Archive for the ‘The Reception’ Category

Planning A Wedding Reception – Common Mistakes

Every bride wants a fairytale wedding. Therefore, this article is to try and minimize problems that may occur during a wedding reception. Listed below are the more common mistakes made by brides and grooms during your wedding reception. We will tell you what to do!

Don’t leave early. Your guests came from near and far to see you on your wedding day. Not staying the whole time of the reception would be a slap in the face. This will be the only time most of your family and friends will be able to see you as you will be very busy with last minute preparations the days leading up to the wedding.

Planning a wedding reception

Setup all the tables. Your wedding vendors will need to know where to set-up. Be sure there is a table for the wedding cake, music entertainment, catered food, sign-in near the entrance, gift table, tables and chairs for all your guests to eat and any other tables you may have planned for specialty items.

Preplan with your vendors a day or two before the wedding. Be sure all your wedding vendors know exactly what you want. Clarify times and location so you don’t need to worry about them.

Don’t arrive late to the reception. It is customary that guests do not start eating until the bride and groom start the food line. Be sure to get as many of your pictures taken BEFORE the wedding. There are many ways to accomplish this. One is to have the entire bride’s family pictures taken. Then, have the bride return to the dressing room. Next, take pictures of the groom and his family as guests can see the groom before the wedding. This way you will not compromise the groom seeing the bride before the wedding. Therefore, all that is left after the ceremony are pictures of the happy couple.

Don’t seat the young at heart directly in front of the music entertainment. Older generations are at a wedding typically to socialize with their family and friends. If they cannot hear each other talk, an unhappy situation may occur. So, if by choice, seat the young at heart near the wedding party but away from the entertainer’s speakers.

Don’t have one particular type of music. There are many different types of people in the world. And yes, they include your family and friends. For example, the bride and groom may love country music. It doesn’t mean you have to play country music the whole night. There is a lot of celebration music besides what you like.

Start the food line or meal as soon as possible. Guests plan their meal times the day of your wedding around your reception. Guest will not eat a big meal before your wedding because they know they will be eating at your reception. Don’t starve them.

Know what it will cost you if the reception goes into overtime. Ask the reception facility exactly how long you have the hall to rent and what time you must be out. Please allow time for cleanup if you are the ones doing it. What is the overtime charge for the facility, music entertainment, photography, etc?

Greet and say hello to all your guests. Finally and most importantly, greet all your guests. Make an effort to have a conversation with each and every person. They are there to celebrate your marriage. Give them the common courtesy of thanking them for coming to your wedding.

Don’t get drunk and obnoxious. Keep in mind the only time brides and grooms eat during the wedding day rituals are at the wedding reception. There’s not much food in your stomach and alcohol will affect you much faster. Try and eat throughout the day and watch how much you drink. You want your guests to remember how beautiful the bride looked, not how you acted.

Planning A Wedding Reception – Common Mistakes

Greek Weddings – What You Need To Know Wiki Greek Weddings

My Big Fat Greek Wedding??

The wedding service in the Greek Orthodox faith is an ancient and beautiful ceremony, which has been celebrated in its current form for centuries. The wedding ceremony is full of symbolism and is a great experience if you have never attended one before, because it is likely to be quite different from other weddings you have attended in Western Europe. The service is also rather unique because the bride and groom do not make vows to each other – their presence together in the church is taken to mean that they are serious about getting married.

The Beginning of the Wedding

In most cases the wedding guests will wait with the groom outside the church until the bride arrives (a few sneaky wedding pros will go into the church early to secure a good seat). In the Summer, when most weddings take place, it is not unusual for ceremonies to be arranged back to back, so the guests attending a marriage will often stand around with those who have just attended the previous wedding as they prepare to leave. Wedding dress commentators among the crowd will get to consider and discuss at least two brides and maybe even a third as they leave the church – bargain! Meanwhile, the nervous groom waits for the bride at the entrance to the church, often holding her floral bouquet. He hands it to her as they meet and they then go inside together followed by the guests. There is no separation of the guests into guests of the bride and guests of the groom – everyone sits together and in the case of small churches, many people prefer to stand in a spot where they can get a good view of the proceedings.

Service of Betrothal

The wedding ceremony itself is in two parts: the Service of Betrothal and the Ceremony of the Sacrament of Marriage. The exchanging of rings is the focus of the Service of Betrothal. The priest blesses the rings by holding them in his right hand and making the sign of the cross over the heads of the bride and groom. The rings are then placed on the third fingers of their right hands. The “Koumbaro”, the couple’s religious sponsor, then swaps the rings over between the bride and groom’s fingers, three times. A number of rituals in the ceremony are repeated three times and this symbolises the Holy Trinity: God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Ceremony of the Sacrament of Marriage

Greek Weddings – What You Need To Know Wiki Greek Weddings

The Crowning

The bride and groom are crowned with thin crowns, or “stefana”, which are joined by a white ribbon and have been blessed by the priest. The crowns symbolise the glory and honour that is being bestowed on them by God, and the the ribbon symbolises their unity. The “Koumbaro” then exchanges the crowns between the heads of the couple, three times.

The Common Cup

The crowning is followed by a reading of the Gospel, which tells of the marriage of Cana at Galilee. It was at this wedding that Jesus performed his first miracle, changing water into wine, which was then given to the married couple. Wine is given to the couple and they each drink from it three times.

The Ceremonial Walk

The priest the leads the couple, who are still wearing their “stefana”, three times around the altar on their first steps as a married couple. The “Koumbaro” follows close behind the couple holding the “stefana” place. At this point the couple (and anyone standing nearby) is usually showered with rice, which was earlier handed out to the wedding guests. The priest will often make use of the bible he is holding to give himself some protection!

The Removal of the Crowns

When the Ceremonial Walk has ended, the priest blesses the couple, the crowns are removed and he then separates their previously joined hands with the bible, reminding them that only God can break the union which they have just entered into.

Wedding traditions

Much of the information available on Greek Orthodox wedding traditions is a little outdated and contains generalisations that give the impression that certain traditions are followed by everyone who gets married. Some of these traditions are set out below

- Rolling a baby on the marital bed to encourage fertility.

- The pinning of money onto the bride (and sometimes also the groom) at the wedding reception.

Although these rituals are seen as traditional, fewer and fewer young people marrying today are following them, because they are seen as old-fashioned. Many people do not wish to put their guests through the ordeal of other people being able to see how much money they pin on the bride, for example. Although money is still a very common, as well as practical, wedding present it is often given to the couple before the wedding day or to a third person at the wedding reception, for safe-keeping. Greeks living in the more remote parts of Greece and abroad, who will naturally feel more strongly about doing things the traditional way, are more likely to follow these traditions than those living in Athens, for example. Like weddings everywhere, Greek weddings are changing. At the time of writing, there is a growing fashion to go and get married on an island and I recently heard someone say that he was looking into getting married in a ski resort. He was wisely advised by a friend “You had better first ask the priest if he wants to perform a marriage up a mountain”!

About the author:
Emmanuel Mendonca moved from London to Athens in 2004 and is getting to grips with life in Greece. Emmanuel publishes Greece travel and living articles at http://www.athensroom.com/greece_travel_guide.html

Greek Weddings – What You Need To Know Wiki Greek Weddings

Reception Halls Where To Have Your Wedding Reception

The perfect wedding day has been pictured in your mind and dreams almost your entire lifetime. If you’re like most, you may already have a vivid picture of how you want your wedding and reception to look even down to the last detail such as which flowers are going to be included in your flower arrangements and decor. But did your daydreams and imaginings include where you want to the sacred event to take place and where you are going to celebrate your union with family and friends?

If not, there are a few things to keep in mind when selecting the perfect spot to hold your wedding and reception: budget, amount of guests, theme and type of wedding, and whether or not you want your ceremony and reception at the same location.

Let’s start with the budget first. By keeping in mind your budget throughout the whole decision making process, you can prevent heartache in the end. Suppose you found the perfect dream wedding spot only to learn that you could not possibly afford to hold your wedding there? Likely if you chose to have your ceremony in any other spot it would pale in comparison and be a disappointment when compared with the one you couldn’t swing.

On the other hand, what if you threw caution to the wind and indulged in the more expensive site? In this case, you might become bitter about your wedding day when the bills start to pile up or when you have to forgo your honeymoon to cover the costs. These two scenarios illustrate why it is very important to evaluate the cost before investigating any particular wedding reception site. If it’s over your budget, don’t even look at it.

Your theme and type of wedding are also very important when choosing the perfect spot for your wedding nuptials. If you are having an informal country wedding, it would not make much sense to book an elaborate reception hall. A better choice may be to have an outdoor reception on a farm complete with a bonfire, country band, and wagon rides for the little ones.

If you’re just looking for a little inspiration and a list of great wedding sites to investigate, your local chamber of commerce can supply you with sites, historical and modern, that can be rented for functions such as weddings. This may be a great help when you’re trying to find a spot for your wedding that is unique and truly reflects your personality.

Remember, it’s your wedding and your dreams. Do not give in to family pressure or be tempted to take the first place that comes along. Do your homework and you will be guaranteed to realize the wedding of your dreams.

Reception Halls Where To Have Your Wedding Reception

They say that getting married can be one of the most stressful things that anyone can do. However some parts of the day can prove more stressful than others!

Making a Wedding Speech can be a very stressful event for those involved. To stand up and make a speech in front of any group can be nerve racking but when you consider that those about to make a Wedding Speech are about to stand up before friends and family then it can bring on a whole new set of nerves!!

Sometimes the person making the Wedding Speech will inject a few good one liners to add an element of fun and delivered well this can be very effective. One important point that goes with humor in a Wedding Speech is practise your delivery, there is no point in being flustered and saying the punchline first!!

Many Wedding Speeches made by the groom will mention his new mother-in-law and may extend thanks for the job done in bringing up her daughter. One groom took this a step further and thanked his father-in-law for giving him two mother-in-laws!!! Generally the grooms speech will be on behalf of himself and his new wife and if he knows what is good for him he will praise her to the hilt!!

Next in the grooms speech he will thank the bridesmaids for performing their duties and it then falls to the best man to reply on behalf of the bridesmaids in his speech. It makes sense for the groom and best man to discuss this part of their speeches before hand.

If you are looking for free wedding speech ideas then look no further.
Here are a few that I have discovered,

I’m told that the best speech makers follow three simple rules. Stand Up. Speak Up. Then, very quickly, Shut Up. I’ll try to stick to that advice.

The brain is a wonderful thing. It never stops functioning from the time you’re born until the moment you stand up to make a speech. – Herbert V Prochnow and Herbert V Prochnow Jnr

The trouble with being the best man at a wedding is that you never get to prove it.

Here’s to our wives and lovers. May they never meet.

The most effective way to remember your wedding anniversary is to forget once.

‘Grow old along with me, The best is yet to be.’ – Robert Burns

Of course the majority of Wedding Speeches, it is assumed will be made by men but that is not always the case. The brides mother is entitled to speak and sometimes even the bride herself will feel a few words are appropriate.

So you have done your research, you have prepared a fantastic free wedding speech and you have practised in front of the mirror, possibly holding a hair brush and watch by the dog. This is it, you are ready to go! Try not to over do the dutch courage and have a great wedding!!