Due to the current financial climate, more and more couples are planning winter weddings – this can be a significantly cheaper option. If you plan to marry in britain the weather can be very unpredictable. Summer season is peak time for wedding ceremonies. Summer Saturdays can get booked out at popular wedding venues sometimes up to three years in advance.

Couples can expect savings of £5,000 on average by shunning costly summer ceremonies and for the colder months between October and February.  In many cases, couples saved up to 50 per cent on the price of summer wedding for the reception venue, wedding planners and caterers.  The average cost of a white wedding is currently £20,000 although new statistics show marriage has fallen to its lowest level since 1895. The credit crunch and winter discounts had prompted more to marry ‘out of season’.  .

To get the Destination Wedding of your dreams at a castle wedding venue a bargain price in these difficult financial times  think last minute and off season.

Beat the credit crunch and plan a winter wedding, what could be more romantic than getting married against a backdrop of snow-capped mountains or a fairytale french wedding castle, followed by a luxury drinks reception around a warm log fire? Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy and Iceland make excellent wedding locations in winter – as they are destinations that not only encompass a magical atmosphere but also places that are guaranteed to leave you with stunning memories.

If you hate the cold you can still get married in winter and enjoy hot weather – so do not despiar. Set you sights on exotic destinations such as the Maldives, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Thailand and India. All offer spectacular locations and sizzling temperatures.

So, if your loved one has asked for your hand in marriage, instead of opting for a summer wedding, consider the benefits of a winter ceremony and maybe a castle wedding venue – it is likely to be cheaper and it will give your guests something to look forward to during the long winter months.

Benefits to winter weddings include a more luxurious palette of colors and fabrics to choose from such as varying shades of red, royal blue, deep purple and hunter green. Wedding venues are usually more readily available (Christmas and Valentine dates not withstanding),. Other benefits include the ability to plan on short notice, without being told time and time again that your vendor, disc jockey, photographer or caterer of choice is booked solid.

Other bonuses include flowers that don’t wilt in the heat (as long as you take care not to let them freeze in the cold), cakes that don’t sag, and a bride that is not melting. A great thing is that it is most likely your invited guests will not be on holidays and will therefore able to attend your wedding. Add to that the special quality that comes across in photographs.

Nothing beats a rustic mountain lodge with roaring fireplaces, sleigh rides, and a host of other winter-loving amenities for enchanting cozy ambience. For that winter wonderland effect, choose a grand ballroom with draped fabric walls filled with white, silver and crystal twinkling lights.

For wedding accessories, decorations, and favors, winter weddings offer a host of snowflake themed items in various shades of blue, white and silver. 

Or you could go for a castle wedding venue  a baroque theme with champagne and burgundy colours, velvets and chandeliers and cherubs and church candles. 

The first thing you should consider is the exact time that you are getting married. It is now quite popular to get married around Christmas time. But it is common for prices to be higher at this time, because of their demand as Christmas decorations and presents. Roses and red colored flowers are especially popular. If you want to have romantic red roses at this time of year, you may well find that they are more expensive than you anticipated. 

If you simply want to have your wedding during the winter months, why not go for a fairytale themed wedding with shades of blue as the main color scheme. Snowflakes can play a major part in your decor from the start with your invitations right through to your place name cards decorating the tables at your reception.

You may wish to go out out with romance and get married on St Valentine s Day. With a strikingly beautiful red hearts theme, the guests will have no doubt about the way you feel for each other and your wedding day will remain in their minds as the most tender event they have even attended.  

Choosing the right winter wedding theme is actually quite easy once you think about what you want your wedding to be like.

Love can weather even the toughest economic times, and that means the weddings go on.

Couples are not going to cancel their wedding because of a weak economy — there are plenty of inexpensive options that still end in marriage. Most couples figure that as long as they’re not burying themselves in debt and have enough cash in case of a non-wedding-related emergency, now seems just as good as later.

More than ever couples today are looking to create a unique wedding “experience” for family and close friends by taking their events on the road. Resorts and other wedding venues in exotic locales stand to gain the most from the move towards so-called destination weddings. The top choice for such events? France, the land of romance, 30,000 castles and fine food and wine and fantastic value wedding packages.

Very importantly take out wedding insurance before you engage any vendors incase they do not survive these tough times leaving you out of pocket  and in a bind on your special day. 

You need to evaluate all the parts of the wedding and see what you can do yourself in order to pick the most appropriate wedding package for you. Do you know someone who sings? Plays piano? Bakes a mean cake? Can be your Emcee?

Recession Proof Wedding packages offers everything couples need to host their dream wedding without breaking the bank.  Some wedding planners offer their services à la carte — helping with only certain parts of the wedding to help cash-strapped brides and grooms.

Nearly 15% of couples now hire an outside expert to handle details, up from around 8% five years ago. Driving the trend?

Some tips for the savvy bride:

• Together with your partner prioritize what’s important to each (and both) of you for your wedding day and allocate your funds for your wedding package accordingly. Choose what’s really important to you – - great photos or beautiful flowers – - and put your money toward that, rather than trying to throw money at every aspect of the wedding
• Do not spend every penny you have on your wedding package.  Only spend what you can afford now. 
• Get everything in writing. 
• Pare down - scale back that guest list. Forget Preston Bailey
• Go for quality not quantity  - Order simple floral arrangements. Avoid exotic flowers that are not in season.  ok for inexpensive flowers. The most popular lower-priced blooms are: daisies, freesia, chrysanthemums, gladiolus, and sunflowers.
• Do any DIY you can handle
• Think about a wedding in  October to March – off peak months for the northern hemisphere and avoid Saturdays. 
• Have a worst case scanrio plan.

Wedding Planning Calls For Making Important Decisions

No doubt, wedding planning calls for making important decisions and sifting through myriads of ideas and suggestions; in addition, it calls for dealing with a whole wide variety of choices and dealing with different people. The fun can very easily go out of your wedding planning if you become stressed by all the choices and decisions that need to be made.

It therefore pays to approach wedding planning in a smart way and to be prepared to overcome obstacles. However, before the actual wedding planning begins you need to first of all finalize the date of the wedding and you need to also ensure that your wedding ceremony is not cluttered or too complicated because it is better to keep things simple and straightforward. This will allow everyone to share their most cherished moments without too much elaboration or unnecessary pomp.

Next, you can get stuck with the actual wedding planning. This means understanding the need to know that delegating tasks will make the overall planning more fun and easier. You can make use of internet to get very important, useful and bright ideas for better weding planing. Approach the wedding planning in as organized a manner as is possible and also make an effort to pick the right and appropriate theme for the wedding – one that suits your personality and defines you as well.

Lastly, decide on the bridal entourage and of course pay special attention to creating a complete guest list. Obviously, it is better to learn about how to plan a wedding well before the actual wedding is to take place. Be mentally prepared and make sure you need to abide by your budget. It also means using a wedding planner book and creating a time line within which to get everything done.

French wedding package

 How to beat the credit crunch when it comes to your wedding

Where there is a will there is a way.  Every bride can be a princess bride in the dress of her dreams.  There are lots of tips on saving money on your wedding if you really want that an impressive wedding. 

With weddings being so notoriously expensive, finding a bargain or two can really lighten the financial load. Some brides believe

‘To spend thousands of pounds or end up in debt for a wedding which lasts a few hours is ridiculous.’

Negotiate with venues, change the day from a weekend to a weekday this will make a substantial saving. Use one supplier to do your venue and church decoration this can result in a saving as well. Look at suppliers websites see what they do, some companies only do one thing, use a company that does more than one thing and get a wedding package price.  In these tough financial times a destination wedding package can be incredible value.  Make sure you pick a venue that can offer flexible options with their wedding package.

When selecting your wedding location – for savings think destination wedding, weekday wedding, off season. Get married later in the day so you have less catering to provide to your guests.This will save you a bundle. 

Brides can be quite clever when it comes to getting the look they want at the price they can afford. The whole idea is to keep things affordable without ever looking cheap. These are some ways that real brides have found to do just that.

Wedding dresses unless you are using a designer and having one specially made look in the wedding gown shops if you check the labels 90% of them are made in China so cut the cost go direct to there web site and order direct saving up to 70%. Yes it does work we had a friend of ours order her daughters prom dress and saved a fortune and it was the same dress they looked at in an expensive dress shop.

You can pick up a dress for next to nothing on eBay. Recently, one well publicised bride found an antique dress for only 5p.

Have a look on eBay for your wedding and bridesmaid dresses. You may think that the gowns will all be second hand and that you don’t want to fork out a few hundred quid on something you’ve not even tried on yet… BUT.. theire are brides out there who have managed to pick up their new wedding dress up on eBay from as low as £15 plus postage and packing.

One resourceful bride won the auction, and the seller sent her a form to send back all her measurements and any special requirements.  Some have even bought lovely bridesmaid dress on eBay for her sister for £30. As it was an eBay shop, the seller has various dress sizes of the same style.

It may appear to be risky buying from an unknown seller, but check out their feedback… the more they have got the more you know how reliable the seller is.  Check negative feedback before bidding.

Another bride had found the perfect dress on the internet – an ivory satin gown with diamante beading on the bodice  – apart from the small matter of the £1,500 price tag.
Undaunted she managed to get her hands on it for a mere £2.50 courtesy of ebay.
She placed a rock-bottom bid for the Chinese-made gown on auction website eBay and was astounded when she won it.

As that was out of reach, she found an exact copy of it on eBay with no reserve price, and waited until the last moment to put in her bid.
‘There were no other bids so I thought I had nothing to lose by typing in £2.50,’ she said yesterday.
‘I got an e-mail back from a man in Shanghai who said he would make my dress for me, and asked for all my measurements. I thought that if the dress didn’t arrive within six weeks, I would have enough time to get another.’

Five weeks later she had heard nothing and began to get worried, however.
‘I was a bit nervous because I’m not very good with computers and thought I’d done something wrong,’ she said.
‘So I emailed to ask what was going on, and immediately received an apology – he was really busy with Chinese New Year celebrations.
‘He told me the dress was on its way and wished me luck with the wedding. He was very kind and helpful.’
 Bargain hunter: Emma Dunn, who bought her brand new dress on eBay for £2.50

If you are good on a computer make your invites and wedding stationary yourself there are plenty of free programs you can use just buy some nice expensive paper and envelopes. Use the same program to do your order of service for the church and seating plans and place settings for your venue.

Flowers can be one of the most costly design elements for both your ceremony and reception. One way to cut back on the ceremony expenses is to forgo the traditional bouquets for the entire wedding party. That does not mean that your bridesmaids will have to walk down the aisle empty handed. A very elegant alternative is to have each attendant carry one single perfect flower instead of the big costly bouquets. Choose a flower that has a strong presence, such as a long stemmed rose or a fabulous lily.

Cakes are another place that a creative bride can save a little money. One thing that brides have been doing for years is to have the baker create a fairly small wedding cake to display, and then to make a large sheet cake in the same flavor. This way the bride and groom can still have the traditional cake cutting moment, but you will save an enormous amount on the price per person.

With wedding photography negotiate a price for digital images and arrange the printing and compilation of the wedding album yourself.  Have disposable cameras left on your guests’ tables. You never know you might get some attractive shots that you can use.

Flowers are always a favorite easy wedding favor and also so simple to arrange and then set up on the day. The preparation for flowers is almost non existent other than deciding on what flowers to use which can be ordered reasonably close to the big day.

Red roses always look attractive and of course they don’t have to be wrapped like many other flowers. Placing the rose on the wedding reception table where the guest are seated is a nice touch and doesn’t need to be done until the last minute.

Although candy might be an easy wedding favor, it is immensely popular and with almost three out of every four weddings using it, often placed in a specially designed box. I like the idea that a number of receptions have started to use where the costly centerpiece is done away with completely. Now, how simple is a large glass bowl filled with candy going to be in the centre of the table?

You can then provide each wedding guest with a small bag and a note encouraging them to enjoy the candy in the centerpiece. This could be called a self service gift because all you have to do is supply the candy and something to place it in.

Pictures frames can also work well especially if they are used as place card holders. Although presentation is everything, there are ways around wrapping wedding favors and picture frames are an ideal example of how you can avoid this task. Almost all receptions have place names at the tables for the guests so this is an ideal way to present the frame without the need to spend time and more money on wrapping paper which will only be discarded.

Another easy wedding favor option to end this article is to arrange for a professional photographer to attend the wedding reception and take a photo of every couple as they arrive looking their best. It is a simple matter of bringing a printer along so the images can be printed off during the reception and are ready when the guests start to leave. Everyone will appreciate this wedding favor as it is a reminder they can cherish for many years. As a little extra you could ask the photographer if he could bring along a small projector and have a slide show during the reception when guest can see the photos he has taken.

Marriages in a Church

Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Traditionally the church is the most popular venue, where the ceremony is presided over by a Christian priest. White weddings may be quite normal for those of us that live in the United States, UK, Ireland and the Commonwealth but they are not always accepted worldwide amongst Christian faiths.

Twin Ceremonies

Double marriages are quite rare as they usually entail getting two couples to marry at the same time and same place; this often happens where a person has a brother or sister that decides to tie the knot at the same time and it is not unheard of for two brothers to marry two sisters this way.

Weddings in a Foreign Country </P>

Marriages in foreign countries are called destination weddings where guests can arrive either just before the ceremony or actually travel with the couple; it doesn’t matter exactly where you travel to, whether it is in Egypt or just to Las Vegas it will still be considered a destination wedding.

Weddings over a Weekend

A weekend wedding is where couples and their guests celebrate over the course of a weekend. Special activities, such as spa treatments and golf tournaments, are scheduled into the itinerary for guests’ enjoyment throughout the weekend. Accommodation for these is normally arranged at the place where the service is going to take place and where the other events are also being held.

Why Not Have an Online Ceremony

Internet weddings seem to be something that has come about recently and a number of people are now using this method to seal their vows; internet companies specializing in this type of ceremony are there to help you with your marriage. An internet or online wedding can also refer to a situation where a couple may broadcast their marriage to friends and family in other parts of the world.

Civil Marriages Local civil authority services are called civil weddings as they do not take place in a church and must be performed by a locally elected or appointed official. Religion doesn’t normally play a part in these ceremonies because they are purely a legal requirement. These services are brief and to the point because they are a legal procedure and the couple getting married does not mind the circumstances of the marriage, just the fact that they are married.

The information provided here is mainly about weddings and marriage in the Western world primarily based on and around Christian beliefs.

The type of ring available in these stores is usually quite limited; they may also have a restricted price range, another reason to seek out a jeweler who only sells this type of ring. When choosing, you will want a ring for the bride that will complement the engagement ring she is already wearing.

The engagement ring is meant to be more stunning than the wedding ring so be careful what you choose. some jewelers are able to provide rings that were designed to match. If this is not possible you will need to try on as many wedding bands as you can to see how they look when positioned next to the engagement ring.

Fashions in rings come and go but the traditional metals including: (1) Silver, (2) White Gold, (3) Yellow Gold and (4) Titanium; more lately, platinum has become the ring of choice, especially for men that are looking for something more durable. Platinum is a particularly good choice for rings as they keep their looks for much longer than gold and men appreciate the strength that is inherent in platinum. The number of men carrying out manual tasks is still greater than women; they are still the ones most likely to cause damage to their ring.

Sizing is very important and essential if you do not want a problem putting the wedding rings on at the ceremony; leave this to the professionals if you want to be confident the rings will fit on the wedding day. You want to be sure the ring will fit correctly; this will prevent it from being too tight or too loose and slipping off.

It is not uncommon for couples to leave having the rings adjusted until close to the wedding day; this can cause the jeweler problems because he may have others to adjust for the same day, so allow plenty of time for this. There is a huge variety of wedding bands available these days; choosing the right one can take quite some time and a number of visits to the jeweler.

Never forget why you are wearing a wedding ring and what it stands for; this is why it makes sense to choose something you will both enjoy wearing.

Cheap Hand Made Gown

The wedding dress is one area where huge amounts of money are spent; this is something that will only ever be worn once so a previously owned dress is worth consideration. Selling previously owned wedding dresses is an area which is becoming more popular; when a bride-to-be realizes she can have a quality handmade dress for half the cost of a new one or even renting it for the day, this begins to make sense.

Wedding Reception Preparations

It is easy for couples to get swept up in the excitement and spend a small fortune on the reception; the average number of guests is just under 190 but this is an area where costs can be reduced as soon as you start to plan your cheap wedding. Don’t invite everyone you know, in particular relatives you haven’t seen since you were a child; as far as the meal is concerned why not have a buffet instead of a full, waited on, three course meal.

Although it is nice to hold the wedding reception in a beautiful hotel, this can be another huge expense but alternatives exist; there are many clubs that would be perfectly suitable or even the home of a good friend or relative that is large enough.

Wedding Pictures

Although many photographers are employed for the entire day, this isn’t really necessary; the majority of guests are more than happy to take photos on behalf of the couple, and they will be ‘natural’ shots as well! You could, if you are brave, dispense with the services of a photographer completely; a friend or relative who is a keen photographer might be happy to do this for you!

Print At Home Wedding Invites

Cutting down on costs can also mean creating your own wedding invitations and seating cards etc; a personal computer combined with a home printer means it is quite easy to produce very professional looking results. Many people are now competent enough to produce near professional quality work; problems and errors can be corrected quickly without regular visits to the printers.

Flowers at the Wedding

Flowers can be another expensive outlay especially with the alternatives on offer; why not buy wholesale flowers, or pick flowers from your garden and buy plain gold or white gold bands as these are the least costly. Wedding cakes are another costly item but this can easily be made by a friend; these days’ people often experiment with different fillings that do not rely on fruit – which has been used in cakes for generations.

The Transportation

One last suggestion relates to the limousine which could easily be a beautifully decorated car belonging to a friend; this is not actually that uncommon.

Cheap weddings are possible without the wedding seeming it has been cost driven; the point is that guests enjoy the day!

The hardest thing if you are a friend or relation is trying to take photographs of the wedding day that they will be pleased with. With the information here you may find taking photographs with a digital camera at a wedding a little easier.

If you only remember one piece of information from this article, remember to make sure that the photographs have a nice background as it is one of the first things you’ll notice when you look at them. Portrait images (those that show just head and shoulders) can be very effective especially if the background is hardly in the shot.

If some of the guests are wearing glasses, they can be asked to stand with their heads a little down or sideways to avoid the glare effect from spectacles that normally appears when a flash is used. If there is someone in the group that you particularly want to take a photograph of but they are in a crowd then try using the zoom, it will give a good close-up that you wouldn’t achieve any other way.

Natural, wedding photos always look better than staged ones but difficult to capture when you are too close so a powerful zoom lens is a great advantage. As you can’t keep asking people to pose for you, always have the camera to hand because digital wedding photography is just as much about having natural, un-posed for shots.

All your efforts will be wasted if you forget to have fresh batteries or carry enough memory for your digital camera to take every image from the day. A one gigabyte card should be the bare minimum you have if your camera is a six mega pixel model, a larger capacity if the camera has a higher mega pixel rating.

If you intend to have the pictures blown up to a large size you will need to ensure your cameras resolution is set to maximum. This is achieved by saving the images to your computer where you can print them out at your leisure on special photographic paper.

A new generation has grown up not really knowing what film photography is like, so to them digital wedding photography is quite normal.

You are looking forward to organising a fantastic wedding, buying your wedding dress, your wedding cake, getting your wedding photographer, getting your wedding hair done perfectly, and looking gorgeous on your wedding day.

You need to make sure that when planning and organising your wedding, you take into account of your budget. Budgeting for your wedding means defining a list of wedding items and deciding on how much you will spend on each of these items.

This budget will help you control and monitor your expenses and help you track where you have overspent and where you have made a saving. Unless you have access to unlimited funds, chances are that you will have to manage your wedding budget very carefully. Here are key points that you will need to consider when you are budgeting for a low budget wedding.

1. Mobilizing the funds

2. Prioritising your list of wedding items

3. Harnessing the talents of family and friends

4. Finding the best venues for your wedding

5. Cutting down on your food and drinks bill

6. Cutting down your Guest list

7. Where to get the wedding cake for less

8. Where to get the wedding dress for less

9. Bridal beauty items for less

10. Wedding Photography and videography for less