Do I have to give my guests favors?

This is a topic that many wedding industry experts will have differing opinions on but in my eyes, I do not think it is a necessity to have wedding favors. With that being said, there are many "activities" you could have on the day of the wedding that will act as a favor for your guests. If individual favors are not given, I do believe there should be something else there to represent your favor!

To start off, I always recommend a favor that can be used by your guests! Yes, cute little figurines may go with your theme and that is fine if you have the money in your budget to spend on them! They will surely add character to the wedding. But personally, I like when you can actually use the favor...and the most typical favor that will do that is food!!

We did a s'more bar as our wedding favor! We had individual boxes at each place setting that said "Sending S'More Love - June 1, 2013" - And inside were graham crackers, Hershey's, and marshmallows! Not only did this give each guest an individual favor, but added just a touch of color to our room to make it pop! We then had a s'more bar with burners and wooden sticks for guests to make their s'mores toward the end of the night!

This is just one idea that went along with our personalities and was a fun addition for our guests! Another popular idea is to have a candy buffet! You can include candy that matches your wedding colors, or just candy that the two of you love! Individual bags for guests to create their own candy favors allow them to have something to take home or eat that night...and it is especially fun for the kids :)

And the third favor that I always love is a photo booth! And the takeaway are the photo strips that guests are able to take home with them as a memory. This can also act as a duplicate for a guest book - just have guests glue a duplicate photo strip into your scrapbook and sign next to their photos!

All in all, I do think there should be something there to show your thanks for having guests be there to celebrate with you but it does not necessarily have to be an individual gift. Do something that represents the two of you and gives some fun and personality to your wedding day!

Your Ceremony Rehearsal

While all of you know that I would highly recommend hiring a coordinator, you may or may not have the
convenience of having your coordinator to run your rehearsal! And a rehearsal is 100% needed, whether it be at the actual ceremony site or in a parking lot near your house! In order for everything to run smoothly and exactly how you want it, it can't hurt to let everyone know where they're standing and what they're supposed to be doing! So if you are going to be running your rehearsal or just need to know what order to place everyone for your coordinator's reference, I am going to take you through that every step of the way!
 
A couple of tips to remind everyone before starting:

1. DO NOT lock your knees - Long story short, this can cause you to faint. So yes, you can straighten your legs during the ceremony but just make sure your wedding party knows to at least bend your knees and not keep them locked for the duration of the ceremony. 
2. Groomsmen need to leave the sunglasses behind - Of course this is up to you and what you would like your photos to look like, but if you don't want them to wear them, tell them at the rehearsal. 
3. Bridesmaids hold two hands on your bouquet and keep your thumbs at your belly button - For some reason, we tend to bring our shoulders up and raise our bouquets which does not make for flattering photos...floating head anyone??
4. And finally, what time and where are they going to be meeting on the day of the wedding?? - Make sure you drill this into their heads because there is nothing worse than a missing groomsman half an hour before your ceremony starts!

Alright, so now that we've gotten those important tid-bits out of the way, first start by lining everyone up the way you would like them to stand at your ceremony. 

Now we have everyone lined up so they all know where they will be standing during the ceremony. Make sure
the guys are all standing at a 45 degree angle facing inward toward the girls, and the girls are standing at a 45 degree angle facing the guys. Most likely, your bridesmaids will already be doing this before you tell them to and you will have to spend about 10 minutes making sure the guys look perfect, but that is beside the point ;)
         
Guys: Hands held in front of you - right hand grabbing the left wrist and a fisted left hand. You can tell them to put their hands behind their backs, in their pockets, or down to their sides but make sure you specify so
it looks uniform.      
Ladies: Bouquet held with two hands and thumb at your belly button.
Maid of Honor: Holding the bride's bouquet as soon as she is handed off to her soon-to-be husband and don't forget to give it back to her once she is pronounced a wife! She CANNOT walk down that aisle without that bouquet! Sound good?
Best Man: You are in charge of the rings...not the ring bearer! Yes, he will want to hold the rings so give him fake rings to carry own the aisle :)
Flower Girl and Ring Bearer: Now, what I generally suggest is to have them walk down the aisle and have their parents conveniently sitting in the first couple of rows on an end seat so they can sit
with them throughout the ceremony. What 3-year-old is going to be able to stand through even a 20 minute ceremony? I have yet to find one! In this case, they will not take part in the recessional at the end of the ceremony. If you would like them to stand up with the rest of the wedding party, they can either stand on the ends (as shown above) or in between the Maid of Honor and Bridesmaid 2/Best Man and Groomsman 2.
Bride and Groom: You have it easy - just do what  the officiant tells you to do. He will take you step-by-step through the ceremony. "Now face each other and hold hands." "Please face me." "You may now kiss your
bride." :) ....and if you didn't know already, that last one is your cue that the ceremony is coming to a close and you are now a Mrs.!!! Crazy, huh?
 
We made it through the hard part! Woohoo!! And no, I have not forgotten about your parents and grandparents. They get this stuff a lot more quickly than the rest of the bunch so we're
saving them for last!

Now it is time to show your bridal party what to do for the recessional. And this is super easy - all you
have to say is "Follow the leader." 

THE RECESSIONAL

Here is the order in which everyone will walk (men making a fist with their right hand and holding the fist at their hip bone, ladies holding the bouquet in their right hand with their thumb at their belly button and linking onto their corresponding man's arm)
 
Bride and Groom
Maid of Honor and Best Man 
Bridesmaid 2 and Groomsman 2
Bridesmaid 3 and Groomsman 3
Bridesmaid 4 and Groomsman 4
Flower Girl and Ring Bearer (if they stood at the ceremony)
Bride's Father and Mother
Groom's Father and Mother
Bride's Grandparents
Groom's Grandparents
Officiant

THE PROCESSIONAL

Alright so now that we made
it through that, the recessional will be a breeze! Now there are many ways
to do your processional but I will demonstrate one where the guys and girls will
be walking alone. So here is the order (which depends on how you are formatting
it, but just one example!)



Officiant
Groom's Grandparents
Bride's Grandparents
Groom's Parents
Bride's Mom with Escort

(all men walk around the side of the ceremony site, not down the aisle)
Groom
Best Man
Groomsman 2
Groomsman 3
Groomsman 4

Bridesmaid 4
Bridesmaid 3
Bridesmaid 2
Maid of Honor

Flower Girl & Ring Bearer (generally walk together if they are young)

Bride and her Father (or whoever will be walking her down the aisle)

Now, there are so many ways you can do this and there really is not right or wrong way. Some variations
include:
 
    - Groomsmen walking in before parents and grandparent
    - Groomsmen escorting bridesmaids to their places (exact opposite of recessional order)
    - Various religions have different processional and recessional orders
 
No matter what, it is your ceremony and you may set the order however you would like! 

Now it does get a little complicated when you get into step parents but just remember, great grandparents
first, grandparents next, parents next and always have the groom's family go first in comparison to the bride's (ie groom parents then bride parents). 

*If you are part of the groom's family, the woman will walk on the right side and if you are part of the bride's family, the woman will be on the left of the man.
 **The Bride's side is the left (if you are facing the altar) and the Groom's side is on the right! But in my eyes, we are all family at this point so who cares :)

I know I just swarmed you with a ton of information but if worse comes to worse, make it up and stick to your plan! Email me if you have any specific questions and I would be glad to put together your processional and recessional orders for you! Until next time!!

Ceremony Rituals

Happy Monday all of my lovely brides! Sorry it has been a while since my last post but I am back up and running!! Today I am going to share some rituals you can do at your wedding ceremony! Not only are they fun and add a bit of creativity to the wedding, but when you really know their significance, they are very meaningful for the two of you and allow you to have keepsake to remember the vows you took to each other!

Sand Ceremony

"Your union will now be symbolized through the pouring of these two individual containers of sand. Each color  represents you, (names of bride and groom), and all that you were, all that you are, and all that you will ever be before this union.  As your individual sands come together  it reminds us that  “neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord”.  I ask now that you each take your sand and pour them into the one vase." (the sand is now poured).

 While the sand is being poured, the officiant says, "(names of bride and groom),  while it’s important that you both maintain your individuality, it is our hope that you will become as inseparable as these grains of sand, and always find yourselves to be one in love, commitment and  joy."

 “___________________ and ________________  the two lighted candies symbolize your separate lives, your separate families and your separate sets of friends. I ask that you each take one candle and that together you light the center candle. The individual candies represent your individual lives before today. Lighting the center candle represents that your  two lives are now joined to one light, and represents the joining together of  your two families and sets of friends to one.”
http://www.vowsoftheheart.com/ceramonies/unity-candle-wedding-ceremony/ 
http://www.sayanythingceramics.com/sand-ceremony-wording.php

Unity Candle

“___________________ and ________________ the two lighted candies symbolize your separate lives, your separate families and your separate sets of friends. I ask that you each take one candle and that together you light the center candle. The individual candies represent your individual lives before today. Lighting the center candle represents that your two lives are now joined to one light, and represents the joining together of  your two families and sets of friends to one.”
 http://www.vowsoftheheart.com/ceramonies/unity-candle-wedding-ceremony/

Wine Box Ceremony

This is one that my husband and I decided to do for our ceremony (middle photo)! There are different ways to do it - one being to open it up during your first big fight and the other to open it up on an anniversary - but either way you can change the wording to depict that! And for the more rustic-themed weddings, I would recommend nailing a box shut as shown above! It just brings in your overall theme a little more :)

"_______ and  _______ have written very personal and intimate love letters to one another, expressing all the reasons why they love with one another, and the reason they  are choosing to spend the rest of their lives together. Neither of them have  read these love letters to anyone, not even to each other. I ask now that each  of you place your love letters into the wine box with the bottle of wine you 
have selected and seal the box.

 _________  and ______ if you should ever find a time in your marriage where you seem to  have encountered an insurmountable hardship, I ask that you together open the  wine box, pour yourself a glass of wine and separate into a private room and  open the love letter that was written for you. The hope is, that in that moment , it will bring you back to this moment. You will be able to reflect upon all  the reasons why you fell in love and why you choose to spend the rest of your lives together.

It is also  the hope that you will never find a reason to open this box, and if that is the case, on your 10 year wedding anniversary your are to open your wine box enjoy your wine and share your sweet love letters in celebration."

Paint Ceremony

"Taylor and Aaron each have a color of paint that represents them. As Taylor and Aaron blend their individual colors on the canvas, they create a work of art and a new color representing their being joined as one today. The painting is as unique and original as their relationship and would be incomplete if they did not paint it
together"

http://www.weddingchicks.com/2013/02/28/eco-friendly-la-wedding-venue/

Tying the Knot

"Officiant: (Bride) and (Groom), you have just sealed your relationship by the giving and receiving
of rings. Today this relationship is further symbolized by the tying of a lover’s knot.
At this time, I invite (Bride) and (Groom)'s mothers to come forward to represent their respective families. These families have raised and nurtured this man and this woman and helped them become the person each holds most dear. It is right and fitting to acknowledge that now these two
previously separate circles of love are being united in a new and wider circle.
____, please drape the cord over your son's wrist. It represents the wishes and blessings your family bestows upon your child, all that he is now and all he may become.

____, please drape the cord over your daughter's wrist. This cord represents the wishes and blessings your family bestows upon your child, all she is now and all she may become.

____ and ____ please tie these cords over your children's hands as a visual symbol of the joining of your two families through their hearts, bodies and souls. May their marriage endure in faith and fidelity knowing they have the blessing and support of the families that gave them life, hope and love.
(Bride) and (Groom), woven into this cord, within its very fibers, are all your hopes and dreams. With the fastening of this knot I secure the love and happiness wished here on this day for your new life together. May this cord draw your hands together in love, never to be used in anger. May the pledges you have made never grow bitter in your hearts. Two entwined in love, bound by all which brings strength to this
union. Hold tight to one another through both good times and bad, and watch as your strength grows. Your bond is not formed of the knots of this cord, but instead by your pledges to one another. May your bond never be broken." 
http://www.brevardminister.com/1/post/2012/09/a-ritual-of-unity-the-knot-ceremony.html

Communion

This is a ceremony for those of you who are religious and is not to be used just for fun. Depending on your denomination, your minister/pastor will have wording that best depicts your personal beliefs and brings them into this beautiful ceremony. 
 
Generally, only the bride and groom will take communion unless you are willing to add a great deal of time to your ceremony. Again, this is all up to you and your personal beliefs!

For some other fun (and some a bit quirky) ceremony ideas, visit Off Beat Bride!