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Mar 04

Wedding Planning: 5 Wedding Traditions And Their History

By Philadelphia Wedding Entertainment

Traditions are the center of wedding celebrations, whether or not you abide by them. Everything from the ceremony, wedding rings, attire, and the wedding cake are considered traditions, but do you know where they came from? We’ve put together a list of 5 wedding traditions and some interesting facts about them!

The White Wedding Dress

In history’s past, most brides wouldn’t buy a dress just to wear on their wedding day. Instead, they would wear the finest gown in their wardrobe to exchange vows. A white dress didn’t come onto the scene until the mid 1800s when Godey’s Lady Book, a woman’s magazine, announced that white was most appropriate for a wedding dress. This trend took a sharp decline around The Great Depression, but in the 20th century after an economic boom, white became the color of choice again and was worn by iconic women such as Grace Kelly and Princess Diana.

The Bride’s Flower Bouquet

Origins of this wedding tradition are a little difficult to nail down. The most logical reason is that the flowers were used to cover up odor when bathing was an infrequent task. Warding off evil spirits by carrying herbs, garlic, and spices in their bouquet is another way brides would walk down the aisle. Brides would also toss their bouquet to wedding guests to share the good luck of her day.

The Best Man

The best man’s duties have changed quite a bit since the origins of the role. In Judaism, the best man’s duties are to ensure the groom has a worry-free wedding. In the Gothic Germanic period when weddings were seen as a transaction, the groom would act as a swordsman to fend off angry family members or watch over the soon-to-be-bride before the wedding.

The Wedding Cake

The extravagant multi-layer cakes that we see at weddings today first appeared at Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s wedding in 1840. Their cake was an absolute show stopper – weighing in at nearly 300 pounds and measured 9 feet in diameter! The wedding cake has humble origins dating to ancient Rome when a loaf of bread was broken over the wedded couple to symbolize fertility. Cake icing became popular in Europe when sugar was widely available and white frosting was used to symbolize purity.

The Wedding Bells

Church bells ringing is a common occurrence after a wedding ceremony is over. Ringing of the bells dates back to the Celtic lands, or modern day Ireland, when bells were rung to ward off evil spirits and provide good luck to the newlyweds. Even though many couples choose to opt for venues other than churches, bells are still commonplace at weddings today – symbolizing happiness and celebration.

Do you know the origin of other wedding traditions? If so, we want to hear all about it. Contact us today!

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Mar 31

Wedding Planning Basics

By Philadelphia Wedding Entertainment

You’re newly engaged and ready to start the process of planning your wedding…but where do you start and what all does planning a wedding involve?  While there are several variables, like budget, location, and size, that will impact your wedding planning specifics, we wanted to go through the general basics to help give you a guide to get the process started.

Wedding Planning: First Steps

When you’re ready to get the planning process started, the first thing you want to do is create a wedding binder.  Give yourself a good 2-3 weeks to really pull your ideas together.  This binder will be your goto book until your big day.  It will also make a cool keepsake once you’re married.  You’ll want to keep a variety of things in your binder as you go along:

  • Articles and photos from bridal and lifestyle magazines and websites
  • Contact information for your wedding team
  • Budgets and contracts
  • Swatches, colors schemes and a photocopy of your vision board (if you opt to create a poster size version)
  • Copy of your invitations, reserve the date cards, and your announcements

Your next step is going to be to define your budget.  Decide what the absolute maximum you can afford to spend is and then define your ideal goal.  This way you’ll know how much wiggle room you have to splurge as you go along.

Finally, you want to select your wedding party and pick a date.  Your bridal party will be by your side throughout the process so you want to get them confirmed early on.  And let’s face it, the entire planning process will revolve around your wedding date, so this is a must have before you move forward.

These first steps should take you about a month from start to finish.

Wedding Planning: Bringing in the Professionals

Most newly engaged understand the value of a wedding planner but are under the impression that it’s too expensive or that they can handle everything by themselves.  We caution against this misconception as hiring a professional wedding planner can actually save you time, money, and stress down the road.

When selecting your wedding planner, remember ‘referral, research, and interview’ in order to find the right wedding planner for you and your soon-to-be spouse.  Also, it’s a great idea to share your wedding binder with your planner during your first meeting.  Seeing your binder, and vision board, if you have one, will give your planner a good idea of your wants and likes and will make the overall process much easier for you both.

Once you have your wedding planner secured, you will begin the process of selecting a venue, an officiant, photographer, caterer, band, and florist.  When it comes to finding the perfect wedding professional services, your wedding planner will be able to guide you and help to set up tastings, meetings, and events where you can experience for yourself which services you would like to book.  The monthly EBE Live Band Showcase is a great example of how you can hear tons of great bands in one afternoon and find the perfect sound for your upcoming wedding.

This phase typically lasts about three months from start to finish.

Wedding Planning: The Little Things

Your wedding planner will guide you through everything as you get closer to your big day, but some little details to keep in mind include:

  • Reserving hotel room blocks for out of town guests
  • Creating wedding goodie bags for out of town guests they’ll receive upon arrival
  • Creating a wedding website
  • Developing a day-of timeline so everything is laid out in detail (make this available to your maid of honor as well)

Create a detailed checklist with your wedding planner so you’re sure everything that’s important to you is covered, no matter how small the task is.  RealSimple has a great checklist that you can use as an initial wedding planning checklist guide.  This checklist will help guide you through the remainder of the process, right up through your big day.

The two most important things to remember are that no two weddings are alike….this is your big day, so make it personal and a reflection of you.  This is your love story to tell, not anyone else’s.  Secondly, relax and have fun!  This process can be an overwhelming one, so lean on your wedding planner and maid of honor (that’s what they are there for) and soak up every moment along the way to your big day.

Feb 21

Wedding Traditions: Creative Ideas for Something Blue

By Philadelphia Wedding Entertainment

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.