The Ceremony

Wedding Ceremony's and traditions change from country to country. But if a couple is getting married in a country because of the view, or the weather, than they can get married in what they would consider to be a traditional wedding from their home country. There's no law that says if you get married in Hawaii you have to have a Hawaiian wedding. Also, sometimes it is much easier to get married at home and than have a big ceremony for friends and family in whatever country they want. Some countries require a couple to live in the country for so long before allowing them to get a marriage certificate.

Wedding Programs

Having a program at a wedding isn't a necessity but it is a very good idea. Guests can follow the ceremony along even if they aren't used to the traditions and rituals being showcased. It is important to name the bride, and her bride's maids, the groom and his men, the parents of the bride and groom, the photographer, the videographer, the officiant and anyone else important to the wedding. Next, a step my step walk through of the ceremony as best as possibly can be described. (Most invitation sets have a matching program.)

The Shoes

The bride's shoes don't always matter because depending on the length of the dress, no one may ever see the bride's shoes. One of the keys to picking shoes is to remember that no matter how fun a wedding day is, it is long and the bride needs to be comfortable. Always try the shoes with the dress, the person making alterations needs to see how it will sit and be worn the day of the wedding and he/she may advise the bride what shoes would go best with her body type and the dress type.

The same thing applied with Mother-of-the-Bride/Groom shoes and Bride's maid shoes. Their shoes may be seem more, depending again on the dress length. Shoes can match the colour scheme or just simply match the colour of the dresses, however the Bride's maids shoes should be similar, if not the same, and definitely the same colour.

Shoes will not be what everyone is looking at so feel free to wear flip-flops. Some can look very elegant and for most younger woman they are very comfortable.

The One (The Wedding Dress)

Buying a wedding dress is hands down the most important part of the wedding for the bride. Going into a dress shop with the dream dress in mind may not always be the dress a bride will walk out with. No one can pick the perfect dress for a bride, she can't even pick it out herself. The only way to know when the perfect dress comes along is by trying it on.

''You just know'', anyone who has been in love knows, that there is no way to explain the hows or whys of it all you just simply know. The same goes for wedding dresses. A bride can walk into a wedding store wanting lace and frills and beading everywhere, and walk out with someone so plain it could be the complete opposite of what she originally thought she wanted. The thing with wedding dresses is, you have to try it on and when you do, you get this feeling. It's like being a princess, most woman cry because they just know that they have the dress they are going to walk down the isle to.

Magazines, online catalogs and even blogs can offer suggestions and give links to beautiful dresses but all that does is help the bride decide what styles she likes and which she'd rule out. A bride simply can't find her perfect dress by looking at pictures alone.

The Groom

The grooms get the short end of the marriage stick. Truly the wedding day is about the bride, all they have to do is show up and stand there. When it comes to what the groom and his groom's men wear there is a lot of colour options but they have to match the wedding's theme. The groom can not wear a light grey suit at a wedding that has bright red and white as a theme. The safest and most traditional colours the groom gets to pick from is black and white. However, there are many other decisions to make when it comes to buying tuxedos. The jacket style, whether to get a vest, cummerbund (or cumberbund), long tie, bow tie (even though the bride may have some opinions on these aspects!) The best way for the groom to incorporate the wedding colour into his outfit is by getting a tie that matches either a bit of colour in the bride's dress or flowers. The same goes for the groom's men, their ties should match the bride's maids dresses.

Shoes for the groom and his men are simple, match the shoes to the suit. (Black tuxedo, black shoes; white tuxedo, white shoes.)

The Flowers

When picking the flowers for a wedding, it sets the colour scheme for the entire day. Everything will be coordinated with these colours. It is very very rare that a person will pick two colours for flowers and than have completely different colour dresses and decorations. For example, having red and yellow roses when the bride's maids are dress in purples and the entire hall/reception area is decorated in purple and white does not match the ''theme'' and ''colour scheme'', picking purple lilies or tulips or roses even for that matter match the whole wedding and pull it all together. This of course does not matter for the bride because she is usually in white and every colour matches white, adding a ribbon or handle in the theme colour would match it all together,  however matching a weddings colours should always be kept in mind when making wedding bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages and flower arrangements.

When getting married in countries that aren't familiar to at least the bride or groom, the flowers may present a problem. In some counties and/or religions certain flowers are considered bad luck and should be avoided. A little research would be needed to make sure that a bouquet doesn't conflict with such a belief in the country or religion the couple is being married in.

Ordering flowers can be a tricky thing especially if the couple is not local to the town, province/state, or country they decide to get married in. When picking flowers it is important to find a florist to get the flowers from and it is equally as important to make sure that they have the flowers needed to create the bouquets the couple wants. In some countries because of either growing conditions or the seasons, certain flowers may not be available at the time of a couples wedding so looking into such things before hand can save a lot of time and hassle.

Some couples think a great way to save money is to make their own wedding arrangements and bouquets. Unless the bride or groom is very skilled at handling flowers, arranging them and knows how to care for them, it is best left to a professional. In the end if a home made wedding bouquet doesn't turn out well, it could cost the couple twice as much as just letting a florist do the job in the first place.

**If throwing the bouquet is a tradition the bride and groom choose to follow, the bride may want to hold on to her bouquet and throw a fake or a stand in one. The best thing to do is to get a replica of the bride's original bouquet but scaled down so literally she isn't throwing money away. Also bouquet preservation may be something the bride would like to look into to keep her wedding bouquet as a souvenir of her big day, that is also something that should be discussed with the florist.**

Invitations

There is always more to the invitations than just the ''You are invited'' part. Most invitations need the invite, the response card, a directions card. But sometimes the even before the invitations go out, Save the Date cards are needed. And than after everything is said and done, Thank You cards need to follow.

Save the date cards aren't always needed. If the couple is getting married close to all their relatives, save the date cards can be avoided by a simple announcement in the local news paper. Save the date cards are for out of town guests that may need to book flights or take off work, or travel a little ways to get to the wedding. 

There are a lot of places, and websites, that have millions of different invitation designs and colours to match almost any wedding. When picking invitations it's important to think of the colours of a wedding and the theme. However it's important to have invitation that the couple likes, this doesn't always mean it has to match the theme perfectly. (For example, if a couple is having a honey themed wedding or bumble bee wedding, the invitations don't have to have bees on them, they yellow and black in them for the colours of a bee, or black and white, etc.) 

Response cards are only needed if the couple decided to have a meal. The response cards give the couple a round number to give the caterer and the hall for how many seats to set and prepare for. 

Direction cards are also optional. If a couple leaves in a small town where everyone basically knows where to go they won't need directions to the church and/or hall. A good way to save money here would be sending only direction cards to out of town guests in case they need help getting from place to place, but not sending any to local guests. 

Some couples choice to just leave a Thank You note, or card, at the door so their guest can take one as they walk in. This saves some money, but it is also very impersonal. A great idea for Thank You cards is to choose a picture from the wedding photos and send that with a little personal message on the back. It is simple and may be cheaper and easier than a Thank You card, however most invitation set coordinate Thank You cards also. 

Photographers and Videographers

Many couples assume that they can save money but getting an amateur photographer or videographer. The truth is a wedding is the most important day of two people's life together, chancing something like photos to someone who may have no idea what they are doing isn't the best idea. Photographs from the big day are things couples will enjoy for years to come, they will look back on them and hopefully remember their perfect day. Not to mention family and friends will want to see all the pictures and the last thing any couple wants is to be ashamed of how their pictures came out.

If a couple doesn't know of a professional photographer or is worried about how good their photographer is, the best thing to do is to schedule engagement pictures with the same person. This way the couple gets their photos well in advance of their wedding day and can decided if they would like to use the same person for their big day or go with someone else.

It is harder to test out videographers, so if someone close to the couple has used a certain company or person it is best to ask them to see the video they had done. Reviews and recommendations are great in helping pick out a good videographer, but seeing the work is always the best way to judge.

Pictures and Poses:

Photographs are forever and the best way to remember a couple's big day. They are a big part of the wedding, and are things the couple will show off for years to come. Each individual photographer may have different ideas on what pictures to take but here are some great options and a few of the top 50 must have wedding photos according to Kristen O'Gorman Klein of Bridal Guide.

The Romantic Lift photo by: Rebekah J. Murray Photography

Through Your Wedding Ring  photo by: Aubrey Joy Photography

An Enthusiastic First Kiss photo by: Emily Blake Photography

Holding Your Parents' Wedding Photo photo by: Ana Lui Photography

In Your Own World On A Busy Street photo by: Hoffer Photography

A Romantic Kiss photo by: Photographs By Anjuli

L-O-V-E photo by: Rebecca Fitzpatrick Photography

A Flipped Perspective Of The First Kiss photo by: Daniele Del Castillo

With Your Marriage Licence photo by: Visionyard Photography

Can You Keep A Secret? photo by: True Photography

Saying ''Thanks'' photo by: Stephanie Moe Photography

Frame Within A Frame photo by: Renaissance Studios

Pinky Swear photo by: Amber Engfer Photography

Surrounded By Love photo by: Inspire Photography

Wrapped Up In His Jacket photo by: Megan Small Photography

Stop-Motion photo by: Sugarlens Photography

A Look From Above photo by: AMS Photography

On A Park Bench photo by: Jen Philips

Together Before The Ceremony photo by: Dianne Personett Photography

With Your Shoes On Display photo by: Clear Skies Photography

One or all of these pictures would make beautiful shots to frame and display, to send as Thank You cards, or to give as gifts. Pictures are one of the best treasure a couple receives from their wedding, and amazing pictures help the couple relieve their big day for the years to come. 

Food and the Cake

Food is a very important part of the wedding day, when it is part of the day. Some couples choose not to have a meal and just have a late lunch later. But there are a lot of options when it comes to food. Some couples choose to make it buffet style, some choose a formal sit down dinner, some choose to asks their guests pay, and some choose to hand out tickets so their family can get their meal for free but so that other guests can still join them and pay for their meal. Most times when a couples asks their guests to pay for their meal they should not expect a wedding gift.

When it comes to a cake, the things to think about is flavour and theme. If a couple chooses to have multi-layered cakes, they should choose different flavours. Not everyone likes vanilla, not everyone likes chocolate, it is impossible to please everyone but the odds of having something everyone likes increases with more options. Also just because it is a ''Wedding Cake'' doesn't mean it has to be a cake, cupcakes are very popular options for weddings.
With any cake, cupcake or regular, a very important part is the cake topper! This topper may match the theme or be a traditional bride and groom figure. Either way the couple should be absolutely in love with it. The cake knife and serving set should match the cake topper in some way.

Guest Favours

Guest favours is a special way not only to say thank you to the guests but also to give them a little token of the wedding day.  Usually favours are very small items and inexpensive so the couple can buy them in bulk. When having a meal, guests favours are placed at each guests spot, and than a basket (or container) is set at the door so that uninvited guests can have a thank you token as well. Guest favours are usually given in some sort of holder, a glass mug, a mini jar, a decorative box, etc.

A great website for ideas and to buy guest favours from is http://www.beau-coup.com/, they have a number of different theme related items to match almost any wedding's theme.