Reception Entertainment Director

One of the earliest decisions you'll make about your wedding, before you pick a menu or hire a DJ, is your color scheme. Your colors will inform everything from invitations to bridesmaids' dresses to flowers and cocktail napkins. Color is the first thing that will strike the eye of your guests, and one of the things they'll remember the longest. Choose wisely, therefore--but not necessarily conservatively. Over the Rainbow Gone are the days when brides chose one pastel color, and it was echoed everywhere. Also gone, mercifully, are the days when rainbow weddings held sway, with each bridesmaid in a different pastel--brides have, in that sense, gotten over the rainbow. If you love pastels, an updated way to use them is to accent them with a deeper shade of the same color, say, lavender with deep amethyst. If you don't love pastels, there's never been a better time to go bold in your wedding color choices. Modern weddings please the eye with two, maybe three strik...

Carl Jung may have been speaking metaphorically, but boy, did he ever hit the nail on the head when it comes to picking out your wedding shoes. For some brides, fashion is paramount, and designer shoes are a must. Brides with a different take on fashion make their way down the aisle in their Chuck Taylors. Bridal shoes are a big deal these days--and the options are more vast than ever. Pumps are the classic choice, and looks can be anything but plain. Brides can opt for a traditional closed-toe pump, or select a flirty peep-toe. All manner of clip-on embellishments are available everywhere  from bridal shops to Etsy, and include everything from rhinestones to flowers. If pumps aren't your style, strappy sandals are another elegant, and popular option. Wedge-heeled sandals continue to be popular, and are increasingly available in wedding-worthy styles. High heels aren't the only way to achieve glamour in your wedding footwear, though. Kitten heels provide style and a litt...

If you haven't been to a wedding reception where you were served a reheated stuffed chicken breast or dry roast beef, you probably haven't been to a wedding reception. When it comes to your wedding day, you want to do better for your guests, and that may mean thinking beyond standard reception hall fare. If impressing your guests with your wedding repast is high on your priority list, the first thing you want to do is find out what restrictions your intended reception venue places on catering. If the venue requires you to use their catering staff and menu, be certain you are happy with the options they provide. Always, always, always, no matter how delicious the offerings sound, ask for a tasting session so you can see how the dishes you have in mind will be presented and taste. If the chef overcooks the salmon for your party of two, it won't be any better for two hundred wedding guests. Most wedding reception venues willingly offer tastings, so don't be shy about...

After the bouquet is tossed, the cake is cut, and music from the last dance has faded away, one part of your wedding endures—your wedding rings.  While these tokens may not be the details that catch the eye of your guests, you and your spouse will look at them every day—hopefully, for the rest of your lives. Your choice should reflect who you are, as individuals and a couple. Match Game Do your rings have to match? Not unless you want them to. For some women, it’s critical that their engagement ring and wedding band go perfectly together. If the band is also expected to match the husband’s, that may seriously limit his choices. So don’t feel pressured to buy wedding bands as a matched set. The reality is, you’re not going to be physically attached at the left hand for the next fifty years: no one will notice or care if you’re not wearing identical rings. If coordination is important to you, get rings of the same metal with complementary, but not identical, styles. Style Poi...

One of the nicest things about weddings is celebrating your love together with people who have loved you throughout your lives. Presenting your guests with wedding favors is a way to invoke fond memories of the event long after the wedding. Sure, you can toss some chocolates or Jordan almonds in a pretty box and call it good. But why not give favors that say something about you and your spouse, and where your life together began? If you're getting married  in Connecticut, especially near the water, consider giving your guests nautical themed favors from Mystic Knotworks . Beautiful, long lasting and practical, a keychain from these Connecticut craftspeople is a symbolic way to thank your loved ones for being there when you "tie the knot." If you want to be sure tokens won't be stuffed in a drawer or gather dust on a shelf, give something that is both attractive and useful. One favor that meets both criteria is this set of heart-shaped measuring spoons . Bearing...

From Connecticut to Anywhere: Transporting Your Wedding with Creative Decor Before you read any further, remember this: your wedding can be stunningly beautiful with decor no more complicated than flowers, a few candles, and accent linens in your chosen colors. That said, a world of creative wedding decor options is open to you, and they need not be expensive or manufactured. Google "wedding decor" and the first several hits are for places that want to sell you stuff. Stuff to make your wedding pretty. Stuff you'll probably never use again. Stuff that has no soul. It will cost you pots of money and be absolutely unmemorable. So what's a bride (or groom) to do? You know the answer already, I suspect. This writer planned her wedding in the cold, primitive days of the late 20th century, when our only source for wedding inspiration was bridal magazines (designed to sell stuff, and see above) and our older cousins' weddings (which, by definition, was "been ...