By: Stephanie_Larkin

The flower girl plays a very important role in your wedding. As she precedes you down the aisle, she scatters beautiful flowers (that you have carefully chosen) towards the alter where you will meet the man of your dreams. Not everyone has a flower girl in their bridal party, but if you choose to use one it is a wonderful way to get the younger members of your family involved in one of the most memorable days of your life.

The Flower Girl’s Role

Historically speaking, little boys and little girls would slowly walk ahead of the bride as they sprinkled a mixture of grains, fragrant herbs, and flowers in her path. The herb and grain mixture represented the hopes for the bride’s fertility, and the future prosperity of the bride and groom. The flowers, which have evolved as more of a modern tradition, symbolize good luck wished upon the bride and groom.

As time progressed, the role of the flower girl has changed a bit. These days, the flower girl position is saved for mostly little girls while young boys now assume the role of the ring bearer or page boy. Flower girls are typically aged between five and ten years old. While many choose to have one flower girl, some larger weddings can opt for using several flower girls.

As stated before, in a modern wedding, the flower girl usually walks up the aisle ahead of the bride. She may carry a basket of rose petals which she scatters in the bride’s path, or alternatively may simply carry a bouquet or basket of flowers.

The Flower Girl’s Dress and Accessories

Choosing your flower girl’s dress and accessories can be a fun experience for both you and your flower girl. You may wish to have your flower girl “help” you choose the dress, to make the process a little more exciting for her. If your flower girl feels as though she has helped to choose what she will wear on the big day, she will be much more likely to feel comfortable and happy in the garment.

When shopping for the flower girl gown, try to choose fabrics that are not itchy and irritating for their skin and try to choose accessories that will not cause a distraction for your young flower girl. The fabric and fit of the dress should be comfortable and easy to wear. For a very young flower girl, it is probably a good idea to choose a slightly shorter dress to make sure she will not trip on the hemline during the ceremony.

It is very important to consider specific shoe and hair options for your flower girl. Just as with the dress, comfort and ease of wearing should be very important during consideration. Her shoes should be extremely comfortable and ones that she will enjoy wearing. Ideally, you should allow your flower girl to wear the shoes a few times before the wedding, so she can get used to the way they feel.

Tips to Help your Flower Girl enjoy Her Part in the Wedding

Your flower girl is usually aged ten or below, and for a young child, attending a wedding and playing a part in the wedding ceremony, is both exciting and overwhelming. Here are some tips on making the flower girl’s role more enjoyable for her.

• Choose two or three flower girls. Being able to walk together down the aisle will boost the confidence of all the girls, and having several flower girls definitely increases the cuteness factor as well!
• It is best if your flower girl is at least four or five years old. Any younger than this and she may be too confused or intimidated to enjoy the day.
• Consider buying her a picture book about being a flower girl. Read her the book and then ask her if she would like to be your flower girl! This can be a lovely bonding experience and a great way of helping your flower girl understand her role. “The Little Flower Girl” by Linda Trace Brandon is an excellent choice for this, as well as “Emily is a Flower Girl” by Claire Masurel.
• Ask one of your bridesmaids to be the flower girl’s “buddy.” The buddy can make sure your flower girl uses the restroom before the ceremony begins, and can provide help if there are any last minute dress adjustments, or if your flower girl suddenly has an attack of the jitters.
• Give your flower girl plenty of opportunities to practice her role, so that she can be as relaxed and calm as possible on the wedding day.
• Try not to put too much pressure on your flower girl to get everything perfect. After all, if your flower girl runs up the aisle instead of walking, or throws out all her petals at the beginning of the aisle, your guests will only think it’s cute!

Article Source: http://articles-mart.com

Stephanie Larkin is a freelance writer who writes about event planning, at times talking about specific aspects of events such as flower girl dresses.

Wedding poems make terrific gifts at bridal showers. There are so many things you can do with them. They can be used to create scrolls and then tied with your favorite wedding flowers. You can use them on table markers and place mats. You can even create little books with all the poems you intend to use for your wedding and give them to your bridesmaids. There are many other uses for wedding poems, a lot of brides include them in their wedding invitations. You can even make up bridal shower games using wedding poems.

Wedding poems can also be spoken aloud at your ceremony. If you would like to give a toast, wedding poems and love poems make perfect comments to entertain your guests. You can ask someone to do a couple of poetry readings before dining with your wedding party. Another good idea is to use them for your wedding vows. You do not necessarily have to use them word for word. If you are looking for the perfect thing to say in your wedding vows they can give you lots of good ideas. While you are at it, look at a few wedding sayings as well. The good news is that we live in the information age and everything we could ever want to say is right at our fingertips. An online search will give you lots of links for free poems. You can copy them and use them as you please for your wedding or bridal shower. Spend some time going through some of the famous wedding poems and I’ll bet you will come up with the perfect thing to say.

To get started, Elizabeth Barrett Browning was probably the most famous writer of love poetry of all time. There is also another very famous wedding poem written by Robert Graves called A slice Of Wedding Cake. All wedding poems don’t necessarily have to be romantic love poems. Good humor is always a hit at a wedding. There is even an online wedding poem game for the digital bridesmaids party. There are many kinds of wedding poems and sayings. I’ve seen everything from Superbowl wife poems to baby daddy poems, just have fun with it. If you spend a bit of time going through several different poems and wedding sayings, you will be sure to eventually find that perfect statement to fit you and your new spouse. Just remember to keep it nice, weddings are a time for rejoicing.

When you begin the preparation for your wedding invitations, you should consider that the theme of the wedding should match the invitations. If you are planning to have a formal wedding, by all means have them done professionally. When choosing how you want them to be made, look for a card stock that suits your wedding. For instance a lot of wedding couples want a big formal wedding with lots of guests, flowers and only the finest food and champagne. In this case, you would want large invitations made from the finest durable paper, printed in an elegant formal font. You would want to include the directions to the wedding with parking vouchers and anything else that is necessary for your guests to show up in style. If the wedding is formal but not there are not so many guests, you would still want formal invitations but you can have the printing company make them in a smaller size.

When you are having a smaller wedding, one in which you are only planning to invite family and friends, then you can go for wedding invitations that are a little less formal as well. When picking your invitations for a semi formal wedding such as this, you will have many more options. Buying pre-made invitation cards is perfectly acceptable in this case. You can still have them professionally printed if you prefer a more finished look. If you decide that you want to, you can also write them out yourself. Another option is to have your bridesmaids help you write them with you. After all they are there to help and support you. When writing out your own invitations, there are four things you must remember to put on them. They are the names of the bride and groom, what type of wedding it is, the date and time of the wedding and reception, and where the ceremony and reception will be held. Cards for this type of wedding ceremony can also be made by hand as long as they look clean and presentable. You don’t want wedding invitations that look like they were made with color crayons and glue pens for a semi-formal wedding. The idea is to keep the invitations in the theme of the wedding.

Non-formal wedding invitations are probably the least common. Even though they might seem as though they would be the easiest to make, that is not always the case. They are often made by hand to fit a particular theme such as a hobby or a favorite team enjoyed together by the wedding couple. This type of wedding invitation takes some creativity and artistic talent. It is sometimes possible to have an invitation of this type printed for you at a local office supply or party supply store. You will want to put some thought into the design and font type you want on the wedding invitations.

On your wedding day, you want to look as beautiful as you possibly can. Choosing the right hair style can bring your entire ensemble together in perfect harmony. The traditional wedding hairstyle is the up-do with lots of curls on top. Many brides love the traditional beauty of this style. However, there are a lot of brides prefer a looser, more up-to-date hair style these days. When you consider all the different types of wedding gowns available for brides to be, it makes sense that there should be just as many hairstyles to accent them. A hairstyle should first and foremost, always highlight the best features of your face. Your hairstyle should make you as beautiful as possible. After all you want to have beautiful wedding photographs to cherish for years to come.

Short curls all around to frame your face can add a very classy look to your appearance. If you wear your hair in the same fashion but with longer curls you create a softer, more romantic look. If your dress has a low back line, then you may want to wear the longer curls going down your back. The shorter up-dos are perfect for wedding gowns with higher necklines. They are also perfect if you are wearing an heirloom diamond necklace. Another beautiful hairstyle for a bride with long hair is a perfectly woven French braid with tiny flowers all through it. This type of look is perfect for an outdoor spring wedding. If you are planning to wear a simple satin gown, you may want to go with a softer, more elegant look and put your hair up in a sweeping style rather than curls. Tiaras go great with almost any hairstyle that is pulled up on top. If you want to pull your hair back for a sleeker, smoother hairstyle, it would look better with a decorative hair tie or a bow. When choosing hair ornaments, keep in mind the style of your gown and jewelry, you want everything to blend in perfect balance.

Here is a secret to getting a perfect wedding hairstyle. Go to a salon a couple of times during the year before your wedding and have your hair done in a style you think you might like. Be sure to go out often after having it done to see how people react to it. If it truly looks fabulous on you, your friends won’t be able to resist commenting on how good it looks.

The bouquet at a wedding says a lot about the bride. History tells us that the first brides flowers were actually not flowers at all. They were strands of herbs made into garlands. The different herbs each had their own special meaning, just as the wedding flowers of today do. The traditional Ivory roses with a hint of green stand for marriage devotion. That is why ivory roses are so popular among new brides.

Wedding Bouquets were first used in Hollywood by movie stars. These beautiful majestic flower designs, created by the artists of the stars were the envy of all new brides. It wasn’t long until the wedding bouquet caught on and became a necessary element of almost every new brides attire. Now wedding bouquets are seen at nearly every wedding. Garlands are still used at weddings but now they are used more for decoration. They are noted as being part of a long held tradition and still play a part in the ceremony. The wedding bouquets we see today are not only chosen to represent the meanings of the flowers. They are also chosen to match the favorite colors of the bride. Roses of every color are  very popular flowers for wedding bouquets because they symbolize love and affection. It is common to see the bouquet picked to match the dress worn by the bridesmaids. Since roses come in so many colors, it is easy to see why they are a popular choice.

Wedding Bouquets are also an intricate part of the wedding ceremony. The tossing of the wedding bouquet is intended to be a symbol of the bride going from an unmarried woman to a married bride. The bouquet is then tossed to the other women in the bridal party. The next woman to be married is indicated by whom ever catches it. This tradition has been changed over time as well. In past times, the bride would toss her garter to the men. That tradition was eventually taken over by the groom. When wedding bouquets came on the scene the bride would hand the bouquet to her best friend at the wedding, the toss came later. The tradition of handing the bouquet to someone is still an acceptable practice. If you were to decided that you want someone to have it, then giving it to them would be perfectly acceptable. The wedding bouquet you choose should be chosen wisely, and the criteria for choosing it,  should be decided entirely by those traditions you choose to uphold.