Use this as a guide to set up a budget. If there is something on the list that you really want to splurge on, then add 5% on it, but find somewhere to take 5% off on another element.  If you do have an overall budget, then you can do the math yourself to figure out how much you would be spending on each element based on the percentage.  Just take the percentage multiplied by your overall budget.

If your budget is $27,435, then take .42(or 42%) X $27,435.00=$11,522.70

We used common wedding budgets, $15,000.00, $25,000.00 and $35,000.00 to start with.

Budgeting Tips:

You might not need everything on the wedding element list.  Write down the elements needed for your wedding and rank them 1-12 (depending on the number of wedding elements).  Plan for more of a budget on the things you really adore, and figure out ways to knock off some percentage points off the ones that you really just don’t have your heart set on, but are necessary to the day.

Do  some shopping around, if one vendor doesn’t fit into your budget, then there has to be another in the area that does.  If you still can’t find one, get creative and consider DIY (do it yourself projects). Don’t feel pressure to settle on something, aim to get the things you really adore for the price you really adore, or at least are comfortable paying.

Most vendors should offer different price points.  An example would be getting your invitations from Dunhill.  We have invitations that are very budget friendly, middle range, and other high end options.  Just ask your invitation specialist when you come in and they will help you find the option that is best for you.  We also offer FREE invitations, you just pay for the reception and response which usually equals out to about a 50% or 60% value saved.  That can also help the overall budget for your wedding.

If you’re shopping online, do not settle unless they offer free shipping.  That $12.95 in shipping and handling could pay for another child’s plate at your reception or for a more expensive veil for yourself.   If the company isn’t offering free shipping at that time, try finding a coupon code online by googling the retailer’s name and coupon code.  Hopefully this will grant you the free shipping offer.

Watch out for wedding dates around holidays.  Some of the wedding elements such as flowers, and honeymoon rates may go up around this time.

If you’re wondering why there is no groom’s attire on the list, if you have 5 or more people getting tuxedos, then the groom’s tuxedo is free, he just has to pay for his shoes at Dunhill Tuxedos.

If you have anymore comments or suggestions, you can find our comment box below!

Until next time….Happy Wedding Planning!

You want to order your invitations at least 3-4 months ahead of your wedding.  Remember you have to have enough time to receive them, address them and let your guests reply.

Invitations are usually ordered in increments of 25.  If you have 122, spring for the quantity of 150 versus a 125 quantity.  The way invitations are priced, it will end up costing you way more money if you have to order 25 extra at the last minute, not to mention an extra shipping fee.

Before you order your invitations, make a list, not of people, but how many actual invitations you are going to send out.  If you are inviting Mr. and Mrs. Tom Cruise & Suri, that would count as one invitation even though you are inviting three people. Make sure you have your final invitation count  before you place your order

Assign a number to each guest and put that corresponding number on the  back of each of your reply(response) cards.   If a guest returns their reply card with an r.s.v.p, but forgets their name, as some guests do, this number system will save you in a pinch so you do not have to figure out who the mystery attendees are.

When choosing a RSVP date for the response card part of your invitations, check with your caterer to see when your final count is needed by.  If they tell you 2 weeks ahead, make the r.s.v.p date 4 weeks before the big day.   If they tell you 1 week or 10 days ahead, make the r.s.v.p date 3 weeks before the wedding.  This will give you enough time to call those late responding guests to clarify exactly who is going to attend.

If you are putting your envelopes through a printer, addressing them yourselves, or sending them to a calligrapher you want to order at least 25 extra envelopes.  If you order them blank and unlined, they are usually fairly cheap (about 5-10 cents an envelope).  These will save you after you realized the printer ate 10 envelopes or you put the wrong zip code on your future mother in law’s invitation…twice.

If you have your heart set on the little square of tissue that you’ve seen with the invitations before, it might be a good time to start cutting up some tissue paper.  Most invitation companies have gone green and done away with the tissue for environmental reasons.  In more recent years, the tissue became just somewhat of novelty without a purpose.  It used to serve as a barrier to keep the ink from bleeding once the invitation was printed.  With ways of printing today, the ink no longer bleeds, therefore that cute little piece of tissue is a thing of the past.

Remember you can find over 40 invitation books to choose from at Dunhill Tuxedos….they happen to also by free.  Our trained invitation specialists have all the knowledge of above and more.

Until next time…..Happy Wedding Planning!

Lapels

The lapel is the form of collar on a tuxedo.  They are a couple of different options to choose from.  There is the peak, shawl, notch and no collar options.   A peak collar goes out at a point, a shawl collar is round in shape and creates a curved look, a notch collar goes inward where the peak goes outward, and the no collar is an upright collar that is very sleek in its look.

Color

Of course color is going to be a differing factor in picking out your tuxedos for your wedding.  A decision helper in this case is to look at your decided color scheme for inspirations.  If you have bright or bold color palette (oranges, pinks, purples, maroons etc) opt for the classic black tuxedo.  This is also a must if any of your accent colors in your wedding day palette are black.  If you have creamy dreamy or regal colors (gold, navy, champagne) try out an ivory color jacket.  It is not pertinent that if your dress is ivory that he has to have an ivory tuxedo, but it could be an idea. Try to base the color of the tuxedo choice more on the colors that you are using for the overall wedding.   If your wedding scheme is in the chocolates, mochas, caramels, cinnamons or any other color that sounds like a tasty treat, take a look at a brown tuxedo.  This goes great with any wedding with brown as an accent color.  The brown tuxedo has a subtle pinstripe in it that photographs beautifully.  White tuxedos can compliment any pastel color or looks nice with a color just as red.  We also offer a tan suit that is perfect for any casual ceremony or destination wedding.

Type of fabric

Most tuxedos are a wool/polyester blend which is great for your colder wedding months.   A new fabric that we have started to feature in the last year is Super 100 fabric exclusive to Jean Yves.   It has a higher thread count that the other tuxedos and is softer to the touch.   It also feels lighter on, which could be a life saver from the unexpected heat waves during those summer months.

Brand name

There are many different brand name manufacturer of tuxedos.  Jean Yves, Perry Ellis, Ralph Lauren, Fumagalli, Marc Ecko, Oscar De La Renta, Claiborne just to name a few that are carried at Dunhill.  We trust these brand names and make sure to do a series of testing to make sure they are quality products.

Number of buttons

The number of buttons on a tuxedo creates the stance. The stance is where the buttons come up to on the jacket.   The more the buttons, the higher the stance.  Try to figure out how many buttons you want on the jacket for your wedding by considering these factors.  Look at the stature of the guys in the wedding party, are they all athletic built over 5’10’’? If they are, then a three button jacket may look best on them.  Wedding parties of this build can also opt for a longer jacket.  If your groom or your wedding party averages at or under 5’10’’ stay away from the longer jackets, and try for a one or two button.  If your wedding party is every which size and height then go for the two button coat.  The stance on that is pretty much universal on almost every size.

Hope this helps and we look forward to helping you select your tuxedos in our store fronts.

Until next time…..Happy Wedding Planning!

Location, Location, Location

Try to think of someone you know that has a beautiful home with a big enough backyard to hold a Reception.  Ask them if they would be willing to let you use it.

Check local parks and gardens to see what kind of park and recreational fee you have to pay, most of the time, it is a small fee to use these spaces since they are town/state/public owned.

Holding the ceremony and reception at the same place can save you money, less deposits, booking fees.  If you wish to see have your ceremony at your place of worship, check with the facility to see if they rent out an attached building.  Use your creativity in decorating this area with using white lights on any potted trees/plants that are already in there, invest in tulle to hang from the ceiling and fabric to make a back drop behind the head table.  Tulle is a very inexpensive fabric that can be purchased at any discount department store with a fabric department ( i.e Walmart)

Check with your Alma matar or local university to see if they have a venue for an event.  Usually these type of venues are cheaper in price.  They may have limits on some things such as alcohol and open flame, but just alter your day to fit these things and to steal the price.

If you are going with a wedding hall as a venue, remember to compare the cost of the rental fee, gratuity, food, beverages, parking, set-up fees and the cost of rentals or what might be included (tables, chairs, canopies, etc.) Some places may have more charges than others that will waive them.

Making the Getaway

Renting traditional wedding vehicles can be pretty expensive…but if you’re looking for an alternative to save…..

Find a classic car dealer or owner that might let you rent it for your wedding day or at least for picture sake–so you can save money on the limo

Rent your dream car from a dealer for a day.  By putting the groom in charge of this task, might be a good chance to get him involved in the planning

If you have a personal connection to firefighters or police officers, it might be cute and a way to represent you as a couple to have your veil flying out of one of these vehicle as you make your exit.

Ride out into the sunset on someone’s high end motorcycle.  This is a personal touch on the day and can make for a cute picture opportunity.

If you’re going for more of the rustic twist on the big day, and happen to love horses, see if you can find horse owners that would be willing to lend over a couple of guys for this task.

Selecting the Date

-Wedding venue rates tend to be cheaper in the “wedding off season”.  Usually the months that fall into that time period are January, February(excluding Valentine’s Day), March and November.

Instead of a prime wedding time being a Saturday night, opt for a Friday night, Saturday afternoon or Sunday wedding day.  This will most likely give you a 15-20% off deal on your venue by choosing these times.

Stay away from wedding dates on holidays like sweetest day and Valentine’s Day for the cost of flowers may go up/May-time brides beware of prom time rates.

Little Details

Of course, the quickest way to cut your budget is by limiting the guest list.  This will cut down the money in food, alcohol, favors, cake, invitation and many other costs. Make a list of rules that you and your fiancée and both set of parents must follow to invite (i.e. how long it has been since you’ve seen this person, will they make our wedding more fun, do they want to come-or will they feel obligated etc) Remember though if you are going to make this list, the courteous thing to do would be to invite you groom along with both set of parents to write and create the “who to invite rule list”.

Utilize your friends and family member’s talents.  You can save tons of money by gathering the ones closest to you that play instruments, sing, know a thing or two about flower arrangements, calligraphy or others in the wedding industry.  Use your creativity and this could be a great money saver.

Reuse ceremony flowers for the reception.  Use these on the escort table, extra flowers for the centerpieces, gift table, cake table or anywhere else you can use your imagination to place.

Until next time….Happy Wedding Planning!

Send accommodation information

You have a couple of options for letting your handful of guests know about where to stay.  You can add them to your save the date, either on the card or with an insert.  You can send a separate card between the save the date and the invitation with information regarding hotel stays, where they can find rental cars, information on weather in the area, and radio stations they can tune to for traffic.  Another way to send the accommodation card is to make it an insert in your wedding invitation.  Make sure you check with the hotel you have reserved a block of rooms with to ensure that if there is a deadline for the discounted rate, that it corresponds to at least 2 months ahead of time, giving your guests enough time to reserve their room.  Also, I’m sure you have found in your wedding planning that there are a lot of free wedding websites available.  Take these to your advantage to put accommodation information and all other travel details in for your out of town guests.

Invite them to the rehearsal dinner if it is in the budget

Your out of town guests are taking a lot of time, money and travel to be to your wedding, it is always nice to ask them to attend the rehearsal dinner the night before.  This gives them a preplanned activity they don’t have to worry about, as well as one less cost they don’t have to cover and time for you to mingle and catch up with the people in your life to don’t get to see day to day.

If it is just not in your budget and/or head count allowance at the dinner, don’t worry there are alternatives that are just as polite.  Make a list of different restaurants in the area that are nice.  Give options for the guests that want to enjoy a nice dinner, an option for the budget friendly, and also a kid friendly restaurant (be great to find one where kids eat free) for guests traveling with little ones.   The college crowd might even appreciate a nightspot recommendation.  Make the list in columns of restaurant name, address, phone number and $, $$, $$$ to indicate the price level.   Try to see if you can find online/newspaper coupons for these places and supply all of these to your guests in their hotel rooms or waiting for them when they check in.   Use Tripadvisor.com for this project.  Using this website it does not matter if you are familiar with the area or not, it gives you great insight to price level, reviews and the radius to the hotels.

Giftbags

Give your out-of-towners a special treat with a welcome gift bag awaiting for them in their hotel room when the arrive.   These bags are referred to as “OOT” (out of towner) bags in the wedding world. We have come up with a list of things that you can add to the bag.  Remember too, the more you search for items, the more deals you might be able to find, making these bags budget friendly to you, and beneficial to your guests.

Playing cards

Tea bags

Bottle of wine

Bottled water

Crackers/snacks-have someone make homemade treats

Photo album

If your guest has a special hobby, you can incorporate that

Things to do in the area/pamphlets on attractions- your guests may want to make a vacation

Catalogs to shopping areas in the area

Map to the ceremony and reception

Travel size first aid kits

For people traveling with little ones- throw in something for the kids too.  Crayons and a coloring book/wordsearches etc.

Until next time….Happy Wedding Planning!

Place pictures of wedding couples in your family at the entrance or sweet table/cocktail table.

Why not really show your gratitude for your family’s love and support through the years by displaying their own wedding photos.  Leave them in their own original frames to add character and a timeline to the presentation.  Take left over place cards (or folded cardstock) and create standup labels to display name of the couple, the relation and their wedding date.  Place the display at entrances, cocktail tables, and escort tables or by the guest book. This is a great, simple, affordable way to dress up any of those wedding locations.  Imagine how appreciated grandma and grandpa, or even mom and dad will feel when they see that you’ve included their love and memories.

Add an element of your proposal story to your wedding reception

Beach proposal?

Add sand or subtle seashells to the centerpieces, even if you are having an out of season wedding, get creative and have fun with it. Hide a seashell in your flower bouquet to remind you of the special day he asked you to be his wife.  Even if no one else can see it, he and you know what it means. Another idea is to use unity sand instead of an unity candle to remember the beachsque setting.

Memorable restaurant?

Ask the restaurant to create mini versions of the dessert he proposed to you over and offer it as an after dinner snack (around 10:30-11).  Another way to incorporate this is to add these yummy creations to your sweet table.

Famous landmark?

Use pictures of these places for your table number cards. Take the pictures you took at the time of your engagement and digitally insert a number of the table.  If you are not digitally inclined, get number cutouts and glue/paste it on. Make the pictures about 5×7 and go to a local scrapbook store and get paper to create a backing around the picture.  On the back, write the story of your engagement with facts about the landmark.

Serve wedding cake that represents your heritage.

Cannoli crème if you are Italian, papaya filling from the Philippines, Dutch heritage can use almond paste.  Use any of these countries traditions as your cake filling.  If you’re Irish, the top tier should be Irish whiskey cake. If your heritage is not on here, and you have a suggestion, share it with our other brides in our comment box!

Untraditional Guest Books

A guest book is a must have on the traditional wedding checklist, a book for guests to sign in writing a message of congratulations to the bride and groom.

Instead of your formal guest books, pick out a coffee table book of  common interest of the bride and groom to have your guests sign in. If you don’t know what a coffee table book is, it is a larger book of an interest that you leave on your coffee table on display to act almost as a conversation piece or representation of you.  Choose a book of what you love to do (skiing if you like winter sports, bartending if you like to host parties, wine for the vino enthusiasts, etc.)

A big trend now is also to have the framed picture of you two in the center of a matted signable frame.  Make this idea more unique to you by making a collage of pictures of you as well as places traveled as a couple and things you enjoy together.  This picture may act as a time capsule on your 50^th wedding anniversary, especially with the messages of your guests around it.

Do what makes you feel special as the bride and have fun with celebrating you and your groom on your big day.  Until next time…Happy Wedding Planning!

Most DJ’s and bands will ask you to complete a do not play list and also a must play list.  We all have different taste in music, but the music played at your wedding should reflect the bride and groom yet should also be in good taste(remember edited versions can be requested), have something for everyone and keep everyone running back out for more.

Songs to get everyone on the dance floor

Casper slide-DJ Casper

Dancing Queen-ABBA

Jimmy Buffet-Fins

Electric Slide-Neville Livingston

SHOUT!-Isely Brothers

Jump on it-Sir Mix a lot **Office Favorite**

Hey Ya-Outkast

Please don’t stop the music-Rihanna

C’mon N’ Ride It (The Train) – Quad City DJ’s (great for conga line/grand march)

Evacuate the Dancefloor-Cascada

Pretty young thing-Michael Jackson

Forever-Chris Brown

Single  Ladies-Beyonce

Party in the USA-Miley Cyrus

Wedding Classics

Old Time Rock and Roll- Bob Seger

Super Freak-Rick James **Boss’s Pick**

Take Me Home Tonight- Eddie Money

Brickhouse-The Commodores

Mustang Sally-Commitments

You Sexy Thing-Hot Chocolate

Build me up Buttercup- Foundations

Jessie’s Girl-Rick Springfield

Don’t Stop Believing- Bon Jovi

Friends in Low Places-Garth Brooks

Brown Eyed Girl-Van Morrison

Everybody have fun tonight-Wang Chung

Shake It-Metro Station

Bust a move-Young M.C

Funky Cold Medina-Tone-Loc

Sweet Caroline-Neil Diamond

Mony Mony- Billy Idol

Slow it down now

Fools rush in- Elvis Presley

Wonderful tonight- Eric Clapton

Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love Baby-Barry white

She’s Everything-Brad Paisley

Yesterday-Beatles

Lost in this moment with you-Big in Rich

If you don’t know me by now-Melvin and the Blue Notes

Back at One-Bryan McKnight

Then-Brad Paisley

Everything-Jason Mraz

From This Moment On-Shainia Twain

For the after 11 crowd

~the time to make sure that any guests that might say “oh my” to these song’s lyrics are in bed.  Perfect for the crowd that stayed to party.

Walk it out- DJ UNK

Low-Flo Rida

Laffy Taffy-D4L

Humpty Dance-Digital Underground

Salt Shaker-Ying Yang Twins

SexyBack-Justin Timberlake

Snap Yo Fingers-Lil John

Fergalicious-Fergie

Remix to Ignition-R. Kelly

Get Low-Ying Yang Twins

In Da Club-50 Cent

Until next time….Happy Wedding Planning!

Attention Bridesmaids and Mothers:  Preparing this kit can make a cute shower gift or a perfect “because you’re stressing before the wedding” gift.  It is full of reassurance that everything is going to go just fine!

Sewing repair kit

If anyone in the wedding party snags, busts or pops anything throughout the day, a sewing repair kit really will save the moment.  Instead of emergency detouring the limo to your local drugstore, pick one up before the big day. This “something blue” sewing kit is from forever 21 and retails for $6.00.

Mascara wands

Ditch the comb for the updo flyaways and invest in mascara wands to fix the problem.  They are smaller, sleeker and better for details.  These wands will also come in handy to fix any estranged eyebrows or spider lashes.

Buy at any drug store/ beauty supply store.

Most run in range of 25/$5.00

Travel Hairspray

You need to keep those flyaways down after taming them with the mascara wands, and this is sure to do the trick.

$7.00 can be purchased at sephora.com

Whitening Lights to Go

Use these for the days up to your wedding to get a pearly white smile on the day of your wedding. Resonably priced and easy to use.

$10.00 Sephora

Check out the review from a customer at Sephora.com:

“I love these little flashlites! I had my teeth professionally whitened a few years ago and, thanks to my coffee addiction, they were starting to look a little dull. I use these every morning after my coffee and they freshen my breath and my teeth are bright again. The taste is a strong mint (kind of like an altoid) but it calms down quickly and you are left with a really fresh taste in your mouth. I also love that they are so portable and packaged with individual ampules so you are ensured a fresh, uncontaminated treatment each time. “

Tide to go pens

Removes any stain or spill that will try to make an appearance in your wedding pictures.  These things also do pretty well with grass stains in case of an outdoor wedding snafu.

Best price we found: $2.98 Lowes

Foot petals

www.footpetals.com

Saving your feet might save your day. With all the dancing, walking and posing you’re going to be doing this day invest in some foot petals.  The Strappy Strips are great blister preventers for shoes with straps, the tip toes prevent feet from sliding up in your open toe shoe creating that smushed look, and the heavenly heelz with keep that uncomfortable(but oh so cute) shoe from rubbing the back of your heel.

Retails about $6.95

Bobby pins

Go to any local drugstore/beauty supply store retails $1.50-$4.00

Makeup minis

Ask for samples at your makeup consultation, makeup counter, or bridal shows.  They are great to test out before the big day and then keep the rest with you for any post teary eyed moments.  A great version of minis is clinque bonus time promotion.  You buy item(s) for 21.90 and get many little minis that would be perfect in your beauty blunder kit.  Also try ulta.com and sephora.com for any of their makeup minis such as high end mascara for $6.00-$7.00.  With your minis, you can fit them in a small makeup bag and not have to lug around your whole kit n’ caboodle.

Blister Blocker

Prevents all the unwanted pain and marks after a long day on your feet.

7.95 CVS

Pocket static guard

Forces any clingy material to keep to itself and can aid in picture perfect wedding day pictures.

Local drugstores 2-4 dollars

Pocket deodorant

Good for a few re-applications throughout the day with all the posing, dancing, and hugging you will be busy doing.

$1.50 most drugstores

Emery board

Ms. Manicure Purse size emery boards, let the ladies in your wedding party pick and choose as they come and go with nail breakage with this handy inexpensive quick fix.

Lowest we found online- $1.64 drugstore.com

Have also spotted them at Target for $0.99!

Roller ball perfume

I personally think these are every girls dream.  A resonably price higher end perfume that you can carry in your purse.  This was found on sephora.com and some of my personal favs are Marc Jacobs Daisy, Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy, Ralph Lauren and Stella McCarthy. Keep these with you to stay smelling sweetly the whole day!

Sephora or Ulta

$16.00

Fashion tape

I wont even attend a wedding or special event without having a few of these by my side.  Fashion tape keeps strapless, halter, capped sleeved, v-neck and every kind in place so you can be comfortable and no constantly have to hold, pull or tug anything.

Retails $8.99

Lint remover–Touch Ups

Save some room in your kit with ditching the traditional lint roller and invest 4.99 into these touchups that come with 2 packets for a total of 60 touch ups.  Help remove any type of lint, dander or debree.

Retails $4.99

You can purchase these Hollywood products (two above) at our Formal Accents Store located in the Dunhill Wedding Center in St. John, Indiana.  email formalaccents@comcast.net or call 219.365.0159 for more infomation on these products

Formal accents in St. John

Extra earring backs

You don’t want to have to have makeshift replacements for earring backs if you or one of your girls loses one.  Buy a package of hypo allergic ones just in case one goes missing.

Local drugstore $5.00 or you can get them on overstock.com for $3.59

Allergy pills/creams

With all the people in your wedding party you don’t want to take the risk of allergic reactions to flowers, bee stings, food, etc.  If you know someone with specific allergies, you may want to add that in the kit as well.

$6.99 brand name-Target

So with this kit by your side, you are assured to have a perfect day, and it will be a perfect day because it is about the two of you and how much you love each other.

Until next time…Happy Wedding Planning!

Wednesday, Oct 7th

6-9pm

Avalon Manor

3550 U.S. Highway 30

Merrillville, IN 46410

If you haven’t already gotten your tickets you can still get them for $5.00 in advance at our Formal Accents Store in the Dunhill Wedding Center in St. John Indiana or by calling them at 219.365.0159

$10.00  at the door the night of the show

Come and check out over 48 colors that Dunhill carries as well as a VIP preview of our 2010 colors just for you.  We’re still keeping our free giveaways a surprise, but they are for sure to surprise you when you find out what they are!  You’ll also have a great chance to get impressions and network with other top wedding industry vendors and maybe win things from them as well!

Other vendors at the show:

Albanese Candy

Almira’s Pastry & Wedding Cake Shop

Artlynn Photography

Avalon

Avanti Limousines

Blossom Shoppe

Carson Pierre Scott

Cedar Mill Limousine

Century 21

Chicago Style Events

Classic Journey

Confectionary Arts

Crown Party Rentals

Disc Spinners

Divine Celebrations

DJ the TJ

Elegance Wedding

FH Photographic

Five Star Limousine Services, Inc.

Formal Accents

Hair Cuttery

Hi-Style Studio

Jessica’s Flowers

Josleyn Phot

Kristina Lynn Floral

LeRoy and Jane Clemons

Lia Sophia

Mary Kay

Norman Turner Photography

Northwoods

Partytrain Music

Pete Steinburg Photo

Photos by Alexander

Robert Anthony

Robert Taylor Wedding Shoppe & Cosmetics

Sarkey’s Florist

Scene II Video & Annette Cosmetics

Sharon’s Custom Designed Cakes

Silverwood Trio

Spinnin Productions

Strongbow Inn

The Party People DJ

The Wedding Shoppe Directory

Timeless Images

Wedding and Special Events by Angelique

Wedding Essentials

Zembillas Photography

We look forward to our bridal show and hope you are too! See you there! Check out our facebook for great pictures of past shows.

www.facebook.com/DunhillTuxedos

Until next time……….Happy Wedding Planning!

Pictures of you

One idea is to utilize pictures of the two of you as a couple.  It is a good time to display you throughout the years of your relationship focusing on big moments  you’ve shared in each others lives.  The example below can also be used as table numbers in the theme of different places at your alma mater or where you met.

A remincisent option for you and your guests is to display pictures the both of you at the cooresponding age for each table number(i.e. have a picture of the bride at age 1 on the right, with the table number 1 in the center,  and  a picture of the groom at age 1 on the left side.

You can also choose to display your engagement pictures.  A lot of times, you’re guests don’t get to see a majority of the ones taken with the exception of the one you chose for your announcement.

Other couples choose to do a special photo shoot just for the sake of the table numbers.  They can pose as if they are touching the numbers, or looking at them Just simply place (digitally or by hand) the table number next to the pictures and you have an outstanding detail to your wedding.

Through the Years
Instead of having the traditional table number of numbers, do something a little different and have the numbers actually be years.  You can either display pictures of the two of you in the corresponding year, or write fun facts or big moments that happened in your lives that year.  Guests will love this because a lot of them most likely shared in those moments too.

Try places/names instead of numbers….

If you have gotten the opportunity to travel and explore different places as a couple, highlight those experiences with table cards with the names of the travel hotspots.

For a different spin using names, use your pictures holding names of your favorite hotspots/places you have been.

If photography is a hobby or you know someone that has it as one, use that to its full advantage here as you photograph the places you love, your first date, t he restaurant you got engaged and tell the story about it through your table cards.  Here you can use numbers or the names of the locations.

Because they’re a part of your new family too….

Use the animal in your life and surround them with numbers somewhere in the picture.  Above they have a piece of paper with a string around the dog and below drew the number in the sand.  Great for the dog or animal lover and will let you introduce your furry friend to your friends and family as well.

Until next time….Happy Wedding Planning!