Choosing a Wedding Tiara

When it comes time to choose your wedding day accessories, don't automatically assume you'll be wearing a veil. There are plenty of other options out there, from fanciful hairdos to wedding tiaras! Choosing a wedding tiara isn't always easy because there are so many beautiful options out there, but it shouldn't be a pain in the tush, either.

If you do decide to wear a tiara on your wedding day, be sure that you choose one that will be the crowning glory of your overall ensemble. It should compliment, not overshadow your gown. It should also blend well with your other accessories -- if you like gold, choose a gold tone tiara. If you're planning to wear silver jewelry, opt for silver tone.

When tiara shopping, you should think carefully about the design elements that define your wedding gown. Achieving a flawless line from the top of your head to the tip of your hemline means sticking to one or two types of ornamentation. Pearls, for example, can appear on your gown, in your jewelry and in your tiara. The same goes for gems and rhinestones. If your gown is plain and you're not wearing much jewelry, you can wear a "busier" tiara, but if your gown is very heavily embellished, stick to simpler headgear.

The next thing you should take into consideration when choosing a wedding tiara is the color of your wedding gown. Silver tone or rhinestone tiaras are best suited to a white gown. Pearl tiaras go well with off-white or ivory gowns because a pearl's luster is accentuated by these tones. Gold tone tiaras are another good choice if you are wearing ivory or off-white. If you can, take a swatch of your gown fabric with you when shopping!

The last two elements to consider when choosing a wedding tiara are the shape of your face and your wedding day hairdo. The tiara should flatter your face by framing it, and it should not draw attention to dominant aspects of your face's shape. When you choose your wedding tiara, follow these guidelines:

• For a round face, wear a tiara that has height and will draw the eye upward, giving the illusion that your face is longer.
• For a long face, wear a tiara that is flat and sits close to the top of your head. It should also extend over the sides of your head to draw the eye horizontally, rather than vertically. This will make a long, thin face appear fuller.
• For an oval face, wear a tiara that either sits on the forehead or some ornamentation that sits on the back of your head to make your face appear less oval.
• For a full face, wear a tiara that has height and forms a "V' shape to draw the eye up for the illusion of length and slimness.

Finally, your hairstyle will also dictate how heavy a wedding tiara you will wear. Short hairstyles look best with a light tiara that has subtle ornamentation, while a large amount of thick hair piled high can carry a bigger tiara that is amply encrusted with gemstones.

Happy shopping!


A Music Plus
Denver's Wedding Entertainment Specialists
Disc Jockeys, Live Wedding Bands, Event Entertainment Specialists
http://www.amusicplus.com/

Apache Wedding Prayer

If you're looking to inject a little cross culturalism into your wedding ceremony, consider integrating the Apache wedding prayer into your vows. Including this beautiful prayer in your ceremony doesn't mean you have to do away with the words commonly associated with weddings in your own faith. Rather, it can augment the usual religious or secular ceremony and make your wedding even more memorable that it already will be!

The prayer reads as follows:

Now for you there is no rain
For one is shelter to the other.

Now for you there is no darkness
For one is counsel to the other.

Now for you there is no pain
For one is comfort to the other.

Now for you there is no night
For one is light to the other.

Now for you there is no cold
For one is warmth to the other.

Now for you the snow has ended, always
Your fears, your wants, your needs are at rest.

It is that way today, tomorrow and forever.
Now it is good and there is always shelter.

And now there is always one.
And now there is no loneliness.

Now, forever, forever you are as one.
There are two bodies.

But now there is only one heart in both
And you are as one person.

You can ask your officiant to make the Apache wedding prayer a part of the service or you can ask a loved one to step up to the altar space to read the prayer. If you like, you can even adapt the wording of this beautiful and poetic prayer by changing certain words to make it appropriate for you and your spouse-to-be to read to one another as vows.



A Music Plus
Denver's Wedding Entertainment Specialists
Disc Jockeys, Live Wedding Bands, Event Entertainment Specialists
http://www.amusicplus.com/

Questions to Ask Your Baker

Choosing a wedding cake is one of the best responsibilities on the typical wedding planning checklist. After all, who doesn't fancy the idea of noshing their way through cake samples? At the same time, your baker will be a vendor like any other, and that means you'll need to interview prospective bakers before choosing one. Below, you'll find a list of questions to ask your baker before you sign any kind of contract.

Flexibility in design choices
Will your baker custom-make your cake based on your specifications concerning cake flavors, icings, and embellishments? Some bakers will only work from templates found in their portfolios, so be sure to ask about this. You may also want to ask if your baker can replicate a particular cake from a photograph or description.

How the cake is made
Some bakers use packaged cake mix while most use all homemade, fresh ingredients. Do you have a preference one way or the other? If you'd like a vegan cake or a gluten free cake, be sure to ask whether your baker can accommodate special dietary needs. Some can and some can't.

Request pictures of their of work
Take a look at a baker's portfolio of cakes. Do you like what you see? Does it reflect good workmanship, a steady hand, and creativity? Does the baker's style gel with your own ideas of what makes a wedding cake beautiful?

Extra charges
Some bakers charge a base price that includes the rental or purchase of pillars, cake bases, toppers, and decorative items, while other bakers charge for these things. Ask whether there will be an extra deposit for non-cake items and when the items will need to be returned. Sometimes if the baker is familiar with the reception site or caterer, they may pick up those items on their own. SIf you're heading off to your honeymoon, remember to designate someone to return these items to your baker while you're gone.

Delivery and set up charges
If your baker is close by, there may not be an additional delivery charge. Some may charge $35 to$60 for delivery or a per-mile fee. Usually, the set up charge is included in the price of the cake, but don't make any assumptions. Get this info in writing!

Setting up the cake
Will your baker embellish the cake using fresh flowers provided by your florist? Will they decorate the cake table, too? If you'd like your baker to provide these services, be sure to ask up front in so there are no surprises.

Price per serving
For a three-tiered cake, prices tend to hover between $1.50 and $5.00 per slice. Price per serving can vary by quite a bit based upon the intricacy of the decorations on the cake and the flavor of cake. Elaborate frosting decorations are time- and labor-intensive, so usually cost more.


A Music Plus
Denver's Wedding Entertainment Specialists
Disc Jockeys, Live Wedding Bands, Event Entertainment Specialists
http://www.amusicplus.com/

Cutting a Guest List

We know that if money were no object for brides and grooms, we'd be DJing at a lot more 500-guest weddings than 100-guest weddings. Unfortunately, most couples can't just toss their budget constraints out the window. That means that no matter how many people they'd like to invite to the wedding, they are going to have to leave some people out and that means cutting the guest list.

Choosing the "winners" and the "losers" can be a painful process that causes familial strife and hurt feelings, but it doesn't have to be as hard as it's made out to be. The first step is to go through your prospective guest list and put an A or a B next to each name. The As are the absolute must-invites like grandmas and best friends, while the B list is everyone else. The next step is to work through the B list to figure out who won't be offended to not receive an invitation.

Ask yourself these questions as you pore over names:

• Have I seen this person in the last 12 months?
• Have I spoken with this person in the last 6 months?
• Did I send this person a Christmas card last year?

If you answered no to all of the questions above, it's probably fine to cut this person from your guest list. You can always send them a wedding announcement to let them know that you're married and to acknowledge that you appreciate their friendship.

Still need to do some more cutting? There are other ways to cut your guest list, though these won't be as easy.

• Don't invite your parents' friends, particularly if you don't know them very well.
• Don't invite old school or college friends that you know you'll never see again.
• Don't invite second and third cousins.
• Don't invite business associates or boss.
• Don't invite children.
• Don't allow single people (those without steady significant others) to bring a date.
• Don't invite people just because you were invited to their wedding.

You may feel badly about cutting people from your guest list, but remind yourself that practicality demands it. If you don't have the money to invite 200 or even 50 people, you simply cannot invite that many people, no ifs, ands or buts about it! There's a chance that people who were not invited will approach you to ask about why they were excluded. In such a case, honestly is definitely the best policy.


A Music Plus
Denver's Wedding Entertainment Specialists
Disc Jockeys, Live Wedding Bands, Event Entertainment Specialists
http://www.amusicplus.com/

BRIDEZILLA!

Planning a wedding is a stressful, largely thankless job. When you consider that you're planning a wedding on top of doing your regular job and keeping up with loved ones, it can become a nightmare. While there are some bridezillas out there, most of the brides-to-be who are saddled with this nasty label simply let their anger and frustration get the best of them. If you'd like to keep bridezilla at bay, take these nine tips to heart.

1. Plan on being overwhelmed. Even if you've got your wedding checklist under control, a wedding is still a life-changing event and you're bound to have some strong feelings about it. As much as you want to be calm and collected, you may be weepy, snippy, lonely, or fidgety at times. When you feel the 'zilla coming, step back and take a long break.

2. Diminish the effects of "Bride Brain." Think about how you react to stress in everyday life, and keep your usual coping strategies in mind. If you get clumsy when you're stressed, don't try to create your intricate handmade invitations until you feel better. Do you get forgetful? Make detailed lists. If you lash out, let your family and friends know in advance that you're under a lot of pressure and may say things you don't mean.

3. Enlist the help of one solid, responsible girlfriend (or guyfriend). As wedding DJs, we have seen countless best gal pals step up to the plate when things went awry before and on the wedding day. Why not a sister or your mom? Your friend isn't caught up in your family drama and can protect you from it.

4. Practice being overwhelmed. If you don't usually like being the center of attention, practice at your bridal shower and bachelorette party. If handling multiple responsibilities freaks you out, learn to take smaller steps. When you sense you are becoming overwhelmed, it's time for another break. If you can cope, you will survive and stay in your loved ones' good graces.

5. Connect with your fiancé. Don't let wedding planning overshadow the great relationship that led to the upcoming event! Designate wedding-free days or weekends. Tell your spouse-to-be to let you know when he's feeling overwhelmed by all the wedding talk. Remember how you used to go out on those awesome dates? Make time for those dates again!

6. Allow your wedding to take on a life of its own. Do your planning but when the big day finally arrives, let your wedding be what it wants to be. A major life event like this will have its own personality, rhythm and soul. Something will go wrong, and someone will probably have something negative to say. You can control that, so just let it go.

7. And let go of perfectionism! Be delighted by spontaneity, not appalled that things aren't going as planned. Some of the best memories couples have are of those little unplanned events that made the day special.

8. Be emotionally connected to yourself. That way, you can connect with others. If you feel confident, happy, and in control of your own emotions, you'll be able to engage with your spouse and your guests on a deep, satisfying level.

9. Create a mental image of the bride you want to be. Just because you have a lot to do doesn't mean you can't be the kind of bride who has fun before and during the wedding. On the other hand, if your mental image doesn't quite manifest in your everyday experiences, don't beat yourself up. You are a complex human being with complex emotions, and that's okay.


A Music Plus
Denver's Wedding Entertainment Specialists
Disc Jockeys, Live Wedding Bands, Event Entertainment Specialists
http://www.amusicplus.com/

Groomsmen Gifts

Congratulations, Mr. Groom-to-be!

By now, you've probably chosen your best man and groomsmen. If not, it's time to start seriously considering who will stand at your side when you say your vows. Brothers and college buddies are a common choice, but cousins and even dads are frequently asked to stand with the groom. Don't be afraid to gender bend, either. If your best pal is a gal, why not have a Best Maid or a groomswoman?

For the purposes of this post, let's just say you've chosen your attendants and they're all dudes. You've talked to them about their responsibilities, and now you want to show your appreciation for the help they've given you so far. That means it's time to start thinking about groomsmen gifts.

Maybe you're not a big shopper, and prefer to leave the shopping to your fiancee. No matter who is wielding the credit cards in your relationship, this post should give you some fun and memorable gift ideas. As always, your overall wedding budget should dictate your choices. Generally, the cost of groomsmen gifts is in proportion to the cost and size of the wedding and the responsibilities of the men.

You can go the conventional route and present each of your men with the same gift. You can't go wrong with traditional masculine gifts like monogrammed mugs, beer steins, toiletry sets, handkerchiefs, engraved pocket watches, engraved cuff links, manicure sets, or engraved money clips. If you do decide to give engraved gifts, you can be sure your attendants will treasure them for many years.

You can also individualize your gifts to each of your groomsmen's tastes. You don't have to give each of your attendants the same gift just because it's what's usually done. Nor do you have to give them the usual masculine gifts if that's not your style. Think about their likes and interests before you buy anything. Your best friend might appreciate a gift certificate to a bookstore more than sports tickets. Your brother might rather enjoy a nice meal with you at his favorite steak house.

Let what you know about each of your attendants be your guide and you can be sure they will treasure whatever you ultimately choose to give them.


A Music Plus
Denver's Wedding Entertainment Specialists
Disc Jockeys, Live Wedding Bands, Event Entertainment Specialists
http://www.amusicplus.com/