How to plan a memorable wedding?
Creative ideas for weddings

	If all weddings were the same, it wouldn't be fun for the guests. That is why couples are getting creative about their weddings and here are a few thoughts for you to get started. Wedding experts Deborah Weckesser and Dawn McGrath, founders of Sapphire Solutions, the online Wedding Guides & Wedding Outlet, offer the following ideas.  (Related:  How to propose?)
	Traditions Toasts - The wedding toast is usually given by the best man immediately before the meal is served. The custom of drinking wine, a symbol of life and love, from a common cup represents the bride and groom’s deep sharing. Cutting the Cake - Developed as a wedding fertility tradition, the custom of cutting the cake goes back to Roman times when a wheat cake was showered at the bride and groom. Today, the couple cuts the first piece together with their cake server. Another cake tradition is to freeze the top of the wedding cake to eat on the couple’s first anniversary. Because of the loss of taste in freezing the cake, many couples opt to have the baker recreate the top of their wedding cake for their first anniversary. Tossing the Garter - The wedding garter has been a wedding tradition since the 14th century and is still popular today. The traditional garter toss is meant to bring good luck to the man who catches it and he will be the next to marry. Sixpence – Part of the Old English wedding tradition rhyme of something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, a silver sixpence in her shoe. Long ago, it was customary for the bride to place a shiny, silver sixpence in her slipper on the wedding day to ensure a life of fortune would then be hers. Today, brides may place a sixpence in their shoe for good luck.
	New ideas You may want your guests to sign a guest book as they enter the reception. The book may be left on a table with a wedding pen for guests to sign. In this age of computers, the guest book becomes a personal hand written document with well wishes from family members and friends to be passed on for years to come. You can also have guests "autograph" a signature frame or platter that can be displayed in the home after the wedding. Have your names and wedding date engraved on your wedding cake server and when your children get married, pass it on to them. They can add their initials and wedding date and pass it down from generation to generation. Celebrate your wedding during one of your favorite holidays or use a season as a theme. Summer or beach destination weddings, a trend gaining in popularity, can include decorating with seashells, sand dollars, and sand. Couples are increasingly including a custom that celebrates their heritage or cultural background like jumping the broom, breaking the glass, or the dollar dance. Young guests will enjoy seeing these customs for the first time and older guests will appreciate the keeping of those traditions alive. (Related:  Wedding planning) The lighting of the unity candle which symbolizes the newlyweds but also the two families. It may include two small candles lit by the bride and groom's parents that are then used by the bride and groom to light the larger unity candle. This activity need not be limited to the bride and groom. The couple can have their parents, grandparents, friends, children, and any other special people join in the lighting of the unity candle. Save the unity candles from your wedding ceremony and relight them during a special occasion such as an anniversary or birth of a child. If there is a remarriage, a family medallion ceremony may be used as a symbol of the importance of family in the wedding ceremony and of the two families uniting. During the wedding ceremony, the couple's children join them at the altar. The bride and groom place a sterling-silver medal around the neck of each child and pledge their love to them.
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