Weddings and flowers are two things that you cannot set apart. Weddings would never be complete without floral decorations. Flowers add up to the atmosphere of thrill, joy, and romance. Are you planning to have your wedding soon? Then you might probably be thinking what flowers would be part of your wedding décor. Well, here are five of the most popular flowers used for weddings.

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Roses

The rose is considered to be the most romantic flower out there. It is the symbol of love and that is why it is not a surprise why it is the most popular flower used for weddings. Oftentimes, brides would carry bouquets of beautifully-arranged roses. Roses can be part of the floral decors within the wedding venue. And of course, rose petals are often showered on the aisle. The rose for your wedding does not have to be red. Roses come in a variety of colors and you can choose the one that suits your wedding theme.

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Tulips

Tulips are also popular in weddings. Some consider tulips as good alternatives to roses while some consider the former superior to the latter. It is believed that tulips symbolize fresh beginnings. This is why they suit weddings perfectly. Oftentimes, tulips are clustered and put into vases or flower stands and these are used to decorate the wedding aisle. It is important to note that tulips can wilt easily and that is why they have to be kept in water as long as possible. Aside from being used for wedding bouquets and general décor, tulips can also be perfect table centerpieces.

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Calla Lilies

Calla lilies are also a good choice for weddings. The most popular color for this flower is white. And it is because of its ivory white look that it is a perfect wedding décor. Like other flowers, calla lilies symbolize a lot of things. What made the calla lily a popular wedding flower aside from its look is that it symbolizes purity and virginity. Other colors in which this flower is available include orange, pink, purple, and yellow. Calla lilies maintain their beauty for a long time. This means they can be installed as decors even several hours before the wedding proper.

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Gardenias

Gardenias are those beautiful flowers that resemble roses. And since they are available all year, they are perfect alternatives for roses and tulips in case these are not available. What makes a lot of brides love gardenias is that it they are very fragrant flowers. Their scent is fragrant enough for the whole wedding venue. They are commonly added to bouquets and are even worn as corsages by the bridesmaids and the wedding guests. What is noteworthy is that gardenias can be quite costly.

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Orchids

Of course, this list would not be complete without featuring orchids. There is a variety of orchids out there in terms of size, color, and look. In weddings, one of the most popular species of orchids is the cymbidum. Now when you decorate with orchids, make sure they are fresh. Placing them in areas that are either too hot or too cold would ruin them!

Author Bio: Today’s featured author, Nicola Joseph, is a part of the team at Amapola Blossoms, a company providing gift baskets online. She enjoys her job and practices martial arts when she gets free. You can follow her on Twitter: @nicolajoseph12

Title Graphic :: Kelly Lee

Guest Post by :: Nicola

My article looks at a few new ways people can propose to their girlfriend, because the traditional proposal methods are getting a little boring these days. If you find the girl of your dreams you want to propose to her in the most magical way possible, so let’s look at a few modern methods that can finally replace the more traditional ones.

On a roller coaster

This is tricky to pull off, but if you succeed you will have a great story to tell the grandchildren. First you need to find a roller coaster where they take a photo of your car as you go over a big drop. You’ve also got to have a few pieces of paper ready and when combined they should read ‘Will You Marry Me?’ Your girlfriend will need to be at the front of the car and you can give the paper to the people sitting behind you. When she goes to look at the photo after the ride she will give you an answer.

A QR code necklace

QR codes are becoming very popular these days and they can do so many things. You can even use your phone to scan an advertisement in a magazine and you’ll be sent online to buy the product. You can also buy your girlfriend a QR code necklace and you can give it to her as a gift when you’re somewhere special. If she is curious she will scan the code straight away to see what it says and the words ‘Will You Marry Me?’ will appear on her mobile phone.

After a nice coffee

If your girlfriend has a coffee obsession there is a good chance she drinks lots of it every day, but I hope she doesn’t have a favorite mug or this will be hard. You will need to buy her a new coffee mug and it should have the words ‘ Will You Marry Me?’ at the bottom of it. As long as she drinks up every last bit of coffee she will see the message staring her in the face. Just don’t slip the ring into the coffee because it’s not the same when you don’t have champagne.

Inside restaurant menu

We’ve already mentioned the champagne trick and it gets used a lot when a guy wants to propose to his girlfriend in a restaurant. There are two big problems with this kind of proposal. It’s been done to death so your girlfriend won’t find it special, plus you will have to wait until you’re half way through the night before you order the champagne. It’s much better to speak to the restaurant beforehand because you can ask them to give her a menu with your message right at the start of the night.

A line in the sand

Another old favorite is to take your girlfriend to the beach so you can sit on the sand and watch the waves crashing into the shore. You then turn around and ask her to marry you. It was sweet 10 years ago, but now it’s just boring and you need to move up to the next level. Wake up in the middle of the night and run down to the beach so you can write your message in the sand. Now take your girlfriend for a walk early in the morning and let her stumble across your creation before pulling your diamond wedding ring out.

Author Bio:: Nicola Joseph, the author of this article, is a freelance blogger, currently writing for, Buy Diamonds Direct, leading importers of fine cut diamonds in Florida. She takes keen interest in jewelery designing and is great at painting. You can get in touch with Nicola via Twitter @NicolaJoseph.

:: Title Graphic by :: Kelly

::Guest Post by Nicola Joseph::

If you are busy planning a wedding then your very long list of things to do in preparation may well be making you feel a little daunted! This is not surprising – after all planning a wedding is very involved and there are lot of different things to think about. One of the things that you should tick off your list early is booking all of the suppliers. This is important because the really good ones tend to get booked up really early. Here are five suppliers that you can’t do without – get them booked nice and early to avoid disappointment!

Photographer

The photographer is a crucial part of the day (and you may want somebody there to film the day too). Photos are a wonderful way of being able to look back on your big day for many years to come. It is also a lovely idea to share the photos online so that your friends and family from further afield can get an idea of how the day was. Book your photographer early as the good ones get snapped up quickly!

Caterers

Another important supplier to book early is the caterer. These are the people that are going to serve up delicious food to your guests, so it is vital that you book caterers with a great reputation so that you feel safe in their hands. You will need to choose the menu and this may involve some tasting – so pick your caterer and then go along to sample some of their yummy menu options!

Venue

Of course, you are going to need to secure the venue nice and early, so make sure you pick one that you know you will be happy with on the day. Most dedicated wedding venues will allocate you one member of staff who is responsible for helping you with the planning, and it’s a really good idea to build up a great relationship with them as they will be able to help you a lot.

Wedding Stationer

You’ll need to employ the services of a wedding stationer who will design some stunning invitations, place names, ‘save the date’ cards… whatever you need. Some people even get their wedding stationer to design the order of service for the church. Have a look at their portfolio and make sure that you like their style before you book them.

Florist

Last but not least, you need a really creative florist on your wedding team. The flowers are such an integral part of your wedding day – they are present in the church, at the reception, and even in your hands as you walk down the aisle! Find a local florist and let them know your colour schemes so that they can start working on your designs.

If you book your wedding suppliers really early you can be sure that things will run smoothly in the lead up to the big day. Make sure everything is contracted so that nobody can let you down, and remember to thank them afterwards for being a part of your big day!

Author Bio:

Nicola Joseph, the author of this article, is a freelance blogger, currently writing for, Flowers by Alice, leading Florists in Adelaide. Her hobbies include gardening and baking. You can get in touch with Nicola via Twitter @NicolaJoseph.

:: Graphic Title Lettering by Kelly ::

Guest Post by Nicola Joseph

Today, I’ll be talking about some of the things friends and family can do to eliminate some of the stress from the bride’s life so they don’t end up freaking out on their big day. Once you’ve worked with enough brides-to-be you’ll know they are a little crazy. They can get stressed out by the simplest of things and since you’re their friend or family member it’s your job to make sure that doesn’t happen. We’re going to take a look at a few ways you can make their life as stress free as possible so they can concentrate on enjoying their big day.

Look over the contracts

Once the bride has decided which vendors she wants to work with it’s your job to take over the reins so she can forget about them. This means checking over the contracts to make sure everything is ready to go as planned. The bride won’t forgive you if the limo doesn’t turn up to take her to the church. Even though everything looks good to go you should still contact each vendor a week before the wedding to make sure everything is still on schedule, which will prevent any unforeseen hiccups from ruining anything.

Everyone should be in sync

Hopefully you’ve got a detailed time-line of everything that needs to happen during the big day. The photographer, DJ, and anyone else providing a service at the wedding should have their own one You should maybe make sure all of them line up correctly. Go over it with the bride so she can agree to it, plus she might want to change a few things. Once everyone knows what they have to do and they’re in sync there is much less chance of something going wrong.

Supervise the Set-Up

The bride-to-be will spend the entire morning worrying about what is to come. If you’re getting ready with the bride you should still send someone to supervise the set-up, so it means she won’t have to stress about things not being ready. Instead she can just stress over how she will feel standing in front of hundreds of people in her beautiful gown. Because someone will be at the venue in plenty of time it will also give them a chance to sort any last minute problems before you and the bride arrive.

Usher guests to reception venue. 

This is one of the most overlooked aspects of a wedding and everything will go a lot smoother when someone takes care of it. As soon as the wedding ceremony is over you should put on your shepherd’s coat. Imagine all the guests are sheep and it’s your duty to make sure they get to the reception venue in plenty of time. It means people won’t get to mess around and the party can start much sooner, plus the photographer won’t get bored standing around waiting on everyone.

Take care of their personal property

Once the reception party is over the bride will want to sail off into the sunset, so she won’t want to waste her time making sure all of her personal property is taken care of. You can take her wedding gifts and secure them in a hotel or storage room so nobody can steal anything. Don’t think you have to do all the heavy lifting yourself. Ask some of your trusted friends for help if they’re not too drunk, but you just need to oversee everything so the bride doesn’t have to worry about it.

Author Bio: Nicola Joseph, the author of this post, is a freelance blogger, currently writing for, Dream Day Limousines, a renowned limousine hire service in Brisbane. She is great with software and designing and enjoys spending her time in research. You can get in touch with her on Twitter @Nicola Joseph.

Your ultimate guide to how to address your guests on your invitation envelopes!

Traditionally, there are inner envelopes and outer envelopes.  The outer envelope is mainly for mailing purposes addressing it to the main guest.  The inner envelope is for the host to clear out who they are inviting.  This is also a good, polite way to tell the guests that you are either inviting or not inviting children and plus ones.  Outer envelopes are more formal, including the first name, title, and the last name, and the inner envelopes are generally less formal.  Please note that if you do not include the children or plus one in the inner envelope, you’re implying that they are not invited.

Hope this guideline helps for you to properly address your wedding guests!
(All “Ms.” listed below can be interchanged with “Miss”.)

What are some ways to save money on your wedding?

The great thing about getting married in this generation is that there are not much traditions to follow!  You get to create your own traditions, and everything you want goes.  The most popular weddings you see today are the ones that goes outside the box.  And also are ones that are very cost efficient.  So here’s 100 fun ways to save money on your wedding!

Reception + Ceremony.
1. Pick an off wedding season.
2. Have an intimate wedding.
3. Have a wedding in your backyard.
4. Have the ceremony and the reception at the same place.
5. Do a lunch reception.
6. Do an afternoon wedding with hors d’oeuvres and finger food.
7. Have the wedding at your church.
8. Consider having a wedding on a day other than Saturday.
9. Ask your friends to be the servers.
10. Ask your pastor or someone you know to conduct the ceremony.
11. Have a big afternoon ceremony with desserts, and then have a separate intimate reception.
12. Find a venue with open catering services.
13. Find a venue where you can bring your own drinks.
14. Stick to the time schedule to avoid overtime fee.
15. If you’re planning on walking down the aisle at 6pm, send the invitation for 5:30pm.
16. Look for all inclusive venue that includes tables, chairs, linens, flowers, lighting.

Decorations + Stationery
17. Shop for vases and decorations at a thrift store.
18. Use favors a part of the table decorations.
19. Use candles as your decorations.
20. Gather decorations from Craigslist and garage sales
21. Buy flowers in that season
22. Find non-floral decorations like candles and lanterns and tissue paper flower.
23. Print your own invitations
24. Save your postage fee by emailing your save the dates.
25. Utilize Facebook Invites and save the dates.
26. Use Christmas lights to give it a romantic setting.
27. Make a website for RSVP, or do email RSVPs.
28. Make paper flowers for decorations.
29. Send out postcard invitations to save money on postage/envelope.
30. Do you really need flowers? How about some pinwheels?
31. Use the ceremony flowers for cake table at the reception.
32. Print your own menu, program, seating chart.
33. Buy flowers at your local farmers market.
34. Skip the individual menu and print one big menu at the reception entrance.
35. Fill up big spaces with balloons
36. Print out the table numbers and frame them.
37. Spray paint beer bottles and spaghetti bottles for vases.
38. Find chairs, ribbons, table covers at party shops that have nothing to do with weddings.
39. Incorporate fruits as part of decorations. (Ex Pomegranate, figs, lemons, etc)
40. Consider long rectangular tables over round tables, to use less table centerpieces.

Entertainment
41. Get a smaller band.
42. Get a DJ who does reception + ceremony.
43. Skip the band and have a friend to make a playlist on the laptop for reception.
44. Have a friend help you play the exact song for the ceremony.
45. Avoid buying things that has “Bridal” or “Wedding” in the title. You can find it cheaper somewhere else (for ex. Sparklers)
46. Have a college music band perform at your wedding.
47. Negotiate with your photographer’s fee by reducing their hours.
48. Find a student photographer or a friend.
49. Ask everyone with a DSLR camera to bring them, snap them, and then email it all to you.
50. Make an Instagram hashtag and ask people to tag it.
51. Find an outgoing friend to be an MC for your wedding.  You might be able to skip on printing the program.
52. Ask a friend to sing for you.

Food + Drinks + Gifts
53 Have a 1 or 2 tiered small wedding cake, and have a larger sheet of cake hidden in the kitchen for serving.
54. Do a cash bar only.
55. Do 1 or 2 hour open bar, the rest of the night cash bar.
56. Give out a favor per couple, not per person.
57. Have the favor double as an escort card.
58. Use fresh flower cake decorations, not fancy sugar flowers.
59. Make your own cake topper or cake decorations.
60. Have a buffet instead of a seated dinner.
61. Buy your own drinks and alcohol.
62. Ask a friend to bake you a simple cake.
63. Do cupcakes instead of a cake.
64. Did you know your local grocery store have great deals on cake?
65. Buy drinks and alcohol in bulk for a discount.
66. Find a liquor store that accepts unopened left over returns.
67. Don’t think you HAVE to have favors! You can skip them.
68. Instead of favors, have a candy station where they can scoop their own needs.
69. Have a potluck for reception!
70. Do a one layer small cake, have a fake cake multiple tiers on the bottom.
71. Do minimum size cake, and have a big cake stand.
72. Skip the liquor; just have beer and wine.
73. Think about not having alcohol at all.
74. Ask your baker to use butter cream frosting instead of fondant.
75. Make something for the bridal party gifts.
76. Ask your catering company to only fill champagne one or two thirds of the glass.
77. Offer champagne only for toasts.
78. Serve non-fancy food like tacos, mini burgers to keep it fun and light.
79. Ask your caterer to make a special menu for kids that’s more affordable.

Attire + Beauty
80. Make your own garter.
81. Buy a used veil.
82. Rent your dress.
83. Do your own hair and makeup.
84. Do facials at home with homemade ingredients.
85. Buy discount shoes or regular white/ivory shoes.
86. Borrow things from already married friends.
87. Reduce the number of your bridal party.
88. Rent tuxedos.  Usually the groom can get his for free.
89. Look through your dad’s closet for bowtie, necktie and cufflinks.
90. Think of carrying a single flower like calla lily for you and the bridesmaid.
91. Buy a used wedding dress.
92. Wait for wedding dress sales
93. Find a sample sale for your wedding dress.
94. Buy a dress off the rack (Some boutiques offer discounts)
95. Have fresh flowers in your head instead of a veil.
96. Wear a mini wedding dress with cute colorful heels.
97. Borrow jewelry from friends and family.
98. Get your nails done at home.
99. Buy a dress that comes with a corset.
100. Consider other white, off white dresses that are for bridesmaids or other formal occasions.

Also check out these posts:

+10 Steps to a Successful Low Budget DIY Wedding

+10 Things Not to do Before the Wedding