A small detail: Put your initials on it

Get you and your fiance's initials and wedding date embroidered into your wedding dress. If you use blue thread it will work as your "something blue." *Photo courtesy of Posh Bridal.

A small detail: Photo envelope liners

Create envelope liners for your wedding invitations using your engagement photos or other special images. *Photo courtesy of Martha Stewart Weddings.

A small detail: Team bride

Create personalized T-shirts for your bachelorette party and/or for the day of your wedding. Your bridesmaids will be able to keep them as a special momento from the big day. *Photo courtesy of Bridal Guide.

A small detail: A bite to eat

It is a nice gesture to offer your vendors a bite to eat during your reception. Be sure to talk with your caterer about serving them a less expensive meal than what you'll be offering your guests. *Photo courtesy of Reflections on Spring Creek.

A small detail: Share your love of coffee

Are you a coffee lover? Set up an after dinner coffee bar. Have baristas make a variety of drinks in different flavors with all types of toppings like whipped cream and caramel. The best time to serve a cup of Joe is the last two hours of your reception. *Photo courtesy of PrettyChicky.

A small detail: Kick off your shoes

Have a basket of flip-flops in varying sizes with a sign that says "kick off your heels and enjoy some dancing." Your female guests will be thankful. *Photo courtesy of LIWeddings.

A small detail: Use a family recipe

Personalize your reception menu by asking the caterer to whip up a family dish such as your mother's lasagna or your grandmother's famous chocolate chip cookies. Give out the family recipe to your guests as a favor. *Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Anne Designs.

A small detail: Give your guests champagne

Get the celebration started by having the waiters hand out glasses of champagne to your guests when they arrive at your reception. This will ensure that everyone has a glass of bubbly for the pending toasts. *Photo courtesy of istockphoto.

A small detail: Twist your favorite noodles

Twist your favorite noodles around a fork so your guests can sample hors d'oeuvres without getting their fingers dirty. Use homestyle spaghetti topped with a spicy meatball or marcaroni and cheese with smoked bacon or toasted breadcrumbs. *Photo courtesy of Kim Sharper Studio.

A small detail: Pay attention to the labels

 

Keep in mind that if you are chilling wine or beer in ice buckets and the labels get ruined, you might not be able to return those bottles to the distributor. Keep this in mind when deciding how to serve your alcohol. Photo courtesy of All Things Digital.

A small detail: A shot of soup

Turn soup into a passed hors d' oeuvre at your cocktail hour by asking the caterer to serve it in clear shot glasses. Photo courtesy of Table Spoon. 

A small detail: Keep the kids occupied

Purchase one fairy tale coloring book and make copies and purchase crayons. Put these in a pretty pail and tie a ribbon around it. (Oriental Trading company has pails $7.99 for a dozen). You can use these at the reception too.

A small detail: Honor your mothers

Ask your florist to design two detachable floral sprays into your bouquet. After you walk down the aisle, just before your escort turns to leave you and take his or her seat, remove one of the flowers from the bouquet and hand it to your mom. At the conclusion of the ceremony before you walk back up the aisle, stop at the pew where your mother law is and remove the second flower from the bouquet and present it to her.

A small detail: Add a splash of color

Make an impact by injecting a splash of color into our big day. Vibrant bags, lively baubles and sky-high heels add pop to an all-white setting.

A small detail: Give your guests an itinerary

After receiving an R.S.V.P. send the guest a beautifully designed itinerary for the weekend. Be sure to include times, locations, who is hosting, what to wear, etc. Tell them about any free time and make suggestions on how to fill it. Send the link for your wedding website too.

A small detail: Share your family tree

Have a calligrapher write out your combined family tree, stretching back to great-grandparents with the bride and groom joined at the very bottom and include the wedding date. Have it matted and framed and display it at your wedding ceremony or reception.

A small detail: Just in case it rains

Arrange to have a few baskets of umbrellas near the entrance/exit of your venue.

A small detail: Midnight snack

Have the caterer save a couple slices for us and wrap them up for us to take with us to the hotel as a late night snack.

A small detail: Magnificent cakes

Cake delivery takes lots of coordination. Complex cakes may not be delivered in their final form so make sure you allow enough time and space for assembly. Refrigeration might also be required. 

A small detail: Love your little ones

If inviting little ones ask them to bring plus one in form of cuddly toy. Arrange for a toy table with some spare place cards where they can write who is joining them.

A small detail: Close the bar momentarily

Consider closing the bar during the seated dinner portion and serve only wine and soft drinks. You can save as much as two drinks per person by opting for a no service dinner.

A small detail: Save money when ordering your cake

Order a small cake that is perfectly decorated but can only feed a handful of your guests plus several sheet cakes of the same flavor that you can use to feed your guests. Stay away from tiers, handmade sugar flowers, and specially molded shapes. Garnish with seasonal flowers and fruit for an elegant, but less expensive effect. If you'll have a dessert table or candy buffet in addition to the cake, consider ordering a cake to feed half your guests.

A small detail: Thank your guests

If you are having an intimate reception leave a handwritten note at each place setting. Thank them for being there for your big day. Your guests will really appreciate the sentiment.

A small detail: Heirlooms

For a wonderful heirloom, have your names engraved on a sterling cake knife. It can be passed on to siblings, children and grandchildren, all adding their names when they use it as their "something borrowed or something old."

A small detail: Use your dress for cake inspiration

Take a piece of fabric from your dress or a picture of it to share with your bakery for inspiration when making cake. He or she can pull out details from your dress and use them in your cake.

A small detail: Hire a seamstress

Consider hiring an independent tailor to alter your dress. Their fees are usually cheaper than using a bridal boutique.

A small detail: Display your bridesmaid bouquets

After the ceremony and photos the bridesmaid's bouquets often get tossed on a table and forgotten. How about showcasing the flowers for your guests to enjoy? Display some empty vases on the wedding party table that the bridesmaids can use for their bouquets. *Photo courtesy of DIY Wedding Supplies.

A small detail: Have ample writing utensils

Make sure you have more than one pen in case one runs out of ink. If you're planning a large ceremony with more than 300 guests you should have two books to help alleviate guests standing in line.*Photo courtesy of Bridal Wedding Hangers

A small detail: Keep some bubbly

Keep at least one bottle of champagne (or wine) from your wedding reception to open on your one year anniversary. You can even drink it in your personalized flutes with your one year old wedding cake for dessert. *Photo courtesy of Champagne for weddings

A small detail: Light candles

Don't forget to pack your unity candle so you can re-light them every anniversary. Some couples use them for their anniversary dinner. *Photo courtesy of Kirsten Kuehn

A small detail: Pack some snacks

Make sure you have some delicious snacks in your hotel room for after your reception. Most couples forget to eat and are starving when they make it back to their room. 

A small detail: Returning the tux

Ask the best man to drop off the groom's tux after the wedding.You'll have to make sure you get the tux to the best man before you leave for your honeymoon.

A small detail: If you ever break a dish

If you ever break a plate, lose a fork or just want the gravy boat that you forgot to register for and find your pattern check out Replacements LTD. Replacements can track down over 200,000 patterns.

12 Bridal shower activites to try

One of my favorite pre-wedding celebrations is the bridal shower. Here are some unique ideas to try for your next bridal shower.

1. Wisdom of others: There is a company that makes personalized books filled with advice, wisdom or quotes from family and friends. It seems pretty easy to make. You can set-up the book and invite others to contribute to it. Prices range from $10 to $50. www.thewisdomofothers.com.

2. Recipe for love: Pass out wooden spoons and sharpies and ask guests to write down ingredients to a happy marriage. Put them in a utensil holder.

3. Memory lane: Have each guest write down their favorite memory of the bride, the groom or the couple. From childhood memories to milestone moments each card should reflect that bond that each guest has with the couple. Put them in a photo album. 

4. Advice book: Give each guest a pretty notecard and ask them to give the bride advice for the wedding and her marriage. Or, purchase a pretty journal and have each guests write in it.

5. Happy wishes: Give each guest a blank index card and an envelope that has the name of an event, holiday or milestone written on the outside like wedding night, first anniversary, first fight, etc. Each guest will write a useful piece of advice about the occasion on the index card. Give them to the bride to open later.

6. Write the vows: Pass around a sheet of paper that starts with I Emma take you Steve and vow to… Each guest will add a funny line to the sheet, cover their sentence when finished and then pass it to the next person. Once every guest has had a chance to add to the vows, the bride will read them out loud.

7. A quilt for the bride: Set up a table with squares of fabric with shades that match Emma’s living room and fabric pens. Ask each guest to write her initials and a short message on the square. After the shower, a friend or family member can show the squares together into a quilt.

9. Datebook for the bride: Fill a bowl with cards with each of the twelve months after the wedding on the back write an idea for an outing with the bride like meet for lunch, grab drinks, get a pedicure together, etc. Each guest picks a card and writes her name on it. Arrange the cards by month into a booklet so the bride has year’s worth of dates with all the important women in her life.

10. Scrapbook for the bride: Ask each guest to bring a small item that have some significance to the relationship to the bride like photos, ticket stubs, cutouts from magazines, etc. Set up a craft station with an expandable scrapbook, scissors, glue sticks, double-sided tape, stickers, glitter, pens, markers, and other supplies. During the shower, guests can take turns designing their pages to be added to a scrapbook for the bride.

11. Recipe share: Ask each guest to email a recipe card and a note. Put all the recipes together and create a cookbook.

12. Can of dates: Have each guest write down an idea for a date on a piece of paper. Put them in a decorated canister that says can of dates. The bride and groom can pull from them during their first year as newlyweds.

*Photo courtesy of Green Weddings.

A small detail: Number your RSVP cards

You might have guests who will neglect to write their names or who write illegibly on your response cards. Solve this problem by numbering your guest list, then inconspicuously writing the corresponding number on the back of each response card.

A small detail: Thank your party host

Send flowers to their home before the event and follow-up with a thank you note to anyone who hosted a party for you. It's a really nice gesture on your part to thank them for their time and energy hosting a party in your honor. *Photo courtesy of 1800 Flowers.

A small detail: Bring distractions

Have decks of cards, scrabble or wedding bingo to help occupy the bridesmaids while they are waiting for their turn at the mirror.

*Photo courtesy of: KreativeCupcake

A small detail: Old family photos

Display your parents and grandparents wedding pictures on an entry table, creating a sense of history at your wedding and honoring them at the same time. Photos should be in black and white and you should include their names and wedding date. *Photo courtesy of Spott Box.

A small detail: Celebrate with some bubbly

Have a bottle of champagne waiting for you in your chauffeured getaway car. What better way to toast to your new marriage than by clinking flutes of bubbly on the way to your hotel room?

A small detail: Video confessional

Set up a "video confessional booth" at your cocktail hour that allow your guests to deliver a personal message to you. After the wedding the editors can cut and polish the raw footage to make a video guestbook chapter on your wedding DVD.

A small detail: Thank wedding task master

Send anyone that helps with tasks during your wedding preparation (cutting the cake, tending the guest book, etc.) a postcard from your honeymoon. Let them know how much you appreciated their help and how you can't wait to recap the details of your wedding and honeymoon with them. *Photo courtesy of Zazzle.