Be
Flexible When Using Wedding Magazines For Inspiration
July 21, 2009
Brides are bombarded by images through magazines, sales
clerks, friends, family and television programming. Everyone
is selling the dream, the wedding fantasy. Magazines show
even the simplest wedding perfect in décor and location;
nothing is overlooked except the details of how it all comes
together. Who would not want their wedding to be as beautiful
and flawless as one seen in a magazine? One magazine in
particular has the most fantastic favors, bouquets and hors
d'oeuvres and the pages are filled with pictures so natural
looking, so simple you are sure any fool could do the same
thing with very little effort. Unfortunately, all the wonderful
favors, bouquets and hors d'oeuvres can be very expensive
to purchase and extremely time consuming, complicated and
costly to make.
Recently, there was a great photo spread of a beautifully
decorated wedding and reception along with a "how-to"
article on dressing up the chairs. Large bows had been placed
on the back of chairs, adding to the elegant look of the
wedding. The "how-to" part of the article however,
was unclear to say the least and the yardage needed for
the bows was left out completely. After doing a quite a
bit of research, it turned out the ribbon used to make the
bows was an expensive French silk that had to be special
ordered because of the extreme width. The ribbon in question
sold in ten-yard bolts and retailed for $76. Each chair
bow required five to six yards bringing the cost per chair
for just the bow to $38. According to statistics the average
number of guests attending a wedding is 178; the cost of
bows based on that number would be $6,764.
Of course, you can use substitutes but you have to be careful.
If you go too cheap or sway very far from the size and style
of the design, the look is lost. Your attempt at an elegant
look will end up cheap, an obvious failed attempt to create
a look you cannot afford.
Several party and event supply sites on the Internet specialize
in extra wide ribbon and wedding décor fabrics. One
site features a beautiful selection of satin and shimmering
organza in finished sized bows and table toppers. A package
of five organza bows sells for $4.95. The same fabric is
also available in forty-yard bolts. It is worth the time
to do a few Internet searches before buying at a local craft
or fabric store.
Remember that the pictures seen in bridal magazines are
staged. The pictures found in magazines are not necessarily
practical. They do not have to be functional or safe because
there is no actual wedding. However, you can often achieve
the same mood or look you see in magazines if you are willing
to think outside of the box and keep at least one foot planted
in reality.
Once a bride requested that her cake and buffet tables,
aisles and pathways be decorated in the same fashion shown
in a wedding magazine. The bottom of the cake and buffet
tables were outlined with votive candles, as were the walkways.
The photograph, taken at twilight gave the setting a very
beautiful and romantic look. It was simply dazzling.
Unfortunately, there was one small drawback; it was not
safe or practical. It was in fact a fire hazard. Anyone
who got too close or table linens moved by a breeze could
catch on fire. We compromised, creating small florets of
light by using mini electrical cluster lights. Each cluster
was secured to gutter nails with electrical ties and the
nails were pushed into the ground to keep the lights in
place. The clusters where then covered with small glass
floral bowls to prevent them from being stepped on. The
effect was lovely and we achieved the same romantic feeling
without creating a fire hazard.
You can achieve just about anything if you keep an open
mind. Being flexible and looking outside of the box are
your biggest assets when it comes to getting what you want.
Magazines and television shows are great resources as long
as you keep in mind the image you see is not always possible
to achieve exactly but you can usually get the same feel
and look if you are flexible. When you are ridged and unwilling
to see or listen to other ideas, to look outside the box,
you limit the possibilities available. So, stay open, stay
healthy and smile, you are getting married!
Here is a link to Smarty Had A Party, this is the site
featuring the organza bows, table toppers and fabric. They
carry much more and I was very impressed with the pricing
and plan to use this site often. www.smartyhadaparty.com
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