Thursday, April 28, 2016

Ceremony Programs

Should a celebrant provide everyone with a ceremony program so that friends and relatives can follow the ceremony proceedings? 

Although paper and printing of programs is expensive, providing each guest with a ceremony program is worth considering. Especially in the case of ceremonies that are strange to the people concerned, the ceremony program allows them to participate in a way which just listening to the ceremony won’t do.  It is also a way of educating these same people who are being exposed to the ceremony for the first time. Today they are onlookers, tomorrow they might be your clients. 

The other reason for providing everyone with a ceremony program is more self-serving. In printing out the ceremony program, your name, as the presiding celebrant, will figure prominently on the cover and throughout the ceremony itself. It is one way of advertising yourself without seeming to do so. 

This, of course, presupposes that you have a computer and a printer and intend compiling and printing the programs yourself. Some clients, who are computer literate, will be happy to set out the ceremony, and even provide you with appropriate graphics. For the most part, though, you’ll be on your own. You can start off with a few templates to show your client, adding to these as your business expands.  

Needless to say, if you can’t provide this service yourself, the most you should do, by way of self promotion, is compile one program for the clients themselves. You can do this by either having the copy prepared by someone with a computer and a printer, or ask a professional to do it for you. Make this a highly decorative copy that the recipients will want to keep as a memento of the occasion.  You might even like to provide a presentation folder and include in this not only the program of the ceremony, but also the appropriate certificate. 

In the matter of how many programs you need to prepare for the individual ceremony, on the one hand you will want to make sure that you have enough. On the other, you don’t want to have them running out of your ears. Just remember that when you ask clients how many guests will be present at the ceremony, they are more than likely to give you the maximum number of people whom they’ve invited or who they think will attend.  

The actual number that attends might be significantly smaller. The other thing to remember is that many of those attending will be couples and children. Supplying about two thirds of the number the client quotes, will probably cover all those people who really want to keep the program. The rule of thumb is, that if guest number is small, you should have enough for everyone. If the number of guests is large, a substantial number will not want one, or will be happy to share with a partner.
Extract from 'How to be a Profitable Celebrant'
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Wednesday, April 27, 2016

12 Things to avoid on your honeymoon


1. Don’t start your honeymoon revisiting all your wedding day disasters. 

2. Don’t leave for your honeymoon straight after the wedding. 

3. Don’t buy the most expensive luggage you can afford. You’ll be noticed as a tourist – and perhaps as a rich tourist. What you want is to be part of the crowd. 

4. Don’t bring jewelry on your honeymoon. Especially the expensive kind which you need to place in a safe. 

5. As a mature bride decrease the amount of jewelry you wear. It can be ageing. 

6. If you’re on a strict budget splurge right at the end rather than the beginning if your honeymoon, whether this is on luxury accommodation or first class traveling. This will be your most immediate memory. 

7. If you’re honeymooning in those far-away places don’t wear clothes that are considered immodest or offensive to the natives. It’s their country and their culture. Respect it. 

8. Don’t be too demonstratively affectionate in public. It’s tacky whatever country you’re honeymooning in. 

9. If your honeymoon will be short don’t try to see and do too many things in too short a time. 

10. Don’t start taking photographs inside a church or any religious establishment unless you’ve been told that this is an acceptable practice. 

11. Don’t bring your child or children on your honeymoon unless you can control them at home. Their behavior won’t improve on the plane, train or bus just because you’re on your honeymoon. 

12. If it’s your second, third or fourth honeymoon don’t go to the same place as one of your previous honeymoons because you had so much fun there last time. It’s in bad taste, although Henry V111 did it. But then look at his success ratio as a husband.


Based on the book 'Honeymoon! A Sizzle or a Fizzle
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Wednesday, April 20, 2016

15 Tips for a Perfect Honeymoon

1. Start thinking about your honeymoon on the day you get engaged.

2. Think and plan big, plenty of time to slim down your honeymoon plans when the time comes to make the hard decisions.

3. Spread the news far and wide that you’re planning your honeymoon. People love helping newly-weds both with advice and in a more substantial way.

4. Let each of you make up your own honeymoon preferences list in the early stages of honeymoon planning.

5. When the time comes compare your honeymoon lists.

6. Keep those honeymoon plans you both agree on.

7. Negotiate those honeymoon plans that appeal to one of you more than the other.

8. Discuss those honeymoon plans that one of you has never thought of. You never know, they might grow on you.

 9. Read reviews about the location, accommodation, and other facilities you're looking for in your honeymoon.

 10. If travelling will be extensive make sure you give yourself enough time for the honeymoon itself. 

 11. Travel as light as you can. 

 12. Put aside a percentage of your earnings for the honeymoon. Unless you actually make a firm commitment, it will never happen.

 13. Save for your honeymoon however you can. Do you really need to have your wedding reception at the most expensive venue? What about some local spot at half the price. Or how about holding it in your aunt’s beautiful gardens.

14. The same goes for your wedding dress. Do your really need to spend a fortune on something you’ll wear once? Think of acceptable alternatives.

15. Whatever type of honeymoon you decide on start a regime of exercise and eating right so you have all the energy you need for whatever type of honeymoon you decide on.

You'll find more Honeymoon Tips

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Sunday, April 17, 2016

The Well-dressed Bride

In the past, lingerie was not something a woman took lightly. And by the time the big day arrived she was very well supplied. Being part of what is called a trousseau, and which had to be sown by hand, putting it together was an ongoing life-long labor of love. 

Back in the nineteenth century the brides were advised by the experts that in preparing for their married life they should be aiming for a wardrobe for at least two years in underclothes and one year in dresses. 

The underclothing included a dozen chemises trimmed with embroidery or lace, a dozen night dresses, a dozen drawers, a few less petticoats, and one beautifully embroidered special-occasion petticoat. As for the corsets and crinolines, apparently two of each would do. 

However, to keep the few highly expensive corsets free from dirt and soil, the wearer was advised to carry at least half a dozen camisoles. Apart from keeping the corsets clean, camisoles were used also to hide corset bones and give a smoother look to the bodice. A bride-to be with time on her hands, would enhance this highly practical item with lace and ribbon trims. 

To finish off the trousseau the bride would be required to have half a dozen vests, two dressing gowns, three bed jackets, a dozen pairs of fine-quality Lisle stockings, three pairs of silk stockings and two dozen handkerchiefs. 

One fashion expert suggested that if practicable, three dozens of everything would be a good way to start your married life. For the woman who didn’t have to count the cost, twelve dozen of each would be even better. 

Included in the trousseau would be the wedding dress itself with all its accessories such as the undergarments, the veil and the jewellery, as well as the going away outfit. 

According to gossip, both Eva Longoria, star of ‘Desperate Housewives’ and Katie Holmes spent a small fortune in pretty lace lingerie sets, glamorous sleepwear, cute bikinis and baby-doll nightwear. 

Sending the bride off in style was so important, that when Catherine de' Medici married into the French royal family in 1547, the Pope Clement, her uncle, decided that spending money for all those silks and laces was more important than spending it on the fortification of Florence. In all, Catherine’s trousseau included 3 pounds of gold and 2 pounds of silver which went towards the embroidery of gowns. Her underwear is said to have been made from lace, gold and silver cloth, while the sheets were made from silk. 

Today’s woman always complains about the cost of those little numbers that she wears close to her body, that nobody sees and costs the earth. She feels almost guilty buying them. However, if there ever was a time to let yourself go it’s your honeymoon. For if you think those bits and pieces are too expensive for you now, you’ll find them doubly so after you get married. After all, there are much more urgent matters to consider - like electricity bills, rates, etc., So spend. Buy attractive, even if it is expensive. (Excerpt from 'Honeymoon! A Sizzle or a Fizzle)

For all things bridal check out my wedding and honeymoon books.

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