Weddings Archives | Page 125 of 193

In Advice

Colourful cakes for your something blue

January 29, 2020 No Comments

“Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue”. For decades, couples have been following this age old tradition to usher in their nuptials. When it comes to ‘something blue’ why not get creative and incorporate it into your cake?

Blue is said to represent purity, love and fidelity, and as such has become a highly symbolic colour for weddings. It also has the bonus of warding off the Evil Eye, according to legend. Incorporating blue into your wedding thus acts as a means of protection and good luck.

Beyond tradition, blue is super on trend at the minute. The 2020 Pantone Colour of the Year is PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue.

“A timeless and enduring blue hue, PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue is elegant in its simplicity,” explains the company. “Suggestive of the sky at dusk, the reassuring qualities of the thought-provoking PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue highlight our desire for a dependable and stable foundation on which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era.”

With all this in mind, it seems a natural choice to use the blue hue in your big day. Here are some ideas to use it in your confectionary treat.

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Feature image: Pexels

In Advice

Hidden costs to consider when wedding planning

January 29, 2020 No Comments

Before you finalise your budget, it’s a good idea to look for costs you may have overlooked. The last thing you want is to overspend or to budget incorrectly and as a result sacrifice something you want!

There are some fees that can sneak up on you and some that you forget to consider. Other times, you may not even realise that certain things have a cost attached to them.

Here are some hidden costs you should consider when wedding planning:

– Marriage Certificate Fee

It is free to get married at Home Affairs and they usually provide you with a hand written, abridged marriage certificate. However, if you require an unabridged marriage certificate, it’ll cost you about R75.

While this is a small fee, it should not be dismissed as insignificant. Remember that every little thing adds up in the end!

– Postage

This is necessary for before and after the wedding. You’ll have to send out save the dates and invitations before and thank you notes after. (Unless, of course, you’re going digital).

Stamps and mailing fees can result in a relatively large fee. This is especially true if cards are oddly shaped or quite large.

– Overtime Fees

Wedding’s are a lot of fun. As a result, it’s common for the party to carry on even after the agreed upon ending time. The venue, DJ or Band, and catering company (which includes waiters and kitchen staff) will charge you extra if your big day goes over schedule.

– Vendor Trials

If you’re testing out floral combinations, this could cost you more than you expect. Sometimes you’ll get the first trial free. Thereafter, however, you’ll have to start paying for the vendors time and efforts. Especially if you change your mind a lot or are having trouble finding exactly what you want.

Often, hair and make-up trials also have fees attached to them. After all, the artists are using their time and equipment.

– Clean-up Costs

We often forget about the post-wedding costs because we’re so caught up in the whirlwind of things that need to be done and paid for before the special day arrives.

Don’t forget that there are clean-up costs involved, and often you’ll have to pay for the taking down of your decorations too.

– Non-exclusive Companies

Some venues come with their own caterers, designers and the like. Other venues work exclusively with specifically chosen vendors. Usually, if a venue has either of these policies and you prefer to choose your own vendors, you’ll have to pay an extra fee.

– Cake Cutting and Corkage

Similar to the point above, many venues have their own chefs or they have an agreement with a cake company. If you bring your own cake along, you’ll be charged extra for the cake to be cut and served to your guests. For this, you usually pay a certain amount per guest.

The same goes for bringing your own wine! If you bring you’re own, you’ll be charged extra for it to be served.

Image: Pixabay

In Destination

Get married for free in this luxury department store

January 29, 2020 No Comments

Take your love of shopping to new heights by literally getting married in a luxury London-based department store.

Luxury department store Fortnum & Mason is one of London’s most iconic landmarks. After its 313 years of business, they are now offering couples the chance to say their ‘I do’s’ in their store.

The exclusive offer is running for the month of February only in honour of Valentines Day. Couples can get married in their newly erected pop-up ‘Chapel of Love’ for free. The chapel instillation will feature the iconic Fortnum’s clock, illuminated stained-glass windows and a chiming wedding bell, as well as a neon pink ‘Chapel of Love’ sign.

The 14-metre installation will be on the lower ground floor of the department store, and is also a perfect place to propose.

“For us, Valentine’s Day isn’t just about romance – we want all of our customers to share in the joy-giving gifts and unforgettable experiences that Fortnum’s has become synonymous with,” explains Fortnum & Mason’s customer experience director Zia Zareem-Slade. “That’s why, this year, we are celebrating our friends, loved ones and everything in-between by launching The Chapel of Love.”

“We hope this will bring joy to all of our customers, no matter who they love this February.”

Those wanting to get married here will have to book ahead of time and will have to obtain a marriage licence and a registrar beforehand.

The chapel is also open to the public, so anyone may swing by and capture some cute images.

Feature image: Instagram / Fortnum & Mason

In News

Bride tells redhead bridesmaid to colour hair for wedding

January 29, 2020 No Comments

An anonymous bride was criticised on social platform Reddit for allegedly asking her redhead bridesmaid to colour her hair for the wedding, as it would “clash with the colour cheme,” according to Fox News. The wedding supposedly had a royal blue and green colour scheme.

The bride, reportedly from Australia, posted that she had asked her bridesmaid, Ella -who is also her cousin- to either dye her hair or conceal it with a wig, but Ella refused. In the post, the bride asked people if they thought she was in the wrong. Many users commented saying her request was ‘ridiculous’ and that Ella was right to refuse.

The thread also landed in a Facebook group called That’s It, I’m wedding Shaming, with many members saying the bride is ‘insecure’ and scared that her cousin will steal the attention. “This is 100 percent the cousin being prettier than [the bride] and [the bride] wanting to change the cousin’s appearance to feed her own inferiority complex,” someone commented.

“Absolutely. Think how gorgeous a redhead would look in that colour scheme,” another added.

In the end, though, rumour has it that the two came to an agreement that Ella would keep her natural red hair just the way it is, but have an up-do so as not to come across too strong. Make of that what you will!

Image: Pixabay

In Advice

Paw-some ways to involve your pets in your wedding

January 28, 2020 No Comments

We all know that pets are part of the family! Perhaps you have adopted your furry friend as a couple, or maybe you’ve had them since you were a kid. However your fur baby came into your life, it’s likely you wouldn’t want to spend your special day without them.

While you may want to dress the little guy up in a miniature suit fitted to your pet of choice and have him be the ring bearer, this may not always be possible, or comfortable for the animal. But fret not, there are other ways you can involve your pet in your wedding day.

– Have a family photoshoot

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– Include them in a squad photo

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– Let them keep you company at the altar

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– Spend some quality time with them

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– They can keep you company while you get ready

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– Represent them on your cake / in your decor

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– Let them bring you comfort and cuddles

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– Get them some comfy wedding attire (suits may be unpleasant for some animals due to heat and other things)

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– Give them a front seat in the audience

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– Use their faces for some photobooth fun

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– Let them add some humour

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Image: Unsplash

In Advice

Top 10 wedding destinations for 2020

January 28, 2020 No Comments

If you’ve been considering a destination wedding but you’re not sure where to head to then you’re in luck. Flowercard, a UK based company specialising in floral giftcards, has compiled a list of the best places to go.

Flowercard’s list, “The 2020 Destination Wedding Index” compiles data of all things wedding. They conducted a study into the best places to get married, and their methodology was quite thorough! First, they selected destinations from a variety of sources including theknot.com, junebugweddings.com, hitched.co.uk, and brides.com. They then took into consideration the best times for wedding ceremonies in each destination. Weather was included in this consideration, of course.

Another consideration they took into account included LGBTQ+ friendliness, with their information coming from ilga.org. Instagram hashtags and searches also featured in their method. Finally, with the use of Google Keyword Planner, they figured out how many monthly searches there were for each place in relation to weddings by searching “Getting married in X”.

After gathering all the information, they ranked destinations using a weighted ranking system. They broke elements down into four categories including weather, cost, LGBTQ+ and online popularity. Each factor was weighted equally.

It is important to remember that much of the data they collected was UK specific (such as monthly google searches). This means the results may have been slightly different had the research been done in other countries. Nevertheless, the information is still very useful!

Here are their top 10 destinations and their overall scores (x/100):

1. Las Vegas, Nevada, US

Score: 70.1

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2. Sydney, Australia

Score: 68.67

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3. Majorca, Spain

Score: 67.47

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4. Perth, Australia

67.45

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5. Brisbane, Australia

Score: 67.00

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6. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Score: 64.81

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7. Loire Valley, France

Score: 64.14

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8. Valencia, Spain

Score: 63.80

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9. Cannes, France

Score: 62.10

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10. Madrid, Spain

Score: 62.01

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Find their full list with all details here.

Image: Instagram / Sydney

In Weddings

Jumping the broom: Meaning and History

January 28, 2020 No Comments

If you’ve seen the 2011 comedy drama, Jumping the Broom, starring Angela Bassett and Paula Patton, you’re likely to wonder where the tradition of jumping the broom comes from. Perhaps you’ve heard the phrase before, but you never quite knew exactly what it was. Well, not to worry.

Jumping the broom is a predominantly African American tradition in which the just-wed couple hops over a broomstick while holding hands. Many American couples choose to incorporate this tradition into their wedding celebrations, often after the wedding kiss.

For some couples today, incorporating the tradition is a way to acknowledge their history and culture. In fact, ‘jumping the broom’ is widely accepted as a part of the lexicon of African American culture. In addition, the custom serves to symbolise the sweeping away of the past to clear the path for a new start.

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The broom itself can be bought at stores, already fully decorated. There are many online stores who cater to this need. Alternatively, couples have opted to decorate the broom themselves. In some cases, couples take a plain broom to the wedding ceremony and provide guests with ribbon on which to write their names. Guests are requested to tie the ribbon to the broom before the ceremony begins.

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The ceremony dates back to the 1600s and is derived from Africa. Many have claimed that it also has roots in Celtic Culture.

18th century Europeans said that Ghana was an extremely clean place and they attributed this to the fact that brooms were made locally. For whatever reason, the broom’s symbolism found itself being incorporated into the wedding ceremony. According to the African American Registry, jumping the broom “symbolised the wife’s commitment or willingness to clean the courtyard of the new home she had joined”.

As a result of slave trade, the custom made its way to America. Slave marriages were not legally recognised by slave owners. The enslaved people thus used the tradition as a symbol of the beginning of their union as it was their only option for some sort of formal marriage.

Atlanta Black Star claims that “the ceremonial jumping of the broom served was an open declaration of settling down in a marriage relationship”.

The tradition has permeated through time so extensively that the phrase “jumping the broom” is equivalent to “tying the knot” or “getting hitched”.

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Image: Instagram /peterjonathanimages

In Advice

Wedding processional songs to walk down the aisle to

January 28, 2020 No Comments

The bridal march is a classic, but sometimes you want to be different. Opting for a unique, contemporary song to act as the backtrack for your walk down the aisle makes for a more a memorable moment. To set the tone for the rest of your day, be sure to pick a song that fits you and your partner.

Here are some alternative options to the traditional ‘Here comes the bride”.

– 10 000 Hours – Dan and Shay

– Marry You – Bruno Mars

– Kiss Me – Sixpence None the Richer

– Songbird – Fleetwood Mac

– A Thousand Years – Christina Perry

– Lucky – Jason Mraz and Colbie Callait

– The First Time Ever I saw Your Face – Roberta Flack

– Here Comes the Sun – The Beatles

– Stuck on You – Lionel Richie

– Crazy Thing Called Love – Queen

– Love of My Life – Queen

– (They Long to Be) Close to You – The Carpenters

– My Girl – The Temptations

– Let’s Stay Together – Al Green

– Beyond – Leon Bridges

Feature image: Unsplash

In Emotional

Stunning underwater wedding photography makes waves

January 28, 2020 No Comments

A memorable image will live on forever, and this one is pretty magical. This couple combined their love for each other and the water to create a breathtaking underwater image.

Photographer Kimber Greenwood captured a stunning image of newlyweds still in their wedding attire kissing underwater at Kelly Springs in Apopka, Florida. Of the image, Greenwood says, “This is a two image composite. The current was intense so my assistant was holding me in place! I love underwater portrait work and this session was a dream come true!”

The image quickly made waves, and was even given an honourable mention in the Underwater Art category at the Ocean Art Underwater Photo Competition.

Another shot from the photography session. Credit: Kimber Greenwood

Greenwood must have found a passion for underwater photography. She also offers underwater maternity shoots!

Feature image: Unsplash

In Fashion

Dresses we love: Off-white

January 28, 2020 No Comments

Over the years, many brides have forgone the traditional white wedding gown for alternatives. Popular trends have seen black and even multi-coloured dresses. One non-white dress colour we still adore is off-white in all its lovely variations. Cream, beige, ivory and champagne are all excellent substitutes if you’re not in the mood for crisp white. Here are some dazzling off-white dresses to inspire you.

Image: Pixabay