consideration when pricing out all the items.

Affordable Wedding Supply Stores

There are many stores which have items suitable for wedding supplies.  Craft stores usually have wedding sections were ideas are available and the necessary supplies to put together the ideas.  Making wedding favors is one thing that can be done easily using supplies purchased at a craft store.  Simple fabric netting can be cut into small pieces, filled with mints or candy, and then have a ribbon tied around it. This is also a good way to hand out rice or bird seed for the wedding couples send off.  This is a very simple and inexpensive idea and is just one of many available at a craft store.

Party supply stores are now in almost every city.  These stores have endless supplies available for not only weddings but all types of celebrations.  To find affordable wedding supplies at these stores a bride and groom can watch for sales and promotional items.  These stores also offer bulk supplies which are discounted because of the quantity.  Finding the best wedding supplies at the best price is just a matter of effort and a little time.  With careful planning the wedding does not have to cost thousands of dollars.

At the reception it is traditional for the father of the bride, the groom, and the best man to give a small wedding speech before the cake is sliced and dessert is served.  These speeches are usually given in good humor and intended to get both sides of the newly formed family laughing and talking together.

If the wedding is being hosted by a master of ceremonies, he or she should be informed exactly who would like to speak and in which order they would like to be introduced.  If there is no master of ceremonies, the people giving speeches will have to introduce each other in the order of which they are speaking.

Father of the Bride

The father of the bride will traditionally give the first wedding speech.  This is because the bride’s family will have traditionally paid for the wedding and also because the father of the bride is often given the chance to welcome the groom and his family into his family.

The flow of a wedding speech given by the father of the bride can begin by thanking everyone for attending the wedding and welcoming the groom and his family into the family.  He can then say how beautiful the bride looks and may follow with a brief story of a favorite memory of him and his daughter.  He could then follow with some humorous and/or serious advice for the new couple.  Before making a toast to the bride and grooms future happiness, it is considered appropriate to thank the staff who helped the wedding flow smoothly.

The Groom’s Wedding Speech

The groom should begin his wedding speech by thanking all of the attendants for sharing in his special day.  Then he could welcome everyone into the family. Next most grooms will want to compliment the bride’s parents for raising the woman he loves so much.

The groom should then thank the staff for taking care of all the aspects of the wedding so all the guests could enjoy them selves and thank the brides maids for giving the bride their friendship and support throughout the wedding planning process.  Finally he should thank his best man for his friendship and support and finish up by introducing the best man to speak.

The Best Man’s Wedding Speech

The best man’s wedding speech is often the most fun as he has a chance to poke fun at his friend in front of dozens or hundreds of people.  He should begin his wedding speech by thanking the groom for asking him to be his best man.

Next the best man can tell a brief, tasteful (parents and grand parents are likely to be there) and funny story about the groom.  The best funny story would also include the bride.  This should be followed with a toast and well wishes to the newly wedded couple.

Music can be a very powerful influence in our lives. This influence can be felt when a particular melody is heard or a certain song is sung. Immediately, memories are triggered and the hearer is transported back in time.

For example, a certain love song can bring back memories of a true love or a heartbreaking experience. Or a particular melody can cause us to remember a loved one who has since passed and this particular tune was their favorite.

Another way that music can be powerful is by utilizing the words of a certain song to express to others what the individual or couples may be feeling. Such an occasion is a wedding ceremony where wedding songs can be effectively utilized to create such an atmosphere.

Wedding songs utilized in a wedding ceremony can be used to announce the ceremony’s beginning and express the devotion between the marital couple.

Announce The Ceremony’s Beginning

As the guests begin to arrive for the wedding, often there is prelude music that is played. These wedding songs are generally selected to reflect the tone of the marriage ceremony to be conducted. For example, if it is a religious ceremony, often the songs are spiritual in nature. Or if the ceremony is grandeur and elaborate, the wedding songs may be expressed by a string quartet.

Generally, the music is played as the guests are seated. These wedding songs simply set the mood. However, when the bride is ready to make her appearance, a wedding song is played that announces her entrance to the groom and guests. Generally, this wedding song is upbeat in nature. Often the wedding song that is selected is the “Wedding March.”

Expressing Devotion

During the course of the wedding ceremony other wedding songs are played. These wedding songs may be the “couple’s song” that was played when the marriage proposal was made or perhaps it is that song that brought them together somehow. Despite the circumstances the song is a reflection of their love and commitment to each other expressed through music.

Often, this wedding song or additional songs can be played instrumentally or vocalized by an individual. In addition, some ceremonies call for the version of the song to be played over the sound system.

The juncture at which any particular wedding song is expressed is up to the bride and groom. Generally, however, the song is played or sung to emphasize a particular part of the wedding ceremony. For example, the couple may wish to have their song sung following the exchanging of rings. Or, during some ceremonies, the couple may kneel at the altar to pray for their marriage. During this time a spiritual wedding song could be sung that reflects the spiritual commitment of the couple to each other.

There are so many different things that you have to worry about when it comes to your wedding, however buying wedding shoes are often high on the list for many prospective brides. After all, you have spent all that time looking for the perfect dress; you need to do justice to the shoes as well!

When it comes to finding wedding shoes, you absolutely have to consider your dress as being the biggest factor. After all, the wedding shoes are going to have to go with the dress or the outfit will be entirely thrown off.

Complements Your Dress

Therefore, you need to first consider what type of dress you have chosen: is it romantic, classic, traditional, or more modern? Once you have figured this out, then you can really start looking for the proper wedding shoes.

Heel

You are also going to want to think about how well you can walk in heels. If you are not able to walk that well in them, then you are going to want to make sure that you find wedding shoes that have either a very low heel or no heel at all. This is because the last thing that you want is for you to end up tripping or stumbling down the aisle on your big day.

Comfort

Make sure that the wedding shoes fit your feet comfortably, you may even want to go up a half size, as when you are stressed – which you surely will be when the wedding day finally comes – your feet could swell and you don’t want to find out the day of your wedding that your shoes are too small. Going with a slightly bigger shoe will prevent this, and so will be one less catastrophe that you will have to worry about on your special day.

You also want to make sure that you do not end up spending more than you want to on your shoes. Therefore, make sure that you take some time and effort and browse through different stores. This way, not only can you check out the different selections of shoes, but you can also find out which places have the best prices.

Just remember to take your time with a process such as this, because if you do, you will end up finding the perfect shoes - and it will have all been worth it.

A wedding ceremony is a public profession between couples in which they wish to testify of their love and commitment to each other.  Traditionally, these wedding ceremonies follow a set ceremonial outline which can include the entering of the groom and groomsmen, the wedding party processional and the dramatic entrance of the bride.

In addition, within the actual marriage ceremony, are traditional actions that can be followed.  Some of these traditions include the giving away of the bride, the exchange of wedding vows and the placing of wedding rings on the groom’s and bride’s left ring finger.

To appreciate the tradition of the wedding rings it is important to understand the depth of this ceremony.  Therefore, it is helpful to understand the symbolism of the wedding ring, and the materials used to construct wedding bands.

Symbolism Of The Wedding Rings

The exchanging of wedding rings between individuals has been a long standing tradition practiced in many cultures.  It is therefore unclear as to where the tradition originated and its original meaning.

However, the common speculation is that the circular wedding bands symbolize the love between two individuals with the message being their eternal love having no beginning and no end.  In addition, it is thought that the circular rings emulate the spherical orbs and relationships found in the heavens.  Two such heavenly bodies are the sun and moon and the night and daytime relationship between the two.

Also, rings themselves have carried a certain mystique.  One of those mystical qualities is that rings were thought to protect the wearer of the ring when that ring was blessed or an incantation was expressed.   This thinking can be seen in the wedding ceremonies of today when the officiating member of the clergy blesses the rings and then the rings are exchanged.

Construction Of Wedding Rings

When discussing the construction of the wedding rings, generally two particular aspects come to mind. Those aspects are the metals used and the design of the wedding rings.

Very often wedding rings are made from precious metals.  These precious metals can include the use of gold, silver, platinum, titanium, etc.  In addition, wedding rings can be embedded with one or many precious gems.  One popular gem that is used is a  diamond.

Also, wedding rings are often engraved with meaningful symbols, dates or words.  For example, many couples choose to inscribe dates and initials representing the wedding day and the couple’s names.  Often this inscription is accomplished on the inside of wedding bands.

Another popular engraving performed on wedding rings is reflected in the Celtic wedding ring.  These rings are engraved with a symbolic intertwining of tendrils and vines which represents the intertwining of two lives and loves together as one.

Every bride has envisioned her wedding day at one time or another and this is often even before she ever got engaged! While most brides will imagine the perfect ceremony, many also go so far as to envision the perfect wedding reception. The ceremony is all about expressing love and commitment to one another while the wedding reception is about celebrating that love and commitment. That means that both aspects of the wedding should be thoroughly planned so that the bride and groom have the wedding of their dreams!

Theme

It is likely that the bride and groom have chosen a special theme for their wedding. This could be an extravagant theme such as Mardi Gras or a fun one like a beach theme. It may be as simple as a specific color scheme. Regardless of this theme, the bride and groom will need to plan all aspects of the wedding reception to incorporate that theme and set the stage for the perfect wedding reception. The perfect wedding reception will incorporate the theme of the wedding into even the smallest details.

Decorations

The perfect wedding reception will include beautiful decorations. This is most often floral arrangements and lighting, but can be very elaborate based on the specific theme of the wedding. Depending on the wedding reception venue, most sites will decorate the room according to the specifics set forth by the bride and groom. Otherwise, it will be the responsibility of the bride and groom to decorate the reception venue themselves.

Food

Another aspect to the perfect wedding reception is the food. Everyone remembers whether food is good or bad and you are much better to be remembered for serving good food! The food does not need to be elaborate as long as it tastes good. Every wedding reception will be different. Some will have seven course meals while others will be wedding cake only. It all depends on what the definition of the perfect wedding reception is to the bride and groom.

Music

Music is also important in the perfect wedding reception. The music should reflect the theme of the wedding but should also be music that guests will enjoy. Most wedding receptions include dancing, and guests want to dance to the best music!

The perfect wedding reception is within reach of the bride and groom as long as the plan their time and money accordingly. Every bride and groom deserves to have this perfect day and that includes having a reception to remember.