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5 Essential Things For The Father of the Bride

August 20th, 2010 | Posted by The Wedding Community in Articles | Guest Articles - (0 Comments)

There seems to be a general feeling that the Father of the Bride is often the forgotten man of the wedding planning process. The feeling is that you’re probably experienced enough to cope with the nerves and tough enough to cope with the emotions. But that’s why we often end up feeling sorry for the FOTB (you’ve even got the worst wedding acronym for crying out loud) and decided to round-up some essential advice for all the dads out there prior to the big day.

  1. Deal With The Nerves Before They Ruin It
    It’s perfectly natural and acceptable for you to feel nervous. Nerves about the ceremony and speeches are in the top three subjects that fill the Staggered inbox. Fortunately, both can be cured with some simple preparation. Write and practice your speech at least a month in advance of the big day and do everything you can to make it to the church rehearsal as this will give you an idea of where to stand and when.
  2. Speeches Are Easy When You Prepare
    You can find way more information on Staggered about wedding speeches but this is it in a nutshell. Between 5 and 8 minutes, less is more, stand straight, don’t mumble and speak from the heart. Always write your speech in full (never “wing it”), because even if you don’t use it you’ve always got it in case you need it. Give a copy to your daughter for the wedding memory box. The Father of the Bride welcomes the guests, sets the tempo, welcomes his new family members and talks about his daughter without embarrassing her!
  3. It Will Be Emotional – Get Ready
    Blokes and emotions are never a good mix, for the simple reason that we’re often a bit slower at dealing with them and how they affect us. Take some time before the wedding to talk to your daughter about the wedding and what she means to you. Too many men think they’ll come out with the perfect speech in the car on the way to the church and end up feeling that they never quite explained how they feel – or worse: end up at the church a sobbing mess!
  4. How To Deal With The Money
    The good news is that this generation are getting married later, the bad news being that they’re living with their parents longer. As a result more of them are paying for their own wedding. If you’re still footing the bill and you find that the wedding is placing too much of a burden on your finances then make it clear that costs need to be cut. Everyone wants a perfect wedding, but no one wants that to come at the expense of a stressed dad. Also there are thousands of resources out there on how to get a champagne wedding on beer prices, use them!
  5. Plan Your Advice
    As with the emotions, this is another topic that should be tackled in advance of the big day. It’s tradition that you pass on some advice – whether that’s in your speech or just in passing. This is a big thing both for the bride and the groom and many people remember for their whole lives what was said to them at this point. So make it wise, make it original and make it something personal. Think about your marriage: what have you learned? What can you say that will improve these young people’s chance of happiness? But remember, no pressure…


www.iamstaggered.com is the UK’s leading men’s wedding website.

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Top Tips for the Morning of Your Wedding

July 16th, 2010 | Posted by The Wedding Community in Articles | Guest Articles - (0 Comments)

Julie Dawson, The Wedding Genie, shares her top tips for the morning of your wedding.

The wedding you have planned and dreamed of for probably the last year or even more is here. You may be excited, happy, nervous and scared all at the same time, the big question I am often asked is  – “What is the first thing a bride should do when she wakes up on the morning of her wedding? “

Here is a simple list to help you focus on what’s important on one of the biggest days of your life.

Smile! It’s your big day!

Have breakfast -

Something light perhaps cereal and fruit. Try not to miss eating because you are nervous, you will feel even more jittery if you are starving and as the day goes on you will have less time to eat. Make sure you have some nibbles in the room where you are getting ready. If you really can’t face anything, put one of those power snacks in your bag to give you a boost when you need it.

Don’t go to the window and panic about the weather -

Our English weather changes so fast in a few hours it will probably be lovely for your ceremony, so just get on and enjoy your preparation. You can’t do anything about it and you will have put a plan in place anyway for bad weather.

Trust your wedding team and make sure they have the heads up of the day’s timings -

Many brides are stressed because of the list of things that have to be done and checked on the day. Make sure you have planned well beforehand. Give that list to your chief bridesmaid, or whoever is your key helper. Make a time plan for the day so that everyone knows what is happening and when, and give your bridal team a copy. Remember you chose them because you can trust them and they are your support system.

It’s your job to look and feel gorgeous -

Give yourself plenty of time to be pampered. Getting hair and makeup done takes longer than you think and you should have time to enjoy it too!!

Make sure you have your little bag of essentials -

For each bride that might be different, but your favourite lipstick or lip-gloss for touching up is one that should be in there, a miniature perfume if you want to freshen up as the days goes on and Tissues, you will cry at some point. Blotting tissues if the weather is hot and you want to avoid shine on your wedding photos. If you don’t want to use a bag then make sure a bridesmaid has those things for you in their bag. Extra things you should have close by, to keep in the car or your room are an emergency sewing kit, spare tights/stockings, clear polish for runs in tights and safety pins. If you wear contact lenses make sure you have a spare pair.

It is a good idea to have worn those new wedding shoes -

You should wear your wedding shoes for a few hours beforehand to break them in. There is nothing worse than having sore feet. You can even have a spare pair for after the ceremony just in case they do start to rub. Clear blister plasters are a godsend and really do work.

Take time to enjoy the details of your day -

Go and have a look at the tables and decoration before anyone else. You have spent months planning these details, so take them all in before your guests are seated.

Remember today is all about you and your life partner -

Just take a few minutes to think about how much you love your husband-to-be and why you are meant to be together. It will make you smile as you walk down the aisle.

Don’t panic -

whatever is not done now probably won’t matter and no one will notice.

Enjoy every single moment of your day -

It is true, all brides will tell you the hours just speed by.

If you hired a wedding coordinator for the day roll over in bed, smile…

and begin the pampering in total comfort and enjoyment.

One last thing, your wedding will be fantastic because weddings just are. They are all about you and your family and friends; no one will notice the little mishaps that may occur. If the weather is not as you wished, a good photographer will make sure you have the best pictures and there is always time to pop out when the sun comes out.

Written by Julie Dawson, The Wedding Genie, read more on The Wedding Genie blog.

Images Courtesy of Emily Quinton Photography

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Wedding Acronyms

July 15th, 2010 | Posted by The Wedding Community in Articles | Guest Articles - (0 Comments)

Who has time to actually say things in full these days? For instance I could have shaved off at least ten seconds of work time by starting this post WHTTASTIFTD? And who’s to say that would have been wrong?

Weddings are a breeding ground for shorthand and acronyms but unfortunately, the normal ones don’t go anything like far enough, so the Staggered crack writing team have added a few to the pot in the hope they will be adopted by wedding forums across the globe, thus saving you and your W2B (Wife To Be – you see how this works?) precious microseconds: time, it’s our gift to you.

ACTUAL WEDDING ACRONYMS

H2B – Husband To Be
B2B – Bride To Be
BM – Best Man
FOB/FOTB – Father Of The Bride
MOB/MOTB – Mother Of The Bride
DFH – Darling (or Dear) Future Husband
MOH – Maid of Honour/Honor
NWR – Not Wedding Related
HM – Honeymoon
HTH – Hope That Helps
STD…Save The Date (e.g. “Darling, have you sent out our STD to all our friends and relatives?”)

STAGGERED’S GENERAL ALL-PURPOSE NEW WEDDING ACRONYMS

SW…Shotgun Wedding
UPS…Unwanted Present Smile
OMG…Obligatory Mental Guest
FML…Forgot My Lapel-flower
FYI…Forgot Your Invitation
DNW…Divorce Next Week
SNOB…Seated Near the Open Bar
TARDIS…Girlfriend’s Handbag
WHEREFORE…Would’ve Heard Earnest Reading from Ecclesiastes but Football On Radio went into Extra time
BOG…Bride Or Groom
WTF…Weddings Tire Feet
MASH…Mime As they Sing the Hymns
RSVP…Reasonably Safe Voucher Present
NSFW…Never Say you’ll Film the Wedding
LGBT…Loitering Guests by the Buffet Table
TMWRNJ…Tomorrow Morning We Return that Non-essential Juicer
DATBIT…Distract her As The Bouquet Is Thrown
SPECTRE…Seating Plan Encouraging Conflict ‘Twixt Relatives for Entertainment
QUANGO…Quietly Announcing you Need to Go (at the end of the night, not just when you need the toilet.)

Article by Andrew Shanahan of I am Staggered

Staggered isn’t just about wedding acronyms. There’s loads of proposal ideas, stag do ideas and mens wedding suits too. Stop by and say hi if you’re passing.

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Picking Your Best Man

July 7th, 2010 | Posted by The Wedding Community in Articles | Guest Articles - (0 Comments)

One of the few wedding jobs going that is emphatically the groom’s responsibility is choosing the best man. Now that doesn’t mean that certain people *cough* the bride-to-be *cough* might not offer an opinion or two on who it should be, but they ultimately know that the best man is as serious as male friendships get and therefore they should back the heck off. We’re not going to join the roster of people queuing up to tell you who to pick, but we do have some advice.

Pick with your heart, not your head

What the bride wants is for you to pick someone who won’t take you to a strip club on your stag do. She wants you to pick someone who will say disarmingly charming things during his speech. She wants someone who looks good in a suit and won’t spend the reception at the bar chanting: “CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!” with their pants on their head. In essence, the bride wants you to pick your grandmother. The guy you’re thinking of choosing might fit the above description, or they may be a rogue of the first water. Just remember that you’re picking your best man on the qualities of deep friendship, of shared experiences and, damn it all – on love. Go with your heart.

Don’t pick a woman

You’re angry aren’t you? You’re thinking – “How dare they, women can be just as much a best friend to a man as a man can.” Well, that’s a debate for another time (as is the old When Harry Met Sally men can’t be friends with women because sex gets in the way discussion. However, the reason you can’t pick a woman is simple: the bride. No matter how ugly your female friend is and how Platonic the friendship, there will always be a part of the bride burning with jealousy that another woman is a closer friend to you than she can be. And you’re going to make her feel like that on her wedding day. Bite the bullet and ditch the gal pal.

Don’t pick two best men

The two best men scenario is just wrong. The speeches go on forever, the stag dos are a planning nightmare and the photos look weird. All of this just because you can’t admit to your best friends that you like one more than the other. You are not six-years-old. If you cannot tell your adult male friends that you want one to be a best man and one to be the usher without the dissolution of your holy friendship trinity then there’s something wrong. Grow a backbone and choose.

Don’t pick a dog

That’s even worse than picking two best men. If your best friend is a dog then you need therapy.

You can’t say no

It’s weird but we get *a lot* of best men emailing us who are struggling with their speech because they know practically nothing about the groom. We should probably be explaining that you can sensitively say no to a bloke if he asks you to be his best man, but you can’t really, can you? If someone asks you to be a best man, you pretty much have to take the role. You’d just have to do it and be the best man you possibly could be.

So who are you going to pick?

Article by Andrew Shanahan of I am Staggered

Staggered is the UK’s leading men’s wedding website. At his wedding the editor had four female Alsatian dogs as his best men. None of them wanted to take the role but they all felt it was better to do it and not say anything.

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Five Easy Stag Fancy Dress Ideas

June 30th, 2010 | Posted by The Wedding Community in Articles | Guest Articles - (0 Comments)

Something weird happens to blokes when you get a group of them together for an event, such as a stag-do. It usually only takes about four beers before someone will suggest that rather than just meeting up, having a drink and a chat and then going home, that the whole thing would go better if they wore weird costumes. Stag fancy dress is one of the more extreme examples of this, with guys going to great lengths to make sure they stick out. What if you can’t be bothered though and want a simple solution? Here are five lightning quick costumes.

  1. Ninjas
    Granted it might be a bit of an issue when you combine a group of blokes with beer and an incentive to practice amateur martial arts, but if you fancy living on the wild side, then this article shows you how to create an amazing ninja look, then all you need is a pair of black pyjamas and you’re set.
  2. Moustaches
    This one is actually a brilliant way of breaking the ice on a stag-do. You might get a bit of complaining from the people who have real jobs, but generally speaking you should be ok. There’s not even a costume to wear – all you have to do is grow a moustache for a month before the do, then on the night you sport the most magnificent ‘tache you can muster. Bristly!
  3. Mummies
    The one your mum always used to pull out of the bag for last minute parties. You get a load of bandages and wrap them around yourself. Bonus points for going naked underneath. It’s so simple, but it can all go horribly wrong so make sure any smokers in your group keep the lighters under control.
  4. Borat
    Yes it’s a cliché, yes it’s been done a thousand times before, but twinned with a nice sensible pair of socks and brogues, there’s still something hilarious about squeezing the groom into one of the iconic lime green mankinis. Do it as a group effort and you’ll be the talk of the town.
  5. Nuns
    Not so hilarious when you do this abroad in a staunch Catholic country, but men dressed as nuns has been fuelling the British comedy industry for decades and it’s not going to stop being funny now. Have a look at this for some simple instructions, just don’t get into the habit of it. Like a nun’s habit, you see? It’s a joke. Ok.

Article by Andrew Shanahan of I am Staggered

Staggered isn’t just about stag night fancy dress you know. There’s loads of proposal ideas and mens wedding suits too. Stop by and say hi if you’re passing.

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Geeky Proposal Ideas

June 25th, 2010 | Posted by The Wedding Community in Articles | Guest Articles - (1 Comments)

Geeks. They’re everywhere these days. There used to be a time where the only place you could find a geek was at the bottom of a climbing rope, whimpering about how they couldn’t climb because they have sensitive skin on their hands. These days you’re far more likely to find a geek in the office with the sign on the door that says, “Manager”. It’s like the Bible predicted: the geeks will inherit the earth. This explosion of geeks – or geeklosion if you prefer – has had some far-reaching effects on proposal ideas which we think our top three nerdiest proposals proves.

#3 Top Geek Proposal Idea – Lolcats

We’ve all enjoyed playing at Lolcats – the viral phenomenon where you write a marginally amusing caption over a picture of a cat and send it to the six friends who still open your emails – but not many of us would have turned our proposal into a Lolcat. That said, not many of us are Jon and Loretta – or indeed their cat.

#2 Back To The Future Edited (Badly)

So you love a woman enough to decide that you want to propose. The real question is – how do you ask her to marry you? Traditionalists would say that you should go down on one knee. Corey Goldfeder would say that you should edit footage of yourself proposing into the classic film Back To The Future and then arrange a screening of your edited film at the local cinema. Who’s to say Corey’s not wrong?

#1 Re-write An Entire Video Game

This one has to top the charts because not only does it include a classic SNES game (Chrono Trigger for anyone who was wondering) but this bloke wrote an entire new level which charted the course of his relationship with his girlfriend and culminated with a proposal by the end of level baddie. That’s bordering on weird, but still, y’know, lovely.

Article by Andrew Shanahan of I am Staggered

Heard of any crazier or geekier proposal ideas? Let Staggered know! Drop us an email to info@iamstaggered.com or stick it in the comments…

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A Guide to Teeth-Whitening

June 18th, 2010 | Posted by The Wedding Community in Articles | Guest Articles - (1 Comments)

It’s all well and good for the Americans to poke fun at our standard of dentistry, but when you clap eyes on some of the ultra-bright gnashers they display you wonder whether you wouldn’t sometimes prefer the occasional snaggle-tooth. Ok, maybe not. There’s one thing that we can all agree on though and that’s that stained teeth are a bit grim. If you’re sorting your teeth before your wedding here’s a quick guide to some of the ways you can get pearly whites.

Whitening toothpaste

WHERE: At home
COST: A few quid
TIME: Long term
METHOD: It’s as easy as brushing your teeth.
EFFECT: Subtle. It’s just your regular toothpaste but with added chemicals, abrasives and polishing agents, so it provides extra stain removal but won’t actually change the natural colour of your teeth. Even the most effective toothpastes will only lighten teeth by one shade on the chart, so it’s not the option for a quick, pre-wedding fix.
RISKS: Products that include pumice may cause damage to the enamel.

Whitening gel

WHERE: At home
COST: £20ish
TIME: Two weeks
METHOD: A gel applied twice a day directly to the teeth. The magic ingredient peroxide ensures decent results.
EFFECT: More noticeable than the toothpaste thanks to the peroxide. Yay peroxide! It is a bit poisonous though. Boo peroxide.
RISKS: Gum irritation. Unsupervised dental fiddling. You wouldn’t do your own fillings, would you?

Whitening strips

WHERE: At home
COST: £30ish
TIME: Two weeks
METHOD: Similar to the gel, but more convenient. These thin strips coated with a whitening gel are applied twice daily for 30 minutes a time.
EFFECT: You’ll see results within a few days, and the whitening effect lasts for around four months. Perfect for a pre-wedding pick me up, because she’s stuck with you when your pegs go yellow again.
RISKS: As with the gel.

Tray-based whitening

WHERE: At home
COST: Around £90
TIME: Up to four weeks
METHOD: A plastic tray is filled with a whitening solution and fitted around the teeth for a couple of hours a day or overnight.
EFFECT: Pretty good, but still not approaching a professional finish due to restrictions on the chemicals involved in the UK. Kits bought from outside the UK may contain nasties like acids and be aware that if the tray is an ill fit, results may be patchy.
RISKS: The tray won’t be fitted especially for your teeth, so there may be some discomfort. Risk of gum irritation, gum discolouration, blistering in the mouth and sensitive teeth. To minimise the risk, look for the British Dental Health Foundation approved logo on the product.

Professional bleaching

COST: £400
TIME: Up to four weeks
METHOD: Tray-based as above, but less risky. The tray will be made specially from an impression of your teeth and a protective gel or guard will be provided to protect the gums.
EFFECT: Hollywood white. The dentist will be able to use a more powerful bleaching agent for better results.
RISKS: Minimal, thanks to the involvement of the professionals.

Power whitening

COST: £700
TIME: One hour! It’s the quick fix option.
METHOD: A rubber dam is put over the gums, gel is painted on the teeth and lasers are shone on the teeth to activate the chemical. It’s like Star Wars IN YOUR MOUTH!
EFFECT: Hello Simon Cowell! No, stop, please, I’m going snow-blind. In dentist’s terms, it’s up to five or six shades lighter.
RISKS: Sensitive teeth, sore throat, white patches on gums, blinding your bride with your teeth.

Article by Andrew Shanahan of I am Staggered

Staggered is the UK’s leading men’s wedding website and the perfect place to find proposal ideas, stag do pranks and  stag do ideas, mens wedding suits and wedding speeches. We can even tell you about how to shave.

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What Terrifies Men About Weddings

June 10th, 2010 | Posted by The Wedding Community in Articles | Guest Articles - (0 Comments)

On first inspection you’d probably think a wedding would rank somewhere between, “Small girl with ice-cream” and “parcel delivery” on your average bloke’s internal list of terrifying situations to be confronted with. But when you start to break it down the Big Day contains a number of situations that rank wayyyyy higher on the Terrifying-O-Meter; perhaps even somewhere between “Rooney broken bone” and “getting things caught in zips.” So what is it that’s giving your groom, best man or father of the bride a nasty case of wedding nerves?

Walking down the aisle

Sounds stupid doesn’t it? The bride’s the one who has to do the aisle-walking dressed in the big frock and pokey shoes and yet the father of the bride is the one who’s sweating over it. Why? Well mostly because it’s his big moment. All those eyes turn towards him, he has to stick to that weird slow-walk rhythm and he knows that at the end of the aisle he has to hand his daughter over to some spotty oik he’s only met twelve times.

How to combat: Practice makes perfect on the walk and try to have the big, “You know I’ll always love you Dad” talk a month or so before, not in the car on the way to the church.

Saying his vows right

I do, just two little words that give men more problems than nearly any other. In this case though it’s not the weight of the ceremony or the pressures of commitment that petrify him, it’s the sheer bloody simplicity. Someone says the words and you just have to repeat them, that’s easy! Exactly, so you’d be really stupid if you messed them up wouldn’t you?

How to combat: Get hold of the text of the wedding ceremony you’ll be using and go through it a few weeks before. You can even practice if you like. Then it’s up to the registrar or vicar to put you at ease. Fortunately, they’re nearly all very good at their job and if you schedule in a meeting a few weeks before then they’ll help put you at ease.

Wedding speeches

This one is perhaps the most understandable. After all, writing a wedding speech is difficult enough when you consider the formalities and the etiquette you need to observe, and that’s before you factor in that it’s supposed to be eloquently emotional (the groom/father of the bride) or effortlessly entertaining (best man). Twin that with most people’s natural hatred of public speaking and you’ve got the perfect storm of fear.

How to combat: If they’re struggling to write it send them to a professional speechwriter like Burn The Toast or Great Speech Writing for help with their speeches for weddings. Alternatively, move the speeches to before the dinner, restrict everyone to toasts only or cancel them altogether.

Commitment

Ahhh, where would the romantic comedy genre be without this old trope, that secretly men fear the idea of living with a woman more than they fear sharks, fire, or sharks on fire? It’s almost unheard of for men to actually act anything like the male characters from Friends. The closest most men will ever get to the commitment question is when one of their more laddish mates says, “You know that means you can only sleep with one woman for the rest of your life?” A question that’s easy to contend with because the friend in question last had sex in 2001.

How To Combat: Ignore it. He’s bought the ring and gone down on one knee, he’s not about to flit now.

Confetti

It’s evil stuff.

How to combat: Fire.

Article by Andrew Shanahan of I am Staggered

Staggered is the UK’s leading men’s wedding website and the perfect place to find proposal ideas, stag do pranks and  stag do ideas, mens wedding suits and wedding speeches. We can even tell you about lolcat proposals.

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Top Tips for a Destination Wedding

June 9th, 2010 | Posted by The Wedding Community in Articles | Guest Articles - (0 Comments)

Michelle Pierre‐Carr from Pierre Carr, Exclusive Tropical Weddings shares her top tips for a destination wedding.

With a large majority of couples now paying for their own weddings, the decision to get married somewhere exotic with close friends and family looking on, now means that destination weddings have become increasingly popular.

According to Mintel, one in six, that’s 16% of British weddings now takes place abroad. That equates to an estimated 51,300 overseas weddings, a massive 43% increase since 2003.

By mixing great weather with high standards of service, UK couples now realise that an overseas wedding really can be the way to go. However, whilst many brides dream of a wedding abroad there are a number of reasons why many back out.

To help dispel these reasons here’s a list of tips on how to make destination weddings possible.

1. Cost

With the average wedding in the UK costing £20,000, your money can go a lot further abroad depending on the exchange rate. For example, as most Caribbean islands work in dollars, £10,000 = $30,000 Barbados dollars, which means you can get so much more and you’ll have those great sunset shots to show for it.

Tip 1: Hotels have a number of offers. If you stay in the hotel for x number of nights you can get your wedding free or if your guests stay for at least 3 nights you can get your accommodation free. So check the possibilities at your chosen venue.

Tip 2: One of the obvious ways of saving on cost with a destination wedding is to combine the wedding and honeymoon.

Tip 3: Keep travel costs down by avoiding having your wedding during Christmas, Easter or school holidays as these are the most expensive times to travel.

Tip 4: If you want amazing flowers at your wedding, to save on cost pick locally grown exotic blooms which will be far more reasonable in price rather than imported flowers such as roses, which can prove quite costly.

2. Guests’ Budget

Deciding on having a wedding abroad is always exciting for the couple but a lot of consideration has to be made for guests as they are investing more for your wedding.

Tip 1: It’s important for guests to see this as an opportunity for a holiday and not just one day ‐ your wedding. Give guests as much notice as possible so that they are able to save and book flights and hotels as early as possible.

Tip 2: Give guests a choice of accommodation around the wedding venue to fit their budget.

Tip 3: Consider having pre‐wedding drinks or arranging excursions so that guests get to know each other and have a good time in the lead up to your wedding day.

Tip 4: Put a gift bag in your guests’ rooms with details of the area, things to do, with little touches such as fans, mosquito spray and sun lotion so they know how much you appreciate them making the journey.

3. Legal Considerations

Think about where you want to get married and understand the legal requirements. How many days do you need to be in the country before you can get married? Do you need to take a blood test? What paperwork do you need?

Tip: Always check with your destination’s embassy for the exact details or hire a wedding planner to sort out the details for you.

4. Invitations

With a destination wedding, invitations need to be sent out a lot earlier than the standard 8‐12 weeks in the UK.

Tip: Get invitations out as early as possible. I suggest eight months prior to your wedding which will give guests enough time to budget for your wedding, put it in their schedule and sort out flights.

5. Choosing a destination

When deciding on your wedding destination, choose a country you love. To make sure your ceremony and reception goes to plan -

Tip 1: Pick a team/wedding planner who knows the destination, which is well worth the cost to save time and hassle.

Tip 2: Pick venues that only have one wedding a day – you want your day to be special and I don’t believe it should be shared.

6. Weather

Weather is one of the main reasons why couples choose to have a destination wedding. The Caribbean guarantees 90% good weather compared to the unpredictability of the UK.

Tip: Avoid rainy season. Best time to marry ‐ winter season through to March.

Article by Michelle Pierre-Carr, Caribbean wedding designer from Pierre-Carr, Exclusive Tropical Weddings

Image Courtesy of Ewen and Donabel, Flickr

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The Ties That Bind

June 3rd, 2010 | Posted by The Wedding Community in Articles | Guest Articles - (0 Comments)

Ties. Actually, let’s narrow things down a bit: wedding ties. Actually, I’m in a digressive mood so let’s start not with ties but with handfasting. Did you know that in different cultures (notably European and pagan cultures) the idea of marriage was represented not just with tiny Shepherds Pie canapés and exorbitantly expensive dresses but by tying the hands of the bride and groom together. Cool, huh?

Often each of the guests was asked to secure a cord around the couples’ joined hands to symbolise not just their togetherness, but the guests’ complicity in joining them together. I think that’s lovely, and just think, if you’re really angry with how much you’ve had to pay for your hotel you could tie your cord really tight, constrict the blood flow in their hands and laugh as their hands dropped off. That’ll teach them to not block book the local Travelodge. Anyway, if you’re interested, here’s a handfasting ceremony you might like to try out when you’ve got five minutes spare.

Ok, I’m done digressing. Wedding ties and specifically how to tie them is one of the things that as a groom you’ll probably not think of until the morning of the wedding. At which point knowing how to tie a cravat, or execute the perfect Four In Hand will make you the coolest Mother Hubbard in the room. So here presented via the wonder of YouTube is exactly that. By the way, if you’re stuck for ideas about wedding ties then you really need to go and see Swagger & Swoon, amazing service and a very high quality product for a bloody reasonable price.

How To Tie A Cravat

How To Tie A Windsor Knot

How To Tie A Bow Tie

One final piece of digressive trivia for you – did you know that mathematically speaking there are 85 ways to tie a tie? The mind boggles.

Article by Andrew Shanahan of I am Staggered

Have you heard of Staggered? It’s the UK’s leading men’s wedding website and the perfect place to find proposal ideas, stag do pranks and  stag do ideas, mens wedding suits and wedding speeches. We can even tell you about bacon tuxedos.

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