It’s often a time of laughter and tears and lots of sentiment. You don’t want the rehearsal dinner to be a bigger party than the reception, but you do want it to be a celebration.

A rehearsal dinner can be a picnic or a more formal affair, but the most important thing regardless of the budget is for it to be a nice way for everyone involved in the wedding to have some time together. The rehearsal dinner is traditionally paid for by the groom’s family. So, while the couple can offer their input, it’s only right that the groom’s parents decide what type of party to hold.

When planning for the dinner, be sure that spouses and/or dates of your attendants are included in the headcount. Also you need to decide if grandparents and other relatives such as aunts and uncles will also be invited.

Many people include their out-of-town guests at the rehearsal dinner. Whether you do or not is a personal and budget decision. One person who you want be sure to invite is the wedding officiant and their spouse or date.

If you’re worried about entertainment for the dinner, don’t. What generally happens is the sharing of stories and remembrances of good times had in the past. This makes for a fun way for guests and family to get to know a little more about the bride and the groom.

Sure, it would be really easy to go online or into a local retailer and order each of them an engraved silver bookmark. But really, how personal is that. While some of the people in your wedding party may be avid readers and love to have that bookmark, there are others that would have not use whatsoever for a silver bookmark or any bookmark for that matter.

While the traditional idea of giving each person the same gift is an easy one, it is not really the best idea. If you really must give the same gift to each person, make it something such as a necklace, bracelet or earrings that they will all wear for the wedding.

If instead you have decided to make your bridesmaids gifts more personal, there are many creative ways to do so. One idea that is really easy, but can still be personal is to present them with gift certificates with a personal note from you tucked inside. In the note you can let each person know how much they mean to you and that you are glad that they are going to be a part of your special day.

In fact, a personal note enclosed with whatever gift you decide to give your attendants is a wonderful idea. People agree to be in your wedding because they care about you, but it is costly, so letting them know you love and appreciate them is a very thoughtful thing to do.

Set a price range and them spend some time thinking about each persons personality and chose a special gift for each one. When you present the gifts you might want to share with each one why you chose the gift.

Whether you decide to give each the same gift or not, make the presentation special. Schedule a time that you and your attendants can have lunch or dinner together and present their gifts to them after the meal. A fun idea that will make the time together even more special is to share a favorite memory you have of each of your attendants. A trip down memory lane will usually provide lots of laughs, a few tears and make for a perfect ending to a nice day with some very special people.

The Knot Wedding Shop’s top 10 bridesmaid gifts will help you find the right gift for each of your ladies.

If your groom needs help with choosing gifts for the groomsmen and he is not sure what to get for the guys. The Knot Wedding Shop’s groomsman gifts makes shopping easy. Personalize for a special touch!

This is no longer true, most couples getting married today have already been living away from their parents home, many times they already own their own home.

Registering for wedding gifts may be somewhat easier for couples who truly are in need of everything than for couples who are not, because they don’t really have to decide what they do need.

For couples who already are living on their own, it’s a good idea to sit down and think about the things that you already own and the things that you need before you arrive at the store to make your registry choices.

Every couple, regardless of their needs, should keep in mind the fact that your friends and family will have different budgets restraints and as such you should select both inexpensive as well as more expensive items to place on your registry. This will allow everyone to be able to choose a gift for you that you want and that they can afford.

Don’t feel like you have to choose one store to register for all your gifts. Many times one store will not have all the things that you want to select. Just be sure that your friends and family are aware that you have registered in more than one store.

Many stores have the capability of an online registry. Be sure to ask so you can let everyone know. Online registries make gift buying much easier for relatives and friends living in other areas of the country.

Another thing to keep in mind when selecting items to place on your registry is your lifestyle. There are people who will register for fine china and never use it and their are others who will entertain often and make use of the china. Only you know what you will do. Be realistic and select things that you really will use.

One last thing to check before you start scanning the bar codes and adding items to your registry is the stores return policy. Even though most stores use a database that updates each item purchased, you still make receive extras of certain items or you may simply have a change of heart about something. Either way it is best to know up front how the store will handle returns or exchanges.

Keep these things in mind and then go have fun making your registry selections.

Tattoos have become increasingly popular and more mainstream in the last decade and today’s brides often have to decide whether to let them show or try to hide them.

Many people feel feel consider their tattoos as body art and feel strongly about the reasons they got the tattoo and what it means to them. If you are in this category then you wedding day will be no different than any other day, so let your tattoo shine.

If however, you like your tattoo, but you would rather not have it showcased in your wedding pictures or your tattoo was part of a day that may have involved a little too much alcohol, you may want to try to cover up or camouflage it in some way.

Often the simplest way is to cover it with your clothing, Covering tattoos on your arms can be accomplished by choosing a dress with long sleeves. A high neckline on your dress will cover a tattoo on your neck. I think you get the idea. When you begin to shop for your wedding gown, just look for a style that will cover the area where you have your tattoo and that will take care of the problem.

If you can’t find a wedding dress that will cover the tattoo, there are still options available to help you cover it. Many people have tried regular makeup, but their is not enough pigment in it to do a good job of coverup. There are manufacturers that make makeup with a good deal more pigment that is made for the purpose of covering tattoos. An online search should turn up several different ones.

If you do choose to use makeup to cover your tattoo, you need to give it a practice run before your wedding day. Then you will know how well it works and how much time will be involved getting your tattoo covered up on your wedding day.

Of course there is always the option of having the tattoo removed. either by a professional or through the use of something like Wrecking Balm tattoo removal cream.

One or the other of these options should allow you to make sure that when you walk down the aisle all eyes will be on you and not on your tattoo.

Societies fascination with elaborate Hollywood weddings seems to have affected our expectations about weddings in general causing many couples to go into debt to finance their wedding.

Would you be surprised to learn that a wedding where the bride and groom each have three attendants and 100 invited guests that consists of a reception buffet can cost anywhere from $6000 up to $10,000?

The reality is that most weddings are somewhat larger than that. The average wedding has around 200 invited guests. A formal wedding of this size can easily increase the cost to anywhere from $12,000 to $20,000.

Now you may be wondering why the range of costs. The main reason is there are so many different choices that can be made and each of them will have an effect on the cost of your wedding. An example is the flowers you select. More commonly used flowers are in stock at most florists and are lower in cost. Selecting flowers that are in season also has a huge impact on the total you will pay for flowers.

A wedding cake is another of the items that has lots of different factors that will determine the final cost. The size of the cake is one factor. A cake that serves 50 people will cost less than a cake that will serve 150. Then there is the matter of whether you want fondant or to have your cake frosted with butter cream, and if you want filling that will add to the cost as well.

Even though every bride wants her wedding to be wonderful, you don’t have to spend money like a Hollywood celebrity in order to have a fantastic wedding.

The reception is usually takes the largest chunk of the wedding budget. You can control the expense of the reception by the choices you make as to when to hold the reception and what type of food to serve.

Generally evening weddings have receptions that feature a meal. This meal can be buffet, a full sit down meal or heavy hors d’oeuvres. Morning or afternoon weddings receptions can be lighter fare, perhaps finger food or a brunch for a morning wedding.

When deciding whether to serve a meal or hors d’oevres be sure to do a price comparision as sometimes a full meal can be less expensive than heavy hors d’eoevres. The reason for this is with hors d’eovres you pay be the piece and you will likely have several different types of hors d’eovres.

Generally a reception that is held in mid afternoon will be the cheapest as far as food goes. Why? Your guests will have already eaten lunch and it will be too early for dinner. Because of this most people won’t be hungry meaning they won’t eat much so you won’t need as much food to start with.

Always keep in mind, planning a wedding on a budget is possible. The most important thing is to think outside the box and find creative ways to make your wedding special.

And remember, you will be just as married whether you spend $1,000 or $10,000.

While a designer wedding gown can take a huge chunk out of your wedding budget, using a little imagination, can yield wedding dress alternatives that will have all the beauty of a new dress at a fraction of the cost. Thinking outside the box will also allow you to have a truly unique, often one of a kind bridal gown.

An idea that may have never crossed your mind is to consider purchasing a bridesmaid dress. If you take a look through bridal magazines you will see that many of the dresses that are labeled bridesmaid dresses are just as nice as the dresses for brides. You can often purchase a somewhat plain bridesmaid dress in a style that is flattering to you and have a seamstress add embellishments to make it a little fancier and more bride like. The difference is usually many hundreds of dollars in price.

Another alternative idea is to wear the dress that your mom, grandmother, aunt or other family got married in. Even with the cost of alterations often a used dress will be cheaper than a new one.You will not only save a ton of money, but it will also be sentimental. If you are into vintage and retro fashion, this is an especially great option.

While many brides preserve and keep their wedding dresses, many others choose to sell them. Used wedding dresses often sell for a fraction of what they originally cost. This makes consignment shops a great place to shop for a dress for your wedding. Also take a look at any special occasion or prom dresses the consignment shop may have. Many dresses that are not strictly wedding gowns are elegant enough that they make beautiful wedding dresses. You might also check the classified ads in your local paper as well as online for great deals on used wedding dresses.

Antique, vintage and thrift shops are also good places to take a look. Although true antique wedding dresses may be pricey, they are often less than a new one.

I have mentioned it before, but it is worth repeating. The special occasion section of your local department stores will often be a gold mine of affordable dresses. Many of the dresses will be perfect for your wedding day, especially if you are not having an ultra formal wedding.

Before you spend thousands of dollars on an expensive wedding dress, take these ideas and shop around. You can be a beautiful bride on your wedding day without spending a fortune on your wedding dress.

Most wedding budget planners advice you to allow 8 to 10% of your wedding budget for your flowers. This of course includes all the flowers for the wedding ceremony and the reception decorations as well as your bouquet and those for your attendants as well as the boutonnieres for male members of the wedding party. While 8-10% may not sound to bad, the reality is if you are not careful that percentage can soar well above even the 10%. So what is a budget minded bride to do?

One of the easiest ways to keep floral cost down is to keep the season in mind when choosing flowers. Flowers that are in season will always have a lower cost than flowers that are not in season. The same rule applies to types of flowers, more common flowers will be less costly than exotic flowers such as orchids. Another very easy way to make sure that your wedding flowers don’t blow your budget is to use lots of greenery instead of lots of floral stems. Greenery such as ferns and ivy can go a long way in filling up a space for little cost. Often times you can borrow ferns from friends and family and save even more.

Keeping with the seasonal flower idea, you might try buying pots of seasonal flowers from your local big box stores or other retailers. For instance if you are planning a December wedding, potted poinsettias are plentiful and cheap at Christmas time. You can wrap the pots with tulle or some other coordinating fabric and have a gorgeous, inexpensive display of flowers. Other readily available seasonal potted flowers are bulbs in the springtime (daffodils, tulips, hyacinths) or chrysanthemums and pansies in the fall. You could also use pots of greenery wrapped in tulle and perhaps tied with a bow in your wedding colors for another way to make a big statement with little cost.

These potted flowers can be used to decorate the ceremony location and then transported to the reception to decorate for even more savings. Of course you have to have people and vehicles available to move the flowers, so keep that in mind and plan accordingly.

Ask around, at local retailers to find what kind of potted flowers they regularly have in the season that you are planning for your wedding. You can then decide if one of them will fit with your chosen wedding colors and theme. You might also ask about a discount if you purchase several pots of flowers, you never know you might be able to save even more.

Another benefit of this budget wedding flowers idea is that you can plant the flowers in your yard and have a long lasting memento of your wedding.

For a free wedding budget calculator and lots more budget wedding ideas click here now.

Do you want your wedding cake topper to be a keepsake?

If you want a keepsake, do you want it to be something that you can proudly display later or just something you can keep in a memory box somewhere?

Will your wedding cake be a traditional tiered cake, or will it be in some other shape?
Will your wedding be based on a theme?

Do you want something traditional and elegant or are you more of a trendsetter and prefer something more whimsical?

All of these questions are asked for one reason, to help you narrow your choices. Let’s look in a few options you can choose from.

Floral Wedding Cake Toppers
Floral toppers are really beautiful and can be as simple or as elaborate as you want. You can choose whenever type of flowers you’d like, in any color you choose. You can choose edible flowers to make serving the cake even easier. Your floral topper can be a simple spray of flowers on the top of the cake or you can have flowers cascading down every tier.

Bride and Groom Toppers
We have all seen the traditional bride and groom cake topper with the bride in a wedding dress and the groom in a tuxedo. If that is what you want there are many beautiful ones to choose from, but if you want something a little different you can find toppers where the bride and groom’s attire is a little less traditional. I have seen beach, golf, motorcycle and many other themed bride and groom toppers. There are quite a few bride and groom toppers that will add a touch of whimsy to your wedding cake.

Themed Wedding Cake Toppers
If your wedding is based on a theme, you should have no problem finding a suitable wedding cake topper. There are toppers available in almost any theme you can imagine, whether it be beach, western, sports, musical or something in between the list goes on and on.

Crystal Cake Toppers
Not only does the crystal topper and elegance to your wedding cake, it also makes a wonderful keepsake. As with many of the other choices, crystal cake toppers are available in many different forms. You will find lots of styles to choose from including hearts, flowers, bells and monogram wedding cake toppers as well as many other choices.

As you can say there’s lots of choices, and no right or wrong, they are all beautiful and will personalize your wedding cake. For a great selection of toppers that won’t blow your budget, take a look at some of the toppers available from eBay here. What ever you decide to use for your wedding cake topper, be sure to choose and order it as soon as you make your decision, so you have one less thing to worry about.

As you make plans and get ready for your wedding day, you will likely find yourself needing a quote that matches your feelings.

I would like to share some of my favorite love and inspirational quotes with you.

A few places where you may think of using a quote are:

• On your wedding invitations
• In your wedding program
• As a toast at your wedding reception
• As part of your unique wedding vows
• As an accent on a special frame for one of your wedding pictures

I am sure you can think of other places to use these love and inspirational quotes, so here are some of my favorites.

“If I could reach up and hold a star for every time you’ve made me smile, the entire evening sky would be in the palm of my hand.” – Anonymous

“Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.” – Aristotle

“I would rather have one breath of her hair, one kiss from her mouth, one touch of her hand, than eternity without it.” – City of Angels

“The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart.” – Helen Keller

“Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

“Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place, suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace, suddenly my life doesn’t seem such a waste, it all revolves around you.” – Moulin Rouge

“You don’t marry someone you can live with – you marry the person who you cannot live without.” – Anonymous

“Relationships–of all kinds–are like sand held in your hand. Held loosely, with an open hand, the sand remains where it is. The minute you close your hand and squeeze tightly to hold on, the sand trickles through your fingers. You may hold onto some of it, but most will be spilled. A relationship is like that. Held loosely, with respect and freedom for the other person, it is likely to remain intact. But hold too tightly, too possessively, and the relationship slips away and is lost.” – Kaleel Jamison

“Love is like playing the piano. First you must learn to play by the rules, then you must forget the rules and play from your heart.” – Anonymous

“I love you, not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you.” – Roy Croft

“Marriage is an Athenic weaving together of families, of two souls with their individual fates and destinies, of time and eternity–everyday life married to the timeless mysteries of the soul.” – Thomas Moore

And the last one I want to share with you is rather long, but really sums up the way love makes you feel.

I love that you get cold when it is 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle in your nose when you’re looking at me like I’m nuts. I love that after I spend day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it’s not because I’m lonely, and it’s not because it’s New Year’s Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” – Billy Crystal from When Harry Met Sally

I wish you the best for your wedding day and hope that these love and inspirational quotes might come in handy.

There are multitudes of beautiful designer wedding dresses on the market, I am sure you have looked through a bridal magazine or two and seen the pictures. What many brides don’t know is that there are also a multitude of beautiful bargain wedding dresses. Often you will find an inexpensive wedding dress that looks almost exactly like the much more expensive designer wedding gown, but at a fraction of the cost. The secret is knowing where to look. One of our sponsored advertisers is an excellent place to find wedding gowns for reasonable prices.

US Weekly has just published an article on Jen Schefft, from The Bachelorette. The article is all about how Jen is planning her wedding on a budget since being laid off from her job. The dress US Weekly featured her in is from one of our sponsored advertisers and is absolutely gorgeous. You can see the magazine photo here. If seeing that wedding gown and the unbelievable price doesn’t convince you that you can find a wedding dress that doesn’t break your budget, I don’t know what will.

So, take a tip from us, you don’t have to spend a fortune on your dress. Shop around and don’t be afraid to shop online at a reputable internet retailer. Examine the return policy before you order. Any reputable online store will have a return policy that allows you to return or exchange the dress if you do not like it after seeing it up close.

In your quest to have a beautiful wedding on a budget, finding bargain wedding dresses that look like you spent thousands is one of the easiest ways to save money.