Should weddings be on a Saturday?

Of late I have spoken to two brides to be; they both told me their wedding HAD to be on a Saturday. It doesn’t bother me what day people choose to get married, I’ll marry someone at 1:15 on a Wednesday if it’s what the couple want. I’m sure I would still feel the same joy and excitement that I do for all newly weds. No matter what day the bride and groom choose to join in matrimony it will be a day of love and a memory kept for a lifetime.

Does a wedding need to be on a Saturday to truly feel right?

I love a wedding any day of the week, however I personally enjoy a weekend wedding. To me a Sunday wedding seems more laid back – some venues will charge less for the couple to have their ceremony then. However a Sunday wedding is becoming more popular and the venues are beginning to set a weekend rate. Often most couples feel a Sunday wedding doesn’t accommodate to all guests, as some will have work the following Monday. However having your wedding on a Sunday may ensure the majority of your guests will leave once the reception has officially ended and possibly drink less, as they won’t have a day to recover before work. Often at a Saturday wedding guests tend to indulge and drink a lot more than they would if the following day was a Monday.

I would love to conduct more Friday weddings, however they aren’t overly popular. I don’t have anything against a Friday wedding or any weekday wedding for that matter; reception venues tend to be cheaper during the week. However it’s best to give your guests plenty of time between sending your invites/ save the date cards and the wedding – a lot of them will need to make sure that they have time off work. I know if one of my loved ones was planning a Friday wedding I would make sure I had time off and not really be bothered about the fact the wedding was on a weekday. This may turn out to be a great way to cull your guest list, people who really want to be there will most likely work to arrange a day off or apply for annual leave. A positive outcome if you are planning to have a wedding out of town with the possibility of booking a place for a long weekend, keeping the guest list to a minimum and extending the festivities for a few days.

Do you think the day a wedding is held matters? How would it affect you if a loved one chose a weekday wedding?

Thanks once again to Vision House Photography for the use of their lovely wedding photos. Check out their  website here.

Would you plan your own funeral?

After I went to the funeral of my friend recently (you can see the blog about it here). My friend, who attended the service, and I were discussing the funeral; she mentioned that she wasn’t sure if she wanted a funeral when she passed away.  We didn’t go into too much detail, I’m not one hundred percent sure why she isn’t fussed on having a funeral – it did get me thinking.

Do you want a funeral? What kind of ceremony would you like? Would you plan your own funeral in advance? Would you change your mind if you knew you were going to pass away in the near future?

I personally think that a funeral can be an important part of the healing process when a loved one has passed. I have been to quite a few funerals over the last couple of years for a number of different people in my life, all with different relationships to me, I feel all the ceremonies were healing in some way. It is a very different experience conducting a funeral, especially a ceremony of a loved one, however I still find it contributes to the healing process. You can read about the funerals I have conducted for two people very close to my heart here.

Lots of people choose to prepay their funeral or have a funeral insurance plan in place. However not a lot of people I have spoken to have planned anything to do with the ceremony itself. Is there music that is special to you that you would like played? There are so many options and sometimes these decisions can be hard for the family in their time of need. There can be a lot of pressure on the family to plan a funeral the deceased would like, however often people think it morbid to consider what the deceased would have liked/disliked at their funeral. For example when planning my stepfather’s funeral there were certain songs we knew he would have wanted, however there was other, more appropriate music to consider as well. As a result a selection of music was played over the PA system and in addition my sister sang a few songs.

I tend to think that favourite songs can be something that is often too personal. Unless you have previously told people what songs you would choose.  Many people talk about songs they want to have played at their wedding, often compiling a huge list, however when it comes to a funeral the subject can be somewhat cringe-worthy. Some people decide they want a funny song or a song that reflects their personality at their funeral.  My sister in law has said for many years that she wants ‘My Humps’ by the Black Eyed Peas played at her ceremony – even her kids are aware of her song choice. My husband and I have on occasion talked about songs that we would like played at each other’s funeral. My list changes often, one that is on my husbands list is ‘Knocking on Heavens Door’ the Guns ‘N’ Roses version.  My mother in law had a list of songs she wanted played at her ceremony; we played them all and were happy we were able to fulfil her request. A number of her choices were not songs most would choose for a funeral. On occasion if one of the songs come on the radio, it brings a tear to my eye, bringing back fond memories of her and her funeral.

I spent a lot of time on a photo slideshow for my stepfather’s funeral; I tried to include the majority of the family, hopefully to bring back fond memories of him. The funeral directors mentioned that the photos were beautiful but the slideshow may have gone on for too long. When I explained our intention for the photos to run for the entire service they wondered if we had run this by the celebrant prior to the service. The funeral director was quite shocked when I told her that I was the celebrant conducting the service – it was what my family wanted. I felt surely the wishes of the family should outweigh what any celebrant prefers; she tried to tell me that people might be too distracted and not listen to what I was saying. I felt however, if everyone wanted to look at the slideshow rather than listen to me, it was entirely up to them. The guests could decide on what was best for them, helping deal with the death of a loved one and begin the healing process.

Would you ever plan your funeral?

More stunning wedding invitations

I recently received this wedding invitation – I love it! I am quite excited to see what the theme of the decorations will be. I know that the bride has been very busy making decorations for the venue – the invites have all been handmade.

I love the natural look of the hessian fabric and the colour scheme the bride has chosen; I think the blues work very well with the orange and the yellow.  I’m not sure if they are lovebirds on the invitation, however whenever I see any type of bird on a wedding invite I always think of lovebirds.  I really like the way that all the information on the invite is clear and concise. The RSVP is clear and states ‘kindly reply’ for guests who may not know what RSVP stands for. Check out my blog here about RSVP’s.

Watch this space for my blog about their big day.

Some beautiful keepsakes

I recently conducted the wedding of my best friends younger sister and it was an amazing day, I have a blog coming up about it, but while I wait for the photos I thought I would share with you a bit about the beautiful keepsakes that she had on her very special day.

I loved their stunning ‘order of service’ booklets – some couples choose not to have the booklets, but these were especially lovely. They were made with a really lovely heavy paper, printed only on the inside and the back. They included information like the introduction to the service, introducing all of the bridal party and a thank you to a number if people who had helped them with the ceremony. They were folded up and had an adjoining piece of coloured paper to keep them together. There were a number if different colours so each booklet was not the same. The thing that I loved most about the ‘order of service’ booklets was the vintage handkerchief that was attached to each one. It is such a great idea, they were beautiful handkerchiefs attached with string – not just a stock standard white cloth bought in bulk. Some had small decorations tied to them and others had a little note saying ‘happy tears’.

Another lovely touch was the gingerbread lovebirds that I believe were made by the bride’s mother. They included gluten free gingerbread as well to cater to everyone’s tastes. There were lots of lovely sweets but the gingerbread lovebirds were really a stand out for me.  They also had handmade cake bags that were pretty special.  Everything tied together beautifully – such a beautiful wedding. I can’t wait to get some photos and share their truly amazing wedding day with you all.