Lessons from the royal wedding

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Its been at least ten days since the Royal wedding, viewed by many as the wedding of the century. Most brides keep their guests and the groom waiting at the alter but that wasn't the case with Kate Middleton. I will use the point that brides can be fashionably late as an excuse to my article that's late in its being published. When all is said, am interested in reviewing a few lessons I got from the Royal wedding.

It was an all white wedding. What I actually liked about that I have for the longest time tried to convince any of my bride to do that and now that Kate pulled it off, I might be looking at a first for me soon. Now, all that's left is a bride to convince on that direction.

The Ivory gown she wore that had long sleeves with flowing lace was lovely. Quite modest considering it was a Royal affair. A good idea for a bride to keep in mind when selecting a gown, its important to keep the guest list in mind, and though the maid of honor wore an ivory dress the attention still remained on the bride.

The wedding was a family affair. Kate's sister as the maid of honor, her father not only walked her down the aisle but stood by her before the vows, her brother doing the bible reading during the ceremony and she did her own makeup. The lessons here are:not necessarily a long bridal trail is the best and its good to involve family members during one's big day. It can help cement the relationship with them and doing your own make up can also be a good thing besides saving you on some cash. She wanted the groom to recognize her. The verdict you still look yourself as your make up application is based on your daily look.

Finally, two things I liked when Kate came in a Limo and left in a horse carriage; and her female guests adorned in hats. The former was an excellent choice to arrive in I've seen a lot of brides arrive late to the ceremony when a carriage is used when the distance from her departure point and the ceremony is far. As for the guest wearing hats, I saw fashionable hats nice ones and some worth being on the runway only. What's left is seeing how some of the trends she set will play out this year.

Gifting in weddings

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When most guests are invited to a wedding, its traditional or even polite to carry a gift along. The african weddings are just the best when it comes to this. Sometimes the individuals are starting out in life and both have never lived alone. Guest can gift them from beds, seats, kitchenware or anything they deam necessary to start out in life. Six years ago, a friend got married and his friends came together to gift him what was necessary to start life especially the big items. Each individually decided what was they would gift and that avoided duplication of items.

More individuals marrying or getting married in Nairobi have on most times lived alone and probabaly have the basics in life. At their weddings in Nairobi, couples opt for wedding gift registries which are available at supermarkets like nakumatt and also inara and many more others where the couple could select what to be gifted by their guests. When the items are reasonably priced then they could be sure of receiving alot of gifts indicated by them.

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Others choose to be gifted in "kind", which is usually cash. Two years ago, I planned a wedding for this couple that I really liked. They didnt follow the budget we agreed on and somewhere along the way as the planner, I couldn't be paid money owed immediately except for the deposit paid by them as they ran out of cash. We entered into an agreement for the payment to be cleared later. Since they were a wonderful couple they called and cleared the balance the next day. What made it possible for this to be achieved? They were gifted in cash.

Nairobi is slowly loosing the value of gifting the couple during the wedding. Most people are invited and they invite their own friends which is impolite to do so. Gifting the couple is a way to say thank you for the invitation to their day. It also shows gratitude to them.

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Another kind of gifting comes into mind. The economy isnt any better in Nairobi. Most brides are looking for the wow factor in their weddings but cannot afford due to the budget involved. This brings to mind gifting by vendors to their clients. Some have done the whole event or partial one as a gift. Why is this sometimes necessary? Well, its more of our Corporate Social Responsiblity. Its far fetched  to compare the two but am sure the point is clear. I remember last year where the bride had wonderful colors but a tight budget and it meant i had to gift her some things to achieve the theme I was working with. Its impossible to gift something to all your clients but some based on their situations and circumstances are worth it.

Finally being a christian, I will stick to the bible principle that "there is more happiness in giving than receiving". So gift a couple as a vendor or guest believe me it makes you happy.