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Summer Wedding Favor Fever!

dena — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 20:10:58 +0000

I’ve been browsing for the perfect wedding favors for a summer celebration, and there are so many fun and funky gifts it’s hard to post only a handful. Here are some great ideas that we know you’ll love to give, your guests will love to receive, and your wallets will adore, too!

Fans & Parasols

Summer months and tropical climates are ideal for weddings, but when the sun is beating down upon you, wouldn’t a nice fan or parasol come in handy? wedding favors to save the day! Try hand fans made from colored silk or classic sandalwood fans, which can even be personalized! Or, for an inexpensive way to keep your guests cool, consider wedding parasols made from light weight paper and available in just about every color!

Eco-friendly Favors

Just because it’s your day doesn’t mean you need to be thoughtless of others! I love the idea of eco-friendly favors, which remind your guests to safeguard our planet. Earth-friendly gifts may contain organic ingredients, incorporate recycled components, renewable resources, or biodegradable papers. They are a wonderful way to thank your guests for sharing in your wedding, while making a difference in the world.

Edible Favors

Who doesn’t like going home with a treat? There are so many choices you’ll fee like a kid in a candy store again! Hershey chocolates, personalized cookies, mints in pretty little tins, honey pots, lemonade mix, mini gumball slot machines… This way, the party doesn’t end when the guests leave!

Practical Favors

Looking for clever wedding favors that earn their keep? Give your guests a thank-you gift that they can actually use, such as kitchen accessories, pens, coasters, luxurious bath items, bottle stoppers, luggage tags, bookmarks, salt-n-pepper shakers, compact mirrors, and more… all designed with a “wedding” spin. Check out all these great, practical favors at affordable prices!

Hundreds more beautiful, affordable wedding favors at American Bridal.com… “Where Smart Brides & Grooms Shop & Save on Wedding Favors!”

Top 5 Wedding Trends for Spring 2011

dena — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 19:43:06 +0000

Only 55 percent of weddings are considered ‘traditional,’ according to the Bridal Association of America. Couples today are clearly moving toward having less conventional wedding themes, says Mary Ellen Campisi, associate art director at Vistaprint.

photo credit: My Wedding Dream via Bunches of Bliss

Vistaprint identified five top wedding trends for Spring 2011 by looking at a series of variables, including theme and color trend research in Europe and North America, Vistaprint’s top selling save-the-date and invitation products, as well as market research. And what were the results? Here they are:

Green (Eco-Friendly) Weddings – Eco-friendly weddings are emerging. Everything from sustainable wedding dresses to plantable favors and recycled invitations will be commonplace. The setting will likely be an outdoor venue or tent, with decor consisting of LED lights and locally produced flowers. Green, brown and rust are common color choices.
Vintage Inspirations – Vintage inspired weddings are one of the biggest trends for 2011. Brides can be glamorous and chic without breaking the bank. Common themes include beaded or feathered hairpieces, and natural and outdoor settings. These weddings include elements such as lace, do-it-yourself touches like homemade favors and hand-tied ribbons around the invitations, and softer, muted colors for a touch of extra romance.
Traditional Elegance with a Modern Twist – This bride embraces the traditional wedding but wants to add her own personal flair. This may include an unexpected pop of bold and bright colors with her clutch or shoes, a unique hair piece, bold necklace or modern invitations and stationary. Colors are primarily white, silver and ivory with a minimally used accent color like red or chartreuse.
Bright and Bold Color Choices – Expect to see lots of color in 2011, from the Pantone® Color of the Year, honeysuckle pink to turquoise, coral, and the ever popular apple green. Bold colors are hip, attention-grabbing, and the perfect way to add lots of personality to your special day.
Black – Like the little black dress, black is always in fashion. Today it lends itself to a variety of styles from contemporary and elegant weddings, to the romantic and baroque. It also pairs well with almost any accent color.

Vistaprint offers a multitude of products and services for any type of wedding, including wedding invitations, save the date cards, place cards, promotional apparel like hats and T-shirts, and even wedding websites.

Ethical Jewelry: Know what you’re buying

dena — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:14:16 +0000

If you are headed toward an engagement, or are engaged already but still looking for the right ring or other bridal jewelry, there are other things to think about aside from style, price, and size of the rock! Whether your personal values have led you to follow a more environmentally and socially conscious lifestyle, or you just want to do your part in making the world a better place, consider buying an “ethical” – not just beautiful – engagement ring.

It’s amazing, points out Katherine DalPra (owner/designer for Green Diva, an online boutique of eco-friendly bridal jewelry) how uneducated and distanced we’ve become from the goods we buy. We don’t know where our jewelry comes from, and who has been affected by it. “Behind some of our most beloved purchases… there is a dirty secret involving worker exploitation, toxic pollution and cultural destruction.”

Among the sins that you DON’T want to be supporting are violent conflict and forced labor. Miners and gemstone artisans are often underpaid and work in unsafe conditions. Metal mining is the number one toxic polluter in America, and is also the cause of Acid Mine Drainage, which is destroying our drinkable water sources.

Luckily, there are several options for sourcing ethical engagement rings from people that have made a great effort to get it right. If you’re not into wooden rings, synthetic stones, or rings constructed of your own bone, here are some trusted sources you might want to consider buying from.

CRED Jewellery

The world’s first Fair Trade jewelery retailer, CRED has pioneered the search for transparent, ethical sources of precious metals and stones, delivering the first truly ethical wedding rings in 2003. Their engagement rings combine classic and contemporary styling with the finest ethically-sourced diamonds and Oro Verde™ Fair Trade metals to perfectly encapsulate your values and your love.

C5 Company

C5 company is a leader in sustainable fine jewelry. They offer beautiful, well-crafted, ready-to-wear pieces and custom jewelry that you can feel good about purchasing, gifting and wearing.

All of their jewelry is made with 100% recycled precious metals and ethically sourced gems and diamonds (both fair-trade mined and lab-created) to ensure that C5 company jewelry has minimal environmental and social impact.

Below: Estate diamonds reset in recycled palladium; Lab-created rubies set in recycled palladium.

Green Karat

Green Karat has a mission, to provide an ecologically and socially responsible jewelry alternative to those who seek change. If you want to become part of the solution, they want to help you.

Did you know that there is enough gold above ground (already mined) to satisfy all demands of the jewelry industry for the next 50 years? Much of it sits in bank vaults and in the form of old and unused jewelry. Green Karat believes that buying recycled gold is one of the most ecologically and socially responsible choices a consumer can make.

Artisan Wedding Rings

These unique wedding rings and engagement ring sets are heirloom quality and made by artisans with recycled gold, silver and platinum. Artisan use the most ethically sourced diamonds and gemstones available anywhere.

Brilliant Earth

“Luxury with a Conscience” brings you uncompromisable ethics and meticulous craftsmanship. Their jewelry is created with the highest quality Canadian Conflict Free Diamond Jewelry™ made with renewed gold and platinum. They also supply Ethical origin Namibian diamonds, and 5% of all profits are donated in Africa.

To learn about fair trade, conflict-free diamonds, eco-friendly, recycled metals and responsibly-made jewelry, visit any of the websites mentioned here! For a list of more ethical jewelry suppliers, visit this page at the natural wedding company.

Showered with Eco-Friendly Love

dena — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:18:07 +0000

Showering the bride and groom with rice as they exit the ceremony is a time-honored tradition. But today’s environmentally-friendly couple may wish to use something else, and there are plenty of other ways to send the newlyweds off with love and good fortune as they embark on their new life together. Here are some sweet, fun ideas!

Scented Confetti

Perfumed confetti will leave a delicate floral scent in your wake, via Martha Stewart. Punch kraft or construction paper using a decorative hole punch. Spread the confetti pieces out on waxed paper. Mist very lightly with a favorite scent. Collect into small glassine bags. Seal the bags, while attaching a label, by sewing the top edge.

Vanishing Confetti

Showering the bride and groom with confetti as they exit the ceremony is a twist on a time-honored tradition, but it can create a mess. With biodegradable paper, the problem literally disappears: The confetti disintegrates once it gets wet. You can make your own out of biodegradable paper, or try the “Have a Blast” Biodegradable Celebratory Poppers.

Bubbles

For a pretty, ethereal send-off, your guests will enjoy filling the air with bubbles as you make your grand exit. Order something special, like these colorful, slim bubble tubes featuring heart handles and tips… or create delicate floating bubbles with these elegant Dove Bubbles Favors!

Bird seed

Bird seed is not all that different from rice, but it’s much better if you want to keep your wedding day environmentally friendly and feed the wildlife all in one toss. However, you will still be finding it in places you never knew existed. Try placing the birdseed in something cute like these Etsy Love Bird Packets.

Flower Confetti

Toss fresh or freeze-dried flower petals as a lovely, romantic, and eco-friendly confetti. Freeze-dried petals can be ordered in advance (they last a few months) and are soft and exquisite. Fresh rose petals last on a couple days, but their scent and softness is well worth it.

Shredded newspaper

Don’t throw out those old newspapers, magazines, cards, and bills! A great idea for an eco-friendly wedding farewell is to throw shredded paper at the departing bride and groom. This is a good option because birds can use paper for nests and worms eat paper for protein.

Fall Leaves

Leaves are pretty and plentiful especially if you are having a fall wedding. Brown, golden, yellow and red leaves will make a glorious fountain of color around the bride and groom. (pictures from the knot and Martha Stewart)

Ice Shavings

On a hot summer day, nothing could be more refreshing as handfulls of crushed and shaved ice. Even better, the sun catching in the ice cubes will make a sparkling, cooling departure for the bride and groom.

Butterflies

For an unforgettable, one-in-a-lifetime (but expensive) experience, you can have live butterflies shipped to you on the day of your wedding. The company (such as berkshirebutterflies or butterflyweddings) will ship your butterflies in individual boxes or envelopes that you simply set out for each guest. Inform your guests what is inside, and that they should open them at the appointed time low to the ground, so that they will fly upwards for picture taking opportunities.

feature image from party heroes

7 Sites for Incredible DIY Wedding Invitations

dena — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 22:19:24 +0000

Your wedding invitations are the prelude to the happiest day of your life, setting the stage for the wedding itself. It shows up your loved one’s mailboxes, announcing the significant change that is occuring in your life, and also honors your guests by telling them you want them to share in your celebration. You’ll want your invitation to reflect your personality and style, and there are a number of DIY (do-it-yourself) websites that can assist you in creating the perfect invitation. For some, DIY invitations are a way of saving money on printing costs, for others, DIY invitations are a way of customizing the most unique, beautiful, and memorable invitations possible!

Paper Source

This website deals in fine, handmade papers from around the world. Their spectacular selection is sold in a wide range of forms – large sheets, pre-cut and packaged letter sized sheets, envelopes and accessories. The palette includes colors developed by and exclusively manufactured for Paper Source.

Red Bumble Bee

For the bride who’s searched high and low for the perfect invitation, this site provide exquisite stationary design, high quality service, and great prices. You can choose from existing formats, or have something customized to truly celebrate you and your unique wedding style!

Printable Invitation Kits

These invitation kits are both luxurious and economical. You will find beautiful styles that range from classic to ultra trendy. You can order thee invitation kits and print them yourself! You’ll get professional results even on a tight budget.

Amazon.com

Amazon.com has a selection of printable invitations from a variety of sellers.

Style on a Budget

As the name of the website suggests, Style on a Budget offers an enormous selection of materials and tools, tailored to your budget. You can creat a custom DIY package, or schedlue a consultation with their custom design studio.

Invite Site

Modern and eco-friendly, many of these contemporary invitations are made from tree-free papers, handmade papers, fine European papers, and 100% postconsumer recycled papers. They believe “affordable” should never look cheap or “homemade”. Your wedding invitation kit comes with everything you need to produce modern, elegant invitations!

Formal Invitations.com

Here, you can find gorgous templates, luxurious papers, embelishments, for under $1.00! (If that’s not affordable, I don’t know what is!) Order heavyweight cards available in handmade petal paper, rich solids in the latest colors, modern and vintage prints or shimmering metallics. Then add keepsake embellishments to create chic, affordable invitations without having to sacrifice quality or style. Plus, you can find high quality invitations made from 100% recycled papers and tree-free recycled cotton.

Thanks to About.com Wedding for pointing us toward all these fantastic sites!

Please check out the comment section to see more great sites our readers recommend!! And, if you have another DIY invitation website, please add it to the list!

DIY brides can now take a stab at DIY wedding favors! American Bridal has everything you need, from bags & boxes, ribbons & bows, tags & stickers, candies & other edible goodies, charms, wraps, aroma beads, and more! You can also find wedding favors for under $1.00 each!