Marriage

Make your ceremony unique - for cheap

Small, inexpensive details make a big difference

Originally printed 4/28/2011 (Issue 1917 - Between The Lines News)

All couples want their wedding day to be special. Whether it's a formal affair or beachside barbeque, brides and grooms across America aim to make the celebration of their love a day everyone will remember.

"Not every couple may be able to arrive by hot air balloon, but that hasn't deterred them from coming up with creative ways to add their own personal flair to their special day," says Amy Myers, vice president of creative services for Things Remembered.

If you're planning a wedding or looking for unique gift ideas, here are some trends to keep in mind:

Online invites and wedding websites

Nowadays, the Internet is essential to wedding planning. In addition to wedding websites, many couples use social network sites to locate products and services for their weddings, often paying online or by phone.

And more couples are opting to send e-vites instead of mailed invitations, or requesting that guests RSVP through a wedding website.

Custom logos

Couples want to put their stamp on everything, so many are designing custom wedding logos to incorporate on everything from programs and invitations to guest books, cake servers and even reception champagne bottles. For example, Things Remembered, a personalized gift retailer, offers free wedding logo creation with purchases totaling $150 or more. Not only will they engrave logos on champagne flutes, picture frames and other wedding staples, they'll give couples an electronic file of the logo to use in other materials.

Coordinated products

Today's vendors are helping to make the process easier by offering complete collections of wedding products, so that the same beading detail on a wedding dress will be found on the cake server, the aisle runner, wedding invitations and more, creating a special synergy on the big day.

Wedding photos

Gone are the days of picking a few prints and putting them in a formal book of 8" x 10" photo pages. Many couples are choosing digital photo packages that provide them with all of their wedding photos on CDs.

Some couples opt to have photos printed in coffee-table books that incorporate multiple images with words, captions and design elements. Others are turning wedding photos into works of art by printing them on gallery-quality photo canvases. If you're a guest at an upcoming wedding, you can even purchase a photo canvas gift card at www.ThingsRemembered.com, which lets couples work with an artist to create a personalized home decor piece based on their favorite photo.

Smaller is better

Today, many couples are planning smaller ceremonies, allowing them to splurge more on the details. Destination weddings are also trending smaller, with people opting for beach weddings at nearby lakes or resorts instead of big trips like Hawaii.

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