Recently in Wedding Category
The wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in London is not only grand and historical for Britons and England, but this royal event seems to draw great interest from abroad as well. Not only for Americans who had a love for the late Princess Diana and watched little William grow up, but we don't have our own royal families to follow, and some of us just plain love weddings and get lost in the fantasy and magic of it all. Even if it's only for a few hours.
Here's a few suggestions on how to follow the fun and pageantry along, before the event, watch it live if you're that daring, or follow up after, even if you didn't get an invite.
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KCET, independent public media for Southern and Central California, will air BBC's live broadcast of Prince William and Kate's Royal Wedding on Friday, April 29 at midnight. In case you're not a night owl and miss the original airtime, the wedding will rebroadcast several times throughout the weekend including Friday, April 29 at 10:24 a.m. and on Saturday, April 30 at 12 a.m., 12:26 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Tonight, April 28, at 10 p.m. and tomorrow, April 29 at 9 and 11 p.m., KCET will also air William and Kate: The Royal Wedding, where viewers can get an intimate look at the couple's eight-year courtship and fairytale romance. Check your local listings for more details.
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Livestream will offer viewers exclusive VIP access to this worldwide celebration with live coverage of the pre-nuptial madness, the procession, ceremony, after-party and more through their 'RoyalWeddingLive' network page at http://www.livestream.com/
AP Live from the Royal Wedding beginning on Friday, April 29th at 5 a.m. ET / 9 a.m. GMT.
ET The Insider.com, Live at the Royal Wedding in London, now through April 29.
UK Press Association Live from the Royal Wedding.
CBS News from the Royal Wedding features live anchored coverage from 5 a.m. ET / 9 a.m. GMT to 12 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. GMT on Friday, April 29.
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Appitalism.com, the mobile app superstore, has put together a list of the top applications to follow all the breaking news and events for tomorrow's historic event. Here's the list:
Royal Wedding Countdown (free for the Android): Live countdown of the days, hours, minutes and seconds until the Royal Wedding of HRH Prince William of Wales and Kate Middleton. The apps even plays a trumpet fanfare when you press the Royal Coat of Arms.
Royal Wedding Insider (free for the Android): - BBC America's Royal Wedding Insider is the best way to keep up with the latest on the upcoming nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Users can get insider access to exclusive video content, wedding tips from BRIDES magazine, royal facts of the day, a wedding planner that allows you to design and share the perfect day of your own and more.
Blag the Royal Wedding ($1.99 for the Apple iPhone): - Do you have what it takes to plan the wedding of the year on time and in budget? Fancy the title of Royal Wedding Planner? Plan the most talked about wedding of 2011. Blag the Royal Wedding is a fun, tongue-in-cheek quintessentially English wedding game.
Kate's Royal Wedding Story ($0.98 for the Android): - Will and Kate's fairy tale romance has been immortalized in the most modern story book of them all - as an animated motion-comic book app. Kate and William, the motion-comic, is a downloadable diary of the royal love story of the century. It is a fun, funny, fictionalized account of what might have been happening behind the scenes between Kate and William during their much-publicized romance.
ARE YOU WATCHING THE ROYAL WEDDING LIVE? OR SETTING THE DVR TO WATCH LATER?
TELL US YOUR PLANS BELOW.
Campos of Ontario and Moctezuma of Baldwin Park are one of five finalist couples competing to win an all expense-paid trip for two to Jamestown and have a 1950's inspired all inclusive wedding ceremony at the world famous Tropicana Room and cocktail reception at the Desilu Playhouse and Lucy-Desi Museum, as well as an all-inclusive 7-day, 6-night honeymoon in Niagara Falls. Over twenty-five premiere wedding specialists from New York and Pennsylvania will collaborate for this unique event.
Aside from filling out an application to enter, couples had to create a 60-second video. To vote and view the videos for each couple, visit www.lucilleballhometownwedding.com . Only one vote per ip address per day. Online voting ends Feb. 11 and the winning couple will be announced Feb. 14.
After the couple is chosen, online viewers will also be asked to vote on various wedding details such as the bride's dress, favors and so on.
For more on Campos and Moctezuma, pick up the Baldwin Park Highlander community newspaper this Thursday or read it online at www.sgvtribune.com/highlanders. And to view the ABC7 clip from Monday's broadcast go to http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/video?id=7890996 .
Hopefully this is not too late for some military brides - Jobyna's Bridal & Tuxedo in Glendale is having a Military Bridal Celebration starting today, Nov. 9 to Nov. 11, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
As part of that celebration, the shop will be giving away 50 wedding designer gowns to 50 military brides with participating brands such as Jazmine, Moonlight, Paloma Blanca, St. Pucci, Maggie Sottero, Monique Liu, Henry Roth, House of Bianca and more.
But if brides miss their chance at a free gown, Jobyna's will offer plenty of specially discounted gowns for military brides only.
To qualify for the giveaway, brides must be engaged, be on active duty in the military or a fiance on active duty in either Iraq or Afghanistan, and show identification, deployment papers or orders, or other qualifying proof.
For questions or information, call 626.248.0026 or visit www.jobynasbridal.com . Jobyna's is located at 805 E.Wilson in Glendale.
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LOOKING FOR WEDDING BLOGGERS!
Are you itching to share your wedding ideas, thoughts and more with the world?
WedSpace is looking for bride and groom bloggers. WedSpace is a new website where brides and couples can connect with other couples, guests and vendors. Members share photos, videos, blogs, events, articles and more.
The site is looking for "expert" bloggers who: have great writing skills, have a great sense of style, will post frequently (at least once a week), love to share ideas, diy projects, planning details etc. and will share pictures and stories of their engagement, wedding planning, wedding day, honeymoon, etc.
If you are interested in becoming a WedSpace bride or groom blogger, send an e-mail to Tiffany@WedSpace.com for more information.
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SPECIAL CASTING CALL FOR ENGAGED COUPLES
The Oxygen network is looking for engaged couples for their new show - Tori & Dean's Wedding Planner Show.
Celebrity couple Tori Spelling & Dean McDermott will help couples plan their dream wedding. "They will use their expertise, exquisite style, and vast network of impeccable connections to deliver the wedding of a lifetime!"
Tori & Dean will help with the planning, relationship issues, family drama, overbearing in-laws, theme conflicts, and anything more the couple needs to make their big day unique and special.
Oxygen is looking for couples, 18 to 30 years of age, engaged and looking for more than a traditional wedding. The wedding should be themed or have a unique twist, something out of the ordinary that represents the couple's individuality - whether it be a Vegas wedding, Bollywood wedding, Rockabilly wedding, Jewish wedding, big BBQ cookout wedding, or dream of riding in on a horse? The wilder the dreams the better.
Submit a brief bio of the bride and groom including name, age and occupation. The couple's story and why they need help. What is their ideal wedding? Theme? What is the biggest fear associated with the wedding day? When you plan on getting married? What has been planned so far? Is there a date? Venue? Why they could use a celebrity to help plan and any other concerns.
Email the submission to weingradcasting@gmail.com . Don't forget to include recent photos of the couple. Casting is only for two weeks and begun early this week. The couple must be ready to get married in January, live in Southern California and be engaged already.
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GET MARRIED IN TIMES SQUARE
Love being a part of weddings? You can be a part of one of the biggest weddings of the year.
Take part and vote in all the details in Get Married's "Get Married in Times Square on New Year's Eve." Out of tons of entries, Marine reservists Bethany and Geoffrey were chosen as the lucky couple to be married on New Year's Eve at Times Square in New York in the wedding website's first big wedding.
Over the next few weeks, the Get Married website audience will have a chance to choose everything from the bride's gown, favors, wedding rings, honeymoon and more for Geoffrey and Bethany's New York wedding on December 31, 2010.
Find the couple's story and how to vote at www.getmarried.com .
A VH1 casting crew will be on hand at the Premier Bridal Show to be held this Sunday, Aug. 22, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Anaheim DoubleTree Hotel, 100 The City Drive, Orange.
The casting company will be looking for brides and wedding professionals to be a part of their upcoming new series, "Wedding Wars."
"Wedding Wars" is a new competition-elimination series where eager engaged couples vie against one another for a dream wedding. In each episode these passionate personalities will face a variety of wedding-themed challenges as they compete for the ultimate prize.
Sunday's bridal show will feature vendors and professionals to help any couple plan their dream wedding. With everything from make-up artists to photographers, and specialty linens to cake, brides can preview current trends, taste gourmet cake and cuisine, view the latest fashion, enjoy music and live entertainment, while taking advantage of discounts and giveaways.
Brides will receive swag bags filled with goodies from Crate & Barrel, wedding magazines, planning ideas, samples and more. Family, friends and fiance's are encouraged to attend.
For tickets and information, visit www.premierbridalshows.com .
With WeddingChannel.com's IDOnate Charity program, couples can give back as they receive gifts for their wedding.
WeddingChannel.com will make a donation to the charity of the couple's choice with every purchase made from their registries. Couples do need to sign up through the wedding website. No fee is required.
According to their site, "WeddingChannel.com works with the I Do Foundation (a national nonprofit organization) to pre-screen the charities that are included in this program and to send the donations to each charity. There is absolutely no cost to you or to those who buy wedding gifts for you on WeddingChannel.com. WeddingChannel.com pays for the entire donation as our way of saying thank you for using our service."
The actual donation is based on a percent of the registry products purchased through WeddingChannel.com (excluding taxes and shipping) up to 3%.
The program is also still available for couples who have already registered, just link your registries with the website and share with family and friends.
There are over 100 charities couples can choose to donate to including the American Cancer Society, Boys and Girls Club of America, National Wildlife Federation and more.
Couples can also create a Charity Registry where family and friends can donate directly to up to four charities of their choice as a gift for the couple.
For more information, visit www.weddingchannel.com and click on the registry tab.
Just a few updates on previous posts:
In Ceremony conundrum, my fiance and I still didn't have a Catholic church to hold our ceremony at.
Well, not too long after that posting, we finally heard back from St. Benedict Catholic church in Montebello and got the thumbs up. The most humble and honorable Father Maguire will assist us in our marriage vows.
Despite the little bit of panic on our part for waiting so long, we are relieved and very happy to be married at St. Benedict, which was where my fiance originally wanted to hold the ceremony since it has been his family's church for many years.
Only a few more months to go.....
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In this Quinceañera posting, we got a mother's perspective on planning for this big 15th birthday tradition.
With all the hush-hush and sneaking around, surprisingly the birthday girl still had no clue up until the time she reached mom's driveway, which served the entrance to her big surprise party.
As mentioned in the previous posting, the quinceañera didn't want a big fancy bash but rather a smaller kid's party at the park. But of course, this princess did want a fancy dress to take studio pictures in.
Well, she got her dress and took her studio pictures, then held the party at the park.
But after that fun celebration, we convinced the birthday girl to get back into her dress to take more photos with her grandmother and aunts who came in from out of town.
After a little hesitation, we dressed the birthday girl up in her dress at a separate location (away from the surprise party). We finished with a quick swipe of makeup and then headed to mom's house to "take pictures."
As we drove up to the house, balloons could be seen and loud music could be heard, coming from mom's driveway.
Though the birthday girl noticed that, she didn't think it too strange. She thought it was just stepdad blasting his ranchera music while hanging out with brothers and neighbors, relaxing after work.
Then she opened the driveway gate and saw a row of family and friends, all dressed up, waiting to greet her, and she could see the party decorations behind them. The shocked look on her face was priceless.
After the last song was danced, and the last piece of cake was eaten, I know my mother thanked everyone who helped in putting the surprise party together.
But I believe my mom deserved the greatest recognition for being the genius who beautifully coordinated the whole surprise, making it a fun, unforgettable celebration.
As I mentioned in previous postings, I have never been one of those girls that has had their wedding planned out since they were 10 years old, so when it came time to think of what kind of wedding I wanted, I searched dozens of websites and magazines for inspiration.
With so many ideas to draw from, it was overwhelming and I decided to go a different route. I tried to imagine how I wanted to feel the day of my wedding and how did I want my guests to feel - relaxed? festive? elegant?
When I thought about those two things, I really loved the idea of drawing from my Mexican heritage and its traditions, but I also wanted it to be fun and informal. And in our progressive times, it's okay to have both.
So I decided on a traditional Mexican wedding ceremony but a fiesta-type reception. With an industry obsessed with color schemes, I also had a tough time deciding on colors. After much pestering from family and friends, and ultimate frustration, I threw the whole "color theme" idea out the window and focused on the actual theme I wanted for my wedding, and the colors that go with that theme.
I wanted to feel romantic so I focused on lace and flowers for myself and the fun fiesta part will be obvious with the colorful display of my bridesmaid's dresses, the centerpieces, the flowers and the invitations. With the bridesmaids in a casual style, and different colors, it didn't make sense to have the groomsmen in stuffy suits, so my fiance was happy with my idea of having the guys wear colorful, and comfortable, guayabera shirts.
The invitations had to portray both the sweet romantic theme as well as the fiesta party our guests should prepare for, so with the help of my MOH, we had a great graphic designer design the invitations for us using the things above, as well as some Mexican tile designs for inspiration.
The result is awesome - colorful flowers and birds. I can't wait to have them printed. I plan to use the design to inspire the cake design and colors as well.
With these details down, it's onto executing them and getting other little details down - ceremony flowers, bridesmaid bouquets, my bouquet, hair, jewelry, makeup, ceremony music, reception music, bachelorette party, bridal shower..... *breathe in... breathe out...*
WHERE DO YOU DRAW YOUR PARTY/CELEBRATION INSPIRATION FROM?
Your engagement ring is one of the most important things, (almost as important as your loved one), you will have for a while. So whether it's a family heirloom or your new fashion accessory you love to show off, you need to protect it.
One thing everyone forgets to tell you as they try to throw suggestions of cake, dresses, or flowers at you, is to insure your ring. It doesn't have to be a million dollar ring to insure it either, because no matter the cost, if it is lost or damaged it will not be easily replaceable - emotionally and financially.
If you have renters or homeowner's insurance, check with your agent to see if it can be included in your policy, to cover against accidental loss, theft, or damage. Or you can go with a jeweler insurance agent.
Jewelers Mutual Insurance Group offers coverage for the above mentioned and offers a free quote.
It would be a shame to not be covered should something happen, even before your big day.
In honor of Earth Day today, I will focus on how to incorporate "green" into your party planning beyond just "reduce, recycle, reuse."
From the beginning of the planning process, you can start to help reduce waste and your carbon footprint by focusing on the invitations. One of the most eco-friendly ways is by electronic invitations.
Although, a great idea, keep in mind this may not work for all celebrations, or for all your guests who may not be tech-savvy or let alone have access to a computer at all. There are various sites that offer electronic invitation programs such as Evite and social networking sites MySpace and Facebook. These programs are easy to set up for the planner and offer ease for the guests to reply and communicate, as well as have access to all the party details one can squeeze in there for guests.
Birthday parties, backyard bbq's, pool parties and other non-formal celebrations are perfectly suited for evites, but many consider it a faux-pas to send wedding invitations electronically.
If you are truly committed to going green for your wedding, consider doing both. More acceptable forms of electronic invites are being set-up through sites that offer couple's their own wedding website (www.OurWeddingDay.com, www.mywedding.com, www.weddingwindow.com), where they can send out save-the-date emails, keep guests up-to-date on the planning and also offer an RSVP tracker, where guests can reply. And for guests that may not have access to a computer, look for invitations made from recycled paper and use soy-based ink, or create your own with pressed flowers or other raw, natural materials.
For food, look into caterers or food vendors that use local, organic or sustainable ingredients in their meals. The price may be slightly higher for some items, but just think of the difference you are making on the local farming community and feel good about what you are, and are not, putting into your body.
As far as drinks and libations, there are more and more brands of juices and wineries going organic as well, be sure to look for the seal of approval by the USDA's NOP (National Organic Program). How about squeezing your own juice, using local produce of course, ahead of time and freeze until ready to serve.
For weddings, one of the first things a couple can do to "green" their big celebration is to start with the rings.
Aside from going with a family heirloom or vintage jewelry for the engagement and wedding bands, there are also many jewelers that use recycled gold or silver and lab-created diamonds and stones that not only help the earth but help communities ravaged by the jewelry and diamond industry.
One of those companies is Brilliant Earth, a jewelry company dedicated to providing quality jewelry that originates from "pure sources and harvested using socially responsible practices." They also work to change the image of jewelers and educate consumers "about the social and environmental issues affecting the jewelry industry." The company also donates a share of their profit to help the underdeveloped communities affected by the jewelry industry. Brilliant Earth guarantees their diamonds originate from "conflict free sources of the highest ethical standards."
In honor of Earth Day, Brilliant Earth will include a limited edition Green on the Inside charm necklace with any ring order as a special gift now through April 24. The recycled sterling silver charm necklace features their signature Flower Charm Pendant and a bezel-set ethical origin green sapphire on a delicate cable chain. One complimentary necklace per customer.
Many couples are also opting to give back to the world and their communities with their registries. At www.IDoFoundation.org, a couple can find many ways to personalize their special day and give back to charity at the same time. Couples can select the charity of their choice from thousands of nonprofits and either start a gift registry to donate to a special cause as a gift to you, start a registry where stores like Macy's, Mikasa, and Cooking.com give back up to 10 percent to your charity of choice when you register for gifts through I Do Foundation, or support a charity with a donation in your guest's names as a wedding favor.
For more ideas, check out Brides.com for their essential guide to an eco-chic wedding.
GOT ANY GREEN IDEAS TO SHARE? POST A COMMENT BELOW!
The Casting Company will be looking for engaged couples and vendors interested in taking part in their upcoming show, "Celebrity Wedding Makeover," at the Wedding Expo bridal show to be held Sunday, April 25 at the Long Beach Convention Center.
The show looks to pit different Hollywood celebrity couples against each other as they try to create the perfect dream wedding for each couple using their upscale style and connections.
For more information on the bridal show and the casting call, visit www.PremierBridalExpos.com .
