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Friday, February 22, 2008
Money Saving Wedding Tips
One Idea to save money is to not have your wedding on the weekend. Many vendors will offer substantially lower costs because weekdays they are usually free and not booked.
When buying a wedding gown check your local newspaper for slightly used dresses. Shop in bridal outlets they usually will offer substantially lower costs than your local bridal store. Shop consignment stores you can usually find great deals and slightly used dresses. Don't buy a designer dress if you don't have to. Designer dresses will definitely cost you more money and usually you can find similar dresses at a much lower cost than you would a designer dress.
When purchasing your cake try to keep it all the same flavor and keep it simple. Use your own decorations for the cake like fresh cut flowers or pearls. Doing this is minimizing the hand made designs that the baker does which will lower your cost of the cake.
Deciding on video and pictures have a friend with a nice camera usually 4 pixels and up take your pictures. Take your pictures to your local photo lab and edit them yourself or use your computer and add your own effects. This will save you a ton of money. Your video you can do the same. Have a friend with a nice camera and a tripod the tripod is important because you want steady video and have them shoot your wedding.
Have your wedding at home or at a friends house. When you have a wedding at home you do not pay any fees that are associated with renting a hall or ball room. Also you can bring whatever food you would like and you don't have to pay for a bartender if you do not want too.
When deciding on entertainment have a friend with access to the internet download your favorite songs and burn them to a disc and play them at your reception. This will be a huge savings.
When deciding on your wedding accessories such as your flower girl basket you can usually go to a local craft store and purchase a plain basket and decorate it yourself. You can pick up some material while your there and some pillow stuffing and a little needle and thread and make your own ring pillow.
When trying to match all of your colors together go to your local paint store and get a paint card of the colors you are using and take this everywhere you go. This will help you with matching flowers and all of your decorations you are using in your wedding.
If you are having an outdoor wedding have it in the fall. The fall time is the most beautiful weather and most likely not as hot as it would be in the summer time. Also prepare yourself for rain. Have a plan to get the cake and other decorations that are sensitive to rain put up and out of the way.
Do not be afraid to ask for help. Ask groomsmen and bridesmaids to help decorate before the wedding and assign each one of them a couple of simple tasks each. This will save you on decorating and clean up before and after the wedding.
Most of all remember it's your wedding and just enjoy yourself and have a great time.
Yolanda Nash is the owner of http://www.yolandasweddingfavors.com and wedding planner. She enjoys seeing all the different table decorations, flowers and wedding party favors on the wedding day.
¶ 10:24 AM 0 comments
When buying a wedding gown check your local newspaper for slightly used dresses. Shop in bridal outlets they usually will offer substantially lower costs than your local bridal store. Shop consignment stores you can usually find great deals and slightly used dresses. Don't buy a designer dress if you don't have to. Designer dresses will definitely cost you more money and usually you can find similar dresses at a much lower cost than you would a designer dress.
When purchasing your cake try to keep it all the same flavor and keep it simple. Use your own decorations for the cake like fresh cut flowers or pearls. Doing this is minimizing the hand made designs that the baker does which will lower your cost of the cake.
Deciding on video and pictures have a friend with a nice camera usually 4 pixels and up take your pictures. Take your pictures to your local photo lab and edit them yourself or use your computer and add your own effects. This will save you a ton of money. Your video you can do the same. Have a friend with a nice camera and a tripod the tripod is important because you want steady video and have them shoot your wedding.
Have your wedding at home or at a friends house. When you have a wedding at home you do not pay any fees that are associated with renting a hall or ball room. Also you can bring whatever food you would like and you don't have to pay for a bartender if you do not want too.
When deciding on entertainment have a friend with access to the internet download your favorite songs and burn them to a disc and play them at your reception. This will be a huge savings.
When deciding on your wedding accessories such as your flower girl basket you can usually go to a local craft store and purchase a plain basket and decorate it yourself. You can pick up some material while your there and some pillow stuffing and a little needle and thread and make your own ring pillow.
When trying to match all of your colors together go to your local paint store and get a paint card of the colors you are using and take this everywhere you go. This will help you with matching flowers and all of your decorations you are using in your wedding.
If you are having an outdoor wedding have it in the fall. The fall time is the most beautiful weather and most likely not as hot as it would be in the summer time. Also prepare yourself for rain. Have a plan to get the cake and other decorations that are sensitive to rain put up and out of the way.
Do not be afraid to ask for help. Ask groomsmen and bridesmaids to help decorate before the wedding and assign each one of them a couple of simple tasks each. This will save you on decorating and clean up before and after the wedding.
Most of all remember it's your wedding and just enjoy yourself and have a great time.
Yolanda Nash is the owner of http://www.yolandasweddingfavors.com and wedding planner. She enjoys seeing all the different table decorations, flowers and wedding party favors on the wedding day.
¶ 10:24 AM 0 comments
Training With Treats: Do It Right!
Hey even Im willing to learn new things if theres a broiled lobster in it for me.
When Im hungry that is.
If Im not hungry, or if Im so distracted that a lobster wont tempt me, then Ill blow you off to continue doing what I want, not what you want.
Thats pretty much how your dog sees the issue when you train with food. If hes hungry at the moment, and if theres nothing more compelling going on, food can be a great way to reinforce behaviors you teach your dog. On the other hand, if Fido isnt food motivated, or if hes got something better to do, he wont be interested.
Nonetheless, training with food has its benefits when used as a motivator and a reward. For those dogs who just arent normally interested in treats, you can substitute play with a toy if that motivates them.
The first thing you have to know about using food in training is how NOT to use it. The primary rule is not to use it to stop an unwanted behavior. Instead, use it to create a new behavior you want to teach.
With those rules in mind, you wont teach your dog to stop growling at other dogs by using food. But you may be able to teach him to sit more quickly if theres something tasty in it for him.
Before I tell how you to deliver food treats when training, let me tell you WHY you should not use food to try and stop an unwanted behavior. The answer is because you can accidentally reinforce the very behavior youre trying to stop.
For example, lets say Fido growls at other dogs on his walks. If you tell him to stop growling, and distract him with a treat, what has he really learned?
Heres what YOURE thinkinghe stopped growling so I rewarded him for that with a cookie. He wont growl again.
Heres what FIDO is thinkingthis is cool, I growl, then mom pops me a cookie. Lets see if this workslets growl more!
Think of food as a directional reward. How, when and where you deliver it all determine whether the treat teaches your dog what you intended, or something else altogether. For example, you tell Fido to sit, and you hold a treat six inches over his head, while pushing down on his butt.
Sound about right? Wrong! By holding that treat six inches over his head, youre really teaching Fido to sit then immediately break that position in favor of jumping up to get the cookie.
Instead, start Fido standing on a closely held leash. Show him you have a cookie, by holding it at nose levelonly an inch from his sniffer-- while hes standing up. Direct his attention, and nose, slightly higher by raising the cookie only enough so that he must tend toward a sit to view it. While hes focusing upward only a couple of inches over his nose, use your other hand to push his butt down, while your cookie hand keeps the treat only a couple of inches from his nose as it moves.
As soon as he is sitting, deliver the treat to him just slightly above nose level, and slightly toward his rear. This means that to collect the treat, Fido must actually lean back into the sit more to reach it.
Mission accomplished! Food hasnt been just randomly delivered to your dog, leaving him wondering why he got it. Instead, the food has clearly communicated how he can get this treat even faster next time, by sitting when you ask.
Anyone getting hungry?
Marc Goldberg is a dog trainer specializing in the rehabilitation of difficult dogs and improving relationships. He is Vice President of the International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP) and Editor of SafeHands Journal. The author also educates professional dog trainers in his techniques. Visit him on the web at http://www.chicagodogtrainer.com or http://www.dogtraininginchicago.com.
¶ 12:16 AM 0 comments
When Im hungry that is.
If Im not hungry, or if Im so distracted that a lobster wont tempt me, then Ill blow you off to continue doing what I want, not what you want.
Thats pretty much how your dog sees the issue when you train with food. If hes hungry at the moment, and if theres nothing more compelling going on, food can be a great way to reinforce behaviors you teach your dog. On the other hand, if Fido isnt food motivated, or if hes got something better to do, he wont be interested.
Nonetheless, training with food has its benefits when used as a motivator and a reward. For those dogs who just arent normally interested in treats, you can substitute play with a toy if that motivates them.
The first thing you have to know about using food in training is how NOT to use it. The primary rule is not to use it to stop an unwanted behavior. Instead, use it to create a new behavior you want to teach.
With those rules in mind, you wont teach your dog to stop growling at other dogs by using food. But you may be able to teach him to sit more quickly if theres something tasty in it for him.
Before I tell how you to deliver food treats when training, let me tell you WHY you should not use food to try and stop an unwanted behavior. The answer is because you can accidentally reinforce the very behavior youre trying to stop.
For example, lets say Fido growls at other dogs on his walks. If you tell him to stop growling, and distract him with a treat, what has he really learned?
Heres what YOURE thinkinghe stopped growling so I rewarded him for that with a cookie. He wont growl again.
Heres what FIDO is thinkingthis is cool, I growl, then mom pops me a cookie. Lets see if this workslets growl more!
Think of food as a directional reward. How, when and where you deliver it all determine whether the treat teaches your dog what you intended, or something else altogether. For example, you tell Fido to sit, and you hold a treat six inches over his head, while pushing down on his butt.
Sound about right? Wrong! By holding that treat six inches over his head, youre really teaching Fido to sit then immediately break that position in favor of jumping up to get the cookie.
Instead, start Fido standing on a closely held leash. Show him you have a cookie, by holding it at nose levelonly an inch from his sniffer-- while hes standing up. Direct his attention, and nose, slightly higher by raising the cookie only enough so that he must tend toward a sit to view it. While hes focusing upward only a couple of inches over his nose, use your other hand to push his butt down, while your cookie hand keeps the treat only a couple of inches from his nose as it moves.
As soon as he is sitting, deliver the treat to him just slightly above nose level, and slightly toward his rear. This means that to collect the treat, Fido must actually lean back into the sit more to reach it.
Mission accomplished! Food hasnt been just randomly delivered to your dog, leaving him wondering why he got it. Instead, the food has clearly communicated how he can get this treat even faster next time, by sitting when you ask.
Anyone getting hungry?
Marc Goldberg is a dog trainer specializing in the rehabilitation of difficult dogs and improving relationships. He is Vice President of the International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP) and Editor of SafeHands Journal. The author also educates professional dog trainers in his techniques. Visit him on the web at http://www.chicagodogtrainer.com or http://www.dogtraininginchicago.com.
¶ 12:16 AM 0 comments
