Wedding Cake Topper Take the Cake!

Wedding cake toppers have a rich cultural history, which can be traced back to the late 19th century. While toppers became wildly popular in the mid-20th century, most cultural historians agree that they first hit the social scene in the late 19th century.

Original wedding cake toppers featured a bride and groom in various poses. These were removed and saved as treasured mementos of the wedding ceremony by the bride and groom. As cake toppers became more en vogue in the 1900s, variations on the bride and groom theme began to expand. Options that became widely acceptable were silver bells, love birds, doves, cherubs, cupids, etc. As varied as the style, the materials from which wedding cake toppers are made run the gamut.

Nowadays, couples have a range of options from which to choose. The variety of custom and personalized wedding cake toppers is simply astounding. They come in every theme, shape, size and color imaginable.

3 Ideas for Selecting Unique Wedding Cake Toppers:

So, how do you choose a unique topper?
1) Think about the couple getting married. Are they sports fanatics?
Choose a wedding cake topper with the bride and groom dressed in baseball attire - instead of the traditional wedding dress and tuxedo.

2) Another way to choose unique wedding cake toppers is to highlight a couple's future plans.
For example, do they have a dream of sailing around the world? Cake toppers of sailboats and sea maps would illustrate this dream perfectly.

3) Many couples often overcome difficulty before getting married.
Choosing unique wedding cake toppers that highlight the adversity a couple has overcome can not only add to the festivities, but remind the couple of what brought them to this point.

Whatever you choose to grace the top of your cake, make sure it's a reflection of you as a couple. After all, you'll be keeping it forever right?

Bridal Mehndi

Mehndi is the applying of a temporary form of skin decoration that is also known as a henna tattoo. It is applied during special occasions such as weddings or festivals. Usually it is put on your hands or feet and can last for a couple weeks.

The History of Mehndi:
If you have ever been to an Indian wedding you have probably seen brides wearing the “henna tattoos”. Mehndi is a timeless tradition that goes way back. In the Indian culture it is an important ritual that symbolizes beauty and is acquired for all ceremonial occasions, such as weddings. It is an essential part of the wedding ceremony and brings good luck in the couple’s years to come together. It shows glamour and adds mystery to the bride’s appearance on the wedding day.
Mehndi is made from the henna plant, or lawsonia inermis, the leaves from the henna plant are finely ground and is mixed with lemon juice and oil. The mehndi is only temporary and when washed off shows an orangish-brown color. It is completely safe and painless and has been used for over 5000 years. This art is now popular all around the world.

Importance and Designs:
Henna or Mehndi has a deeper meaning than just a temporary tattoo. One of the celebratory nights of a South Asian wedding is the “Mehndi Party”. All the relatives and friends of the bride come over to the bride’s house to get henna done on them, just small designs. As the bride gets intricate henna on her hands and feet she is informed of the marriage life and the mysteries of it. Not only does the Mehndi look gorgeous on a bride’s hands and feet, but it compliments the beautiful colors and shine that Indian Wedding & Bridal Outfits consist of.

In the design of the mehndi, the groom’s name is usually added upon the brides’ design where his name is to be found by the bride or couple. Each design is very intricate and usually covers up the entire hand. It takes a couple of hours for each mehndi to be completed depending on how detailed it is.

Tips for Brides:
* Plan your Henna Night two days before your wedding. It takes around 24 hours for your mehndi to reach its best color.
* If you have a lot of guests arriving, make sure to start your mehndi at least 3 hours ahead of time.
* Get all your pre- bridal beauty work done before so that nothing will get ruined.
* It takes around 15 to 20 minutes for your mehndi to dry. Once dried, you need to apply lemon sugar solution to help enhance the color. It will start crusting off after a few hours leaving an orange stain to your hands. Keep it away from water for about 10 hours to help last longer and it should last around 2 to 3 weeks.

Mehndi is a great way to bring your relatives and family together a few days before the wedding to enjoy each other’s company and have fun while getting hennas. It is a very unique idea added into the wedding ceremony and can be used for any type of wedding.

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RSVP Etiquette

As an wedding planner, I’ve observed that some of the simple, basic rules of etiquette seem to be disappearing. One example of bad manners I continue to see time and time again is how people handle an RSVP.

More and more these days, hosts are not receiving firm RSVP’s for their events and it’s causing unnecessary hassles for those who are kind enough to extend invitations. Among many headaches are difficulty in planning food quantities, uncertainty over the number of party favors and difficulties in planning appropriate seating, just to name a few.

If an invitation includes an RSVP, it means the host needs a definite head count for the planned event, and needs it by the date specified on the invitation. The process is not complicated – Step One: The host invites a guest to a party. Step Two: The guest tells the host they are either a) attending or b) not attending. Simple, right?

But there are three (at the least) very frustrating anomalies in the world of entertaining: The RSVP Blow-Off, the RSVP Fake-Out and the RSVP Take-Back.
• The RSVP Blow-Off is when the guest just doesn’t RSVP at all. They are too busy and important to even bother responding to an invitation and expect their hosts to be mind readers and just know if they are attending an event or not. RSVPing is the most important responsibility guests have. Not following through is inexcusably lazy, thoughtless and rude. (Note to guilty parties: The host will absolutely remember that your RSVP habits (and tell everyone who will listen, and eventually, if not immediately, you will be blacklisted.)

• The RSVP Fake-Out is when a guest tells their host they are attending an event and then don’t show up. Again, this guest was too busy and important to let their host know that their plans have changed and they will not be attending. Barring illness or Acts of God, are you obligated to attend if you RSVP? Yes! Backing out once you’ve committed for a “better” event or because you’re too tired is unacceptable, it’s disrespectful and it’s an abuse of the host’s time, money and effort.

• The RSVP Take-Back is when a guest RSVPs no and then shows up anyway. This is just plain inconsiderate. For most events, the cost of everything increases exponentially with the guest list. The more, the merrier does not always apply to hosts who have carefully planned out their party (and paid a head count to the caterer).

Whether it is to a wedding, a dinner, a shower or just a party, keep the following guidelines in mind:

RSVP – What It Means:
It’s French and it means “Répondez, s’il vous plaît,” or, “Please reply.” Please do so promptly, within a few days of receiving an invitation.
Responding:
• Response Card: fill in and reply by the date indicated and return in the enclosed envelope.
• RSVP with phone number: telephone and make sure to speak in person – follow up if you leave a message.
• RSVP with email: you may accept or decline electronically.
• Regrets only: reply only if you cannot attend. If your host doesn’t hear from you, you presence is expected (and probably paid for)!
And always pay strict attention to the deadline – it’s there for a reason.

Changing Your Mind:
• Changing a ‘yes’ to a ‘no’ is only acceptable on account of illness or injury, a death in the family or an unavoidable professional or business conflict. Please call your hosts immediately to explain.
• Canceling because you have a “better” offer is unacceptable.
• Being a “no show” is unacceptable.
• Changing a ‘no’ to a ‘yes’ is OK only if it will not upset the hosts’ arrangements.

Bringing …
• A Date: Some invitations indicate that you may invite a guest or date (Mr. John Evans and Guest) and when you reply, you should indicate whether you are bringing someone, and convey their name.
• Children: Never bring children to an event unless they are expressly invited.
• A Houseguest: It’s best to decline the invitation, stating the reason. This gives your host the option to extend the invitation to your guests, or not.

Say “Thank You”:
Make sure to thank your hosts before you leave. Follow up with a quick note or phone call within the week following the event.