I had thought asking for cash was bad etiquette, but here is an article explaining why it might not be.  I don’t think I will go as far as to set-up a cash registry, my hope is that if people want to give cash they will just put it in a card.  In any case, here are three cash registry options:

Deposit a Gift

GoGift

Our Wishing Well

I was reading an article today about the trend toward green weddings. Mind you, I’ve already vented on here about green weddings, and while I’m sure I’ll express those opinions again at some point, but my wedding advice today isn’t about green weddings. I’m thinking more about a specific reference in the article to brides (even in China!) opting for email wedding invitations instead of choosing wedding invitations of good ole’ paper. Here’s the specific quote:

One of the wedding trends seemed to be a decrease in paper invitations. Many couples like to send e-mailed invitations instead, said wedding planner Liu Yuanyuan at the expo.

So what does your wedding savings advice guru at Practically Ever After think about saving money on your wedding with electronic wedding invitations?

Actually, the jury is still out. I mean, in case you haven’t guessed yet, I’m a bit of a wedding traditionalist. BUT… I hate to admit it but paper mail is, well, kind of annoying. I mean, email is actually getting a bit old, right? So it seems reasonable to think that email wedding invitations are acceptable.

Thoughts about this anyone? Has anyone out there used electronic wedding invites and liked them? Has anyone gotten negative feedback on using electronic wedding invites? Just curious. Since I’ve never been sent an email wedding invitation, I don’t really know what I’d think if I got one. But I’m sure I’ll find out eventually…

I’ve been looking for ways to make our wedding really fun.  One inexpensive option is wedding games.  Here are some game ideas which I am excited to try out:

Treasure hunt/Musical Chairs:

Get together a group of people, and chairs for everyone except one person and put all the chairs on the dance floor.  Each participant is given a card with an item to find in the reception hall (a piece of fruit from the buffet, your grandma’s shoe, a groomsman’s boutonniere, etc).  While participants search for their items, have competition music playing.  The last person back, who doesn’t have a chair, will have to do chores for the bride and groom for a year.

Kiss for a Dare:

Instead of guests clinking their glasses or ringing a bell to make the bride and groom kiss, put dares or tasks on each of the tables.   If the table would like to see you kiss, they will have to do what is on the card.  Please customize cards for every table, so that the kids table has to do the funky chicken and not take shots of vodka.

Garter Relay:

Make two teams of male participants.  Teams will flip a coin to see who goes first.  Each team will line up across from a chair.  Participants will pick a number between 1-10 to see who sits in the chair first.  Each subsequent participant must race to the chair and put a garter on the person sitting in the chair, once they do they will switch places.  The garter-wearer will run back to the front of the line, remove the garter and hand it to the next participant.  The team with the fastest time wins.

One of my favorite features here is the wedding customs and traditions from around the world. And your Wedding Diva brings you the first wedding customs and traditions from around the world feature for this year. The country I am about to feature is not new to us. In fact, this country has a long standing history with the US. The country I am talking about is, Vietnam.

In the olden days, the bride and the groom were chosen by a matchmaker that the family hired. The bride and the groom were chosen for each other to keep the upper society intermixed and keep the poor out of the rich people’s family line. These days, couples are allowed to choose who they want to marry, but they will still need to ask approval from both their families. A wedding planner is going to have a hard time in Vietnam since wedding preparations are decided upon by the entire family – on both sides – which sometimes makes wedding planning such a Herculean task.

The traditional Vietnamese wedding has six stages and they are as follows:

Nap Thai – This is a brief but formal meeting between the families of the couple. The groom’s family visits the bride’s family to ask for the marriage to be accepted. As a symbol of the groom’s sincerity, he must present betel leaves and betel nuts – which represent a bond of marriage which cannot be broken – to the bride during this initial meeting.

Van Danh – At this point, the couple hasn’t received the blessing of the bride’s parents yet. This is the time for both families to know each other more intimately.

Nap Cat – This is the time where the groom’s family presents the wedding plans to the bride’s family. This is also the time where the bride’s parents decides if they will accept the plans presented and if they will give their daughter’s hand in marriage.

Thinh Ky – This is the time where the bride’s family makes a formal announcement to the groom’s family if they are going to give their daughter’s hand in marriage — or if they will refuse the proposal.

Nap Te – If all things go well and the bride’s family accepts the proposal, this is the time where the bride’s family announces the necessary things for the bride to have at the wedding. This is also the time for them to appoint a date and time when the groom’s family may bring them gifts.

Than Nghenh – Here, the wedding rituals are performed before the ancestral altars. Traditionally, this ritual is held at the groom’s house. They ask the tutelary god of marriage, the old man in the moon, to bless and protect the couple. Three little cups are filled with rice wine and the elder who leads the ceremony bows before the altar and takes a sip form one of the cups. Then he passes it on to the couple where they would do the same. The groom will then take a piece of ginger and rubs it in salt. The couple will then eat a piece of the ginger to signify their long and lasting love. After this, the couple are now ready to exchange wedding rings. This is the time the couple officially become husband and wife.

Breaking any of these stages was believed to be disastrous for the families in the olden days. In modern times, only 3 out of the six stages are deemed necessary. These include Nap Thai, Van Danh, and Than Nghenh.

So there you go, the wedding customs and traditions in Vietnam. Next week, tune in for more wedding blogs about wedding savings and how to have an inexpensive wedding. We have lots of things in store for you this year. Just keep visiting our site and enjoy planning your wedding. Toodles.

More Wedding Tradition Information:

Ranked first in the Happy Planet index and rated the greenest country in the world, Costa Rica literally translates as “Rich Coast.” It is a small country found between Panama and Nicaragua. It boasts of beautiful beaches and of being a tropical paradise.

The majority of the “ticos,” which is how the people from Costa Rica call themselves, are Roman Catholic, which is the official state religion. They are also very family-oriented and almost everyone in the family from both sides is invited to the wedding. As you can see, wedding savings probably can’t be applied in this cultural setting.

Another Costa Rican tradition – which some other cultures may find weird – has the bride wearing a black silk wedding dress with a veil. Many may think that this is more appropriately worn by a widow rather than a bride. The groom, on the other hand, wears a white shirt which has been hand-embroidered by his future wife. This shows that the bride already shows her devotion to her future husband, though modern women would rather buy ready-to-wear machine embroidered shirts. Most likely the result of traditional embroidery skills haven’t been passed down the generations or simply because the bride has no time to do it herself.

There is also a traditional exchange of 13 gold coins during the wedding ceremony. These coins are placed in a bag, box, or tray. This will be given to the bride by the groom. It symbolizes the groom’s willingness to be the head of the family and support his bride. The coins are carried by the bride and are going to be blessed by a priest. The 13 coins also have religious symbolism connected to them. They symbolize Jesus Christ and the twelve apostles.

Another wedding tradition of the Costa Ricans or Ticos is that the wedding celebration is accompanied by lively Spanish music, since these people love dancing to live music. And the party usually ends up running late into the night.

Food at the wedding reception of a Costa Rican wedding is usually plentiful. The more potions of food they have, the more respect they give to their guests. As you can see, Costa Ricans are not into inexpensive weddings. The usual dishes you will see on a Costa Rican wedding table are the casados, a meal consisting of mixed rice and beans (gallo pinto); fried plantains, salad, tortillas, eggs, and an entree of choice that may include pork, chicken, beef, and others.

Obviously, a typical Costa Rican wedding is quite festive and wedding savings is not an option. Nevertheless, I hope you like our featured wedding blog for the day. Have a great week ahead of you and plan your wedding well!

How can you have a wedding savings if your wedding lasts for 7 days? Hi, this is Chelsea and this is my Moroccan wedding blog. Read on to know more about the traditional Moroccan wedding.

If you are eying an inexpensive wedding, then a Moroccan wedding is not for you. A Moroccan wedding is usually expensive.

Let’s start with the Mahr. Mahr is the opposite of dowry. A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that the bride brings to her husband in marriage to help him in raising their family. Now, a Mahr is a gift given by the groom to the bride. This is a form of appreciation and it also provides certain guarantees to the woman. In Morocco, the average Mahr given in terms of money is about $2,000 USD, sometimes lower or higher. The bride also receives gifts like gold jewelry, cloth or clothing, and perfume from her groom every feast day. Courtship lasts from six months to two years.

Now, I don’t know if this will shock you or will just make you say… “cool”. A traditional Moroccan wedding lasts up to seven days max. The first three days are spent on preparation and partying. The second day is where the “Furnishing Party” brings in household furnishings such as Moroccan sofas, carpets, mattresses, or handmade blankets to the couple’s new apartment.

In another Moroccan pre-wedding tradition the “Furnishing Party” takes the necessities to the bridal chamber. This is where the bride is given a bath in “hammam” (a kind of milk bath), to purify her before her hands and feet are painted with henna. Her wedding party also get their hands and feet painted as well, but the bride has the most intricate design. This is called the “beberiska” ceremony (which most probably happens on the third day). The floral and geometric designs are meant to ward off evil spirits, increase fertility, and bring good luck. Often, the groom’s name is hidden in the henna design. It is also said that the bride is not required to do household chores until the henna has completely faded.

On the fourth day, a sheik unites the couple. On the fifth and sixth day, more parties, and on the seventh day the bride is going to be lifted on a circular cushion and the groom on the shoulder of his friends. The two would be carried to the bridal chamber where they are expected to consummate their marriage. And believe it or not, after their honeymoon, the bridal party will check the sheets for blood to confirm the bride’s virginity. And the two will journey to their new apartment and the bride will circle her new home 3 times before she can call the love nest her own.

About the Moroccan wedding food, again, there’s no wedding savings for you here. Moroccan wedding has a lot of parties going on and in different locations. Remember, their wedding lasts for seven days. The dishes typically being served are fish and chicken (ancient symbols of fertility). Tajine (an exotic chicken stew mixed with almonds, apricots, onions, and other spices that is served with pita bread) is also present in a typical Moroccan wedding banquet.

Bride and groom are usually ushered by belly dancers into the reception in a parade formation called the “zeffa”. The music you will hear are sounds from a string instrument called the “zither,” lots of tambourines, and Middle Eastern of drums.

Though the Moroccan wedding celebration has quite an elaborate and meaningful process which shows their rich cultural heritage, in today’s present world economic situation, it would prove impractical for them to go through all of these. Today, some of the Moroccan wedding traditions and customs have been slowly fading or else you’ll only see them in rural areas. Though, modern Moroccan women are still proud to wear their “kaftans” and go through the purification process of having a milk bath, only a few of them still follow the “berberiska” custom. Modern young Morrocan women choose who they want to get married with and the traditional arranged marriage has mostly been abandoned. In fact, many modern Morrocan couples are now also questioning the dowry and Mahr system. Of course, looking at the sheets for the virginity check has also been dropped.

Let’s take a glimpse at a traditional Malaysian wedding. It’s really quite different from what we are used to. Here, you will see the different wedding outfits, the wedding parade, and the customs and traditions of a Malaysian nuptial. It’s beautiful and really different.

Before the wedding footage, you will also see a nice wedding gift from the friends of the groom and bride. It’s a cute animation of the couple’s love story. Click the video and fall in love all over again.

I was shocked to see this video clip and I felt sad for the bride in the video. Her wedding day was supposed to be the happiest and most memorable day in her life. Yes, it was a memorable day, but it was a horrific one as well.

Dahlens, all I’m trying to ask from all of you is to please, please do be careful whenever you’re handling any fiery stuff. It’s hard to predict when an accident is bound to happen. Don’t let your big wedding savings go to waste because you ended up in the hospital after some freak accident you could’ve avoided. In fact, just stay away from anything that has to do with fire. All that fabric and ribbons plus flames is a disaster waiting to happen. You are already the hottest girl on your wedding day, you don’t need to show it literally.

May this video serve as warning to you all. Stay away from fire on your wedding day. Toodles.