Wedding Apparel
Start shopping as soon as you set your date. Most designer wedding dresses need to be special ordered. It could take 3 to 6 months for special order or designer wedding dresses to arrive. Order at least six months prior to your reception. This will allow time for fittings, alterations, and coordination. If you decide to have your gown custom made, allow about 6 months since selection of style, fabric and details along with fittings takes time. Shopping - To make your day a pleasant and rewarding one, try not to visit too many bridal shops in the same day. When you are fresh, full of energy and enthusiasm, you will be able to make sound judgments. On the other hand, if you come to the store exhausted and unprepared, after trying a few styles you may be confused and find that all the gowns begin to look the same and you may come home toting one of the cheap wedding dresses simply because you were tired! Bring along pictures of wedding gowns you like and be open to discuss your plan and idea with a bridal consultant. It could happen that the gown you like in a picture doesn't look good on you. The bridal consultant will study your figure type and personality to help select the styles that flatter you and suit your budget. Try on all of the dresses the consultant shows you, even if it may not seem like "your style" of dress as most wedding dresses look much better, and different, on you than on the racks. You may want to bring a family member or friend along for a second opinion . Avoid taking more than one person since too many opinions can conflict and confuse. Wearing appropriate undergarments and a bit of makeup can also help to make the wedding dress look and fit better. Take a Polaroid camera along just in case you cannot decide. Take a picture of yourself wearing each wedding dress and bring them home to study.

Wedding Decorations
Depending on the venue of your wedding ceremony and reception, your wedding decorations will be influenced. While certain location-specific decisions, such as table size, table cloths and curtains, chairs and wall decorations will have limited options, you will certainly have full control over wedding decorations such as flower arrangements, place-settings, wedding favors, food and beverage, and other atmospheric decor. For your wedding decorations, you may wish to hire an interior decorator or flower arranger to help make your wedding location a beautiful place. If know one offhand, you can search online or consult with your wedding planner. When thinking about wedding decorations, you should think about not just the wedding decorations themselve, but you should keep in mind the overall color scheme of your wedding. What colors will you, your future spouse, and your wedding party going to be dressed in? What color table cloths and placesettings will you have? These factors are important and will lead you to a selection of flowers that will complement banquets and ceremonies.

Wedding Dresses
A high street store off-the-peg dress, bought in the sales, can cost considerably less, and of course a couture dress will cost considerably more. Although some brides strike lucky and find the dress of their dreams at a reduced price, many more overspend the budget in this area. Whenever you set a budget, always factor in 10 per cent for overspends - but then try and stick to this outer limit. The bride's family traditionally pays for the dress - and for the bridesmaids' dresses. Nowadays more bridesmaids pay for their own dresses, but this needs to be agreed in advance, and means they should have at least some say in their outfits! The trend for weddings is for their overall design to become ever more coordinated and themed. Although it is by no means a requirement, usually the style of the dress matches the style of the wedding. After all, if you're a minimalist girl at heart, you're likely to regret going for the pink Cinderella outfit when the rest of your wedding is stark black and white. Plus you'll probably want the bridesmaids to wear similar styles of dress.

Wedding Flower Girl Dress
Flower girls first began walking down wedding isles in the Middle Ages. Back then it was grain, not flower petals, that the girls spread before the bride. But whether they carried seeds or flowers, the girls symbolized the bride’s own beginnings as well as the new marriage’s promise of fruitfulness and joy. Today’s flower girls precede the bride, scattering petals or simply holding a bouquet. Although this procedure sounds easy enough to adults, however, all must remember that children are . . . well, children, and they need plenty of rehearsals and patience. Etiquette stipulates that while flower girls must be included in wedding rehearsals, they need not be invited to the rehearsal dinner. If they are invited to the dinner, their parents must also be invited. The parents, however, should pay for their (and the girls’) transportation to all wedding functions. The bride provides the flower basket, flower petals (or other items to strew across the isle), and any hair decorations for the flower girls. Flower girls may walk arm in arm, tossing petals from a shared basket, or they may each carry their own basket, walking single-file down the wedding isle.

Wedding Garter
Today, the tradition of the wedding garter is tame in comparison to France of the 14th century. In North America, the bride wears two garters; one as a keepsake garter and the other for the throw away. Both garters are worn on the right leg just above the knee. Before the removal of the garter, the bride first throws her bouquet to the single women. The groom removes the throw away garter from the brides leg, sometimes he removes it with his teeth , but more appropriately nowadays he uses his hands. He does this while the bride is sat in a chair. After the garter is removed, he then throws it to the single male guests. The male guest then takes the garter and places it on the leg of the single female guest who has caught the bouquet. Those that catch either item are said to be the next to marry. In some instances, it is said that they will marry each other. The keepsake garter is removed later in private during the honeymoon night. Numerous wedding garter traditions have been obtained over the years that still seem to become rules of etiquette today. Take a look at a few that are still popular and some that have long since been forgotten. The garter tradition originated back to the 14th century. In parts of Europe the guests of the bride and groom believed having a piece of the bride’s clothing was thought to bring good luck. They would actually destroy the brides dress by ripping off pieces of fabric. Obviously, this tradition did not sit well with the bride, so she began throwing various items to the guests – the garter being one of them. It became customary for the bride to toss the garter to the men. But this also caused a great problem for the bride….sometimes the men would get drunk, become impatient and try to remove the garter ahead of time. Therefore, the custom derived at having the groom remove and toss the garter to the men. With this change, the bride began to toss the bridal boutique to the unwed girls who were eligible for marriage. Wearing something blue dates back to biblical times when the color blue was considered to represent purity, faithfulness and fidelity. Back then the bride would wear a piece of blue clothing or a blue band around the bottom of her dress. The ancient Roman maidens also wore blue on the borders of their robes to symbolize their love, fidelity and modesty, while the Christians associated it with the purity of the Virgin Mary.

Wedding Necklace
The cleaning process that is right for each piece of your jewelry depends on the materials and the type and quality of workmanship that went into making the piece. Properly cleaned and cared for, your jewelry will look great for a lifetime of wearing pleasure. There are many commercial liquid cleaning solutions on the market. This solution is safe to use in most cases, but if it contains ammonia, it can attack cultured pearls and many of the materials used in costume jewelry. In addition, any solution containing bleach can pit gold alloys. Your best bet is to purchase an ammonia free jewelry cleaner. Most costume jewelry cleans well with mild, soapy water and a soft brush. When cleaning, use a few drops of mild detergent mixed with a little warm water. Don't soak glued pearl or gemstone jewelry or any pieces of jewelry made with rhinestones. Remove jewelry when you are done cleaning, and dry off with a soft cloth. There are three important guidelines to follow in caring for your jewelry: separate it, avoid jewelry contact with perfume, hair spray and makeup, and don't wear it during a vigorous activity. Most jewelry comes packaged in soft sacks, boxes, tissue paper, or zip-lock plastic bags. There is a good reason for this individual packaging: jewelry is supposed to rest against your body, not other pieces of jewelry. When something hard, such as a diamond or glass, rubs against something soft, such as gold, pearls, or plastic, the softer materials come out the losers. That's why it is a poor idea to toss your rhinestone earrings in the bottom of your jewelry box right next to your string of cultured pearls or sterling silver bangle. Separating your jewelry in individual boxes, bags, or the compartments in your jewelry box will help it to last a lifetime. Put your makeup, hairspray, and perfume on first and then put your jewelry on. The chemicals in these products can damage costume jewelry when applied directly onto them. Finally, no jewelry holds up well under hard physical activity. Whether you are doing heavy chores, playing a set of tennis, or taking a dip in a chlorinated pool, your jewelry isn't strong enough to go with you. Removing all jewelry before beginning physical activities can help prevent a disappointing damage or loss later.

Wedding Party Favors
Wedding favors are keepsakes given to your guests as a thank you for sharing your special day. When planning the many details associated with your wedding, the decision to have or not have wedding favors for your guests is a difficult one. With some thought to this issue, you will avoid giving tacky wedding favors to your guests. Wedding favors are a good idea simply because they are a tasteful reminder to your guests that they are both special and well thought of. Wedding favors are also an attractive addition to the tables, matching your color scheme, decor, and/or theme, and the right wedding favor will remind your guests of the wonderful time they had at your wedding. You can do research on the many different styles of wedding favors online before deciding on which type to purchase. Remember, different wedding favor websites have different wedding favor product lines, and the favors they display depend on their suppliers.

Wedding Photography
There are other very important factors to consider when selecting your photographer. Please envision the following scenario which is based on many a true story: You’ve spent months preparing for your perfect wedding. You’ve selected everything, including your photographer, whose selection of work was outstanding and the photographer’s personality was also wonderful. You really clicked with him (which is very important!) and felt very comfortable with your decision of hiring him. You really looked forward to interacting with this person throughout your special day because you got along with him so well. A huge weight has been lifted from you because one of your biggest concerns was being able to find a photographer not only whose work you loved, but whose personality clicked with yours as well. After all, you want to be as comfortable with this person as possible since you’ll be dealing with him throughout your entire wedding day! So, the big day comes and you’re nervously getting ready. Suddenly, there’s a knock on your door. ‘Oh, that must be my photographer!’ you exclaim excitedly. With a smile from ear to ear you rush to the door excited to greet this kind person with whom you’ve meshed so well during your many conversations over the past several months. You open the door and greet... a strange looking unshaven man in rumpled clothing that you’ve never seen before in your life! Sadly, there are way too many photography companies that run their businesses this way and believe it or not, completely get away with it. These companies contract out their jobs to freelance photographers, or sometimes they have many wedding photographers working for them and just neglect to inform brides of this oh-so-important fact. What does this mean? It means that the wonderful photographer you spoke to most likely had no intentions of photographing your wedding. (That is IF he was even a photographer at all. Sometimes they are just the salesperson for the company!) But there’s more! It also means that his beautiful work and photography style that you fell in love with was most likely a compilation of work from the many different photographers they employ! So in our above scenario, how many of this unknown photographer’s wedding pictures did this bride actually see... IF ANY? We can conclude that there’s really no way of knowing for sure. So what could she have done to prevent this from happening? The answer: HER HOMEWORK! Don’t be a victim of this kind of photography nightmare! BE SURE TO ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS WHEN SPEAKING TO POTENTIAL PHOTOGRAPHERS!

Wedding Pictures
Chances are you won't take many pictures before the ceremony - after all, you're a guest (or perhaps a member of the wedding party). So you'll be plenty busy before the ceremony socializing, and then taking your seat and waiting for the ceremony to get underway. Let's assume, however, that you have your camera with you and you want to take some pictures during the ceremony. Okay, take an aisle seat. But don't start firing away until you know what's permitted and what's not permitted in that particular house of worship. Understand, some ministers, priests, and rabbis don't care a hoot about cameras and flashes. They expect the pro and the guests to blaze away during the ceremony. Others permit pictures, but not flash. And some will make you feel the wrath of the Almighty if you so much as touch your camera! How to know? Our advice is to watch the pro. If he or she is moving freely about the church and using a flash on camera, then chances are you can take some flash-pictures too. If he takes pictures, but doesn't use flash, you can probably do the same. If other guests start to take pictures as the bride goes down the aisle, and the presiding cleric doesn't say something at the start of the ceremony, then you may as well join in. Assuming it's OK to take pictures, then, our Tip is that you seat yourself along the center aisle. Obviously, if you were in the middle of a row, most of your pictures will show the backs of pews and heads, but not much of the bride and groom. Seated on the aisle, however, you can get a nice tight frame of the couple.

Wedding Rings
The wedding ring is the most ancient of all marriage traditions. Nearly every civilization since the Egyptians has used the wedding ring as a symbol of the marriage agreement. In Egyptian hieroglyphics, the circle represents eternity, and the earliest rings were made of braided grass, hay, leather, bone and ivory. When metals were eventually discovered, the first metal rings were lumpy and awkward. Today, wedding rings can be anything from an inexpensive, plain band to an intricate setting studded with gems. No matter where a person chooses to wear their wedding ring, the marriage bond is complete once vows are recited. The most common placement for wearing a wedding ring is on the fourth finger of the left hand. This custom began with the Egyptians, who believed that a vein on the left hand was directly connected to the heart. Today, a more practical explanation is that the left hand gets less use - and will be less likely to get damaged - since most people are right-handed. Despite longstanding traditions, however, wedding rings are not always worn on the left hand. For a time, wealthy Elizabethans wore huge, elaborate wedding rings on their thumbs. In the eighteenth century, Roman Catholics wore them on the right hand. Even today, many European women still follow this tradition. There are also many superstitions about wedding rings. For example, it is unlucky for the bride-to-be to go shopping for a ring on a Friday due to the bad luck associated with that day. It is equally important that neither the future bride nor groom wear their rings before the wedding ceremony since that would be presumptuous.

Wedding Shoes
Few brides think about their wedding shoes until after they have all the wedding dress details in place. As a rule of thumb, wedding shoes must match the selected gown both in style and color, and must also be comfortable for walking and dancing in during the wedding reception. You can do some quick research online by comparing the different wedding shoes provided by online vendors. Remember, different vendors offer different styles of wedding shoes, so it is always a good idea to make note of any wedding shoe styles you like before purchasing anything.

Wedding Tiara
Wedding tiaras symbolize hope, glamour, and sophistication... something every bride wants to experience at least once in her lifetime. Wedding tiaras can be traced back to ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, at which time they conferred status and honor on the wearer. In modern times, there has been a resurgence in the use of wedding tiaras. The modern wedding tiara has moved away from gold and precious stones, which now makes it affordable for any bride to display grandeur as she walks down the aisle. Wedding tiara ideas and pictures can be easily found online. If you find any styles of wedding tiaras you like, make a note of its style before making any purchases.

Wedding Tuxedo
Tuxedo history evolves from England. It came about in the 1890's when the dinner jacket was introduced into the United States and was first worn in the Tuxedo Country Club in Tuxedo Park, New York. Pierre Lorillard V, a tobacco magnate, invented the tuxedo as an alternative to the tailcoats worn with white bow ties. It is almost impossible to imagine a wedding, high school prom, or any other gala event without them. Pierre Lorillard's aberration has become an industry standard that is still used today.