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Wedding Code - by bluephin

 
Welcome! You might be reading this blog because you are one of the following: • A Bride-To-Be or Groom-To-Be looking for Wedding Planning Tips (Congratulations! You’re soon to join the bandwagon); • A Wedding Fanatic (just like me!); • A Wedding Planner who seeks new wedding ideas; • A Friend or Family member of someone who is planning on getting married; or • Simply an Interested Reader who chanced upon this blog. You are welcome to browse through the posts and pick an idea or two about weddings. Enjoy and please do come back anytime and check out my new posts. Bring a friend or two who you think would enjoy reading through my articles as much as you did. It’s always fun to bounce around ideas -- especially when you’re planning a wedding.
Are you getting married? Are you on a tight wedding budget? Have you considered using a pre-loved bridal gown instead of buying one off the racks or purchasing a custom made gown?

Some brides might frown at the idea of them wearing a second-hand gown. Why would they not, this is supposed to be a time for them to feel like a princess. She is the center of attention on her wedding day and supposedly be the most stunning lady around.

Wearing a pre-loved bridal gown isn’t only practical especially during these times that we have to value every cent of our hard-earned money, but it is also a great way to practice our creativity. Using a pre-loved wedding gown doesn’t necessarily mean that you can no longer be more unique than the first one who wore the gown prior to you. You can always look at ways of updating the gown or altering it to suit your taste and your body shape.


Here are some pointers to remember when you are considering donning pre-loved bridal gowns for your wedding.

• A pre-loved gown option could be a sister’s, your mother’s or grandmother’s or relative’s bridal gown. A plus factor when using a bridal gown worn by a family member is that you don’t have to buy it from them (unless they want you to) and you can spend your dollars on alteration or updating the style.
• When buying a gown from pre-loved gown shops make sure that you choose one with a room for change. If you plan to do some alteration, pick a gown that is not your exact size. But if you want to wear it as it comes then take out a gown that fits your body size perfectly.
• A plain white or off-white colored gown is easier to accessorize to make it look different from what it usually is. A sash of your wedding color is a great way of adding a personal look to your gown.

• Adding a beadwork to a plain gown is a simple way of changing how the gown looks like, but is in inexpensive as you don’t need a pro to do it. All it takes is simple sewing skills and a creative hand and mind.
• Make sure to get the gown dry-cleaned or washed thoroughly. Not only would a proper cleaning technique bring out the best in the color of the gown considering that it has been in hiding for awhile or dust has built up on it from the racks. But it would also assure you that you wouldn’t be scratching your way throughout the wedding ceremony.
• When adding some features on to the gown make sure that you use a cloth that is of the same or almost near color and texture to it to avoid that awkward look to what you have added.

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Planning on having a Filipiniana-inspired wedding? Here are some creative ways of adorning your guests’ tables with decors made of products and raw materials found in the Philippines.

Abaniko Galore

Both the abaca and the bamboo abaniko can be used for this centerpiece. You can arrange them in tiers or (if your reception venue is in an indoors location) hang them on different lengths nylon thread from the ceiling to where the tables are. Alternatively, you can arrange the abanikos to be connected in a circle to cover your flower vase making it look like the flowers are enclosed by the abaniko.

The Coconut Nut

The coconut fruit, bark, leaves and trunk never go out of use for Filipinos, so why not take chance at its versatility and use every bit of it for your wedding decoration? A couple of fresh coconut ready for (juice) consumption would be a perfect centerpiece and thirst quencher for each reception table. Just make sure that you mix unopened and opened fruits so that you table centerpiece wouldn’t look empty after your guests drank their share. Surround the arrangement with a lei of seasoned blooms for a bit more added decoration.

The coconut leaves can be trimmed to a reasonable size as a backdrop for your floral arrangement. Throw in some sinamay wrappings for that added Filipiniana look.

There is also young coconut shell that you can clean up nicely and adorn with floating flower petals or candles.

Bamboo and Banana

Gather some bamboo cuttings (make sure it is big enough to serve as vase for your flowers), lay it vertically and put several holes along the bamboo length. Arrange your flowers on the holes. Set the banana leaf on the center of the table and put the bamboo vase on top.

Alternatively you can do it the other way around. Split short bamboo cuttings into 2 so that both can lay with the flat side facing down. This will serve as the footings. Prepare banana tree trunks split in half. With the two bamboo at the ends of the banana cuttings, stick flowers on the banana trunk. Now you’ve got your flower arrangement on banana trunk instead of on a vase.

Capiz Flowers

Capiz is very versatile. You can cut it up to different shapes and gather them around to form your artwork. Instead of displaying fresh flower arrangement why not have capiz flowers arranged beautifully as your centerpiece. Not only would it stay fresh all throughout the event but your guests can even take home a flower as a souvenir.


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If you are a Filipino or Filipina who’s getting married or simply someone who is captured by the beauty and richness of the Philippine culture and wants to inculcate this in your wedding, then why not settle for a Filipiniana inspired wedding?

The fusion of Filipiniana motif and modern inspirations is a very promising mix. It would be a good idea especially for Filipino couples who are getting wed abroad and want to wow their foreign guests with how beautiful Philippine crafts could be in an occasion. However, it is advisable not to overdo things. Just pick some aspects of the wedding that would carry the Filipiniana motif.


Wedding Particulars that can carry the Filipiniana Motif

THE INVITATION

There are so many raw and processed Philippine products that are very suitable to adorn your invitation. I remember my sister’s wedding invitation where they used abaca as their envelope and tied a ribbon to secure the folds. You can also use hollow bamboo cuttings to hold scroll-type wedding invitations. I believe I did this style before for one of my aunties. I bought the bamboo from Divisoria, glued strips of ribbon on it and decorated it with small rose buds.

TABLE CENTERPIECES AND DECORATIONS

Get inspiration for your table centrepiece and event decorations from Philippine products, styles and crafts. Not only would you be able to promote how rich your heritage and the Philippine art is, but it would also give way to opening your and your guests’ eyes to the beauty of Philippine products and ingenuity.

SOUVENIRS

Same as with invitations, the souvenirs can also be decorated with Philippine culture and heritage in mind or created from Philippine products. Have you ever seen “abaniko” (Philippine handheld fan) with the photo of the couples and their thank-you note printed out front? Or perhaps gift bags made of abaca or sinamay with your small thank-you gift inside? Trinket boxes made of capiz would also be a good idea. So you see, there really is richness and variety to raw products that you can use. The possibilities are endless (just with a bit of imagination and resources).

COUPLE’S CLOTHES

Go back in time and don a Filipiniana inspired bridal gown. Remember that very Imeldific pop-up sleeves or those Maria Clara style dresses? You don’t have to look like you borrowed your great grandmother’s old wedding dress. Just pull inspiration from these styles, throw it into those modern makes and presto! You’ll have the best wedding dress you’ll ever wear in your lifetime. On the other hand, your man can wear the very classic barong Tagalog which is now made more famous when Quentin Tarantino wore it to an awards night. It now comes in different colors like blue, green, pink, red, orange, etc. other than the common white or off-white color.



Imeldific inspired wedding gown from Webshots



Maria Clara inspired wedding gown from Webshots

TRANSPORTATION

If suited and if there is available resources, why not opt out of the traditional wedding car or limousine and arrive at your wedding venue in a caritela or a horse-drawn carriage? You would feel like you are Cinderella going to the palace ball.



Horse-drawn carriage as wedding transportation - From Villa Escudero, Philippines website

WEDDING DANCE

Try out your dancing feet in a frenzy of Tinikling or Pandango sa Ilaw or perhaps Sayaw sa Bangko (Dancing on Top of a Bench). Do away with the traditional slow dancing or promenade for you and your partner’s first dance as a couple and bring in a touch of Philippine dances.



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Ideas for a Themed Wedding

September 8th 2008 22:30
Most couples nowadays would want to jump out of the box and do away with traditional weddings; thus, they resort to themed weddings.

Figuring out what theme to use in your wedding could be as challenging (and as fun) as the rest of the preparations is. This has to be one of the first decisions that have to be done as most of the other considerations will revolve around this


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Insights on Wedding Registry

September 8th 2008 01:13
Wedding registry is more and more becoming a common way for grooms and brides to be on making gift-buying a simplified task for their wedding guests. The basic steps are simple, the couple registers with suppliers, specialty stores or shops, chooses some items to put in their “wish list”, couple informs their guests of their wedding registry and if guests would want to have an easy gift buying experience they would visit the stores and check out the couple’s wedding registry.

However, some people have the notion that it is like “forcing” your guests to buy you something in specific or dictating what your guests should give you. Although gift giving is a free-will pointing out the registry make feel more insistent that an independent choice


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Preparing for a wedding requires a lot of time management, planning and careful thinking. Your thoughts and ideas should always be organized and very much ahead of you.

One of the main things that has to be considered when planning a wedding is deciding on a wedding date. Couples base their wedding date on several varied factors. Some couples would choose a special or memorable event for them as a couple. Others would choose a date that is simply suitable for them like saying “let’s get married six months from now (the date you said yes to his marriage proposal).” A few couples would also time their wedding to the date when their venue of choice would be available or their relatives (who may be coming from overseas) would be able to travel and join them for the occasion


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Other than Vera Wang, another Wedding Gown designer whose name is making waves is Monique Lhuillier. This Philippine-raised designer has created wedding gowns for the likes of Britney Spears, Pink, Emilie de Ravin (of Lost), Natalie Imbruglia, Ali Landry, and Christine Baumgartner (when she was wed to Kevin Costner).


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Weddings are not always as traditional as how they used to be. Gone were the times when a Hindu woman is married to a Hindu man or a Christian woman is married to a Christian man. Now, mixed marriages are not taboo anymore. They are as widely accepted as having a child out of wedlock or divorce.

However, there would always be the debate on whose culture or religion or tradition would be followed for the wedding ceremony and all the wedding brouhahas. Most men would argue that it should be the man’s culture or tradition that should be followed because he’s the man and the woman should (ideally, after the marriage) be under his house (or so it says). Nevertheless, not all women now are as succumbing as they used to and would of course oftentimes argue that either their culture be followed or meet halfway in between (meaning having a non-traditional wedding


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I have been looking around the internet for noteable wedding gown designers and found a familiar name crop up - no less than Vera Wang herself.

Vera Wang has been a popular choice among Holywood celebrities to do their wedding gowns. Some of Vera Wang's famous works are bridal gowns of Jennifer Lopez, Sharon Stone, Jessica Simpson, Mariah Carey, among many others


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If you ever decided to have a Coffee-lovers themed wedding, here are a few table centrepiece ideas that you can use.

A BOWL OF COFFEE GOODNESS
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