Quick Guide to Decorating for Wedding Receptions and Ceremonies:
Secrets and Tips from the Pros
by
Michelle Ellingsworth
Published on Smashwords
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Quick Guide to Decorating for Wedding Receptions and Ceremonies:
Secrets and Tips from the Pros
by
Michelle Ellingsworth
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2011 Michelle Ellingsworth
http://www.sane-wedding-planning.com/
michelle@sane-wedding-planning.com
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Smashwords Edition License Notes
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.
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Quick Guide to Decorating for Wedding Receptions and Ceremonies:
Secrets and Tips from the Pros
Contents
Chapter 1 - Why Read This Book?
Chapter 2 - What’s Your Wedding Personality?
Chapter 3 - What’s Your Wedding Theme or Style?
Chapter 4 - How to Choose Your Wedding Colors
Chapter 5 - Decorating the Wedding Ceremony Location
Chapter 6 - Decorating the Wedding Reception Cocktail Hour Location
Chapter 7 - Decorating the Wedding Reception: Create a Reveal
Chapter 8 - Decorating Your Main Wedding Reception Space
Chapter 9 - The Single Most Important Wedding Reception Decorating Trick
Chapter 10 - Add an Element of Surprise to Your Wedding Reception
Chapter 11 - Make Your Wedding Decorations Plan
Chapter 12 - What to Do if You’re Not a Creative or Visual Person
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Chapter 1 - Why Read This Book?
Where are you right now with your wedding planning? Concerned about throwing a wedding bash in this economy? Worried it will take too long? That you’ll go over budget and into debt?
You’re not alone. Each year 2.2 million couples in the US get married and more than half will do it all wrong – debt, crisis, and regrets.
In the creation of my website and books, I surveyed recently married women from all over the country and noticed some consistent wedding planning problems.
The Big Ones: Most couples don’t properly plan or budget for their wedding. And many couples who do budget have trouble staying within their budgets.
They may diligently search online for wedding planning and money saving tips, but the very nature of the internet thwarts them. How a web site gets ranking from search engines (Google) makes researching a subject like budget wedding planning completely insane.
Let me explain. For Google to rank a web page high in search results there must be a density of keywords related to a very specific subject. Therefore, you only get a narrow slice of information per page (even I have to do this on my site). Not to mention that websites often break long articles into very short slow-to-load bits so you’ll search deeper into their site and be exposed to more advertising.
You could spend hours researching on the internet only to gather a few small nuggets of information. And when it comes to saving money while planning a wedding, you need a lot of information.
This guide presents you with concentrated information on how to plan your wedding decorations without considering keywords. I spent months researching and interviewing former brides, set dressers for film and television (decorators) and wedding planners so you don’t have to.
Why read this book? If your wedding decorations are not well planned, you can waste hundreds of dollars on decorations with little impact.
In Quick Guide to Decorating for Wedding Receptions and Ceremonies: Secrets and Tips from the Pros you will learn how to design a wedding reception that will amaze and delight your guests. You will also learn how to decorate your ceremony and cocktail hour locations, the real keys to making your decorations work, as well as the single most important decorating trick most people don’t do.
The new economy has ushered in a new era for weddings – they are less conventional, less expensive, and more personal. What matters most is that you and your guests are relaxed and happy.
This is a good change. With thoughtful planning, you really can have an amazing and memorable wedding day without spending a fortune!
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Chapter 2 - What’s Your Wedding Personality?
What your wedding day looks like, and how you choose to decorate really depends on who you are as a couple and the choices you make early in the wedding planning process.
Sit down with your fiancé and ask what experience he or she would like to have on your wedding day (not formal or casual, white lights or lanterns, nothing that specific).
• Do you want a low-key wedding and reception or a high-spirited event with family and children running around?
• Do you even want children there? Would you enjoy an adults only event more? Perhaps you would like it both ways - splitting the event or having separate events with and without children
• Do you want a classic ceremony and reception, or do you want an all day event with activities and then the ceremony and reception?
• Do you want to have several events and outings spread throughout the weekend or an entire week (great if you have a lot of out of town guests)?
• Would you most enjoy a small wedding with a simple ceremony and an elegant dinner at your favorite restaurant?
There’s no wrong answer.
Are you that big loud fun couple or more of a quiet, understated couple? A combination of the two?
Don’t go against your personality types for your wedding day. You can temper it, or strike a balance, but don’t push it.
If you’re a person who loves the environment of a big crazy family reunion barbeque, don’t plan a formal evening wedding.
You won’t enjoy it, and you’ll just confuse your friends and family.
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Chapter 3 - What’s Your Wedding Theme or Style?
The theme or style of your wedding is one of the first decisions you need to make. This will set the budget expectations, determine what type of venue you need to secure, your decorations, attire, the food -- everything falls in place once this is determined.
Your wedding day should be personal, not a cookie cutter event, and your theme is a big part of making the wedding uniquely yours.
“Style” and “theme” are often used interchangeably, but both refer to your vision for your wedding day.
So what’s your style or theme? A garden party in the park? A backyard barbeque? A beach party? A fiesta? A more formal affair with dinner and dancing at a historic hotel?
It can be almost anything your heart desires.
Have a classic evening wedding, or an all day party. There are no rules that say a wedding has to be just the ceremony and just a reception. Plan a full day of events at the beach, on a farm or wherever you like.
Who are your guests? Look over your list. If you were going to throw an amazing party that a majority of those people would enjoy as much as you would, what kind of party would it be?
If you have no idea what your vision for your wedding is, answer the questions below to zero in on a wedding style/theme you will love.
What do both you and your fiancé love to do?
• Do you love being outdoors? Do you want to have your wedding in a garden or a park?
• Do you love water? Would you enjoy a wedding near a big fountain, or by a pond, a lake, a waterfall, a river or the ocean?