Your reception can cost an incredibly high amount of money. Trying to have the celebration of your dreams without spending as much as an expensive sports car sometimes feels nearly impossible. You’ve probably already thought of countless ways that you can lower your costs and may be feeling frustrated at the thought of having a wedding that is not what you dreamed about.

However, it’s all about finding the right balance. It’s not usually the best idea to buy the most costly items, and just as much a bad idea to purchase the cheapest items. What you need to do is find a happy medium. This can be a daunting task that can prove very difficult. Your reception needs to be high class. You don’t want to be using spare tires and dogs for decorations. It should give the impression that no expense was spared. The idea here is to have the nicest reception you can at the lowest overall cost to you.

Read more...

When it comes to choosing your wedding favours these days there are so many products on the market that it’s easy to find favours pertinent to you and your partner. Wedding favours are such an important part of your reception dcor and ambience so it’s important to give your choice some due care and attention.

Let us firstly clarify why wedding favours are given to guests. The giving of wedding favours is an ancient tradition and can be traced back to Italians and the French originally. A wedding favour is given to guests as a small token of appreciation to thank guests for their help in the run up to the big day and for attending the wedding itself. Many brides today feel it an unnecessary added expense given that guests are well watered, well fed and exceptionally well catered for at a weddings though it remains an important tradition and one that need not break the bank.

There are many ways in which the perfect wedding favours for the perfect couple can be found. For example, if your wedding is having a rustic, rural and organic theme, favours may come in the form of personalised seed-kits, bags of home made sweets or even bunches of dried lavender tied with organza ribbon to match other elements of the wedding.

Read more...

Planning on tying the knot next year? A new year means new ideas for wedding favors . This year promises to be full of both traditional and non-traditional weddings, and ideas for wedding favors will be needed for both types. Knowing what’s in style before you organize your wedding can help you choose the best favors for your wedding.

An old favorite, wedding box favors are making a comeback. Wedding box favors are versatile and cheap favors that work well for all types of weddings. Their gift-box appearance resembles a tiny present – which is exactly what they become when completed with candy or almonds.

Bigger than ever is the personalization of labels on bottles of water, wine, oil, and vinegar for a unique wedding favor idea. Nothing makes a wedding favor more special and memorable than your wedding date or name on your guests’ gifts. These also are very practical wedding favors.

If alcohol is sure to be a part of your wedding reception, make sure your guests do not leave without their own individual shot glasses. Small and conveniently priced, shot glasses make great keepsake wedding favors.

Read more...

Planning a wedding and designing your own wedding cake can present some very large obstacles that you may have to overcome. Luckily for you, choosing wedding cake toppers should not be one of them. If you are at the cake toppers step of your cake and wedding planning, take a look here to get a good idea about what is actually out there today!

There is one simple factor that you need to remember at all times prior and during shopping for these toppers. If your cake is set and ready to go with design and color then make sure that your cake topper will coincide with the cake. You might also want to make sure that certain colors and schemes work together as well. This will help to allow you to tie everything together in the room.

Those that are sticking to the traditional wedding will need to look at the traditional bride and groom wedding cake toppers. The bride and groom will have the traditional dress and there are little features and poses that you can look for. The bride and groom can be dancing or even kissing on top of your cake!

Read more...

The Theobroma Cacao or ‘the food of the Gods’ is what we all know as the cocoa tree. It’s origins can be traced back to South America’s rain forests, particularly to Central America, although historians are still at variance over certain facts surrounding this tree.

It is proposed that the Mayans first grew the cacao tree in 300 AD, although others point to flimsy evidence that it was grown or at least harvested in around 3,000 BC. The Aztecs also used the cacao, but from about 1100 AD.

The chocolate (drink) that we all know today was called ‘xocoatl’. It was a very special beverage that was made out of cacao, chilies, anise seed, vanilla, corn meal and some other spices. It is said that only royalty were permitted to drink it and then only from golden chalices, which were to be used for the purpose only once.

The cacao tree is very sensitive to its environment and it most frequently grows in the shade of the rain forest canopy. If only for this reason alone, chocolate lovers should join forces with the environmentalists to save the rain forests so that the cacaos will continue to exist.

Read more...