Themed Celebrations Reflect Individuality

Whether characterizing your personality, relationship, or venue, there are virtually unbounded theme possibilities, and the only requirement for selecting one is that it has some significance or relevance to you.

3 Common Theme-Related Decorative Elements

The decorations for your chosen theme can be simple and straightforward. The three main items typically associated with decorating are fabric, floral arrangements, and lighting. Draping of various fabrics can be used to create a scintillating background for the bridal table, and similarly designed fabric can be used for tablecloths. Flowers can be used in a variety of ways to decorate and create a feel of the elected theme. And selective use of lighting can create a mood or fastidious ambiance.

The wedding themes listed here are only a small portion of what is possible. There are limitless options, and the specific theme you choose can be embellished in accordance with the heights of your imagination. What you come up with for you and your guests can only add to the excitement of the day, and as long as it has some special meaning to you, that’s the only ingredient needed to fabricate a grand display for your ceremony and reception.

Additional Tips and Ideas

Visit the Tahoe Blog for more tips about wedding planning or our wedding locations webpage to procure ideas on where to host your event.

The cutting of the cake at the wedding reception is a tradition that goes back thousands of years. Today, the ritual of slicing and feeding the first piece to each other is still a commonly practiced custom, and the subsistence of the symbolic cake at the event is considered as a virtually essential element of inclusion by most contemporary brides and grooms. Consequently, the wedding cake designer will play an important part of your expressive event, so to ask him meticulous questions is expected and quite befitting.

Symbolic Importance Requires Cake Artist Scrutiny

Although the meaning of what the wedding cake symbolizes has changed over the years, the importance of the presence of the cake at the wedding remains the same. Therefore, scrutinizing diligently the designer of your wedding cake is prudent.

While it was once a symbol of fertility during medieval times, the wedding cake now represents the beginning of the newlywed’s married life and the commitment they have made to one another. Such significance placed upon the wedding cake allows good cause for you to be inquisitive when meeting with your baker.

Pastry Chef Queries

Following is a list of questions you may want to ask the designer:

• Do you have photos we can see of various wedding cakes that you’ve made?
• Are we able to sample the different cakes and fillings?
• For the amount of guests that we have, how big of a cake will we need?
• Do you have suggestions on how many tiers the cake should have?
• Could each tier or layer be of different flavors or fillings?
• Can you use ingredients that will meet our dietary or religious requirements?
• Can fresh flowers safely be placed on the cake?
• Would you be able to incorporate our theme into the wedding cake?
• Can you add caricatures of the bride and groom on any of your designs?
• What will be the total price of the cake?
• Is delivery and setup extra or part of the total price?

Resources

If you’re planning a wedding and want some additional tips or ideas about where to host your wedding, visit our website or give us a call to talk to one of our helpful representatives.

Whether you’re looking to have fun under the sun or in the snow, Lake Tahoe is a gorgeous year-round vacation resort that offers a profusion of things to do regardless of the season. Winter or summer, spring or fall, Tahoe is host to boundless exuberant activities, making it a genuine haven of fun for those in search of a pleasurable weekend getaway.

Tourist Attractions and Interesting Places to Visit

Tourists from around the globe are drawn to the glittering city of Lake Tahoe because of its assortment of engaging perennial attractions and abounding natural beauty. The town borders California and Nevada in the northern part of the two states and rests at an altitude of 6,200 feet amidst the grand Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Lake Tahoe is home to the world-class Heavenly Mountain Ski Resort and Edgewood Tahoe, a top rated golf course that annually hosts the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship.

Historical Sights are a Vacationer’s Delight

Sightseeing is a chief attraction for visitors who come to Tahoe, and visitation to renowned Emerald Bay is typically at the top of the list. The bay is one of the most photographed places in the world. The nearby Vikingsholm is another sightseer’s delight. It displays a fine example of Scandinavian architecture and is available for tours in summer months.

One adventure you won’t want to miss is the riverboat excursion. Tahoe harbors a paddlewheel riverboat that is a big attraction and a lot of fun for visitors. The MS Dixie departs from Zephyr Cove, a small township across the California border in Nevada.

Weddings and Honeymoons in Tahoe

Recognized as a prominent destination wedding venue, Lake Tahoe offers another exciting adventure for you to partake in if you’re promised in marriage. The wedding sites around the lake are stupendous, and with unbounded romantic activities available for newlyweds, you’ll find a Tahoe marriage to be an elating experience and a wonderful way to begin your new lives together.

Whatever you decide to do, you can expect your Tahoe endeavor to be a thrilling and enjoyable exploit with no shortage of options. In fact, a weekend getaway may not allow you enough time to completely explore all the tourist attractions of Lake Tahoe or participate in the abundance of activities it has to offer. As a result, you may find yourself planning a return visit to this dazzling city for further exploration and participation in its plethora of fun things to do.

If practicality and prudence are applied, most will find that it is not too difficult to obtain substantial savings within each of the numerous components that constitute your wedding day. Continue reading for seven ways to save.

Cost-Cutting Ideas for the Event Planner

1. Receptions are a major expense, and a majority of the outlay accrues from meals for the guests. Rather than having a plated, fully served dinner, consider a buffet style meal. Food costs are cut significantly by employing this alternative, and you will benefit from additional savings in the reduction of needed food servers because a buffet line requires less staff to manage it in contrast to full service.
2. Spring and summer allow for outdoor receptions, which means you can host a simple, outdoor barbecue to feed your guests. You’ll save a bundle here, and the ambiance emitted with this method might be more relaxing in comparison to a formal sit-down meal, perhaps allowing your guests to be a bit more unreserved. You may even draw some compliments for your originality.
3. Instead of opting for an open bar throughout the length of the reception, you may want to offer this luxury to your guests only for the cocktail hour, which generally ends just prior to dinner being served. Alternatively, you will save even more money if you eliminate the open bar altogether and make available a complementary bottle of wine for your guests, placing it on the tables for them to enjoy as they arrive at the reception.
4. Be certain not to have floral arrangements made for both the ceremony and reception. Flowers are expensive, so extend their lives by using the same arrangements made for the ceremony at the reception. Have a guest or relative transport them from the ceremony location to the reception facility once the formal photography is completed.
5. Photography is an item where quality is of utmost importance on your wedding day. However, hiring a high priced photographer does not necessarily mean you’ll receive superior quality. A photographer who has not yet earned a name may surprisingly deliver a product of equivalent or better quality than a more seasoned, branded photographer. Just be sure to check your candidate’s recent work, and if it passes your standards you’ll enjoy a comfortable savings.
6. Hiring a live band for entertainment can cost in excess of $1,000. DJ’s are trendy and can cut the price in half with no compromise to the night’s events. DJ’s can provide the same type and quality of music as a live band, from mellow background tunes during dinner to upbeat sounds for dancing.
7. If you want to save big bucks, eloping is not uncommon. Many brides and grooms find this idea attractive for various reasons, but saving money is at the top of the list. A few hours’ drive up the coast to a romantic getaway for a simple wedding may help to avoid a large amount of expenditures.

Applying a few innovative ideas in the planning stages of your wedding can result in astonishingly super discounts, discounts which can be achieved easily and without compromising the quality of your day. Though this is certainly not an exhaustive list, just following a few of these cost-saving tips can surely preclude you from spending an excess amount of money in areas where it’s unnecessary. Whether you’re a couple in which money is no object or one with frugal minds, saving a few dollars by being practical is sound thinking.

Resources

If looking for additional ways to save on your wedding day, visit our website and look into what Lake Tahoe has to offer. Visiting the beautiful and varied wedding locations around the lake and examining the economical packages we provide might be the best money-saving tip yet.

According to past surveys, the average cost of a wedding exceeds well over $20,000, and event coordinators familiar with current pricing say this figure may be considered as one that is rather conservative.

The Big Five Ways to Sizable Savings

The Reception

Beyond a doubt, the biggest single expense of your wedding day is the reception. The reception can consume anywhere from a third to over one half of your total budget. Therefore, decisions made in this area will have a large impact on overall cost.

The location selected and catered meals are two of the major expenses. A prominent tip on how to reduce costs of both is to prioritize your guest list, placing the guests that must attend your wedding toward the top of the list and others toward the bottom. Then, eliminate from the bottom upward as finances dictate.

The Engagement Ring

The engagement ring is the second of the “Big Five” expense items where you can save considerably.

The Photographer

Indisputably, the photographer can be a huge expense. Depending on the photo package chosen, decisions made here can have you spend or save thousands of dollars. Personally, having a background in photography, I can say assuredly that quality will not necessarily be compromised if you hire a professional photographer without a branded name as opposed to hiring a professional with one, so long as you research his credentials carefully and review his recent work. The end result should be a product of comparable quality with a surplus of savings.

The Wedding Gown

The adage “Beauty is on the inside!” has surpassed the test of time. However, your wedding is a once in a lifetime event and you no doubt want to do it in style.

The Honeymoon

Another major expense that’s part of the “Big Five” is the honeymoon. Common sense should guide you with this decision. Much of the outlay for the honeymoon rests upon the travel distance required to get to your chosen destination and how extravagant you want your honeymoon to be once you arrive there. A two hour drive up the coast to a nice lodge situated along the waterfront for a few days versus a week at a five star hotel in a foreign country can skew finances significantly.

Determining your priorities carefully by examining the “Big Five” wedding expense items can result in diminished overall wedding day expenditures, allowing you to save considerably on your wedding day or permit you to place emphasis on that which is more important to you. Incontestably, you certainly don’t want to compromise the quality of your special occasion, but if opportunity presents itself, why not save where you can if there are acceptable alternatives.

Resources

If you’re planning a wedding and would like to obtain additional saving ideas, view the contents of our wedding packages on our website as we provide a great deal of amenities at a very affordable price for all of our Tahoe weddings.

Who’s Fiscally Obligated to Pay for the Conjugal Affair?

When former tradition prevailed, there was much propriety about the obligatory party’s financial responsibilities. By and large, custom dictated that the bride was responsible for the majority of the constituents relating to the wedding day including announcements, the bridal gown and accessories, the bridesmaid’s attire, the reception banquet, the wedding cake, entertainment, and floral items. In essence, the father of the bride paid for the bulk of the high-priced rudiments.

In contrast, the groom was accountable for the engagement rings, expenses related to the ceremony, his outfit as well as those of his groomsmen, and several other minor necessities. Both parties, however, would share the honeymoon costs.

Antiquated Traditions Result in Negotiation

Today, there are no set rules for covering the many expenses occurred in organizing and planning a wedding and reception. With tradition not being adhered to as it once was in the past, most everything has become negotiable in both expenditures and decision making. In fact, sharing the buck has become commonplace.

The Reception Banquet: The Most Costly Expense

Although dividing the cost of all the essentials is the preferable alternative to former custom for most families nowadays, with present economy woes and financial hardships, appropriateness plays a big role and is common practice for modern day families of brides and grooms. In other words, one family may be in a better financial position than the other and, therefore, is able to contribute a disproportionate amount of money to pay for the event.

More often than not, contemporary weddings today tend to have both the bride and groom heavily involved in the financing of their own affair, with smaller contributions provided by their families. If they’re fortunate, each family will donate sizably, facilitating the planning process by contributing where needed.

General consensus typically will be that most families want to help out with expenditures. After all, it is their children’s grandest day of their lives and they surely want to play a role in it. With frankness and shrewd planning, the challenge of meeting the monetary costs of your wedding becomes a much easier task, particularly when financial commitments are clearly made by family members in regard to who will be responsible for each of the various components of your special occasion.

Additional Information

If you need help planning your upcoming wedding or would like information on affordable wedding packages, visit our website to see what Lake Tahoe has to offer.

If you’re thinking about having your wedding in Tahoe, you won’t have to look far if you’re also looking for an exciting honeymoon adventure and a place to begin your new lives together. The beauty of Lake Tahoe with its romantic setting in addition to the multitude of activities it offers that are most suitable for newlyweds is quite enticing, drawing brides and grooms from distant places to celebrate their honeymoon in Tahoe.

Destination Tahoe for a Connubial Affair

The exquisiteness that abounds with its occasional yet romantic alpenglow sunsets and the encircling Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, which is frosty white in the wintertime, create the perfect atmosphere for couples in love.

Extraordinary restaurants and cuisines are plentiful, and many of the local lodging facilities cater to those who have just been joined in matrimony. Additionally, local casinos offer plenty of nightly entertainment including piano bars, comedy acts, celebrity showroom appearances, and gaming to name a few.

Without a doubt, Lake Tahoe can provide an exhilarating honeymoon experience. Whether or not it is in the plans to have your ceremony in Tahoe, the fabulous lake can still be on the map for a honeymoon destination. For decades, Lake Tahoe has been an attraction for those aspiring marriage and a place for couples to begin their new lives together. So, when searching for that ideal location for your new beginnings, you may want to consider a Tahoe honeymoon because it truly is a newlywed’s paradise.