Wedding Layers

When planning your wedding evening entertainment, you need a top class live band who can keep your guests dancing to their favourite songs all night long. You’ve had a long day to organize from hairdressers to florists, from church to hotel, from photographer to food. Wouldn’t it be good to be able to relax after the end of your wedding breakfast and not to have to then organize the evening as well.

I have heard many tales of woe from brides who were married in the north east area where the only entertainment booked has been a DJ, often no more than one of the hotel staff with virtually no training or experience, put behind the built in antique disco console with a small collection of tired 80s disco hits. Needless to say, the majority of the guests have sneaked away as soon as the buffet has been served and left the Bride and Groom with an empty room and a very sad end to their day. It’s no good at this point wishing they’d spent a few hundred pounds extra – often no more than the cost of the cake which has not been touched – on an experienced live band to provide some first class professional entertainment for the evening.

There are some excellent professional wedding bands serving all the north east including Darlington, Newcastle, Durham and Teesside and of course some not so good!

So, what kind of band would you look for? Here are my tips for finding the right band for your event.

First and foremost you need to remember that you will have 3 or 4 generations represented among your guests and you need a band who can entertain them all. Avoid “club and pub” bands who tend to only play heavy rock. You may have had a great time after a few drinks but how would your mum and dad like them? Much better is to seek out a band that has performed for a lot of different kinds of function and will therefore have a much broader repertoire of songs.

Second, always ask what the band will wear. If you and your guests have spent a small fortune on new clothes, do you really want a bunch of guys in tee shirts and jeans traipsing into your wedding?

Third, how loud will they be? Can they perform at a lower volume if the venue is small, and, for that matter, can they make enough noise to fill a huge marquee?

Fourthly, will you get the band you think you booked. Some bands can’t resist taking on every booking offered to them which means that on your special night you could see a bunch of “deps” introducing themselves to each other and trying to sort out what songs they can all play! Try to book a band that only accepts one booking per day.

Probably the most important question is can you trust the band to organise your evening entertainment so that it works well for you and not just for them, Will they bring recorded music for their intervals or will your guests be left sitting in silence, and will they perform for sufficient time to justify the expense.

The best way to find a great band is to search Google or other good search engines for wedding bands in your area, perhaps searching for “wedding bands north east” and check out the bands’ websites. A good band will generally have a good informative website, and remember, if their website is dull they probably will be too!

Above all, remember a good live band will make your evening and will always be preferable to just a DJ, and considering that the cost will no doubt be a small fraction of the overall cost of your wedding it could turn out to be your best investment.

Charles F Barnes is a music consultant living in the north east of England.
The Dean Solomon Band are one of the leading 4 piece professional wedding bands north east who provide music for weddings, functions, parties and all events in the North East, North Yorkshire and Co Durham. http://www.deansolomonband.co.uk

Author: Charles F Barnes
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: PCB Prototype & Manufacturing

The food is one of the highlights of a wedding reception. To help showcase the special dishes that you have selected, consider designing menu cards for the reception tables. Placed at each setting, and artfully displayed, the menu cards can help your guests to enjoy their dinner even more.

A menu card should give guests an idea of what to expect as the meal proceeds. It also helps to let the guests know how many courses to expect (as in, a five course dinner – better not fill up on the early courses, or you won’t have room left for cake!). Keep the language fairly simple; if your entire menu is in French, it might look pretty, but it won’t do your guests much good if they cannot read it.

Some guests with dietary restrictions can also use the details of the menu to help them know which courses are best for them. For instance, a vegetarian guest who sees that beef is to be served as the main course will be forewarned to fill up on soup and salad. In addition, if you are serving dishes with any common allergens, it would be nice to put that information in the title of the dish, when possible. In other words, “couscous with pinenuts” instead of just “couscous”.

The design of your menu cards should complement the rest of your wedding. If you are having a very fancy evening wedding, with the bride in a cathedral length veil and dazzling crystal bridal jewelry, your menu cards should also be incredibly glamorous. A very stylish look would be to have crystal embellished menu card stands to echo the elegance of the bridal gown and jewelry.

Another way to display a wedding menu with panache is to put it in a frame. A beautiful picture frame can be chosen that fits in with the rest of the wedding design, anything from classic silver to beachy rattan would be great. The frame can then double as the wedding favors. A really fun idea would be to have a photographer on hand who can take and print photos that the guests can put into the frames as a memento from your wedding.

One of the most classic ways to display wedding menus is to lay them on the place settings. A heavy ivory card stock with a gold border would be ideal for a formal wedding when engraved in black ink. For a spring afternoon wedding, choose a more lighthearted stationary in a pastel color with an organza bow on the top. If your wedding will take place by the ocean, anchor each menu card with a seashell. There are infinite variations to fit with any wedding theme.

Flowers are a beautiful part of any wedding, and they can also be used with your menu cards. Rather than setting the napkins to the left of the plates, they can be placed directly onto the plates with a fold in the bottom third. The menu card gets slipped into the fold, and a single flower is set on top of the card to make it even lovelier. This is a simple idea that always looks wonderful.

Guy writes on many subjects including travel,customs and society. SilverlandJewelry.com. Crystal bridal jewelry will make any bride feel her most fabulous.

Author: Guy Antonelli
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Most women have dreamed about the day they would walk down the aisle since they were girls. Now they are engaged and the wedding day is approaching, it is time to start looking for the perfect wedding dress.

The first step is to start your search at least six months ahead of time. Remember, if you have to special order a wedding dress then it could take months not including the time for alterations. Just give yourself plenty of time just in case something unexpected comes up.

Step 2 is to make a list of all the wedding dresses you like from magazines, stores, websites and any other place you have looked. The best way is to create a folder and keep pictures of all the dresses and keep notes on the dress with the picture. If you like a dress but you would change something about it then keep notes so you won’t forget.

Step 3 is to start narrowing down your choice of wedding dress by choosing a style that is appropriate for the ceremony. Depending on your wedding style you might want to go with a formal evening wedding dress that is floor-length, in an ivory, white or cream color, a semi-formal dress that is without the train, or a less formal dress that may be shorter or even a two piece suit. There are many styles and colors to choose from and the sooner you choose the style the quicker you can start choosing the dress and doing the alterations.

The next step, step 4, is to start searching for the dress. Don’t rule out department stores as they have a wide variety of styles to choose from. Make sure you take an honest person you trust with you to give you the feedback you may not want to hear but you need to hear. Sometimes the wedding dresses you try on will look great but be unflattering on you. The dress must be comfortable and you must be able to move around in the dress easily. Try on a few dresses and a few designer gowns so you recognize the quality of the dress and then you can choose a dress in your price range of good quality.

Step 5 is to set a budget for your wedding dress now that you have tried on and seen many dresses. You can buy a wedding dress off the rack starting at about $250 and spend as much as $10,000 for a designer dress. Check with bridal stores that are having sales or may have a discontinued styles or overstocks.

The final step in choosing your wedding dress is to put down a deposit on your dress. Make sure to get an itemized invoice stating every detail of the dress and the services to be performed on the dress such as alterations. Specify a due date for your dress and state that the deal can be canceled if the dress isn’t delivered by a specific date.

Get more information from Cynthia at Wedding-Reviews.com She has listed great wedding speeches in the Wedding Speeches section.

Author: Cynthia Bell
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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I have to attend a wedding tommorow its an evening wedding .I have never attended an American wedding before. So i was wondering if i can wear a traditional Indian dress , or do u have to wear western only… Also the dress im planning to wear is black and grey in color. Is that an appropriate color for a wedding over here. Also wat kind of accesories, jewelry, etc etc should i wear.
And another question, what should i make my 4 yr old son wear?

Arranging plans for your wedding will involve many things from hiring a photographer to selecting a good caterer and allot more in between. Whether you are having your wedding in sunny San Diego or breezy San Francisco, the average cost of a California wedding has just recently surpassed $40,000 with many couples electing to spend far more than that figure as guest lists expand and venues are upgraded. Regardless of your budget, you can control costs and enjoy your day without being saddled with tremendous debt. Let’s take a look at all that you can do to plan for your upcoming California wedding.

A Budget and a List

Planning for a California wedding will likely include the input of your parents as well as your significant other. Traditionally, the bride’s family paid for the entire event, but today’s couples sometimes prefer to foot the bill themselves or ask both sets of parents for financial contributions. Regardless, a ballpark amount of money should be budgeted before you begin the wedding planning process. Much of those plans will be centered around the total number of guests expected to attend the reception, so go ahead and begin working on the list as you scout out various venues.

The Ceremony and the Reception

Although you may have a date in mind, those plans will be quickly altered if either your church is unavailable that day or a favored reception hall is already booked. If your marriage plans include a wedding during the most popular months of June through September, you may encounter more difficulty on getting the date that you want. Conversely, if you marry during the four months of the year, you will have the best chance of seeing your plans come to fruition. Consider a Friday evening wedding if your Saturday plans cannot be worked out.

The Internet: An Indispensable Tool

21st Century couples are using the internet like never before to help plan their big day. You can do the same for your California wedding to help you search for vendors, compare prices, and purchase goods. Indeed, savvy couples can accomplish the majority of their work online 24/7/365 to save time and money.

Virtually every business has a web site these days and from the ease of your laptop you can accomplish the following tasks:

o Tour reception halls via links to video clips and photographs.

o Find a wedding disc jockey to listen to interviews and music clips.

o Locate florists to preview flower designs and arrangements.

o Preview sites featuring the works of photographers.

o Shop for wedding rings, bridesmaid gifts, party favors, etc.

Spreadsheets and Wedding Plan Software

To keep track of and manage all of the costs, you can also use a handy spreadsheet like Microsoft Excel to get the job done. Beyond Excel, some couples have discovered that by using dedicated wedding plan software you can control all of your pertinent information and create a web site for guest preview. Some couples are now extending invitations and receiving replies completely electronically through these types of sites. Use whatever plans works best for you as you do have options!

Here Comes the Beautiful Bride!

Once your wedding plans are in place you can fully enjoy the day without worrying about the details. Short of hiring a wedding planner, a trusted family member or friend can help you keep you on track and relieve you of much of the minutiae related to planning your California wedding.

Click here if you need help planning for your California Wedding.

Michael Brito is an internet marketing consultant and freelance writer for a variety of consumer related products.

Author: Michael Brito
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: PCB Prototype & Manufacturing