How to Host a Great Bridal Shower (8 Steps)

I recently helped my mother-in-law host a bridal shower. It was such a pleasant experience that I decided to help others by sharing how we accomplished this feat.First enlist help. Although you can do this by yourself it is a lot easier and less expensive if you enlist the help of some family and friends. We broke up the tasks of the party to make it easier on everyone (one person made the main course and centerpieces, another person brought the vegetables and cake, another person made the games and prizes and brought the fruit, another person sent out invitations and made favors).
You need to decide what type of shower you are going to plan. In this day and age it is not necessarily the brides' place to partake in events alone. Some wedding showers include the husband to be. These showers are thrown more as a couple shower where guests bring spouses. This type of shower can get expensive to throw, as you are essentially doubling your guest list. You need to decide if you are going to make it a themed shower (i.e. garden bridal shower or kitchen bridal shower). This will help guests know what to buy off of the couples registry. Pick a date, time, and place to host the shower and send out invitations about four weeks before the event so that you will give people enough time to accommodate their schedules and receive responses.Create an estimate of the number of guests that will be coming to the shower. This will help you decide on how much food to prepare.Create a menu. (We did a chicken salad sandwich on croissant, vegetable skewers, sliced fruit, and a cake for desert). Decide weather you will be having a buffet set out or if you are going to do plated meals. This helps for time management. A plated lunch will take less time than a buffet lunch if you plate the food a half hour before guests arrive. This also means that you will not run the risk of some guests taking to much food and some guests not getting any food.
Set up tables with plates, silverware, drink ware (drinks should be poured prior to guests arrival to save on time). Forks are to the left of the plate while knives and spoons are to the right of the plate lying atop napkins. Favors should either be placed at each place setting for guests or placed on an entryway table for guest to take as they depart. In a garden themed party for example, you could buy inexpensive small clay pots and place flower seeds, flower bookmarks, and candy in them. Tie a simple ribbon around the pots in the couples wedding colors to give good presentation to the favors. Throwing a themed shower also gives the host/hostess a direction for creativity. For example, a garden themed party can have flower centerpieces (a simple vase on each table with hydrangeas will suffice), flower trivia game( a name that flower game), spice smelling game, potted plant favors, and garden tool prizes.
The Shower should flow well. There should not be any large lulls in time, guests will visit with each other during the dining and game play. After guests have eaten there should be one or two games to be played by guests. For the shower I threw I created a wedding movie trivia game with multiple choice questions for the first game and a game I call Spice Delight, where guests have only their sense of smell to use and must guess the spice or herb hidden in several different containers. I awarded prizes to the person with the most correct and the person with the least correct. I had tie-breaker questions ready as well. The prizes I created were simple glass vases I picked up at a local dollar store with a pair of gardening gloves, a garden tool, and a pack of garden herb seeds placed inside. I tied two ribbons around the vase in the couples colors to tie into the rest of the décor of the bridal shower.
Before using these games you need to make sure to keep a copy with the answers. The guests' copy of the games should not have the answers highlighted. Once everyone has had a chance to guess the answers, you go over the answer key out loud with the guests. Hand out prizes after each game.The Tie-Breaker questions I got from Wikipedia.Wedding Movie Trivia Game
1) In the 1991 film 'Father of the Bride', where did the bride and groom, Annie and Bryan, meet?
A) Paris
B) Rome
C) Chicago
2) At the end of the 1989 film 'When Harry Met Sally', how long do Harry and Sally say it took them to get married?
A) 12 years and 3 months
B) 3 years and 10 months`
C) 7 years and 9 months
3) What song is playing at the very end of the 1999 film, 'Runaway Bride.'
A) Love the second time around
B) You Can't Hurry Love
C) Finally Found Love
4) In the 1998 film, 'The Wedding Singer', what rock star was on the plane when Robbie was going to Vegas?
A) Bruce Springsteen
B) Boy George
C) Billy Idol
5) In the 2001 film 'The Wedding Planner' How do the main characters Mary and Steve meet?
A) Steve saves Mary from getting run over by a car.
B) Steve hits Mary's car.
C) Steve saves Mary from getting run over by a dumpster.
6) In the 2005 film 'Wedding Crashers' Who are the two main characters?
A) John and Jack
B) John and Jeremy
C) Jack and Jim
7) In the 2002 film, 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' who says,' 'The man is the head, but the woman is the neck.'
A) Maria Portokalos
B) Harriet Miller
C) Thia Voula
8) In the 1997 film, 'My Best Friend's Wedding' Michael made Julianne swear that if they were still single at age __ they would marry each other.
A) 30
B) 28
C) 35
9) In the 1987 film 'The Princess Bride' What was Miracle Max's favorite food?
A) A nice MLT
B) A nice Pastrami on Rye
C) A nice BLT
10) In the film 'Pride and Prejudice' what is the name of the house that the Bennett's live in?
A) Netherfield Park
B) Rosings
C) Longborn
Tie Breaker Questions:
1) Wearing a white dress was a trend started by what famous bride?
A) Queen Elizabeth *B) Queen Victoria C) Queen Mary2) Wedding veils from ancient Rome were what color?
A) White B) Black *C) Yellow
Spice Delight There are seven different spices in seven different containers. Each container has been numbered and covered. This game quizzes your sense of smell and your knowledge of common herbs and spices. Please smell each container and try to identify its contents based on smell and smell alone. Write down what herb or spice you think is in the container next to the corresponding number on your paper. 1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7) Tie-breaker Questions:1) What is the difference between and herb and a spice?Herbs are, or may be, used fresh. Typically the leaves of annual and perennial plants are used as herbs but sometimes the leaves of woody plants are used. Spices come from plant parts other than leaves such as the bark, roots, buds, flowers or fruits. They are usually perennial plants grown in tropical areas and include things like cinnamon (bark), ginger (root), nutmeg (fruit/nut) and pepper (berry).2) Where does the herb name Mint originate from?The name comes from the Greek legend of the nymph Minthe, who attracted the attention of Hades. Hades' wife, the jealous Persephone, attacked Minthe and was in the process of trampling her to death when Hades turned her into the herb (and was ever sacred to him). A symbol of hospitality and wisdom, 'the very smell of it reanimates the spirit', Pliny tells us.
After the games have been played and prizes have been awarded it is time for the guest of honor (bride/bride and groom, depending on how the party is thrown) to open gifts. Someone must be in charge of writing down what gifts the bride and groom are receiving and from whom they are receiving them from. This is essential for the bride and groom to be able to write their thank you cards. Usually the person in charge of doing this task is the maid of honor, the mother, the mother-in-law, or the groom to be.
After the gifts have been opened, there is one more task to be complete. Thank your guests for coming. A simple, 'Thank you for being a part of celebrating the union of two wonderful people. We are incredibly happy that you are all here to be a part of the beginning of what I am sure will be a happy marriage. Once again, thank you for coming, thank you for taking the time to be here with us.' (If you have favors placed on an entryway table this will help segue the end of the shower and the departure of guests. You can simply add on to the end of your thank you speech, 'There are favors for each guest to take home with them on the entry table, please make sure to take one as you are leaving.')
VPS Hosting

How to Decorate a Web Page (7 Steps)

Sign up for a web-hosting package. Sign in to the back end of the website using your assigned username and password.
Open the list of available templates. Select a template with a large amount of white space. 'White space gives a sense of spaciousness and overall neatness to a site,' recommends Entheos Designs.
Select a font style. Fonts are a classic way to enhance your web design. However, remember that the purpose of text on a website is for users to read. Attractive web fonts are available on most computers and work best in dark colors such as black, navy or dark gray. An exception to this rule is with the creation of website headers and menu bars.
Create attractive headers for your website menus. Use basic shapes such as a rectangle or circle to add to the top of your web page. Choose a bold color that matches closely with your logo colors. If you are unable to find close matches in the template, choose a neutral color such as gray or black that complements your logo to avoid the clash of mismatched colors.
Add accents. Consider the products or services your company provides and choose three to four corresponding icons or graphics to separate various sections of your website. Find free icons or graphics from sites such as Freeiconsweb.com or Websitetips.com. Download the graphic, then upload it into your template by clicking the option to insert a photo.
Add photos, but sparingly. Photos work well as the main header of a website or in the center of the main page, when you select a meaningful photo. Enlarge photos on your main page so they are no smaller than the size of the text blocks used in your template.
Preview your web design. If an area seems cluttered, go back and remove an item. Choose 'Publish to web' once you have made the appropriate updates.
VPS Hosting

How to Start A Small Business With Business Cards And A Free Web Site

Register your business.Conduct an online search for your State Department. For instance, let's assume that you live in Texas. Visit Google, Yahoo or Msn and type in 'Texas Department of State.' Simply replace Texas with the actual state that you live in or wish to register your business in. Your state will show the fee's and steps needed to register your business. Most states are fairly straight forward and will provide telephone assistance should you require assistance.
Order your business cards. Take a trip to your local office supply store such as Staples, Office Depot or Office Max. Visit their printing services department. You will be able to view different styles, colors and shapes of business cards. If you see business cards that you like, place an order and you'll receive your business cards in a few days. Also, if you decide to make your own business cards, these stores carry different card stocks for use on a personal computer and printer. Another option is to order your business cards online. There are many high quality printing companies online, that do a great job. Vistaprint and Print Runner have excellent prices on business cards and most other items for your printing needs.
Distribute your business cards.Make an effort to give out at least 5 business cards per day to people that you interact with. Your business cards won't do much good in the box, so try to give them to businesses that you patronize. Explain to them that you have started a new venture and to contact you should anyone need services that you provide.
Get a free website.Search online the term 'free website.' Visit several of the search results to determine which free website will be best suited for your business. Make sure that you read the Terms and Conditions for the company that you choose, to ensure that you understand the details.
Design your free website.Choose a domain name for your website. This is the address for your website via the world wide web that may end in .com, .net, .info, .ws, .org, .tv or .meMost free websites have easy templates to walk you through the set up process. It's not difficult to create a free website. You will need to take your time and in no time at all, you will have a working free website. At this point, you can add text, products, and information about services that you provide.
Choose your web hosting.Your website provider may have free web hosting, if not conduct a search for 'free web hosting.' Again, ensure that you understand the Terms of Service. Basically, A web hosting company will display your website online. The most reliable web hosting companies charge a nominal fee of twenty dollars or less per month if you decide to use a paid hosting company.
Promote your business.
Be sure to get your free website first. This will enable you to place your website info on your business cards. These are low cost tools to get you started. With business cards and a free website you can start a small business today.
VPS Hosting