Understanding a Hindu Wedding Plan

Hindu weddings are steeped in important rituals and customs. Some couples choose to have the typical Hindu ceremony that spans several days, while others have a condensed version that lasts only a few hours.

Instructions

1 Arrange the proposal so that the whole family feels included in the event. In this way, you will receive approval from elders, and the family will also be able to determine whether they think you and your partner are compatible for marriage.
2 Check with an astrologer to match your horoscopes and determine an auspicious date and location for the wedding. Many Hindu ceremonies take place at the bride's house or at a hall.
3 Decide if you will have guests sit on the floor, as is typical at Hindu weddings, or whether you would prefer to go the more modern route and provide chairs.
4 Include the 15 rituals that traditionally make up a Hindu wedding ceremony. Or, if you prefer, select only those that have special meaning for you as a couple.
5 Provide a sari bought by the groom for the bride to change into during the ceremony. (The outfit she arrives in will typically be bought by her parents.) The change of clothes is very meaningful, since it signifies the shift of responsibility from the parents to the husband.
6 Offer food and alternate entertainment to occupy the guests during the wedding ceremony. (Eating, drinking and talking during the ceremonial events is accepted practice at Hindu weddings.)
7 Order garlands of flowers that the bride and groom will exchange during the ceremony, often along with rings, to symbolize acceptance and welcome.
8 Bring a gold necklace if you would like to include the "tying the knot" ritual, in which the groom ties the necklace around the bride's neck.
9 Include a portion of the ceremony (known as the saptapadi portion in Hindi) in which the bride and groom take seven steps together toward a long and happy marriage, praying for blessings such as wealth, happiness, strength and devotion with each step.
10 Prepare a mixture of honey and yogurt, which the bride offers the groom to ensure his good health and a sweet start for their marriage.
11 Offer food to the gods during the ceremony to obtain their blessings. (In the Hindu religion, there is one supreme being, with all other gods being aspects of this one.)
12 Provide a stone for the bride to stand on to signify her faithfulness and loyalty to the marriage.
13 Ask the groom's brother to sprinkle puffed rice for prosperity and flower petals on the couple after they exchange vows, following an ongoing Indian tradition.
14 Create a marriage mark on the bride's forehead with sedhu, or orange powder, to announce to the world that she is now married. After the mark is applied, the couple should touch each parent's feet and receive their parents' blessings.
15 Prepare a large feast to serve the guests following the ceremony. Expect family and friends to help make the food.

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Hosting a Home Wedding Reception

You've imagined the picture-perfect wedding your entire life and now is the time to make those dreams come true. Your wedding day should be the beautiful occasion of your dreams, and having your reception at home is one way to make your event intimate and deeply personal. Create a fairytale ending to your perfect day by using these tips for a reception at home.

Instructions

Dcor

1 Keep the dcor simple. Use only white linens with accent pieces in varying shades of your wedding color(s). Since a home is a comparatively small venue, you don't want to overwhelm it with too much color or gaudy decorations.
2 Use flowers as an elegant means of decorating. Consider renting pillars to set within the doorway or by the cake table, and top them with large urns overflowing with beautiful bouquets. Use a simplified version of the urn bouquets as centerpieces for the tables.
3 Bathe your home in yards of silk fabric in your color scheme. Drape it from doorways, hang it from the mantle, or use it to cover any unsightly areas of the home. Arrange it elegantly, being liberal with the fabric without overdoing it.
4 Set arrangements of candles around the house. Use different shapes and sizes, all in white or in varying shades of your wedding color(s). They needn't be lit if you don't want to worry about a fire hazard.

Food and Seating

5 Decide what kind of food you will be serving, whether simple finger foods or a full-blown meal. Select foods that will be good served at room temperature and that can be made in advance, if you are doing the cooking yourself.
6 Select a convenient place to set up a table for the food so that guests can serve themselves. Choose a spot that is not in a highly trafficked area.
7 Look for eclectic pieces of china and crystal to use as serving dishes for the food. Raid your dish collection, as well as that of your mother and grandmother (and anyone else willing), or hunt through garage sale offerings to find enough dishes in your color scheme.
8 Serve the wedding cake on a small table covered with a beautiful floor-length white cloth and handfuls of rose petals. Use a similar cloth for the food table, but decorate it using layered fabrics as a kind of table runner, rather than covering it with petals.
9 Cover chairs with crisp white chair covers and tie a wide ribbon bow-in your designated colors, of course-around each one. Specialize the bride and groom's chairs by sticking a bunch of flowers under the ribbon.
10 Opt for long tables, if space allows it, for a family-style feel. Otherwise use small tables carefully dispersed. Whatever your table size, though, cover them with white tablecloths and place a table runner down the center to match the bows on the chairs.
11 Place tiki torches or freestanding candle globes around the perimeter of your seating and dancing area if the party is outdoors and will continue into the night.

Home Reception Etiquette

12 Stand at the door with your new spouse to greet guests as they enter the house. Make sure to mingle throughout the crowd during the reception.
13 Assess the state of your bathrooms. Place decorative soaps out and make fresh hand towels available. Set a lovely flower arrangement on the countertop as well.
14 Clean your house thoroughly and make landscaping attractive. This may require hiring people to get the job done, but it's worth it.
15 Look for any potential danger spots inside your home and out where people could trip, fall or otherwise injure themselves. Take care of these places to the greatest extent possible.
16 Alert your neighbors to the fact that you will be holding this event at your home and ask their permission to park cars in front of their houses. Make sure that there will be sufficient parking for the occasion.
17 Create a contingency plan in the event of inclement weather. For an outdoor reception, you must have a Plan B.

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How to Get Your Wedding in Jet Magazine

JET Magazine, known online as EbonyJet.com, is an online daily magazine that seeks to create an online platform for exploring issues that impact African-Americans, as well as how African-Americans impact the world. JET Magazine is also available in print form on a weekly basis, publishing articles that range from celebrity profiles to style and living to profiles of real people and their weddings. JET Magazine features weddings in its "Love and Happiness" section each week.

Instructions

1 Gather all of the information needed to submit a wedding to JET Magazine, type up the information on one, easy-to-read piece of paper. You will need to send: A clear, full-color photo of the bride and groom that shows their faces entirely; the full names, address and phone number of the bride and groom; the location of the honeymoon; the education and occupation details for the bride and groom; the location of the wedding, including the city and state in which couple married; any details on where the couple plans to reside permanently.
2 Write the name of the bride and groom, their phone number, and address on the back of a clear, full-color photo. JET Magazine does not accept black and white wedding photos.
3 Send the information and the full-color photo to JET Love & Happiness, 820 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60605. Once received, and editorial panel will review every wedding for consideration, then select weddings that will appear in JET Magazine.

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How to Have a Dollar Dance at a Wedding

It is your wedding day and even though the ceremony went off without a hitch, the reception is another matter. Will everybody get enough to eat? Will some people have too much to drink? Will the carved ice sculpture melt? Should we have a dollar dance? If you are considering the dollar dance, don't worry. It is a tradition that is known across the country and is a wonderful way to spend a few moments with your guests. Read on to learn how to have a dollar dance at your wedding.

Instructions

1 Discuss with your future spouse if he or she would like the dollar dance at the wedding reception. If either of you are opposed, forgo the dance. Communication is key. Since you are both dancing with family and friends during the dance, no one should be forced to comply if they are not comfortable.
2 Inform your DJ that you would like to have a dollar dance. He is probably very familiar with the tradition and can help guide you. Take his advice on when to announce the dollar dance. It should probably be after the bouquet and garter toss but it shouldn't be saved for the very end of the reception, when most people have already left.
3 Choose the music you would like played during the dance. Any songs with "Friend" in the title are a good idea. Examples could be "That's What Friends are For," "You've got a Friend in Me" and the theme song from the TV show "Friends." Avoid any songs with romantic overtures.
4 Have the DJ announce that it is time for the dollar dance and have participants line up behind the maid of honor and best man, who act as gatekeepers. Guests voluntarily line up to dance with either the bride or groom and pay for the privilege with a $1 bill--or a larger denomination, if they so choose.
5 Rotate the dancers in and out every 30 seconds or so, having the gatekeepers monitor the flow. This gives the bride and groom a few moments with many of their guests and a moment to connect, while keeping the event moving. Anyone can be polite and conversational for half a minute and the pressure is off the happy couple to end the dance since the maid of honor and best man are sending new partners in every so often.
6 Make conversation by asking your dance partner if they enjoyed the cake or have had a good time. Tell them it was wonderful to see them and accept any compliments graciously. Before you know it, your next dance partner will be tapping on his shoulder.
7 Wind up the event as the line dwindles. Have the DJ announce that it is "last call" to dance with the happy couple. Let the bride and groom dance together and then move onto a more upbeat song to restart the party.
8 Set the money aside and take it with you when you leave the reception or have it delivered along with your gifts.

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Selling Your Used Wedding Dresses

For most brides, the wedding dress is a treasured heirloom to be saved and passed on to future generations. For others, it's simply an expensive dress that the bride wore once. Whether the marriage didn't work out, the dress wasn't the one that the bride actually wore or the bride just wants to recoup some of her investment, reselling the dress is the next step.

Instructions

1 Clean the dress thoroughly. A clean dress could be the deciding factor on whether a resale customer buys your dress or not. Pay special attention to any stains around the hem of the dress and the train where it may have touched the ground. Many dry cleaners specialize in cleaning wedding dresses.
2 Let your fingers do the walking. Local consignment stores are a good place to resell wedding dresses. However, some of them have rules on conditions under which they will take consignment clothing. A quick phone call should help you determine what time of year the shop takes wedding dresses and how much of a percentage of the sale that they may want to keep.
3 Consider online resale. Websites such as eBay, craigslist or PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com are good places to sell used wedding dresses. Use a digital camera to photograph your dress, making up-close photos of any dress damage so that the potential brides can look over your gown.
4 Try the classifieds. Your local newspaper is a good source for local brides who may be interested in purchasing a dress without paying shipping. You may also check with your local wedding planners, photographers or other vendors about posting fliers at their places of business.

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Filling Out RSVP Cards for a Wedding

Wedding response cards let the bride and groom know not only how many guests will attend their wedding, but also the exact names of the guests attending, and their requested meal choices, if that is an option. It is important to send an R.S.V.P card back to the bride and groom as soon as possible, and always before the requested due date, because the couple must submit headcounts to their vendors to ensure the right amount of food and drink, favors and chairs are ordered.

Instructions

1 Understand who exactly is invited to the wedding by looking at the names on the inner envelope. If children are invited to the reception, their names should be listed on the inner envelope. When in doubt, it's best to talk to the mother of the bride or a bridal party member. You do not want to R.S.V.P. for guests who were not intended to be invited.
2 Fill out the names of the guests who will be attending using a salutation and first and last names on the line that starts with "M," "Guests" or "Names." The "M" is the start of "Mr." or "Ms." For example, you might continue the "M" line with "Mr. and Mrs. John Smith" or "Ms. Jane Doe."
3 Mark an "X" next to the appropriate line indicating whether you accept or decline the invitation.
4 Choose a dinner entre by writing the number requested next to the meal choice. If one person wants fish and one person wants chicken, the numeral "1" should be written next to both options.
5 Indicate the number of guests attending by filling in the numeral of guests next to "Number of Persons" or "Number of Guests."

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Learn to Put Wedding Invitations in Envelopes

Not every engaged couple is interested in following the traditional, formal rules of wedding etiquette. However, those who are want to be certain they are doing things correctly. It might seem that putting wedding invitations together would be a simple task, but when an invitation includes response cards, maps and other information, it can get confusing. Fortunately, it is possible to do this task correctly by following a few guidelines.

Instructions

1 Lay the inner envelope, the envelope that directly holds the invitation, in front of you with the invitees' names facing down and the open flap pointing to the right.
2 Slide the invitation into the envelope. The front of the invitation should face the back of the envelope so it is seen when the envelope is opened.
3 Place the mailing envelope so you are looking at its back and the open flap is pointing to the right.
4 Holding the invitation, cover the names of the invitees with protective tissue paper, if it has been provided. Tissue paper is not required.
5 Place the invitation into the mailing envelope with the front of the invitation's envelope facing the back of the mailing envelope.
6 Place other enclosures, such as response cards, on top of the invitation, according to size with the largest enclosure first. Stack each envelope facing the same way as the invitation. Seal the mailing envelope.

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Blocking Hotel Rooms for a Wedding

You have reserved the venue, caterer, florist and officiant, and your wedding to do list seems complete. But when planning a wedding, you cannot neglect your duties as host or hostess. Part of this is making sure your guests have somewhere to stay. Fortunately, reserving a block of rooms at an area hotel can take as little as 10 minutes.

Instructions

1 Call or use the internet to find out rates at area hotels. Narrow down your search by selecting hotels near your wedding or reception venue. Make sure to inform the reservation agent that you are inquiring about booking several rooms and want to know about discount rates for large reservations.
2 Select a hotel or hotels with the best rates. Choose at least two hotels in different price ranges to accommodate guests with higher and lower travel budgets.
3 Call the selected hotels once again and inquire about the rates for a large booking. Do not quote the rate you were originally given; instead allow the reservation agent to provide you with another rate quote. If the second rate is higher than the first, inform the agent of the rate you were given during the previous call. Most hotels will honor this original rate, particularly for a large block of reservations.
4 Inform the agent that you want to block off rooms for your wedding guests. Inquire as to the rules and restrictions for reserving room blocks, including cancellation requirements and fees, deposits and occupancy level requirements. Do not use the hotel if the fees are excessive or terms are unreasonable.
5 Consider the make-up of your wedding party when blocking rooms. If several of your guests have children, make sure to book rooms with double beds as well as king or queen bed rooms.
6 Reserve the rooms for at least one day before the start of your wedding events and one day after the last event. For example, if you are planning a rehearsal dinner on Friday and a post-ceremony brunch on Sunday, reserve your room block for Thursday through Monday. This ensures the hotel will have rooms available for your guests. Guests can change the dates to fit individual travel arrangements upon making the actual reservation.
7 Provide a credit card to guarantee your reservation if required by your chosen hotel. Make sure to find out when you must release any unreserved rooms in order to avoid charges to your credit card.

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Guides to Planning a Wedding in 6 Months

If you or your fianc do not wish to have a long engagement, don't worry, there are ways to plan a wedding in 6 months or less. It will take a lot of organization and attention to detail, as well as some amount of compromise, but it can be done. Just be prepared to be flexible and start ahead of time so you are not rushed at the last minute.

Instructions

6 Months and Counting

1 Get a planner. An actual person who plans weddings or a day planner will work fine. Doing the work yourself without a hired wedding planner might save money, but it will also add to the stress of doing everything in just 6 months. If you do hire a wedding planner, most of these instructions will just require a final okay from the happy couple!
2 Pick a date. Although this is the most important day of your life, be flexible. Some venues might have the week before or the week after available, but nothing open on the day you have chosen, so be prepared to bend for the sake of planning.
3 Find and book a venue for the wedding and reception. Some churches prefer a 9 month waiting period, but others will bend their rules. Another option is having the ceremony at the same location as the reception. This should be done immediately after you choose the wedding day.
4 Ask if the reception venue provides flowers or caters the food and wedding cake. If they do, begin to make your selections. Flowers should be based on the season of the wedding day. If they do not provide these services, find out if they work with preferred vendors for any of those items.
5 Attend a bridal show, if possible. There are samples from caterers, bakers, photographers, make up artists, dress stores, tuxedo shops and much more. It will help narrow down decisions and you can possibly book some vendors.
6 Buy a dress. While you are at it, purchase the shoes, veil, jewelry or any hair pieces a the same time. Do this soon after becoming engaged and finding a reception venue because most special order dresses take 6 weeks to 3 months for you to get back and most will require some sort of alterations. Ask about a preferred seamstress at the dress shop.
7 Choose the friends or family members you would like to be attendants for your special day. Generally, they will offer any amount of help if asked, so don't forget to delegate throughout the planning process. 6 months will begin to sail by!

Working With Vendors

8 Contact a caterer and go over wants and dislikes. Hire them when you find one you like. You will need to decide on the menu about three to four months before you get married so start looking once you decide on the venue.
9 Find a cake design that you like. Hire a baker when you find one you like. Many bakeries will have portfolios to view. This also needs to be done about three to four months before you get married.
10 Choose a florist. Meet with and discuss likes and dislikes for bouquets and centerpieces. You will need to make final floral decisions about 3 months before you get married so hire them once a venue is chosen.
11 Decide on a DJ or a band. Make reservations for your wedding day. You should do this as soon as possible after choosing the wedding day. Many DJ's get booked up very quickly!
12 Choose a photographer and book them for your wedding day during the first month of planning. Ask to see some of their work as well to get an idea of who you are hiring. Decide if you want to hire a videographer to record your wedding as well.
13 Find a hairdresser and a makeup artist. Make an appointment for your wedding day. You will need to practice your look with your tiara and veil a month or two before the actual wedding.

Getting Dressed for the Event

14 Decide on bridesmaids and flower girl dresses. Their dresses can take several weeks to be delivered as well so do this shortly after purchasing the bridal gown.
15 Shop for the groom and his attendants. This includes his tux and his ring. This should be done with four to five months of planning left.
16 Purchase any gifts for the attendants and for those that helped in any way. You will need to find time to shop with about 2 months to spare in planning.
17 Contact the seamstress to make any alterations needed to your dress and your bridesmaid's dresses once they are delivered.

You're in the Home Stretch

18 Hire a reliable travel agent to make reservations for a wonderful honeymoon! Your reservations should be complete with four months of planning left!
19 Create an invitation. Ask parents for relatives names and addresses. Do this on an ongoing basis after the reception venue is confirmed. You will need to have a final invite list before you order your invitations.
20 Order invitations. Don't forget to add in directions or maps. Printing usually takes three weeks, and they will need to be sent eight weeks ahead of time, so make sure they are ordered with four months of planning left.
21 Block hotel rooms for out of town guests. Most hotels will offer special rates for wedding parties. Do this when ordering the invitations. You will be able to have an idea of how many rooms you will need.
22 Make reservations for the rehearsal dinner or any luncheons you might be hosting. Try doing this with about three months to spare, if not sooner.
23 Get the necessary blood tests and marriage license for your state. Most licenses will only be valid for one month so this should be done with three to four weeks of planning left.
24 Tie up any other loose ends still lingering with about one month to spare. The majority of the real planning is out of the way, but minor decisions might need to be made.

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Selling Your Gold Wedding Ring Tips

Whether it be a reminder of relationship gone wrong, an heirloom collecting dust or a time of financial hardship, it may be possible to sell that gold wedding ring. Before you begin, however, it's important to do your homework. Doing so will increase your chances of a profitable transaction.

Instructions

How to Sell Gold Wedding Rings

1 Take your ring to a qualified and credentialed appraiser. He can give you a good estimate as to the worth of your gold ring. Once you receive the appraisal, read it carefully and be sure to educate yourself about anything that seems unclear.
2 Be certain you can part with the ring. You will not be able to get it back once the deal is made.
3 Take the piece to a professional buyer (a jeweler, for instance) and get a quote. In some cases, she will want to test the metal. It's important that you don't let her do anything destructive to the ring before she has agreed to buy it.
4 Try eBay. A simple item description is best. Note down the weight, karat and any distinguishing marks on the ring. Remember that the buyer will be unable to try it on, so include clear, high-quality photographs. A classified ad in your local newspaper or on Craigslist might work as well.
5 Ordinary gold wedding rings often have little resale value, despite the craftsmanship or emotional investment. If all else fails, you can try to sell your ring for scrap. Be warned that you will in all likelihood receive around 25 percent of the ring's worth.

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How to Store Your Wedding Cake for Your First Anniversary

Most people don't give much thought to preserving their wedding cake for their first anniversary. Someone at the reception will slip the small cake into a box, and someone's mother will take it home and pop it into her freezer. However, many of those unthinking people will be celebrating their first anniversary by chipping ice off a freezer-burned, disfigured effigy of what once sat in bakery-fresh beauty atop their wedding cake. They'll be recoiling in horror from the "old refrigerator" taste; you can't clink glasses and wash that taste down with a romantic sip of champagne.

Instructions

1 Designate a person to be in charge of getting and freezing the cake. Have a sturdy cardboard box a little larger than the top of the cake on hand to protect the cake.
2 Upon arrival at home, take the cake out of the box and slide it into the freezer, being sure there's enough room that the cake won't be damaged on the way in. Walk away until the next day.
3 The next morning, the cake will be solidly frozen. Working quickly with long pieces of clingy plastic wrap, swath the frozen cake (including the cardboard on which it sits) in the wrap, making sure there are no openings to let in "freezer air." Slide the cake back into its box and use masking tape to close all the open edges of the box. Return it to the freezer as quickly as possible (the icing is quick to melt, and as soon as it melts it will stick to the plastic wrap.) This process will ensure that your cake is frozen while still fresh, but you want it packaged back up as soon as it's frozen to prevent freezer odors from setting in.
4 When you're ready to thaw the cake, take it out of the box and unwrap the plastic wrap while the cake is still solidly frozen.
5 Let the cake sit for a couple of hours in open air so any condensation created as it thaws will evaporate. When the cake is thawed, you can crack open the bubbly and celebrate your one-year anniversary with a cake as tasty as the day it went in the freezer.

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Guides to Have a Wedding for Under $1000

Do you know how much the average wedding costs? The average wedding costs somewhere around $20,000. Many people don't have that type of money to spend, even on an event as important as a wedding. But who needs thousands of dollars? You just need a little help and creativity to have the wedding of your dreams.

Instructions

1 Plan your date accordingly. You might get a discount on wedding items if you plan your wedding in an off season, such as winter. On the other hand, the warm weather of spring and early summer make for cheap, beautiful outside weddings.
2 Your dress doesn't have to cost hundreds, even thousands of dollars. I bought my wedding dress on e-bay for under $100. Get creative and search many venues to find the perfect dress (in both beauty and price).
3 Keep your decorations beautiful but simple. Use flowers and decorations that are plentiful during the season that you choose to get married. Outdoor weddings need minimal decorations because nature itself is a beautiful decoration. If you wed indoors, try to find a space that is free for use, such as a home or your church.
4 You want to have someone with some knowledge of photography to take you wedding pictures, but you don't how to pay a ton of money. Ask a college photography major, a friend who owns a photography business, or your cousin who is a great self-taught photographer. Any of these will do if for a cheap price (if not free!)
5 Make your own cake. I know it may sound hard, but it's actually a lot easier than you think. Buy the supplies and then consult someone who has knowledge in this area. Just use you imagination. There are plenty of articles on ehow to help you.
6 Ask for help. Ask your family to pitch in and help. Have everyone bring a couple of dishes for the reception. Use volunteer family members to help you decorate. Have an artistic member of your family print out some invitations. The possibilities to what your family and friends can help with is endless.

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