WEDDING CONCEPT: Agustus 2009

Senin, 31 Agustus 2009

Luhya Wedding Traditions

The Luhya community mostly resides in the Western part of Kenya with a population of about three million. Known for their elaborate ceremonies, the Luhya enjoy holding big parties to celebrate occasions. Luhya weddings are very elaborate and important occasions. They are accompanied with many wedding photos and celebrations. Before one gets married, the groom will have taken bride wealth to the bride's parents as a sign of gratitude. Unlike Toronto wedding ceremonies, bride wealth is meant to cement relations between the two families.

The first step before a Luhya traditional wedding can take place is payment of the bride price. The groom is expected to take a token of appreciation to the bride's parents to show that the parents raised their daughter well. Traditionally, this token would be in the form of livestock or farm produce. This token would act as a token to show how much the man cares for his future wife and show that he can provide for his future family as well. The Luhya community is known to love chicken and these are provided in plenty for guests to eat. On the wedding day, the man would go to the bride's homestead and call out the girl's name. If the girl responds, the ceremony can then go on. In the past, guests in attendance dress in special traditional attire with paintings all over their bodies and dance the whole night. The ceremony would last for about three days. The married couple would then proceed to their new home.

Present day Luhya wedding ceremonies are more modern and include celebrating the event in a church. Dancing and singing accompany most luhya weddings. Groups of women who sing praise songs encircle the bride. The wedding party normally arrives at the church a few minutes before the ceremony starts. The ceremony is usually recorded on video and wedding photos taken. This is one attribute that both Luhya and Toronto weddings have. Once the church ceremony is over, the wedding party goes to the reception venue for wedding photos and food. Luhya weddings have plenty of traditional foods to offer as well as western cuisine. Entertainment in a luhya wedding involves singing traditional songs and dancing to their tunes. Luhya dancing is quite vigorous and is a very entertaining activity. Unlike in Toronto, Luhyas can hold their ceremonies for as long as two weeks.

A Luhya wedding is not complete without speeches. The speeches normally come after gifts are given and wedding photos are taken but before the cake is cut. The theme of most wedding speeches is usually advice to the groom and his bride on how to take care of their new family. Grooms are advised to take care of the wife and the bride is advised to cook properly for the husband. Different people who may use a lot of proverbs and sayings to drive the point home give variations of the same message.

After the main event, the bride and groom go to their new home. The wedding photos taken serve as a reminder of the wedding ceremony. They can be passed down from generation to generation and act as a teaching aid to their children on the importance of marriage and families.

Sweet Noise: Can't Take My Eyes Off of You by The Muse

Can't Take My Eyes Off of You Lyrics
You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you
You'd be like heaven to touch
I wanna hold you so much

At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive
You're just to good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you

Pardon the way that I stare
There's nothing else to compare
The sight of you leaves me weak
There are no words left to speak

But if you feel like I feel
Please let me know that it's real
You're just to good to be true
And my baby
Can't take my eyes off of you

I love you baby
And if it's quite all right
I need you baby
To warm the lonely night
I love you baby
Trust in me when I say

Oh, baby baby
Don't bring me down, I pray
Oh pretty baby
Now that I found you, stay
Let me love you, baby
Let me love you, baby

You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you
You'd be like heaven to touch
And I wanna hold so much

At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive
You're just to good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you

I love you baby
And if it's quite all right
I need you baby
To warm the lonely night
I love you baby
Trust in me when I say

Oh, pretty baby
Don't bring me down, I pray
Oh pretty baby
Now that I found you, stay

Etsy Find: Delias Thompson

We love these rings by Etsy shop Delias Thompson!

Minggu, 30 Agustus 2009

The New Trend of Wedding Silk Invitation Boxes

Silk synonymous with luxury. Now silk is a good trend in the fashion world or the other. In fact, there are now designs wedding invitations with silk materials.

The times of sending a simple wedding invitation postcard to the whole family are over. More and more brides choose the exclusive way and order one of various invitation products including silk invitation boxes, silk pouches, folios and even silk envelopes.

Thai silk is one of the signature products from Thailand.
No question it suits just perfect to make exclusive wedding invitation boxes with pure Thai silk. There are no limits in creativity and extravaganza. For example embellished invitations with silk flowers or brooches with rhinestone crystals carefully ensembles on a padded silk envelope or silk pouches. My favorite is the rhinestone crystal rings with ribbon bands combined with a gatefold silk invitation box.

To plan a wedding invitation is truly a time-consuming process. Maybe because there are so many formats and possibilities the invitation box can be made in. Padded, not padded, embellished, simple, with or without flower arrangement and so on. It's all up to your time and budget.

Select the right material to meet your budget
Generally silk invitations are made with pure 100% silk or if your budget does not allow with Faux silk (artificial silk). Thai silk looks just so much more exclusive if you hold it against the light, but more and more brides choose the cheaper version of Faux silk invitations. No question, nobody wants to pay the debts of an expensive marriage until the silver wedding. Don't miss to contact me if you need support finding the right wedding favor, silk invitation box or wedding gifts.

Contact your invitation designer early to avoid delays
Thai silk invitations are hand made, so each item needs time to finish. If you place the order late, the manufacturer may not be able to manufacture high quality products. To get the best result, inquire 2 month before you actually need the invitation or wedding favor to arrive your home. This way you have around 4 weeks to discuss the design and look of your dream invitation box or silk invitation holder and the manufacturer has another 4 weeks to produce the order.

By : phie

Silky Wedding Flowers

Marriage is one of the sacred and historic events in our lives. Of course before getting married a lot of things that must be prepared and considered.

When brides choose their wedding flowers, one question they must ask themselves is: do I want real flowers, or silk?

Traditional brides always go for real flowers. Their delicate beauty can never be duplicated by artificial flowers. The mesmerizing scent of roses or lilies is a far cry from the artificially scented silk flowers. Scent is often associated with feelings or memories and a wedding is an emotional and memorable experience. And that is where real flowers score over silk ones.

Real flowers have their disadvantages, too. The main disadvantage with real flowers is their longevity. They wilt away very fast. Brides who want to preserve their wedding bouquets often settle for silk flowers. Moreover, brides who want exotic or out-of-season wedding flowers often opt for silk flowers because they are much more readily available and affordable. Silk flowers are also popular with brides who are allergic to real ones. No bride wants to be red-eyed and sneezing at her wedding.

Silk flowers have advantages and disadvantages too. Although not the traditional choice, silk is fast becoming a popular option. Silk flowers look almost as natural as real flowers and brides don’t have to worry about the availability of their preferred choice. Silk flowers are also much more affordable. Preservation of real flowers is very expensive, but not with silk. They always look as good as new.

Thus, both real and silk flowers have their positive and negative points. It depends on the bride to choose between them, according to her priorities.

By : Phie

Elegant Whites at La Quinta Golf & Country Club, Marbella

This week we did a lovely wedding at the La Quinta Golf & Country Club, it was the first wedding we have done here and it is such a beautiful, elegant setting.

Although it was hot outside and the welcome cocktail was set up on the terrace I can imagine, not just in the summer, but for a winter wedding in Marbella this would be a perfect venue.

We created these fabulous martini arrangements (without the fear they would blow over!) which complimented the elegant surroundings and managed to stop by for a quick cocktail on the terrace only to be serenaded by the extremely talented Matt McGurk on his flamenco guitar, wonderful :)

In fact I have had the pleasure of hearing Matt twice this week as we were at a wedding together two days earlier in Mijas!

Many more weddings to post and many more photographers to nag:) David you are one of them!

Lots of weddings coming up now in September, then our Costa Del Sol Bride of the Year wedding in October so please do check back to see all our weddings here in the south of Spain.

Purples and Pinks in Antequera

It was 2 weeks after we did Natasha and David's wedding at La Posada that we were up in Antequera again for the lovely wedding of Lema and Alex and it was amazing how much the countryside had dried up even more as we drove up there. It was amazingly hot as we were now in the middle of July!

Alex and Lema had chosen a fabulous combination of purple and pink flowers for their wedding with Olivia at Sol Weddings. Olivia contacted us to invite us to finish off all the wedding details with Lema and Alex. We provided the white flooring for the ceremony, the fuchsia chair sashes, decorated fans, and lanterns to complete this fabulous wedding. A near disaster as we moved the floral archways but all was quickly sorted out in the end, just as well Jeremy was not nearby to take photos! Thank you again to Jeremy and Jenny for these fab shots!

A lovely email from Lema

Hi Laura

I hope you're well.

Just wanted to say thanks for doing such an amazing job with the ceremony area. I was so taken aback when I stood at the top by the bar waiting to walk down the stairs. The area looked so beautiful - what a transformation. I really wasn't expecting it to look quite so lovely.

You were so nice to deal with all the time and never made me feel like i was pestering you when i needed your advice.

Jeremy has just posted our slideshow, the photos look fantastic if you want to have a look http://www.jeremystandley.com/wedding-blog/

Anyway, best of luck for the future and if you ever need us to write a testimonial for your website or anything, we'd be happy to.

Take Care
Lema x

Yellow Dress No. 7

After a brief break from yellow, I'm back in love. Paired with timeworn taupe and blush pink, it's a perfect tint for the waning days of August. From Gibbous Fashion's Flickr set, via Snippet & Ink.