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Mar 08

Philadelphia Wedding Planning: 5 Tips for Writing Your Wedding Vows

By Wedding Planning

Writing your own wedding vows adds a personal touch to your wedding ceremony. Traditional vows are lovely, but there is something so romantic about a ceremony with personalized vows. That being said, writing your own vows probably won’t come naturally for most people!

Writing from the heart is a totally different experience than writing a high school or college essay in the middle of the night before the due date. Your graded written words are important, but don’t hold as much value as your wedding vows in the grand story of your life. We are naturally our own worst critics and, because this writing of love and devotion isn’t easy, we have put together a list of our top tips to help you write the best wedding vows possible.

  1. Think About Your Relationship

Before you even put pen to paper, think about the relationship that you have with your love. Paint a picture in your mind about what it really means to you. Think about the story of how you met, and what you’ve accomplished – separately and together. Think about where you have traveled and what you’ve experience together. This storied past should help inspire your vows.

  1. Quotes Are Helpful Inspiration

The internet is full of websites that are nothing but quotes dedicated to love. If you prefer not to include a direct quote in your vows and would like it to be 100% original, no problem. A simple quote can bring thoughts and emotions to the forefront of your mind, helping you take that pen to paper. The words will spill onto the page before you know it.

  1. Talk With Your Fiance Often

A healthy part of a relationship is to be able to connect emotionally on a deep level. Talk openly about how you feel with one another and what your relationship means to you both. Discuss what makes your relationship unique, and talk about the past, present, and future with one another. Frequent conversations can help with inspiration for your wedding vows.

  1. Avoid The Bad Things

Humans are imperfect creatures. As a result, hiccups may happen in relationships. Keep the negative out of your vows – this is the first day of your married life and you want to step into it on the right foot. Avoiding phrases like, “it wasn’t always easy” or the like are a surefire way to make your fiancé and your guests don’t want to feel uncomfortable.

  1. Practice, Practice, Practice

The first time that you recite your vows out loud shouldn’t be in front of the love of your life. You should practice standing up in front of a mirror and reading them out loud. Doing so is always the best way to avoid awkward sentence structures, overly long sentences, or words that may trip you up as you speak.

We hope these tips help with writing your wedding vows! We would love to hear all about your wedding plans, so contact us today!



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Dec 17

Don’t Break The Bank On Wedding Flowers: Money Saving Tips

By Uncategorized

Setting a budget for wedding flowers is a good idea, but sticking to it can be difficult. Depending on the type of floral arrangements you’d like to see during your event, the price can skyrocket pretty easily. However, with a little know-how, there are ways you can cut cost easily.

Don’t Be Picky

If you keep an open mind when it comes to flowers, you will save a lot of green. If you have a general idea of the vision you’d like to keep for your event, bring it up to your florist and ask them to give their professional opinion on how you can realistically stick your budget. The florist will most likely be able to keep your color scheme while suggesting flowers that aren’t as expensive and more easily accessible during the time of year that your wedding will take place.

 

Do It Yourself

With access to the internet, many brides are opting to create floral arrangements themselves by finding inspiration on the world wide web. Cutting wildflowers or purchasing flowers in bulk and placing them in mason jars on the tables is a cost effective way to add beautiful texture, color and style. In the long run, you will love the arrangements without having the regret of spending thousands on something that will eventually be thrown out. Make it fun by enlisting the help of the bridal party or family and friends to make the arrangements a couple of  days before the ceremony and party to check one thing off of the list that you will need to do to prepare.

 

Choose Big Blooms

Flowers that have big blooms will help couples save money as they take up more volume in the vase. Choosing a large bloom such as hydrangeas instead of tulips will give you more bang for your buck. Flowers don’t need to cover every surface of the event. Make it a point to only place them at strategic locations in the event space where guests will be spending the most time. These locations will create a strong visual impact to make the event space perfect. Consider using a tall vase at the entryway or smaller arrangements on the food tables.

 

 

 

Did you enlist the advice we gave at your wedding? We want to know!  Contact us to let us know how we helped save you money during your wedding.


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Mar 19

Rockin’ Sweet Sixteen Party Ideas

By Uncategorized

It’s the birthday many little girls dream about….sweet sixteen!  Here are some of our favorite ideas to help inspire you to create a truly rockin’ sweet sixteen celebration for your daughter.

Sweet Sixteen Party Themes

The party theme sets the stage for the entire event.  Theme options are truly limitless and you can really go big or small, depending on your budget and party location, with any theme.

Here are some of our favorite themes:

  • Color Theme (use your child’s favorite color or traditional pink)
  • Club Dance Party
  • Red Carpet
  • Shopping
  • Paris
  • Masquerade
  • Music

 

Now that you have your theme, it’s time to create your invitations.  Today’s invitations can be almost anything from a traditional paper invite to a passport, a decorated mask, or even something as simple and modern as a digital invitation.

Whichever way you opt to go, just remember to have some fun, be sure to include all the basic details for the party, and make sure it supports your theme because your invitation is your guest’s introduction to the celebration ahead.

 

Centerpieces are amazing additions to your overall decor and really help to tie everything all together.  They can be lavish or simple and small.

Not only are they a beautiful addition to the party, they can also be used as raffle prizes for your guests to take home at the end of the event.

Centerpieces can including lighting, candy, and treats, statues, stuffed animals, large Oscar trophies, photo frames, flowers….you name it!

 

Sweet 16 Party Stations, Food, and Activities

Typically a sweet sixteen celebration won’t’ have assigned seating so there is no need for a seating chart, but establishing reserved tables for the adults is always a good idea.

Setting up a gift table at the entrance next to the seating information station is another must do idea.  This way, the bulky items are out of the way for the celebration and everything will be collected in one location.

To keep cards from getting lost in the shuffle, set up a collection box on the gift table that is decorated to support the theme.

 

Photo booths and photos stations are amazingly popular at parties and events these days.  They are a fun way for guests to get to express themselves, cut loose, and get a one-of-a-kind party souvenir.

If you opt to go with a traditional booth or photo area, make sure there are tons of accessories guests can use when taking pictures.  Everything from silly mustaches on sticks to hats and boas.  If you can tie it into the party’s theme, even better!

 

Having your party guests leave a message in celebration is a tradition…but who says that it has to be done in a book?

Today’s sweet sixteens allow for true creativity when it comes to the party ‘guestbook.’  You can do something that supports your theme or that will just make a unique and creative keepsake for your daughter.

Ideally, you’ll want to set this up close to the entrance where guests can stop as they come in.

Here are a few of our favorite ideas:

    • A large mirror where guests can sign with a paint pen or permanent marker
    • A photo frame where guests can sign the photo mat
    • A photo station with a lifesize cut out of your daughter (collage all the photos into a shadow box after the event)
    • A video station where guests can leave your daughter a personal video message
    • A memory jar where guests can fill out a card with their favorite memory of your daughter and then drop it into the keepsake jar

While cakes are the tradition, today’s sweet sixteens are open to modern interpretations.  You can set up a cupcake tower or cake pop display or even a combination of a cake surrounded by cupcakes. You can also pre-cut your cake instead of having guests wait in line allowing guests to grab and go with the perfect serving.

When it comes to the type of cake, every flavor is on the table as an option, but just make sure that the decorations match your theme.

If you have any guests with food allergies, then you can offer a separate gluten-free or vegan option.

 

Gifts and favors are a great way to tell your guests how much you appreciate them coming out and celebrating with your daughter.  When it comes to deciding what to give your guests there are two things to consider: your theme and your budget.

You want your gift to be something nice, but you don’t want to break the bank.  Come up with something that also supports your party theme, that way they have a memento that will remind them of the day and that will be fun…something for them to enjoy later.  This can be anything from a goody bag filled with treats and trinkets to a photo frame signed by your daughter.

Need a little more inspiration for your daughter’s sweet sixteen celebration?  Check out our EBE Sweet Sixteen Ideas board on Pinterest and then contact our EBE Event Planning Team and let them help you create a truly one-of-a-kind event your daughter.

Feb 21

Wedding Traditions: Creative Ideas for Something Blue

By Uncategorized

We’ve all heard the rhyme “Something Olde, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, and A Sixpence in your Shoe.”  The Old English rhyme identifies the four objects a bride should add to her outfit or carry down the aisle with her on her big day for good luck.

Since this seemingly innocent tradition can send some brides into a superstitious-frenzy as they scramble to find all four elements at the last moment, we thought it would be fun to share a few ideas that might help you meet this wedding day custom head-on in a fun and modern way.

Wedding Traditions: Ways to Wear Blue

Wearing ‘something blue’ is one of the most traditional ways to meet the requirements of the rhyme.  For a new twist on this one, consider putting something on the inside of your dress.

Take a small scrap from one of your mom or grandmother’s old dresses and turn it into a small heart that you can sew into the inside of your corset.  This way, you’ll have ‘something old’ and ‘something blue’, and a little piece of the strong women that came before you, right next to your heart the entire way down the aisle.

 

One of the coolest trends we’ve seen is to have your wedding date embroidered on the inside hem of your dress.  If you do it in blue, you’ll have ‘something blue’ that also marks the date for you. Put a twist on this one by including your new Mr. & Mrs. names as well.

Want to have a little fun?  Then bring in your ‘something blue’ to the bottom of your shoes!  Using special paint, you can paint the soles of your shoes bright blue, dark blue or even sparkly blue.

You can also create a fun message on the soles of your shoes with blue stickers.  Put your name, your wedding date, or even the message of “I DO” that you can flash at your groom while cutting a rug on the dance floor during your reception.  You can find special paint and pre-cut stickers to help you create your own DIY version for your wedding slippers on Amazon.com or Michaels.com.

 

Ready to really think outside of the wedding gift box?  Then why not wear a flowing silk or chiffon pale blue wedding dress?  Or go a little more old school and simply choose a white or off-white fabric that has blue embroidery etched into the fabric design?

No one said your underskirt or petticoat has to match your dress exactly.  Why not bring in ‘something blue’ underneath your dress?  It will be your little secret until you hop on the dance floor and break into a can-can with your bridal party!

Modern wedding edict gives today’s brides more flexibility, so have some fun!  You can still maintain a more traditional or formal appearance while having fun with a unique wedding dress.

Wedding Traditions: Ways to Carry Blue

Another way to bring in ‘something blue’ is to simply carry it with you down the aisle.  Your options here are seemingly endless.  Here are just a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing:

  • a stunning floral arrangement full of blue flowers (or even just one blue flower that is hidden in the mix)
  • blue ribbons tied around your flowers
  • a blue handkerchief
  • a blue rosary (could also be counted as ‘something new’, ‘something borrowed’, or even ‘something old’ depending on where it comes from)
  • a blue card or note with wishes and hopes for your future spouse that you tie to your bouquet and carry down the aisle with you and deliver in a private moment later in the evening

Wedding Traditions: Ways to Share Blue

While the rhyme itself traditionally focuses on the bride, why not share the fun and include other members or your bridal party?

Write a special note on a blue card and include it with a blue piece of jewelry, like earrings or a necklace, for your bridesmaids.  You can also get stickers for the bottoms of their shoes or blue ribbons for them to add to their shoes.

Want to include your mom?  Give her an aquamarine necklace she can wear to the wedding or a beautiful blue piece of art she can display in her house to remember the day.

 

Bring the Old English tradition into the modern era by including your soon-to-be!  Fill a blue bag or blue box with gifts that will help them take part in the custom.  You can include a number of items such as:

  • blue socks, a tie, or a pocket square
  • a blue coin to put in their shoe
  • paint or stickers for the bottom of their shoes
  • a blue picture frame with a photo of just the two of you
  • a bag of blue Jolly Ranchers
  • a CD full of romantic blues music (see what we did there?)

 

Why not carry your ‘something blue’ with you off into the sunset?  Think about how much fun it would be for you and your new spouse to ride away from the reception on blue Vespas?  Not only would it make for a radically cool exit, you would also be left with a couple of amazingly unique souvenirs from your big day that you can ride around town together for years to come.

Looking for more inspiring ideas and wedding traditions for your big day?  Our wedding planners are some of the best in the business and know a thing or two about making weddings fun and unique.  Contact the EBE Event Planners today and let them help you create a day of magical memories.

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