How to Save Money on Church Decorations for Your Wedding

Fairytale weddings happen with the bride walking down a perfectly candlelit aisle surrounded by flowers and garland and the church decorated to the hilt. Well, Cinderella's wedding is probably not something that most modern day princesses can afford. If you want to cut a little bit of cost on your wedding, you might need to know how to save on church decorations.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Steps

Step One

Be basic. Even though our society says more is more, sometimes less is really more. Spend your budget and your time concentrating on the alter. That is where most of the eyes will be the whole time anyway. Besides lots of decorations will just detract from you anyway! It's your day, be the center of attention.

Step Two

Beg, borrow and steal. Well, maybe not steal, but borrowing is a good idea. Not only can you borrow some of the decorations from your friends and family, you might want to ask your church. Your church might have a secret stash of decorations that you can sift through and see what you can use. It is definitely cheaper than buying new.

Step Three

Be flexible. Be open to what you want as decorations. If you can only have navy blue candles with gold holders, chances are you will pay more for them. If you aren't as picky, you can save a bit of money.

Step Four

Watch for low prices. Use the Internet and local discount stores to search for the lowest prices on some of the items you want. Just shopping around will save you money.

Step Five

Be creative. Take some time to make your wedding different than anyone else's. Maybe just have some candles as the decorations. In the candlelight, the rest of the decorations couldn't really be seen anyway. Why would you waste money on them?

Step Six

Get crafty. Or better yet, get someone else to be crafty. Sometimes the best looking decorations are homemade. Make use of that craft lover you know and see what they can whip up.

Overall Tips & Warnings

• If you take your pictures in front of the altar, you can really concentrate your decorations in one place. It'll save time and money.
• Buy what you need on the off-season. Wedding season tends to be in June and July. If you know you are going to be getting married in a year, start shopping now. You can have more time to look things over and make sure you getting the lowest price.
• Keep a broad theme in mind. Even though you want all the decorations to be cohesive, be open-minded when it comes to what goes in that theme.
• Don't buy anything in the wedding aisle. Prices are jacked-up for wedding decorations, look in other places in the store and you could save some green.

By eHow Weddings Editor
Photo by www.pixcellence.co.uk

chinese wedding tea ceremony

The tea ceremony is the most significant event in a modern Chinese wedding.

The bride is formally introduced to the groom's family through the Chinese wedding tea ceremony. It will usually take place on the wedding day when most of the family members are present.

If some members are not available, supplementary sessions can be conducted at the wedding dinner or at other convenient times and locations.

When will you serve tea?

The tea ceremony for the groom's side is usually in the morning once the couple has settled down a bit in the bridal home.

Traditionally bride is fetched to the groom's home before daylight. If it is really too early and the groom's relatives have not arrived for the tea ceremony, the couple can have a short rest or an outdoor photo-session while waiting.

Tea ceremony for the relatives on the bride's side is usually held in the afternoon when the couple complete the "bride's home visit".

In some family, the bride (and some will choose to do so together with the groom) may serve her parents tea in the morning before she is married. When she returns for the bride's home visit, she is already a married woman.

Order of service, grandparents or parents first?

The order of service is usually

• parents,
• grandparents,
• grand-uncles and grand-aunties,
• uncles and aunties,
• elder brothers and sisters,
• elder cousins

However, there are also families that prefer to serve the grandparents tea before the parents.

Within each generation, father's relatives are served before mother's relatives.

Which tea set to use?

The tea set in the bride's dowry is used for the ceremony. The groom's sister or a relative will assist in pouring the tea and washing the cups.

To kneel or not to kneel?

In very traditional family, the young couple is required to serve tea while kneeling down. Most modern family only requires them to bow while serving tea.

Man on the left and Woman on the right, RIGHT?

The bride will stand to the right of the groom. The male elder being served will sit facing the bride. The female elder will sit facing the groom. The bride and groom will bow to the elders and greet them by their formal title in the family while serving them tea.

When do you serve an extra cup of tea?

If a living member of the elder couple is absent, the other will drink on behalf of the absent spouse. However, tea is not poured out for a deceased spouse.

Chinese Tea Ceremony gifts presentation

After drinking the tea, the tea ceremony gifts for the bride and groom will be presented on the serving plate.

The gifts are usually in the form of red packets or jewelery.

Some relatives prefer the bride and groom to wear the jewelery gifts immediately and will even put it on for them.

With generous relatives, you may look like a Christmas tree after the tea ceremony!

Unmarried elder siblings will not present the couple with gifts after drinking the tea. The bride and groom will present gifts to the younger siblings and cousins who serve them tea.

tips on throwing a great bachelorette party

• Arrange a designated driver, hire a limo, or call cabs. A DUI will ruin everything including the wedding.
• Call ahead to wherever you are going to request a nice table or special treatment. Most bars and clubs know that bachelorette parties are good customers and will do something nice for your group or the bride.
• Have a way to call attention to the bride. A bachelorette party veil, tiara or sash is a great choice. This is her big night, so all of the attention will make her feel special.
• Purchase patterns on bachelorette.com suggest that some peole want a clean party while other people want a filthy one. Rarely do the choices fall between the two. People want it either clean-clean or filthy-filthy. If the bride is pure, stay with a clean theme. If the bride isn't so pure, she'll probably get a kick out of being shocked.
• Mail out bachelorette party invitations in advance. That way you can get on everyone's calendar and no one important will miss the festivities. Invitations also really set the theme and get people excited about attending.

source: www.maidofhonoradvice.com, www.destination360.com