Want to open a big can of wedding worms,lets talk KIDS AT WEDDINGS

Want to open a big can of wedding worms? Tell people you don't want children at your wedding. You’ll get a couple of supporters, but others will really be pissed at you. Mostly the ones on your guest list who can’t imagine leaving or are to cheap to their kids with a sitter.

Putting on a kid free wedding is one way to pull back the guest list for a small wedding but be prepared for criticism, you may become the devil. Going by the comments on some bridal chat boards, there are some pretty strong opinions about rug rats and weddings. Some can’t imagine why you wouldn’t want kids at the wedding. They argue that it’s anti family not to invite kids and that weddings are all about family. Others can’t comprehend why anyone would want kids underfoot at such an big people event like a wedding.

We had kids at our wedding. There were only a few , but we wouldn’t have had it any other way. That being said, I can totally understand why some couples opt for a no children wedding. Couples generally spend months planning their weddings, not to mention saving for the wedding. Along comesa pissed off toddler, and Wamoo! perfection is down the drain, especially if it happens during the vows.Forget someone cel phone going off during the vows, try 105 dbs of kids scream.

Kids Love them to death are very unpredictable. They cry and scream. They make messes. They bump into things and are known to stick their fingers into places that they shouldn’t like the cake, nose, you get the picture. But most times, they’re also surprisingly well behaved during special occasions and can add a lot to a wedding Day.

If you are sure you want a no kid wedding, how do you ensure that your adult guests won’t bring their rug rats.

Whether your motives for going kid free are to limit the guest list, or a morbid fear that crying babies, pissed off toddlers & playful preschoolers will make havoc on your wedding, here are some simple ways to get the message across to your guests that kids aren’t invited without loosing friends...

Wat before you send out the invites, call friends and family who have kids and let them know that a wedding invitation is on the way and that you have choosen for a no kid wedding. That way they will have time to line up babysitters.After they have ripped your ears off...What's wrong with my Johnny.

Wedding experts including me,say that it’s tacky to write ‘no children’ on the invites. Instead, state on the RSVP card that the wedding will be an ‘adult only reception’. Another way of saying this is to write the following on the RSVP card: “We have reserved ___ seats in your honor” and just include the number of adults you want to come.

Be firm with this . If you cave at your sister’s request to bring her little ones, and your friend’s little ones were forced to stay with babysitters, there will be hurt feelings and maybe blood.

One way to please your guests with kids provide to have a babysitter or two at the wedding . Set up fun activities like a craft center to keep the kids busy. One word of caution here some kids get severe separation anxiety and will not take to this idea very well. Keep this in mind when you are pursuing this option. And no kids EVER died from watching to many movies at a wedding in the back room, it will be more fun for them. One down side I see to not having kids at the wedding, setting next to you, is you don't get to eat their left over fried food.

Cheers Peter Bruce Photo and bELLE Team

Check the new Peter Bruce blog

Everyone following this site, the millions of you out there. I have a new site with the blog connected to it. Please start to follow it,book mark it. Pass it on to others, twitter it, Digg it and hope you enjoy it.

Here is the link

http://www.peterbruceweddingphotography.com/

Cheers Peter Bruce Photo & team bELLE

Big wedding tips for your big day

There are lots of things to think about when brides plan their wedding. In the rush they tend to forget about taking care of themselves on the day of their wedding. A number of simple but practical tips to help pave the way to truly enjoying your day.

Get your budget together

A wedding budget is absolutely essential to planning your wedding. In fact I think setting your wedding budget is one of the first things you should do. Peter Bruce Photo & bELLE have put together this handy wedding budget worksheet to plan out what you'll need to pay for, and how much you should plan to spend on each thing.

We recommend you print this wedding budget worksheet and put it in your planning notebook so it will be handy whenever you are out shopping or talking to your vendor. Please let us know.

Your Wedding Budget Worksheet

My Total Budget (hope dad felt good this day) $___________

Expenses	% of total budget	Your estimate	What you actually spent
Ceremony Location fee, officiant fee, marriage license, musician's fees, ring pillows	3%	______	______
Reception Reception Site, Food, Drinks, Rentals, Cake, Favors	48%	______	______
Attire Dress, Headpiece/veil, undergarments and hosiery, shoes, accessories, jewelry, hair and makeup, Groom's Tuxedo or Suit, shoes, bow tie, cuff links, studs, suspenders	10%	______	______
Rings His and her rings, engraving	3%	______	______
Flowers Ceremony, bride's bouquet, maid-of-honor and bridesmaid bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres, centerpieces, flower-girl basket	8%	______	______
Music Ceremony Musicians, Band and/or DJ, cocktail hour musicians, sound system rental	8%	______	______
Photography Photographer and Videographer's fees, albums, additional prints, disposable cameras for candids	12%	______	______
Transportation Transportation for wedding party, guest shuttle and/or parking attendants	2%	______	______
Stationery Invitations, response cards, thank you notes, postage, calligraphy, guest book	3%	______	______
Gifts Bridesmaid and groomsmen, parents, welcome baskets for out-of-town guests.

Questions on wine at weddings...

As you’re planning your wedding you may be caught up in the smallest of details. There are a lot of things to know and to keep up with. Let’s see how much you really know. Today’s Wedding Trivia Question is...

How many servings are in a bottle of Champagne?

a. Isn’t a bottle a serving?
b. Five servings
c. Servings? Pass the bottle and let everyone have a sip!

Answer... A fifth of Champagne will fill five Champagne flutes.

While we’re on the subject, do you know the tradition of clicking wine glasses and where it came from? As with many of our food traditions, the clinking of glasses traces its root to the health and safety of the drinker. In this case, it goes back to the tendency of nobles to kill each other off by poisoning their food!

Wine was very commonly drunk during medieval days because it was one of the only safe liquids available. Water was often polluted, and milk was both useful for other things and thought to be for children only. As the wine was often full of sediment, a poison was easily introduced into it.

To prove that his wine was safe, the host would pour a bit of his guest’s wine into his own glass and drink it first, to prove it was safe. If the guest trusted his host, however, he would merely clink his flagon against that of his host’s when his host offered his cup for the sample. The ‘clink’ (or perhaps ‘clunk’ back then, since wood or metal was more common for drinking vessels) was a sign of trust and honesty. Later, as metal and glass became more common, the chiming noise also brought a festive feel to events, and brought to mind the ’safe’ feeling of church bells

Hope this was good, please let us know

Cheers Peter Bruce Photo & team bELLE

Lafayette Park hotel and Spa...

Why Peter Bruce Photo likes Lafayette Park hotel

Few hotels are given any kind of special recognition, so the fact that the Lafayette Park Hotel & Spa is one of the few in the East Bay to get a Four Diamond Award should tell you something right there. Namely, that they maintain an impeccable standard of comfort, ambiance and service. With its distinctive architecture—dormers, shuttered French windows, and peaked roofline—this local landmark looks like a French chateau. Behind its high walls, European charm abounds in lovely courtyards, a variety of event spaces, and a luxurious full-service health spa.

Just by walking around the hotel, you’re struck by how its design and décor make you feel welcome. In the atrium-like lobby, sunlight streams in through windows 60 feet overhead, illuminating the sweeping oak staircase and white marble floor. On cool days, the couches in front of the oversize fireplace are the obvious place to relax. The warmth of wood is everywhere—even in the intricate inlaid floors in front of the elevators.

Step outside into the sunny Fountain Courtyard, and you quickly realize how idyllic this spot is for a ceremony or champagne reception. Enclosed by the golden walls of the hotel, the space becomes an Old World plaza with a trickling limestone fountain in its center, ringed by potted rose bushes, manicured trees and flowers.

From the Fountain Courtyard, it’s a short walk inside to the Independence Ballroom where larger receptions and parties are held. The coffered ceiling is outfitted with handmade crystal chandeliers and spot lighting, which can be adjusted to create any mood.

Smaller ceremonies take place upstairs in the Wishing Well Courtyard. Named for the rose-entwined stone wishing well in its center, this petite patio is also embraced by the hotel’s walls. As you gaze up at the shuttered windows, wrought-iron balconies and clinging ivy, you once again feel like you’re in the middle of a French countryside inn. That European flavor carries over into the nearby George Washington Room, a more intimate reception space. Here, the Early American/French décor features gilt-framed mirrors, marble-topped consoles and a deep green carpet set off by fleur de lis border designs.


A wonderful Lafayette Park amenity is their European Day Spa,brides can enjoy this the day before the wedding. In addition to providing an appealing selection of face and body treatments, the Spa features a fitness pavilion, a pool and poolside café, an outdoor fireplace and a Jacuzzi. The bride and her attendants will not be able to pass up an opportunity to indulge here before and even after (why not!) the Big Day. Everyone staying overnight will appreciate the nicely appointed rooms, many of which have their own wood-burning fireplaces. The hotel also offers a complimentary premium room for the honeymoon couple, and special rates for wedding guests.

We hope you enjoy the photo from the weddings we have done there, let us know

Best Peter Bruce Photo & team bELLE

Have some fun at weddings...

• Smaller or larger tuxedo

A friend got married and I, being the best man, decided a humorous practical joke was in order. One of the duties of the best man is to make arrangements for the pick up and return of the groom's tuxedo.

After final fitting, rent an extra coat jacket that is either three or four sizes smaller or larger than the groom's. Explain to the tux shop what you're up to. Pick up the groom's fitted coat, switch with the extra rented coat, and deliver to the groom only when it becomes time to actually get dressed.

The friend of mine wore a 42 long, but the one I provided was a 38 short. Talk about some serious fun! Don't reveal that you know anything as long as possible.

• Write on the bottom of shoes

Someone once took a large black ink marker and wrote "Help" on the bottom of the groom's left shoe and "Me" on the bottom of the right shoe. So when he knelt down for his vows, the entire congregation saw it. Of course, this will only work if he must kneel with back to congregation (i.e. Catholic wedding). Make sure you get it so that it is readable with the shoes side by side, left to right, toes toward the floor. Do this far enough in advance so that the paint is dry before the groom wears the shoes to avoid damaging carpets.

Besides "Help Me", other possible message to write on the soles are (with varying degrees of cruelness): Left Shoe (I'm With) Right Shoe (Stupid [pointing arrowhead]); Left Shoe (Quick, Call 911!) Right Shoe (Never Mind, I'm Doomed!)

• Cheap plastic rings

A groom buys the engagement ring at a jewelry store. As the groom enters the room, we "have been talking about" the news that says the jewelry store he just went to is being investigated for selling plastic diamonds to unknowledgeable customers. This didn't work too well but maybe if you have better actors in your group it would.

• I'll just call my lawyer about this

Another on that I have seen pulled is to have someone speak out at the time the minister asks, "If anyone has good reason why these two should not be married, speak now or forever hold your peace."

They had a pregnant lady stand up and say, "Oh, never mind! I'll just call my lawyer!" It rattled the groom's mother so much that she fainted.

• A secret pregnant lover

At the rehearsal dinner for my boss' daughter and son-in-law-to-be, a loud eight-months pregnant teenage girl suddenly appeared at the back of the room screaming ten minutes worth of curses that would befall the groom if he didn't marry the pregnant girl like he promised. It was set up by the boss' wife, and I am told that the groom very nearly burst into tears protesting his innocence.

• One way ticket across the country

A groom's friends decided to throw his bachelor party the day before the wedding, and as often happens on these occasions, by the end of the evening, everyone was completely drunk, and none more so than the guest of honor, who promptly passed out in a corner of the room.

When he woke up, he found himself sitting in an airline seat with no wallet or money or anything on him except a one way ticket to San Francisco. He was worried sick until he finally arrived at San Francisco from New Jersey, where he found a ticket at the courtesy counter back to New Jersey. It seems that one of his prospective in-laws worked for an airline and had some comp airfare to use.

The groom got back to New Jersey barely four hours before the ceremony, and was barely able to stay awake long enough to say "I do".

• Do you already have a child?

During the wedding ceremony, when the minister/preacher/priest comes to the part about, "If anyone has any reason why these two people should not marry, speak up now or forever hold your peace..." have this four-to-six year old boy running up the aisle yelling, "Daddy, daddy." I understand from a friend who played this joke on a relative that it took almost an hour to get the wedding started again.

• Balloons

Obtain access to their getaway car. Fill with balloons. A few extra helium balloons in the trunk with their luggage is a nice touch.

• Add some peanuts

If you can get access to their luggage after they have packed, add styra foam peanuts in whatever nooks and crannies are left.

• Impossible to drive away

Jack up the car, put blocks under the axle, then lower the car onto the blocks. When the newlyweds try to make their getaway, watch them rev...and rev...and rev.

• Brake wired to the horn

The best man at my friends wedding rigged the horn to sound every time the brake was pressed, they drove half way down the road until they realized what was going on and had to return to fix it.

• I deserve to be married

For a small fee, you can get an agency to have a pregnant "ex-girlfriend" appear at the service, in a wedding gown, claiming the groom-to-be the father of her child and demanding *she* should be the one to be married. The one I saw even had a bunch of dead flowers with her!

• Who has the ring?

When the groom asks the best man for the ring, he turns and nervously says he doesn't have it, who then turns to the next groomsman and asks the same question, and so on until the last person turns and grabs a giant box of Cracker Jacks that contained the wedding ring.

The whole church was rolling as the best man and his co-horts had the last laugh. It was truely classic.

• Laughing gas in balloons

At a friend's wedding, the bridal party filled their car with balloons--all filled with laughing gas. They put them everywhere, under seats, in the glove box, etc. They popped the balloons, and everyone was relaxed and laughing. But balloons were popping all during the trip of their honeymoon. They said they enjoyed the trick.

We hope you had fun with this

Cheers Peter Bruce Photo & team bELLE