No More Washing Dishes: Well, this is an obvious one. You don’t have to wash the dishes by hand or in a dishwasher anymore. You can use them and throw them away right on the spot. No more staying up late and losing sleep over dirty dishes and you can relax while the garbage takes the job you would’ve had for hours.

Fit for a Wedding: These plates are not like your commonplace disposable plate. These are very much suited for a wedding. They are prettily decorated and can come with several designs and colors to match your other decorations and have the look you want without your wedding celebration looking cheap. One of the most common styles that is used is the clear tableware because of their versatility and will match almost everything.

Sturdy Dishware: Now days, these dishes aren’t your average plastic Walmart plate. They are sturdier than the disposable plates you buy at the store. They will hold your food with ease and will not crack or break like the popular “Chinet” paper plates. Your guests can eat and enjoy their meal with out any fear of embarrassment by having their food fall off or through their plates.

Low Cost: How would you like to have the wedding you want without paying out loads of money as well? You can get the quality of plate you have wanted with low cost. Just renting the tableware can cost you a lot of money that could be used elsewhere and for more important things to make your wedding a celebration you can be proud of. Save your money!

Stress Free: You don’t have to worry about anything with these plates. They are so stress-free that they will allow you and your future spouse to have the day you have always wanted without a single worry.

Disposable plates are low cost, unbreakable, and will make you and your guests happy without fail. Clean up will be a breeze and will give a memory all its own. Who would’ve thought that clean up could be fun? Disposable wedding plates will definitely make it a memory worth keeping. So, what do you do? Buy these plates and see for yourself how well they work for everything and you will be surprised at how many other things you will find they work for as well. Just sit and relax while the clean up is done for you. No more worries and have the day you’ve always dreamed of! Happy Celebration!

Color: Your color palette is one of the biggest ways to impact the overall look and feel of your wedding. The new “it” colors are yellow and silvery-grey. Yellow can be easily incorporated into a wedding in little doses like yellow-and-white daisies, or big ones like buttery table linens or bridesmaids’ dresses (beware of making your bridesmaids look sallow, however – if you have attendants with olive skin tones, stick to yellow accents like sashes). Silver or silvery-grey is also everywhere. Metallics add zip to shoes, napkins, floral arrangements, and dresses. Silver and grey also pair well with the aforementioned yellow, as well as jewel tones like deep eggplant. A great way to include the hot colors into your bridal ensemble is with handcrafted wedding jewelry. For instance, if you like the silver and gray tones, you could wear handcrafted wedding jewelry made with rhinestones or dove gray pearls. The color that has been pushed “out” for 2008, by the way, is the ubiquitous celadon green. People are just tired of it.

Websites: Many couples have been creating wedding websites for years now. They are a great place to include information and updates for your friends and families. Brides also often enjoy blogging about the whole wedding planning experience. What is new about these sites, is that they are becoming more interactive. The bride and groom are having fun posting polls where guests can vote on aspects of the wedding (salsa band or ’80s cover band – you decide). It is a great way to get the guests excited about your wedding.

Green Weddings: Eco-friendly weddings have become a meaningful and important trend over the last few years. Couples are hoping to host a fabulous event while lessening the impact of it on the environment. Organic food, flowers, and wine are just the starting point. You can also consider arranging hybrid shuttle buses, plantable trees for favors, even purchasing carbon offsets to “green” up your special day.

Opulence: On the other end of the spectrum are extravagant and opulent weddings. Think big, dramatic, rich, and spectacular. Wedding planners are creating not just weddings, but living fantasies based on inspiration like Versailles or the Russian Czars (imagine how incredible that would be for a winter wedding). Centerpieces are towering, filled out with accents like feathers. Cakes are also larger than life, often with a different flavor for each tier. Instead of plain white linens, brides are opting for rich looking fabrics like metallic brocade to set their reception apart.

Tasting Bars: Another way that couples like to personalize their wedding is with the food. Instead of compromising on just one type of food, they are setting up little stations offering all different options. Cheese and champagne stations are perennial favorites, as are ethnic and regional fare. If the bride is from Kentucky, she might want a tasting bar offering favorites from the Bluegrass state, such as mint juleps and burgoo stew, while the groom can’t live without a raw bar. This way, everyone is happy, and the guests are treated to a little bit of the best of everything. This is perfect for 2008, because the hottest trend of all is making sure that the bride and groom get exactly what they want!

First you should find your inspiration from elements of the wedding that you have already decided on. It may be a color, a favorite song, a theme ,etc., the sky is the limit. Find your personal passion and make it part of your special day.

Should you decide that a color will be the focal point of your decorating theme, you might choose paper napkins in several shades of your choice color simply tuck them inside a stemmed water glass (much like tissue paper in a gift bag) and set them at each place setting. You can vary the hues at each table or use a different one for an entire table. This gives the room a sea of color. Finish the center of the table with a tall pillar candle wrapped with a wide band of ribbon, surrounded with greenery such as plumosus or boxwood which is available at most bulk shopping stores. You can also request an order of greens from your local grocery with a floral department. The order should be placed two to three weeks prior to the wedding so they will be able to have this item available for you.

If you choose a season for your inspiration, use items that represent it, in Fall, hollowed out pumpkins with fresh fall flowers like colorful mums, provide a splash of color and the lovely scent of flowers. Spring could offer silver pails banded with bright ribbon and filled with lilacs or blue bonnets. Surround these centerpieces with tea lights and you have the perfect table setting. For further table pop add printed napkins that you have made yourself simply by cutting squares from beautiful fabric with scrapbooking scissors or pinking shears to finish the edges. Easy and Lovely!

For timeless elegance go with candlelight, a variety of sizes works well. Place the assorted candles on a 12×12 mirrored tile (available at your home improvement store). Sprinkle confetti, flower petals, candy kisses or greenery around the candles and you have a very simple and elegant table decoration.

If the room you will be having your reception in needs help; consider purchasing inexpensive black flat sheets and covering the walls or any particular eyesore in the room. Place strands of white Christmas lights behind the sheets and you will add an elegant ambiance to any room. Please check with the venue before you use your staple gun. They may have strict rules on what you can and can’t do.

Provide elements that you and your fiance love and incorporate them into your special day. If you love sailing use colored water and sea shells, if he is a big football fan incorporate the team colors in your decorations. It’s all up to you! Your wedding is exactly that, YOURS!

Khushwant Singh belongs to the first generation of Indian English writers alongside Manohar Malgonkar, again a classy writer who died at the age of 99 last week, Raja Rao, a novelist whom I did not read much and the legendary R.K. Narayan.

The most appreciable thing I like about Singh is his straight forwardness, calling a spade a spade without caring how and to whom or what it effects. Comments are ironical and very pungent, often reminding me of Russell’s (Bertrand) pungency, and the language very simple yet superb. Sometime back he pondered over certain English words taking roots in our own Sanskrit. And the word Singh chose to explain its origin was that four letter word widely used by the Americans and Europeans. As such, I have also read long back about arguments by Indian Sanskrit scholars proving Latin, the mother of most of the European languages, mainly English was a dialect of Sanskrit! Their contention is that in any language the first and basic words are for mother, father, son, daughter, brother and sister. In Latin they are matre, patre, etc. which are clear forms of maatr”, pitr’, soonu, dhatr”, braatre’ and swasr’ in that order. And some Sanskrit scholars put forward difficult questions to their Latin and English counterpart. They ask when in English, doer is one who does, worker is one who works etc., is widower one who widows?! They argue ‘widower’ comes from Sanskrit word vidhur and ‘widow’ from widhwaa. However, Khushwant Singh’s analysis is uniquely different and perhaps in his own funny ways. According to him, the pronunciation of the syllable ‘bh’ in Sanskrit changes as ‘ph’ or ‘f’ in English and that of ‘g’ invariably becomes ‘k’. So the word ‘bhog’ of Sanskrit becomes that four letter word in English, so freely used in the far and mid western countries in!

In today’s column Khushwant Singh indulges in nostalgic memories of the kind of his favorite ice cream he used to get during his childhood days and its journey from thereon to the present day form. This nostalgia was followed by a highly humorous write up which I explain briefly.

A couple celebrating their silver jubilee wedding anniversary was approached by a journalist asking them to explain their success. They were a famous couple in their circle for having not quarreled even once in those long twenty five yeas of marriage. The husband says – We went to Kashmir for our Honey Moon and and hired two horses for climbing the hills. Whereas my horse rode me well, my wife’s horse after a few gaits, jumped up causing her fall. She got up and told the horse ‘OK, it is the first time’ and coolly mounted the horse again. After a few steps the horse again jumped and my wife fell. Unperturbed, my new bride once again told the horse ’second time, its OK, now common’ and climbed again. The horse caused a third fall for my wife. She slowly got up, calmly took out her gun from the purse and shot the horse dead! Shocked by her action I shouted at her what the hell you have done! Calm and silent as she was and told me, -”OK, IT IS THE FIRST TIME”

That was Kuhuswant Singh class. May the old Sardarji live for ever.

Casual wedding dresses are becoming more and more popular with today’s brides. Fewer women want to sink hundreds or thousands of dollars into a dress they wear for a few hours before packing away in a box for another member of their family to possibly wear years down the line. Instead they like the functionality and practicality a more casual dress offers. Additionally, they can be worn for other functions whenever a fancy dress is needed.

Informal wedding dresses can also be made in a variety of styles. They can be long or short, sexy or modest, white, black and white, pink, or any other color that suits your fancy. Silk, tulle, chiffon, cotton, denim, linen, gauze, and hemp are just a few of the fabrics we have seen these relaxed dresses made in. Whatever your particular tastes are, there is an informal wedding dress waiting for you.

When would you wear a casual wedding dress? You could wear them for ceremonies that take place: at home; on the beach; at the courthouse; during a second or third marriage ceremony; or if you elope. These dresses are simply the newest way to celebrate your marriage.

If you are getting married in an exotic destination, then a beach wedding dress is ideal for your fun in the sun. Your dress can be light and airy, something flow that can catch the warm breezes of your location, but still functional enough to wear at another gathering. Your dress can still reflect your personality and should reflect it while being fun and not confining. A sarong or sundress is the perfect choice for a beach wedding dress.

Plus size wedding dresses also come in a casual style that not only flatters the bride but makes her feel beautiful as well as comfortable. Plus, there is nothing wrong with a plus size wedding dress being a chic suit instead. Many women who are concerned about the way they look in a dress will find that a chic pant suit is the better option and they still look fantastic standing next to their beloved on their special day.

Casual brides no longer have to limit themselves to uncomfortable formal wedding dresses that simply do not fit who they are. Dressy pants suits, flowing sundresses and sarongs, and colors other than white are all the new casual wedding dresses of today. There is no reason why the bride cannot be comfortable. After all, it is her day.

Implement a few of the cost-saving techniques revealed in this article and you can have the wedding that will be the event of the year and you’ll save 90% of the cost that other brides will spend for their less-than-perfect wedding. 

Don’t go into your marriage with a pile of debt and big monthly credit card payments. With this credit card debt accumulating interest at 18% to 22%, you could end up being in debt for the rest of your life. Prevent this; don’t spend money you don’t have. Set a budget based on the money you have on hand for the wedding and stick with that budget.

This doesn’t mean you have to be cheap. Start with your dream wedding and then use the inside secrets revealed here to make it happen within the budget you have.

Here are the five techniques that will allow you to save 90% on any wedding

#1. Negotiate – Everything is negotiable. Always act shocked at the first price that’s quoted to you and say, “You’ll have to do better than that.”

#2. Buy on eBay and CraigsList. Don’t let the wedding industry brainwash you with ideas that used is bad luck, etc. Most jeweler stores will take your ring in on a trade for a larger diamond. What do you think they do with your old diamond? They put it in a new setting and sell it.                   

Be sure to search Google, eBay and CraigsList for everything you plan to buy. Even if you don’t end up using the vendors or services you find there, you will learn a lot about the purchases you are about to make and what price options you have.  

#3. Cut your initial guest list by 50% to 70%. Don’t feel obligated to invite friends of friends or people you haven’t seen or talked to in ages and by all means don’t feel you have to invite everyone at work. 

#4. Your biggest opportunity to save money is on the reception – (because that’s where the most money is spent on weddings). Here are the ways to save money on the reception:

Don’t schedule your wedding so guests will be at the reception when they are hungry. Having your reception start at 2:00 p.m. or 8:00 p.m. are good times. 
 Alcohol is expensive: If you have your wedding in the church social hall, alcohol is probably not permitted (or at least, not in good taste). This way you won’t look cheap. If you do decide to serve alcohol, limit it to beer and wine. 
Keep your reception short. The longer people stay the more they will eat and drink. 
Keep your reception simple. A cake and punch reception is the least expensive. Finger food and cake is next, followed by a buffet and the most expensive type of reception is a formal sit-down dinner.

#5. Save money on your honeymoon by spending a shorter time in a nicer place or have your honeymoon close to home and eliminate the travel expenses. Another option is to stay in a cabin at a state park or in a nice nearby bed and breakfast.  These types of honeymoons can be a lot less stressful than the “so-called” romantic honeymoons where the couple flies off to some distant tropical island or high-priced resort.

Summary: 

Follow the above techniques and as an added benefit you will pick up wise spending habits, great negotiating techniques and other money management skills that will carry over into your marriage.  

Starting your marriage off without being in debt and with good spending habits will be one of the most important things you can do to ensure a long happy married life. One of the biggest causes of failed marriages is money problems. Don’t start you marriage off heavily in debt with two strikes against you.

Implement the above techniques and you can have your dream wedding and come back home from your honeymoon debt-free and ready to start a wonderful life together.

After all, when you’re getting someone a gift you want them to feel loved and cherished. Engraved presents offer so much, they can capture your imagination, deliver a message, sparkle in a display case and also be useful. In this article, we’ll delve in to the history behind engraved gifts but also look at why and how they’ve stood the test of time.

Engraved in History

For tens of thousands of years people have given each other engraved gifts that deliver meaningful messages of love and respect. Presents have brought people together throughout the ages. From the very earliest civilisations it’s believed that all manner of gifts were passed between people to show love, respect, admiration and affection.

Sometimes these were food, tools or clothing, though often people would also give each other sentimental tokens such as jewellery and engraved cups or bowls. In fact, engraved gifts have been a popular gift in various cultural ceremonies for millions of years.

Engraved metal artifacts have even been found by archaeologists that date back as early as one million years BC. It’s believed that these simple rings and cups were turned in to engraved gifts using crude engraving tools and presented on special occasions.

What’s more, engraving is actually mentioned in the Christian bible, with a high priest of Israel wearing a lot of engraved finery (Jer 17:1). In the Middle Ages, European goldsmiths created beautiful engraved gifts and items intended for the home. They engraved intricate scenes and patterns in to cups, bowls, jugs and vases.

Then, in Ancient Rome and Greece, engraved gifts became even more popular and desirable. They would be commissioned by wealthy Grecians and Romans and kept in the home, often on display.

Precious Etching

Since then engraving has been applied to all kinds of items, and industrialised. From picture frames and tankards, to trinket boxes and champagne flutes, there are so many items out there which can be useful, attractive and also remind loved ones how much you care. Most cultures, the world over, still give engraved gifts at special times of the year.

As engraving technologies have advanced, etching has become increasingly fashionable and since the 19th century it has been used to mass produce images for printing in books and magazines. To this day some etching is still used in the printing industry because it is so highly detailed that even modern printers find it hard to compete. Modern technology cannot reproduce images at the same high quality and maintain the level of detail which etching can.

In the gift industries, all manner of engraved gifts are still sold. Some are available with precious, personal messages on them and others are engraved with sentimental or pretty designs.

It’s easier today to find elegant and interesting engraved gifts than ever before. And, many items still have the same level of craftsmanship which would have been appreciated in ancient Greece or Rome.

Marvellous Messages

The real appeal of engraved gifts has to be how personal they can be. The messages which can be cut in to the glass or metal are immortalised. Rather than just being there for one generation, a lot of items which were engraved in the 1600s (and later) were fated to become family air looms.

Pocket watches with meaningful inscriptions were passed from father to son and engraved wedding bands were passed from grandmother to granddaughter. Because of these traditions engraved gifts have an air of romance and an ageless elegance.

Present Day

These days there are still traditional times when we might opt for an engraved gift over all others such as a silver wedding anniversary. However, they make great presents all year round.

Engraved cufflinks with the recipient’s initials can be a superb gift for a young man or distinguished gent and come in useful for weddings and formal arrangements.

Meanwhile, engraved champagne flutes make fantastic gifts for couples; they can be a brilliant wedding gift for example and can be used year after year on the happy couples wedding anniversary.

The messages which people choose to include on engraved gifts are often less grand or more whimsical these days. However, the intention is probably still the same as it was millions of years ago.

Engraved gifts are still just a way to say you love someone.

Romance can be in the air at any time. You don’t have to wait until anniversaries or Valentine’s Day. Surprise that special someone with a romantic gift “just because”. Gifts don’t have to be large or expensive to be well received.

Enjoy a candlelight picnic lunch…at night. Purchase one of those wicker picnic baskets that come complete with utensils and dishes. Add some of your favorite appetizers like chocolate truffles, fruit, shrimp cocktail, a couple of glass flutes, and something bubbly to drink. Have your romantic meal on the patio or in the living room floor.

Women and men both like the feel of silk against their skin. Give the gift of lingerie to your partner. But, don’t stop there. Lingerie feels better after a relaxing bath. Include an assortment of bath salts, bubble bath, and moisturizing lotions in his or her favorite scents.

Presentation is important when giving romantic gifts. Leave a trail of flower petals from the front door to the place where you have the lingerie gift. From there, leave a petal trail leading to the bathroom and a candlelit bath. Place the basket of scented accessories on the counter to be used during and after the bath.

Everyone’s idea of romance is different. Know that special person in your life and their tastes. Pretty roses are a traditional Valentine’s Day gifts. They may not seem as romantic on an anniversary, but one Thursday night in September, they may be the most beautiful gift ever. Send a gift bouquet to her job along with a sexy card and a box of chocolates. Remind her how much you love her.

For him, romance may mean time away with you. Give gifts that drop a hint about something special to come. Start the week before the surprise. Each day, leave him a little gift that has something to do with what you are planning. If it is a getaway in the mountains, give him a jacket one day. You can give him a pair of slippers or something else the next day. Use your imagination. The last day, give him a brochure for the intended destination with a big bow on it.

Jewelry is the most popular romantic gift. Nothing comes between a girl and her diamonds. Men like jewelry, too. If diamonds are too much of a cliche, choose other stones like emeralds, sapphires, and rubies. Instead of buying just a set of earrings or a bracelet, spring for the complete set so she can accessorize her outfits.

Does he have a favorite perfume that makes you crazy for him? Buy him a bottle and have it gift wrapped. Give it to him while you’re wearing one of his favorite shirts and nothing else.

Romance is not limited to once a year in February. Surprise the one you love with a romantic gift any time you feel like it. They will appreciate the time and thought behind the gift.

Here are some celebrity wedding favor ideas & inspiration on creating your own versions.

- Television host Dayna Devon handed out handmade velvet cones filled with rose petals. She hung them from every chair so that her guests could shower them with petals as they walked past down the aisle, after the ceremony. Make your own cones with velvet or velveteen fabric. This fabric can be purchased relatively inexpensively & you can fill them with other types of confetti if rose petals are beyond your budget.

- One celebrity gave their guests handmade silk trimmed boxes which contained the story of the couple’s romance inside, as well as their wedding invitation. The originals cost $125 each but you can make your own versions for much less. Many favor store carry nice boxes, which are slightly larger than ordinary favor boxes or why not give your guests photo frames with your love story inside. Glass bottles are another suggestion & are particularly nice for a beach wedding. Roll up your story scroll fashion & pop it inside, seal the bottle with a cork stopper. You may also silk covered boxes at Chinese supermarkets or on websites like Ebay for a tiny price, however you may have to accept a variety of colors & designs.

- Celebrities like Britney Spears, Shaquille O’Neal & his bride, gave their guests silver photo frames as wedding favors. Real silver frames are very expensive, costing anything from $100-$125 each! Invest in cheaper silver plated versions for a mere $2 to $5 each. Hire a photo booth at the reception so each guest can take a picture of themselves with you both to put in their brand new frame!

- John Stamos & Rebecca Romijn-Stamos had kitsch 70’s style air fresheners made which were printed with a picture of themselves. These fun wedding favors were finished with words ‘Our love will last forever’ & the couple asked the concierges to place one on each guest’s car in the parking lot. Make your own wedding favor air fresheners with pot pourri. Fill small glass bottles & attach a photograph of yourselves to the front. Or if you know someone who can draw caricatures, ask them to draw one of the two of you, then copy it your computer & print out enough to attach to your favors.

Celebrity style wedding favors doesn’t mean having a celebrity style budget. With a little creativity & some imagination you can easily create your own versions within your budget. Making your own favors in this way will give your guests a gift that is as unique & thoughtful as you are.

Save the date cards are a fairly recent invention, so there is no standard for proper wording. The best approach to take is to decide what you want you’re save the date cards to do: simply let people know that a wedding date and location has been set, inform them of transportation or accommodations, or act as an itinerary for a wedding weekend, with details for each of the activities that are planned.

Once you’ve established what you want you’re save the date to do, writing the words will be easy. Most brides simply send out a short wording indicating the bride and grooms’ names, the date and location (the city, not the exact location) of the ceremony, and the phrase “Formal invitation to follow.”

Wording for the wedding invitation is trickier, by far. Most couples who host the wedding themselves choose something along these lines. (Note that this wording is generally used with ceremonies held in a house of worship. For a non-religious ceremony, replace “request the honor of your presence” with “request the pleasure of your company.”)

Generally the Save the Date is just that a notification for the guest that you are planning a wedding, date, where it will be, also that they can expect an invitation to follow.

When you plan your wedding, the hotel or venue will know that you won’t have exact numbers and won’t expect any until you get closer to the date. I’m afraid that if you ask for an RSVP for the STD, people may mistake this for the invitation. Set up a website and invite guests to visit it and you should get a pretty good idea from their comments, who will be able to come.

When my clients do STD, I like to include all the hotel information as well as any other travel related info they may need. This will give guests the information they may need to know if they can afford the trip. Include room blocks and costs as well as any cut off dates, and phone numbers for guests to call and make their reservations. Also invite your guests to visit your website for updated information. This is a good place to list your registry and any other information you’d like your guests to know.

Planning from out of state can be very difficult. If you don’t have a coordinator in Arizona, I would recommend it. They can save you a lot of hassle, worry and stress. With a coordinator in Arizona you will be able to deal with all of the other things that you have going on and he or she can take care of the wedding things in Arizona. Just make sure that you keep in close contact with your coordinator so you both know what you want and not show up at your wedding with something that you didn’t want as your theme, color, etc.

Just make sure that you go down and see how everything is going a week or so before you walk the isle. That way if you don’t like what you see then you can have that changed and there won’t be any running around and stress on you on your big day.