My Big Fat Engagement – Engagement Advice & Warnings

Spring has been celebrated all over the world, in all types of religions – as far back as you can imagine. When the sun starts shining, the ground under our feet heats up, and the new tender greenery pokes through – it’s hard NOT to get all warm and fuzzy. If that’s not enough to cheer you up, you also have really cute little baby animals like chicks and lambs.

Here are some ideas for how to celebrate your wedding the old-fashioned way (and by old-fashioned, I mean pre-medieval!)

Handfasting

Handfasting is a wedding rite that originates from a pagan ritual, but is being used in weddings based in all sorts of faiths and by people of all different lifestyles. Handfasting is a great way to bond a blended family together, because all members of the new family forged by the wedding can participate. Check out handfasting.info for more information, as well as examples of wording for ceremonies that include handfasting.

Symbols

Oak Leaves

Oak leaves are a symbol for longevity – so the entwined oak leaves that hold two mouth-blown (and therefore completely unique) glass horns are the perfect way for the bride and groom to share a toast (mayhemltd.com). The oak tree was particularly important to the Celts,who felt that all trees were sacred.

Horns

The drinking chalices above are also horn-shaped. The horns are also an important symbol – the most famous Celtic animal symbol is the horned (antlered) stag. The stag is a symbol for sexuality and fertility.

Celtic Design

Celtic knots date back to almost 500 AD: there is the lover’s knot, the triple knot (Triquetra), and the Triscele.There are many ways to incorporate the Celtic scrollwork or Celtic knots into your wedding, including your wedding band.

Clothing

There are beautiful dresses available now that this type of wedding has become more popular. Rivendelbridal.com has a large selection, here is one example of a dress perfect for a pagan princess, or elven queen: it is called the Celtic Star.

Trees

Trees were sacred to the Celts so an outdoor wedding would be very appropriate if you are going to be influenced by this theme.

Here is a video full of imagery that might inspire you to arrange your own mystical wedding.

Language

This bronze pendant spells GRA, ‘love’, in the Celtric tree alphabet called Ogham. This pendant from celteshop.com would be an interesting and thoughtul gift for members of the wedding party.

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Here are some fun ideas for your bachelor party, bachelorette, bridal shower, engagement party, or jack and jill.

I come across so many Big Fat Fun decorations during my research. Here are some of my favorites, I hope they inspire you to come up with some unique ideas of your own! Let me know, and perhaps I can feature your party in an upcoming article.

Disclaimer: Not all items below will be appropriate for your function – this will depend on your theme, and how casual the event is.

Nosy Guests

Party cups from worldwidefred.com, that give you different noses. This is a fun way to break the ice.

Highlight of the Night

These shot glasses from envious.com light up for 6 seconds every time  you tap it on a hard surface.

Night Lights

Rather than the risk of making a decorated room look to ‘busy’, stick to one simple decoration and use a lot of it. Imagine filling a room or back garden with 25 of these lights from asianlantern.com (at around two dollars each, this is affordable!).

Casino Night

Here is a fun hanging decoration from partymakerdiscountsuperstore.com for a Casino-themed Jack and Jill or Bachelor Party. This would even work for a reception if the couple is going to announce they got married in Las Vegas!

Love Beyond Measure

I love these measuring spoons – a great favor for a bridal shower or a wedding (if the bride and groom work in a bakery?). You can order them from everythingfortablefavors.com.

Gloom Groom

This shirt from thinkgeek.com is perfect for the groom who wakes up on the surly side of the street every morning. If there’s no chance you’ll get him to wear a costume, dirty saying shirt, or anything that remotely identifies him as the guest of honor – have him try this shirt on for size!

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Black is the new White?

Black doesn’t have to be dark (see our earlier article about darker-themed weddings if that’s what you are looking for.). In the old days, black might have been a big “don’t” on the day you say “I do” but now it’s okay. More than okay, actually – black details on the big day can be brilliant. And, even better, when you incorporate the unusual into your wedding day, you often don’t have to buy it at a wedding store -making things much cheaper.

Here is an elegant cake from sedonaweddingcakes.com. The stylistic wedding cake topper is very classy and the black sugar roses are a nice touch. This cake would coordinate well with tables decorated with crisp white linens and black cloth napkins with white polka dots. This is another way to save money – some venues include white linens in their rental fee. If not, party rental companies usually charge less for white linens than for the colored specialty linens. If you are handy with a sewing machine, you can sew the cloth napkins your self. Don’t forget to launder them and iron them before the big day – a perfect job to delegate to a helpful friend, auntie, or even grandmother.

Wear something a bit racy under that demure white dress, like this black garter available from bachelorettesuperstore.com.

Your engagement ring or wedding ring could tie in to the color scheme as well, like this ring featuring black and white diamonds.

Or, wear some dark shoes and gloves with your dress for contrast! You could also add these accessories for the reception, particularly if you are having the event in the evening.

For example, here is a beautiful Alfred Angelo dress that would be perfect for a church wedding.

And here are some items to glam it up afterwards!

Black Shoes

Long Black Gloves

Like these ones from buycostumes.com.

A fascinating fascinator from folksy.com.

All of the ideas in this article would work for any color – imagine red as an accent instead of black. A little black purse would work, too (a bride needs somewhere to stash her lipstick too). A beaded drawstring purse would look great with the accessories above, perhaps a vintage purse – a great gift idea for the maid of honor to give to her best friend!

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It’s not for everyone, but here are some ideas for:

A Wedding That Walks on the Dark Side

Think skulls, black and other dark colors, and draw inspiration from The Day of the Dead, Halloween, and For more subtle ways to incorporate the color black into your wedding, please read next week’s article; “Black Tie Weddings“.

Here are some tips if you are going to the dark side:

Keep It Simple:

Restrict the decorations to one color and one or two images and stick with them, unless you want your wedding to look like a Halloween party. For example, you might select white skulls on a white backdrop for an elegant yet eerie look. Or black spiders on a black background would work well. Even better just use a spider web design, and leave the spiders out of the picture.

Go Crazy:

Or you can do the exact opposite and use every color out there. Use the rich vibrant palette of the Day of the Dead art as inspiration. Again, you might want to keep yourself to one or two images, but you can repeat them everywhere (a skull and a cross would work well, or a top hat and a fan). Colorfully printed fans would make great wedding favors and table decorations for the female guests. A cigar or a red boutonniere would be a nice gift for the men.

Til Death Do Us Part

If you’re a fan of the Day of the Dead (or just skulls), these custom-wrapped chocolate bars would be killer. You can order them from ChulaMichelle on Etsy.

Here Tooth-Decay, Gone Tomorrow

Here’s the perfect decoration for an engagement party near Halloween (or any time, if you have a sweet tooth). Also a fun way to display and offer a variety of sweet wedding favors. This candy cake is available from cookiepots.com at a very reasonable price. At less than $40 each, you could use them as table centerpieces in the place of flowers and wedding favors (which would easily add up to more than this price).

For Better or For Hearse

Cool wedding cake topper crafted by self-described ‘mantastic crafter’ Patrick Murillo.

For Richer For Gorier

This colorful skull cake is from bake me a cake.

Here’s another cake made by tiffanysbakingco.com – a hearse groom’s cake, but also could work as a wedding cake as well. Of course, it would be perfect for the wedding re-HEARSE-al (MWA Ha ha ha ha). Also, check out their traditional wedding cakes – delicious and beautiful looking!

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Last week we looked at some fun prizes/gifts for Bachelorette parties and Bridal Showers. This week we feature gift ideas for the guys…

Most of the gifts featured in both of these articles would work well for a Jack and Jill party, too.

The Portable Pole Dancer

Available online at stupid.com, you plug her into your USB port and watch her dance. She also works with an iPod or MP3 player.

BBQ Sauces

You can buy a gift set of barbecue sauces or make your own gift basket, perfect for a bachelor party or jack and jill shower – particularly if the party theme includes grilling. Include tasty bottles of barbecue sauce, hot sauce, and an oven mitt. Stick with the theme and give out a funny apron as another prize.

Cultural Kitsch

Celebrate the groom’s cultural background with fun gifts, just make sure it’s not offensive.

This tee from wackyplanet.com is also the perfectly embarrassing shirt to force the groom to wear out on a pub crawl to Irish pubs!

Jack and Jill party? No problem! They also sell this shirt for the bride to wear.

This book from bachelorette.com is a fun gift, and will also keep the guests entertained during the event – I’m sure it will be passed around.

On a classier note, this sterling silver key ring from danforthdiamond.com is a great grand prize for a group fishing trip. It would also be a great gift from the guys as a memento for the groom of his bachelor party trip.

Fun badges for all of the party guests, available at the-inspirations-store. They also have some other appropriate items, such as collapsible pint glasses, talking coasters, and beer holsters.

These drink coasters from elsewares.com are made from real vinyl records and are perfect for a music lover’s party or a themed party.

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Here are some ideas for party gifts and prizes. Check out the next post for prizes and gifts suitable for Bachelor Parties (Stag parties).

TASTY PRIZES

Big Candy Ring

A big candy engagement ring is tasty bling for a bridal shower or casual engagement party. You can order the one pictured above at kidspartyfavorstore.com.

Novelty Chocolates

Tom and Sally’s Handmade Chocolates (tomandsallys.com) sells chocolate pasties, as well as chocolate thong underwear. The pasties also come with a peanut butter applicator, which I thought was a nice touch.

CLASSY PRIZES

Bracelet

Here’s an amazing grand prize if you are holding a pre-wedding fundraiser. This tiffany-style sterling silver bracelet looks like it is worth a lot more than its $50 price tag and would make a great door prize or grand prize. The heart charm fits into any wedding-related theme.

Charm

Another fun idea – give prizes away at the wedding rehearsal dinner related to the pre-wedding events. This is a fun speech to make at a rehearsal dinner (this is only appropriate if it suits the tone and if everyone there has a sense of humor!). The person acting as the Master of Ceremonies at the wedding reception can give away prizes to members of the wedding party at the rehearsal dinner. For example, he could give the groom a pair of warm woolly socks in case he gets cold feet.  In the example above, an angel charm would be appropriate for the most well-behaved guest at the bachelorette party. The MC could show the prize and say what it was for but then complain that there wasn’t anyone to give it to. Instead, he could give it to the flower girl. This is also a unique and fun way to hand out the wedding party gifts.

Spa Gift Certificate

A spa gift certificate is always appreciated. Everyone likes to get a manicure before the big day, even if they are a guest and not the bride.

FUNNY PRIZES

Magic Frog to a Prince

You can order this cute party gift at stupid.com.

Man Voodoo Doll

Pictured above, the ‘bad boyfriend’ voodooo doll from flashwear.com – complete with 10 pins.

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Personalized chocolate is a great way to share good news, whether it’s an engagement or wedding announcement or just announcing where someone is supposed to sit at a table…

Chocolate Diamonds

Make some chocolate jewels for a stagette or bridal shower, using this mold from cookiecutter.com. A great excuse for the bride to be to show off her engagement ring!

Design Your Own

You can create your own signature chocolate at chocri.com. How does a chocolate bar with dried cranberries and banana chips sound? Or perhaps one with gummy bears or jalapenos? All possible… “more than 10 billion possible combinations” according to their website.

Killer Copy Cats

Make your own deluxe versions of popular chocolate bars using the recipes at chow.com. This is a great way to spruce-up a snack for the bride and groom with a sweet tooth.

Personalized Wrappers

Order chocolate with personalized wrappers like these funky options from beau-coup.com. They offer classy kosher Belgium chocolate. You can also find online tutorials to help you print your own wrappers, allowing you to wrap your favorite brand of chocolate bar. My friend ordered personalized Nestle Crunch bars for her wedding, I tried to keep it as a keepsake but it didn’t last long – I think I ate it that night!

Handcrafted Squares

These personalized wedding favors from chocolate.com would also work well for an engagement party (note: the minimum order is 100).

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Attention: Brides to Be – Boxing Day is just a few days away!

Many stores now hold Boxing Day sales for a week. Online stores also have sales. This is the perfect opportunity to stock up on all of the things you will need for your wedding. Get a jump start on your wedding planning and save money.

Tips for Wedding Shopping on Boxing Day

Prepared to Shop?

Taking advantage of Boxing Day to ease your wedding budget makes sense as long as you already have a clear idea of what your wedding will be like. It doesn’t matter how far off your wedding is, you can start shopping if your wedding party has been selected and you know the size of your guest list.

It is also a fantastic time to shop for wedding rings – you can buy some beautiful wedding bands and engagement rings for reasonable prices at this time of  year. While you’re out there shopping, don’t forget to watch for gifts for your wedding party as well!

Wedding Colors

The more flexible you are, the more you save. If you are willing to select your colors based on what is available at a low price, you will save more money. If your wedding colors are popular then there will be more choices available to you, at lower prices.

Wedding Theme

Select your wedding theme from the wedding supplies available and you will save money.

Ideas – What Brides to Be Should Buy on Boxing Day

Wedding Time Capsule

A wedding time capsule is a great way to collect memories of your special day and then revisit them on an anniversary. You can order this time capsule at giftsnideas.com. Couponcodes4u says they are offering 15% all orders after Christmas (sale ends December 30).

Wedding Dress

Many bridal shops have Christmas and Boxing Day sales – this is the perfect time to get your dress! For example, if you buy your dress from bridalsbay.com during their boxing day sale, you can get dresses up to 75% off their list price. Check local stores in your city for big sales, too.

bridalsbay.com

Wedding Stationery

Everything at Mujka.ca is 50% off for Boxing Day – a site that sells templates you can buy to create your own wedding stationery (the invitation, rsvp card, thanks you card, reception card). A very reasonably-priced way to jump start your DIY wedding project!

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New Years Eve isn’t very far away – time to think about your resolutions. If you’re engaged, New Years Eve is the perfect catalyst for a relaxed and optimistic conversation about your future, so here are some New Years Resolutions For Your Marriage.

Hold Hands and Dream Big

Engaged couples spend a lot of time looking forward to their wedding and spending the rest of their lives together. This New Years Eve, make the following resolutions to help keep your marrriage happy.

1. Always Kiss Each Other Good Bye

Whether you’re on your way to work in the morning, or just stepping out to pick up some milk- take a moment to go over and say goodbye to your partner and give them a kiss.

2. Don’t Expect Perfection

Let’s face it, sometimes your Prince is going resemble a Frog; and sometimes your Princess is going to seem more like the Evil Queen… No matter how head over heels you are right now, it’s wise to keep in mind you are not actually marrying a perfect person. Marriage is not all or nothing – it’s success can’t be based on unreal expectations or ultimatums. A long marriage is based on mutual understanding, respect, and forgiveness. Truthfully, sometimes your mate will annoy the heck out of you! So just remember you don’t have to like him or her all the time, you just have to love them.

3. Promise To Support Each Other

bbc.co.uk

I’m not talking about financial support – although, sometimes this also comes into play. Most basically, I mean that when your partner talks about something he or she is passionate about – you actually listen. It doesn’t cost you a thing and the effect it has on your ‘other half’ and your life together is priceless. Also, if he or she wants to (take piano lessons, join a hockey team, enter a haiku contest, ride her bike across the country) you do what it takes to make it happen (watch the kids, put money aside, round up  all of your friends) and then when it happens you’re in the first row, cheering him or her on.

Did I miss anything?

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Last post, we gave you some proposal ideas for Christmas. Here are some ornaments to consider for the tree this year if she has already said yes.

Christmas Ornaments for Engaged Couples

Here’s a gift for your bride or husband-to-be to commemorate that moment when the engagement ring came out and the question was popped! You can hang it on your tree every year and remember those romantic exciting months when you were engaged to be married. Consider making it the first ornament in a tradition for your new family unit: add a new ornament to your tree each year to celebrate a special memory (first house, new baby, new pet, special visit from relatives, new job, graduation, move to another city, etc).

Here is a beautiful Christmas gift for your fiance – a collection of wedding ornaments with a personalized certificate. These ornaments from ornamentshop.com have a vintage look which makes them even more romantic.

Here is another classic looking ornament made from glass (also from ornamentshop.com).

ornamentshop.com

Did you buy that engagement ring at Tiffany’s? If so, your fiance can follow his purchase up with this ornament – the iconic blue gift box will always remind you to look down at the big rock on your finger and smile!

Here’s an ornament that you can personalize – available at personalizedfree.com. You can add your names (as pictured, below) and personalize the banner to say “Engaged!”  The banner message is up to you – you could even have it say “Will You Marry Me?” and use it to propose!

Another personalized option, this time from santasornamentshop.com.

Another great choice from ornamentshop.com: make sure you get a photo of your proposal and then remember it always in an ornament picture frame!

For more big fat advice, please read “Proposal Tips for Men and Christmas Proposals” and Christmas Gift Ideas for Newlyweds. Or, join us next week for a selection of Christmas ornaments to celebrate your engagement!

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