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Weddings tradition
Jan 09, 2012 (The Honolulu Star-Advertiser - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
For many brides today, announcing their engagement is as simple as updating their Facebook status page from "single" to "engaged."
While some wedding etiquette experts insist you should first tell family members the old-fashioned way, with a phone call or handwritten note, social-networking websites are a simple and inexpensive way to announce engagements and keep friends and family updated on wedding plans.
"It's hilarious how easy it is to spread the word," said Tanna Dang of The Wedding Cafe at Ward Warehouse. "Talk about a quick and easy coconut wireless."
Couples also use e-cards and websites to send save-the-date notices, and while many still mail out paper wedding invitations with an RSVP postcard, the option of a reply via email or text message is often provided.
Here's a quick look at some other wedding trends:
WEBSITES
Along with drawing up a budget and checklist, wedding coordinator Aubrey Akana of Savoir Faire Events Hawaii said creating a website is one of the first things she recommends that brides do.
"We expect our brides to set one up. It's a great go-to place for guests, for updates, invitation details and events," she said.
Couples can use their websites to announce their engagement and update guests from all corners of the world about the big day. Content can include everything from the story of how the couple met to a photo gallery, directions to the church or reception hall, a guest book, wedding music playlist, blogs, links to wedding registries, lodging options and places for guests to visit while in town.
Websites can be created for free at various hosts, such as TheKnot.com and its affiliate weddingchannel.com, greenbrideguide.com, eWedding.com, weddingwire.com and projectwedding.com.
SMARTPHONE APPS
The iPhone app called pinterest is a virtual pinboard where you can keep photos of your favorite items -- be it a dress, flower arrangement or wedding favor. When browsing shops or wedding fairs, app users can take a photo of an item with their smartphones and forward it to their mother or a friend for comment.
There are plenty of other apps out there to help brides plan every detail of their weddings: iWedding, Bridal Binder, Wedding Dress Look Book (to help you find the perfect dress) and WeddingScan, an app that allows couples to upload items from different stores to one account. TheKnot.com offers a free app called Wedding911 that offers last-minute wedding advice.
WHAT'S OLD IS NEW
While immersed in our contemporary culture of immediacy, young brides and grooms are still embracing elements of the past by adding vintage touches to their weddings.
From an heirloom engagement ring to black-and-white photos, a wedding gown reflecting the couture of a bygone era or an old-fashioned lace veil, vintage is cool because it's timeless.
Dang of The Wedding Cafe said a bride can put a her own twist on vintage items by incorporating her grandmother's brooch into her bouquet, for example, or using Victorian-style bird cages instead of flowers as centerpieces.
Akana of Savoir Faire said that at a recent wedding at Lanikuhonua, the bride and groom re-purposed an old chandelier by hanging it outdoors during their reception. Another couple used vinyl records as placemats at the table.
RELAXED AND RUSTIC
Instead of stuffy, formal affairs, more couples want receptions that are relaxed.
"The style of weddings now is rustic, shabby chic," said wedding coordinator Sandra Williams of Finishing Touch.
"They want it to be like someone's backyard."
Williams just coordinated a wedding at Kualoa Ranch where drinks were served in Mason jars, and wooden tables were kept bare except for succulents and vintage glass vases.
At another wedding, a chalkboard sign helped guests find their slippers for a beach ceremony, in truly local style.
Many receptions now have a lounge area where guests are encouraged to mix and mingle instead of remain seated at tables, according to Carolee Higashino of A White Orchid Wedding.
ICING ON THE CAKE
Cake pops on a stick, dipped in icing and chocolate, are replacing cupcakes as the new wedding cake.
Higashino just coordinated a wedding in Laie where the couple offered guests tiers of cake pops instead of a traditional wedding cake.
Some couples opt for a small cake to cut to preserve that tradition, but guests are offered pops. Sweet as Sugar in Kailua bakes wedding cakes, cupcakes and cake pops, and combinations of all three.
VIDEOS
Still photos remain a standard for weddings, but videos are, too, and run the gamut from those shot in "cinema verite" style and live webcasts to more polished "couture cinematography."
Charlene Shovic and Colin Gardner of Manoa Productions, whose wedding packages cost $500 and up, offer three- to five-minute documentary-style videos for couples to show at their reception.
The "mini love story" tells of how the couple met, recalls the groom's proposal and shares how the two feel about each another.
IMF Visions has "couture wedding cinematography" packages, starting at $1,499, with options ranging from a customized movie trailer on DVD that serves as a wedding invitation to a live online broadcast of the ceremony available to friends and family who can't make the wedding. Instant replays of ceremony highlights can be shown at the reception, and the video can be posted online the next day.
REGISTRIES
With many couples getting married at an older age when they have already accumulated household goods, they are forgoing traditional wedding registry items such expensive china, blenders and food processors, opting instead for honeymoon travel and activities or contributions toward a down payment on a home.
"I think registries are more optional nowadays," said Akana of Savoir Faire.
Some hotels, like the JW Marriott Ihilani Ko Olina Resort & Spa, have set up registries that allow friends and family to pay for the couple's room service, for instance, as a gift.
Requesting donations to a charity in lieu of a wedding present is also growing in popularity.
Locally, cash might still be the preferred and most welcome gift for newlyweds.
___ (c)2012 The Honolulu Star-Advertiser Visit The Honolulu Star-Advertiser at
www.staradvertiser.com Distributed by MCT Information Services
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