Top 2008 Wedding Trends

For 2008 some hot trends we’re seeing for dresses go from elegant and classy such as lace and beading, to over the top with bold bright colors. This year its all about the back of the dress. Deep V cuts, criss-crossing, and even super low cut backs have hit the runway. They go even further with exquisite embellishments such as beads, lace, silk, and even flowers. The idea of ‘Old Hollywood’ has taken over, and some brides are choosing to take the more vintage route with their big day. To off-set that, bold colors  also hit the runway during fashion week. Colors from slate gray, metallic silver, to deep greens, raspberry and purples, bright greens and yellows, to burgundy and red.

Other trends we’re seeing this year are unique place settings. Say goodbye to the round plates, more and more couples are opting for unique shapes for their dinnerware. Big tables with hovering crystal chandeliers are another big trend this year. Up lighting and even spot lights have been making their way into modern weddings. And when it comes to food, more and more brides are offering a sushi bar, as well as alternatives to that traditional cakes. How? You may ask, by offering tiramisu, cheesecake, and even key lime flavored cakes. Another ultra-mod move is to have painted cakes. These can be as simple as off white flowers to as bold and bright designs and colors.

One trend thats new this year, that we’re sure isn’t going away any time soon, is the idea of an organic wedding, a.k.a. the “green wedding”. An emphasis on the environment is taking shape in many wedding categories such as stationery; from the fiber content of the paper, images from nature or embellishments of leaves on the stationery, recyclable papers, papers made from flowers, party favors with flower seeds to have your guests plant their own flowers.  In addition, Simple things from ordering pesticide free flowers from organic growers, biodegradable plates made of sugar cane, and local organic farmers to supply you with your food. 

Kathy Krassner, writer for Greetings Magazine, a retailers industry magazine, recently did an article of the top 25 trends for 2008 and according to Patti Stracher, manager of the National Stationery Show for George Little Management, LLC (GLM),  she concurred  “the green movement will continue to grow as eco-consciousness spreads. Look for more manufacturers getting back into recycled papers and products depicting designs that embrace nature’s images, textures and materials.” 

Chocolate will remain a popular color of choice for many paper related products, it will continue to be the new Black! Many companies are also adding the scent of chocolate to their stationery and candles. Chocolate will also be seen paired with aqua blue, bright pink, lime green and different shades of fuschia.

Personalization is also remaining steady these past few years. More manufacturers of stationery and wedding favors are offering the option to have your product personalized. This can range from personalized gift tags, personalized engraved gifts, monogram stamps, and much more.

 Fashionable Traveling. Consumers are purchasing eye-catching fun and fashionable luggage tags, passport covers, lots of stationery with travel themes are moving off the shelves, pretty much anything that is travel related, like notebooks, stickers, save-the-date magnets for weddings, beach theme or destination wedding favors.

Shape Up!

Every Bride wants to look as beautiful as possible on her wedding day. One way to ensure you’ll look your best is to slim down and shape up a bit before your big day. Some easy ways to slim your shape is to get in some exercise on a daily basis. However, its not good to over-work your body. You’ll get better results starting off small and working your way to a vigorous workout.

The smartest thing to do is stretch as often as you can. Sitting on your butt watching t.v.? Get down on the floor and stretch out your legs and your arms. Do this when you wake up, before you go to bed, and any time you have in between. This will insure that your muscles stay long and lean as you start working out, and it will also help your flexibility (which could also come in handy on your honeymoon- if you know what we mean).

Start off slow- get in at least 20 minutes every 3 days of some sort of Aerobic exercise. Something like swimming, cycling, walking, running, hiking, or cross country skiing. And, working out for 10 minutes in the morning, on your lunch hour, and at night is just as good as working out for a straight 30 minute set. As soon as you feel the 20 minutes getting a little easy, bump up your workout time by ten minutes.

Build your muscles- spend at least 20 minutes on your off days (on the days you’re not doing aerobic exercise) working on resistance training. Lifting weights is one of the best ways to sculpt your body. Start off small, even if its 2lbs (hey, its what I started off with) and spend a good twenty minutes working your arms. Once you feel that you’ve gained some strength, bump up your weights a bit and keep going!

Eat right- It doesn’t really do any good to spend 20 minutes a day working your butt off to get in your car and head to the closest grease-bucket for the biggest burger in town! At the same time, you don’t have to stick to straight lettuce. Instead of “dieting” and following a guideline, cut down your portions a bit. And STOP EATING the second your body tells your you’re full. Don’t eat anything at least an hour and a half before bed and try and cut out all junk food and soda’s.

You’re body is going to be sweating more- so you’ll need to up the amount of water you’re taking in. If you’re like me and you have to have some caffeine in the morning, opt for black coffee over your grande latte supreme with caramel, chocolate, and whipped cream. Then work yourself to decaf and cut out caffeine all together! The way I did this, is by filling my cup with half regular coffee and half decaf.

Sticking to a set plan is the best way to lose weight, slim down, and look great on your wedding day! Not only that- but you’ll feel fantastic!

Planning Your Guest List

If you already have a space picked out where you’ll have your wedding and your reception, you’ll need to build your list based on the occupancy available in both locations. If you’ve got a big list of people but your church is small, think about possibly inviting some guests to just the reception. The smart thing to do is to plan out your guest list before picking a space to avoid any of these mishaps.

Another thing to think about is the budget. If you’ll be having a dinner, you’ll need to be sure that you can cover each guest. A friend of mine avoided this by offering appetizers while the guests waited on the Bride and Groom (they were taking pictures) then once they arrived, opened a buffet of mostly finger foods. She met the minimum food amount for the venue and served a ’semi-meal’ at the same time… but to the guests, it was good food!

One more thing is don’t forget to include your parents in the process of inviting guests. Especially if they’re footing the bill. Split the amount you can have into thirds, one third goes to the Bride to invite whom she wishes, one third to the Groom for all his chums, and one third to the parents. (Split that number in half and give each side of the family an exact number of people they can invite). Also, be sure to take into consideration if you’re going to allow “plus one’s”.

The guest list should be done as soon as possible to be able to give a head count to the caterer and to the cake maker. If you’re going to send out RSVP cards, be sure you do so in plenty of time to get them back before these final head counts are due.

Having the “Life” Talk

One thing that you need to do, at some point, with your new mate is sit down and talk about how things are going to go once you ‘tie the knot’. Discuss things like how you’ll handle your finances. Who’s going to pay the bills? Are you going to have separate bank accounts? What about buying a house, is that in the plans? You also need to talk about how holidays are going to go down. Are you going to switch between families every year- do the “double-split” and rush around to both sides in one day? And even though it might not be in your plans right away, you should always talk about having children. Is it for you? If so, when are you thinking? How do you want them to be raised? Is one parent going to be a stay-at-home parent? What about your retirement? Are you going to save together? Thinking and planning for the future early on is the best way to avoid any bumps in the road after you say I Do.

I suggest that you have a plan on how you see things before you sit down and talk. If you need to, tell your guy that you want to have this talk and tell them to start thinking about what they want. Then they’re not blown away by any subjects brought up in the conversation. But don’t forget, marriage is about compromising.

At-Home Face Mask

So you’re getting ready for your big day, what a better way to calm yourself than an at-home facial! This can be done in the comfort of your own home and with products you’ll find right in your kitchen!

You’ll need:

1/2 Avocado, mashed
3-4 tablespoons mayonnaise
1-2 teaspoons lemon juice.

Now, take your avocado half and mash it up in a bowl. Add in the mayonnaise and stir until you get a smooth consistency. Add in the Lemon and mix again. Then spread evenly on clean, damp face and leave on for about 10 to 15 minutes. Rinse well with warm water. Tone and moisturize as usual. Then take the remaining mask and spread on two slices of bread. Add cucumbers, onions, tomato, cheese and any meat and you’ve got yourself a delicious after-facial snack!

Like this recipe? Check out more at: MakeYourCosmetics.com
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