Category: Wedding

Have you been looking for homemade anniversary gift ideas you can really make? I have taken the heavy lifting out by doing the research for you! I found there are plenty of homemade gift ideas around, but not all are really suitable for wedding anniversary presents.

Why should you make your anniversary gift at home? A gift from the heart is always a good choice. Homemade gifts do not have to be overly complicated to make or tacky. Even if you lack skills in the craft area you can make a successful homemade anniversary gift.

Alright! I am going to share my favorite two homemade anniversary gift ideas with you. Both are quite simple. Even those of you who are unsure what the point of a glue-stick is, should be able to make these! Most likely you already have the needed material at home, even if you are not crafty. (yes that’s right…)

My favorite homemade anniversary gifts are – yummy bath salts and love messages in a jar. Both come under the “gifts in a jar” category. They are my favorites because they are easy to make, require no particular special skills and usually everything you need – you already have!

Bath salts are great. Why? Who doesn’t like a bit of pampering now and again. Sometimes heading over to the spa for a pampering isn’t always a viable option. But you can still give the gift of pampering and relaxation at home. Apart from glycerin (which is an optional extra) you probably have all the needed materials in your home. Bath salts make for a great adaptable gift. You can change the colors and flavors quite easily, all you need to do is use a different essential oil. Possibilities include lavender and citrus.

A close second is love messages in a jar. This requires a bit of planning on your part. The idea is that you write up lots of romantic love messages (365 to be exact!) and put them in a jar of love. You don’t have to come up with all of them yourself, anniversary quotes can be used for some of them.

The most important thing with homemade anniversary gifts is – do them well. After you have made the effort of making them – don’t let yourself down with sloppy presentation! Giving gifts in a careless manner is what gives homemade gifts a bad name – don’t turn your efforts into tackiness!

Enjoy your homemade anniversary gift creating! Happy Anniversary!

Muslim matrimony lay emphasis on union of two souls and is known as Nikaah in Urdu. Muslim marriages may not be extravagant but are simple and beautiful.

The rituals of Muslim weddings vary greatly from Hindu weddings. The ceremonies of an Islamic marriage are:

PRE WEDDING RITUALS

Istikhara: It is the inaugural ceremony of the wedding that seeks consent from Allah to perform the marriage of Muslim bride and Muslim groom.

Imam-Zamin Ceremony: After Istikhara, the grooms mother ties Imam-Zamin, the silver or gold coin enveloped in silken cloth, on the brides hand.

Mangni: The families of bride and groom visit each others places with sweets and fruits. The couple has now started exchanging rings too.

Manjha Ceremony: The bride wears yellow clothes and turmeric paste is applied on her body. She is not allowed to leave the house after this.

Mehndi Ceremony: Henna is applied on the brides palms and feet on the eve of the wedding day while the ladies sing traditional songs adding to the festivities.

WEDDING RITUALS

Welcoming the Baraat:

Like in all weddings, the groom arrives the venue with his baraat and a band of musicians who play traditional songs. The groom then takes a glass of sherbet (sweet drink) with brother of the bride while her cousins play pranks on the guests from the grooms side in the wedding.

The Wedding or The Nikaah:

The actual wedding ceremony may take place at the brides or grooms house or some other convenient place. The ceremony begins with two Maulavis (priests) from both the parties reading verses from Quran. Traditionally, the males and females are made to sit separately in Mardaana and Zenana respectively.

Meher, the nuptial gift is the money given to the brides family by the grooms for giving their daughter. The amount is then decided by mutual consent between the families.
After the amount of Meher is settled, first the bride and then the groom is asked three times if they accept each other as husband and wife. The Nikaah is complete after the Ijab-e-Qubul (proposal and acceptance of both the bride and the groom).

Nikahnama, the wedding certificate is signed by the couple when both give their consent. It must be signed by the bride, bridegroom and Walis (fathers of the bride and groom) and solemnized by the Qazi to make the marriage legal in Islamic law.

Khutba, a sermon consisting of verses from Quran, explaining the rights and duties of the spouses is then delivered by the Qazi.

Dinner and Prayers:

The groom is blessed by the older women and offers them his salaam. Other guests shower wishes of long lived happiness and togetherness the couple. Dinners are generally lavish but again males and females dine separately.

After the dinner, the Muslim couple is made to sit together for the first time to see each other. The Holy Quran and a mirror is then placed between the newly weds through which they are allowed to look at each other, surrounded by recitation of prayers by the priest. This ceremony is called Aarsi Mushaf.

POST WEDDING RITUALS

Rukhsat or Farewell: The bride bids farewell to her family before leaving for her husbands home. Her father asks the groom to take good care of her.

Welcoming the Bride: As the bride enters her new home, the grooms mother welcomes her by holding the Holy Quran above her (brides) head.

Chauthi Ceremony: It is the fourth day of the marriage on which the couple visits the parental home of the bride and receives a joyous welcome.

Valimah or Reception: This is the lavish reception hosted by the groom’s family after Nikaah. It brings together the two families, their relatives, well-wishers and friends who celebrate the occasion together.

Muslim weddings can be performed at any time convenient to families of both the Muslim bride and groom. They do not believe in the notion of auspicious time.

Few useful links:
http://www.jeevansathi.com/
http://www.jeevansathi.com/matrimonials/muslim-matrimonial/

Regarding the matter of the wedding arranging methodology, make a point not to overlook the most vital and regularly the funniest part… the wedding cakes. Despite the fact that it is a fun process, regardless it needs the same measure of consideration as alternate assignments you need to finish before the huge day. Let’s be honest, you need ahhh’s not ewww’s at your wedding. What sort of cake or icing with you pick? How extensive will the cake be? What is your budget for the wedding cake? These are most likely just a few the numerous inquiries right now swirling around in your mind. Keep in mind to make it one stride at once… what’s more breathe.

Exploration, Research, Research:
Before you even search for cake designs, its perfect to begin to do your examination regarding what are your desires and expectations for your own wedding cakes. Explore wedding cakes online, look through wedding magazines and books for cakes that rouse you. Remove these pictures and begin to detail what you need your cake to look like. When you have a few choices for your wedding cake, right now is an ideal opportunity to find out that online portal which will design the cake as per your wish and desire.

Meeting Cake Designers:
Take as much time as required and meeting potential cake designers in your general vicinity. Normally you can do a pursuit online to see potential competitors in the region where you live. Intermittently you will discover sites that may provide for you somewhat more data about the planner. Indeed in this way, you ought to then set-up arrangements to really question the cake configuration up close and personal. This will permit you to solicit all from our inquiries and perspective examples of the cakes you may be intrigued by.

Picking the Cake Design:
When you have met with all your cake designers or if at all your have spoken to the cake designers online, pick which originator helps. After the planner has been picked you will need to advise them as to precisely what you need your cake to look like. Keep in mind, in your introductory reaching you may have demonstrated to them 2 or 3 samples of your “perfect” wedding cake, however now is the right time to settle on a definite choice. The designer will have the capacity to examine the majority of your alternatives and which cake would be the most proper.

Appreciate:
When you have settled on the majority of the choices as they identify with your cake, it”s all in the hands of the designer. Do whatever it takes not to stress excessively over the wedding cakes. Contingent upon how far ahead of time you gotten your cake planner, do call a week or thereabouts before your wedding to affirm the cake request with your designer. When you have done this there truly isn’t more that you can do, other than holding up to cut into the flavorful wedding cake that you helped designed at your wedding gathering.

Weddings are really special day and the cake has to be more special. You can book the wedding cakes online and mark this special day memorable for both bride-grooms as well the guests.

You and your fiance are different and both of you are contemplating an outdoor wedding against a more conventional church wedding! An outdoor wedding holds manifold advantages, especially so for those feeling claustrophobic by church weddings. However, there are certain disadvantages with outdoor weddings as well. Let us consider the pros and cons of outdoor weddings to help finalize any of your decisions in this regard.

Advantages of an Outdoor Wedding:

Church weddings invariably pose restrictions on the themes that can be used for the weddings. With a church wedding, one needs to primarily stick to more conservative themes that are traditional and time honoured. With an outdoor wedding you have a lot more freedom and you can pretty much call all the shots with regard to the themes you would want to have for the wedding. The sky is the limit when it comes to choosing the themes – it can be a beach theme or a western theme or anything else that catches your fancy.

The cost is a great advantage when it comes to outdoor weddings as they are definitely much less costly than what you would incur with a church service. You don’t have to pay for using a public garden or a beach to get married, and the only costs in this regard will be what you need provide to the minister. And this goes with a host of conveniences like discarding formal attire and going with a simple sundress (if you prefer) when getting married in a sunny beach or a warm garden.

Another advantage with outdoor weddings is that you and your guests will feel much more relaxed and comfortable in the casual environment as against a stuffy church environment. Having lots of movement space is also welcome as people don’t have to jostle like in a church.

With outdoor weddings, the same venue can be used for wedding and reception; you just need to find someone for decoration and catering.

Disadvantages of an Outdoor Wedding:

The unpredictable weather can play a big havoc with your wedding. Mother Nature is not under our control and the weather man can be wrong. Moreover, the unpredictable nature of the weather makes it difficult to plan outdoor weddings ahead of time. It can be pouring on the day of your wedding and so it would be a good idea to have a back-up plan when you are contemplating an outdoor wedding.

Also most Catholic priests don’t allow you to marry outside of the church. So, you need to convince your priest first if you really want to go ahead with an outdoor wedding.

To summarize, outdoor weddings work for some people and not for others. So, plan carefully taking into account all pros and cons and figure out what will work best for you.

A good advice for making a wedding romantic and truly special is to make the ceremony debt-free and low-key as possible. Couples should save their money and not pay much attention to wedding advices features in magazines. Love is basically between the couple that will be getting married so its best they focus on each other.

A morning wedding followed by a luncheon reception is ideal, as it will give the couple enough time for their honeymoon, starting a new life and have enough energy to perform immediate post-wedding activities. Over 200 guests waiting at an expensive sit-down dinner will not add anything special to the romance.

A morning wedding will also help the couple save money and their eager energy and more than half a day to savor the moment of finally getting hitched.

Etiquette in a morning wedding

A morning wedding can be formal, semi-formal or informal. The bride can be outfitted with a short wedding dress or suit. In a formal morning wedding, the bride’s gown should touch the floor and veil fingertip or slightly below the middle knuckle of the mid finger. A fingertip veil becomes more attractive when it is used with an elbow length blusher. For a semi-formal morning wedding, the gloves and blusher veils are optional.

The groom’s attire is typically composed of a business, sportcoat or morning suit in accordance to the level of formality. In a semi-formal morning wedding, proper etiquette dictates that the groom can sport a dark stroller or suit without black or gray tails. In a formal wedding, a morning suit, which is composed of gray pinstripe trousers, ascot, gray vest and a cutaway coat, is suffice. The groom also has the option to wear a tuxedo if he wants to.

The groom and bride’s attire should complement each other. If the bride is wearing a casual short wedding dress, then the groom should wear a business suit or sportcoat instead of a tuxedo.

Regardless whether the wedding is during the morning or late in the evening, there is a certain etiquette that should be followed in the ceremony.

– Bridesmaids and groomsmen should assist in the ceremonies if the morning wedding is not held strictly in private.

– The bridesmaids should not have dresses that is not too eye-catching but will match the wedding dress. In addition, they should be younger than the bride. The dresses can contain more ornaments and should consist of light, graceful fabric. Flowers should serve as the main decoration.

– The wedding dress should be simple but elegant and can be decorated with few ornaments or jewels that come from the parents or the bridegroom. The dress needs to have an attractive veil and garland.

– The bride needs to be assisted by her bridesmaids in wearing the wedding dress, receiving visitors and locate themselves at her left side. The first bridesmaid for easy access should keep the bouquet and gloves.

– The clergyman should be received by the groomsmen and led to the couple that will be married. They will also serve as assistants for the bridegroom, during the occasion.

– Guests should wear something light and fresh. A breezy dress or a light-colored suit would be appropriate. Those who are fond of hats are in luck in a morning wedding, as wearing one will complement the ease and energy of the ceremonies. Dark suits and dresses should be avoided.

The Wedding Breakfast

If the bride appears during breakfast proper etiquette dictates that she sits beside her husband at the center table, while the father and mother occupy the top to bottom and greets the guests coming in. Once the cake has been cut and every one has eaten, which include offering a toast to the new couple and giving acknowledgements, the bride and groom meet with their friends and eventually exit from the ceremony.

The newly-married couple can start in their wedding journey at around two or three o’clock, while the rest of the guests and family member depart from the reception area shortly after.