Wedding Question: Do I Tip My Hairdresser for the Trial Run?
June 21, 2009
I’m going to see the stylist who is doing my hair for my wedding. He’s doing a trial run so that I can see what it will look like for the big day. When I go for the wedding hair trial run, should I tip him?
photo from http://celebhairstyle.wordpress.com/2008/06/27/wedding-hairstyles/
This question also applies if you’re doing a trial run for your makeup! There are two schools of thought on this:
- Yes. Tip them because they’re doing a job that you would ordinarily tip for if it were any other day. But also tip them because you want to make sure that they do the same, great, wonderful job on your wedding day!
- No. Don’t tip them now because you’re tipping them on your wedding day! The trial run is for them to sell you on their services and if they do a great job, you’ll give them a bigger tip at the wedding.
I know, that’s not helpful. So here’s my answer: YES. Always tip. You want them to do a good job on your wedding day. You want to show that you appreciate their work. You would tip if it were your wedding day — and if you were planning to tip bigger on your wedding day because of the trial, why not make the stylist feel good (and appreciated!) by tipping them at the trial run too.
How to Get Married and Be Charitable
June 17, 2009
In the course of my blog, I have made suggestions here and there about things that you can do that will give back to the community and the globe. It turns out that there are quite a few ways that you can give back during the wedding planning process. Here’s a list… But please don’t be intimidated! Even doing one thing on the list helps….
- Go Green: See our list of 50 Green Wedding Tips that range from creating green invitations to ensuring that leftover food doesn’t get wasted. The list also includes using seasonal flowers — which, thank goodness, we just explained in another blog that details which flowers are in season when (according to the color flowers you want!).
- Ask others to give:
- If you don’t really need more STUFF in the house, ask guests to give to a charity of their choice. Here’s a list of all charities, written by the Better Business Bureau.
- Or set up a scholarship fund at the university/college/grad school you went to and have people donate to that fund. I read an article recently about a couple that met in college and they set up a scholarship fund. They asked their guests to donate to the scholarship fund — or any charity — in lieu of giving them a gift. Sweet, right? If you do want to set up a scholarship, here’s an article about how to do it.
- Give back: In lieu of favors, give to a charity! The reality is that people want to remember your wedding day, but they dont need to have a trinket to do that. One of the most memorable favors I “received” was a card sitting on my plate that said that in lieu of favors, the bride and groom had donated to the American Cancer Society. Instead of spending the money on the cards at each place setting, donate that money and have the DJ announce the favor/donation.
Do you have other ideas of ways to give back to the world during your wedding? Share ‘em!
Share your wedding with embeddable photo slideshows!
June 15, 2009
Since so many people have their own wedding websites, we at The Wedding Lens created a special photo slideshow “widget” that you can “embed” on practically any webpage. What does that mean? You get to have a slideshow of all your photos on your website … and it looks like this:
It’s easy to do:
- Go to your album and click on the “Share” tab and then the ”Embeddable Widgets” tab.
- Pick which size you want – narrow (160 pixels wide) or medium (300 pixels wide). Then copy the code. How? In most browsers, just clicking on the code will copy it otherwise, select all and then right click your mouse and then click the “Copy” option.
- Go to your website or blog and edit the page in HTML. Paste the code that you just copied from our site whereever you want it to show up on your page. If you’re using a blog, make sure you go into HTML edit mode to paste the code. We’ve found that the best place to put the widget is usually the front page or the sidebar.
Voila! You now have a slideshow of your photos from The Wedding Lens on your own site!
Things to know about the widgets:
- The widgets automatically update each evening with any changes to your photos for the lifetime of your album.
- You can have the photo slideshow widgets regardless of whether you have a free or premium photo album – so create an account today if you haven’t yet!
- If you don’t have any photos yet (’cause it’s before the wedding), the widget will show your album welcome image along with a wedding countdown timer.
- Because it’s an image, it works on almost all popular publishing sites (wordpress.com, blogspot.com, myspace.com, etc.).
Cool Looking Cakes!
June 11, 2009
I’ve been perusing some photos on the web and have found some of the coolest looking cakes! I thought you’d appreciate them too.
I like this one because the colors match the wedding color theme: blue and brown/black! It looks so great and I’m guessing there was chocolate under there, so they really couldn’t go wrong!
photo from The Wedding Lens
This next cake is… um… awesome! It’s Nintendo! It fits the personality of the couple and it’s cool looking too! And, from what I understand, it tasted AWESOME.
photo from deadling
This one is along the same lines — a castle! It’s so cool looking and elegant.
photo by A.M. Kuchling
And here’s a “simple” white cake — with a dash of pink, and stairs, and… wow…. How cool is this?!
photo by avlxyz
Actually, I thought I was going to stop earlier, but I had to include this great cake. This is the tallest elegant, white cake I have seen!
picture by MaoMan
Want your guests to share their photos with you?? Get ‘em all in ONE album on The Wedding Lens!
Which Flowers are in Season for a Wedding
June 4, 2009
One of the most green things you can do for your wedding is use flowers and food that are in season and local. To help you out, I decided to create this guide for what flowers are available when. Unlike other guides, I decided to organize this based on the time of the year and the COLOR of the flower — just because that’s how I think! 
photo from The Wedding Lens
Year Round Flowers
- White: Baby’s breath, Bachelor’s button, Calla lily, Carnations, Delphinium, Gardenia, Gladiolus, Lily of the Valley, Orchid, Rose, Scaboisa
- Red: Bachelor’s button, Carnations, Roses
- Orange: Carnations, Roses
- Yellow: Carnations, Roses
- Blue: Bachelor’s button, Carnations, Delphinium, Eucalyptus, Roses
- Purple: Delphinium, Orchid, Roses, Scaboisa
- Pink: Bachelor’s button, Heather, Lily of the Valley, Orchid, Roses
- Silver: Eucalyptus
Summer Flowers
- White: Chrysanthemum, Freesia, Gerber Daisy, Hydrangea, Iris, Larkspur, Lily-asiatic, Lily-oriental, Lisianthus, Monte Casino Asters, Queen Anne’s Lace, Snapdragons, Stephanotis, Stock, Tuberose, Yarrow
- Red: Gerber Daisy, Zinnia
- Orange: Alstromeria, Chrysanthemum, Gerber Daisy, Lily-asiatic, Snapdragons, Zinnia
- Yellow: Alstromeria, Chrysanthemum, Freesia, Gerber Daisy, Lily-asiatic, Snapdragons, Solidaster, Sunflower, Yarrow
- Blue: Forget-me-not, Freesia, Hydrangea, Iris, Larkspur
- Green: Bells of Ireland
- Purple: English lavender, Freesia, Hydrangea, Iris, Larkspur, Liatris, Lisianthus, Matsumoto Asters, Monte Casino Asters, Statice
- Pink: Alstromeria, Crysanthemum, Freesia, Gerber Daisy, Hydrangea, Larkspur, Lily-asiatic, Lily-oriental, Lisianthus, Matsumoto Asters, Snapdragons, Yarrow, Zinnia
- Cream: Alstromeria
Fall Flowers
- White: Aster, Crysanthemum, Dahlia
- Red: Marigold, Zinnia
- Orange: Crysanthemum, Dahlia, Marigold, Zinnia
- Yellow: Crysanthemum, Dahlia, Marigold
- Green: Dried leaves
- Purple: Statice
- Pink: Aster, Crysanthemum, Zinnia
Winter Flowers
- White: Amaryllis, Anenome, Camellias, Casa Blanca Lily, Cosmos, Jasmine, Narcissus, Poinsettia, Ranunculus, Star Gazer Lily, Star of Bethlehem, Sweetpea, Tulip, Waxflower
- Red: Amaryllis, Anenome, Holly (w red berries), Poinsettia, Ranunculus, Sweetpea, Tulip
- Orange: Ranunculus
- Yellow: Daffodil, Narcissus, Ranunculus, Tulip
- Green: Bells of Ireland, Holly
- Blue: Anenome, Forget-me-nots
- Purple: Sweetpea, Tulip
- Pink: Anenome, Camellias, Cosmos, Ranunculus, Star Gazer Lily, Sweetpea, Tulip, Waxflower
- Brown: Cosmos
Spring Flowers
- White: Anenome, Casa Blanca lily, Delphinium, Hyacinth, Lilacs, Narcissus, Peony, Ranunculus, Star Gazer Lily, Sweetpea, Tulip, Waxflower
- Red: Anenome, Ranunculus, Sweetpea, Tulip
- Orange: Ranunculus
- Yellow: Daffodil, Ranunculus, Tulip
- Green: Bells of Ireland
- Blue: Anenome, Delphinium
- Purple: Hyacinth, Lilacs, Sweetpea, Tulip, Waxflower
- Pink: Anenome, Boronia, Hyacinth, Peony, Ranunculus, Star Gazer Lily, Tulip
Did I miss any?? Let me know!