Casual Locations

Homes, gardens, Beaches and Country Barns are natural location for easy, elegant celebrations

Choosing to host a semi-formal or casual affairs allows you to create a playful, romantic ambiance at more formal events and it gives you far more options for showing off your personal style.

If you, your parents, or other family members own a home with a stunning view, beautiful backyard, or special setting that can accommodate your guest list, what better place could there be to celebrate? Getting ready in your childhood bedroom or saying your vows under your favourite oak tree is an intimate way to bring back memories and create many new ones.

Throughout the seasons, gorgeous garden spaces are available for rent, from the manicured lawns and flower beds frequently found at privately owned estates, to the more natural environs of city parks. With Mother Nature doing the decoration, every backdrop is sure to be picture perfect.

Nothing is s relaxing as a beach wedding. With sand between your toes and wind in your hair, you and your guests will be treated to the sound of the waves and the sun sparkling on the water. If you a boater, surfer, scuba diver, the beach is a natural place for you to tie the knot. Destination beach wedding s are all the rage these days, and resorts that specialize in beach ceremony abound.

In regions where agriculture is an important element of community life, it's easy to find ranches and farms that have been converted to event spaces.If this uniquely romantic option appeals to you, consider going all out. Get a horse-drawn carriage to take you to your ceremony, follow it up with a delicious barbecue, and complete it with a bluegrass trio or country and western band.

Classic Wedding Locations

Ballrooms, historic buildings, and private clubs are ideal places for formal receptions

For a reception venue that complements your classic style, look to hotels, private clubs, and sites of historic significance. The chandeliers, terraces, graceful stairways, and ornate decorations that frequently adorn these locations provide the ideal design elements for sophisticated events.

You will find that many leading hotels offer beautiful ballrooms and dining halls designed specially for formal events, complete with professional staff and an on-site wedding coordinator to help with every detail of your planning. Many hotel packages are all inclusive, meaning they provide your caterer, bartender, wait staff,wedding cake, floral arrangements and an array of tableware and décor items. This kind of complete service can be a blessing if you are too busy for vendor meetings and you are pleased with professionals the location provides. With amenities like valet parking , coat check and concierge assistance, you can expect your guests to feel well taken care of.

Other elegant event sites include castles, mansions, and historic building. After all, what could be more ideal for a fairy-tale wedding than a real castle or more appropriate for a vintage-inspired reception than a manor house with antique décor?

Wedding Receptions: Basic Decisions

Choosing a location for your reception is one of the biggest decisions. The size, style and ambiance of your venue will set the mood for your event, while the catering and rental fees associated with it may easily add up to more than half of your budget. With an array of fabulous reception sites available, finding one that fits your style will probably be the fun and easy part of making your decision.

Many venues offer wedding packages that include catering, staffing, linens, while some offer a huge selection of extras, including every aspect of event coordination from your cake to your music. If you are thrilled with the ambiance, amenities and vendor selection at an all-inclusive location, you may want to turn the details over to their staff. From the start, determine what the location you are interested in provides and what restrictions apply. Get per head quotes for a variety of options and take a good look at your guest list to see what each option ends up to.

To make the right decision consider your budget as well as your priorities, then schedule visits at at several sites and be ready to negotiate.

Important:

• Decide if you are having your reception indoors or outdoors, or both
• Determine whether your location is on- premises or off-premises. On premises venue like hotel ballrooms come with a caterer and other professionals, so be sure their options meet your expectations.
• Decide what beverages you want to serve. The cost for beer and wine versus an open bar can greatly affect your cost.
• Keep in mind that all inclusive packages can save you lots of time and money
• Alternative venues like rustic farms, art galleries and urban lofts are fun examples of off-premises locations. Off-premises venue require to hire professionals separately which gives you greater control over the style and quality of your event.

Creating yout timeline:two months to one day before your wedding

You are almost there! As your wedding day approaches, you will be preparing for your ceremony and reception, shopping for your honeymoon, going to parties and getting gorgeous.

Finalize the details of your ceremony.  Meet with your officiant to discuss your schedule and review professional and recessional arrangements. Write and rehearse your vows, confirm musicians and set asside your programs to be delivered to ushers 2 days before your wedding day.

Visualize reception. Write your toast and practice it and be sure your best man and other speakers are prepared as well. Schedule dance lessons and take 2 a week until you are ready to glide into your first dance. Consider buying toasting glasses and a special knife to cut the cake. Make the most of your lightning; be sure it plays up your décor and showcases your reception events.

Enjoy your parties! Schedule a rehearsal dinner and other wedding related events. Have fun at your bachelor and bachelorette parties and enjoy socializing with friends.

Send out thank you notes and express your gratitute generously.

Remember to pamper yourself every day along the way. Drink lots of water, eat well, take vitamins and exercise. Enjoy visits to spa, get a series of facials and take care of your hands and feet. Get rid of tanning lines and whiten your teeth.

Seasonal Style Wedding

Seasonal Style

Seasonal touches inspired by nature bring a special sense of time and place to your celebration

In the spring choose bright yellow daffodils and pink tulips for your bouqet. Have fresh floral wreath made for your flower girl's hair, use a birds' snest for your ring pillow or incorporate fashio accessories for your wedding wardrobe in shades of robin's egg, soft green or petal pink.

In the heat of summer have your ceremony programs made up as pretty paper fans to keep your guest cool.

For fall choose rich oranges, reds and russets for your color palette. Go glam in winetr with a black and hwite wedding with splashes of ruby red or emerald green. Hold a candle light ceremony and decorate your reception with thosuands of twinkling lights.

Spring Style: bouquets of peonies, mini daffodils shout out spring style

Summer Style:bright bouquet of sunflowers, dahlias, red roses, stephanotis and gardenia

Fall Style: wineries, orchids and historic barns

Winter Style: Ski lodges, masnions and venues with fireplaces; crystal, gold and silver decorations; ceremony and reception at the same place; misletoe, put guests in an affectionate mood

Casual Style Wedding?

CASUAL STYLE
Lovely laid-back details create understated elegance and an atmosphere of easy entertaining

Informal wedding relax the standards of tradition and take a more carefree approach to both etiquette and style. Casual celebrations give you permission to have fun with the rules, from the way you announce your engagement to where you hold your reception. Show off your romantic, casual style and embrace what inspires you: a special place or a favourite color theme. Play up your love for the beach by getting married with your toes in the sand and holding a bouquet of exotic flowers, followed by a sunset reception. Celebrate your love for the country by tying the knot in a barn lit with antique chandeliers and filed with the sounds of mandolin and fiddle.

Relax the rules

• creative wedding invitations
• beautiful outdoors and indoors
• create a lovely altar wherever you are, choose a floral arbour, a chuppah or a decorated fabric pavilion
• Walk down the aisle with your dad or your best male friend

Have Fun with Fashion

• wear a tea-lenght skirt or a dress with peek-a-boo tulle for a fun and feminine look
• suits in colours like dark blue, charcoal gray or mix and match jacket and pants
• linen suits and a dress shirt without a tie look sharp on hot summer days

Add Playful Accents

• leave the top of your convertible down during your outdoor reception and have guests leave their gifts inside
• choose a creative guest book like an instant-photo scrapbook or a bottle of champagne signed by all your guests
• if your reception will run late, serve your guests late night snacks

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