Archive for July, 2010

Weddings: Expecting The Worst

July 28th, 2010 | Rss Feed

Although it may seem a little pessimistic to plan for the worst, pray for the best on your very own wedding day, this kind of approach is the only way to get through the event disaster-free.

Weddings are breeding grounds for all kinds of disasters, from fighting families and drunken best men to missing rings and photography problems. Of course not every wedding is a combination of catastrophes but given the amount of things that could – and very often do – go wrong, it pays to be prepared.

In today’s economy supplier failure is a major problem. Most couples will make their wedding arrangements months or even years in advance, booking out sought after venues, hiring bands, caterers and so forth.

Unfortunately, by the time it gets to the wedding day, many of these companies are in a very different financial state to when you met them. The economic crisis has been pretty hard on those within the events and wedding industry.

It makes sense to always have a backup plan. If your supplier does go bust, if the venue gets damaged, if the priest turns atheist – there are so many things that could happen that there is no reasonable option but to make a ’Plan B’.

Most wedding insurance policies will cover you if you have to change venues or postpone the event, particularly if something goes wrong with the suppliers. The amount of supplier failure coverage you will receive depends on the company and how much you are paying for your premium, as most companies offer tiered levels of cover.

Aside from suppliers, the next major area of concern is the guests. Wedding seating arrangements is an art, and the person who can get it right a mere genius. The key is to get all of the right people sitting together, people who will get along and not to separate friends as much as possible.

That’s the easy part. If you want to have a great wedding, it’s also important to evenly mix the two families and different circles of friends so everyone talks and gets to know each other. That’s the tricky part.

Wedding planning software is widely available online, both free and paid. Using software can help to ensure no person gets left out and everyone has a seat. It can also help to give a visual overview of the wedding and all of those attending, making it easier to plan seating.

Getting the seating arrangements right can really help to ensure the rest of the evening goes well. Combine this with supplier management and ‘pessimistic planning’ and you’re off to a flying start and, you never know, you may even get through the whole evening with barely a hiccup.

About:
Wedding insurance is increasingly becoming a key part of wedding planning. Although it won’t prevent any accidents from happening, it can help to sort out a lot of problems – financial ones at least.

 

Red Rock Canyon Review

July 15th, 2010 | Rss Feed

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area Review

Rating: A
Neighborhood: West of Las Vegas
Address: State Route 159 and Red Spring (West Charleston Blvd)
Website: Red Rock Canyon

Are you looking for a unique location for a wedding engagement picture?  Look no further than the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.  The picturesque views of the red rock formations are a site to be seen and cherished.  The scenic background would make an unbelievable background to any engagement picture?

Where would you take your picture?  If you didn’t want to pay the fee to enter the National Conservation Area, off the main highway is the scenic Red Rock Overlook.  There is plenty of parking and space to take pictures with any sunrise or sunset.  However, with more than a million visitors to the National Conservation Area each year, we would recommend early in the morning to miss most of the onlookers.

“Red Rock Canyon” as the Las Vegans call it, is located 17 miles west of the Las Vegas Strip.  The straightest route to Red Rock Canyon is to take Charleston Boulevard west which will take you right to the entrance of the National Conservation Area.  The climate is a bit cooler at Red Rock Canyon than downtown Las Vegas.  So it is great in the summer heat and bring a sweater in the winter.

Red Rock Canyon is open from April 1 to September 30 from 6am to 8pm.  The visitor center has the same day schedule but is open 8am to 4:30pm.   Red Rock Canyon consists of a 13-mile scenic drive with 19 main hiking trails ranging from easy to strenuous.   Each car entering the park can purchase a day pass for $7.

While at Red Rock Canyon be sure to say hello to the many wild horses and wild burros.  While hiking the many trails to be had, be on the lookout for petroglyphs and pictographs on rock surfaces.  If you do decide to go hiking, due to extreme desert weather, bring lots of water and watch for flash flooding in rainy seasons.  Also, be aware of the many desert dwellers such as rattlesnakes and scorpions.

Red Rock Canyon is a great setting for a memorable and cherished picture.  Red Rock Canyon also makes for a great day trip for the outdoors type couples.

 

Wedding Table Centerpieces – Selecting Yours

July 12th, 2010 | Rss Feed

What centerpiece is right for you?

I get asked this question a lot…”What should I use as table centerpieces for my wedding?”  There is no single answer to this question, only a couple of things you need to consider before choosing your wedding centerpieces.

1. What type of feeling or mood are you going for? Do you want something glitzy or home-spun?  Modern or vintage?  Formal or casual?  Take cues from your wedding attire and invitations to lead you to your centerpiece style.

2. What height of centerpiece will work best? What is the height of the reception room?  A room with very high ceilings will need a tall centerpiece to fill in the space.  A room with low ceilings would need a low centerpiece.  One of Niki’s Tips is to never make a centerpiece that is 12-18″ high (unless you are using the skinny Eiffel tower vases), as this level will be right in the line of sight of your guests.  There is nothing more aggravating at a dinner party than not being able to see or speak to the person across the table form you no matter how pretty the bouquet is.

3.  What types of flowers or fill do you plan on using? The height of the vase is also determined by the length of the stem you will be putting into it.  A short-stemmed flower, such as a hydrangea, would need a small or medium sized vase, where long-stemmed calla lilies would need a medium to tall vase.

4.  Add some variety. Using twenty of the exact same centerpiece can be boring to the eye.  Try to choose two to three different styles of centerpiece and alternate throughout the room.  One may have tall flowers, the next only candles, the last a combination of floating flowers and candles for example.

5.  Put it all together. Choose a vase style or two that you like.  Next, add a mirror as a base to reflect the light and beauty.  If your vases are rounded, choose a round shaped mirror.  If your vases are square, choose a square mirror.  The beveled edge will add elegance, while the non-beveled edge is more casual.  Next add candles and candle holders.  Again, choose a shape that echoes your vase and mirror shape.  Generally scented candles are not recommended as they will often not mix well with the scent of the food being served and many people have severe sensitivities to these types of odors.  Usually four votives around your centerpiece works well.  Lastly, the filler – use the fill (rocks, pebbles, sand, sea glass, acrylic gems or diamonds, rose petals, etc) inside and around your vase if you’d like.  The fill that you choose is based on your answer to question #1 about mood and style.

There is no right or wrong way to design your centerpiece.  Don’t try to make anything too extravagant or you will probably just cause yourself a lot of stress.  Remember that simple can be very stunning.  If you choose items that you love and want to re-use to decorate around your home after the wedding day, then you will create beautiful centerpieces and memories.

About The Author:

Nicole “Niki” Synadinos has over 5 years of professional experience in the wedding and event industry.  She currently works as an event coordinator for Exquisite Events in St. Petersburg, Florida, and she owns and operates Center-Pieces.com, an ecommerce site dedicated to wedding centerpieces and décor for the DIY bride. 

Copyright: Copyright © 2010 CenterPieces. All Rights Reserved

 

Gold & Silver Pawn Review

July 6th, 2010 | Rss Feed

Gold & Silver Pawn Review

Rating: C
Neighborhood: Las Vegas Strip – North of Stratosphere
Address: 713 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Website: www.gspawn.com

We are big fans of the History Channel‘s TV show – Pawn Stars.  The TV Show is about Gold & Silver Pawn.  Customers go to the Las Vegas business to try and sell or pawn valuables.  There are many great one-of-a-kind items brought into the store for viewers to see.  In addition, Gold & Silver Pawn buys some collectibles and restores them to their original state.

However, the store is TV made to look much bigger than it really is in person.  Many of the items in the store consist of jewelry.  Other items reflect a higher paying clientele by the higher quality and big ticket items for sale in the  store.

The location of the store is north of the Stratosphere on Las Vegas Blvd and south of downtown.  It is not a great neighborhood.  So we recommend going in the daytime for the casual fan.  In addition, the parking lot is not very big for the growing popularity of the TV show.  We visited on a weekend so it may be better to go during the week for less congestion.

If you are looking for a novelty Las Vegas tourists’  site close to the strip, this is your place.  You can rent scooters, take a taxi or drive  a few blocks North of the strip to the Gold & Silver Pawn.  Maybe you’ll get to meet the Old Man, Rick, Big Hoss or Chumlee.

 

Picking Your Wedding Colors – What To Consider

July 3rd, 2010 | Rss Feed

Picking your wedding colors with a wide number of color palettes can be cumbersome. We shall help you in your quest for the perfect colors for your wedding.

The first thing to consider when selecting wedding colors is the season.  You may not want dark colors in the hot sun during a summer wedding.  You may not also want bright and cheery colors in the dead of winter.

Second, consider the location of your wedding ceremony and reception.  If your wedding chapel has the decor of  gold with red mahogany pews, you may reconsider the forest green with olive green wedding colors.  It will remind your guests of Christmas.

Third, consider your favorite colors!  Build you wedding around the colors that mean most to you.  So you want a classy wedding with black and white or a dominant royalty color such as dark purple?  What about a fun summer wedding with dominant color hot pink with an accent color rose red?

Fourth, consider the flower of choice for your wedding.  If you want sunflowers, go with hues of yellow and brown.  If you like stargazer lilies, what about a dominant hot pink with a florescent green?

We recommend going to your local home improvement store’s paint section, such as Home Depot and Lowe’s, and pull paint swatches to select the exact color hue you desire for your wedding.  You cannot tell your guests purple when you really want lavender.  There is a big difference in the two hues of purple.

When picking colors for your wedding, think of the atmosphere and mood you wish to create at the ceremony and reception.  Do you wish for modern and trendy; do you want open and airy; do you want cozy and comfortable; do you want to bring the outdoors in?

The dominant color chosen should be the main colors of decor, flowers and bridesmaids’ dresses.  The other color should be used sparingly such as accent colors in centerpieces, jewelry and napkins.

Three of our favorite wedding colors to consider for your wedding:

  • Deep purple and cream – very elegant and royal wedding colors.
  • Ice blue and black – these colors combine for a very modern look.
  • Orange and olive green – a very fun and vibrant retro look.

Finally, before picking wedding colors, consider what people think of when seeing the colors together.  You do not want a negative connotation to your wedding colors.  Examples of bad wedding colors are black with orange (Halloween), red with green (Christmas) and red with blue in a white room (4th of July).

About the Author

Matt Campbell is the owner and webmaster of WeddingMuseum.com, an online wedding planning resource.  WeddingMuseum.com features free wedding websites, wedding planning ideas and tools, local vendor listings, wedding song lists and wedding store.