The information in this FAQ was compiled and edited by Jeanne M. Hinds and is, by no means, a final product. All comments and corrections should be sent by email to jmhinds@nando.net. The FAQ is copyrighted by the owner of the FAQ. This document may be freely distributed without modification provided that the copyright notice is not removed. It may not be sold for profit or incorporated in commercial documents without the written permission of the FAQ owner. Thanks to the following for the bulleted suggestions: Beth Barter, Traci Fearday, Anne Robotti, Leigh Ann, Pat Wilson, Natalie Piper, Heather Thistle, SMB147@psuvm.psu.edu. .If anyone else has contributed whom I failed to mention, please email me so I can correctly attribute or acknowledge your contribution. THE CHRISTMAS WEDDING FAQ - Last modified October 17, 1996 1. ATTIRE 1.1) Are there any creative accessories, dress styles or colors my bridesmaids can wear for a Christmas Wedding? 2. MUSIC 2.1). I really want something unique for the music rather than just Christmas carols and music. Any ideas? 2.2) I can't afford much in the way of entertainment. Can anyone suggest some good Christmas albums for background music that I can play on a stereo/sou 3. FLOWERS 4. FOOD 4.1). What kind of foods would be appropriate to a Christmas wedding? 4.2) But what about the wedding cake? 4.3) Are there any good ideas for a unique groom's cake? 5 DECORATIONS - CEREMONY 5.1) Can anyone suggest decorations for a Christmas wedding? 5.2) What about the altar area? 5.3). I want to have pew decorations. What can I do that is different that the standard pew bow? 6. DECORATIONS - RECEPTION 6.1). How can I decorate my reception hall to reflect a Christmas wedding? 6.2) Are there any ideas for centerpieces? 7. RECEPTION ACTIVITIES 7.1) We want to have fun at our reception! How can we bring the joy of the season into our reception? 8. INVITATTIONS/ANNOUNCEMENTS 9. FAVORS 9.1) I am having trouble finding a Christmas ornament that is inexpensive yet beautiful as a favor for my guests. Help! 10. TRANSPORTATION 11. MISCELLANEOUS 12. REFERENCES 13. COMMENTS FROM READERS' WEDDINGS 1. ATTIRE 1.1). Are there any creative accessories, dress styles or colors my bridesmaids can wear for a Christmas Wedding? * Muffs for the bridesmaids can be an alternative to the standard bouquet. Some suggested bridesmaids dress colors are teal, burgundy, deep green, Christmas red, red and green plaids, forest green, gold, silver, cranberry, midnight blue. * A long velvet cape with a hood for the bride. 2. MUSIC 2.1) I really want something unique for the music rather than just Christmas carols and music. Any ideas? * Consider contacting a Choral group in your area. Many groups dress up for the holidays in Dickens -type clothing of the Edwardian/Victorian era and sing authentic carols of that age. This would be a unique musical treat for your guests and would set the mood of the season in a special way. * A harpist playing Christmas would be lovely * A children's group singing Christmas songs * Consider having a string quartet play during the cocktail hour playing a mix of Christmas and classical * Handbells are another LOVELY additon to any wedding. DON"T USE THEM TO WALK DOWN THE AISLE, as no one will be watching you!! My husband and his brother and sister played a trio and it was the hit of the event. (We had violins, pianists, a company of singer doing a musical - and they loved the handbells.) If your church has these, do ask about it. 2.2) I can't afford much in the way of entertainment. Can anyone suggest some good Christmas albums for background music that I can play on a stereo/sound system? * "Christmas on Guitar", by Giovanni Di Chiaro, guitar. Perfect for quiet evenings at home with close friends or loved ones, this gently beautiful music sets a warm and meditative mood. Giovanni Di Chiaro performs his own arrangements and transcriptions of best-loved carols and seasonal melodies including "Oh Holy Night", "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear," "Sleepers Awake", "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring", "What Child is This?", and "Slient Night". Total time 54:55. * "Christmas Favorites for Harp," by Roxanne Ziegler, harp. Let the heavenly sounds of the harp soothe and refresh you this holiday season. Playing her concert grand Lyon and Healy pedal harp, Roxanne Ziegler performs a generous program of Christmas classics including "Silent Night", Schubert's "Ave Maria," concert variations on "O Tannenbaum," Handel's Allegro moderato from Harp Concerto-B-flat, "Once in Royal David's City," "Coventry Carol," and "Gesu bambino." Total time 53:02 * "A Music Box of Christmas Carols," by Canterbury Choristers; Bornand Music Boxes. A fascinating and unusual collection of Christmas carols, alternately performed by the Canterbury Choristers and 150-year-old music boxes. The singing is pure and etheral, and the sound of the music boxes is dreamy and mysterious. The 26 carols include "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," "Silent Night," "Ave Maria," "Angels We Have Heard on High," "The First Noel," and "Joy to the World." Total time 52:15 * "Crystal Carols: Traditional Christmas Music Played on the Glass Armonica," by Dean Shostak, glass armonica. Invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1761, the glass armonica is a series of tuned glass bowls mounted on a spindle, turned by a fly wheel, and played by moistened fingers. The sound is ethereal and grand. Accompanied by violin, piano and harp, Dean Shostak shows his mastery of this unique instrument by playing 16 carols including "Greensleeves," "O Tannenbaum," "Simple Gifts," and "Ave Maria." "Like baby angels singing" - Washington Post review. Total time 52:52 * "Rejoice! A String Quartet Christmas," by Arturo Delmoni and Alexander Romand, violinists; Katherine Murdock, viola; Nathaniel Rosen, cello. Fresh, elegant string quartet arrangements of 24 traditional Christmas carols. Total time 50:15 * The above mentioned albums can be ordered from "Classics" , a mailorder catalog specializing in hard to find/unusual musical selections. Call 1-800-949-9999 to request a catalog. 3. FLOWERS * Holly, sprigs of ivy and pine * Caution!: Poinsettias secrete a substance when cut that many people are allergic too. They also should not be placed on the cake (unless candy ones are made) because they are poisonous. If they are to be carried as flowers, gloves or muffs should definitely be planned. * The fire and ice roses (white with red tips) are very nice, as are gardenias (though they'd be expensive in the winter) and maybe stargazer lilies. * For the small pointsettias as table settings, what I used to do at home was buy those small tart tins with 3" bases and place each pot in one of them before wrapping it with paper and ribbon. (I just used to use green and red tissue, and curly ribbon, but I'm not the artistic type.) That way you can water the pots normally and not worry about them leaking through unless you really overdo it. schuck@itd.dsto.gov.au (Mary-Margaret Schuck) * In corsages and boutonnieres, add mistletoe as an accent. 4. FOOD 4.1). What kind of foods would be appropriate to a Christmas wedding? Any type of menu is perfectly satisfactory so the issue is more of how to incorporate elements of the holiday season into the menu. Suggestions to consider would be: * Egg nog * Hot spiced cider * Hot chocolate * Christmas cookies ( gingerbread men, Spritz, bourbon balls, decorated sugar cookies, etc.) * Sweet breads with whipped toppings (banana, cranberry nut, date nut with cream cheese and butter topping) * In my area it is common bring a plate of Italian cookies to each table after the cake (usually these are made by the bride & family) we are making Christmas cookies instead, I will add a handful of holiday Hershey kisses for color. 4.2) But what about the wedding cake? * I am putting the small colored christmas ball ornaments on my wedding cake instead of flowers. They will be in a casade, though they could be placed anyway you want, with pieces of gold ribbon strategically placed. * The entire top tier shaped to look like a Christmas tree but with no lights. (Natalie Piper) * Our cake was a outdoor wedding winter wonderland. We made trees of upside down icecream cones with icing leaves and snow and little ornaments - red balls. The bottom middle layer had a mirror on it and it looked like a skating pond - try lots of edible clear glitter to make it a snowy cake. (Don't crush the glitter - it gets yucky) Next to the trees were the grooms and bridesmaids that were painted (you can ice them, but it takes two weeks) to be in outdoor green & red dresses with hand muffs, caroling books and olde tyme head pieces. The grooms had ear muffs and scarves and books made of electrician's tape and felt. My husband made a stained glass gazebo out of frosted glass for the top and we had a lovely porcelain couple inside. I repainted the bouquet to match mine. The outside arhces of the gazebo were done with tiny garlands of icing and icing wreaths. It took about two weeks of work to remodel the girls dresses and faces, (each dress was different) but everyone was most impressed with this cake. I got the idea from the 1993 Wilton book and modified it for a wedding cake - my sister designscakes for a living. 4.3) Are there any good ideas for a unique groom's cake? * Use the French Noel Log (Buche de Noel) cake as the groom's cake. (Chocolate - shaped like a log, icing made to look like tree bark). 5. DECORATIONS - CEREMONY 5.1). Can anyone suggest decorations for a Christmas wedding? * Having a wedding during the Christmas season means that many churches are already decorated for the holidays which is a money saving strategy. * Clear white electric candles in the windows can be attractive for a night wedding. * String the bushes in front of the church with tiny white lights. * Instead of an aisle runner, sprinkle fake snow down the aisle (Heather Thistle) * Luminaries lining the church driveway are a really neat decoration and cheap, too. Paper bags are filled with about two inches of sand and a candle inserted in the sand. (A slight variation on this is to use the bottoms of 2-liter pop bottles (white, of course, but the green can make a neat effect -- cut so they're almost as tall as the bags to be safe) inside of the bags so that the luminaries last longer/don't easly blow out or burn the bags. Just put the sand and candle in the bottle bottom! tfearday@dayton.csc.com (Traci Fearday)) * In Diane Warner's book, _How to Have a Big Wedding on a Small Budget_, she tells of a wedding two days before Christmas in which the bride had decorated using unsold Christmas trees she had gotten for free from the tree lots. They had decorated the several dozen trees with many strands of white lights and had borrowed every tree stand they could find. The lights were dimmed throughout the wedding and reception making it look like a winter fantasyland. * Place X-mas silk evergreen swags in your candlelabra. I decorated mine with gold instruments, packages, bows pinecones. The were elegant and the trees look like really elegant, candlelit trees. You usually decorate with some greenery anyway. Add a green velvet bow and you have stunning. The unity candle in nice this way also. I suggest brass. You can rent the candlelabra yourself and save $$. Half the time, this is what florists do anyway. Green velvet bows are also lovely for pew bows. We edged ours with gold. 5.2). What about the altar area? A nice touch for the altar area is to purchase dozens of potted poinsettias and cluster them around the front of the church. Most churches have steps leading up to the altar and the poinsettias can create a cascading effect. Afterwards, the poinsettias can be given as either favors to guests or as "Thank you" to people who have helped you with your wedding 5.3) I want to have pew decorations. What can I do that is different that the standard pew bow? * Small wreaths * Greenery swags with a Christmas ornament attached * Florist and party rental places rent a single brass candle on a pole which clamps to the pew. This can be decorated with greenery and bows, then the candles lit just prior to the processional. * How about long cinnamon sticks with greenery and flowers? It'd smell wonderful! 6. DECORATIONS - RECEPTION 6.1) How can I decorate my reception hall to reflect a Christmas wedding? * Large Christmas trees with tiny lights is always attractive. Even ficus trees with white lights are beautiful. * Stairways can be swagged with greenery roping * Buffet tables can be swagged with greenery roping along the sides or the greenery roping placed on the table among the platters and dishes. * Buffet tables can also have small white lights along the rim of the table but under the table skirting. Very attractive! * Consider having a gingerbread house or church for a centerpiece to the main buffet table. * Doorways and windows can be swagged with greenery roping and roping is cheap (usually $10 for 25 feet) * 5 candle table candelabras (rented) are very attractive on buffet tables * Luminaries along the driveway to the reception as well as the walkways are a cheap and attractive decoration. * Ask each shower guest to give a Christmas ornament (they are out so early these days, it shouldn't be a problem). Then, use these ornaments to decorate a tree at the reception! * I don't know about where you are, but in my area of the North a good number of reception halls have fireplaces in them. If you can get something like that, you could have a pinewood fire, stockings hanging from the mantel... decorate with pine boughs and some potted poinsettas. * An easy and inexpensive way of decorating the tables at the reception: buy rolls of metallic wrapping paper and bows in your wedding colors and wrap some empty boxes up. You can use the bows and extra wrapping paper for other gifts later. * This may just be me, but I'd be tempted to hang mistletoe over the bride and groom's seats. * We had candy cane balloons done - instead of the heart - you just have both sides of it and separate them - and had them at the entrance of the reception hall. They created a magical setting. I was truly suprised that balloons could be elegant - they really transform a room - Look at florist samples. * Use clear balloons, not white ones for a wedding. They are etheral and lovely. Solid colors are birthday party stuff. * Take bridal netting and loop through stairways, garlands, candlelabra garlands, pews, balloon displays and platters or use netting and balloons for table decorations. It is very effective. 6.2) Are there any ideas for centerpieces? * Small artificial Christmas trees with battery-powered lights. Be forewarned though that these small lights have a lifespan of about two hours * Small trees decorated in small ornaments * A mirror with a single candle and greenery * A basket of pinecones, glass ball ornaments and ribbons * Also, for table centerpieces, use wreath-like candle rings, decorated with tiny christmas ornaments and ribbon. Use scented candles, pine or cinnamon would be a nice touch. (Heather Thistle) * Make pot-wraps out of pretty Christmas fabric, or plaid taffeta, or moire. Cut a circle large enough to wrap the right size pot. Edge the circle with gold metallic serged edge or gold cord. Wrap a potted poinsettia with cotton batting (or wadded tissue - cheaper). Then cover with the fabric pot-wrap and tie with gold, green, red, or burgundy drapery cord or (cheaper) coordinating wired ribbon with big bow. Perhaps stick a really tall (18") taper in the middle of the potted poinsettia. If you're marrying the week after Christmas, poinsettias will be REAL CHEAP. * Collect all the brass candle sticks you can borrow or afford to buy. They don't need to match, but should be similar heighths. For fresh flowers, soak oasis in water, wrap in saran wrap and stick onto candlestick (where the candle would go). Wrap some green fine-gauge florist wire around to secure. (If you have those candlesticks for pillar candles with the spike, it's easier. Just impale the oasis on the spike.) Stick a tall candle into the center of the foam. You might need to use those green plastic candle gizmos they sell at craft store with wet oasis. Or if you're using a spike holder, cut away some of the oasis from around the spike and set the candle on the spike. 3 or 4 days ahead of time, push sprigs of pine, cedar, boxwood, spruce into the oasis - pretty much covering it. Maybe let sprigs of ivy trail down. I can pick everything I need - mostly in my yard. Add a lavish bow of wired ribbon with ends as long as the candle stick is tall. Wire or tie on. Bows could have been made well ahead. Keep the centerpieces in a cool place. The day of the reception, add 2 or 3 fresh blossoms. I used two white roses in my trial run - stems cut to about 2 inches. It was enough to be effective. Our grocery stores frequently have carnations 3/$1. You don't need a lot. My brass candlestick with greens, two white roses, gold/green wired sheer ribbon, and a tall ivory candle still looked great and elegant 2 days AFTER I added the roses. If you're not adverse to using silks, you could substitute green styrofoam for the oasis and do everything way ahead. The candlesticks I have bought (most around $7, at Target, T.J. Maxx, Pier One), I'll use or give away to family members. We have 15 tables at the reception. I already had two pairs in my home. I've tried to buy in pairs with the thought of giving them to family members. Who wants an odd candlestick? With the oasis (real cheap), candles (also cheap), ribbon (bought on sale), the greens (free), and the two roses (about $1.50 each for premium grade roses from the florist) I figure I'll spend about $11/table. That's not cheap for those on a tight budget, but $7 is reusable (the candlestick). The lowest bid we got from any florist was $20/table and it was not impressive. (wilson@am.tsd.itg.ti.com (Pat Wilson) 7. RECEPTION ACTIVITIES 7.1) We want to have fun at our reception! How can we bring the joy of the season into our reception? * Have Santa Claus make a surprise visit. Santas at other Christmas weddings has danced with guests, sat on a chair listening (with microphone from DJ) to what guests want for Christmas, handed out favors from his bag. * Instead of the traditional bouquet toss, be creative and arrange for a wreath (fabric or real) to be thrown. * Create a head wreath with mistletoe in it so that singles can wear it during a special dance 8. INVITATIONS/ANNOUNCEMENTS 9. FAVORS 9.1) I am having trouble finding a Christmas ornament that is inexpensive yet beautiful as a favor for my guests. Help!" * Try the Oriental Trading Company (1-800-228-2269). They have many glass and crystal ornaments for as low as $1 a piece. * We decided to get Godiva's gold foil wrapped chocolates. I will wrap them in netting, tie it with gold ribbon and add a small silk poinsettia to each, they look very christmasy. * Or how about decorating cookie cutters. I got these as a shower favor once. Little gingerbread men and woman with pink bows. I actually use it! * And for those serious crafters/bakers - you can make tiny gingerbread cottages out of square or rectangular cookies (like Nice tea biscuits) gumdrops and frosting out of a can. Spray with some kind of shellac if you want to preserve. But make sure everyone knows it, 'specially the kiddies! * Try making X-mas bells out of communion cups and birdseed. Fill the cup, turn it over onto the netting and tie with a ribbon. Tie two together for a lovely effect of bells. 10. TRANSPORTATION * If you live somewhere where it snows enough, a horse-drawn sleigh would be fun! 11. MISCELLANEOUS * A skating party after or as part of the rehearsal festivities. 12. REFERENCES 13. COMMENTS FROM READERS' WEDDINGS From: Bobbie (and Mark 12/30/95) lank-mrc@tigger.jvnc.net The reception is at an old historic, restored bank. The room is gorgeous, 49 ft ceilings. We are having a lot of Christmas greens for the centerpieces and are having 2 trees with white lights. These are right at the top of a stairway which opens into the reception room. We are also using some pine swags around the head table and on the stairway. We decided to go with ivory tablecloths with burgundy napkins for an accent. I thought a dark tablecloth would make the room seem too dark. _________________________________________________________ From: STU_LEJENKIN@vax1.acs.jmu.edu (LAURA E JENKINS) We are lucky enough that there is a parade and fireworks, a whole festival actually, to kick off the season that is held at Town Point Park in Norfolk the Friday night of the wedding weekend. The wedding party is planning on going to it after the rehearsal-- a great chance to be wacky and young and have fun almost for free!!! (in tidewater VA it'll be about 50 degrees outside or maybe warmer, barely any cooler). She is having us wear a lovely pale gold dress-- its a Bob Levkoff, watters and watters also uses the same gold tissue-y fabric. There will be candles and little white lights used at the reception (held in a restaurant that has a french-country atmosphere) and candles at the church. The flowers are tentatively all white, cream, champagne, and touches of subdues golds. There is talk of gold ribbon and gold leaves being worked into the flowers. Her dress has gold trim!! There will be a lot of greenery used--- but NO Christmas-y bows, holly, etc. It will be very elegant and special and holiday feeling but not _themed_. The groom really wanted it to only be a Christmas wedding b/c of the date... not the decor and colors. I think that gold is a lovely compromise (everyone else wanted it to feel "holiday"), and will be elegant! We are having a sit down dinner and dancing with a band, they will play a few holiday novelty songs for dancing-- but have strict instructions that it is not to be more than 5 (I think that is what she settled on--- they had a whole "Christmas party" repertoire they wanted to use... she made use of their contract to assure that the reception won't be a Christmas party only-- but if you wanted that, look for a band that can do it... this one could) She will wear a gorgeous white cape both to arrive at the reception and to leave in... its amazingly elegant, I am jealous!! She wants us to have capes too, we are looking for a pattern and fabric that won't break us. ________________________________________________________________ From: "Kathleen M Mazely" Do not know if any ideas are new or will be helpful, at the time I just wanted to share what we were doing. One note, I did change the time of the wedding so that we could have luminarias a la the faq. Colors: red and gold Flowers: My bouquet -- 30 red Columbium roses tied together with no illing. The stems are short with gold ribbon wrapped around the stems with a gold bow. The bridesmaids (2) will have a cluster of fire and ce roses with red tinted heather, again with gold ribbon wrap and bow. Traditional coursages and boutennieres with roses and red tinted heather. Attire: The bridesmaids are wearing a short, sleeveless, black cocktail dress. I wanted them to have something to wear again and you can always use a "little black dress." For color we bought these long cranberry colored silk scarves to flow down their backs. With gloves and shoes, it looks like a glamorous outfit from the 20's. One bridesmaid will wear a 20's style hat in rose with trim in the cranberry so the outfit does not look completely funereal. I worried about the colors but as everything is sort of on the dark red side they will blend or highlight depending on the situation. We have yet to find some kind of head piece for the MOH. There are only the two and I am not one to try and make them match exactly. I like that they will show some of their personality in spite of being dressed alike. We made our favors (well there are about 20 to go). I bought red, wooden napkin rings on which we hand painted Winnie the Pooh and Piglet. We also painted our names and the date. I do not like the act that most favors are useless yet this one is only marginal. The main thing is that we had fun. We tied red cording on each one so that there will be the option of putting it on a tree. Perhaps people will get it out with the rest of the ornaments and remember fondly. The caterer will put them on the napkins for the reception. We are having a Christmas tree. I have not yet found a topper that is satisfactory. I was going to use a Pooh Puppet but am not sure I like seeing him impaled on the tree. :) We are using gold edged, red moire ribbon as garland and white lights. I bought silk sprigs of holly and poinsettias to decorate here and there, but the effect is to be simple and elegant. There will be a fireplace that will be decorated with christmasy pine, candle and red velvet ribbon arrangements. The centerpieces that Jay and I made are ivy wreaths, for the wedding symbolism. We put 3 craft store chrismas decorations on it at 12, 3, and 9 o'clock. I put a nice large red velvet bow at 6 o'clock. It will lie flat on the table. In the center we will put a small wrought ron stand with a bell jar upside down to hold a votive candle above the level of the leaves. These candle holders are the rage in these parts. About 4 months ago I found some that were half price so bought enough for the centerpieces. For the head table, to avoid family strife, Jay and I will be by ourselves. The florist will make a long, low christmasy centerpiece decoration which we will also use as a decoration for the ceremony. (I am not sure we are having an altar.) The wedding cake will be red velvet cake, with fondant for frosting. The baker will paint red poinsettias on the fondant for a stained glass effect. This idea came from Collete's Wedding Cakes by Collette Peterson. look at what we have done and it looks to be a hodge podge, but I do not believe that will be the effect. I tried to be consistent in that the red that will be decorating the wedding party is a nice cranberry. The decorations for the reception hall, centerpieces and cake are the more true red since that is what happens with the Christmas decorations available. I just want the festiveness of the season to compliment the festiveness of the occasion. Hope you are able to gleen some ideas out of this. I do want to say that you did a good job on the faq. Kathleen Mazely ____________________________________________________________________________ From: cg847@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Kirby Gehman) We got married two years ago. I didn't want the all out Christmas thing - I wanted a stylish, elegant, and SIMPLE wedding that captured the spirit of Christmas. We chose to go with a black and white wedding theme (much to my mother and MIL's horror) but even they conceded that the black taffeta dresses with long satin bows and gloves and black and white tuxedos looked really good. My bouquet was red and white roses with ivy and ferns, while the other flowers were red roses and white carnations. The church was already decked out in its Christmas finery and we only added a huge birch, fir and pine cone candle centerpiece for the altar. (we donated the centerpiece to the church to use on Christmas Eve!) We had an evening candlelight service. The congregation sang Hark the Herald Angels. Friends lit the candles. And instead of confetti (which is prohibited at our church) guests threw birdseed!! Instead of a guestbook, we had guests sign a Christmas tree skirt that we use every Christmas. We had a cocktail reception with lots of goodies. The hotel provided the hot buffet and all my friends and family provided enough of their Christmas baking to last a lifetime. The hotel was already decorated for the season (with a tree etc.) so we just had them add candle centerpieces and use black and white tuling. To thank each of the guests we gave away Christmas tree decorations (all the people invited celebrate Christmas) that my husband and I had made. These are just a few ideas. The secret to a beautiful wedding is to sit down, just the two of you, and decide what you WANT, what will you make you HAPPY. And then go for it! Good Luck! Jennifer and Kirby (and Little One due shortly after our anniversary!) ____________________________________________________________________________ From: kebmhc92@aol.com (KEBMHC92) We are getting married 12/9 (less than 3 weeks!!!) and are going all out on this Christmas theme: The organist is playing carols during the prelude at the church while guests filter in, and the pianist at the reception (cocktail and finger/tea foods -- its a noon wedding) will play seasonal songs too. I am carrying red roses with holly for my bouquet, and everyone else gets a combination of red and ivory roses with ivy. The flower girl is carrying a basket made out of pine cones (at Crate and Barrel this year) filled with red rose petals. The church decorations are hurricane lamps, surrounded by pine boughs and pine cones tied with red/green plaid ribbon. At the reception, which will already be somewhat decorated -- it is a historic home/museum -- we are having two Christmas trees and I am making the centerpieces for the few tables that will be around for people to sit: baskets filled with pine cones (detect a theme??) and gold christmas balls and tied with plaid ribbon, and we are hanging mistletoe from al the doorways. We are serving hot mulled cider and eggnog. Our flower girl is helping hand out the favors which are handmade ornaments (local craftsperson made three types:angels, x-mas trees, and snowmen), and those english x-mas "crackers"; and over my protests, my mother is making the old standby, red and green hershey kisses in tulle (blah). Santa is supposed to stop by, because the church is having breakfast with him that morning (before the wedding). A lot of this may be from the FAQ -- but I never saw it so if I'm duplicating ideas, sorry! Good luck! Kristin (and Stuart) 12/9/95 ___________________________________________________________________________ From: Cherish Siwy I'm getting married this December & here are a few of the things we're doing. 1. Christmas tree (complete with coloured lights) instead of a gift table 2. Decorating with roping, greens & holly & pointsettia plants 3. Straight from the FAQ--gingerbread house as centerpiece on the buffet table 4. FAQ-Santa is coming & handing out our favours---chocolate bars, I made the wrapping for them 5. Christmas carols will be played while the guests eat 6. Using battery operated Christmas lights (you know the kind that goes in house windows) as part of each table's centerpiece 7. In the Italian tradition, we are passing around cookie trays, but some of the cookies will be Christmas as well as Italian I think that's it. Our wedding cake will be dressed for Christmas too in greenery. As for flowers, I wanted pointsettias in all the bouquets, but my florist said they don't last well, so I'm having red gerber(a?) daisies for the girls & creamy white ones in mine. (They look nice & they're very inexpensive!) Hope that helps you. cherish (& jeff) Oh forgot. If I had more time, I was going to make individual gingerbread house ornaments. I might still make one, so if you want directions, I'll send them to you (as soon as I figure it out myself!) ______________________________________________________________________________ From: shags@nando.net (Patrick O'Shaughnessey) We had a candlelight evening ceremony the day after Thanksgiving in a big Catholic church. Have you ever seen those tall poles that clamp onto the pew and hold a candle at the top? I found some at a local rental place for $8 each, they were brass and about 6'5" tall. Our aisle was quite long, but I really wanted to process with those lighting the way. So I rented 10 in all, decorated them with pew bows, and set them up starting at the back of church on every other pew. They reached about halfway to the front of the aisle. I liked this because I didn't have to worry about anyone tripping or bumping it getting in and out of the aisle (entering the pew, also leaving for communion). I saved money while creating the effect for everyone who entered the church to be seated that they were entering a sort of magical place. It feels sort of like a tunnel of candles, walking "through" them. Got many compliments! The other thing that people said was so beautiful was that my bridesmaids carried candles (decorated with some flowers, greens, & ribbons, but not many) down the aisle for the processional. They were ordered through a catalog my florist had, for $7.25 each and they had a short round hurricane glass to go over the 4" candle, so there was no open flame. There was also a metal handle to carry it with. Decorated, they cost me $25 each. My MOH had a different color candle and ribbon on hers than the other 4 bridesmaids. They blew them out once seated in their pew and just walked with their groomsman back up the aisle candle-less for the recessional. These 5 candles (along with my bouquet) were all we used to decorate the head table and it looked great. We used a Unity Candle in the ceremony, and we rented 2 floor-standing, black wrought-iron candlabras that held 7 candles each. The were decorated with flowers and ribbons and went on each side of the altar, costing us $50 total. They stood about 6' tall with candles, and looked gorgous in the photos. We got a great photo of my brother lighting them just before the prelude. Our wedding was at the start of the holiday season, so pine greenery was a main theme for our florist. There is a railing that goes horizontally across the front of church (parallel to the front pew) and we hung a thick garland of fresh pine that dipped and then attached to the supporting poles of the railing. At equal intervals there were crimson-colored (I hate bright cherry-red) velvet bows, and there were tiny white Christmas lights strung throughout all the boughs of the garland. This was the unifying touch! Economically, these little white lights are the best and I wish I had used them in other places. They looked so romantic , yet festive! We had a half-hour prelude which lasted approximately the duration of the sunset, so our lighting indoors kept getting darker (emphasizing the candles, etc. ). Just before the processional, while the ushers unrolled the aisle runner, we had the lights over the congregation turned up so that the wedding party could be seen and the programs read. Make sure you test your lighting at the time of day that you will be holding the wedding!! I find candlelight to be extrememly spiritual, symbolic, and romantic -- all the things I wanted to capture in my wedding. We also had candles in crystal glasses (surrounded by a wreath of pine greenery) as our centerpieces, votive candles around the base of our cake, and a silver candleabra on the piano at our reception. Best of luck to you! --Christine (& Patrick 11/24/95) ____________________________________________________________________________ _______ From: cherif@cuok.cameron.edu (C. Frazier) > >My fiancÈ and I are getting married on December 12, 1997. I want to make > >it a very Winter Wonderland kind of theme. Any ideas on how to accomplish > >this. I have come up with a few, but I am very interested in what you all > >have to contribute. > >My ideas are as follows, so far: > >White twinkling lights in trees at the church and reception > >Pointsettias every where > >Red or White Velvet dresses for the Bridesmaids - Which would be more > >flattering. I have a few very skinny girls, some average and 1 over > >weight girl > >Red Roses and Lily of the Valley for the bouquets Our wedding is in...sheesh!...16 days (Dec. 30th). If I were you, I would definately buy items on sale after Christmas that you will be able to use. Start now. Usually after Christmas stuff goes on sale for up to 90% off (Hobby Lobby in Oklahoma City area). Use lots of toole (white) with maybe some glitter spray. Get several cans of "snow", lots of snowflakes you could hang from the ceiling at the reception, clear plastic decorations (angels, bells, bulbs, icicles) white ribbon, maybe gold ribbon, white lights, white wrapping paper, etc. Big silver bulbs or gold. Greenery. All of these things can be used for all kinds of stuff. We have caught ourselves saying "We should have bought this last year when it was on sale." Even though what we originally intended on using it for is not what it will be. Get round mirrors during the year as they go on sale or you get coupons. Then get some polyfill and at the reception, you can lay the mirrors on the food table, cake table, etc. and put the polyfill around the edges to make it look like a frozen pond. You can then put your punch bowl on top of the mirror or whatever. It really looks pretty. Toole is nice to work with and can make beautiful bows that look soft. In the middle include a clear bulb hanging down, maybe some white ribbon, some white pearls, whatever. With the white wrapping paper, wrap empty boxes and add a bow (with an accent color) and you can use these as center pieces or to add height to a buffet table (looks like there is more food). At our wedding, when the flower girl walks down the isle, she is going to drop snowflake confetti instead of rose petals. This would also work for you. One of the favors we are giving out is small bottle of bubbles that our guests will blow at us during our first dance. (Hopefully it'll look like snow falling). Also, I'd use lots of candles. I think an all white wedding would be beautiful. Even your brides- maids in white would be pretty. Best of luck and keep us posted on your ideas. --Cheri ____________________________________________________________________________ ______________ From: andrea@ccmail.com (Andrea Mankoski) An auspicious date! My husband and I were wed on December 16, 1993. We were married in a large cathedral-like stone church, which was beautifully decorated with Christmas greens and pointsettias. The reception hall was a lovely 19th century place that had huge high ceilings and parquet floors. We decorated the perimeter of the room with huge Christmas trees with white lights. We had potpourri-filled glass ornaments on the trees and encouraged the guests to take home an ornament from the tree as a souvenir. We also had huge white pointsettias everywhere - on the stage by the band, on the buffet tables and the non-alchoholic bar. In the center of each table we had a white taper in a crystal snowball candleholder surrounded by a miniature Christmas wreath lying flat on the table. I carried white poinsettias and roses in my bouquet. The organist played Beethoven's Ode to Joy for the recessional (December 16th is Beethoven's birthday.) The jazz band played Christmas songs at the reception - I danced with my father to "Silver Bells." ____________________________________________________________________________ ________ >From mnolte@paul.spu.edu Fri Mar 3 10:26:07 CST 1995 My personally biased opinion is December. We got married this past Dec.and if I must say so myself.... it was beautiful. We used lots of pine(my boquet was 36 red roses intermixed with pine). The BM's had 5 red roses mixed with pine, pine cones and a votive candle in the middle.We also had a huge Christmas tree decorated with 1000 white lights.The church was decorated with swags that we made ourselves from greensin the backyard. The bridesmaids dresses were black velvet and forest greenbrocade. For the prelude we had a violinist and pianist play Christmas hymns. Well, enough about my wedding. The point is that you can do so many things at Christmas time. For the reception we had a decorated Christmas tree and placed the gifts under the tree. We, too, are "religious" and felt that Christmas time brought added meaning to the ceremony. We chose the Christmas story (in Luke) for the scripture reading. ________________________________________________________________________________ +----------------------------+------------------------------------+ | Jeanne Hinds | "In human intercourse the tragedy | | jmhinds@nando.net (home) | begins, not when there is a mis- | | | understanding about words, but | | | when silence is not understood." | | | - Thoreau | +----------------------------+------------------------------------+