Additions to your Non-Traditional Day
Your wedding planning experience will vary depending on the budget and look and feel you’re going for on your big day. While most brides will choose something elegant, understated, and refined (probably something with soft lighting, a plated dinner, and white branches), there are always a handful of brides who will scoff at such a venture and opt instead for a bouncy house. This is for those brides.
The “wedding experience” is not universal, and nowhere is it written in stone that you must conform to a certain set of standards for your event to count as a wedding. Do you want your guests to kick off their shoes and dance barefoot in the grass? Do you want orange dreamsicles instead of a fancy cake? Do you want the youngest members of your family to have as much fun as the oldest? Cool. Here are a couple of ideas for your awesome wedding:
A Bouncy House!
A bounce house is a colorful air-filled palace of joy and bruising. As long as all kids are properly supervised (and you make it clear that there will be no lifeguard on duty during the reception), there’s no reason why a bounce house couldn’t be a great addition to your reception. Obviously, this venture is best suited to outdoor weddings, but you’ll be amazed how fast your guests turn into 5-year-olds as soon as the thing is inflated. The pictures you’ll get due to the goings-on of the bounce house will be worth every penny you drop on the house (and, by the way, the pennies will be much fewer than other wedding staples, such as a photo booth).
Crayons!
For the brides who still ask for the kids menu due to the many coloring opportunities, this option might quicken your pulse. Forget fancy (and expensive) linens for butcher paper and small buckets of crayons at each table and watch your guests glue their noses to the table as they try to beat their neighbor at tick-tack-toe or doodle all through the night. Brides with more traditional weddings can pull this off too, though you might restrict it to the kids table or opt for fancier buckets.
If you’re going for a casual wedding where crayons and a bounce house won’t be out of place, just make sure you warn your guests on your invitation or save-the-date. You don’t have to spell it out for them, but the style of the stationary and accompanying casual pictorials can be helpful.
Tips for Writing Wedding Vows

Nothing is more adorable than a quick anecdote during a couple’s wedding vows. It says what you love about each other without leaving you stuck with the word “love” a thousand times. Everyone knows you’re in love; you don’t need to tell them over and over. Instead, show them with a story that represents your personalities and why you want to spend the rest of your lives together. Stories also help to avoid repetition. This story-centric way of writing is also helpful if you’re thinking about adding a list of promises to your vows. Be specific in your promises, and remember that humor is always welcome! Short and Sweet
Short vows are sweet vows. Of course, if you’re having a Catholic ceremony or some other lengthy religious service, this obviously isn’t an option. Lucky for you, your vows are already written in stone. For the rest of us, simplicity and brevity can be very important. The longer you talk, the less emphatic your vows tend to be. Keep it short as you’re sharing your love with the world – you have the rest of your life to say what you couldn’t fit onto that index card. Avoid Quoting
There’s nothing wrong with including a song lyric that has some special meaning to you and your sweetie, but compiling your vows of nothing but snippets from “The Vow” or “27 Dresses” makes those sentiments someone else’s, not yours. You want to express your feelings to the love of your life, not somebody else’s. No one is expecting you to turn into Shakespeare when you open your mouth at the altar, so don’t be so worried about your linguistic prowess. Just say what you feel in whatever words you have.

"Do Over" Weddings

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Don’t Lie.
If you’re having a ceremony and a reception in the weeks and months following your vows, it isn’t technically a wedding. In the interest of clarity, “Vow Renewal” is more in-line with what you’re doing. If you’re skipping the ceremony and going straight to the reception, make sure you include that you’ve already gotten married and this is just a belated party. Everyone will be excited to celebrate with you, but if you try to keep your earlier wedding a secret, you could hurt some feelings and leave others assuming that you’re grabbing for extra gifts. -
Skip the Pre-Wedding Parties.
Vow Renewals don’t usually come with bridal showers, bachelorette bashes and engagement brunches. They all operate under the pretext that you’re still a bachelorette, still just engaged, or are not yet a bride. Remember - they aren’t really “pre-wedding” anymore.
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Don’t use the phrase “Real Wedding.”
Even “Do-Over” leaves a bad taste in my mouth. You’ve gotten married, and a party doesn’t validate it any further. One wedding isn’t more “real” than the other because one bride is wearing cotoure mermaid gown and the other is wearing yoga pants in a courthouse. Celebrate your marriage because you want to have a party with your friends and family, not because you don’t think it will “count” until there’s a guest list of over 50.
Add a Wedding Picture Frame to your House
Wedding Picture Frame: The Perfect Gift
Wedding Picture Frame

Treat Yourself (Or Others!) with Honeymoon Accessories
Honeymoon Accessories Make Great Gifts
Honeymoon Accessories
Whether you’re trying to decide what gifts would work well for a couple about to embark on a honeymoon or you’re packing your bags yourself, honeymoon accessories are a fun way to personalize and enjoy a first vacation as a married couple. Honeymoon accessories range from the fun and frivolous to the elegant and essential, but one thing is always for sure when deciding on what honeymoon accessories to include for your big trip: the more the merrier. If you’re thinking about purchasing some honeymoon accessories for the new couple in your life, remember that they probably won’t have many of the essentials many more established couples have. If you’re sending them their honeymoon accessories well ahead of time, matching luggage is a luxury most couples don’t consider for their registry. Honeymoon accessories don’t have to be just the finest things in life, either. Even just a personalized cooler or a tote for beach trips will brighten any new couple’s day. If you’re planning for your own trip and you’re wondering which honeymoon accessories you will need to add to your checklist, consider little things that will keep the two of you happy and entertained on your voyage. How about Frisbees? Bath salts? Fancy soaps? Many couples like to tote around “Just Married” car and window clings to let the world know just why they’re sharing kisses and rubbing noses so frequently. Let the world know you’re on the adventure of a lifetime with honeymoon accessories!Sending out your Save the Dates
Save the Dates: The Sooner the Better!
Save the Dates
Wedding invitations and thank you notes aren’t the only bit of wedding stationary you will have to worry about if you’re in the planning stages for your wedding. Wedding etiquette suggests that save the dates are a great idea if you want to help your guests plan for your big day. Save the dates aren’t as formal as your wedding invitations (only one envelope required!), and they’re much simpler. Save the Dates should be sent as soon as possible (six to eight months in advance if you’ve got the time), and they allow your guests to make travel plans and mark their calendars before other events and obligations get in the way. Save the dates are really helpful if you’re planning on getting married during a high-travel season (such as the beginning of summer or over a holiday weekend).
Finding your Man an Engagement Ring



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