Putting the “big” in big day
Creating an intimate experience
Planning a wedding requires making many different decisions. The choice of wedding attire is among the most crucial decisions that couples must make. Whether the wedding is traditional or customized to suit couples’ personalities, brides and grooms want to look their best when they say, “I do.”
Many brides-to-be spend lots of time looking for their ideal wedding dresses. What defines the right gown depends on personal preference and is unique to the person doing the search. For example, a dress that sets a fairy tale scene for one bride may not necessarily align with the tastes of another. According to Bridal Atelier, the average bride-to-be tries on three to seven dresses before finding the right one. The following tips can help those shopping for dresses find a look that makes their big day even more special.
1. Don’t get hung up on perfection
Many brides get caught up as they search for the one dress they consider perfect. No dress is likely to check every box. Getting hung up on a desire to find a dress that has it all may make it hard to see the beauty in other dresses. With the talents of an experienced tailor or seamstress, most dresses can be tweaked to suit your vision of the ideal gown.
2. Consider the season
Getting married during the hazy and humid days of summer is an entirely different experience than tying the knot during the heart of winter. The fabric of the wedding dress should take into account the season, whether it’s lightweight and breezy for a warm day, or more substantial and cozy when darting to the ceremony in snowfall.
3. Flatter your figure
Chances are brides-to-be know which cuts and styles are most flattering. Mimic those style choices in the wedding dress. If you want to take focus off of full hips, choose a basque or asymmetrical waistline. Gowns with substantial straps or higher necklines may be better if you have a larger chest. Sheath- and mermaid-style gowns are options if you are confident with your figure and want to show off your curves.
4. Try a bit of this and that
Don’t go into a wedding dress appointment with firm parameters. Although you may have a ball gown style in mind, after trying on other options something with a less voluminous silhouette may actually catch your eye. Many brides also automati-
Courtesy of Metro Creative Browsing through magazines and looking online can provide wedding dress inspiration. Also, when in doubt, defer to the experts at bridal shops who have experience choosing dresses that brides are inclined to love.
cally defer to strapless gowns, when various straps and sleeves can be very appealing.
5. Arrive with a firm budget Weddings can be costly. It’s important to set a budget for the wedding dress just as you will with other expenses. There are plenty of dress designers across a wide spectrum of price points. A willingness to consider and ultimately purchase a less costly dress can help you stay on budget.
One place to buy a wedding dress in the Brentwood
area is at Jenny’s Bridal at 13 W. 18th St., Antioch. For details, call 925-435-4416
Another is Brentwood Rise by Wedgewood Weddings at 100 Summerset Drive, Brentwood. For details, call (925) 856-5898 or visit https://www.wedgewoodweddings.com/.
Also, Bel’s Bridal in Antioch. For details, call 925-565-0323
– Courtesy of Metro Creative
The exchange of wedding vows is a key component of a wedding ceremony and sometimes helps to ensure the marriage is binding in accordance with the faith of the participants. Vows also may be exchanged in service of tradition. According to the wedding resource Zola, vows are not a legal necessity for marriage and some cultures do not use them. Still, many couples like to recite vows during their weddings.
Couples have various options pertaining to the vows they share. In religious ceremonies, vows may be predetermined as part of the requirements and rituals of that faith and religious texts. Individuals also may choose to read romantic verses from poetry. Another option is to write one’s own vows. When drafting vows, here are some guidelines to follow:
♦ Use a template. Scour the internet for resources on writing vows. You’ll likely find sample vows or even templates where you can fill in information if you do not know where to begin.
♦ Use memories of when you met. Your vows can include special anecdotes or stories of time spent in the early days when
you first knew this was the person with whom you would spend your life.
♦ Explain who this person is to you. Tell the audience what it is about this person that has you smitten. Is he or she your partner in crime? Confidante? Best friend? Or all of the above?
♦ Share what you are pledging. Write out exactly what you are vowing to your special someone. Be definitive and draw from your personal experiences. For example, “I vow to support you each time you adopt another shelter dog.” “I promise to not hog the covers.” “ I vow to warm your toes on cold evenings.” Make it personal, heartfelt and humorous.
♦ Say you’ll be there. At the heart of vows is a promise that you’ll be around no matter what life throws at you. This is a safe sentiment to include in your vows, and likely one your future spouse and other guests will come to expect.
♦ Keep things brief. There is no need to write a novel for your vows, which may reassure you if you’re nervous about the right wording and speaking in front of an audience. Outline the most important points you want to share and build on those sentiments.
♦ Reflect on the future. Wrap up your vows by noting your excitement about what the future may bring, whether that is a family, travel or another adventure.
Courtesy of Metro Creative
the big day,” Keith said.
With summer right around the corner, wedding season is not far behind.
With many couples either preparing for or starting to plan for their best day ever, staff at the Lone Tree Golf and Events Center at 4800 Golf Course Road in Antioch, along with the staff at Wedgewood Weddings offered their best advice for those looking to have the perfect big summer wedding.
♦ Secure the hotel room block as soon as your venue and date are confirmed.
According to Wedgewood Weddings
Marketing Manager Alyssa Keith, if you have a larger guest count, and especially if many of your guests are traveling, you can book the hotel room block now so your guests can lock in a lower rate during what’s usually a busy travel season. Bigger weddings generally consist of 75 or more guests, they said.
♦ Find a venue, know your venue. “Keep your options open,” said Ariana Catanjal-Cueva, the day-of coordinator at
Lone Tree Golf and Events Center. “A lot of brides will jump on the first place they find and not necessarily have a great understanding of what each venue offers.”
Part of finding that right venue is the parking, especially for weddings with a higher guest count.
“Consider the parking situation at your venue and recommend guests take Uber or Lyft if there is little parking there,” Keith adds.” “You can include parking or
ride-share suggestions on your wedding invitation or your wedding website.”
♦ Hire a day-of coordinator. This is general advice for all weddings, but helps especially for bigger weddings where there are more guests. Normally, this would come with the venue package. But if it’s not, hire one to help execute the ceremony and set up the decorations.
“This will take a lot of stress off your plate and help everything run smoothly on
Catanjal-Cueva adds that “You don’t want to bother (the bride) so you’d rather have someone else involved for them.”
♦ Consider the weather. If you’re planning for a summer wedding, consider the weather where you’re planning to have the wedding and how hot it could get. Check that the venue team has water stations at the ceremony and you could also provide small fans for guests, which, in-turn, make for nice wedding keepsakes.
Also take the weather into consideration when it comes to the dress code.
“Cocktail dress codes may be a better option for hotter temperatures compared to black-tie dress codes, which require your guests to wear more layers,” Keith said. ♦ Plan early, RSVP early. Summer is the peak season. The Wedgewood staff recommended starting to look for venues early if you’re planning for a summer wedding and be flexible on the dates. Once the venue and date are locked in, send out ‘save the date’ notices to give your guests more than enough time to plan for the summer ahead. Along with that, make sure that the guests RSVP no later than a month before the scheduled wedding date. Most venues and caterers require final headcounts at least two weeks before the big day. Also, planned out RSVP’s eliminate last-minute guests.
Not everybody wants or needs a big wedding. Not everyone wants more than 100 people on their big day, or many couples would rather spend the money on the honeymoon or elsewhere. For those looking to either save a few dollars or simply keep their wedding small and simple, the staffs at the Lone Tree Golf and Events Center in Antioch and Wedgewood Weddings offered their best advice for the big day in the small package.
1. A small wedding is fewer than 75 people, so know your guest list
Once you decide you want to have a small wedding, know the number of people you’re considering inviting. Smaller weddings are a lot more intimate, so invite those who are most meaningful to you. That means writing out the guest list immediately.
“Small weddings mean different things to different people,” said Alyssa Keith, the marketing manager at Wedgewood Weddings. “You’ll want to make sure you can keep it intimate while still being able to have all of your VIPs attend.”
2. Consider the wedding parties
As small weddings contain fewer people, part of that
is considering the size of each side’s wedding party.
“I’ve seen more recently that nobody has a bridal party anymore,” said Ariana Catanjal-Cueva, the day-of coordinator at Lone Tree Golf and Events Center. “We’ve heard from brides that it’s a lot less stressful for them to have nobody standing next to them. More commonly, I’ve seen one maid of honor and one best man.”
3. Fewer people, more amenities
Fewer guests at the wedding could mean more money towards other amenities, like an open bar, a live band, or even late-night, after-wedding snacks.
4. Consider weekdays, and be mindful of holidays
While you can choose whichever day you want, remember that summer includes holidays like July 4th, Labor
Day, and even Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer, meaning that some of your guests may be traveling. Send a ‘save the date’ note at least a year in advance so your guests can plan accordingly, the staff at Wedgewood said.
Just as well, consider a weekday wedding. Weekdays allow for cheaper flights and hotel rooms for guests, making it easier for them to travel to your wedding. Again, just plan well ahead of time.
5. Plan it as a three-day event, and eat often Expect to be around a lot of food during the wedding, so it helps to spread things out, especially with people traveling in for the big day, said the staff at. Lone Tree. People tend not to eat much, the staff added.
“People do wedding weekends now,” Catanjal-Cueva said. “They do a welcome party on Friday, the wedding on a Saturday, and a farewell brunch on Sunday.”
Keith added that the day-after brunch “doesn’t have to be anything lavish. But take advantage of the slower summer pace and throw a morning-after brunch or lunch.”
The most important thing here, especially for the bride and groom on the day of the wedding, is to eat.
“I’m constantly shoving food down my brides’ and grooms’ mouths,” Catanjal-Cueva said.
For more information, contact Lone Tree Golf and Events Center, 4800 Golf Course Road, at https://www. lonetreegolfcourse.com/ or call 925-706-4220.
You can also contact the Shadow Lakes Event Center, 401 W. Country Club Drive, at https://shadowlakesclub.com or call 925-516-2837.
Engaged couples can also call the McCauley Estate Vineyards, 2525 Sunset Road, at https://mccauleyestatevineyards.com or at 925-156-3300.
Love knows no boundaries. Couples about to tie the knot are drawn to each other regardless of cultural differences, geographic proximity, age, or religious beliefs.
Wedding planning can be both exciting and overwhelming. There are many decisions to be made and a vast amount of coordination required when planning a wedding, and couples from different religious backgrounds may find they have some additional responsibilities.
The good news is that interfaith couples are not alone nor treading new waters. In a comprehensive study released in 2015, the Pew Research Center found interfaith marriages have increased in recent decades. Couples married before 1960 were predominantly (81 percent) from the same religious group. However, that has been in steady decline. Thirty-nine percent of couples who tied the knot after 2010 did so in interfaith marriages. Furthermore, nearly half of unmarried couples living with someone else are interfaith couples.
When navigating an interfaith wedding, these suggestions can make the planning go more smoothly.
♦ Commit to inclusivity. Some mem-
bers of your families may feel that an interfaith wedding could dilute some of the traditions and beliefs they hold dear. These fears can be quelled by being more
inclusive of feedback from parents, grandparents and other close relatives. Couples also can reassure others by mentioning the traditions they will be incorporating into
the day’s events.
♦ Delegate tasks to loved ones. Show family they are loved by delegating tasks that help them feel important rather than isolated. Explain certain customs of the other faith and involve them in the incorporation of these traditions, whether it is through creating favors or helping to pick out reception decor.
♦ Pick key rituals. In some instances, marrying someone from another faith means that the marriage will not officially be recognized by the religious institutions of that faith. A Roman Catholic who is marrying a Hindu may not be able to have the ceremony in a Roman Catholic church, for example. However, there are ways to impart elements of rituals that would take place during religious ceremonies, such as reading specific Biblical passages or participating in the Haldi ceremony prior to the wedding day.
♦ Ask for translations. When interfaith weddings include different languages, it can be helpful to ask the officiant or officiants to translate for guests who may be unfamiliar. Also, think about including a list of which rituals may be included during the ceremony and their meanings in a printed program, so all guests can grasp their significance.
– Courtesy of Metro Creative
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