My wedding is in December and I have been trying to come up with ideas to incorporate a Christmas theme. One wedding idea I have is to use a Christmas tree skirt as my guest book and have guests sign it with a fabric pen or any pen that will write on fabric. That way every year I can pull it out and remember our special day.

I have recently have gotten engaged and am planning a Christmas theme wedding for next November. It is surprising how much thought goes into planning and how every day something falls into to place like a puzzle. Some of the wedding ideas I have are to wear fur capes over the bridesmaids dress so they have something to stay warm while traveling from church to pictures and the wedding reception. The reception area will be decorated like a winter wonderland, in white and silver -- even though my bridesmaids are wearing red. I want it to look airy and my matron of honor who is my twin sister has many ideas since she was married a few years ago. We have decide not to have a wedding gift table - it seems to be just a table sitting there; instead we are setting up a tree with white lights and using that to put the gifts under. For wedding favors we are giving Christmas ornaments. Another idea is to serve hot chocolate and hot cider instead of traditional punch with Christmas shortbread cookies. There are so many wedding ideas that you can come up with. Keep in mind that it is your wedding and it has to be you and your fiancés dream day. I have gotten so many creative wedding ideas and also pointers to help with the planning of our day from this web site. Thank you!

One of my wedding favor ideas is to use inexpensive wine glasses that we will etch our initials on (etching kits are available at craft stores), along with our wedding date, then fill with jellybeans, cover with lace, and tie with a ribbon.

I'm not engaged (YET!) but I'm constantly watching for creative wedding ideas and fun things to do for a wedding - I was recently in Dallas, TX, doing the tourist thing, and while my boyfriend was taking a picture of a monument, a loud group of people came up to us and asked us for help. It was an entire wedding party and they were on a photo scavenger hunt - they had split the wedding party into 2 groups, one with the bride (who was wearing her "Kiss the Bride" t-shirt) and the other with the groom. They had a list and a Polaroid camera, and they had to search for items in the Historic District of Dallas, but the catch was that they all had to be in the picture of whatever the item was. In our case, they had to be in a picture with a tourist taking a picture of something, so I got the camera and took a picture as they surrounded my boyfriend who was pointing his camera toward the monument. They said thanks and hurried along, because the first group who got to the hotel with all the items photographed won the game. I thought it was one if the best pre-wedding ideas I had ever heard of - what a fun way to spend time with your best friends the night before your wedding. While they were walking away, my boyfriend came up to me and said, "Now you want to do that, don't you?" He knows me so well, which is why we'll be planning a wedding of our own one of these days!!

I found a nifty idea for making place cards for the wedding reception tables by using store-bought card stock and a computer program that prints business cards. Instead of business information, I am putting a cute picture and the type of info that commonly goes on the place cards.

Also, we have enlisted family members to heat up pre-made food that we are going to buy at BJ's Wholesale club and serve at the wedding reception. This idea will save us about $1000 in catering expenses.

Plus, I have been scouring clearance shelves at stores and looking for stuff in my colors and thinking up ideas for what I can do with it at my wedding. I got vases that are ivory for 99 cents a piece and originally they were $12.99 each. What a bargain! If you have a Christmas shop near you they have great stuff that can be used for weddings. Bargain hunt and you'll save hundreds. Also, I registered on an online auction site. There I am selling items we have around the house that we no longer want, but that I know other people might use. All of that money is going into a savings account and then we are going to use it for the things we need for the wedding as we have the money for it.

My fiancée and I are not having a traditional wedding. We are marrying at my parents home, in their huge yard. We do not have a huge budget and were stuck on favors. My sister, the maid of honor, came up with the idea of flower pens at the guest book. Just take regular pens, wrap them in ribbon (in your wedding colors) then take a silk flower (to match the flowers in your bouquet) and hot glue it to the top. We then prettied it up with some more ribbon and bows. We are going to have them sitting in a flower pot beside the guest book for each guest to take and sign with. This is a very inexpensive (about $40.00 total) and cute way to incorporate favors into something useful.

For my August wedding, I really want lots and lots of wildflowers for the bouquets and centerpieces. I am asking my mother, grandmothers and aunts to plant wedding gardens for me so that we may grow them ourselves, cut them fresh and save a ton of cash. PLUS...I will know that they have all been grown with love and without pesticides.

I am a very athletic person, tom-boyish you could say. Most of my life my wardrobe has consisted of jeans, T-Shirts, and sport uniforms. When I told everyone I was getting married everyone asked if I was wearing jeans and T-shirt to the wedding. No one could believe that I was going to actually wear a traditional white wedding dress. But no one asked me about my shoes. I went out and bought a pair of my favorite white Adidas sneakers with silver on them (to match my bridesmaid's shoes!) and I am wearing them to the wedding and reception. No one can really see your shoes anyway and no one really pays attention to them if they do see them. I'd rather be comfortable and have fun than be in pain all day long. I figure why pay $50.00 for a pair of dress shoes I will wear once? I'd rather spend the money of a pair of shoes I can wear again!

I'm getting married in May and my fiancee and I are trying our best to make it unique. For our guest book, we are using a picture frame... Our engagement photo will be matted and placed in the middle and the guests will each sign his/her name onto the acid-free (to avoid fading) matte. Then we will be able to hang the photo and forever remember who shared our special day! See an example of a photo frame guest book  or other creative guest book alternatives.

My fiancee and myself have planned our wedding date for September. We have started looking at everything and decided on the theme of our wedding. We both work for the railroad, which is where we met, and decided to make the theme "railroad" (trains, tracks). We are going to have a train track traveling up, down, and around the cake. Our favors will be candles with gel trains inside of them. We thought this is a very unique idea for us.

Are your reception tables missing something? Get on the internet, or look in any quote book and get quotes on love. Such as:

Type it up really pretty using a nice font, perhaps even in a colored ink . Position the quote on the paper in such a way so that it prints you can cut the paper in half, then fold it, so that when you sit it on the table it will stand up. It would be better to use thicker paper for this. Just be sure to give credit to the person who said it. One of my friends used this at her wedding and it was really cute.

Instead of buying one of those birdcages or mailbox card boxes, I decided to make one. All I used was a big empty box from Xerox paper, badding, satin fabric, and lots of ribbon and lace. Not only was it fun and very easy to do, but we can re-use the box after the wedding to store our wedding memories in.

My brother's wedding is in November. He and his Fiancé have asked me to be in charge of the wedding decorations, which they knew I would gladly do! Here are a few of my wedding ideas:

 - Picking a theme for your wedding gives a place to start in planning interesting decor and helps get the ideas and creative juices flowing. We're doing an 'angel' theme.

  - I'm going to make two sheer white screens (using a curtain bought at local thrift store) pulled tight, bordered in a thin wood frame in their colors. One to be placed on either side of the altar at the wedding ceremony. Behind the screen will be the silhouette of 2 life-size angels, each carrying a candle, two on either side (4 total). These were made by enlarging an angel picture with an overhead projector. I then traced the images onto plywood and painted the angels black, to make them look like silhouettes. Placing a mini spotlight behind them will allow the silhouette of 4 angels carrying candles to show through the sheer screens.

 - I just happened to have 100 long stem candles which we will line the aisle with. A dear friend has offered to make 3 foot candle holders out of scrap lumber that your local lumber yard will just give you. They just need to be painted white and lightly decorated with some small ribbon and string beads. Very romantic! Make sure the lights are low (dim) for nice ambiance.

- Instead of candles for the centerpieces, I found small clear kerosene lamps to use at just $1.79 each. I will burn blue (the couple's wedding color) liquid paraffin in them, as this does not burn the glass, discolor it with smoke, or create a smell. Then they will be circled with flowers, tulle, and ribbon. I also found a larger version of the same kerosene lamp, and I will use three of them for the head table in the same manner.

- When guests arrive for the wedding ceremony they will be given a slip of paper and a pencil and asked to write down their fondest memory of either the bride or groom. These will later be read aloud at the wedding reception. This should be a fond memory maker.

- Hung above each table at the wedding reception, I will cut the sides out of small cardboard boxes which have been painted blue. I will glue an inset of white tissue paper into the cut-out hole in the side, and I will remove the top and bottom from the boxes. Inside I will hang a blue glow-stick (purchased at any dollar store ). Before wedding guests arrive I will illuminate the stick to create a blue glow through the tissue paper box.

- Since their wedding theme is angels, we found child-size angel wings made of real white feathers on the internet. The flower girl will wear these at the ceremony.

I hope you enjoy these wedding ideas and that you will have as much fun at your wedding planning as I am!

My fiance and I are getting married in March. I am very excited, but had no idea how much planning and preparation is involved in planning a wedding. Here are my wedding ideas ideas. (Start planning early. There is so much to do!):

When I was looking around for a place to have our reception, I found a place a little out of town, but very affordable. Best of all, the lady in charge is so very helpful and has great ideas. The room also comes with a lot of things you can use to decorate like arches, lights, tulle swags, etc. Saving me a lot of money on wedding decorations. So, ask your reception facility if they have anything you can use, many times they have things leftover from other weddings that was never picked up. The lady is also nice enough to set things up for us for only an additional $20, saving us a lot of time. It never hurts to ask to see what people are willing to do for you!

Like many of the soon to be brides who've posted their wedding ideas, I have been struggling to have an elegant wedding on a low budget. Our wedding is only six weeks away and over the past year I have found that making everything ourselves - from our wedding invitations, Save-the-Date cards, unity candle and my wedding bouquet - rather than buying them, has not only saved us money, but makes the items and the day more special than ever.

Working in public relations, we were able to design our invitation and all the pieces that go with it and print them from the office. We were also fortunate to have the owner of a local print shop we work closely with donate all the paper we needed for the invitations, RSVP cards, Save the Date cards, bookmarks, thank you cards, seating cards and the programs. In addition, she also cut and folded the pieces as her wedding gift to us. Everything is perfectly coordinated since we did them ourselves. The pieces are done on nice white paper with blank ink, but we added sheer paper to many pieces and tied the papers together with nice purple ribbon to add color. Not only have my fiancé and I been involved in all our projects, my two teenage daughters have enjoyed helping us too. Go here for DIY wedding invitations and supplies.

I gathered flowers from the Dollar Store to use in my bouquet and other floral arrangements we need for the reception and ceremony. My fiancé made me the most beautiful cascade-style hand tied bouquet one evening while we were watching Monday night football. Not only is it beautiful, knowing he made it for me makes it something I'll treasure forever. You'd never know it wasn't done by a pro or that it didn't cost a fortune to make.

When we went shopping for unity candles, we realized they were expensive and boring. We decided to buy a tall white pillar candle from the Dollar Store. We cut out the picture we created for our invitations, which includes our names and wedding date, and glued it to the "front" of the candle and trimmed the edges of the picture with lace. We then took boutonniere pins and with the help of graph paper, placed them around the candle with only the pearlized heads showing. It appears there are pearls all over our candle. We then took small silk purple flowers and glued them between the pins. It costs us less than $10 to make and is unique and personalized.

Because there are so many people who have touched our lives, we wanted to be able to tell them how we feel without taking up a bunch of time during the reception. We decided to make an insert to put inside the programs. It has personalized notes to all our family members as well as close friends. It's a great way to say all the things we normally wouldn't and it's a memorable stroll down memory lane that they can take home as a keepsake.

I was amazed with this website and all the wedding ideas it offers; I wish I had came across it before my wedding. Here are a few ideas from my wedding...

I was adamant that there was to be no lace or ribbon used in my wedding, as I am not a 'frilly' sort of chick! The first and most amazing thing from my wedding was that my mother totally got into it - I have always been an 'independent spirit', thinking that my parents would never help with anything for my wedding, but my heart was broken at how much they did for me!!! My mom kept at me to carry out my 'vision'; and when I initially told her what it was she FLEW with it. I wanted a seashore wedding - seashells as the theme, very elegant, with the ocean at it's finest, glorifying wind (hey, I'm a coastie - I love a strong breeze!), anything non-cheesy.

She started with small shell-topped toothpicks ('for the appetizers', she said). While I thought they were sort of corny, I also realized the time she had put into them. For favors, she took oyster shells, cleaned them, and sprayed them with clear varnish, glued paper roses and ribbon (my one true gripe! Remember my rule - no lace or ribbon!!!) to them, and put nuts, mints, and candies on each of the tables in them. Even though our tastes are dramatically different, my mom came through for me in a totally beautiful way, doing as much as she was able without overwhelming the idea I had presented her!

For the Ceremony:

I used my computer to make my programs, using the tri-fold method, and took them to a local print shop for reproduction. With a little clip art, some poetry, and some descriptive writing, you can give your guests personal insight into your wedding bliss! I included a short description of each member of the wedding party, either a funny anecdote or the way we met... it helps personalize them to the other guests... (make sure you OK each story with the attendant, though!). I also included the poem "Béja Flor" by Diane Ackerman - look it up and check it out, it's lovely!!!

My mom is lucky to know a woman who grows her flowers seasonally and on her own land, and was able to get fresh cut flowers for a very low price. Although I originally requested Daisies and Ivy only, I was happy with a large assortment of colorful flowers, including the roses, daisies, gladiolas, hyacinths -- geesh, I had about 15 different types of flowers...... Of course, they had to be arranged, and my bridesmaids and I took pleasure in that the day before the wedding, storing the bouquets in a refrigerated cooler. It was more than I could have asked for!

Mom decided that we were going to the local shell store (I was raised in a coastal town), where we bought my bridal bouquet holder - a large Philippine shell that was arranged with burgundy and ivory roses, with an ivy accent. A word to the wise: when you tell your florist to use ivy, make sure to state fresh ivy unless you want fake ivy. We switched out that junk as soon as we saw it! Unfortunately, we didn't realize she had done the same to the groomsmen's boutonnieres until I was walking down the wedding aisle!

My mother-in-law also jumped into the fray, and made my husband and I two beautiful windsocks of ivory and burgundy silk, which were hung on PVC tubing mounted in 5 gallon buckets behind the wedding site (oh, did I mention my wedding was on the edge of a 200' cliff, in the middle of a stone circle - the first place we had ever kissed, and where he had also tried to propose, until the state police showed up (another story entirely!)??? She also made the beautiful quilted ring bearer's pillow... so lovely!

I had an especially hard time deciding who would walk me down the aisle, as I have a Stepfather who has been in my life since I was eight and a Father who has been on and off since I was six. Knowing that they do not get along, I was treading sensitive ground. What I finally decided upon was this: my stepfather would guide me down the aisle (mind you, our ceremony was in a state park), and when we got to a certain point (which happened to be a stone memorial set about 15 feet before the stone circle the wedding took place in), my stepfather handed me off to my father. My father then walked me up to the steps of the circle, and I took my place across from my soon-to-be husband. I gave both of my dads a kiss on the cheek before proceeding.

We remembered the ones that had passed before us (his father and grandfather, my brother, uncle, grandfather, grandmother, etc.), by having a white helium-filled balloon on both sides of the circle, and at the appointed time in our ceremony, we both went to our sides, and cut the ribbon holding the balloon, to release the spirits of those we love. It was a poignant and tearful part of the ceremony.

I let my bridesmaids pick their dresses, within a color frame, and the groomsmen picked their shirts and ties. A quick trip to the paint store gave me all that I needed: to let the bridal party know what was acceptable, I grabbed paint sample cards, circled the colors that were ok, and sent them to off so they could take them shopping. I didn't care if the ladies or guys matched - all that mattered was that they were standing up for us, backing us in our marriage!

For the Reception:

I was fortunate enough to have parents that hit the 'gardening' boom early on, and where their summer crops would have been on the 3/4 acre, mom planted clover for ground cover- nice and soft for the guests, leaving her without her usual canning extravaganzas for late summer... (sorry, mom!). As it was, there was a fabulous Kiwi plant growing on an arbor, and magnificent plants and flowers everywhere. We made her greenhouse into a 'gift room' of sorts, and it also housed the liquor I never quite managed to make it to. But that is all for the best, right?

We got nothing but raves on the ribs, BBQ'd tuna, and teriyaki chicken... as well as mum's salads and accoutrements... Oh, did I mention the karaoke?... usually totally bad taste, but since my husband is a phenomenal singer, was not too bad - no one got up that sucked! Don't do this unless you totally believe in it!!!

At any rate, the wedding cake, emblazoned with burgundy shells and a pearlized nautilus with roses topping it off, made my wedding day beyond belief.. There just comes a point where the details do not matter as much as the love.....

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