The weekend is upon us and we can start winding the week down and getting ourselves ready for a couple of days off (well away from the office anyway) and I’ve got that Friday feeling!

I have ANOTHER treat in store for you today as just like last week, there will be two posts again! This isn’t usual practice here at MWD (although we are hoping to increase our posts after Christmas!) but again I couldn’t let this one pass so make sure you pop back at 3.00pm (UK time).

To start us off with though it’s our usual Friday Fun Facts & Tips and today we carry on from last week and look at the meaning and traditions behind more elements of the big day….

Image & info Source: Pic 1 & Pic 2

♥ Wedding Dress – Traditionally, brides didn’t wear white wedding dresses. Throughout the 18th century most just wore their best clothes. Blue was meant for consistancy, Red was very popular in the Middle Ages in Europe and Green signified youth. As the years passed white became much more popular and was worn as a symbol of purity.

♥ Veil – Mystery and romance has surrounded the veil for more than a thousand years. Originally, it was thought that the veil was worn to hide the bride from abductors (just as the similar dress of her bridesmaids was meant to) but a more romantic interpretation came about later concealment rendered what was hidden more valuable.

♥ Honeymoon – Early weddings comprised of a groom caputuring his bride and taking her somewhere hidden away so noone would find them. They would stay for on moon phase and would drink Mean (a wine made from honey) which would make them more more amorous – hence the word ‘Honeymoon’. They’re alot more fun these days though and last alot longer too!

Don’t forget to come back at 3.00pm (UK time) when we have a fab treat instore for you!

Muchos love,

It’s FRIDAY!!! The weekend is upon us and we can start winding the week down nicely ready for a couple of days off (well away from the office anyway).

I have a treat in store for you today as there will be two posts! This isn’t usual practice here at MWD (although we are hoping to increase our posts after Christmas!) but I couldn’t let this one pass so make sure you pop back at 3.00pm (UK time).

To start us off with

though it’s our usual Friday Fun Facts & Tips and today we look at the meaning and traditions behind certain elements of the big day….

Image 1,& 2 and Info Source

♥ The Bouquet – For Ancient Greeks and Romans, the bouquet was a pungent mix of garlic and herbs or grains. The garlic was supposed to ward off evil spirits and the herbs of grains were to insure a fruitful union. In ancient Poland it was believed that sprinkling sugar on the bride’s bouquet kept her temper sweet.

♥ The Wedding Cake – Ancient Romans broke a cake over the bride’s head to symbolize fertility or abundance. Many other cultures dropped flour, wheat or cake on the bride’s head and ate the crumbs as it was thought to be good luck. The early British baked baskets of dry crackers and each guest used to take one home with them. In medieval times, guests used to bring small cakes and pile them up on a table. The bride and groom would then attempt to kiss over the cakes. Eventually, a young baker came up with the idea to put the cakes together and then cover them with icing to make what is today seen as a traditional tiered wedding cake.

♥ The Wedding Ring – This is traditionally worn on the third finger of the left hand because it was believed that a vein in this finger ran directly to the heart.

More of these next week but for now go grab some lunch and relax for a little bit and I will see you back here at 3.00pm!

Muchos love,

Emma @ Military Wedding Discounts xXx

I love Friday’s! The weekend is upon us and we can start to unwind and look forward to a couple of days rest.

This weeks 5 Fun Facts come courtesy of TheKnot.com…..

Image Source

♥ The English believe a spider found in a wedding dress means good luck – now, for anyone that didn’t see my tweets yesterday, spiders FREAK me out!!! I think this is one superstition I could certainly live without!

♥ Rain on your wedding day is actually considered good luck, according to Hindu tradition! – not so good for the hair or photographs though!

♥ For good luck, Egyptian women pinch the bride on her wedding day – ouch!! Imagine the bruises the next day!

♥ The bride stands to the groom’s left during a Christian ceremony, because in bygone days the groom needed his right hand free to fight off other suitors – I don’t think my lovely husband had anything to worry about there – I was lucky to find ONE person patient enough to put up with me, there were no fears on anyone else wanting to have a go!

♥ An old wives’ tale: If the younger of two sisters marries first, the older sister must dance barefoot at the wedding or risk never landing a husband – I’m so pleased I got married first!

This weeks ‘Tips’ are to help you think about which day you choose to get married on!

I got married on a Saturday and this is still the most popular day for couples to choose but I have noticed more recently that Friday’s are becoming just as popular. I have been to five weddings in the last couple of years and three of these were on a Friday! All three of the weddings were family members up in Scotland and to be honest, I thought that having it on a Friday worked out perfectly!! It also enabled them to carry on the celebrations for an extra day (any excuse for a party eh!) and people still had the Sunday to recover. I know that it is also much cheaper to get married on a Friday than a Saturday too which is a huge bonus!

From this old rhyme below, it sounds like the earlier in the week you marry the better….

Monday for wealth
Tuesday for health
Wednesday the best day of all
Thursday for losses
Friday for crosses
Saturday for no luck at all

It doesn’t stop here – there is also a rhyme for the months too….

Married when the year is new, he’ll be loving, kind and true.
When February birds do mate, You wed nor dread your fate.
If you wed when March winds blow, joy and sorrow both you’ll know.
Marry in April when you can, Joy for Maiden and for Man.
Marry in the month of May, and you’ll surely rue the day.
Marry when June roses grow, over land and sea you’ll go.
Those who in July do wed, must labour for their daily bred.
Whoever wed in August be, many a change is sure to see
Marry in September’s shrine, your living will be rich and fine.
If in October you do marry, love will come but riches tarry.
If you wed in bleak November, only joys will come, remember.
When December snows fall fast, marry and true love will last.

Judging by this I’m gonna have to work very hard (July) and have no luck at all (Saturday) . Well it just goes to show these superstitions aren’t always right – The day I married my husband was the best day of my life and I still feel like the luckiest lady alive to have him!!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Muchos love,

Emma @ Military Wedding Discounts xXx

Friday’s Fun Facts & Tips will be a nice lighthearted yet informative post to start the weekend on a high note!

This week, I have a few weird wedding laws straight from the USA – hope you enjoy!

In South Carolina, if a guy over 16 proposes to an unwed woman with no intention of marrying her, he’s committed a misdemeanor under the Offenses Against Morality and Decency – No ring unless ya mean it guys!!

In Montana, two people can get married even if neither party is present because the marriage is conducted by proxy. This is pretty popular with couples in the military – there you go guys – No excuses!

In New Orleans, it’s illegal for a palm reader, fortune teller, or other such person to offer up their marriage services

Alabama is surprisingly pro-woman, or at least pro-women’s greed. The state allows women to keep any and all possessions accumulated before their marriage in the event of a divorce, but doesn’t have the same law for men. Therefore women can appeal to get their ex’s junk during the divorce proceedings, but the guys cannot.

Hope you guys have a fab weekend – don’t forget to check back tomorrow for our new Saturday’s Savings post!

Emma @ Military Wedding Discounts xXx

This week we take a look at wedding stationery!

When you have picked your date you will want to let people know when it is so that they don’t go and book a holiday or can take the time off work and Save The Dates are great for this!  A good idea for save the dates are magnets (Emma had these for her save the dates and they are very handy) they can be placed on a fridge or notice board somewhere people will remember it is.

Image Source - Funky Fairies

Your invites are sent out anything from 4/5 months before the wedding to 6 weeks before. If it is a popular time of year (July/August) then it might be a good idea to send them out a bit earlier.

When looking to order your invites many websites will send you samples free so you can get a feel for their designs. Try and order as many samples as you can so you can have a varity to choose from. There are so many different designs out there you will be spolit for choice!  You may even decide that you want to make your own invites! You can have a lot of fun with this and make them very personal to your own taste. If you need a lot of invites why not get your family and friends involved. Lots of people also include an RSVP slip and addressed envelope to make it easier for people to respond. You could also add the travel details/maps of where your ceremony and reception are located along with public transport info, taxi numbers and local accomodation too. This will be a great help to your guests and much appreciated I’m sure!

Image Source – Angel Fins

Now the stationery fun does not end there (and we love our stationery here at Military Wedding Discounts). Many have Order of Service’s which include the running of the service and any hymns/songs, prayers and readings you are having. Many guests like to take these as a keepsake of the day. These are usually placed on the seats or given out by your Ushers as people enter the ceremony .

Image Source – Tatty Lashes

The seating plan is one thing a lot of brides dread!! Most Seating Plans are at the entrance of the reception with the table name/number and a list of who is sitting on each table, then on the table will be a place card with the guests name. I will show you ways in which you can make the place cards different and have a double use next week.

Image Source – Pic 1 Humperdinks & Doodles & Pic 2 Sugarmouse Creations

A guest book is a great chance for your guests to write a personal message to you wishing you well in your new life together. This can be on a designated table (maybe next to the cake?) or you can give the job to an Usher or Bridesmaid to take it around to each table between courses at the reception. Make sure you keep it handy for later though incase any of your evening guests would also like to write a few words!

Image Source – Perfect Day Wedding

Last, but by no means least, is Thank You cards! It is a nice gesture to thank people who have attended your day for any presents/money or just to show your appreciation of their attendance. It is always nice to get a thank you card as it makes you feel happy that your gift has been appreciated.

When opening your present and cards have a notebook or paper and a pen to hand so you can make a note of what people have given you so you can make the thank you cards that extra special and addressing them to the person and thanking them for their actual gift.

Image Source – Valcarr Stationery

Terri @ Military Wedding Discounts xx

Image Source

Today we are going to look at making your guest list.

This can be a minefield for some brides with parents wanting to invite everyone they know, deciding if you ask people for the whole day or just the night, do you put plus one??

Here are some tips that will hopefully make it easier for you when making your list….

First of all make sure you have decided on your budget. This will help you to work out how many people you can afford to sit for dinner. Also, make sure you check what the capacity is for your venue. You may pick your venue before you make the final guest list and you do not want to go with somewhere that will not even fit your family in!!

Make time to sit down as couple and work out who you want to invite. Think about whether you will be having children at the wedding, do you want to have family members there that you rarely see, will you invite work colleges to the whole day or just the evening, will you let parents invite people?

Don’t feel pressured into inviting people who you’re not really ‘friendly’ with or don’t know to the wedding if it means you have to give up inviting someone that you really want there. It can be hard when parents are helping to pay for the wedding. Sit down with both sets of parents and go through who you want to invite and the key word here is to compromise!

To keep on top of the guest list, as this can become a headache later on, keep a record of who you are inviting and if they are all day guests or just evening. A good way of keeping on top of the guest list is to start a spreadsheet. You can then record who you have invited, day/evening, contact address, telephone number, e mail address, if you have had the rsvp, any diet requiments and any other information that you may need.

The next step is the fun bit – picking your invites! We will look at stationery next week ( I am excited about this!).

When you do send out your invites make sure you put a date that your guests have to rsvp by so once this date has passed you can start to chase people up. It is a good idea to have a reserve list as there may be people who you have invited to the evening that you you would like to go to the whole day but you didn’t have room for them.

Last of all try not to get too stressed with the guest list, planning your wedding should be fun and you dont want to look back and wish you had stressed less about the guest list!

Terri @ Military Wedding Discounts xx

(Image Source and Information Source)

Today Terri brings you some fascinating wedding facts from around the world…

• In Egypt women pinch the bride to bring her good luck
• Bride in the middle east paint their hands and feet with henna to protect themselves form the evil eye!
• Czech Brides and Grooms are showered with Peas instead of Rice
• A gold coin from the brides mother and a silver one from her father is placed in each show of a Swedish brie to ensure she never goes without
• To bring fertility and luck a pine tree is planted in front garden of the newly wed couples home in Holland
• The two most popular days in Las Vegas for getting married are new Years day and Valatines day
• Engagement and wedding rings are worn on the fourth finger of the left hand because it was thought that a vein in that finger led directly to the  heart.
• In Hindu tradition rain on your wedding is thought to bring you luck
• In Greek Culture outting a sugar cube into your glove will make the sweeten the union

Terri @ Military Wedding Discounts xXx

Image Source: Team Wedding

When you first start planning your big day you will need to look for one that’s special to your as a couple. In today’s blog post we look at what to think about when choosing the date.

First think about the kind of wedding you would like as this will help narrow down the dates that you can pick from. You may want a summer themed wedding with lots of bright colors and flowers or you may want a Christmas wedding with berries and holly. Another way of couples choosing their day is by getting married on a day that is special to them. This may be the date they meet, the anniversary of the date they got in engaged or maybe another memorable date within their relationship.

Saturday is the most popular day to get married although Friday and Sunday are popular also.  If you do choose to get married on a  week day be sure to give your guests plenty of notice as they will need to take time of work. An advantage of getting married on a week day or Sunday is that suppliers and venues will usually charge you less and therefore help to keep the costs down as these days are not as popular to get married.

Try and have a couple of other dates just in case the date that you want is taken.  If you have your heart set on a venue you may have to be flexible and work around their availablity.

Once you have got a date in mind look for any events that might be occuring on that weekend. This may effect prices of local hotels where guests might want to stay, there may be road closures making getting to the venue difficult. Ask the venue when you enquire about the date that you have in mind.

Don’t let this stress you out and have fun choosing – now go get that diary out and find your perfect date!!!

Just for a bit of fun, if you’re still undecided on the month then maybe this verse will help you….

Married when the year is new, he’ll be loving, kind & true.
When February birds do mate, You wed nor dread your fate.
If you wed when March winds blow, joy and sorrow both you’ll know.
Marry in April when you can, Joy for Maiden & for Man.
Marry in the month of May, and you’ll surely rue the day.
Marry when June roses grow, over land and sea you’ll go.
Those who in July do wed, must labor for their daily bred.
Whoever wed in August be, many a change is sure to see
Marry in September’s shrine, your living will be rich and fine.
If in October you do marry, love will come but riches tarry.
If you wed in bleak November, only joys will come, remember.
When December snows fall fast, marry and true love will last.
Poem Source

Terri @ Military Wedding Discounts xxx

Buying your wedding dress can seem very overwhelming, with so much on offer for you to choose from it can become a headache when it should be one of the best parts of wedding planning.

We have a few tips to help you make shopping for your dress an enjoyable experience.

- you generally need to order your dress 6 months before your wedding day, so start shopping around for your dress around 9/10 months before your wedding day.

- have a think about what you are looking for and what your budget is before you hit the shops. This will cut down on the amount of dresses that you will have to try on.

- think about what you will be comfortable in and will suit your wedding, you may be get married abroad somewhere hot so a full on layed dress maybe might not be the most practical so look at light/flowing materials.

- take along someone who wll give you their honest opinion and not just say what they think you want to hear. You don’t want someone with you who discounts dresses as it is not their cup of tea.

Above all have FUN!!! Try on lots until you find the one and don’t settle on something that you are not sure off.

Make a day of it, split up all that trying on with a nice lunch out. You could make it a day with your bridesmaid and have them come along with you so they can try on bridesmaid dresses too.

One last thing make sure you pick a dress that you adore and that you feel 100 % comfortable .

If you have any dress tips that you would like to share then please feel free to leave them in the comments box.

Military Wedding Discounts xx

Well I think we all knew that weddings were an expensive business BUT this is just something else….

The most expensive wedding took place in a purpose-built stadium in Dubai and cost a whooping £22 million – and I thought my seating plan was hard work!

The world’s most expensive dress was  worth over £7 million and  was made with 150 karats of diamonds.

Image Source: Most-Expensive

The biggest wedding on the planet involved 21,000 couples, and 9,800 couples joined by a  satellite

Octavio and Adriana Guillen had the longest engagement ever  lasting 67 years

Minnie Munro was 102 when she married her toyboy lover aged 82, this made her the oldest bride ever!

A couple of Expensive and bizarre wedding facts here! Hope you are all having a good Monday!

Military Wedding Discounts xx