Buying an engagement ring

So you think you want to take your relationship to the next level? Are you considering marriage? If you answered, "yes" to both questions then you should be getting ready to make another important decision … the engagement ring. Traditionally, the engagement ring is a diamond ring. There are many styles of diamond rings to choose from (not to mention the cut, color, clarity, karat and shape). All of this can seem overwhelming to even the most love struck suitor. If you can follow a few basic rules; do a little detective work and ask some questions then you can take most of the headache out of this decision and be well on the way to the perfect diamond. Cost is probably the first thing to consider when purchasing an engagement ring. Most etiquette states that the groom to be should spend two months salary. Although this is not a hard and fast rule it can be a good starting point. Making sure the ring is the correct size for you fiancй-to-be is also crucial. What could be more embarrassing than popping the question and then finding out the ring is way too small for the finger. A good way to avoid this dilemma is to take a ring out of her jewelry box and have the size checked. If you aren't sure this will work or your significant other doesn't wear rings then you could stop by a jewelry store in the mall and have her fingers sized. To avoid giving away the possible surprise be sure to have more than just the ring finger on the left hand sized, though. When considering the type of diamond you may want to do a little detective work. Ask friends (hers not yours) what they think she likes. Perhaps she has already had this kind of conversation with her friends in the past. If not then maybe one of her friends would be willing to ask a few "innocent" questions and get back to you. Also, family can be a good source of information as well. Just a little effort to this regard can pay off big dividends in selecting an engagement ring. Besides you who would know what she likes best … her friends and family, of course. It is important to remember that selecting the ring is one of the most important decisions in the engagement process, but don't let it overwhelm you. If you consider the size and cost of the ring, do a little research and ask a few questions then you are well on your way to making the perfect decision for the perfect engagement ring. Now you are ready.

Four great games to play at your next bridal shower

One of the most fun -- and occasionally dreaded -- parts of a bridal shower are the games. Although they're meant to be bonding experiences, bridal shower games aren't for everyone ... and if your gal group meets exclusively for cosmos and indie jazz, you might want to skip them. But the fact is, bridal shower games serve a purpose. No matter how familiar or unsophisticated they might seem, they still serve as icebreakers. And icebreakers are especially useful if your shower combines guests from different walks of life. A shower might toss the bride's work friends together with her hometown friends and a handful of relatives -- and these groups probably don't know each other -- but an icebreaker can bring them together (of course, so can a few chilled bottles of Veuve Clicquot). So your guest list is a mixed bag of ages, backgrounds, tastes and styles, here are some true-blue games that will bring your shower through with flying colors. Bridal Shower Bingo One of the most popular is, of course, Bridal Shower Bingo. To play this game, dream up a list of words for each bingo card that relates to weddings, wedding gifts, the bride herself, or romance. For the cards themselves, arrange a grid of squares in your favorite desktop publisher, placing each word or phrase in its own square. Make the center square "free" (you're just generous that way). Or just grab some of those no-cost, printable bridal bingo cards from the internet. Give each guest their own card. Or if you really want to press home the icebreaker effect, get two guests to share one. Next, print out your word selection with lots of letter spacing so you can cut up the sheet into strips and toss them in a basket. Finally, have the hostess act as the caller. She'll pull the words out of the basket and call them out. Once a player gets a complete marked-off line of words, either horizontally, vertically or diagonally, she shouts out "Bingo" (or "Bride") in return for a prize. Uncool, you say? Angelina Jolie would never be caught dead playing Bridal Shower Bingo? Maybe, but you'd be surprised how jiggy things get when you turn up the music and start calling out those words. There's a reason why hundreds of people flock to bingo halls on a weekly basis -- it's freakishly fun. Leave the anthropologists to wonder why, and just roll with it. Bingo Redux One of the funniest variations on Bridal Shower Bingo is to give guests blank cards and have them fill it out with predictions of what gifts the bride will get. Or for another twist, fill your cards with titles of songs relating to love and romance, and then play 10 second snippets from a CD you've burned ahead of time. This gives your guests the double challenge of identifying what they're hearing, and crossing off the titles. Choose a sweet Starbucks-y combo of Cole Porter, Diana Krall, Ray Charles, and obscure Beatles tunes. It's fun and cool. Kiss George Clooney You could also "kiss the groom," but why not kiss George Clooney instead? Take a sturdy board, and staple on a men's shirt and pants combo from the thrift store. Draw in the hands and shoes, and glue on a life-sized printout of George Clooney's winsome face. Have each guest apply a healthy dose of lipstick. Now blindfold her, turn her around three times, and have her try to kiss George Clooney on the lips. The closest kisser wins a prize (how about an inexpensive autographed photo from the man himself? Try eBay). The rest get to dream. Lottery Tickets Fast and simple, not too costly, and who knows? Someone might go home with special memories ... to her new penthouse suite. It could happen! Purse Pursuit Or try a scavenger hunt -- through a purse. In this one, give your guests a list of things you might find in a purse. Guests mark off items for points as they hunt through their purse. Expected items (aspirin, cosmetics, mints) should get a few points. Give higher points for odder objects (tiny airline liquor bottles, a granola bar, crochet hooks, a Canadian coin). Award really high points for random items that might show up in a purse (a rock, toilet paper, chopsticks). If all this seems too complicated, weigh each purse and hand out a prize to the heaviest handbag -- since a gift certificate to an orthopedic specialist probably won't fit your budget.

Tips for a relaxing wedding day

Although a lot of wedding magazines and planning books will tell you that the bride needs to relax a lot on the wedding day, let’s not forget about the groom either. Ways to relax when you don’t think that you can The unfortunate part of getting married is that you will be pulled in many different directions on and leading up to the day. Not only will the planning seem to take up your free time, but family member may feel that they need to put in their two cents as well. The combination can be torture. But since you’ve gotten to the actual wedding day without major damage, why not have a little fun? For the women, have a little champagne at the salon when you get your hair done. Joke with your friends and laugh. This is supposed to be a joyous time. And really, anything that you would need to do at this point will be taken care of by someone else. You just need to get dressed and to the church. And for the men, why not spend the morning at the golf course with some of your groomsmen? This is the perfect time for you to kick back before you have to get ready. Since getting ready won’t be nearly as complicated as your soon-to-bride, why not sleep in too? Other ideas to relax on your wedding day include joking (at non-serious times) a lot and smiling as much as you can. Funny enough, just the act of smiling triggers a reaction in your brain to relax. Seriously. Passing the buck A lot of letting you relax on your wedding day does come down to good planning. If you’ve delegated and thought of everything, there’s no need to worry and you can enjoy the moments as they come. If something should go wrong (and honestly, something will), don’t worry too much about it. Your wedding party and family will want to make sure everything goes smoothly, so if something should happen, enlist one of them to take care of the problem. This is your wedding day and you want to look happy in your pictures, rather than relieved. Take some time for yourself on the actual day. You can either step out of the room for a moment, or just sit down with a book for a few minutes. Find just five minutes of quiet, and you’re sure to have a relaxing wedding day.

Before you buy a bridesmaid cheap dress

Before looking and purchasing your bridesmaids cheap dress there are some factors you must take into consideration. Like first determining who will be in your bridal party? How many people are you planning to participate in the event? Now I’m sure you have this already work this out. But have you taken into account these 3 steps. * Are all your bridesmaids adults or do you have children to take into consideration? * Are your bridesmaids slender or are they a bit larger? Maybe you have both and you will need to make sure they all look fantastic without taking the lime light of the bride. * What time of year are you planning the wedding? It may be winter, spring or summer. So you see there are additional things that need to be addressed before you start to look for your bridesmaid’s cheap dress. Especially the time of year you are planning to get married. In winter you may need to find dresses that offer a bit more warmth for your bridesmaids, while in summer and spring you can go with a lighter fabric type dress. It is also important if you are planning an outdoor or indoor wedding. So be sure to figure out what the weather is like in these types of seasons. For example if you live in a tropical part of the world, nine times out of ten it will be raining in summer or the humidity will be through the roof and everybody will be sweating like pigs. The same goes with living in a much colder part of the world where it snows in winter, everyone’s going to be freezing especially you and your bridesmaids. It’s really not that hard to avoid, you just have you’re wedding in winter if you have hot summers and summer if you have cold winters. To me though spring offers a neutral type of weather that is not to hot and not to cold!! Once you have it all figured out you can now focus on your wedding dress and your bridesmaids dresses. Now finding the style of dresses that will make your wedding perfect really is made easy these day with the Internet. You can find thousands of different styles and themes all from the comfort of your own home. As long as you have everyone’s dress size you should have no trouble at all finding cheap bridesmaids dresses. So shop around this will not only help you with finding those perfect dresses but will give you some great ideas for your ideal wedding.