Choosing Your Something Old, New, Borrowed, and Blue

We have all grown up with the wedding poem, “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.” But did you know the next line is “And a silver sixpence in her shoe”?  A sixpence is a British silver coin minted from 1551 to 1967.

All these items – old, new, borrowed, blue and a sixpence are supposed to be tokens of good luck for a happy marriage.  And knowing that, don’t you want to follow this nice tradition and enhance your own wedded “luck”?

 

Old
Something old has to do with the bride’s family continuing on and on; from the past and present into the future. It can also mean you are leaving your old life and joining your husband in a new life together. 

• A lace handkerchief from your grandmother that you can carry tucked in with your bouquet up the aisle. It will come in handy if you become joyfully teary.
• An old piece of jewelry from your mother or grandmother.  For example, you could wear an old wedding band on your other hand, or wear her brooch.
• Use your parent’s cake topper on your wedding cake.
• Wear your mother’s wedding dress or veil.

New
Something new represents hope and an optimistic outlook for the bride’s new life with her husband.

• Many of the items you are wearing are probably new – your wedding dress, your veil, your shoes.
• Wear new silky undergarments.
• Purchase jewellery just to go with your wedding dress.
• Get a new charm bracelet with charms that represent all that you and your fiance have experienced together so far.  Then you can add to it over the years and you’ll always remember where it came from.

Borrowed
Something borrowed should be something loaned from a happily married person – family or friend. They are loaning you the item with good wishes for your own happy marriage. It also reminds you that you can depend on them in the future.

• Ride to the wedding in your grandfather’s antique roadster.
• Wear a garter that your best friend wore.
• Borrow your mother’s pearl necklace.
• Use the hairpins your sister used in her wedding hairdo.

Blue
Something blue has a variety of meanings, but the colour blue has been associated with weddings through the ages.  Blue represents the Virgin Mary and virginity, staying true to your loved one, constancy, and modesty.

• Jewellery set with sapphires.
• A blue garter.
• Pale blue undergarments.
• One blue flower in your wedding bouquet.
• For fun, paint your toenails blue.

As far as the sixpence, it means a blessing for prosperity and future wealth.

• Tuck a symbolic coin into your shoe.
• Slip the coin into your purse.
• Or put it in the shoes you will wear upon leaving the reception.

Some items may fit into a couple of different categories and that’s perfectly fine. They should still bring you luck.  Here’s an example that could cover the first four categories:  wear an old, borrowed, blue garter and tie a miniature picture frame to it with a new picture of you and your beloved.

For more wedding tips and advice, as well as a full directory of wedding suppliers in Surrey, visit Surrey Weddings

Disposable Wedding Cameras

For more wedding tips and advice, as well as a full directory of wedding suppliers in Surrey, visit Surrey Weddings

History Of Wedding Favours

Wedding favours are popular at wedding receptions or parties almost everywhere. Their historical origin is unknown but there’s evidence that they have been popular around the world for a very long time.

There are many theories about what generated the tradition of giving wedding guests a favour for attending the service. Some say the tradition originated with the Romans in the 8th century. Another states that the Romans, during 400 B.C. started the practice of throwing rice and giving wedding favours to guests.

Almonds have been a traditional symbol of good luck and assurances for successful marriages for centuries. Originally, only the titled families followed this practice and their favours were often made of silver or gold. When the custom filtered down to the other social classes, by the end of the 19th century, almonds were distributed in golden paper boxes.

Supposedly, when the groom gave his friends walnuts, he was saying goodbye to his bachelor ways. Walnuts were thrown at the couple during the ceremony and eventually evolved into today’s practice of throwing rice at them.

There are reports from English royalty during the 15th century that they usually handed out symbolic almonds in small boxes of precious metal to guests. Across the Channel, during the Napoleonic era, friends exchanged boxes of almonds as a wish for good luck.

In Russia, the Czars celebrated the christening of their children by giving their relatives and friends specially designed boxes of gold filled with sweets.

Middle Eastern weddings today use Jordan almonds at most weddings to continue this ancient symbolic rite. Guests are given 5 Jordan almonds to represent traditional wedding wishes of fertility, health, wealth and a long life together full of happiness. The candy coating on the almond is said to represent both the bitter and the sweet side of marriage.

In Malaysia, the groom is likely to send wedding presents to his future bride. Children are the traditional bearers of the gifts, which usually include elaborately decorated trays of food, including origami made with currency that represent flowers and cranes. A Korean marriage custom of each guest receiving a beautifully decorated hard-boiled egg to represent fertility is a welcomed wedding favour.

Party Crackers were popular as wedding favours during the Victorian Era and are still used today as favours or for other festive occasions, particularly for the British Christmas season, but not exclusively. They are a popular treat for parties of any theme, especially at children’s parties.

Apparently they were invented by Tom Smith, a London pastry cook, in the 1840′s. On a trip to Paris he was fascinated by a French holiday practice of placing sweets and sugared almonds in a bit of twisted colored paper. He called his creation “Kiss Mottos” and did not have much success with them until he made the paper container pop or crack when it was pulled apart.

Today’s wedding receptions continue the practice of giving wedding favours to guests. Some are traditional, but it has often evolved into themed practices, like wine, hearts, flowers, etc. Seasonal themes are very popular at certain times of the year and are a perfect theme to use around Valentine’s day.

 

Personalised favours have a strong following and guests might receive a set of pens and pencils engraved with the date of the wedding or a shot glass engraved with the details. One thoughtful gift might be a small silver, engraved frame with a picture of the bride and groom.

The wedding favour tradition has definitely evolved into a successful industry that has provided a solution to the wedding favour quandary and the time-consuming task of choosing the right favour for your wedding.

For more wedding tips and advice, as well as a full directory of wedding suppliers in Surrey, visit Surrey Weddings

How to Make Your Wedding Reception Enjoyable For Everyone

Have you ever been to a wedding reception where guests sit around in little groups of people they know and no one mingles or looks like they’re having a very good time? And it’s all slightly awkward? Yep, I have too.  This is not how you want your wedding reception to go.  You want people to mingle and get to know each other, especially both sides of the two families involved.  Plus, you want everyone to have a good time.

Let’s explore ways to help your guests feel comfortable so they’ll relax, open up, and enjoy themselves.

1.  Start the bonding between families and friends at the hen night and stag party. That way the people at these events will have some common ground with each other when it comes time for the wedding reception.  Even if they didn’t previously know each other, they will now have some shared history.

2.  Music is important, even if you don’t plan to have dancing.  Keep it loud enough so that people can hear it, but not so loud they have to shout to be heard over it.  The type of music is important too. Make sure it’s light and uplifting.

3.  Have a slide show running on one wall featuring the bride and groom from babies to adulthood, lots of shots of friends and families, and as many funny (and potentially embarrassing) pictures as you can find.  This opens everyone up for a good laugh and brings out the conversation as the bride’s Mum tells the groom’s sister the story that led up to a certain picture, etc.

4.  Make the room on the smallish size.  If the room is huge and the number of guests small, they have plenty of room to go hide in the corners.  You want the room size to force them to be closer together so they will mingle. 

5.  Group dancing such as line dancing, the Stroll, the Hokey Pokey, and even the Bunny Hop get people together. The more ridiculous dances are usually good during the latter half of the reception after the ice has been broken.

6.  The dance with the bride (money dance) is a tradition for some families and one you should consider doing as it’s lots of fun and gets everyone involved.  Basically everyone lines up to dance with the bride and puts some money in the hat for the privilege to do so.

7.  A tango contest or limbo contest is another activity to try half way through the reception.  This can be hilarious and entertaining for everyone, not just those who are involved.  Be sure to have someone video tape it as you might end up with some footage suitable for the You’ve Been Framed show.

8.  Give the loners at your reception a job to do. You can assign these guests disposable cameras and ask them to be in charge of getting some candid shots during the reception.

These are some ideas to help you have a reception where your guests feel comfortable and have a good time. Keep these in mind and your reception may be talked about fondly for years to come.

For more wedding tips and advice, as well as a full directory of wedding suppliers in Surrey, visit Surrey Weddings

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For more wedding tips and advice, as well as a full directory of wedding suppliers in Surrey, visit Surrey Weddings

Perfume Offers For Christmas From CheapSmells.com

An ideal present for the woman in your life is perfume. CheapSmells.com have some fantastic stocking filler ideas just for you.

For more wedding tips and advice, as well as a full directory of wedding suppliers in Surrey, visit Surrey Weddings

Personalised Wedding Favours

Wedding favours are there as a small gift for your wedding guests, and to remind them of your special day that they shared with you.

Having your favours personalised is a beautiful touch that shows your personality. You can get edible favours, keepsakes, and other merchandise personalised for the wedding. By adding your names to the favours, or by adding the wedding date, your gift is truly personalised very easily.

In years to come, your guests will know exactly where that favour came from, and will trigger memories of the day for them.

You can usually choose different options for your personalised message, like just your first names, or Mr & Mrs for fun. Add the wedding date to complete the customisation. It’s entirely up to you. Edible candy favours are the most common type. Almonds are another favourite.

If having the actual favour itself personalised isn’t an option, try adding a small tag with a personal message into each favour box.

Roses are another option for a personalised wedding favour. You can have gold or silver leaf lettering stamped onto the petals with your names and wedding date. Using food dye as a stamp, you can personalise almost anything. Get creative with your ideas. Other favour ideas are small picture frames with your picture in it, shot glasses with the date engraved on it, plates, small silver gifts, anything really.

Think of things that you love that your guests will relate to. If you are nature lovers, how about a jar of honey with your personal details on the label. Do a search on the internet for personalised gifts and favours and you’re bound to find something to suit you and your guests that won’t cost a fortune.

For more wedding tips and advice, as well as a full directory of wedding suppliers in Surrey, visit Surrey Weddings

Wedding Lingerie – 50% Sale Now On At Lingerie.co.uk

There’s a 50% sale now on at lingerie.co.uk. Take a look to see what wedding lingerie they currently have and take advantage of their great deals.

For more wedding tips and advice, as well as a full directory of wedding suppliers in Surrey, visit Surrey Weddings

Another new Surrey Weddings web site launched

We’ve just launched another new web site to expand our growing network.

www.weddingsurrey.com is now live!

For more wedding tips and advice, as well as a full directory of wedding suppliers in Surrey, visit Surrey Weddings

New Surrey Wedding web site launched

I am proud to announce that we have just launched a new Surrey Wedding web site to expand our ever growing network of sites. This is to dominate the search engines when browsers look for anything wedding related in the Surrey area.

The new site is Wedding in Surrey.

Our advertisers will hope fully see the merits of these actions over the coming months, as we cross-promote each subsidiary site.

For more wedding tips and advice, as well as a full directory of wedding suppliers in Surrey, visit Surrey Weddings

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