Every Friday, Wedding and Party Network will be choosing a theme or color and give you inspirational photos. We want to help give you inspiration for your next event, wedding or party. So, take a look and we hope to give you a bit of inspiration when planning your wedding or party. Our inspirational board will give everyone inspiration on unique reception flowers. There are so many different things you can do with flowers at your reception. Plus, they are so important because they represent the theme of your wedding and show off your fabulous style.

Picture the reception of your dreams. The lighting, colors, tables and beautiful flowers all meshing together to create the perfect fusion just right for you. Can you picture your wedding flowers vibrant and lavish or unique and elegant creating the perfect ambiance for your celebration? Flowers are what pull everything together at a reception. Use your imagination to create one-of-a-kind flower arrangements to make your reception stand out from others. Here are some creative designs for your wedding flowers to help you create the perfect look for yours!

Your wedding day is a day that you have looked forward to for years.  A day to celebrate and begin your new journey with your mate. Weddings are an occasion that come along with great celebration, family and friends and a large price tag!

That being said, it's not wonder that small, intimate weddings are becoming more popular. Often times, however, it's not only the money that inspires couples to have a private wedding… It takes much less planning, less stress and makes for a memorable family event. Something that you will hold close to your heart forever.

Small weddings are not the most favored, but they are the most cost efficient choice. Expect to have mixed emotions from family and friends when you share the news. They're excited about your special day too. Listen to their opinions, but since you chose to have a small wedding, stick to your guns and explain to them that on a later date you will hold an informal reception to include everyone who isn't invited to the ceremony.

Make a budget. No wedding planner needed! Do some research on the web and around your community for local florists, caterers, and bakeries.

Once you have an attainable budget you can start planning and purchasing your wedding necessities.

Chose your location. Smaller weddings give you more options when it comes to finding a wedding location, look for local halls, churches, wineries, beaches, parks or private gardens. Depending on how small your guest list is, you can hold the ceremony at your home or a family member's home.

Destination weddings are a great option when you have a small guest list too. It costs more. However, you can ask your family to pitch in to help cover the traveling costs instead of gifts. After all, they will be coming along on the trip too!

Invitations. Send out your wedding invitations 4-6 weeks in advance. If you feel bad talking about your wedding to friends who are not invited, it might be a better idea NOT talk about it. Keep it a secret until after the ceremony. You can then invite them to the reception to celebrate!

The Menu. Selecting your menu will be easier with a smaller crowd. You wont have to worry about generalizing the menu, like you would for a larger crowd. Hire a caterer to create your family's favorite foods.

The wedding. Yes it close and personal, but you can still have all the traditions included. Ask your guests to offer a few words at the ceremony or to do the readings if it is a religious ceremony.

Reception. This is a great time to show a slide show or play old family movies. A time to tell family stories. Your reception will be small, private and beautiful.

After your wedding you can wait a few weeks before having your big reception. This celebration is less formal than a typical wedding reception. Send out your invitations a few weeks in advance and plan for a low-key party to include all your friends in the celebration!

A few reminders…

• You can still have the dress of your dreams! Just because your wedding is small doesn't mean you can't have a great dress.
• The wedding flowers don't need to be as lavish as they would be for a larger wedding. But, having flowers in your small wedding will bring an intimate and elegant touch to the ceremony and reception.
• A beautiful way to include your family in the wedding is to give each family member a single flower as they take their seats. When you walk down the aisle to the altar, each flower will become part of your bouquet. This can be done with Hawaiian Leis too, each family member can place one around your neck as you make your way to alter. Or a simple hug to each family member as you enter is a beautiful way to include everyone.

This post is brought to you by Miami Wedding Planners.
Not in Miami, FL No worries, use Wedding and Party Network's handy wedding planning directory to help you find a wedding planner near you!

So, your wedding day is approaching. However, in the midst of your planning you realize that you don't want the typical limousine exit after your reception. Are there other options? Depending on your site and the weather, there are several fun ways you can make an exciting exit from your wedding to the reception, and from the reception it's self!

Rose petals and rice are common traditions to be tossed as the happy couple exits the wedding chapel. However, there are some other great ideas to incorporate into your grand exit.

Some fun ideas to spice things up are:

• Sparklers
• Pom Poms
• Lavender
• Bird Seed
• Bells (to ring – not throw!)
• Butterfly or dove release
• Jazz band along both sides of the walk way – groove your way through

As for your ride:

Your getaway vehicle should show the style and theme of your wedding. Here are some creative ways to make a GRAND exit!

• A vintage bicycle built for two
• Horse and carriage
• Firetrucks or police escort
• A trolley ride for the wedding party
• Helicopter ride (talk about grand!)
• Hot air balloon
• An elephant ride around the corner
• A Harley Davidson built for two
• Horseback
• Ride off on a Sea-Doo (for a beach wedding)

There are so many ways to leave your mark, you just have to imagine and then create! Congratulations on your big day – now go make it as special as you are!

This post is brought to you by Miami Wedding Planners.
Not in Miami, FL No worries, use Wedding and Party Network's handy wedding planning directory to help you find a wedding planner near you!

Something Borrowed, Something Blue…

Yes, we all know the tradition, even if you are not having a traditional wedding, this is a fun one to keep!

The saying itself derives from an old English poem. The old representing the bride's past, the new representing the bride's new journey with her husband, the borrowed representing the bond between the bride and her family and the blue symbolizes the love between the bride and groom.

Here are some creative ideas..

The Old

• Your grandmother's veil
• Antique lace around the stem of your wedding bouquet
• A locket with your grandparents picture inside
• A family rosary
• Your grandfather's handkerchief
• Your grandfathers Military tags around the stem of your bouquet

The New

• A new lingerie set under your wedding dress
• A sparkling piece of jewelry
• Your bouquet
• A penny or coin minted the year of your wedding (hide it in your shoe!)
• Your fabulous wedding dress can pass as the "new" too!
• All new makeup! How fun!

The Borrowed

• A family Heirloom (necklace, ring or charm hung from your bouquet)
• Your mother's necklace or bracelet
• A piece of your friend's jewelry that you have had your eye on
• Your sister's or best friends shoes from her wedding
• Your mother's perfume

The Blue

• Garnish your garter with blue lace
• Sky blue toe nail polish
• A sapphire hair pin
• Blue earrings
• Blue flowers in your bouquet
• Go all out with beautiful blue silk shoes

Chose what suits and reflects your personality. Have fun and get creative – the only limit is your imagination!

This post is brought to you by Miami Wedding Planners.
Not in Miami, FL? No worries, use Wedding and Party Network's handy wedding planning directory to help you find wedding planners near you!

 

When planning a wedding, you can find inspiration anywhere. From nature, the world, colors or your favorite hobbies, these are all places on where you can draw wedding inspiration. You can even draw inspiration from your favorite movies. It's out there, everywhere you look. The most important thing when planning your wedding is to make sure and incorporate YOU. It's your wedding after all and you want it to be just how you've always dreamed.

How Do I Incorporate Movies Into Our Wedding?

First off, sit down and start brainstorming. What is your favorite movie? What time era was it set in? What style does in portray throughout the movie? What is your personal style? These are all questions you need to ask yourself in the very beginning. Once you have figured out the style and theme you are going with, start deciding the basics. What type of colors, flowers and accents will you have at your wedding?

Wedding Colors – Incorporate your favorite colors. It's that simple. The theme of your wedding can go and all the little accents can work with whatever colors you choose.

Wedding Invitations -This is where you can get creative. Whether your wedding is out-of-the-box or more elegant, there are wedding invitations out there to suit both styles. For starters, your wedding invitation should replicate a movie ticket.

A movie ticket will definitely fit the theme of this wedding. You can even visit your local stationery store or find someone who is crafty and actually do a tear-off ticket. You can have a movie ticket that features individual tear offs with the reception information, hotel accommodations and the RSVP card. Guests can then tear off the RSVP card at the perforated edge and send it back! Absolutely adorable idea and definitely conveys the theme of your wedding from the beginning.

Wedding Flowers & Decor -If they feature flowers in the film, use those. Is your movie inspired wedding bright & colorful? Well, incorporate that into your wedding bouquet and decor. Is your favorite movie in black & white? Well, make black and white the theme of your wedding and incorporate that into all the little details. Place fun movie accents throughout your wedding. Have a movie poster created with your engagement pictures.

Include the wedding party in the movie poster as well and give it a fun movie title! If you're movie is set in a certain time era, play it up. Everything from your table numbers to your guest book can be movie inspired. Create tickets or miniature movie poster as table numbers and use a typewriter as a guest book, both of these ideas make unique additions to your wedding. Use candelabras for your reception centerpieces or even balloons!

Wedding Attire – This will depend on the theme and time era your movie was set in.

Reception Food -Again, stick with the theme and era. However, get creative and think outside-the-box when it comes to your food. Vintage soda pop bottles with colorful straws, a popcorn bar featuring different flavors of popcorn, popcorn cupcakes or a memorable food item from the movie all will make wonderful reception food!

It's easy to find inspiration for your wedding through your favorite movie. It's a fun way to incorporate your personal style into it. Everyone loves a great movie now and then, so incorporating your favorite movie into your wedding is a fun way to show off your style. Your  movie can be a timeless classic, circus inspired, cartoon inspired or even sci-fi inspired. Just be sure to show off you and your groom's personality throughout your wedding!

This post is brought to you by Saint Louis Wedding Decoration Suppliers.
Not in Saint Louis, MO? No worries, use Wedding and Party Network's handy wedding planning directory to help you find a party planner near you!

Popcorn cupcakes, save the date tickets, provided by carabou, amy[treespacestudio] via flickr.

Every Friday, Wedding and Party Network will be choosing a theme or color and give you inspirational photos. We want to help give you inspiration for your next event, wedding or party. So, take a look and we hope to give you a bit of inspiration when planning your wedding or party. Our inspirational board will give everyone inspiration on the color yellow. This color can be bright & colorful or soft & light. It's perfect for spring, summer or even fall! Play it up, get vintage or create a classic, traditional feel with this color. There are so many things you can do!

When incorporating yellow into your wedding, definitely do so with flowers. It pairs so nicely with many colors. Create gorgeous yellow wedding bouquets with a red or peach accent, beautiful wedding arrangements & reception centerpieces, matching boutonnieres or incorporate the color into your wedding cake. There are so many options available for you. Pair it with deep orange to make a great color combination for fall or pair with other colorful colors for a combo that's fit for summer. So, yellow is a great color to use all year round. It doesn't matter when your wedding is, incorporate yellow into it!

One of the first things you decide is finding the perfect place for your wedding day. Your wedding venue is everything to you. It sets the tone, style and shows off you and your groom's personality. Location is a big deal on your wedding day. Determining your wedding place is one of the biggest decisions you will make when planning your wedding. Therefore, it should be everything you've always imagined. So, if you are in the Tuckasegee, North Carolina area, Castle Ladyhawke is a spectacular wedding place that everyone will fall in love with.

Simply Breathtaking

Immaculate Wedding Venue

Castle Ladyhawke is a magical private estate that is on a 62 mountain estate. What is so great about this wedding location? It's a castle! What girl doesn't dream about getting married in a castle? This gorgeous castle offers both indoor and garden ceremony and reception locations. This castle definitely gives off a medieval ambiance.

This place is simply amazing! The gorgeous stone exterior, as well as some interior, beautiful look out points, lush gardens, amazing ceilings and a grand staircase all make for an extraordinary wedding. Your guests will be blown away and you will have the wedding you've always dreamed about.

A Wedding You'll ALWAYS Remember

If you're planning a wedding, their friendly staff is there to help you. First, pick from the wedding packages that they offer that best suits your wedding style and budget. Choose from their elopement package, wedding of 25, wedding of 100, packages that include pre-ceremony decorating, event coordinator, hors d’oeuvres buffet, tables, linens and chairs. You can even choose from their Prince Charles package, the queen package or the royal wedding, which includes everything that you could ever want.

Rent this immaculate site for 4 full days, catered rehearsal dinner, bridal party brunch, valet parking, wedding photography, tents, dj, floral package, full dining package, champagne toast and accommodations, this wedding package includes it all!

Whether you are planning a small or grand wedding; Castle Ladyhawke wants to suit every bride and every budget. From your wedding ceremony to your wedding reception venue, everything will be simply amazing.

You will even find recommended wedding vendors on their website, along with floral and other ideas for you wedding. Always offering the best of wedding vendors and suggestions to make your day truly a dream come true.

Whenever finding your dream wedding venue, Castle Ladyhawke is your place to make all your dreams come true. The gorgeous views, lush gardens and spectacular rooms makes for an absolutely amazing location to have your wedding. Just imagine what your wedding photos will look like! So, create the wedding of your dreams with Castle Ladyhawke.

So, you're engaged, congratulations! Wedding And Party Network is so excited to hear about your big news. However, are you now stuck on what to do next. You've set the date and figured out your local wedding vendors, now what's next? Now, is the time to start planning out your guest list. This planning process can be extremely stressful and can get out of control. However, we'd like to offer you a few tips on how to manage your gust list.

First off, the majority of your wedding budget will go towards you wedding reception. You have to find a big enough wedding venue with adequate parking. Also, keep in mind that you will have to feed all your guests with your reception food and wedding cake. You have to have enough party favors and so on for every single one of your guests.

Those expenses can add up, quickly. Traditionally the bride's family pays for everything, however, it's becoming common for the bride and groom to pay or even for the groom's family to help out. So, the cost has an impact on everyone involved.

So, how do you determine your guest list? First, sit down and determine exactly what type of wedding you want. Do you want it to be a big affair or a small,intimate celebration? Once you have decide that, you can determine who to invite.

Setting A Number

Set A Max Number – First off, set a max number of people who you'd like to be there and that fit within your budget.

Location – Next, determine your dream location and figure out the maximum number of people your location will hold. Then, go from there and start inviting.

Wedding Planner

Compiling Lists

Now that you have set a number for your guest list, start compiling names. You and your family and him and his family need to sit down and write out a "must invite guest list". After you've compiled that list, create another list of "want to invite" gusts. If you go over your maximum number, start eliminating. Yes, it's a hard task, but do you really want to go over your budget?

What To Do If You Go Over

If you go over your guest list, don't be afraid to make some cuts. Start with business associates, parent's of your bridal attendants and then move onto distant family members. If you haven't talked to them in over a year, don't be afraid to eliminate them. Even though a certain percentage of your guests won't be able to attend, you still need to be prepared.

Creating a guest list to fit into your budget and venue is an absolute must. Yes, it's a tedious task, but it has to be done. Remember to get full names, addresses and telephone numbers and start mailing out those wedding invitations. Your wedding is going to be absolutely fabulous!

This post is brought to you by Austin Wedding Venues.
Not in Austin, TX? No worries, use Wedding and Party Network's handy wedding planning directory to help you find a wedding venue near you!

wedding planner photo provided by wunderkrafts via flickr.

Every Friday, Wedding and Party Network will be choosing a theme or color and give you inspirational photos. We want to help give you inspiration for your next event, wedding or party. So, take a look and we hope to give you a bit of inspiration when planning your wedding or party. Our inspirational board will give everyone inspiration for the color pink. It can be combined with so many other colors to get some gorgeous color combos. Such a girly color that can be bold and beautiful or light and soft.

Pink is such a wonderful color for weddings. It can be paired with gorgeous greens, yellows, blues and even black. Pair with green for a preppy feel, ivory for a rustic feel or black for an elegant feel. There are so many tones and themes that you'll be able to make with the color pink. Beautiful pink wedding bouquets, bridesmaid bouquets, boutonnieres and a pink wedding cake will all make wonderful accents to any wedding. So, find inspiration for your wedding through the color pink.

This post is brought to you by St. Louis Wedding Flower providers.
Not in Saint Louis, MO? No worries, use Wedding and Party Network's handy party planning directory to help you find wedding florist near you!

First off, congratulations on your very exciting engagement! Your wedding will be a dream come true and what you've always imagined. Once the excitement calms down and you've told everyone, you need to start planning. The sooner the better! So, Wedding And Party Network is here to give you a few wedding planning tips that will help you get started. With these planning tips, your dream wedding will unfold right before you.

Take Care Of Things In Advance -Once you have told everyone and things have calmed down a bit, immediately start planning. Staying on top of things is a must when planning your wedding. Sit down with your groom and decide on a date. That's the first thing you must do. Then, you can go from there. It's your wedding day, therefore you want it to be perfect. Well, start planning.

Paperwork – Some brides maybe so wrapped up into planning their wedding that they forget about one main important detail. The paperwork. Yes, a lot of us aren't a fan of doing paperwork. However, it must be done, especially if you want to get married. Make sure to research what you need in your state or for your destination wedding. Every state is different and need different documentation and even blood tests. So, be ready.

Finances – You may already know this and it seems like a business detail. However, knowing each others' finances is a very important detail. You will be making important decisions and big purchases together. We hate to be downers, but one of the top reasons for divorce is finances. So, you should be up front. Just take a moment with your future husband-to-be and lay out all your finances, student loans, debts, credit score and whatever else you may have. It'll be that much better for the both of you.

Be Available – Don't forget about all the emergencies that can occur. Even AFTER the wedding, while you're on your honeymoon. Therefore, be available to handle all situations. If you've planned ahead, you most likely are ready for any emergency that may occur.

Make an emergency guide for yourself or even your closet friends or family members. That way, they know how to handle the situation if you're not around. Being prepared never hurt anyone.

Consider Your Guests – We know this is your wedding day, however, consider your guests. You sent out wedding invitations far enough in advance to know exactly who is coming.

Therefore, if you know someone who has an allergy towards peanuts, make sure they get a dish that is peanut free. Maybe you have a guest who is vegetarian, well plan and let your caterer create them a meat free dish. If you are having an out-of-town wedding, make sure you give them some fun activities they can enjoy. Your guests are there for you, so you should be there for them too.

These 5 wedding planning tips will help you plan a smooth and well thought out wedding. You'll be ready for anything that comes your way. We want your wedding day to be everything you've dreamed of and it will be. Just remember, bring your unique style to your wedding day and enjoy!

This post is brought to you by Austin Wedding Planners.
Not in Austin, TX? No worries, use Wedding and Party Network's handy wedding planning directory to help you find a wedding planner near you!