designer wedding

Shopping for the perfect wedding dress, especially if you are thinking about buying a designer wedding gown, can be a very exciting, yet stressful time. One reason for the stress is that the bridal gown is often a big expense. If a woman wants to have the extra style and flair of wearing a gown by a well-known designer, then that expense is going to be even bigger.

However, the good news is that there are several very useful tips that can be very helpful to you as you search for the designer wedding dress that will set the stage for your nuptials. If you keep these tips in mind as you embark on your tour of wedding dress shops and as you peruse the wedding magazines, then things will go more smoothly and hopefully fall into place easily for you.

There are a number of terrific bridal magazines which give brides more ideas than they could ever use for one wedding, but they do help to showcase the many options available. There are also numerous websites that can be searched which have additional ideas for designer wedding ensembles and for wedding gown accessories to round out the outfit.

After you have done some basic research on designer gowns, via the various bridal magazines and on the internet, you should have a foundation of information that you can use when you head out to visit the wedding dress shops. One of the best things about going into a local retail store that specializes in bridal gowns is that you will find a staff that is helpful and experienced in assisting brides.

Most wedding dress shops, especially the ones that will carry an inventory of designer gowns, will have a bridal consultant on hand. These professionals are specially trained and have years of knowledge that you can lean on as you endeavor to find the perfect wedding dress for you.

It is a good idea to call ahead and book an appointment with the bridal consultant so that you will have an opportunity to try on several designer dresses and have her undivided time to help you and answer your questions. This is a part of the overall process that you don’t want to rush through or feel pressured into making a hasty decision due to time constraints.

With a bit of preparation, the right help in the way of friends and staff, and enough time to be able to try on the dresses without feeling rushed, you will be able to make the right choice with the least amount of stress. And, if you start to become frustrated, just focus on how wonderful you will look and feel on your wedding day knowing that you have found the perfect designer wedding gown.

Custom wedding invitations are an essential part of your wedding planning but are you prepared for all the choices you will need to make when creating yours.  You will want to be as informed as possible in preparation for these decisions so designing your invitations will be easier.

Here are some things you will need to know:

• Budget – Before you begin your wedding invitation shopping, you may want to give some consideration as to how much you want to spend on them.  Knowing your budget and the quantity you will be ordering will also help you figure out how much you can spend per invitation as well as help narrow down your choices.  Also remember that response cards, reception cards, colored inks, return address printing, envelope lining, etc., will be extra costs if you choose any of these options and are not included in the invitation prices.  Those prices are listed separately.

• Theme refers to the appearance of the invitation such as design, pictures, colors, embellishments, etc.  Is there a specific theme to your wedding that could be reflected in your wedding invitations?  Themes can be flowers, beach or tropical, season of the year, specific colors, etc.

• Style relates more to the type of invitation.  Will you have a simple wedding invitation card or a folded piece?  Will it be made out of layers of paper attached together or will it include your photo?  A seal and send style is an economical choice that has a response postcard attached and simply folds up into its own mailing piece.  Growing in popularity, pocket wedding invitations are a more contemporary style.  You will also find that some styles look more modern than traditional or more formal than casual so your choice will depend on the tone of your wedding.

• Paper – This choice typically includes the size and color of your invitation paper.  Contemporary wedding invitations can come in unique square and tea length sizes. Keep in mind that larger sizes may require extra postage so you should check into that before making your final selection.  Colored papers have also become plentiful.  Another consideration is being eco-friendly with your wedding invites by having them printed on recycled paper.

• Verse Wording – There are many, many sample verses for custom wedding invitations or you can creatively write your own verse.  You will need to choose a verse based on who is hosting your wedding whether it is you and your fiancé or your parents.  Another decision will be having your reception details printed directly on your invitation if there is room or on a separate reception card.

• Lettering or Font Style – You will find there is an enormous selection of lettering styles from which to choose and the offerings will vary among printers.  One suggestion is to use a style that will be easy to read for your guests.  Simpler, less script fonts tend to be easier to read. 

• Imprint Ink Color – Usually you are provided with several ink choices based on the invitation you choose.  Keep in mind colored papers will affect how certain ink colors appear.  Black ink is typically included in the invitation price with colored ink choices costing extra.  Be sure to take notice of what color was printed on the sample as you may like how that color looks.

There are actually more things to consider as part of your custom wedding invitations ensemble but the items listed above pertain to the actual invitation itself.  Other related choices involve extra insert pieces such as response cards, map cards, etc., as well as envelope options.

It’s important to choose exactly the right caterer for your wedding, because this is the biggest day in most people’s lives and the food must be be better than excellent. If you don’t plan well enough to give your guests great food, when your wedding rolls around it will be even more stressful than your first imagined. That is the reason you need to do your research and find a top standard catering company well in advance, so they can set up all the food preparation and take away any extra stress. We definitely did our research when looking for wedding caterers essex in our local district some four months prior to our big day.

Naturally, wedding caterers come in all shapes and sizes, and provide food and services of varying quality. So what’s the best way to select the right caterer? A good idea is to do your research on a wide selection of possible providers within your area, doing an online search for a list of firms in your locality. For instance, an online search for wedding caterers essex in my locality helped me find loads of promising firms. We then went to the website of each company to gauge the standard of their customer service and to see how easy to deal with they appeared to be. From this broad choice of perhaps 10 catering firms, I then called round to assess how quickly they answered the phone and how efficient they were. After all, if they can’t present themselves in an efficient manner at the first point of contact, then how good are they really going to be when the pressure is on to do your wedding catering?

From this process of seeking wedding caterers essex in my example, we then selected the foremost 3 companies and did some more detailed homework into their service standards, food quality and pricing. Ask your top three if you can also speak to some of their past clients to get a feeling for what they provided at other people’s weddings, then make your final choice based on who you like the most and who seems like they will do the best job after going into what they offer with a fine tooth comb.

The candle manufacturers, like any good company, are never ones to turn down a new trend. The advent of unity candles into Protestant weddings some 30 or 40 years ago was just such a trend and today has become a booming business for the makers of all things waxy and flammable.

The act itself is packed with symbolism, the creation of a tradition that involves the entirety of both the bride and groom’s in-laws in the act of joining in matrimony. The mothers of both the Bride and Groom will light a candle, and depending on just how symbolic said families are, the grandparents might light those candles for the mothers. The Bride and Groom will then take their freshly lit candles and light the unity candle, a single flame between them to symbolize their union. It usually takes place after the vows are completed.

The origins of the unity candle are still fuzzy, as no one will own up to the initial introduction of the tradition. Born in America within the last 50 years or so, some believe it to have sprouted from the Catholic Church, although the rite itself is not permitted in Catholic weddings now as it’s not part of the wedding Mass.

Like Valentine’s Day and any other candy coated holiday that Hallmark invented, some even believe it to be the result of a marketing guru within the candle making companies themselves thinking of new ways to spread their product. The truth may never be known, but the history is entertaining nonetheless.

Some will even point to a particular wedding on General Hospital in 1981 in which the symbolic lighting was performed, but there are records of the Unity Candle being lit earlier than that in Protestant ceremonies. The appearance of the candle on a show like General Hospital no doubt didn’t work towards curbing the newly created tradition though.

As for the importance of the ceremony, it’s a symbolic show of unity under God, but also under the eyes of two families coming together. The use of a unity candle is just one more way to show visually how two people feel about each other on the most important day of their relationship. The candle itself means nothing, it’s the act with which it is lit, and that’s more than a good reason why the origin itself isn’t necessarily as important as the thought behind the act.

Guide to prenuptual agreements

A prenuptial agreement, antenuptial agreement, or premarital agreement, commonly abbreviated to prenup or prenupt, is a contract entered into prior to marriage or civil union by the people intending to marry. Usually a prenup provides for division of property and spousal support in the event of a divorce.

In theory, prenuptial agreements set out before marriage how the wealth and assets of both parties will be split in the event that the relationship goes pear-shaped further down the line.

Many countries, including Canada (Quebec), France, Italy, and Germany, have matrimonial regimes, in addition to, or some cases, in lieu of prenuptial agreements.

As of 2007, England and Wales do not enforce prenuptial agreements, but agreements may be upheld at the judge’s discretion. These countries also do not have a provision for marital regimes.  But this is all changing.  There has been a “sea change”

The Crossley case  in the UK now highlights the fact that premarital agreements are being recognised in the English courts and, if properly constituted, are difficult to wriggle out of.  In the past prenups were perhaps entered into in the hope, rather than belief, that they would be binding. Now they offer real protection.

Courts “are looking closely at prenuptial agreements and want good reasons — such as children or significant changes in a person’s circumstances — to depart from them”.

So who should go for a prenup? They are suitable for a wide range of people, including:-

• second-time rounders, in their forties and fifties, who want to provide fully for children of the first marriage and protect their own assets (sometimes against gold-digging former husbands when they meet someone wealthy)
• professionals, young City entrepreneurs in their twenties making money through work, skill and some luck 
• business men and women used to binding agreements in their working lives
• international clients used to prenups in their home jurisdiction
• gay and lesbian clients who may have cohabited for years and now enter civil partnerships
• and those not necessarily “mega-wealthy” who favours “self-determination” and taking control of how financial issues might be resolved on divorce.

Lord Justice Thorpe, giving judgment in the Crossley case, suggested that it was time to look at legislation to make them enforeceable in law, given the lack of a marital property regime in England as found on the Continent. 

With hundreds of millions of dollars at stake, Hollywood stars are not inclined to risk it all on what might be a very short and misguided marriage followed by a very expensive divorce.

Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas; Liz Taylor and Larry Fortensky, Jane Fonda and Ted Turner are just a few of the A-list couples who have demanded prenuptial contracts.

Of course it is not only Hollywood stars who need to think about prenuptial contracts – Paul McCartney and Heather Mills famously signed no prenuptial agreement and rumours are rife that this acrimonious split could potentially see Ms Mills walk away with over £100m from a court settlement.

In January 2008, the wedding of a billionaire’s daughter was called off at the last minute because of a change to the prenuptial agreement.

Miss Fisher, 28, is the lawyer-daughter of American hotel tycoon Jeff Fisher.  Mr Bailer, 33, is a Wall Street trader, wealthy in his own right, but not in the same league as Mr Fisher who last year sold his Innkeepers hotel chain for nearly £1 billion.  They had been dating for three years and engaged for 18 months.

The bride and groom along with 300 guests were left in limbo as the society wedding of the season ground to a halt.  In the end, the two families ended up having separate parties in adjoining hotels to ‘celebrate’ the wedding that never happened.

Late in the evening, the bride, Alexandra Fisher, put in a brief, tearful appearance among her family, dressed in black.  Meanwhile, the groom, Josh Bailer, glumly nursed a drink with his best man and his 80 guests.

Three days before the wedding, the couple happily signed a prenuptial contract in which it was agreed that if the marriage failed, both sides would walk away with no alimony payments.

But on the wedding day, Mr Bailer’s father, Joe, said Mr Fisher demanded that Josh sign a last-minute amendment agreeing to pay Alexandra alimony, no matter how much she inherits from her dad.

Joe Bailer, 65, said: “We’re middle-class people with middle-class values. We came to Palm Beach for what was supposed to be the best day in the lives of two human beings, and ended up with two full days of crass negotiations for a prenuptial agreement.

“It was like a business transaction. That attitude is foreign to us. There was such urgency on Fisher’s part, it bordered on desperation.”

So before you get married get up to date legal advice from a specialist family lawyer.  Get it all sorted and nailed down before last minute stress sets in. 

Most foreign couples getting married in France need to have a civil ceremony in their home country first and then their religious ceremony in France as the legal requirements for a civil wedding in France are exhaustive – 6 months (not 40 days as it was before thank you Sarkosy) residency requirement with proof of address and they now check it too.  Most guests at a french destination wedding do not even know that the ceremony is not a civil ceremony.  Sorting out a  pre-nup agreement before you leave home does not detract from a fairytale wedding in France.  If you are not mega wealthy you way want to consider a french wedding package at a romantic castle that will not break the bank.