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Everyone knows how outrageously overpriced a wedding dress can be (and for that matter, anything that starts with wedding). But, until you start shopping, you may not realize how expensive the veil can also be. There are some alternatives to buying $300 - $500 veil in your bridal salon.

First of all, who really needs a veil. The concept is a bit antiquated, although many aspects of modern weddings are. The veil was meant to keep the groom from seeing the bride before the ceremony. At the end, when he lifts the veil, it symbolizes his dominance, and his taking of his bride. So, how about skipping the veil? It could be a huge cost saver.

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Like anything else in a wedding, photography services can be grossly overdone and terribly expensive. I went to a wedding recently where the photographer was awfully intrusive. After the ceremony, the guests went to the reception and started the party. We didn’t see the happy couple for two hours! They were busy getting a million pictures taken and were hungry and crabby by the time they made it to dinner. Then, during the reception, the photographer set up multiple flashes on tall poles throughout the room. He took pictures throughout the evening and with each one, the flashes went off, momentarily blinding me. And, I happen to know, that my friends paid almost $8,000 for this service!

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If you are trying to think of something to make your wedding ceremony special and different, try a tradition from another culture. Asian wedding traditions can be beautiful and meaningful. You could borrow from the following.

In Japan, purple is a traditional wedding color. Use this color in flowers. Purple Irises are gorgeous in the spring.

In China, it is traditional for the bride to wear red, the color of good fortune. If you really want to try something different, wear a bright red wedding dress. They also use loud fireworks to scare off evil spirits. This could be a fun ending to an evening, outdoor ceremony.

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I have always dreaded certain parts of weddings.  Certain traditions exist at wedding receptions especially, and nobody really knows why they exist at all.  Here are my most dreaded wedding traditions that we could stand to lose.

1.  The chicken dance.  Who thought up this one?  The music that goes with it is terrible, everyonen looks and feels stupid doing it.  The one plus may be that kids love it.

2.  The hokey pokey.  See number one.

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Flowers at a wedding can be crucial. They can help to set the tone or carry out the theme for the event. But, it’s easy to go overboard. You can quickly spend too much money on flowers. Here are some things to keep in mind.

Make sure you know what the color scheme for the wedding will be and how you want the atmosphere to feel. Flowers can look formal or laid-back. They can dominate the reception, or just be an accent. You need to know what you want before you start looking.

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