t of your engagement or wedding, it’s important that you step back afterwards – and before submitting it to the newspaper – and think about what you are trying to say and what your words really do say. Are they one and the same things?

After the wedding, is it really important that you get the name of each and every person who did anything to help breathe life into your wedding

When I worked at the local mid-sized newspaper, one of the first things that I mastered was typing announcements for engagements, weddings, and anniversaries, announcements for which people paid. Our advertising employees faithfully took down each and every word as it was dictated to them, quoted a price, then passed their handwritten notes on to the newsroom staff. They didn’t care if the announcement was inflated with excess verbiage. The more words, the more the announcements cost.

How we laughed at some of those announcements. Some records of weddings were so long that the price had to be astronomical. Some left out only how many potty trips the wedding party made during rehearsals.

Many submissions used words that made us chuckle. We often wondered if the majority of brides in our area used the same wedding planner, or if they were using descriptions provided by one particular source. Some descriptions made us break out in laughter each time we read them.

For some reason, many local brides insisted on describing their gowns and veils using the words "encrusted with pearls." Perhaps it was because the newsroom staff saw and wrote about the seamier part of life that we did laugh at that phrase. To us, the word "encrusted" conjured up pictures of blood and guts.

We usually changed the words "encrusted with pearls" to words we thought more appropriate. We used instead, bedecked with pearls, adorned with pearls, framed in pearls, or encircled with pearls.

When you are writing the announcement of your engagement or wedding, it’s important that you step back afterwards – and before submitting it to the newspaper – and think about what you are trying to say and what your words really do say. Are they one and the same things?

After the wedding, is it really important that you get the name of each and every person who did anything to help breathe life into your wedding

if the announcement was inflated with excess verbiage. The more words, the more the announcements cost.

How we laughed at some of those announcements. Some records of weddings were so long that the price had to be astronomical. Some left out only how many potty trips the wedding party made during rehearsals.

Many submissions used words that made us chuckle. We often wondered if the majority of brides in our area used the same wedding planner, or if they were using descriptions provided by one particular source. Some descriptions made us break out in laughter each time we read them.

For some reason, many local brides insisted on describing their gowns and veils using the words "encrusted with pearls." Perhaps it was because the newsroom staff saw and wrote about the seamier part of life that we did laugh at that phrase. To us, the word "encrusted" conjured up pictures of blood and guts.

We usually changed the words "encrusted with pearls" to words we thought more appropriate. We used instead, bedecked with pearls, adorned with pearls, framed in pearls, or encircled with pearls.

When you are writing the announcement of your engagement or wedding, it’s important that you step back afterwards – and before submitting it to the newspaper – and think about what you are trying to say and what your words really do say. Are they one and the same things?

After the wedding, is it really important that you get the name of each and every person who did anything to help breathe life into your wedding

ered if the majority of brides in our area used the same wedding planner, or if they were using descriptions provided by one particular source. Some descriptions made us break out in laughter each time we read them.

For some reason, many local brides insisted on describing their gowns and veils using the words "encrusted with pearls." Perhaps it was because the newsroom staff saw and wrote about the seamier part of life that we did laugh at that phrase. To us, the word "encrusted" conjured up pictures of blood and guts.

We usually changed the words "encrusted with pearls" to words we thought more appropriate. We used instead, bedecked with pearls, adorned with pearls, framed in pearls, or encircled with pearls.

When you are writing the announcement of your engagement or wedding, it’s important that you step back afterwards – and before submitting it to the newspaper – and think about what you are trying to say and what your words really do say. Are they one and the same things?

After the wedding, is it really important that you get the name of each and every person who did anything to help breathe life into your wedding

and wrote about the seamier part of life that we did laugh at that phrase. To us, the word "encrusted" conjured up pictures of blood and guts.

We usually changed the words "encrusted with pearls" to words we thought more appropriate. We used instead, bedecked with pearls, adorned with pearls, framed in pearls, or encircled with pearls.

When you are writing the announcement of your engagement or wedding, it’s important that you step back afterwards – and before submitting it to the newspaper – and think about what you are trying to say and what your words really do say. Are they one and the same things?

After the wedding, is it really important that you get the name of each and every person who did anything to help breathe life into your wedding

t of your engagement or wedding, it’s important that you step back afterwards – and before submitting it to the newspaper – and think about what you are trying to say and what your words really do say. Are they one and the same things?

After the wedding, is it really important that you get the name of each and every person who did anything to help breathe life into your wedding or reception in the newspaper record?

Each word costs money, remember. Do you really need a 50-word description of the wedding dress? Those who were at the wedding know that the dress was beautiful. Those who did not attend will most likely not be able to picture the beauty of the gown, whether you have used ten words or fifty.

Do you need a mouth-watering description of the food that was served in the newspaper? Or would that description make more sense in the photo album or wedding scrapbook?

Yes, in the end, the decision of which words and how many you use is ultimately up to you. When I worked at the newspaper, after we changed the wording to something we felt was more appropriate, the bride still had the last and final approval of the article.

Which announcement do you desire? The one that the news staff painstakingly edits so that the words sing, and the announcement sounds different than all the others submitted for that day? Or the one that elicits giggles from those typing the words for publication? The choice is truly yours.