Pocket Square How-To

Start with a handkerchief that is 15 inches square. For best results, iron it just before folding.  The thicker the fabric, the more billowy your finished pocket square will be. For silk squares, aim for a puffy look. Linen and cotton fabrics will result in a crisper fold.

1. Lay the square flat with the right side down. Fold the square in half by bringing the top point down to meet the bottom point, so it forms a triangle.
2. Fold the left point of the triangle down so it meets the bottom point.
3. Fold the right side down in the same manner.
4. Fold the left point of the diamond shape over so that the point touches the middle of the folded fabric.
5. Fold the right point over to the middle in the same way.
6. Fold the bottom point up to cover the other points by about an inch, hold in place so it doesn’t unfold, and carefully tuck the folded handkerchief into the left-side jacket pocket, exposing about 3 inches of your lovely pocket square!

Viola!

Choice, the leading consumer advocacy group in Australia, investigated whether higher quotes do indeed go hand in hand with the W-word. (But such things go on everywhere, including the US and UK…)

The Experiment:

Businesses were selected in Melbourne and Sydney to provide a good cross-section of suburbs and demographics. To see if the W-word would make a distinct difference in prices our two shadow shoppers contacted 60 businesses  – 30 in each city – and each was contacted twice, once by our bride and once by the birthday girl.

• Florists were asked to provide quotes on flowers to decorate the venue only – no bridal bouquets were requested.
• The photographer was told they were only needed for the reception and not the ceremony, as this was being done by a friend.
• For the cake, flowers and car enquiries, the birthday shopper used the same details confirmed for the wedding scenario.

Wedding enquiries were conducted first. Our prospective bride made a phone call to ask about pricing and request a quote. Once this enquiry was completed, the second shopper called the same business with exactly the same request, but claimed the event was a 40th birthday. The second call was made approximately one week after the first call.

The Results:

As suspected – more than half the wedding suppliers approached by the shadow shoppers quoted a higher price for the bride than the birthday girl.

To be fair, we’ll tell you why this is so from the vendors’ perspective first. John O’Meara, Chairman of the Australia Bridal Industry Association, justifies charging a price premium in some cases. Because a wedding is a “once in a lifetime” occasion, brides and grooms can often be very demanding and high-maintenance customers. In many cases, they have much higher expectations than another customer. These vendors fell that they have to work extra hard to make the client happy, and are inclined to charge extra.

On the other hand, shoppers are often directed to pricey “wedding packages” that include a lot of unnecessary extras, and don’t allow for individual requirements. The bottom line is that if you don’t want to pay more than a service is worth, it’s important to shop around.  Don’t be afraid to ask questions, to find out why they are quoting the price that they do, and sometimes it’s even OK to haggle!  If you think it’s fair, you can ask about hour rates or quotes for certain services, and only after receiving a figure, mention that you’re planning a wedding.

For example, 7 out of 10 car hire companies quoted more for the wedding than for the birthday.  Some photographers quoted up to 150% more for the wedding than the birthday, only offering expensive all-day rates. On the other hand, of the 10 florists, half quoted more for the wedding while the other half quoted more for the birthday! Again, it does pay to shop around, especially for services that you should be paying for by the hour.

A true story:

George Paul called the venue he was interested in to get quotes for his wedding, describing the event as a birthday party. He says organizers were fine with the requests and sent him a quote. Later, when confessing he and his partner planned to marry on the day, he says the staff went into in a flap, claiming a wedding required a different menu because there were “different packages for weddings”. When asked why, the response was “that’s just the way we do it.”

When George checked the wedding package, the quote was about 60% more than the original for the same venue, drinks and a slightly different menu. “I told them I only wanted to pay for the birthday package they originally provided. Once they recognized they’d been caught out, they agreed to let me have the wedding there at the price I was originally quoted, no extra cost.”

After Choice published these findings, they realized that this is a hot topic among consumers, industry experts and media.  They invited some of Australia’s most influential wedding suppliers and lifestyle, food and consumer bloggers to weigh in on the debate in a roundtable discussion.  Here are some interesting insights into the many complex views on this issue and its potential impact on both the consumer and supplier.

Expert Advice for Consumers
• Come prepared with a budget outline
• Ask as many questions as you can of your supplier so that you receive the level of service you’re expecting
• Ask exactly what you get for your money and what are the extra charges, if any
• Be transparent and say it’s for a wedding. This will help the supplier to understand what extra work is going to be required
• Research supplier reputation: Websites, forums, social media and through word of mouth
• Always have a one-on-one consultation with your supplier to make sure you get along with them
• Don’t be pressured into packages and when offered, make sure you ask about flexibility
• You might be working with these people for 18 months or longer, so make sure the relationship remains healthy and open

Want to read more? Check out Choice’s article: Weddings – At What Price via Polka Dot Bride

This “Wedding Flowers” video will make you chuckle and cringe at the same time:

feature photo credit

Check out this great 3-minute video:

feature image by Anne Ruthmann via Polka Dot Bride

Why does it happen, and is anyone safe from this frightening condition called marriage?

I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you how life changes just a bit after marriage. Maybe you’re spending more time cuddling on the couch eating ice cream with your honey than you used to. Maybe the time you devote to family and housekeeping has robbed you of the hours you used to spend at the gym. Maybe you are not as concerned about a few extra pounds, now that you are a comfortable, happily married woman (or man).  Or maybe the added stress of marriage (the first year can be particularly challenging for some) is driving you to seek solace in the pantry.

Oh ya, one more thing: Guys, as a general rule, eat a lot more than girls, so when you’re cooking for him and eating meals together, you are probably consuming a lot more than you used to!

But whatever the reason, there’s no need to let the “love chub” take over.

I”m afraid I have no magic formula for keeping the pounds away. It’s the same answer you’ll find any time the question is asked: How do I loose weight? Eat right, and exercise. There are no shortcuts, but if your spouse is willing to partner with you, staying fit might be more fun than it used to be!

Want to hear how other couples decided to get back into pre-wedding shape? Read ???Will Marriage Make You Fat? How to Avoid the “Love Chub” Trap.

Feature image credit

These glass candle holders are actually a DIY product! To re-create the beauty of etching, all you need is a rubber stamp, white ink, and glass candleholders (frosted glass holds ink best). Buy stamps with images that match your theme (one stamp can form a single motif or an allover pattern0 or have an office supply store custom designed stamps with images such as your monogram. Carefully roll the stamp from side to side, and allow a day or two for ink to fully dry.

Guest Gifts that Grow:

For a country or casual wedding, centerpieces consist of sweet clusters of potted zinnias, with a sign telling guests to “Please pick one.” The pots are painted with acrylic paint to match the flowers. Glassine bags full of seeds are attached to each place cards with directions for planting printed inside.

Here’s an idea for unique, old-fashioned charm! Biscuit and tea tins, with their beautiful lettering and designs, are inexpensive and easy to find at specialty-food stores, tag sales, and online auctions. Test tins to see if they’re watertight before filling with flower arrangements. If any do leak, use plastic bags as liners.

Edible Guest Gifts:

These little champagne-bubble candy favors are  elegantly dressed up in crepe paper and monogrammed stickers. And would you guess that the flower centerpieces are made of crepe-paper too?

Cute boxes assembled in the shape of a three-tier layer cake… what could possibly be inside? Cake, of course! Slices of the groom’s cake, to be exact, all ready for the guests to take home.  The pretty flower touches are ranunculuses, sweet peas, hyancinths, and lilies of the valley.

I just love the centerpieces in this rustic Italian display! The ripe, juicy tomatoes symbolize abundance and fertility — and make luscious favors.

A similar idea is to fill Nantucket baskets in various sizes with warm-toned fruits: pears, apricots, and apples. Small baskets laden with blond cherries are arranged at place settings for guests to take home. Instant mouth-watering, rustic charm!

Who is right? The bride or the unhappy groomsman’s wife?

While we totally understand wanting to sit with your husband at a wedding, according to traditional wedding etiquette, the bride is doing nothing wrong. At least in the U.S., the people will sit at the head table are the bride and groom and their attendants (maid of honor, best man, bridesmaids, groomsmen/ushers). Even the bride’s parents and grandparents sit at a nearby table and not at the head table!

In the end of the day, it’s just one dinner that you have to sit through without your spouse/mom/favorite cousin (and there’s plenty of time to mingle, dance, and celebrate besides for the sit-down dinner).

This is, of course, if you plan on being traditional. If you want to have your parents sit with you, or accommodate anyone else who you’re close with, or who’s feelings might be hurt, you can feel free to arrange your head table any way you want to. Or you can forget about a head table altogether, and group your bridal party, friends, and family members at tables where they’d be most comfortable!

Good luck and happy planning!

Feature image credit

Sunny Yellow & Blue Invitation from Martha Stewart Weddings

*

*

*

*

Scrolled Romance via Wedding Channel:

Japanese Textile invitations by via Martha Stewart:

Chewing the Cud via Style Me Pretty

Passion Hearts via Wedding Channel:

Daisy Dreams Design:

Circles and Flowers via Wedding Channel:

Griffin-vites Stationery via Style Me Pretty:

Updated Bridal Couple via Wedding Channel:

Playful invitations by enormouschampion.com via Martha Stewart:

Delicate Damask via Wedding Channel:

Laser cut inviations by Ceci New York via Martha Stewart:

b

Brides.com takes a look at some bouquet shapes that are “equally lovely, but far less predictable.” And I can’t get enough of them! (Which is why, five-and-a-half years ago, I carried one of these down the isle myself!)

Feature image: Your Special Flowers.com

*

That’s right, who said a bride’s bouquet has to be any sort of shape at all?  This free-falling bouquet allows for a fluid, just-threw-this-together arrangement in which the flowers and greenery are longer and more abundant on one side than the other.

Bouquet of garden snow roses, mini hosta leaves, hellebores, Eucharist lilies, calla lilies, and wire vine by Bridget Vizoso of The Designers’ Co-Op, via Brides.com

I came across a blog post called “Power of Purchases” at 59 Seconds that got me thinking about creating a wedding people will always remember. Here’s what he has to say:

Psychologists Leaf Van Boven and Thomas Gilovich examined whether increased happiness is associated more with spending your money on goods (that latest dress or impressive new smartphone) or an experience (going out for a meal, buying a ticket for a concert, or booking a vacation). The results clearly indicated that buying experiences made people feel better than buying products. Why? Goods tend to lose their appeal by becoming worn-out and out of date. In contrast, our memory of experiences easily becomes distorted over time (you edit out the terrible trip on the airplane and just remember those blissful moments relaxing on the beach), and also promote one of the most effective happiness-inducing behaviors – spending time with others.

59 Seconds tip: Buy experiences not goods. Go to a concert, movie, unusual place or strange restaurant: Anything that provides an opportunity to do things with others or tell people about it afterwards.

The way I’m applying this to wedding planning is as follows: You have a budget and you want to make every penny count.  Instead of spending it exclusively on THINGS (not that I’m knocking dresses and flowers and good wine) you can spend it on creating an EXPERIENCE for yourselves and your guests. It doesn’t need to be super expensive or exotic, like a cruise or skydiving or a ceremony in a medieval castle… just something creative that your guests will enjoy.

For example… which wedding memory sounds more fun:

“That was the best roast chicken I ever tasted!” OR “Remember when we ate Indian food with our hands at Ally’s wedding?”

“Rick’s wedding DJ was great, I sure danced up a storm.” OR “I never laughed so hard watching Great-Aunt Lea Salsa dancing! It was the first time I’d ever Salsa danced too, actually.”

“Barbara was such a lovely bride. She really glowed.” OR “A masquerade wedding… what a brilliant idea! The bride made a breathtaking masked lady.”

OK. You get the idea. Buy experiences, not goods. I like it! Please leave a comment below if you’ve got any great wedding memories that illustrate this concept!

skydiving photo from scribbler

Guests laughing: Photo from Sweet Caroline Photos

But wouldn’t it be nice to really hit it off with this table-full of strangers, to get to know them a bit better and enjoy their company, and the wedding, that much more? That’s where the “wedding ice breaker” comes into play! If you’re planning a wedding, wouldn’t you rather see your guest comfortably chatting away, rather than stuck in awkward chit chat?

Here are some ideas to get you fired up! Your guests will love them!

Guess who!

Although this one is time consuming to prepare, it’s great fun (especially if you’re from California, like I am)!  Put pictures of celebrities that look like the guest on their place card. You can turn it into a game like the popular kids game of the same name. However you play it, it’s sure to get  the guests around the table talking, like it did at the wedding Nicky, from Cheap Wedding Success, attended.  Her celeb look-a-like was Natalie Portman.  How complementary!

Fun Facts

There are a few ways you can play this game. Here are some options, but you can work it any way you’d like to!

• Write an interesting fact about each person on their neighbor’s place card. For example, “Marcy is a brilliant mathematician who enjoys Salsa dancing on the weekends.” With these snippets of information, you’ll definitely provide enough material to strike up a conversation between your guests.
• Write 3 facts about each guest on their placecard. 2 are truth and 1 is not. The other guests at the table have to guess which fact is NOT true. (If you don’t have enough interesting facts about each guest, you could ask them to provide a couple on the RSVP.)
• Provide a list of questions starting with, “Have you ever…” and have the guests go around the table asking each other these questions.
• Cootie catchers (paper fortune tellers) are cute ways to ask questions and glean interesting facts from each guest.

Penny for Your Thoughts

Get cute little favor boxes like the one below and put a few coins inside (2000 Dollar Wedding suggests looking in collectors’ shops and online for vintage coins). Each guest opens his or her favor box, then shares with the table an important event that corresponds to the year on each coin (e.g., “In 1996, I was named best-dressed in high school”).

photo via Martha Stewart Wedding

Jelly Belly Game

Games centering around food are always a blast! This game was invented by I Love Weddings and is sure to be a hit with your guests! Jelly Belly jelly beans come in a variety of delicious and interesting flavors, such as root beer, orange sherbet, pina colada, buttered popcorn, etc. Each table gets a number of different flavored beans, and the guests need to taste each one to figure out what the flavor is.  The table that gets the most flavors right wins!

Fortune Fish

Are you independent? Are you fickle? Are you in love? See what the Fortune Telling Fish has to say about you! Little winter bride thought the fortune fish would be the perfect creative ice breaker to spark conversation. “And guess what?” she says, “It worked! Everyone LOVED it! it was hilarious.”

Do you have any creative ideas for fun and funny wedding ice breakers? Please share them with us in the comment section below!