April

The Perfect Tea Party Tea Parties are fun to plan.  A hall that can seat your desired number of guests is required to be secured months ahead of time.  Best places to book are through your local historical society.  Try to find a museum, bed and breakfast or old Victorian home to set your scene.  Insurances and deposits are required.  If arranging through a historical location sometimes a donation toward the society is all you need to "rent" the space.  Be sure to investigate the type of exhibit on display during the time frame of your event so that you can incorporate it into your tea.  The establishment may also offer a tour as part of your event.  See if your location will provide helpers dressed in Victorian attire or secure costumes for your servers for more authenticity.    An invitation sets the tone of your event.  Invitations cut out as a tea cups or Victorian floral designs are available from most invitation suppliers.  Be sure to include how you want your guests to dress on the invitation, as well as any associated costs and if guests are welcome.  Be sure to limit your guest list to your space size.  Popular ladies' teas request that you come appropriately attired in a dress and hat.  You may also request that your attendees wear white gloves.  Flowers make any ensemble more festive whether it is floral print clothes or an added flower pin to your lapel or handbag.  Tea as a unique Bridal Shower idea, Mother/daughter teas and children's teddy bear teas are also very trendy themes.    In preparing your space for the event, eight top tables make for an intimate setting.  White or pastel color linen table cloths, chair covers, a floral centerpiece (such as flower arrangement made in a tea pot) and the perfect place setting is key.  A small cake or luncheon plate, a spoon, folded linen napkin, party favor and of course a china tea cup and saucer needs to be at each seat.  Tea accompaniments including cream,  lemon wedges and tiny sugar cubes with tongs should be available at each table along with a tray of cookies or an assorted finger sandwich platter.  There are many recipes available in books and online for the perfect tea party finger sandwiches.  Popular varieties include cucumber sandwiches, specialty jellies and jams on bread and sandwich salads such as egg and ham salad.  Your sweets platter can also include scones and mini pastries.  If the table is too wide, be sure to place two sets of everything so that reaching over the table does not become a messy issue for your guests.   When your guests arrive, they should be greeted with an atmosphere fragrant with flowers and the smell of delicious treats.  A costumed greeter should direct the guests to a table where they sign an elegant guest book, pick up their placecard and direct them to their assigned table.  Victorian era music or music from a live piano player should be softly heard the background.  Social interaction is the purpose of this event.  Encourage your guests to mingle and show off their fancy attire.   Guests may feel uncomfortable with the traditions of taking tea so making them feel welcome and educating them about a tea is paramount.  During the event a brief lecture prepared by the host or a person skilled in the art of serving tea should be made.  In addition to being an ice breaker, it should explain basic dos and don'ts of a proper tea.  As we are a nation not accustomed to teas, a simple explanation would be welcome to your guests.  Tea history, differentiation of a high tea and regular tea and tips such as where you place your napkin when you leave your seat may be interesting to your guests as well as appreciated advice.    A gloved server needs to come around table to table to pour the tea.  As there are so many tea flavors available, the host needs to decide ahead of time what type(s) to serve.  Hot water may be poured and the guest select their own flavor from tea bag selections provided or the tea may already have been brewed and ready to pour.  A refilled tea pot gets placed back on the table for guests to serve their own should they desire seconds.  Apple juice can be substituted for children or guests who may not want tea.  Following the proper protocol reviewed and taking dainty bites is important during the tea.   Be sure each guest leaves with a party favor which was part of the original place setting when the guest arrived.  Elegant suggestions include a small floral nosegay, bookmark commemorating the event, a custom made pin, boxed pen or a simple box filled with a trinket, mints, chocolates or candies wrapped in floral print paper and tied with a bow.  Teas depending on your purpose and provided entertainment are usually a short event lasting from one to two hours.   Places where promotional products branded with the host's logo would work best include:  on the invitations, envelope embellishments such as wax seals, custom imprinted tea bags and sugars, cloth or paper napkins, imprinted favor and decorating ribbons, teddy bears, hand sanitizer, floral picks, and of course the favors listed above all which can all be found at http://sandscripts.logomall.com   Custom imprinted folding hand fans http://www.sandscripts.com/catalog/promotions/custom_folding_fans.html  Suzanne Shea, May 8th, 2007

Trendy New Unity Set for Your Wedding Ceremony by: sandscripts The wedding concept of "Two becoming one" is now visually represented at marriages as a work of art by the use of clear glass vases and color sand. This new trend is great for marriage participants looking for an alternative to the unity candle set. Instead of uniting two smaller separate flames into one large candle, this trendy option unites color sand from each marriage participant's smaller vase into one beautiful sand art sculpture. The wonderful attribute regarding this method is that all family members can participate in the creation of the large sand masterpiece. The large center collection vase can be simple or ornate, monogrammed or blank. The smaller vases are filled for each family member who is participating in this simple beautiful memory creating ceremony. This hot new trend is a fabulous way to incorporate children into the wedding ceremony of their parents. Sand is available in many colors so participants can create a colorful display which represents the blending and unification of the two families. Couples can use this personalize this concept as they would like to create their own unique token of their special event. Another suggestion is that the smaller vases can also hold stems of flowers that when added together to the center vase during the ceremony become a gorgeous colorful bouquet. The use of sand however creates an everlasting keepsake of that magical day. Unity Sand Ceremony Sets also make an excellent Engagement or Shower gift. FIND THIS PRODUCT and MORE AT: Sand Scripts and Sand Scripts' Wedding Star

Memorable Wedding Favors by Paul Darch There are many ways to welcome your guests and show your appreciate their attendance. If the whole wedding party stays in one place, prepare a small treat and leave it at the front desk, so that people receive the gifts when they check in. If people are in various places before your reception, have the caterer place the wedding favor on the place settings. Your wedding day favors should be as elegant and unique as you are. They can range from elegant bridal accessories, personalized engraved gifts, distinctive apparel and extraordinary favors, to make every detail of your wedding day unique and memorable. The average wedding lasts about four hours which doesn't leave couples much time to spend with their guests, many of whom may have flown in from across the country to help celebrate the big bash. So, choosing the essential wedding favors and wedding party gifts should be fun to create a lasting memory forever. Two to four months before your special day, you should choose your gifts for the Maid of Honor, Best Man and other Attendants. The bride is responsible for gifts for her bridesmaids, which need not be expensive but should serve as a token for friendship, and as a remembrance of the wedding. A picture frame engraved with the date of the wedding, with a photo of the wedding party to follow or small pieces of jewelry are very nice gifts. Personalized gifts are always the best and traditional always works to provide the most unique and elegant wedding party ideas ever. Also the groom should not forget the groomsmen. He also, of course, pays for his gifts to his groomsmen which might be something traditional such as a money clip, tie tack or cigar cutter. As with the bride's gifts to her bridesmaids, the most important thing is not the item itself, but the fact that it will remind the groom's friends of the happy day. Surely you don't want a "cookie-cutter" wedding reception that could be anyone's. You want your guests to know that you thought about the details and chose elements that are special to you and your groom. You can personalize just about every aspect of your wedding day and your reception is no exception, so choose wedding favors that are unique, elegant and memorable and most of all, special to you. Have gifts engraved with your personal touch. You are only limited by your imagination. You've planned for months, the people closest to you and your new husband are all in one place, and you've chosen a great meal to enjoy with great entertainment to follow. Your only job at your wedding reception is to smile, relax and have fun. Enjoy the party and we hope that you are the icing on the cake! Enjoy the planning process and remember the famous quote from Walt Disney, the man who knows how to bring fantasies to life, "If you can dream it, you can do it". Essential Wedding Favors is a company founded by Paul Darch and Tracey Spencer in 2006. Wanting to provide a bride and groom a source to find as much information about planning their wedding, inspired them to create a website dedicated to just that. http://www.essentialweddingfavors.com Article Directory: Article Dashboard

Create A Wedding Website Easily And Quickly by IPRWire Staff Writer -      Would you like to create a wedding website that will amaze and please your family and friends? At one time, this was a fairly complicated endeavor for most couples. In addition to having to know the coding language, they also had to know about graphic design and how to upload and maintain the files and pages, as well as handle a host of other issues. For many couples this was simply too much work and it took too much time. Of course, if they had the money they could hire someone to create a wedding website for them, but that often cost too much for the average working couple and did not address the issue of who would maintain the site once it was up and running. It is no wonder that so few couples were able to take advantage of this great idea. But that has all changed now. With advances in technology and with online companies who specialize in these types of projects, just about anyone can afford a fantastic site to showcase their happy event. One reason the prices have come down so much is that couples can now do much of the fine-tuning work themselves. Generally, a service will allow the couple to pick out the templates that they want to use, which saves the couple from having to hire a designer. These services also provide intuitive tools to easily customize the templates to fit their individual taste and personality. The couples get end results that are both professional and uniquely theirs…in minutes! In addition to the main pages, many of these service companies will also have templates that cover the vast majority of special needs for couples planning to marry. These might include such things as guest books, invitations, map pages containing directions to locations, gift registry pages, and even photo galleries for still photos and multimedia files. Because the majority of the hard work has already been done, the couple simply uploads what they want to share with others and can modify the pages as they see fit. It has become a very easy and simple process. In fact, it has never been easier to create a wedding website as it is today.  WedShare was founded in 2004, and is steadily becoming a leading online wedding planning resource and for more information on creating a wedding website visit wedshare.com. Article Directory: Article Dashboard

The Perfect Wedding Favor by steve1 The perfect wedding favor captures that special moment. You want it to make people remember that day every time they look at it. There are three great ways to so. One is to to make that favor unique. It should stand out in peoples' mind and bring them back to that special day. The favor should trigger a rememberance every time it is looked at. The second way is to personalize the favor with the wedding date an names of the bride and groom. The third way, and what I feel is the most important way, is to make the favor useable(something that will not get thrown away.) The favor that gets used(over time) will make people remember that wedding day and will be used as a keep sake. This is much better than the average favor that you see getting left on the table or thrown away. The personalizing will also trigger peoples minds to remember the date and the names. This is important because after time, the memory of that day starts to fade and with the names and the date on the wedding favor, it's a great trigger to make people remember the wedding day. By making the favor unique, it automatically stands out. It's different from others so it will be remembered longer. It will stand apart from the "normal" or "average" favor. This way, when looked at, it will spark rememberance of that specail day. Remember to have fun and enjoy that special day! http://www.silvercitycandle.com/wedding/index.htm http://www.silvercitycandle.com http://www.articledashboard.com/rss/Weddings/222 Article Directory: Article Dashboard