Personalities Low Budget Wedding Favors
Creating a Themed Wedding Centerpiece


There is nothing nicer than a homemade gift, but of course, there is no time for you to make or design a wedding centerpiece. Perhaps a helpful friend or relative can make them. In fact, if someone gave you a bridal shower with handmade favors, perhaps they would be able to make a few more for the wedding.

Brainstorm

Anyone with imagination can think of a wedding centerpiece, but only a few can make them special. A few months before the wedding, call your attendants together and brainstorm ideas; make it fun. Perhaps you are known for your love of chocolate consider a variety of chocolate bars tied with decorative ribbon or designer hot cocoa for a winter wedding centerpiece. Perhaps someone knows how to make Christmas ornaments from clear glass balls perfect for a pre-Christmas ceremony. Birdhouses are popular and they would be perfect for a spring or summer wedding; they can be made of either wood or ceramic, for indoors or outdoors.

Decades

Which decade did you absolutely love? Do you remember music groups such as Foreigner, the Steve Miller Band, or Aerosmith? The 1970s were fun, and there are plenty of retro and collectible stores where you can pick up items with which to create a decade-related centerpiece. Albums are available at most thrift stores (like Goodwill Industries) for as low as fifty cents apiece. Melt the vinyl record over a bowl in the microwave to serve as a base for the 1970s wedding centerpiece, then shop for little items that will remind guests of the era. Centerpieces dont have to match you can even create them for different decades or music genres.

True Crime

Are you a police officer? Or, do you love Law & Order, CSI, the First 48, or other TV shows based on true crime issues? Consider a wedding centerpiece made with fake weapons, which are available anywhere including a party supply store. Find plastic (or real) handcuffs, a squirt gun, and a badge, throw in a can of silly string (mace) and have a ball. You could even have silly string fights outside (because it can stain furniture, hardwood floors, and clothes). Real Autopsies may not be the best TV-show theme, but theres bound to be someone who can come up with an idea for a wedding centerpiece based on the show.

Broadway

Consider using tickets and/or playbills to create a theater-related wedding centerpiece. Small theatrical masks can be found almost anywhere, sometimes for as low as a dollar apiece. Run ribbon through the ends, fold, or roll up the front page of a playbill, and use black and white candies to decorate around the piece. If you have a favorite show or two (or three), make each wedding centerpiece slightly different, to reflect particular shows. If playbills are not available, download theater-performance graphics from the Internet and try designing something around the artwork.

Another important thing to consider when planning a beach wedding is how much of the actual ceremony will be performed at the beach.

Country Wedding Favors
Of course, tradition would suggest both rings be the same; it is your prerogative to remain tradition or to stray from the norm. In fact, many use these rings as meditative tools to think upon their lives and where they might be headed. Looking at catalogs and jewelry stores, you may find the choices to be overwhelming. Do they have concerns about how you and your ex will act? If youre not the kind of person who has been thinking about weddings since age sixteen, this may quickly become overwhelming, but it neednt be.

In fact, if someone gave you a bridal shower with handmade favors, perhaps they would be able to make a few more for the wedding.
As much as possible, though, put your own feelings aside and do whatever it takes to make your childs wedding special. At the same time, everybodys stress level is way up; expectations are high, and there are plenty of opportunities for conflict. To simplify this process, first go to the largest dress shop in your area, with no more than two people, and try on a variety of different styles until you get an idea of what you like.