5 Smart Tips for a Planning 50th Wedding Anniversary

Half century of marriage is worth a real celebration. Either a grand or a family get-together is must to celebrate the occasion. To make your job easy here are 5 Smart Tips for a planning 50th Wedding Anniversary.




1 Inform in Advance:

Inform the guests at least 6 months in advance. It will give them sufficient time to make necessary changes to their schedule to accommodate the event. The second option is to fix a date when you think it will be feasible for everyone to be present. Believe us, the out of town guests will surely appreciate this gesture.

2 Decide a Venue:

Fix a venue well in advance, instead of waiting for D-day to come near. Search for local wedding venues. Here are some popular options

• Relative’s or Friend’s house
• Favorite restaurant
• Church hall
• A park with some sheltered area and facilities like parking and restroom.
• A ballroom in the hotel
• Banquet room at country club
• VFW(veterans of foreign war) hall

3 Send Golden Anniversary Invitation:

Send out the formal 50th wedding anniversary invitation for a grand celebration. Indicate specially that children are welcome. Remember to send the invitations to out of town guests, at least three months in advance.

4 Plan Food and Drinks:

If you don’t prefer restaurants or any outside place to celebrate, then you can either go for hiring a caterer or enjoy home cooked food. If you have finalized the later one, then pick a theme to make everything in sync. Some of the popular themed menu ideas are laid-back brunch, a casual barbecue, and south of the border fiesta or a swanky cocktail hour.

For many, the festivity gives an incomplete feeling without a decorated cake. If you are arranging it from a bakery, then pick it up early instead of waiting till the last moment. This will help you to correct the things that are not right in the anniversary cake.

5 Choose Decorations:

The foremost thing to decide about decorations is the color scheme. Consider couple’s favorite colors or you can choose their favorite sports team’s color. You can also select a theme on the basis of season. Try jewel tones in winter or lot of green in the spring season. Set a striking backdrop by using black and white with an accent color like red. A classy combination for the 50th anniversary is all white with gold accents.

Consider including other decorative elements like streamers, balloons, candles, tablecloths and various framed old photos of the couples.

Decorate the outdoors by using Luminarias on the walkway and make the trees twinkling by using clear white lights, etc. Let the people know about your big day by putting a big sign in the yard. Allow the young kids to create hearts or write messages like “happy anniversary”, “we love you”, etc. by using chalks on the sidewalks. Getting decorative items and other related stuffs will not be a problem as you can get almost anything on rent, from table linens and dishes to sound system and extra chairs.

Tips for Handling Pre Wedding Jitters

Wedding is one of those emotionally-draining events of your life where you would sometimes feel nervous, numb or even nausea.  The pre wedding preparation starting from the shopping of wedding trousseau to selection of venue, from preparing the guests list to deciding on the kind of wedding invitation card will leave your stressed.

The courtship that we usually call as the most memorable time of anyone’s life, seems to go at the snail’s pace; thus adding to your anxiety and helplessness even more! Remember you aren’t the only one who is feeling pre-wedding jitters, you are perhaps sailing on the same boat where hundreds of others to-be-married couples are also seafaring. So the most important advice is to just relax! The most amazing time and the best day is yet to come, but the key to relaxation is to take every-day as it comes.

Do not Stress Yourself with Something that is Probably Just in Your Head

It is quite common for a bride-to-be or a groom-to-be to have jitters of unwanted scenes at the day of wedding, or experiencing events that will most likely never happen! It’s quite common to have questions and feelings of uncertainties and usually, women experience it more. Remember, even Kate Middleton had these pre-wedding jitters regarding her dress! So, it’s perfectly fine to have them but it’s just not okay to stress and over-drain yourself because of these.

As the Wedding Day Nears; Jitters Disappear!

It is quite a rhyming sentence; but this is the fact. With the nearing of the Grand Day, either your jitters will completely disappear or will pile up more. Usually, with the onset of pre-wedding rituals, these tend to fade away. So, it’s not something that you should stress yourself for. Once your pre-wedding ceremonies start, you will be so engrossed and a focal point of everyone that you will just think that whatever you had been thinking was utterly pointless and futile.

Focus on the Memorable Moments with your would-be life Partner

Dating before wedding is something very common. To keep away the pre-wedding jitters, just recall and re-live the memorable moments that you spent with your life partner to-be. The lingering feeling of love will not leave any space for baseless thinking of yours. Remember anything memorable; like your first kiss, the first time holding hands, the photograph of both you on customized wedding invite, wedding shopping or the most romantic thing your life partner has ever said to you; just close your eyes to re-live those moments. The notion here is to pay attention to the positivity and keep the negative thoughts at a bay.

Am-I-Marrying-the-right-person Jitter!

This is one of the most common pre-wedding thought which frequently pops up in the mind of a lot of couples; whether you are a girl or a guy. Just a week before your wedding or like 15 days before your Big Day, you may just start introspecting and asking yourself some of the stupidest questions ever. “Am I marrying the right person?” “Is this right age to get married?” “Shouldn’t I have checked out a few other guys/girls?” It is perfectly fine if questions of these sorts are popping up in your head but don’t just stress on these questions a lot. You will realize that once you are married, everything will slowly fall in the right place. You will eventually be at peace and ultimately satisfied once the Grand Day is over!

Indian Wedding Cards: Changes Since Olden Times

Time and again, Indian weddings have captivated the attention of the worldwide audience because of its unique appeal. What fascinates the people from all over the world is that despite of the impact of the modernization, the rituals and customs of Indian weddings have not undergone a change. However, Indian marriages have gone under a dramatic change regarding the way it is being organized. Indians would prefer to organize a wedding in a simple manner and they would strive to keep pomp and show at bay, but things have changed now. Due to the rise in the income level, urbanization, increased materialism, social pressure, etc, people are compelled to pay more attention to the preparations of the wedding, willingly or unwillingly.

When we talk about the wedding preparations then Indian wedding cards come first on the list. Earlier, ‘nyoota’ was sent to the near and dear ones and there was more significance of the verbal request for attending the wedding. A card would be either handmade or would be a simple one fold card bearing turmeric and few rice grains. No one would try to make a wild guess about the grandness of the cards by having a glimpse on the invitation card. In simple words, wedding hosts and invited guests used to be least bothered about the invitation cards. As the saying goes that along with a changing time, one needs to change. Invited guests started becoming more particular about it as they began estimating about the grandness of the big event by merely having a glance on the quality of invitation card. After realizing about the same, wedding hosts also became more concerned about the quality of the same. This is how; the demands for more Professional Invitation Card stores began to witness an upwards swing. Now, people don’t mind splurging money on them anymore. All they look for is, a great deal of options in terms of quality, design, paper material, shipping availability, etc.

The biggest transformation in Indian wedding cards is that the trends appear more frequently in comparison to the earlier. If we talk about the recent popular trends then there are in trend Vintage Regalia style in which style and grace go hand in hand, together. Though, this style was never out of trend but in modern time, this style is leaving the users completely spell-bound. After all, when an invitation is featuring rich-textured brocade, timeless classy prints, antique finish with metallic colors then who would not be left mesmerized. Another popular trend is, incorporation of sacred text from the Holy Scriptures featuring latest techniques of printing. Integration of intricate pattern is another trend, whose popularity is surging like anything. This is mainly due to its unique appeal. Especially, affluent Indians simply crave for the uniqueness, when they begin pondering over the design of the wedding invitation cards.

Last but not the least, the trend of designer invitation cards is all in rage in modern India. Designer wedding invites do fascinate people as they are being created by using Swarovski crystals, pearls, precious and semi-precious gemstones, rhinestones, etc. Customization is its major appeal and due to the same, it becomes possible to take care of the aspect of the affordability.

Planning Muslim wedding and finalizing Muslim wedding cards

It is very important to do a proper planning for the events to be successful specially the major ones. All the

traditions and cultures have the marriage concept but just the way in which this is done differs. This is undoubtedly the most awaited event not only for the couple but also for their families. The day a child takes birth and especially if it’s a female child, parents start planning for her marriage. Proper and timely planning makes things easier and cost effective too.

Muslim Marriage Cards

There is a specific list of ceremonies which needs to be followed in each and every wedding, so start your planning in accordance with that list only. Please find some important points below –

Before a year –

The first step is to finalize the date and arrange for a venue where the wedding will take places there are very limited places which are easily approachable and these get booked first, so reach out for the booking in advance. This also eases the hassles and gives room for you to arrange other things. Muslims prefer to arrange marriages on Sundays as according to the Islamic tradition Lunar calendar is followed. Then one needs to arrange for the Qazi as well although any Muslim who understands these traditions can make this happen but is the marriage in inter caste is it important to arrange for a Qazi who can interpret the same in other language as well.

Muslim Walima Cards

Between 11 to 9 Months-
Once the location is finalized look out for the caterers, it is good to opt for caterers who are near to the venue. Arrange for all the important things and items which will be required on the wedding day. If one is arranging marriage in a mosque then sitting arrangement? In a Muslim wedding there is gender differentiation so how arrangements will be done for them.

Islamic cards

Between 8 to 6 months-
This is the time to choose for the Muslim wedding cards design and pattern. There are contracts which are signed in a Muslim wedding so get all the formalities done for it along with this there will be a requirement for marriage license after the wedding be ready with the documents (the one which are available).

Between 3 to 5 month-
The marriage is very near now, its time to recheck all the arrangements which were done in the past. Get the outfits, jewelry and other important things made. Get the Muslim wedding cards printing company intimated again about your order of the card. Of there is any last minute change in any ceremony date or time, do it now.

Before One month-
In this month send all Muslim Invitaion cards to relatives and also invite the near and dear ones through phone calls specially the ones who are far away as they too need time to make arrangements for tickets and other stuffs. Bring all the outfits and other wearable especially for the bride and the groom so that they can be checked and any alteration if required can be done.

Before one week
By this time almost everything will be in place and all you need to do is a revision work i.e. contacting the caterers, decorators and managers. The functions will start in this week so keep you calm and cool. Keep yourself ready to enjoy the functions. By this time you will realize how advance planning will help you enjoy all the events.

Wedding Day
Enjoy the ceremony freely as everything is done in advance. Meet people, guests at the ceremony and remain calm as you have arranged all the things well in advance.

Inter Caste Marriage: Still A Taboo

Marriage is considered to be an institution by all religions. There are certain codes for marriage in each religion and are being followed since time immemorial. These codes are sometimes very stringent and even small deviation is not acceptable. One such prohibition is inter-caste marriage. One can only marry within his or her caste is a rule that is strictly followed by Hindus and Muslims. There is Gotra system in Hinduism and marriage cannot even occur outside the gotra prescribed by the religion.

Designer Marriage Card

Caste System – deep within veins
Caste has become the life and breath of almost all religions and it is marriage that is believed to keep this system intact. Marriage is believed to be decided in heaven and executed on earth and it’s execution is something that is to be dealt very seriously. Love marriages within caste are too an extent acceptable but marrying outside one’s caste is believed to be a crime and is unpardonable. Many believe that such marriage would impure the blood of coming generations and would bring ill luck; they are considered to be a shame for society and family too sometimes to an extent that families commit suicide. For such Marriage Interfaith Invitations are also seldom printed and if printed these are circulated in a restricted manner only.

Inter caste marriage leads to social boycott
The graveness of caste system is more in villages and people go to an extent of boycotting the families whose children have committed such mistakes, they are even murdered. There are many religious leaders who approve of inter caste marriages and many others who does not. Inter caste marriage has become a debatable issue and people have their own opinions regarding it. The ratio of people who does not approve inter caste marriage is much higher than those who approve of it.

Honor killing is the ugliest face of inter caste marriages
The trend of inter caste marriage is more in western countries. Hindu and Muslims take their caste to be their honor and if the honor is lost nothing remains for them. Girls and boys are taught about caste from the childhood and also that they have to adhere to the rules laid by their caste and should not in any condition deviate from them.

Changes is in the air, but it’s too slow
Although many changes have come and people have started accepting inter caste marriages but only few people approve of it. Villages have Khap panchayats that are strictly against inter caste marriages. Newspapers and media have taken up the issue many times but have not achieved much success. One’s religion is believed to be given by God and marrying outside it is believed to be altering his will. The modern society members give intellectual reasons like understanding and adjusting in other religion or caste is difficult, rituals also differ but the mindset is same that inter caste marriages are not acceptable. The religion and its rituals are something that is imbibed by the child from the day he arrives and getting married in other caste means renouncing all the customs that the families have been following. Inter caste marriages require a lot of adjustments and people who go for it needs courage as they are not easily acceptable to the society.

Wedding Invitation Symbols - Their Significance And Connotations

Wedding is such an auspicious event, which not only adds happiness to the life of two people, who unite together in a life time bond but also makes their near and dear ones happy too. Without the blessings and good wishes of near and dear ones, an occasion of wedding lacks the real charm. It is no exaggeration to say that Hindu wedding cards are the medium through which, the host of the wedding, expresses one’s emotion about the wedding and strives to express the importance of the presence of the kith and kin. A wedding invitation used to hold an important place during former times as well but during recent times, its significance has been increased due to various reasons.

One of the big reasons of the popularity of the increased importance of marriage invitation card is, rise of theme based weddings. More and more people are now keen about selecting a marriage cards, featuring a specific theme. However, the majority of people from all the religions specially Hindus still prefer to opt for Hindu wedding cards featuring religious conventional symbols. Every religion has some auspicious symbols, which find their way in the marriage invites.

When it comes to the Hindu marriage, despite of brilliant modern designs, there are many auspicious marriage symbols, which still captivate the imagination of the people to a great extent. These auspicious symbols include image of Lord Ganesha, Kalash with leaves on the top, Swastik, Om, Palki or doli, image of Radha-Krishna, image of the couple playing Raas Garba, shahnai, toasting flutes, palms of a bride featuring Mehndi, horse and carriage etc. Lord Ganesha and Swastik are among the most popular Hindu wedding cards symbol because Lord Ganesha is believed to be a God who brings auspiciousness by removing all the obstacles, which might come on the way of an auspicious ceremony. The Swastika is another one of the most popular Hindu marriage symbols since it represents the four directions, the sun, change and movement. Most importantly, the crossed line of Swastik represents the union of the opposites and thereby it implies the union of people of two opposite sex, male and female, respectively.

For Muslim weddings which are also popularly known as Nikaah, few religious auspicious marriage symbols include image of the crescent moon and a star, Bismillah, etc. For Sikh invites for marriage, popular religious symbols include an image of Ek Omkar. For Christian nuptials, various nuptial symbols includes bells, the image of a dancing couple, birds like doves, swans, double hearts, double rings, image of the bride and groom, etc. While on one side, double rings and double hearts signify the togetherness of two people through the bond of love, shared by them, on another side, image of bride and groom apparently symbolizes male and female getting married. For Jewish nuptial invitation, the traditional symbols which can be incorporated include Hebrew characters and Star of David. A symbol of Star of David is inspired from the King David, who was a king of ancient Israel.

Well, there is no denying that no matter how many new nuptial invites design come up, the charm possessed by conventional religious symbols can never fade away.

Fun Filled Hindu Wedding Cards

Wedding invitations are very important as they are the first impression and good wedding invitations are generally kept by the guests so that they can also use the idea for their or any marriage of their known. Everyone would want that their marriage invite to be special and unique as it has the power to recreate the magic once again. Wedding invites are kept for ages. Here are certain ideas which you can use and make your wedding invitation card special.

Scroll Invitation are just like a royal farmaan and would certainly create a good impression. Scroll invitations are very common these days. These invites are available in plenty of designs and material. There are boxes of the same design in which you can keep the scroll invites and deliver them to your guests. These are also great Hindu Wedding cards as these present the emotions and stateliness of the wedding in a grand way.

Flip Flop Invitations have two parts and the pictures can be pasted on one and the details on other. This type of wedding card can be chosen if you are planning some theme based marriage as it will give you more space to write. Though these invites are unconventional in some respects and may not be as popular as in the present times but this is a great wedding invite for those who wish to do something different. Hand drawn invitations are another unique idea. This makes the card more personal. You can draw one card and then get it copied in as many numbers as you want. The card will hold more importance for your guests as well and will convey the emotions also.

Photo invitations are also common and one can get the photographs of the bride and the groom as well as the photographs of the family members on the card and can give the details as well. This way the guests would feel more connected. The photographs can be arranged in a form of life cycle from birth pictures to the pictures before marriage.

In addition to this, there are the common invitations that one sends to guests. One can choose paper and colors of different styles and can render uniqueness to the invitations. Wedding Invitation cards are generally sent with sweet boxes and it is a good idea to have the same design on both the invitation card and sweet boxes as it would look more appealing. Wedding invitation cards should be selected with extra care as they are not just papers with wedding details they are medium through which something good is conveyed, they are the pathways of reunion and more than that they are the first to tell about marriages.