Daily Archives: June 12, 2012

Weddings Week 2012

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2. Don’t adhere to rules. Throughout the planning process, a lot of people told us things we “should” do, but really it’s just about what works best for you, not what’s expected. We decided not to have bridesmaids/groomsmen and I think our friends really appreciated it. In fact, several of them mentioned how they felt more connected than they had in any other (even the ones in which they had been part of the wedding). Our friends were still very much involved in every aspect of the wedding, but they simply didn’t have to be in matching outfits.

3. Don’t sweat the small things. The weeks leading up to the wedding were intense. Not only was I trying to write two weeks’ worth of posts while we’d be away on our honeymoon, but there were all kinds of last minute decisions that had to be made. Luckily we had the best wedding planners ever (Bash, Please), so they helped execute everything perfectly, but it was a good lesson in learning how to let things slide. I could have easily gotten hung up on the fact that this relative didn’t end up making it to the wedding or that the strung lights over the cocktail reception were way more than I had budgeted…but I let it go, and I’m so glad I did. I ended up feeling stress-free on our wedding day, which really helped set the pace for the entire event.

4. Make it personal. Our main goal for our wedding was that it felt like us – which meant an awesome cocktail bar (for my husband), a sparkler send-off (for me), and three (smaller) wedding cakes (for both of us). Since we paid attention to the things we really wanted, the wedding took on a really personal vibe that made it feel like a really fun, intimate party.

5. Enjoy the process. Some of the best advice I received while in the midst of wedding planning was to enjoy the process. You’re only engaged once, so it should all be about planning an awesome party to celebrate your lives together with your closest friends and family. That being said, there are some tough decisions to be made, so if you find that you can’t agree on something or you aren’t seeing eye to eye – take a step back. It’s perfectly acceptable to take a few days off so that when you jump back into the planning, you feel invigorated and excited once again. It sounds corny, but we didn’t fight once while we were engaged (at least about the wedding!), and I think this was a big reason why.
· Cupcakes and Cashmere [Official Site]
· Big Money Deals [Racked]
· Blogger Emily Schuman at Today’s IFB Conference [Racked]
· Plan Your Wedding in One Swoop at The Cream Tonight [Racked]

Top Ten Tips on Timeline Planning For Your Wedding Day

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Eeeek! You’re engaged! Congratulations!!!! For the next several months you will be living in a whirlwind of endless ideas and design options for your wedding. Not to mention that your vendors, family and friends will be asking you a million questions about the details that you may not know the answers to… at least not yet. That’s when you you say to yourself, “I still have time… or do I?” Or better yet, it will all work out. Wrong! The answer is having good plan is always better than not having one.

We all know the saying “time is money”… the same is true for your wedding day, except replace the word “money” with “happiness.” Planning weddings is a lot of fun, but they are run like a production and can create a whole lot of unnecessary stress if you don’t have a solid timeline to keep you on course. There is a lot of behind the scenes planning and you need to hire people who are not only incredibly creative, but very business savvy too.

I work on dozens of timelines for all my clients to help bring their wedding days to life. Each one of them feels a sense of relief once they can see how their day comes together. There are two different timelines leading up to your wedding day that you will want to have. One is a monthly to-do timeline that breaks down what you need to do each month… nail down a budget, select a venue, buy a wedding dress, etc. The second timeline is equally as important, the Wedding Day Timeline. This timeline is crucial because it breaks your big day down by the hour, if not the minute. It is important to figure out what time you are having your wedding rehearsal, what time you are getting your makeup done, what time is dinner service… and the list goes on.

There is nothing worse than guests looking at their watch because they are getting bored, dinner just took way too long to be served or your flowers arrived late. If you have a plan, your day will be remembered for how much fun it was, everything went smoothly and how much thought you put into the day. It is up to you to bring your day to life and create a timeline. I have included my top ten tips on timeline planning for your wedding day to help you create a wedding timeline that will keep you sane and happy — and your guests inspired knowing the day has been all thought out.

1. Create a Wedding To-Do List – You need to have a timeline leading up to your wedding day. When you hire a wedding planner, they will create a custom one for you, or you can find great wedding timelines online and in wedding magazines.

2. Be Proactive – Start checking off the major items you need to take care of. Venues can be booked 8-12+ months in advance if popular and in high demand. Don’t wait until the last minute or leave it up to fate.

3. Know Your Strengths – Even if you have a Type A personality, know when to ask for help and seek your Bridal Party to help with anything you don’t have time to complete.

4. Be Realistic – When creating the timeline, you can’t fit everything into one day. Give yourself time to add “cushion time” throughout the day because if you are driving from one location to another, there may be traffic. You want the day to run smoothly and don’t need added stress on things out of your control.

5. Select Reputable Vendors – For instance, you don’t want to select a photographer whose pictures you love but can’t stand their personality. Your pictures won’t look great, because you are unhappy. Never sacrifice quality over price. Remember the saying; ‘you get what you pay for.’ These vendors will help be the glue on your day. The better chemistry you have with your vendors, the better your day is going to be.

6. Communication is Key – You never want to assume all of your vendors, family and guests know how to read your mind. Keep in touch and reply to emails and phone calls within 48 hours. If anything changes in guest count or you need to add items, notify the appropriate parties. The final count is due two weeks before the wedding.

7. Stay Organized – Create a folder in your email dedicated to the wedding so you have all correspondence in one place. Include all sent and received items. It is a great paper trail to go back to in case you need to refer back to a certain email. You will also want to create a wedding folder that includes all vendor contracts, invoices, contacts, timelines, budgets and notes.

8. Review Vendors’ Coverage Hours – Once you have selected all of your vendors, double check the amount of hours you have them booked or need them for. You may end up going into overtime if you booked the DJ for four hours but need them for seven hours. These can be costly mistakes if not caught early on.

9. Mastering the Timeline – If you don’t have a wedding planner to create a preliminary timeline for you, I suggest creating one on your computer that you can update as needed. Knowing what time you want everything to start is the key. When you have determined your ceremony start time, cocktail hour and the end of your reception you can build around that. Vendors will need to know what time to arrive for setup based on this. Send the final timeline to all of your vendors no later than 1 week prior to your wedding date.

10. Hire a Wedding Planner - Truly one of the best gifts you can give to you and your fiancé on the wedding day. Depending on your budget and schedule, a wedding Planner can offer a variety of services to suit your needs, from full service planning to month of coordination. This will allow you to have fun leading up to and on your day knowing everything all the details are taken care of by a professional.

Eye-Openers: The worlds most expensive lunch sold to help San Francisco homeless

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Warren Buffett (middle). Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

From the local scene:

  • Warren Buffett’s charity lunch sets a world record for the most expensive: It sold for $3.5 million at a charity auction, and it’s to benefit the Glide Foundation in San Francisco. [World's Record Academy]
  • Gather chef Sean Baker’s wedding was very pretty. The theme was heirloom tomatoes. [StyleMePretty]
  • An op-ed about foie gras. [San Francisco Chronicle]
  • While Rosamunde ramps up its Oakland location (near Swan’s Market), it’s doing a weekly beer garden.  [BA News Group]

From the national scene:

  • How restaurants are adjusting to all these food allergies that seem to be coming up more and more nowadays. [Wall Street Journal]
  • The food movement’s final frontier: Taking care of workers. [Civil Eats]
  • Things that happen in Vegas: “Japanese restaurant Shibuya at the MGM Grand features a wave of “live entertainment” with its Kani Salad, served atop a fish bowl with a live Siamese fighting fish swimming inside.” [Forbes]
  • Dave Arnold goes to Jiro’s restaurant in Japan, experiences the 30 minute, $300 meal. [Cooking Issues]
  • A big shake-up at New York’s Beard-nominated newcomer Isa: It’s closed as the kitchen staff has departed. [Eater NY, Times]
  • Melt-proof ice cream? [HuffPo]

Maya Love Goddess Lures Couples To Isla Mujeres

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Bounced around the Caribbean by a storm in 1517, three Spanish ships wound up at the tiny Maya island of Ekab at the tip of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. The foreigners inked it on their maps as Isla Mujeres (Island of the Women) after the female figurines discovered by the sailors in an ancient shrine on the island.

The Spanish conquistadores, who’d set out to capture husky slaves to work the mines and sugar plantations of Cuba, found few good candidates among the handful of Maya fishermen living on the skinny, four-mile-long island. So after planting a huge cross on the beach and reading El Requerimiento, a proclamation (in Spanish) telling the uncomprehending villagers they’d become subjects of the Spanish king, the invaders sailed on to what they hoped would be richer shores.

2012-06-11-Isla1.jpgIsla Mujeres is about eight miles northeast of Cancun.

The foreigners didn’t know it, but their latest conquest was one of the sacred islands of Ixchel (eee-shel), the Maya love, fertility, rain, medicine and moon goddess and a super-deity in the Maya pantheon.

Fast-forward to today, and — after centuries of mainly being home to a few fishing families and occasional pirates — Isla Mujeres now hosts divers, whale-shark watchers, off-the-beaten-track vacationers, campers, locally stationed sailors and a fast growing expat art colony. Also seen darting around in rented golf carts are hordes of day-visitors from the mega-resort at Cancun about a 20-minute boat ride away.

2012-06-11-Isla2.jpgRestaurant menus feature freshly caught seafood.

The island’s powdery, white-sand beaches are dotted by 73 inns and hotels with a total of around 1,400 rooms. Sometimes it’s hard to find an empty room, but more often than not there are plenty of vacancies. But that may change soon.

Local officials plan to cash in on Ixchel’s presence on Isla Mujeres by branding the island as a wonderful spot to get married, enjoy a honeymoon, celebrate anniversaries and otherwise bask in the romantic aura of their hometown goddess — much like the Greek goddess of love Aphrodite is used to bring such business to her home island of Cyprus.

Isla Mujeres Tourism Director Eyder Jahil Hoth said Ixchel’s temples and statues are “natural attractions” for visiting couples. A particularly popular place for weddings, he noted, is on a clifftop near the ruins of Templo Ixchel, believed to have been the goddess’ main shrine on the island.

The weddings and romance theme is echoed in marketing programs by a number of local hotels. The 117-room Ixchel Beach Hotel, for instance, offers a choice of non-denominational, spiritual or civil ceremonies on a beach covered with rose petals and lit by tiki torches. White doves or butterflies are released at the end of the ceremony. Optional extras include fire dancers and a mariachi band.

Another hotel, the Privilege Aluxes, lures couples to its 124 rooms with this pitch: “Just imagine… turquoise Caribbean waters…a white sandy beach…an oceanfront wedding gazebo…champagne … flowers…”

2012-06-11-Isla3.jpgView from the Dream Luxury Villa.

Among promotions at the high end is the Ixchel Dream Wedding Package at the Dream Luxury Villa. For a flat $14,900, a couple and up to four guests can have exclusive use of the four-suite villa overlooking the Caribbean for three nights. The tab includes rides from Cancun to the island and back on a private yacht, all meals — prepared by the group’s own chef — and with dinner by candlelight. The couple’s bed is strewn with rose petals in a room lit by aromatherapy candles. Also included is the wedding ceremony and a champagne reception at the villa for up to 35 guests staying at any of the Dreams’ four sister Real resorts in Cancun and the Riviera Maya.

For the record: According to Isla Mujeres cronista (historian) Fidel Villanueva, the local shrine of Ixchel is one of 32 such shrines on islands off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula and also on the mainland. The goddess’ principal shrine is on the island of Cozumel.

Photo credits: Overhead view of the island courtesy of Isla Mujeres Tourism Office. Other images by Bob Schulman.

Tarun Tahiliani designs Upasna-Ram Charan’s wedding outfits

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Southern actor Ram Charan Teja is set to marry his childhood sweetheart, Upasana Kamineni, Thursday and the high-profile couple will wear Tarun Tahiliani-designed traditional outfits on their D-day.

Giving details about their dresses, Tahiliani told IANS: “Upasna will wear a sheathed yellow and gold South India silk sari with a swarovski encrusted border done with zardosi French knots and a sprinkle of tiny soldered stones. This will be complemented by a rani pink zardosi corset blouse and a rani pink tulle veil.”

“Charan will be in a coordinated dhoti, paired with a fine chikan kurta and stole,” he added.

Ram is superstar Chiranjeevi’s son and Upasana is the granddaughter of Prathap C. Reddy, founder-chairman of Apollo Hospitals.

Ram proposed to Upasna last year on her birthday (July 20) and they got engaged Dec 1 at a private ceremony.

Upasana is a die-hard fan of Tahiliani’s bridal collection and says he was her first choice to design her wedding dress.

“My wedding sari is designed by Tarun Tahiliani. He is known for his beautiful bridal creations and I have always liked his style, so when it came to my bridal outfit, Tarun was the first designer I thought of. Since the wedding will be a traditional Telugu ceremony, Tarun had to do a lot of research on the same,” she said.

Designer Anamika Khanna, who has styled celebrities including Sonam Kapoor and Bipasha Basu, has designed Upasna’s trousseau and some exclusive clothes for the bride’s family.

“My trousseau has been designed by my dear friend Anamika Khanna, who has also designed outfits for my entire family for the wedding ceremony. Since I am so fond of Anamika’s collections, she has been supportive by creating a unique collection for my entire family, exclusively for the wedding,” said Upasna.

Last but not the least, Rajesh Pratap Singh, known for his subtle yet chic collection, has designed exclusively for the groom’s famly and close friends, including Ram Charan’s father and his cousin, Allu Arjun.

My big, fat, bargain wedding: Other ways to save with the Web

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My big, fat, bargain wedding: Finding a venue | Choosing a caterer | Combining finances | How much should you pay for a dress? | Deciding on entertainment

This is the sixth part of a series on wedding planning on a reasonable budget. I hope you will join me on this journey of orchestrating the ideal wedding — without overspending.

Ah, June. The start of the summer wedding season. Though we’re still struggling economically, Atlantans shelled out an average of $26,094 to get hitched last year.

And that’s below the $27,000-plus national price, according to a study by websites theKnot.com and Weddingchannel.com.

“As things are starting to recover and we’re seeing the royal wedding and Kim Kardashian’s wedding, people are starting to spend more again,” said Kristin Koch, a senior editor at theKnot.com. But that doesn’t mean all couples are throwing frugality out the window.

Grayson bride-to-be Danielle Crosby cut spending in several areas, starting with her Casablanca dress. “I found it at a boutique selling for $1,100,” she said, “then just searched online to find it used for half off” from PreOwned WeddingDresses.com.

The administrative assistant also compared wedding-industry businesses with conventional retailers to find the best prices on bubbles, cake-toppers, ring-bearer pillows and other items. She found the best prices on what she wanted at PartyCity.com.

Daily deal sites have also changed the landscape for brides, offering steep discounts for services that can typically exceed hundreds or thousands of dollars.

“I bought a package off Groupon for my flowers,” said Crosby, who’s getting married in September. “I am getting $1,200 worth of wedding party flowers for $500.”

“There’s certainly a move toward buying all these luxury items at a discount,” Koch said, with a warning: “Once you book, you’re locked in. There are no refunds.”

Crosby also saved money on invitations by printing hers at home — paper for invitations and response cards cost $55 — and ordering postage from Zazzle.com.

“Zazzle always has a discount, and typically free shipping. I hit the jackpot when Zazzle emailed me a coupon to get $8 off postage sheets. I ended up getting $85 worth of postage for $45.”

Koch, though, suggests considering postage on the front end of the invitations process.

“If you choose a ton of enclosure cards, that’s going to up the cost,” she said. “It doesn’t seem like it’s going to weigh a lot, but it will affect how much it’s going to cost you to send them.”

The same goes for oversize or oddly shaped invitations.

A lot of couples are also saving on honeymoon costs, opting for “mini-moons” — shorter, sometimes domestic trips.

“We found that in 2010, 42 percent of couples were taking mini-moons instead of honeymoons,” Koch said. “It doesn’t really matter where you go. It’s about relaxing, being together and celebrating.”

How did you save on your wedding?

Coming next: Cakes and more

More: Wedding spreadsheet | Wes Moss: The cost of the royal wedding — and yours | Clark Howard: Don’t go into debt for your wedding | Say ‘less!’ to the dress’

– By Lauren Davidson, Atlanta Bargain Hunter

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Vendors in Texas, Alabama, and Georgia to be Featured on the PartyPOP.com …

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Verticality Pole Fitness, GoodFellas Gaming – Premier Casino Party Rentals, and Corporate Limo Atlanta showcase their professionalism on the largest party, wedding and event planning network, PartyPOP.com.

(PRWEB) June 11, 2012

PartyPOP.com recently announced free wedding invitations and an RSVP website for any engaged couple in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The company has re-purposed their 2012 marketing budget in hopes of building brand awareness and loyalty. According to reports from within the Southern California based company, it’s working.

PartyPOP.com features over 2 million highly accomplished and professional companies in the event planning industry including: Verticality Pole Fitness, GoodFellas Gaming – Premier Casino Party Rentals, and Corporate Limo Atlanta.

Located near Houston, TX, Verticality Pole Fitness is part fitness and part social outlet. Verticality is all about putting the fun back into fitness. Instead of treadmills or elliptical machines, Verticality has professional dance poles and crash mats for those challenging pole moves, Yoga mats for stretching, and chairs – for dance, as a fitness tool. All this combined with a changing room, and comfy spots to stretch, socialize or just relax, Verticality offers a great environment for fun, and making new friends.

Verticality we believes you can be safe and get a great workout while having fun. Instructors are certified with several fitness organizations including ACE, AFAA, Yoga Alliance, PDIC and XPert Training. Whether taking a class, participating in a workshop, or having a party, customers know they are getting the best pole dancing instruction in the city. Nestled in River Oaks, Verticality Pole Fitness is easily accessible from Downtown, The Heights, Highland Village, the Galleria, and many other Houston Neighborhoods. More information can be found online at http://www.partypop.com/v/4381830

Located in Birmingham, Alabama GoodFellas Gaming produces a professionally run mock Casino Night Party that entertains guests for hours and hours. The thrill of winning at Blackjack, Texas Hold’em Poker, Craps, and Roulette can’t be beat! GoodFellas Gaming services the state of Alabama and the entire Southeast.

The gaming company hosts Corporate Parties, Fundraisers, Reunions, Student Socials, and Private Affairs. For groups from 25 – 2500, they have the gaming options with the best equipment and services available. A note from Good Fellas: “Don’t be fooled by stock casino images. Be sure to do your research and look around to see what you’ll get!” More information can be found online at http://www.partypop.com/v/4331422

Corporate Limo Atlanta is a reliable and quality limousine service that provides the most prestigious and innovative limousines as well as superior customer service. The limousine fleet features only the highest quality, late-model luxury vehicles. Their vehicles include sedans, limousines, SUVs, and vans. Comfort, safety, and security are a priority at Corporate Limo Atlanta. The company is dedicated to setting the highest standards in the industry for every client! More information can be found online at http://www.partypop.com/v/4330954

About PartyPOP.com : the largest party, wedding and event planning online network:

Before the Internet era, the professionals at PartyPOP.com were successful hands-on party planners and special event producers. For more than a decade PartyPOP has translated 30 years of party planning experience onto the Internet. Millions of vendors are listed on the network consisting of 60+ websites and tens of millions of customers have used the network to plan their parties, weddings and events. PartyPOP.com also provides party and event related tips, themes and ideas, as well as a free full wedding planning software called Seating Arrangement.

About Free Printed Invitations by PartyPOP.com:

PartyPOP provides every bride and groom across the USA, Canada and the U.K. with free beautifully designed wedding invitations, printed on 80lbs card stock paper with matching envelopes and wedding website. Even door to door shipping is included at no cost. There are no hidden fees, no obligations to buy and no strings attached!

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/6/prweb9595751.htm

Matthew McConaughey weds Camila Alves

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Wedding incorporated couple’s roots with an “island beach meets Texas” theme that included Brazilian food. PHOTO: AFP

NEW YORK: Actor Matthew McConaughey and Brazilian model Camila Alves tied the knot on Saturday in an intimate wedding at the couple’s home in Austin, Texas, according to media reports.

The wedding incorporated the couple’s roots with an “island beach meets Texas” theme that included Brazilian food, celebrity news outlet Entertainment Tonight reported on Sunday.

A Texas native, McConaughey announced at the Texas Hall of Fame gala in March that he and Alves were relocating from California to Texas to raise their almost 4-year-old son, Levi, and 2-year-old daughter, Vida.

Alves is a model and handbag designer originally from Brazil where she spent much of her childhood on the beaches of the country’s Bahia state.

A representative for McConaughey told People magazine that Alves will take the actor’s last name, becoming Camila McConaughey.

McConaughey, 42 and Alves, 30, met in 2006 at a bar in Los Angeles and have been dating ever since.

McConaughey announced the couple’s engagement on December 25, 2011, via his WhoSay web page, where he posted a picture of the couple kissing with the message, “just asked camila to marry me, merry Christmas.”

Magic Mike, McConaughey’s latest film in which he plays a strip club manager, is set to hit theaters on June 29.

Something old, a little blue

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Today’s brides and grooms are pledging their troths in weddings where the newest looks are old, borrowed from the past and have a splash of blue – Tiffany blue.

Everywhere – in gowns, tuxes, suits and banquetroom decor – those about to be wed are demanding the timeless, antique look. It can be North American country or old-English gentry, but the idea is to harken back to the late 19th century or the first half of the 20th.

“Vintage is a really big thing right now,” said Sandy Long, owner of Decorate Victoria with Huff and Puff. The event designer approaches each wedding like the designer of a movie set, using a warehouse full of props and a computer full of ideas and recorded pictures.

In dresses, icy, fluorescent white is less in evidence. Brides are more attracted to taupe, creams, off-whites or champagne colours with lots and lots of lace.

Sleeves or broad straps are coming back, ending what one fashion designer characterized as a near tyranny of bare shoulders and strapless dresses.

For venue decor, accent colours such as robin’s egg and Tiffany blue are popular. But fern green and even turquoise have become popular, too, as many strive for something like an art-deco look for their big day.

According to a survey in Weddingbells magazine, which bills itself as the No. 1 source for Canadian brides, nearly 158,000 couples will wed in 2012, with August and September the most popular months.

The wedding and honeymoon will cost an average of $31,110 – down three per cent from 2011, but still 20 per cent higher than 2008.

This year, 51 per cent of the brides are opting for a traditional wedding and spending an average of $1,847 on their dresses.

Alexandra Suhner Isenberg, fashion instructor with Vancouver’s Visual College of Art and Design, said in a telephone interview that the trend toward traditional ball gowns with lace isn’t surprising.

After all, Suhner Isenberg said the single-biggest inspirational wedding in recent memory is the April 2011 wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge.

“And her dress was quite old-fashioned,” she said. “So it doesn’t surprise me that lace is back. Her lace was all handmade, very old-fashioned.”

She also noted that Kate’s dress covered her shoulders. The popularity of strapless dresses, which don’t suit many women, is waning.

“For the past five years, people have been wearing these cookie-cutter, strapless meringue dresses,” said Suhner Isenberg.

“It’s not unique and they are just not interesting anymore.”

Suhner Isenberg also said colour, even bold colours, is starting to creep into bridal wear. Designers like Vera Wang recently introduced bright colours in some gowns.

But Isenberg also noted bridal fashions move more slowly than other fashions trends. “I still think we have a ways to go before people move away from anything more radical than cream.”

Blush Bridal Boutique in Victoria has noticed the move to traditional ball gowns in antique shades.

Blush co-owner Mary Logan said layers of lace, antique white colours and even little bolero-style jackets over the shoulders are part of the newest, vintage styles.

Bossy bride?

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Q: My son, who is an only child, has plans to wed in June but we, the family, are not involved in the wedding planning. The bride-to-be and her parents have been doing all the planning. They decided on the colours for the wedding, then sent notice to my son as to the colours his side of the family should wear. They had the audacity to even state the type of material. They have decided on her church and priest, although we are of a different denomination. Our pastor will not be one of the officiating pastors. They will be using their photographer and videographer. They have decided on decorations and the florist. They have not asked for any financial contribution toward the reception or florist. We both can afford to fund the wedding but they are doing it all alone. I do not even know who will toast us at the wedding reception.

My son does not see anything unusual about us being sidelined and him being a bystander. He is so in love that he cannot understand what I am saying. However, it is indicative that his wife-to-be will be the boss and that his in-laws will dominate the affairs of his marriage. I am going to the wedding with a heavy heart. My husband and son think I am making a mountain out of a molehill. What do you think?

A: Congratulations that your only son has found love and has plans to wed the love of his life. Traditionally, it is the bride’s family that underwrites the cost of the reception. And it is good that they are able and willing to undertake that responsibility. However, there are other ways you can make a contribution. You can give your son funds towards the honeymoon and also a financial contribution toward a house purchase. You could help with the cost of the wedding ring for the bride or the clothes for the groom’s party.You could also offer to host a dinner for both families to meet, greet and talk. Finally, there will be many other opportunities to help your son and his wife, so do not worry about not being requested to help with the costs associated with the reception, florist, etc.

don’t worry

Additionally, it is usually brides rather than grooms who have interest in wedding planning. Therefore, do not rob your daughter-in-law of this privilege. Perhaps it is because he is your only child why you are anxious to have a lead role in the planning of the wedding. Further-more, the wedding is usually in the bride’s church and her priest would be the main celebrant. However, courtesy would demand that your son’s pastor be a member of the officiating team once the church policy allows that. In addition, you could propose who you want to toast you at the reception.

That your daughter-in-law-to-be is the main planner for the wedding is not indicative that she will be dominant in the marriage. Similarly, it is not indicative that your son will be disinterested in the operations of his family, based on the role he is playing in the planning.

It is obvious you have many ideas concerning wedding planning. Hopefully, someone will consult you sometime in your life. Do not put additional pressure on your son, because a wedding can be stressful. Instead, be very supportive and do not plant negative thoughts in his head. You can help your son in the response that he will give at the reception and encourage him to rehearse in front of you, and ensure he thanks the bride and her family for the excellent planning they have done.

Listen to your husband and go and enjoy the wedding.

Email editor@gleanerjm.com.