Memorial Day Wedding Ideas

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What do you think about having a Memorial Day Weekend Wedding?

 Do you think too many of your guests would rather take the long weekend to get away? Or do you think the long weekend is a great time for your family and friends to celebrate the union of your love, and then always remember that Memorial Day?  Some may think it is improper to hold a wedding during this weekend, since it is supposed to be a weekend to remember those who lost their lives serving our great country. 

If you do decide to plan your wedding for the Memorial Day weekend, here are some ideas you could use to incorporate the reason for the holiday.

1.  Military Themed -

Perfect if you or your fiance are in the military.

2. USA Colored Theme -

If you don't want to go all out with the military theme, you could use red, white, and blue as your colors.  This could go as little as the cake and invitations, or as much as the dresses and suits/tuxes, flowers, and decor. 

3. Memorial Dedications -

Maybe a friend or family member lost their life fighting for our country.  By honoring them during the ceremony with a moment of silence, or a special prayer, would be a great way to remember them.

4. Song -

Ever heard the song "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue" by Toby Keith? You could easily play this at the reception, and then maybe also have a moment of silence right after the song is played.

5. Fireworks -

What would be the most exciting way to celebrate the holiday on your wedding? Fireworks!! Or if you don't want to dish out the huge bill for the permit, you could have your guests light up some sparklers. 

Inviting entryways make an unforgettable first impression

The Doors

Want to impress your guests before the wedding ceremony even starts?

Think about the entrance to the ceremony and reception as a good starting point.  You can use flowers of all sorts, lights, and even hay??? You could get very creative!!!

Check out this kissing ball, and see if that's not impressive.

Day-Of Coordination

As a wedding planner, I often hear brides say "I am looking for a Day-of Coordinator for my wedding.  I already have everything planned, vendors chosen, and my dress bought. I just need someone to help everything go smooth on the day-of." 
Terrific!! There is a lot of time and energy needed to plan a wedding!  But what brides don't realize, is it takes more than one day to be sure their day goes smoothly. 
I just got off an ABC ILNG Conference Call, with speakers Angela Brandt, wedding coordinator in Nebraska, and Shae Freeman, wedding coordinator in Arkansas.

They both pointed out that in reality, our Day-Of Coordination packages should be renamed to "Month-Of", as that's really how long we should be communicating with the bridal couple, before the wedding.

A bridal consultant should spend 30-50 hours on a "Day-Of Coordination". It really takes that much time to put together the pieces that the bride has planned, so that her day goes as stress free as possible. 

So those brides out there looking for a "Day-Of" Coordinator...Keep in mind that you want a coordinator that will actually be working the "Month-Of" instead. 

Double Happiness

I recently met with a couple that is wanting to incorporate their Asian culture into their wedding, and so I started my research on decor ideas.  The couple mentioned to me they wanted to use the Double Happiness symbol.  As I started my research, this is what I found about the Double Happiness character:

A large Chinese character, Double Happiness, on a red piece of paper or in paper cut is always put where it must strike the eyes on a young couple's wedding. It has a story behind it.


In the ancient Tang Dynasty, there was a student who was on the way to the capital to attend the national final examination, in which the top learners would be selected as the ministers in the court. Unfortunately, he fell ill halfway when he passed through a mountain village. Thanks to a herbalist doctor and his daughter, he was taken to their house and treated well. He recovered quickly due to the father and the daughter's good care. Well, when he had to leave, he found it hard to say good-bye to the pretty girl, and so did she. They fell in love. So the girl wrote down the right hand part of an antithetical couplet for the student to match:

"Green trees against the sky in the spring rain while the sky set off the spring trees in the obscuration."

"Well, I can make it though it is not easy. But you'll have to wait till I have finished the examination." replied the student. The young girl nodded in significance.

In the examination the young man won the first place, who was appreciated by the emperor. Also the winners were interviewed and tested by the emperor. As luck would have it, he was asked by the emperor to finish a couplet, which would need a right part as the answer. The emperor wrote:


"Red flowers dot the land in the breeze's chase while the land colored up in red after the kiss."

The young man realized immediately the right part of the couplet by the girl was the perfect fit to the emperor's couplet, so he took the girl's part as the answer without hesitation. The emperor was delighted to see the matching half of his couplet was so talent and harmonious that he authorized the young man's identity as Minister in the court and allowed him to pay a visit to his hometown first before holding the post. The young man met the girl happily at home and told her the emperor's couplet. They soon got married. For the wedding, the couple DOUBLED the Chinese character, HAPPY, together, on a red piece of paper and put it on the wall to express the happiness for the two events. And from then on, it has been taken on and became a social custom.

(http://chineseculture.about.com/library/weekly/aa120799a.htm)

I also found a baker in NJ that designed a wedding cake using the Double Happiness character.  Check it out!!


Double happiness wedding cake