Sane Bride

Food- Part III Desert

2010-08-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

Lately desert has become so much more than wedding cake. I'm going to focus on desert hours (yes, you read the right an hour of desert).

If you want to learn more about wedding cakes, go read this post by F.

To desert we go! There are so many great options out there right now for desert hours.

Candy Bars are a pretty great trend! They can be done pretty inexpensively and can leave a big impact. Candy bars can be done in your wedding colors and the canisters can be picked up from major retailers like Target. Think outside of the box for canisters, try using pillar candle holders. Buying candy at wholesale is also key. In addition, most candy has a long shelf life so consider buying at the end of different holiday seasons when candy goes on sale. Bonus if you pick colors coordinate with a holiday, red (Christmas & Valentine's Day), green (Christmas), blue (Hanukkah), pastels (Easter), pink & red (Valentine's Day).

Most sources suggest 3-8 ounces per guest, but even with that figure you want to make sure that your candy buffet has a presence. If you are placing it on a large table you don't want it to look slim. So it's important not only to consider the amount of candy per guest but also the size table you are using.

Make sure to include bags or boxes so that guests have someplace to put their candy goods! Also consider making fun labels for the candy which will not only make it easier for guests to pick what they want, but is an inexpensive way to spruce the table up.

image via Red Ribbon Studio

Tip: Candy Bars are great for showers too!

Another option for desert hours are cookie bars. Similar to the candy bar idea cookie bars are arrangements of cookies. In addition you would be shocked about how many major grocery chains have great cookies. Cookie bars also can include homemade cookies by moms, grandmothers, aunts, and friends! Try combining both the cookie and candy bars for little something extra. I recently heard that cookie bars are very famous in some areas of Pennsylvania.

Simple plated desserts can't be forgotten about either. I always feel they are the most formal of all the options and usually include your wedding cake and another desert.

Recently, I attended a wedding where their was passed deserts. Treats were passed (by the waitstaff) around the venue for an hour. They had ice cream, cupcakes, sorbet, cookies, and so much more! It was delicious.

I'm curious what are you doing for desert?

Crazy Week!

2010-08-18T17:49:00.002-04:00

It's been a crazy week over in our house. We returned form our belated honeymoon in Costa Rica and it's been such a struggle to get back into the swing of things! I left my food posts hanging without any desert. I'm hoping to finish that I'm this week.

P.S. Belated honeymoons are amazing and Costa Rica was such a perfect choice.

Floral Inspiration

2010-08-13T10:03:00.010-04:00

I am a big fan of simple bouquets consisting of one type of flower, especially for bridesmaids and I found these white anemones to be so unbelievably beautiful, especially with the bright pink dresses that I was inspired to share them with you this morning.

(Image via Style me pretty)

Perfect Moments XX

2010-08-12T11:23:00.002-04:00

No Words Needed. Perfection. Happy Almost Friday.

A special thanks to Meghan Sorel Photography for this inspiration

Rememberance

2010-08-11T10:14:00.002-04:00

While weddings tend to be filled with happy emotions, they also seem to highlight the sad reality that people gone before us will not be able to attend and be part of the celebration as we wish they could. While we always miss those who have passed, on celebrations like weddings it becomes harder to ignore the fact that certain very special individuals are missing. For some it is a good friend, a parent, close grandparent, mentor, aunt, uncle, etc., but whoever it may be, the void cannot be filled. Rather then attempt to fill or ignore it, I suggest commemorating those individuals in a way that allows them to be close to your heart.

This is something I had to give much thought to when planning my own wedding as my husband unfortunately lost his father when he was 19 years old. It came to mind recently as I tearfully (and proudly) watched this now man escort his sister down the aisle 9 years later. 2 years ago I watched him give away his other sister's hand in marriage. With the planning of all three of our weddings within 3 years, each of the children commemorated their father in different ways, all of which were touching and in celebration of his life and all that he contributed to each of them. It was clear that He watched proudly from above on each of these days.

Along the years of attending weddings, I have seen many people pay tribute to those who have gone too soon in different ways and after this weekend, thought I would share some ideas with our readers. Some choose to make their memory something public, others more private,but however it is done, the important piece is to know that they are in your hearts and watching over your big day every step of the way.

-A memory candle: We chose to have a candle made and lit throughout the reception. As guests entered, they would find the memory candle lit, surrounded by flowers and a framed list of the names of those who gone before us whom we wanted to pay tribute to. Some choose to add poems, quotes, song lyrics or pictures surrounding the memory candle.

-A piece of clothing: A dear friend of ours lost her mother and on her wedding day, she had a piece of her mother's wedding dress sewn into the bottom of her own. It was a simple gesture that I found incredibly beautiful and touching. This can be done with any important article of clothing or something that was significant to that person (hankerchief, pocket scarf, etc)

-Jewelery/Other Significant Articles: Wearing significant jewelery is a way to keep them close in your heart, as is other things that were important to them. For instance, rosary beads around a bride's bouqet or something symbolic that the individual adored at the bride and groom's table.

-Pictures: Too many pictures of the deceased can be morbid, but one or two with the bride/groom can be a wonderful tribute. My sister in law wore a beautiful locket with her father's picture enclosed in it which brought tears to my eyes everytime I saw it

-A moment of Silence/prayer/reading:whether it be quietly amongst family prior to the hoopla of the big day, during the ceremony, or during a best man/maid of honor speech-it is an excellent, brief way to give rememberance to someone who cannot physically be part of the celebration.Using music, like their favorite song, is another idea that can be used.

-Programs: Many individuals who choose to have programs at the ceremony include brief dedication to someone who has passed

While these are only a few of our favorite general suggestions, there are many more ideas that we have seen other bride and grooms use that are individualized for the person who is so deeply loved. Making sure that the focus isn't on the saddness, but rather as a dedication and rememberance is key in order to continue on with the celebration of your marriage.

What other suggestions have others used, planned to use, or seen that helps to keep those who have gone before us close during the actualy wedding day ? We would love to hear.

Food- Part II The Dinner

2010-08-10T08:00:00.001-04:00

After cocktail hour comes dinner. There are two main ways to do dinner at a wedding, sit down dinner and a buffet. There is also a third option while less common is still very practical. Let's break each one down.

Buffet: They are more casual and usually less expensive. They require far less wait staff for the guests which is key if you are staffing your own event. Buffets are great for early weddings because brunch items usually are very adaptable to buffets. Buffets should always offer at least two different types of entree. One of the best parts of a buffet is that you can offer more than one or two entrees. If you are only doing two types of meat I would stick with chicken and beef. However, I've seen fish substitute the beef and it works as well. The buffet should also include a choice between two vegetable and two starches. Think about it this way it's just like dinner at your house you want to cover at least three food groups. You also want to coordinate foods. If you are doing a filet, rosemary roasted potatoes would work well. You don't want to do beef tenderloin and Jasmine rice. The image below is an amazing buffet display. Notice the coordination and the table decor. I love the chalkboard menu too!

image via studio foto

As far as a salad or first course there are two ways to do this. You could have a plated salad. A waiter or waitress would bring each of your guests a salad or the salad would be placed at the seat while your guests are at cocktail hour. Below is a great example of what a simple plated salad would look like when the guests enter the room. Pretty right?

image via Mary McHenry

You could also include a salad in your buffet. Placing a salad bowl before the other food works well. I think it's best (if budget allows) to have a waiter or waitress at least manning the meat portions. Here is a great example of the salad portion of the buffet table.

image via Anna Kuperberg

Setting up your buffet is crucial. I love when buffets are accessible on both sides. I also think it's easier if silverware is at the end of the buffet. At least make sure that the buffet is off the dance floor you don't want food spilling and people falling and make sure that it's easy to access. If you have a wedding over 100 people having two buffet stations may be necessary (over 175 you may want to avoid a buffet all together). Creating risers is also really helpful and it adds depth to the food presentation.

Waitstaff or a DJ or can direct which table to go by either having the DJ announce it or a waitress or waiter stand at the table when it's their turn. You really don't want all your guests jumping up at once to grab dinner.In the image below you'll see a great example of a buffet that can be accessed from two sides.

image via Natalie Watson

One last tip on buffets they have a shelf life of about 2- 2 1/2 hours for both health and taste reasons.

Sit down: The more formal of the two options and usually (but not always) more expensive. You usually give your guests at least two options or serve a main dish that has two main components. If giving your guests an option try to include at least one menu on the table as it is often hard to hear servers over the other guests and music. As far as a salad or first course often times there is not an option and every guests gets the same plate. The image below shows a typical beef presentation at a sit down dinner.

image via Style Me Pretty

Some caters will request a rough estimate of how many people will want beef, chicken, or fish at your wedding. This can be done rather simply by including the three choices on the RSVP card. Again, guests can usually change their mind the day of the wedding as it's just an estimate.

Sit down dinners usually take more time than buffets so if you are both large party animals and don't want to spend time enjoying a full meal you may want to skip the buffet.

Family Style: In my experience this is the least common of the three dinner services, but offers some definite benefits. Cost wise this falls in between buffet service and sit down. It gives you a bit more formality (but still on the casual side) than a buffet service, but keeps the cost lower than a sit down meal. Family style basically means that two to three different dishes are presented on each table and divided between the guests at the table. Guests will either serve themselves or waiters and waitresses can serve the table. The salad could be plated individually or could also be added to the table. There are a few things you want to be aware of here, make sure your table arrangements are minimal as the food will take up a large portion of the table and you don't want things to get to stuffy. For the very same reason I'd also suggest keeping the amount of people at each table to a minimum as well. You also want to be careful with the foods you pick to serve. Typically Italian food is a great family style. Greek food and cornish hens also work out great. You want to avoid foods that require carving.

In both buffet and sit down dinners food during the dinner should not be crazy. You want something that most people will eat. Even if you and your fiance are big foodies Grandma Ann may not want to try foie gras at your wedding. Also, try to be somewhat respectful of dietary restraints and if possible offer vegaterian options.

Food- Part I The Cocktail Hour

2010-08-09T23:48:00.002-04:00

This is going to be a series of three posts covering the three basic "food" parts of your reception, Cocktail Hour, Dinner, Desert.

Up first is Cocktail Hour.

Now, who doesn't love a good cocktail hour. Seriously, I think I do most of my eating during this part of the wedding. What can I say I'm a really big appetizer girl which means that cocktail hours are right up my alley.

Food: Most likely your caterer or venue will suggest items in which case head their advice, but ask for a tasting before the event. Go with things you love and that taste great. Often times people will say pick foods that compliment each other, but I'm going out on a limb and saying pick foods that are fun (and delicious). The cocktail hour is the time to pick foods that are fun!

Likely you will have either stations of food manned with wait staff, food on tables, passed appetizers, or some combination of all three.

If you are having manned stations you can include things that are made right in front of guests (great presentation). Items that work well on manned stations are pasta with different sauces, made to order sliders, quesadillas, mashed potato bars, sushi, and carved meat. Below is a great example of what a manned pasta station would like like.

image via Carl a Ten Eyck

Unmanned tables should include easy self serve good. Items that are great simply placed on tables crudites, seafood, antipasto, cheeses, and fruit. Below are images of a simple tables with appetizers that are very easy to self serve great for tables. Notice the use of height in the first image (such a good way to add something to a simple table).

images via Anne Marie Photography

image via Carla Ten Eyck

image via Kawartha Photography

Passed items that usually are fan favorites include pigs in blankets, mini potato puffs, sliders, bruschetta, and dumplings. The images below are creative and fun passed appetizers (I bet they taste good too!)

image via Laura Novak

You want to make sure all of your food can be eaten fairly easy, avoid very messy items and try to include at least one or two meat free options.

You may want to think about including regional foods that are special to you or your fiance. Marrying someone from New Orleans, Southern style grits, mini shrimp po-boys, etc. Love Mexican food think about including mini tacos or a quesadilla station.

Let's not forget the drinks!

Beverages & Alcohol: Each wedding and each couple is different. In general if you are going to do an open bar then guests will help themselves to what they choose. You could also have a few drinks to show off like a blushing bride or your grooms favorite beer, but please try to avoid beer can wedding pictures.

If you are not doing an open bar, but rather a few signature drinks this is a great time to show them off. Think about having a little fun. Infused vodka, margaritas, or spiked tea. Great presentation goes a long way think about large glass containers are always pretty and could be self serve. I'm not going really discuss cash bars. In my opinion if you are inviting people to a wedding you really can't do a cash bar. If you feel like you must then I would at least two beer and wine and then cash for only hard liquor, but really even then I think it's a no go.

Weddings without alcohol don't necessarily mean you can't have fun with your beverages too. Think about flavored lemonade, sweet tea, or cider. Again presentation goes a very long way. Below is a picture of a great non-alcoholic beverage presentation.

image via Ashley Garmon

Weddings are all about personalization. There are so many options when it comes to cocktail hour including having it before the ceremony.

What kind of cocktail hour are you planning?

One Year Later

2010-08-06T06:00:00.001-04:00

"Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrong doing
but rejoice with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails."

Everyone always warns you to stop and smell the roses the week of your wedding because the whole affair becomes a whirlwind and before you know it, you are Mr. and Mrs. with months of planning behind you. Rarely though, was I warned about how the days after turn into weeks which turn into months and you land at your one year wedding anniversary in what seems like a blink of an eye. I can recall our wedding and all of the anticipation and excitement as if it was yesterday, yet so far away.

Last weekend, my husband and I woke up to a calm, cool, July morning without a cloud in the sky and as we sat outside we compared the day to the day we were wed. This led us into a conversation of reminscing about the day and all of what has happened since then. We laughed, smiled, and loved that morning a little more then an ordinary day. It is my vow in our marriage to make sure days like that are not few and far between. Life is short and it goes quickly, just like weddings, and embracing whatever it is you are experiencing in the here and now is vital.

So while we would normally be celebrating 11 years on August 6th, this year, we start back at one and celebrate our first anniversary as husband and wife-a very new and exciting journey. I look forward to what is to come and toast to the future.

Guest Post- Family & Vendors

2010-08-05T10:30:00.000-04:00

This post comes from one of my very best friends. Carroll Anne and I have been friends since we were clad in braces with frizzy hair (trust me we have come along way). She got married right before I did in 2009 and thankfully provided me with so much advice, inspiration, and sanity in the months and weeks before my wedding. Carroll Anne offered the following advice about using family members as vendors.

If you're lucky enough to have a family member in the wedding planning business or even one who has always dreamed of being in the business, my bridal advice to you would be to...LET THEM HELP!

Planning a wedding is an enormous task, and having someone whom you know and trust guide the way during any aspect of your planning is a huge asset! In getting ready for my March, 2009 wedding, I was fortunate that my uncle is a florist. He's worked for a bunch of different companies and currently works for 1-800 FLOWERS. He is a natural at designing arrangements and has done so for practically his whole career. While using him to design my centerpieces and bouquets was a no-brainer, I did have some questions and/or hesitations when it came down to meeting with him "formally" for the first time.

1.) Will he understand what I want?

2.) Will his style clash with mine?

3.) How much do I pay him?

4.) What if I don't end up liking his work?

While these questions brought me a bit of anxiety, the first meeting with him went well and I was feeling relatively calm until the day he brought over a sample of the initial arrangements for the centerpieces. Unfortunately..I HATED THEM! The vision I had in my head was NOT displayed in the sample he presented to me. I felt awful, but I had to tell him I wasn't happy. He was initially a bit hurt (as I imagined he might be), but I simply told him that "this was not what I was picturing." He ended up re-vamping the design and worked tirelessly for two full days before my wedding re-constructing the twenty centerpieces that I needed for the dinner tables (don't think my neighborhood florist would have taken that time or effort to make sure everything turned out the way I wanted it to).

On my wedding day, the centerpieces turned out looking gorgeous! The bouquets were equally as beautiful--my uncle was proud, and I was a thrilled bride! To this day, my uncle and I are closer than we've ever been because of our "business arrangement" regarding my wedding flowers. And of course...my flowers were a fraction of the cost, had my uncle not taken care of them.

Word to the wise: Definitely let the family help out if they are willing to do so! In the end, you'll be happy you did. Good luck!

Black tie? Blue tie?

2010-08-04T08:00:00.000-04:00

It's pretty crucial to state the dress code on your invitation or you will likely field questions about attire. There are so many different types of dress codes and every bride seems to have a different idea about what each one means. I'm going to try and clear it up for you.

White Tie: Is not frequently used today, but you may (if you are royalty or travel in that circle) see it on an invitation from time to time. This is the most formal of all options. Men it means tails and you guessed it a white tie. Ladies long gowns only and you may want to break out gloves.

Black Tie, Black Tie Required: The most common of formal attire. Men it means a tuxedo and for the women it really means formal. Ladies will wear long gowns, but a formal cocktail length dress is acceptable. Brides keep in mind if you are requiring that people wear black tie your groomsmen must be in tuxedos. Maids should be in long dresses, but I've seen the rule broken.

Black Tie Optional, Black Tie Requested, Black Tie Invited: This is also very common for formal events. Men it means tuxedo if you have one or can rent one, but if not, a black suit is acceptable. Unless you are in the immediate family and will be in formal pictures in which case you should wear a tuxedo. Ladies it's the same as above, but more women may tend to wear formal cocktail length dresses. This is my suggestion if you are having a formal wedding. It may be a really big hassle to have guests go out and rent a tuxedo. Brides if you are using this dress code it's reasonable to assume your groomsmen should be in tuxedos, however, you can be a little more flexible with the tuxedo (i.e. leaving out elements like a cummerbund or vest). Maids can wear cocktail length dresses, but I'd still do long if possible.

Note: Formal and Black Tie Optional mean the same thing.

Semi-Formal: This is the most common of all wedding dress codes. Men this means suit (jacket and tie). Ladies cocktail dresses, leave the sundress and formal gown at home. Brides your groomsmen can wear suits.

Informal: This is typical for an afternoon wedding. Men it means trousers (not jeans) and a collared shirt. Most etiquette books would suggest a suit (dark or light) with or without a tie.

Destination Weddings: In general I'd make sure to consult the bride or host of the event. For the most part men can wear linen pants and a collared shirt and ladies can wear sun dresses. This is going to vary depending on the event and the place.

In general if you are confused about the attire consult the host. If you are going to be included in formal pictures be sure to ask the bride and even then always be on the formal side.

Did I leave something out? What was your dress code?

Invitation Formality

2010-08-03T13:50:00.003-04:00

You never realize how much goes into those wedding invitations that usually arrive and get stuffed in a drawer or placed on the fridge until the date approaches. Once you are a bride you realize that there are so many questions to ask when it comes to invitations and what to write, but my take on it is to know your event before even attempting to cross that bridge. What I mean by that is make sure you and your future husband have an understanding of what you want the affair to be. Are you expecting guests in tuxedos? long gowns? beach dresses? khakis?.

The invitation is the first piece of the wedding that your guests are getting a taste of and so the formality, or lack thereof, should be sensed when they recieve it. For black tie and formal affairs, font is typically in a black font, embossed or engraved, lined envelopes and limited designs outside monograms. The words are written in proper etiquette form, ie " Mr and Mrs Smith request the honour of your presence" and the font is something classic and easy to read. For more laid back affairs, for instance backyard events, the words can be more casual. Think -rhymes, poems, etc. The color can vary and the design on the invite can also be more colorful and playful.

These are both extremes, but if your affair falls somewhere inbetween you can take bits and pieces from both to form the perfect invite. The font can be dark, but not necessarily black, their can be a bit more creativity with the addition of some form of design, and the wording can be proper but not completely out of your Emily Post etiquette book. The cardstock doesn't have to be the best, but shouldn't be flimsy either (FYI-110lb card stock is the standard, average card stock for those of you like me who had no clue when we began this process)and the font can be something a bit more exotic.

There are no real right or wrongs when it comes to invitations as long as they properly convey the type of event, and inevitably, the two of you as a couple. Going forward, I would save the invites that come in the mail so they can help spur ideas and inspirations.So what were/are your greatest invite questions? We'd love to be able to help!

Save this Seat

2010-08-03T08:00:00.001-04:00

If you are having a large and or long ceremony you may want to consider reserving seats for your immediate family and bridesmaids.

There are several different ways of doing this. First, is simply to make your bridesmaids and immediate family aware that they are to sit in the first two rows, bridesmaids in the first row family behind them. In some churches maids will sit on the altar or to the side of it. For short ceremonies the wedding party may stand next the bride and groom. You would want to simply put a reserved sign on the first two or three rows.

image via Karen Wise

Another way of reserving seats is to send out within the ribbon cards to immediate family and close friends. These cards would match your invitation suite and be sent with the invitation to the family members that you wish to reserve seats for. In this case the first few rows (or however many you will need) will be ribboned off or have a sign that says reserved.

image via crane.com

image via brides.ca

Both of these cases work well if you have pews or rows of seating as you would not specify the order in which people sit.

In cases where you have individual seats that make up the rows and not one pew you may want to specify order. In which case signs on each individual chairs is a nice idea. Signs can be placed directly on the seat or on the chair back.

image via Aaron Delesie

Image via brides collection by Anthony Vazquez

If you love the idea of signs but don't want to specify order simple signs like these could be used.

image via Myrtle & Marjoram

Reserved seating may not be a required item in a ceremony by any means, but it does add to church decor and is a very easy and low budget DIY item.

I want to know are you reserving seats?

Vendor Spotlight- Makeup by Melinda

2010-08-02T08:00:00.003-04:00

This vendor spotlight comes from my favorite makeup guru. I met Melinda when she was the manager at Blue Mercury in Woodbury, NY. She has such a way of making people look like a better version of their natural self. She is a featured vendor with LIWEDDINGS.COM and have my own private portfolio of wedding makeup I have done over the years. You can contact me Melinda Sarabia @ (516)650-9340 orMelstar72@aol.com.

Here is our interview with Melinda:

SB: Tell us a little about yourself?

M: I fell in love with doing makeup over 13 years ago. I first thought of it as a "job" to get me through college. I didn't realized how exciting it would be and that it would become apart of my life and much less of a just a job. Clinique gave me my start and I built a good foundation, from there on I worked with some leading brands in the industry including in depth experience with MAC, Laura Mercier, and NARS. After my first bridal makeup experience, which happened shortly after I started doing makeup, I became hooked. I immediately fell in love with the process and began doing them regularly. Now years later I am proud to say I am a successful makeup artist here in Long Island, NY that services brides. I enjoy every aspect of doing makeup for the bride and her entourage and feel lucky when she chooses me among the rest. It is always a privilege. I assure all ofmy brides when they choose me, that she is hiring a professional individual that cares about her ideas and feelings. It's ok to open and honest with me because I will be your beauty bud every step of the way!

SB: What inspires you?

M: I am inspired all the time. nature, music, moods and fashion inspire me most. When I see a face I'm immediately thinking what features I would enhance without looking like makeup. What alterations can I make to this person makeup.

SB: You are one of the first people around when the bride is getting ready on the big day, how do you handle this?

M: With a smile, sense of calm, and a little humor. I tell my brides relish in the moment because before you know it the last swipe of lip gloss will be gone.

images from bride's personal collection via Anthony Vazquez

images from bride's personal collection via Anthony Vazquez

SB: What is the biggest makeup mistakes that brides tend to make?

M: Not understanding that you can't fake good skin and that you should address skin concerns from the beginning. Do not wait a week before the wedding and (if possible) have a makeup trial during the season in which you will be getting married.

SB: Oh, about Makeup trials do you always suggest a makeup trial before?

M: Yes!!! I have had the occasional "my friends makeup was amazing and I trust you" which is great and flattering, but I like to know what your beauty needs are, the textu

re of your skin, the color of your eyes. I like to set the stage for the day of.

SB: Would you rather a bride bring in an inspirational photo for makeup or come up with what looks best on her ?

M: Whatever the bride is comfortable with. I work it either way. As long as I know the level of makeup she is comfortable with we are good.

SB: For the brides that decide that a professional makeup artist isn't in their budget what advice would you give them?

M: I would suggest seeing a professional before hand. I have had many brides who get hitched on an island and come to me for a lesson and beauty must haves. If you comfortable with your skills and interested in learning more then go for it.

images from bride's collection via Anthony Vazquez

image from bride's personal collection via Anthony Vazquez

images from Melinda's personal collection

Another Guest Book Idea

2010-07-30T12:00:00.000-04:00

Last week, S shared an excellent post on new and innovative ideas around guest books. Using a wine bottle, or two, as a guest book is another modern way for guests to share with you their best wishes. Blythe, our guest blogger and dear friend last week, also used this great idea.

By simply peeling the labels and providing guests with a metallic marker, guests can leisurely sign the bottles with their thoughts for you and your new husband throughout the night. These bottles can then be displayed in your new homes and opened on special occasions. You can place multiple bottles out and label them with when they will be opened such as first anniversary, first night in your new home, first child, etc. When sharing the wine as husband and wife, you will be reminded of your special day and all those around you that shared in it. For a former bride who is currently experiencing quite a bit of nostalgia as her first anniversary approaches, I can't help but adore this idea and all the love it has to offer!

Photo credit- Bigmouthbride

Hair Inspiration II

2010-07-30T08:36:00.002-04:00

Happy Friday to all..Here is some early morning inspiration for hair that we adore. We love the casual curls that still manage to be classy and stylish. Thank you to Linda Chaja Phtography and the beautiful bride for sharing this beautiful-do!

Perfect Moment XIX

2010-07-29T08:00:00.001-04:00

I'm loving this perfect moment! Taking the time to center yourself during your wedding day is a must. I love that the photographer caught this bride while she was praying. Such a beautiful moment on a wedding day.

image via Anna Kuperberg

Escort Card Tip of the Day

2010-07-28T10:18:00.004-04:00

To piggyback off of S's excellent escort card advice, (how beautiful were her candy apple masterpieces?!? SO worth the work :) I wanted to share an easy way to personalize escort cards that guests seem to love. My first tip is when possible, always find out the guests name. Go the extra mile even if your family and friend returned the RSVP card with the "And Guest" to find out who they are bringing. Adding their name to the RSVP card offers a very personal feel. Take the time to email, text or call your friend and family to ask who is going to be sharing the day with you all. This will help the "guest" feel at ease from the moment they walk in the door. It also becomes extremely helpful for you and your fiance when writing thank you cards!

Another simple, but extremely appreciated tip, is to acknowledge the other soon to be brides out there. Nothing is more exciting then attending a wedding when you are planning one and the excitement and love felt during the wedding is multiplied by 100 when you are thinking of your own day. My sister chose to acknowledge those people by labeling their place cards ..."The soon to be Mr and Mrs____." I followed suite with this advice and all of my engaged family and friends loved the personal touch. It also increased their excitement of their upcoming nuptials. I had one cousin tell me she kept the escort card on her fridge until they got married!

Place Cards

2010-07-28T08:00:00.003-04:00

After I did the envelope printing I figured printing place cards would be no problem. I mean, I just did about 700 envelopes, 200 place cards, cake walk. You see where this is going right? Yeah, nowhere good.

I ordered the seating cards in cream and brown metallic paper from here. The place cards I ordered were supposed to come with a template, but the template was actually just a piece of paper that told you what size the place cards should be set up, but they did not take into account the margins between each place card. Serious PAIN!! I spent one night on the phone with customer service and had no luck. Basically, I was on my own.

However, I did just look at the downloadable template they have on their site now and it would work perfectly. Making this process seriously 10 times easier now. Honestly, it took me about 4 nights to figure it out. Four night about a month before your wedding is a TON. There were tears (everybody that knew me), there was blood (mine), there were curse words (mine), and I almost gave up and had my mom handwrite them, but I persevered and finally had 200 place cards printed.

Once I had a working template I was able to use mail merge on Microsoft Word to get my very very HANDY excel sheet. I had a column for inner envelope which is also the same as place cards.

After I had them all printed out I (with the help of my mom) started gluing them to the larger pieces of brown metallic paper that I cut out. I used this tape because I hate glue. I also used a paper cuter for this project to make sure all the brown pieces of paper were the same size ( I started cutting paper about 6 months before the wedding, it was an easy mindless task to do during the lull in planning).

Two days before the wedding my caramel apples came in huge boxes. I ordered my apples and the individual plastic bags from here could not have been happier with them. The apples came in boxes of three and three days before the wedding we started packaging them up. I had about four people helping at any given time and they took about 2 hours to complete. I used red ribbon to tie them up. I also found these brown little jewels at Michaels a few weeks before the wedding and was feeling extra crafty and added them.

After the actual printing fiasco making the place cards was one of my favorite tasks. It was the ONLY task that waited until last minute(due the perishable nature of the apples), but it was well worth it.

If you are printing place cards I would give yourself some time for perfecting the process. Don't wait until the month before just because you want to wait for the final guest list. There are people that you know will be there like you, practice with those names so that you are all set to go when you start getting the RSVP cards.

all images via Anthony Vazquez

Perfect Moment XVIII

2010-07-27T19:35:00.004-04:00

image via Jose Villa

I couldn't help but share this perfect moment. It's not from a wedding, but it is more than perfect. Married for 60 years.

Jose Villa you just may be the sweetest photographer I've come across. His website is just jam packed with the most beautiful moments.

Addressing Invitations

2010-07-27T08:00:00.002-04:00

One of my wishlist requests was envelope calligraphy by Laura Hooper. Her work is seriously beautiful!! However, towards the end of wedding planning my budget was stretched thin and I had to delegate funds elsewhere. I decided that hiring someone to do computer calligraphy made no sense. My reasoning was I have a computer and a pretty good printer, I can handle it. I also printed my save the date envelopes so I did have some (albeit) limited experience.

Here is how I did it;

5 months before the wedding: I made sure my excel sheet was free of errors. I missed a few which caused me to go back and fix after printing ( Lesson learned- order extra envelopes). I then did a basic mail merge to two separate documents, inner and outer envelope. I also perfected the color I wanted to use. I used a dark brown instead of black due to the fact that my invites were dark brown and dark red. I downloaded the font from my invitations. I used this website, but there are many many others.

4 months before the wedding: My husband (then fiance) made envelope templates. I had him cut out about 30 pieces of paper that were the exact size of the envelopes so I could figure out how to feed the envelopes, how I wanted it centered. This was a great idea because it probably saved us from ordering even more envelopes.

After I "mastered" the technique, I started printing the outer envelopes. I printed them in alphabetical order and did it one at a time. For some reason my printer had issues with multiple envelopes. If you have lined envelopes be prepared for this issue. It took some time, but I hand fed each one. It took me about 2 evenings to do it. I kept them in alphabetical order in a box.

I then did the inner envelopes. My printer let me do about 10 at a time which saved me time and I did the inner envelopes in one evening.

This process caused me to pull out about half my hair (good thing I have lots of hair). For some reason I had a huge smearing issue that only happened with the outer envelopes (again, I think it had to do with the thickness). I tried everything from cleaning the heads between each print, manually wiping the ink compartment. In the end I could not figure it out, but it only happened sporadically which didn't actually cause huge issues besides for making me slightly insane.

After I had everything printed and in order my mom, sister, mother in law, and I started stuffing. We had a good system going. My sister numbered the invitation with an invisible ink pen, my mom put the invite in the first envelope. I stuffed them in the outer envelope and checked it against the list to make sure the inner and outer envelope matched, and my mother in law sealed and stamped them. It took us about 5 hours to do the entire thing. We did it the evening after my bridal shower.

3 months before the wedding: Everything got mailed out! My mom actually took them to the post office and had them hand stamp each envelope, she wanted them out of her house because they were sprawled out all over her dinning room table, ha.

The printing was mostly a one person job especially since I am pretty crazy and really need everything to perfect. I realized if I had someone helping me I would have made them crazy. The stuffing was made so much easier and more fun by the help of others!

In the end I had to order more envelopes because of the ink smearing issue, but the total for printing 315 invitations was about 60 dollars including ink. I would say DO IT if you already have a printer and some patience. It saved us a ton of money (especially since I had so many invitations).

Confession: I actually thought my mom would hand address the invitations because she has fantastic handwriting, but due to the fact that I am a perfectionist after a few envelopes I decided I really wanted the precision of exactly the same writing on each invite. However, my mother had a great point at the time that I wasn't hearing. Only a few household really get more than one invitation so by in large no one really knows what everyone else's invitation looks like. Furthermore, it isn't a detail most people even notice. However, at the time this advice was lost on my OCD bride brain.

So tell me how did you address your invitations?

Perfect Moment XVII

2010-07-26T08:00:00.000-04:00

This perfect moment comes from Brett Matthews. I love these guys (and girls). They take fantastic pictures and this perfect moment is just what everyone needs to brighten up their Monday morning.

Designer Spotlight:Oscar De La Renta

2010-07-23T08:00:00.002-04:00

Oscar de la Renta is now infamous for his own bridal collection after working under many other fashion designers. He is constantly working on elegance and definate style for his brides to be and we get so much inspiration from his very different, always fashionable designs. (Think Jenna Bush!) Here is a little dress inspiration for your Friday morning : )

all images from brides.com

Rehearsal Dinner, Welcome Dinner

2010-07-22T14:00:00.000-04:00

You say tomatoe I say tomoato. More recently rehearsal dinners have become synonymous with rehearsal dinners. It's likely that the terms have begun to be used interchangeably because when getting married at popular venues instead of churches it is often hard to schedule an actual rehearsal the day before the event. In which case rehearsal's may be skipped all together or there may be a quick run through immediately before the wedding (minus the bride).

Therefore, a welcome dinner inviting out of town guests to kick of the wedding festivities has often taken the place of a typical rehearsal dinner. I have to admit I love love big fun dinners. I myself had a large welcome dinner (most of our guests were from out of town). I loved having everyone there and mingle before the wedding. Etiquette has always stated that you should invite all out of town guests to the rehearsal dinner, but let's be serious for one second doing so may make your dinner almost the same size as the wedding. This is simply not in everyone's budget nor does this suit everyone's tastes. Now, I'm pretty traditional and by no means am I saying totally disregard the standard etiquette, but instead I'm suggesting maybe stretching the etiquette rule just a weeee bit. Here are a few options:

1. Having a small dinner with close friends, family, bridal party (and their significant others), and close out of towners. After which have small event at the hotel bar or patio area were you have reserved blocks. Take sometime to thank everyone for coming. This works because there is no pressure for guests to come to a long dinner, but they can still feel important and loved. The pitfall of this is that it might make your night a bit longer than you would like in which case planning an early dinner may help. Remember you should try at least to get some beauty rest the night before the wedding.

2. Another option is including dinner information on your wedding website. This works if having a welcome hour at the hotel isn't practical or your style. Include restaurant's that are close to the hotel as well as directions, phone numbers, and dress codes. Make sure to also include information in a welcome package or in a letter that will be in their hotel room. Keep in mind guests are traveling to come to your wedding. You don't want them to get stuck eating in a hotel room eating takeout alone.

I want to hear your ideas on this, did you think outside the box for your rehearsal dinner?

Perfect Moment XVI

2010-07-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

This bride and groom are having a GREAT time and we cant help but love the carefree style.... Not to mention, those fabulous Badgley Mischka shoes :)

Much thanks to Kiss the Groom and the fabulous Elizabeth Messina for sharing it with us.

Unique Table Names

2010-07-21T14:00:00.000-04:00

There are tons of creative ways to personalize your wedding day and table names seems to be one of the newer trends. Many bride and grooms want their big day to excude their personalities as a couple and this is an easy way to do it. It is also an easy way to incorporate a theme. Rather then seat your guests at table 1,2,3, etc, you can give each table a unique name. The bonus is that the names have no apparent order so you dont have to worry about family members or guests getting upset that they are at the table "after" so and so. (Yes, that really does happen!)

For our wedding, J and I decided to use words that we found to be important in marriage in lieu of table numbers. We chose things like love, friendship, trust, faith, etc. The task was a fun one because we spent the night each chosing a word and then explaining how it was important in our relationship. We were hoping to include that on the tables as well, but that was one of the DIY details we had to cross off our list at the end.

Other great ideas that I had come across along the process:

-Wine Names: J and I are big fans of vino and so naming our tables after different bottles of wine was an idea I adored. This is a perfect idea for a vineyard wedding. The place card holders can even be wine corks! Examples : Merlot, Pinot Grigio, Shiraz, etc. A brief description of the wine and how it is a metaphor for marriage could also be a fun way to incorporate this idea.

-Names of Cities: My sister and brother in law used this idea and found post cards from each of the cities. They chose cities they had travelled together, had family in, grew up in, etc. If you and your fiance' are big travelers, you can list names of all the cities you have been and ones you plan to travel to together. You could also put a picture of you both while in that city!

-Hobbies: Anything that you and your fiance do together frequently can be a great way to name tables. If you have a love for beaches, each table can be the name of a beach that you have been on together or again, plan to go on. My friend's sister used this idea for her summer wedding and it exemplfied them perfectly as a couple. The same can be done for ski mountains, golf courses, etc

-Song names: I saw this on a blog while I was doing some research and thought it was a great idea. The bride and groom were avid music lovers and they chose the name of a song for each table, placing the lyrics on each table as well.

-The word "Love" in different languages: This one of my favs and we tackled with the idea of using it as well, but weren't able to due to the amount of tables we had. Its a great idea and exemplfies love having no limits or barriers. Some of the romance languages sound beautiful, but we struggled with how some of the languages sounded after about 12. Still, a very unique and romantic idea.

-Where you met/Got engaged: Weddings are the best place to tell our sappy love stories. Maybe it was college, maybe it was high school, maybe it was via the internet, but a great way to tell a story is to name each table after something that was significant on your first date and then have the story of the significance on the table for the guests to read. For instance, if you met at college, you could have each table be the name of different locales that your love bloomed. This is fun for the guests and equally fun for you and your fiance to do. The same type of thing can be done to tell your engagement story. Again, fun to share with your guests and great to reminsce with together.

There are a number of other creative ways we have seen bride and grooms personalize their tables and we would love to hear yours as well. This is just one of the many fabulous details that can help personalize your big day

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Guest Book a Do or a Don't

2010-07-21T08:00:00.001-04:00

Guest books have taken a backstage at weddings recently, but I'm here to say they shouldn't! Creating a unique wedding book is simple, fun, and perfect keepsake. Here are some great ideas I just love.

image via cunningham photo artists

1. Self portraits. Put a great Polaroid camera with some tape and markers on a table near the entrance. Guest snap a quick photo of themselves and then tape it in the book and sign a cute message. It's easy and a great momento. A great way to spruce this idea up is to include fun props on the table. Goofy pictures are always always a DO!

image via michael howard photography

2. A coffee table picture book. Compile pictures of you and your fiance through the years and use shutterfly or snapfish to create an album. Make sure to leave space on the pages for people to sign around your pictures. Guests will love seeing pictures of you guys through the years. A fun spin on this is including pictures when you were growing up. Make sure to include markers that will show up on photo paper. Cute baby pictures always a DO. You can leave out the awkward adolescent pictures.

image via perez photography

image via myrtle and marjoram

3. Post card collection. I'm loving having guest signs blank fun post cards from special places. Guests can pick a post card from a time in your life they were apart of. After the wedding these post cards can make beautiful wall decoration (check out this link). Double duty wedding keepsake and wall art a total DO.

image via paula luna photography

4. A wishes/advice container. Have guests fill out wishes for you and place them in a large mason jar. It will be so much fun to read what guests wrote after the wedding. Sprucing this up by swaping the plain paper out with rocks, Creative and sentimental defiently a DO.

image via laura novak

So tell me for you is guest book a do or a don't?

Guest Post --- Featured Wedding I

2010-07-20T08:00:00.004-04:00

Our first featured wedding comes from one of my closest, dearest friends whom without, I would have never managed to plan a wedding and stay sane. She was my confident and sounding board through the tears and laughter of my wedding planning journey, and of course, a fellow mental health guru. Here is her advice on how she managed to stay sane (and plan a truly fascinating wedding across the country) . Please take note of the amazing photos, all courtesy of Geoff Horowitz and Joy Moody, whos work we absolutely adore. Doesn't hurt that the bride and groom are absolutely stunning and madly in love.

This will hopefully be the first of many guest posts that Blythe will make, as she has an insane amount of information to offer all brides, not to mention creative and innovative wedding details

When asked to share how I stayed "sane" during my wedding planning process, these four things came to mind as the most important tools that kept me balanced, centered, humbled, and happy:

1. Friends. I am lucky to call both Francesca and Sherin my friends! And luckily enough, all three of us were planning our weddings around the same time—I had two equally creative, stylish, and smart friends to experience wedding planning with. They too understood curse of what we clinicians diagnose newly minted bride-to-be’s: Wedding on the Brain. That’s right girls; we become wedding-obsessed women with WOTB. Every other word out of our mouths is “florist”, “dress fitting”, or “table settings”….and from my personal experience, nothing cures that better than the look you get from your non-bride friends that says, “Girlfriend, snap out of it.” I found relief from WOTB at my job because it put me around people who weren’t asking me to make seating charts and re-edited church readings. Sure, there was the occasional inquiry—my coworkers were interested, but not life-line dependant on details of our wedding. That environment snapped me out of WOTB and back into the world of every day life. To those friends, I am equally as grateful as I am to those who taught me about the world of planning/obsessing neurotically about a wedding (S & F, you girls are the best!)

2. Yoga. Yoga came into my life about three months before the wedding. I was a recreational runner before then, but when a friend invited me to a yoga class, I became hooked. Yoga turned my world upside down. I found myself checking into my inner issues—impatience, perfectionism, control—and learning how to let go. If I can accept my body for what it can do and stop expecting it to be perfect in yoga, I could take my yoga “off the mat”, as my teacher says, and find my breath and patience in my wedding planning. In yoga, we begin practice with an intention. At the end of practice, we express gratitude to ourselves for what our body was able to do. My advice to you, as a bride-to-be, is to wake up and before the every day thoughts take over, say your own gratitude: I am grateful for the roof over my head…the love in my life…the clothes on my back…the ability to move my body… You will be amazed at how quickly it shifts your thoughts from negative to appreciative of what life is giving to you at this moment.

3. Furbabies: Nothing makes me laugh harder than watching our lanky, leggy, goofy, wobbly, and knock-kneed 2 year old Great Dane puppy run around the dog park. With her long tongue hanging out the side of her mouth, Kingston teaches me so much about the laughter in life. She makes me smile even when I don’t want to. She seeks out any one for a good booty rub or a slobbery kiss on a cheek. There is so much I learn from her: If Kinston is tired, she takes a nap. Or two. Or three. She’s always up for a snuggle (yes, a Great Dane snuggle is quite a sight to see) and a belly rub. She truly lives life to the fullest. If we can learn any thing from our pets, it would be that life is too short and every moment counts—Great Danes, for example, live an average of 7 years. And they LIVE IT UP in those short years on earth! Our girl Kingston radiates that motto every where she goes…..eating a whole pizza off the counter top in one fell swoop? Why not, it was at her eye level….no qualms about it. Life is too short.

4. Let It Go. Also known as “How I Planned a Wedding Across the Country.” Let me explain: My husband is from New York, I am from Pennsylvania, and we live in Texas. Not exactly an ideal situation, but when we decided to have the wedding in Philly, we put on our big girl/big boy pants and strapped in for the ride. I’d say 90% of my planning was via email, research online, and phone calls. That left 10% for the few trips I made back to PA, flying solo, to meet with vendors. I would schedule all of my appointments in that week. Freak out central? Check. All of our vendors knew of our situation—a couple living across the country with a groom knee-deep in active duty Army ER residency. I had to be the decision maker and do my best to represent both of our needs. It wasn’t ideal, but it was my reality.
My advice to you is work with what you got and BE FLEXIBLE! You will surprise yourself at how much natural beauty can radiate from the day itself—if you don’t have time or resources to make a bathroom basket, don’t worry about it. If you can’t transport wedding guest gifts on an airplane, you can’t. Our weddings give us this great opportunity to celebrate our love with those we love. Do the guests care about the linens? No, no one remembers the linens. Do the guests remember if the bathroom toiletry basket was lush and flowing? No, most people walk right past it. Your guests will remember the smiles on your faces, and the way you look at your new husband as you take your first dance. Your guests will remember your warm embrace and personal words of thanks to them for being there. Your guests will ultimately carry home the beauty of the day and it will reflect the gratitude you have for life—love, family, friends, food, and music.

The reality is that your wedding is going to be beautiful. Why? Simply because it is your wedding. Human nature teaches us that the simple gift of altruism—giving to others—feels good. Sharing your love with others is all you need. You and your future husband alone are the key ingredients for that beautiful day, not the accessories. Accessories are simply that—side notes to the bigger picture.

It took me awhile, but I finally made peace with not having all the “pieces” I thought were important. In a way, planning from a distance was a blessing, as working within my means forced this Type A lunatic to take a chill pill and just let love lead the way. I will confess, however, that there was one very LARGE wedding day accessory missing that I wish I packed on the flight from Texas: A certain lanky, leggy, goofy, wobbly, and knock-kneed 2 year old Great Dane puppy that loves the wind in her flapping gums, stealing pizzas from the kitchen, and who makes life worth living for…

Color Palettes

2010-07-19T08:37:00.004-04:00

Trying to find the perfect combination of colors is not always easy when it comes to planning a wedding. The colors depend on so many things like season, venue, preference etc. It also helps sets the tone for the affair especially in terms of the formality of the event. We always love ways to make choosing colors a little easier and so when we came across the new post at Creature Comforts blog, we just had to share. Check it out. You can browse by main colors and find inspirational combinations. We are sure you will find it helpful!!

What types of color combos did you use? Where did you find your inspirations? We would love to know!

Reader Question

2010-07-19T08:00:00.002-04:00

I received an email this weekend that touched on a bit of an etiquette question,

T from NJ asked "I'm in my soon to be sister in law's wedding this fall (we are marrying brothers a few months apart). I wish I could say I'm elated to be in the wedding, but we haven't bonded and have very little in common. The kicker to this whole situation is not only am I in the wedding, but I am the wedding party. I'm not sure how to plan all of her events on top of planning my own wedding. Would I be totally out of line to ask her mother and my mother in law for help?"

Wedding parties and siblings, or soon to be siblings, is always a touchy subject. I hope that perhaps the wedding planning process can be a boding experience for the two of you. At the same time I can imagine how planning a shower and possibly a bachelorette party would be insanely stressful while planning your own wedding. I would definitely consult her mom and your mother in law about the events. There are many brides that forgo showers all together. If a shower is a definite think about doing a couples shower that you and your fiance would both host. If not you could always host a small shower during the day and the bachelor/bachelorette parties that evening. As far as asking the mom's for help, I would say yes. Even if they can't or don't want to contribute financially they can help with some of the planning and prep work. Best of luck!

Perfect Moment XV

2010-07-16T15:00:00.001-04:00

Loving this moment! Happy Weekend.

image via Manola Doreste for Infocus Studio

Negotiations

2010-07-16T08:00:00.001-04:00

Weddings really push budgets to the max. Often times vendors turn out to be slightly over your expected budget. There are a few ways to deal with this, one being finding a different vendor, and the other is doing a little negotiation. Negotiation isn't always just about getting a lower price (which may not be possible), but it could include either asking for a bit less ( think a sample dress instead of a brand new one or having one less appetizer station or dinner choice) or asking for a bit more. Stretching the dollar further could really be beneficial in the long run. For example, it may be worth it to keep vendors at a certain price, but ask them to sweeten the package (think about asking a photographer to include thank you cards or extra prints for your album or asking your reception site to include better liquor). Keep in mind that once the wedding is over you have no bargaining chips, so it's either before or never, so be sure to make sure your photography and videography packages have everything you want in them. You may have to pay a pretty penny to add things afterwards.

DIY -Luminary Love

2010-07-15T10:27:00.005-04:00

There is no question about it, I am probably one of the least creative people out there so whenever I read about DIY on wedding blogs, I cringed a bit wishing I had more a little more Martha in me. There are lots of easy DIY details that add so much to weddings and I wanted to be sure to include some in order to personalize our affair, but it took a lot of effort and help from my mom, sisters and friends to make that happen. I find that the influence of a wedding definately adds a few things to a woman's repertoire, creativity being one of them. I now kind of miss the hands on tasks involved and look forward to helping others create such things for their own affairs.

One of the creative touches I added were luminary bags. Sounds like such a silly idea, but the effect when massively produced is phenomenal and so very cost effective. The outside of my venue had a path leading to a circular driveway type and so I decided to light this path up for when my guests left in the evening. And all I needed were white luminary bags that I ordered online at Lumabase for next to nothing and a trusty Martha Stewart patterened hole puncher(which can be used again in other diy wedding projects like stationary). I chose a hole puncher that reminded me of lace which mimiced my gown and simply punched the top, similiar to the luminary bags picture above.

The work involved was a bit more intense then anticipated as we needed 150 bags to be punched individually. This is one of those projects I suggest brides start during that "lull" we so frequently discuss. Hindsight is 20/20 and my experience was hustling to get these bags punched during the month leading up to the wedding. While at work, my mother was busy punching away and I spent a weekend outdoors trying to get some last summer sun while punching these bags, one at a time (it's all about multitasking ladies!). In the end, it was well worth it. It produced a simple and special touch that not only looked amazing, but added warmth and love to the affair. Unfortunately, I never got a picture of the luminaries lighting up the path as a hole -total bummer- but I still do remember the love and satisfaction I got when sneaking a peek outside the front door and seeing the pathway all lit up.

I adore the patterns in these bags featured on Elizabeth Anne Design which are a bit more intricate. The lace detail pictured left would have been perfect for our wedding day. I also love how they used these bags as a different sort of decoration throughout the venue rather then outside. There are so many fun ways to incorporate this idea and it takes the ordinary candle decor a step further. While I believe there is nothing more romantic than candles throughout the wedding to set the tone and mood of the affair, luminary bags help to take that feel one step further.

The details of the big day really help pull it all together ..What other sorts of DIY details are you planning to add or did you add to help personalize your big day ?

Floral Inspiration

2010-07-14T09:05:00.003-04:00

Came across this centerpiece from Elizabeth Ann Designs and wanted to share the inspiration. I love the summery vibe that is recieved from the bright colors. Not only did the popping of color catch my eye, but the simple vases that are aligned together also inspired me. I love how at a quick glance it looks like one long centerpiece, but when you take another glimpse it is actually 3 seperate pieces. It is a simple detail that is great for our guests who can each grab one and take a bit of the sunshine home and even better for a beautifully decorated table setting! Perfect inspiration for this rainy summer day in NY.

Post wedding blues

2010-07-14T08:00:00.001-04:00

I'm so intrigued by the phenomena of post wedding blues. I (like most brides) was so excited for my wedding. I had so much fun planning, but there were certainly times I wished it would just be over already. I loved my wedding day and had a fantastic time spending a few days in Miami after. I was truly so happy enjoying (my very new) married life.

This is why I did not anticipate crying on the airplane home from our minimoon. Yes, you read that right, crying. I suppose it could be chocked up to being exhausted, but at the time all I remember thinking ( and saying in between sobs) was I can't believe it's all over. I knew that after we got off the airplane I wouldn't have to contact any vendors. I didn't have to think about place cards or invitations and believe me that made me SO SO happy, but there was a part of me that could not believe after a year of planning that it was over. I quickly pulled myself together and fell into enjoying married life within a few hours. However, I did long for another party or event to plan. I pretty quickly started honeymoon planning.

Part of me thinks it's only natural to get a little nostalgic and perhaps blue after the wedding day is over, but I really want to know am I the only one that suffered from a little post wedding day blues?

Perfect Moment XIV

2010-07-13T17:00:00.003-04:00

I recently featured another perfect moment by Stacy Reeves, but this image also captured my attention. Like the last perfect moment, this moment really goes to show you how important and special it is to take time with those you love.

image via Stacy Reeves

The Date is booked...Now what?!?

2010-07-13T13:08:00.009-04:00

So the overwhelming tasks of choosing a location, season, date, along with finding the perfect ceremony & reception venues are behind you and you are left with piles of wedding magazines and likely a list of "preferred vendors" from your catering company and venue. Hopefully the budget and guest list are for the most part done given that a rough draft of both are definately needed before booking the big day. Where do you begin ? We get this question quite frequently from our readers and wanted to take the time to help organize this for all our brides to be. Unfortunately, there is not ONE right way. Different brides have different priorities to where they want and need their next move to be. Different geographic locations will need you to pay attention to different things before others, and different time lines will also come into play when trying to map out your next move.

Our biggest piece of advice is to organize and research. Give yourself only one or two tasks at a time so as it does seem overwhelming. Everything will and does get done, but having a focus helps keep you sane. If you are planning to send save the dates or a wedding website, this might be a good place to start. This takes some of the stress out of having to choose another vendor and helps get the bride and groom excited for what is to come. If an engagement party is being planned, it is also a good time to focus on that and have some fun before diving into some of the other tasks. If the engagement party is the only pre-wedding party that you will be having(i.e. no bridal shower), bride and grooms usually opt to register. If this is the case, registering for the party before the invites are mailed will also be priority.

The wedding dress and bridesmaid dress orders typically take some time so beginning the dress hunt (see our previous posts on how to get that fabulous task started!!) is usually important. Choosing a bridal party (if you choose to that is) should also be done in the first few months. Not only is this proper etiquette, but its also essential to having assistance in all of these wedding tasks. Bridesmaids are an excellent source of help and support and while all of your real friends will be during this time, its helpful for them to know in advance as well as they are going to need to prepare emotionally, financially, as well as with their schedules.

Vendors that tend to book furthest in advance are photographers and entertainment, i.e. band and d.js. Beginning to do some research, check out websites, schedule appointments and go to band/d.j. showcases will be a good place to start with this. Always think about people in your life that may have trusty referrals. An old friend, a relative whose wedding you adored, or even online community sources such as..you guessed it, blogs! Florists, limos, hotels, makeup, hair and invitations can usually wait while you and the groom handle the rest aforementioned tasks.

While this is a very brief summary simplifying enormouse tasks, it is a guideline to map out the plan of action in advance. Of course, keep in mind that things don't always work out how you planned and that is OK to. So if you happen to fall in love with a florist that you met while booking your venue, go ahead and book him/her. Be flexible! Just make sure that you don't make any decisions under pressure. Always give yourself a night to think, process, and compare before signing contracts and handing over that check.

And our most vital piece of advice is to discuss all decisions and plans with your fiance' and enjoy every moment. While the decisions may seem stressful at the time, it is how you come to the decisions together as a unit that foreshadows so much of what is to come in your marriage. And taking the time to stay present through it all makes the process that much more enjoyable. Which is probably why I was filled with tears of nostalgia and joy as I flipped through my wedding album for the first time this weekend, a month before the marking of our first anniversary together!!

Culture

2010-07-13T07:00:00.001-04:00

I find that some of the most fantastic weddings that I have been to have all had one thing in common , they were unique. All of my favorite weddings included elements that screamed the bride and groom.

A great way to escape the cookie cutter trap is to include parts of your culture in your wedding. I'm half persian and my persian culture is so important to many of my family members that it was almost a given that I would include that in our ceremony. We actually had to ceremonies, one christian ceremony and a persian ceremony immediately after. I loved that we were able to combine the two cultures seamlessly.

Often times it doesn't have to be as drastic as two ceremonies, but can simply be unique elements added to your existing ceremony. For example, including a Chinese tea ceremony, reading the irish blessing, and Mexican "lasso" wrapped around the individuals. As a note if you include unique cultural elements in your ceremony that only some of the wedding guests may understand including a description and the symbolic meaning of the event should be placed in your program. You don't want half your guests sitting there thinking, what is going on?

images via Bride's Personal collection

note these are NOT professional pictures and do not do my Sofreh-Aghad justice

Including elements of culture doesn't have to just be incorporated into the ceremony, but can be displayed in your reception. For example, including Italian (or any other culture) music during the reception, a hena party, almonds as favors, and breaking dishes.

I'm dying to know did you include cultural elements in your wedding?

Perfect Moment XIII

2010-07-12T09:00:00.001-04:00

Hoping this image starts your week off with a smile

image via Craig Paulson Photography

I know we usually post perfect moments between the bride and the groom, but this image melted my heart a bit.

Details and DIY

2010-07-09T09:00:00.003-04:00

I fell in love with the so many unique and adorable DIY details before my wedding. I actually had a hard time being realistic about not only my skills but the amount of details involved in any wedding.

I'll be the first to admit that it can be so easy to go overboard on the details, signs, paper cones for flowers, and the limitless amount of cute favors. The wedding blog world is a great resource for fantastic details, but one thing I had to remind myself was that bride with the cute signs, she didn't also have the chair decorations, the paper cones for flowers, the personalized favors, etc. There is a point where little details go from aww inspring and clutter central. Think about decorating a room, how many little details before it looks less chic and more chintzy.

In general, you want your details to match your wedding. If you are having a modern affair in a large city loft then rustic chair signs aren't really the detail you should include. Similarly, if you are having that beautiful vineyard wedding you may want to rethink the back and white mod chair bows. I always tell my husband that I really could have planned about three very different weddings and still not have used all the wonderful details I came across in the year I was planning.

Besides for your details matching the wedding, you also want your details to match each other. If you are doing a monogram, keep the monogram the same throughout the event. If you are doing the vintage paper cones have the same paper pop up in other elements like table numbers or place cards. However, even better than the same paper is coordinating paper. It avoids the whole matchy-match thing, but won't clash.

While details can be a great way to make your wedding your own, it's important to be realistic. Believe me it will save your sanity. Know your limits. Trust me, there isn't an unlimited amount of time right before the wedding so try to limit your last minute DIY to one item. For example, I really wanted caramel apples for our favors and I knew that due it's perishable nature it was going to be a last minute thing. This was the only thing I did myself immediately before the wedding and I was so glad because there was not much time. If you are DIY a few items make sure some of them can get done in the months or weeks before your wedding, the sooner the better.

Another important aspect of being realistic is knowing your abilities. I am not that good at crafty things. Intricate little crafts that required talent, not for me, I tend to get more paint in my hair than on the paper. Therefore, I had to really be smart about what crafts I decided to tackle on my own. It helps to ask friends that may have experience and may be better crafters than yourself, but be careful not to overwhelm them.

Here are some great DIY details!

images via Style me Pretty & Young House Love

image via Martha Stewart Weddings

image via Elizabeth Anne Designs

Adorable

2010-07-08T17:31:00.004-04:00

Spotted this today on WeddingBee. I'm pretty sure I saw a youtube video of a guy using this as a proposal technique, but couldn't find it. However here are two other very cute ones.

Go ahead make your own!

Wedding Week On Young House Love

2010-07-08T13:15:00.004-04:00

A recent first time homeowner, I've fallen in love with YoungHouseLove over the past few months. Who doesn't adore Sherry and John and how they have invited us into their home and given us so much direction and inspiration. Well this week is there wedding anniversary and in light of that, they have dedicated their posts to all things wedding and love related. I can't help but push all you brides to their site to get them equally hooked...Whether you are planning on buying a house, renting an apartment or just starting a new home for your new life, this is the blog to visit. So, Happy Anniversary to our favorite bloggers; this has been one special year with the birth of your daughter. And to all our bride bloggers, visit them for wedding week and everyday after...Style Me Pretty guest blogged on it today, you won't be disappointed!

Showers!

2010-07-08T09:00:00.000-04:00

Before your wedding there are likely to be a few pre-wedding events. A shower is typically thrown for the bride a few months before the wedding. Who throws the showers varies from area to area, sometimes it's the mother of the bride or groom, the bridal party, maids and matrons of honor, or friends of the family, but regardless of the host there is usually a few key features to a shower, opening presents and playing some bridal shower games.

For many brides showers can be overwhelming. Here are a few tips that make the whole day more enjoyable! First, you don't have to open gifts. You can ask your host(s) to specify clear paper or paper-less gifts ( it's green). If you do open gifts be sure that you have a friend write down the name of the guest and the gift they gave you. Secondly, there is no real need to act super surprised, but being thankful is key! In most cases you registered for the gift so you won't have to really act like you like it because you picked it out! The key here is to make eye contact with the gift giver and thank them. When you get a gift you didn't register for it's key to say thank you and comment on how useful/thoughtful the gift was. In general, if you are thankful and remember that everyone came out to celebrate you it will show on your face!

Shower games don't have to be embarrassing anymore. Most of the time you don't really get a say in the types of shower games played so unless you really really have an issue with games in which case spread the word to all possible party planners. In cases where you are throwing a shower some great games include quizzes about the bride, a little game on how well the bride and groom know each other, pocket book scavenger hunts, etc.

Showers also don't just have to be for the ladies anymore. Couple showers are great alternatives when the bride may not know a lot of people from the grooms side. These are usually evening events include less games and more mingling.

Two final words on showers, write your thank you cards as soon as you can. Remember hostess gifts for the people that gave you a shower (if they aren't in your bridal party.)

Oh, and remember to have some fun!!

Social Networking and Weddings

2010-07-08T08:01:00.003-04:00

We have all obviously delved into the world of social networking as is evident by the fact that we are active bloggers. What would life be if it wasn't for our daily Facebook check-ins? With that has come a whole new wedding predicament...How much is too much? This thought came to me this weekend when one of my best girlfriends got engaged (Congratulations to Laura and Joey, one of the most beautiful couples I have ever seen!). As we were all capturing the moments of her and her new fiance glowing, (She is usually the photo snapper) I promised I would send the pictures her way. She laughed and said , Not on Facebook! This brought me back to the "relationship status" change dilemma that came my way when first engaged. Becoming engaged and getting married is such an intimate thing, that its hard to feel comfortable sharing it with "friends" who you really don't know all that well outside of cyberspace. But with the age of technology, people are likely to congratulate and discuss the new hot topic before you even get a chance to log on yourself. It took me 3 months to change my relationship status. Some were confused as to why I wouldn't want to yell on top of the mountain (or newsfeed) and share this wonderful news, but to me I felt exposed and wanted to share the moment with those around me first. Believe me, I was beyond ecstatic, but that didn't mean I was ready to share the moment with people I hadn't spoken to in years. That being said, once the congratulations start coming, family members or friends who haven't been alerted might get upset that they are finding out this information via the internet versus you personally. That means that today more then ever, it is you and your fiance's responsibility to share the news personally whether it be email, text, or phone call, to all who you think should know before it gets to them in this way.

And after you get passed the "relationship change," it goes on to status updates. Is it ok to make a countdown via status changes? or how about venting about vendors, friends or in laws? When the emotions start running high through the process, there sometimes feels like their is no other outlet. While it is likely to happen at times, I would say use this sparingly. You never know who will get wind of your updates that may not even be on facebook. The last thing you want is an awkward call from your in-laws asking what your latest ranting status update is about after cousin Billy(He's my friend on this thing?!?!) gives them a call. And while you are counting down the seconds to your big day on the regular, daily updates counting them down are likely to make your "friends" hide you on their newsfeed. While we have entered an age where sharing your happiness with the world in such a way is the norm, be sure to indulge in your happiness with yourself, your fiance, and your friends, in the actual moments. This is easier in hindsight, but something to keep in mind along the way.

Lastly, the photos. About 5 minutes into your wedding day it is likely that someone will "mobile upload" your photo onto facebook allowing everyone an IN on your big day. Be sure to communicate to the people around you what your feelings are about this. Some brides are happy to share and be posted on the internet before they even make it down the aisle, but others feel exposed and angry. It is likely if you express your feelings on this to those closest to you, that they will be happy to listen. At the end of the day, they are just as excited for you and want to share the excitement. Just be sure that it is on your agenda. Photos will begin to make their way onto facebook rather quickly and so before your wedding day even approaches, I encourage brides to make a decision on their photo privacy settings. Facebook allows you the option to block certain people from seeing tagged or uploaded photos and this might be something you want to do for certain someones. Once it comes time for you to decide if you want to share your own professional photos, you can also make the decision to block certain "friends" from seeing. It is inevitable that there are people out there jealous or not able to be happy for you and you want to surround yourself with only positive energy around such an intimate day. I was hesitant about sharing my own photos despite how much I absolutely loved them, but in the end, decided to share a few of my favorites in order to allow my family and friends the oppurtunity to see them while (hopefully) not wedding overloading my other devoted cyber buddies.

What are your fears or hesitancies about Facebook and social networking sharing when it comes to weddings? What decisions did you make and why ? We would love to hear (and help!)

Perfect Moment XII

2010-07-07T17:00:00.002-04:00

I know that I just shared a perfect moment yesterday, but I came across this image today by Dallas Photographer, Stacy Reeves, and couldn't resist sharing it. I love how the photographer caught such a peaceful moment between the couple.

image via Stacy Reeves

This image just goes to show that despite how crazy the day is it's important to take time to be in the moment.

Vendor Spotlight-Anthony Vazquez & The Aftershoot

2010-07-07T12:00:00.003-04:00

You all know just how much we adore Anthony Vazquez, not only by the fact that we feature so many of his photos as our perfect moments, but obvious by the fact that both S and I enlisted him on our big days. Anthony has become our friend over the whole wedding process and almost a year later, we still cannot help but be fascinated when looking through his work. It is emotional, raw, trendy yet classic and constantly innovative. So when asked to write a blog post, he of course chose to discuss one of the newest bridal trends, Aftershoots. See below for Anthony's words on Aftershoots and his mindblowing photos taken at his latest aftershoot. An underwater camera for wedding photos? Who would have ever imagined!

And check out his site for our own guest post! We couldn't be more thankful and excited...

"Many people refer to the after shoot as a "Trash the Dress" shoot. We don’t really trash the dress, and if we do, it is not the dress the bride wears on her wedding day. It is usually much less expensive than my bride's original couture gown. Think $99 off the rack.

The idea behind these shoots is to allow my team and myself a large portion of time where we can push the limits of what we do with our art. Recently I had the pleasure to work with my dear friend and future bride, Vanessa. She had always envisioned a particular shoot, and our job was to make her dream a reality. We flew to The Breakers in Palm Beach where her event is taking place next year. The venue is extraordinary.

Another misconception about these shoots is that they always occur after the wedding day. They are often scheduled prior to a wedding, which I really prefer. It really helps us build a great relationship with my bride and groom. I also love having the opportunity to work with my clients in a much more intimate setting without the bright lights and stress of the wedding day I wanted to push the envelope and create something really special for Vanessa, so we started with the idea of shooting her underwater, and then I had my stylist prepare a few stunning wedding gowns for her to wear during her shoot.

Below you will find a selction of images from our shoot with Vanessa. I hope that you enjoy them. You can see more of our work at http://www.anthonyvazquez.com/"

all images courtesy of Anthony Vasquez

In laws

2010-07-07T09:00:00.000-04:00

Getting married is truly the joining of two (and sometimes more) families. It's often hard to keep everyone happy and involved during wedding planning, but here are some tips.

Sisters (in laws) and brothers (in laws) are usually pretty easy to keep happy. They likely want to be a part of your wedding. If your husband wants to include your brothers in his wedding party you would be wise (VERY WISE) to include his sisters. If you are unsure have your husband talk to his siblings or his mother and see what the best idea is. If you can't include them in the wedding party give them another important job, a reading or handing out programs.

Fathers, Groom's dad's don't typically have a large role in the wedding. They are probably the person the groom goes to for advice, but as far as wedding planning I think they enjoy taking the backseat and enjoying the party.

Mothers, Groom's mom's do usually really want to be included during the whole process and including her as much as possible will really be to the benefit of everyone. Keep your mother in law involved by giving her tasks. Typically your mother in law (or her friends) may want to throw you and your husband to be a shower in her home town and will likely want to take the front seat in planning the rehearsal dinner. These events are really important to her and in general it is easiest and the best course of action to go with the flow. If there are parts of the event that you really aren't thrilled with (perhaps she's envisioning a larger rehearsal dinner than your wedding) talk it over with your fiance and if you guys really can't live with her plans than have him talk to her. Present your case fairly and calmly offer alternatives. In general be thankful. Remember she wants to show how happy she is for both of you!

If possible have your mother in law tour the venue with you and your mom. Ask her for her advice, share your ideas with her, take her for one of your dress fittings, ask her to come for one of the tastings. In my opinion most mother in laws want to feel involved. The more involved you keep her the happier everyone will be.

When things get sticky and sometimes they do it's important that you and your fiance present a united front. I think that usually each person knows the best way to deal with their families and therefore if you are having an issue with his family than it's better to ask him how it should be handled. If possible have him do the talking, if it's not possible than ask him how to talk to his parents.

Have an in-law question? We'd love to help!

perfect moment XI

2010-07-06T20:00:00.001-04:00

image via Shira Weinberger

I adore this photo. It looks like they are sharing the best secret, what a great shot!

Wedding Guest

2010-07-06T17:00:00.001-04:00

Well, we can't always be the bride at the wedding now can we. Sometimes we get to be a bridesmaid and our attire is usually picked for us, but oftentimes we get to attend weddings as guests. I often attend weddings (and other formal events) with the same crowd of people. I have a hard time wearing the same dress over and over again. Mostly, I love dressing up and I love new fancy dresses. However, new fancy dresses are not very budget friendly.

I recently came across the website Rent the Runway. Now girls, men have been on to this idea for years, hello rental tuxedos why haven't we gotten on board earlier? I must admit I was skeptical at first. I mean how clean were the dresses going to be? How would I know if they would fit?

I have to say Rent the Runway totally and completely exceeded my expectations. I ordered two different dresses (in two sizes, a backup size is included) for an event, the first dress cost 50 dollars and the second dress was 25 dollars. They offer a backup dress for only 25 additional dollars, but they also offer pretty detailed reviews about the fit of the dress so I would wager to say a backup isn't always necessary. Total cost 75$. The price of one dress alone was 800$. They provided the return envelopes and I wore the dress put it back in the envelope and sent it on it's way. The dresses were clean and just as they were pictured.

For a second event in the same weekend with all the same people. I rented two more dresses (what can I say I like a backup plan). Unfortunately, at the last minute my backup dress wasn't available. They had excellent customer service who called right away explained the situation and sent another dress in it's place, but again, my original dress was perfect. I spent 75$ for the second event. The cost of the dress I wore was 450$.

Overall, It was a win-win for me. I got to wear trendy dresses that I normally wouldn't buy because they were way out of my budget for a seasonal piece. I also was able to save some money by not buying another dress I would likely only wear a few times.

Just because we won't always be a bride doesn't mean we can't always look good! Try it out. You need an invitation to join, but if you click here it should connect you.

Designer Spotlight: Jenny Packham

2010-07-06T14:30:00.004-04:00

The extreme heat on the east coast has me seriously dreaming of light airy dresses and beautiful beach weddings. Jenny Packham's dresses are a perfect choice for so many events including a perfect beach wedding. I've been a fan of Jenny Packham's designs since Elizabeth Hurley wore one of her designs on her wedding day. The british deisgner's dresses mix a good amount of modern edge with traditional bridal details.

image via Jenny Packham

Lucetta Spring Summer 2010

image via Jenny Packham

Delphine dress 2008

Can't you just picture these dream dresses at a summer or destination wedding?

Wedding Perfection

2010-07-06T09:00:00.002-04:00

I'm going to be honest with you and tell you a few secrets.

First, No matter how hard you plan your wedding will not go a 100% exactly the way you wanted. However, your wedding will be PERFECTLY IMPERFECT.

Secondly, No one except YOU knows how exactly you wanted your wedding to be. No one coming thinks you didn't plan to have that shade of red as one of your colors. Everyone thinks this wedding is just as you wanted, so why not jump on board. It's the day of your wedding, it is just as it's going to be and let me tell you it's perfect!

I can hands down tell you I am the worlds most obsessive planner, but despite all my planning I had a few oops events happen at my wedding. I did what everyone told me to do when dealing with them. I stayed calm. I dealt with what I could, let others deal with what they could, and I just simply let the rest GO.

Truth: My ceremony seating chart got misplaced in transit to the venue. I had made about 20 reserved seating signs and my day of coordinator, Amanda of Amanda Barbara Events couldn't do much without the list. After a 10 minute phone call I recited the list the seats were labeled and the wedding day went on.

Advice: Always keep spares of important lists. Make sure there is one with you or your maid of honor and one with the person setting up.

Truth: We left my husbands wedding ring at my parents house. I know right? Doesn't everyone pretty much joke about this happening. It did. Not even kidding, I looked at my sister and said, "You have the rings right?" and she responded, "I have your wedding ring, not W's" I laughed and she said no really I don't have it. I can tell you everyone in that room just stopped. It was as if time stood still. We all looked around hoping someone else grabbed it, but it wasn't there. So about 20 minutes before we were set to walk down the aisle we had no ring. Amanda ran back to my parents house and ran back with time to spare. I found out later she had to break in to my parents house, which unlike our normal protocol was locked up like Fort Knox. Regardless, we went down the aisle with smiles on our faces. Guess what, not one of our guests even suspected we were ringless a mere 10 minutes before.

Advice: Um, double check that you (or the ring safekeeper) has the ring before you leave your house. Seriously, DUH!

Truth: My closest aunt and mother of my very very young flower girl and ring bearer was so sick she didn't make it through the ceremony. My flower girl didn't make it down the aisle by herself and the ring bearer didn't even have his shirt tucked in. Bottom line I regret that my closest aunt couldn't be there, but my uncle that literally had to carry my little cousin (flower girl) down the aisle all the while pretending to be the flower girl and throwing petals from her basket is HYSTERICAL on the video. Shirt not being tucked in, oh well, still the cutest.

Advice: If you have young flower girl and ring bearers be prepared that they may not make it down the aisle. My cousins are so important to me that it made no difference that they were 2 months shy of two years. They were part of the wedding. I was fully prepared that they may not make pictures (they didn't) and they may not make it down the aisle (they sort of did). If they do, great if not it's still ok. Just be prepared that little ones don't always follow plans.

Truth: My very newly minted mother in law passed out during the cocktail hour (she's fine). For the year or so that we planned our wedding my husband and I always joked the safest place to be would be at our wedding. My father and his family and friends are pretty much all physicians. My husband and pretty much all of his friends are physicians. Seriously, if you got sick at our wedding it was well covered. However, we didn't actually mean we wanted people to fall ill, ooops. My mother in law didn't eat, was overwhelmed, stood for a very long time during the ceremony, and then she passed out during the cocktail hour. Honestly, it was dealt with within 10 seconds there was a wheelchair and she was ushered up to her hotel room. She drank some soda ate a little and was (almost) as good as new in a 1/2 hour. My husband and I made a quick decision to push off our first dance and our parents weren't introduced at the beginning of the reception. In the end only people standing right around her realized what happened. We had our first dance a bit later on when she was able to make it down and the party went on.

Advice: Mishaps will happen. Just smile, figure out how to make the best of it and remember that you are in love and just got MARRIED.

All of these crazy little things happened at my wedding, but when I think back on that day I think back to all of the great memories. I remember saying "I do" I remember dancing the night away, and I remember all of the friends and family that celebrated with us!

Stay sane all the little mishaps, just make for a better story.

Perfect Moment X

2010-07-05T18:29:00.004-04:00

via Jessica Lorren

Love Love! They look totally and completely in love.

Summer heat reminders

2010-06-30T14:03:00.003-04:00

As the sun glares through the windows making it hard to do just about anything, I wanted to be sure to remind our summer brides (and grooms, bridesmaids, guests etc..) a few things in order to prepare for the summer heat.

1- Tan lines. Nothing is more distracting then halter tan lines on a bride with a strapless dress. And we all know that once those tan lines start, it is always hard to make them go away entirely. With everything on our brains, its easy to forget to pull down the straps so my best advice is to go buy a cheap bathing suit top that mimics the neckine of the gown and just stick with it for most of the summer. Old navy has great options that cost next to nothing and might just be your summer savior to a glowing, not distracting, tan. I know many brides saying its not a big deal because they can get spray tanned over the white, but many times these brides are disappointed when their are still faint reminders of those unmatching tops. In any event, if you do happen to forget, spray tan and make up can definately help fade the lines a bit. Just be sure to do a practice run before the big day as we say about everything.

2-Use SPF. Yes, I know you want to maximize the tanning time that is limited with the hustle and bustle of summer and wedding planning, but the reality is, patience is your best friend in this one. Take it from a bride who has to work pretty hard to achieve a good tan despite the fact that she is Sicilian. I had many temptations to load on the oil, but at the end of the day, Im glad I had people reminding me how unattractive burn marks and peeling are. No one wants to show up on there wedding day with the remnants of a 2 week old sunburn resulting in uneven color and lots of peeling skin. Instead, try to really maximize your time. Use SPF daily, but increase your sun exposure by doing things like sitting outside on your lunch breaks. My sister and I would meet up for 20 minutes to my apartments rooftop last summer just to get a little extra color! If the sun is out after work, sit outside. You might not see immediate results, but every extra minute spent in the exposure will add to the tan, not to mention give you some Vitamin C, something definately needed during this crazy time. And most importantly, embrace your skin and its color. Most of us feel better with a little tan, but who says being tan is the only beautiful option. Know your skin and its limits.

3-Moisturize. Cannot stress this enough. No one wants to feel like a crocodile while their being hugged by hundreds of family and friends. Keep your skin moist from your face all the way down to your feet!

4-Drink lots of water. Overload on it. The summer is hot and heat really does take a toll on our bodies. In order to look and feel our best, we must continue to hydrate ourselves. So grab yourself a new, trendy, reuseable bottle and fill it up over and over again. Carry it with you to work, school, appointments..whereever!

5-Avoid extra salty foods. This is especially important in the days leading up to your wedding in order to avoid any excess bloating, but particulary important during the heat. This can also be helped by the above, so just another reason to keep refilling that bottle!

6-Protect your hair. So you listened to our previous post and got that extra blonde shade 3 months before to ensure perfection, but now you have to maintain it. Be sure to protect your hair while you are out in the heat with head scarfs, hats, or hair products which have some sort of protection. Even if you do not color your hair, it is important to protect it in order to keep its texture and shine for the big day!

These are just a few of our reminders, many more to come, but in the meantime, any summer heat reminders to share with our readers?

Hair Inspiration

2010-06-29T13:45:00.006-04:00

We posted on hair sanity and how to make sure that your hair looks great on your wedding day, but we haven't actually posted hair inspirations and weren't sure we were ever going to until I saw this.I absolutely adore this sleek chignon with its flower perfectly situated to give it a sweet, smooth and summery vibe. It is classic, sexy and simply perfect. Thank you to the beautiful bride & Style Me Pretty for allowing us to share and be inspired

I am sure there will be much more hair inspiration to come as we begin looking through...

Perfect Moment IX

2010-06-29T13:05:00.002-04:00

Our sincerest apologies that we are off to a very late start this week..It has been a hectic weekend, but we are back and this time with a perfect moment from yet again, Anthony Vazquez. I love this shot because it is playful, carefree, so non intrusive, and shows the childlike joy that bursts out during wedding days. We hope this brings a smile to your face and inspires you to enjoy every second of your day to the fullest...

Just a reminder...

2010-06-24T11:20:00.004-04:00

Every once in awhile, during and after the wedding process, I like to advise people to step back and be thankful and grateful for what they have. It is not always easy to do given the tornado-like speed of the wedding planning and life process, but so important in helping us and those around us stay sane. After surfing the Tiffany's website prior to posting about the new application, I was reminded of the months right after my engagement when I told my husband about 100 times/day that I was so thankful and grateful for him...and my new ring. We can all recall the days of finding ourselves lost in daze whether it be at work, in bed, or while driving a car, staring at the new bling on our finger in amazement. I still to this day find myself walking down the streets of Manhattan staring at my finger while the sun's rays glisten the brillance of my diamond. While by no means does my ring have anything to do with why I love my husband so much, it is a gentle reminder of all that he has done for me and continues to do for me every day.

The same goes for the family and friends that helped me stay sane and survive the wedding planning process, and daily life. Without their support, I would have never made it through, nor be able to make it through life in general. I was reminded of this while sending an email to my sisters this morning asking them a favor. While the favor was nothing that was difficult, it was one that would occupy time out of their lives, and that inspired me to think of all the time that they did and continue to take out of their lives for mine. My sisters, parents and best friends are my rocks, in good times and bad, just like my husband yet they never took a public vow to me. They deserve just as much to know what they do is appreciated, big or small.

Maybe I am a little bit sappy this morning, but hey, that's ok. I am a sucker for being in touch with my emotions and we all know those run extra high during wedding planning.
It is good to be reminded every once in a while that the support and love around us gets us through each day, good and bad. So call it a little reminder and reach out to let your fiance,husband, boyfriend, mother, father, sister, best friends etc, just how much you appreciate all they do. Doing this without a reason makes it all the more special. We don't have to let them in on this reminder....And for my husband, parents, sisters or best friends reading this...Thank You with all my heart xoxo

Engagement Ring App?!?!

2010-06-24T10:15:00.004-04:00

Yes, you read that right. The infamous Tiffanys has created an Iphone application that allows you to preview different style engagement rings, figure out the size of your ring finger, play around with the size carat of the different rings and how it looks with different wedding bands as well as recieve expert consultation all at the click of a finger. Technology sure has come a long way. Now I am not an Iphone holder, nor do I really understand "apps," but this is true innovation. So for all our bride to be's that have begun frolicking in the land of weddings, maybe even before their future fiance even knows it, Tiffanys and Apple has definately made it much easier. You no longer have to sneak into jewelwery shops in disguise to begin your diamond hunt-now it can be done in the privacy of your own phone. Just be sure to delete the app after you use it...or maybe not, in case you want your love to see the application offers the "save rings" option! It is never to early to get some ideas ;)

Perfect Moment IX

2010-06-23T08:30:00.003-04:00

Nothing is more intimate than the quiet moments and whispers that new husbands and wives share throughout their wedding day. Anna Sewin Photography does a breathtaking job of capturing that perfect moment. You can just see the love and connection in their smiles and it leaves you imaging the words and emotions that they share. We adore this.

Thank you Anna Sewin Photography for such a fantastic image.

Favor Ideas

2010-06-22T10:31:00.005-04:00

Choosing favors is one of those things that gets tossed aside on most brides list and oftentimes causes a bit of a headache as the date sneakily approaches. Everyone wants to say a nice thank you to their guests, but the days of giving away platters and serving spoons seems to have faded as people have begun noticing these items collecting dust in their basements. Don't get me wrong, I have gotten some beautiful stuff along the way that I use quite frequently, but this just happens to not be the majority of the time. Newer trends include items tied to seating table cards, godiva chocolate boxes, seeds for flowers and of course, charity donations.

While we love these trends, especially the latter of donations (which J and I used it ourselves) , we were recently reminded of a favor we recieved at a wedding a few years back as we unpacked it while moving. It was such an innovative idea at the time and while we are sure it is much more common now, we still find it to be incredibly romantic, personal and useful. The bride and groom had each member of their bridal party, along with their parents, chose a song that reminded them of the couple or love and compiled a CD. On the inside cover of the CD, each song with the artist was listed, along with the person who chose the song. The songs chosen were far from cheesey love songs, they were all tunes which we ended up loading into our IPODS and rocking out to on our ride home. It was exciting to pop it in the CD player in the car and listen to a few classics and a few that we never had heard of ourselves and still to this day, when I hear most of the songs, I think of that wedding. And to top it off, the bride and groom decorated the tables with the CDs which had the most beautiful DIY covers around their centerpieces, so it not only served as a favor, but as table decor as well.

And for those Italian brides out there, I cant help but remind you of the Jordon Almond Tradition. Five Almonds are to be given out for health, wealth, happiness, fertility and longevity. If you aren't superstitious, at least you know Nonna would be proud : )

Any favor ideas you have recieved and loved? Any others that inspire you ? Any traditions to incorporate?

Floral Inspiration

2010-06-22T08:09:00.002-04:00

We couldn't help but re-post these inspirational flowers from a featured Nantucket Wedding on Elizabeth Anne Designs. This bouqet and floral touches via classic Anthropologie Mugs are making us swoon so we figured we could inspire our readers. Hope you enjoy!

Hair Sanity

2010-06-21T08:02:00.003-04:00

Waking up on the first day of summer and I noticed that along with the new season has come much less manageable hair. This got me thinking about summer wedding hair, for brides, maids and even guests. Unfortunately, we can never predict the weather ahead, but it here are a few tips to keep in mind.

1- Know your hair and how it works and don't think just because your wedding is a magical day that your hair will miraculously do something it has never done before. Example, women with pin straight hair that doesn't hold a curl shouldn't expect to leave their hair down and have flowy, natural curls. If the curl doesnt stay 364 days of the year, chances are it won't on your wedding day either. Instead, embrace what it does do! Women with pin straight hair tend to have hair that can do any sort of up do without an ounce of frizz. Use this to your advantage.

2-Speaking of frizz, if you have it, practice taming it in the months leading up to your wedding. Try different products, it is all trial and error with our hair on what works and what doesn't. Look for hair sprays that hold, but don't turn hard and conditioners that provide good shine and control. I wouldn't suggest spending a load on these products since many of them are made out of similiar ingredients, but I personally cannot help but splurge on Phytodefrisant and Morrocan Oil, both of which have transformed hair miracles for me.

3- As we said in an earlier post, no crazy new hair cuts or colors too close to the date. Hair changes its body and texture when cut and dyed. Try to stick to doing this at least 2 weeks-month before the big day and be sure to get a hair trial after it has been done!

4- Have a plan B. Knowing my sometimes unmanageable curls and frizz might not be able to handle the humidity of a hot, August day, I decided to have a backup plan in case of rain or humid weather. I knew I wanted my hair half up and half down with loose curls and had gone for my hair trial imagining this style, but I decided I would put it in a loose chignon down and to the side if the weather did not hold up. Fortunately, Someone from above was shining down for us as we had one of the most beautiful days in one of the most rainy NY summer seasons, but had it not gone my way, I knew that I had tested and trialed other options. This helps to keep sane on the big day

5-In regards to knowing your hair, know how it works too. Most hair stylists suggest hair actually being a little bit dirty before setting it for a style. This doesn't mean greasy though and so as women, we need to get a gage on what our hair limits are. Many brides opt to get a blow out for their rehearsal, usually a night or two before, and then keep that as the last time they wash their hair before the big day. Other brides know that their hair cannot last that long and so they opt to shower and blow dry it the night before bed, while others use their natural wet hair to mold their hair-do. Whatever your hair limits are, know them and work them to your advantage.

Any other hair tips to share for our readers? Let us know! We would love to hear...

Perfect Moment VIII

2010-06-18T09:13:00.003-04:00

Came across this and had to share..Love how Anne Kuperberg managed to catch this intimate moment from above. Talk about non intrusive photography. This is what we call photojournalism at its best.

Thanks Anne for allowing us to share this. We continue to be inspired by your work.

Designer Profiles

2010-06-18T07:30:00.000-04:00

Came across the designer profile section of Kleinfelds website and thought I would share. It is always fun to read about top bridal designers and where they came from. It also is a great way to get a sense of the styles that each designer formulates. I think this would have been a great tool while dress shopping, but even after the fact, it is always fun to read a little about the designer you have chosen as a loyal follower ... I was sure to click on Monique's first when browsing .. Guilty as charged ; )

Keep in mind though, it isn't about the designer, but rather the dress! We love so many non designer gowns and think its amazing when brides begin to take pieces of gowns and design their own. No need to break our wallets to find the perfect dress, but even so, getting a little inspiration from the designers can always help.

Last Minute Money Saving Tip

2010-06-17T22:12:00.005-04:00

We all know the week's leading up to weddings can be hectic and quite costly. You start writing checks with numbers that you never imagined and every little penny begins to count. This is a small money saving tip for those of you whose venues/caterers charge per person. Most of those that do this require a final headcount a few days before the actual event. When giving this, we suggest that you give this count minus a few. This is because the majority of those who have had weddings can attest to the fact that their are always a few last minute cancellations. A significant other is ill, a family members travel has been delayed, or someone has unfortunately passed away. Because it is unlikely that once the money is taken by the venue/caterer, you will ever see it again (They tend not to refund for cancellations after the final headcount), it is always smart to minus a few. That way, if everyone does show up, you can always add a seat or two and pay the difference the night of, but if cancellations arise, you haven't lost any cash.

Many of you reading this haven't gotten to this point yet, but like some of our other posts ( like numbering the RSVP cards), bookmark this one and revisit when the big day gets closer. You won't be sorry!

(Image credit:Clark and Walter Studio via StyleMePretty)

A Very Sweet Affair

2010-06-17T14:50:00.004-04:00

It is very rare we hear the words Bootcamp and Candy in the same sentence, but thankfully today we have. Our friends at The Wedding Salon are offering their infamous Wedding Bootcamp on Monday, June 21, 2010 at NYC's famous Dylan's Candy Shop, from 6-8:30. As a personal sugar freak, I believe you couldn't ask for a better locale. A number of top vendors in the area will be speaking and giving advice on things like etiquette, planning, style and avoiding hidden costs. Tickets are only 15 for 2 admits and this includes gift bags(wedding salon gift bags were by far my FAV when I was planning), cake tastings, and cocktails. If you can't get your fiance to agree to spending his Monday night at such an affair, use it as a night out with a bridesmaid, friend, sister or Mom. You can always make your way across the street to Bloomingdales after for a nice evening of shopping or registering after. I promise it'll be worth it .

Monogram Etiquette

2010-06-16T07:29:00.011-04:00

While many women have at one point in their adolescent years written their first name with their "crushes" last name, most of us feel a slight identity crisis when faced with the challenge of changing our names. Its fun to imagine, but when it happens for real, we can't help but feel slight confusion. Nearly a year later and when I am called by my Mrs., I tend to not answer on the first time.

Even though we feel this way, there is definate excitement when recieving your first monogrammed gift. I couldn't help but smile seeing our initials lined out together on a large tote given to me by my sisters the night of our engagement. As I passed over that tote this AM, I recalled how many times people questioned how a monogram should be done, so I figured I'd share this tid bit of advice in the early morning.

The traditional monogram letters should follow like this : The wife's first initial on the left, The first initial of the new (joint) last name in the middle, and the husband's first initial on the right. So when, Christina Henry marries Edward Morris their monogram is as follows : "CME" Many couples opt for different types of monograms as well such as solely using the first initial of the joint last name or using that initial with their entire first names. There are many ways to personalize, but this is the traditional method.

Monogrammed gifts are obviously exciting and always classic ways to decorate and personalize our first homes (i.e. champagne flutes, silverware, picture frames, totes, towels, doormats, jewlery boxes), but monograms also serve as an excellent theme throughout wedding stationary. Using it to personalize invitations, place cards, menus, matches, favors, cake toppers, etc, helps coordinate your wedding and not to mention, highlight your new joining in marriage in a very classy way. The different fonts used also can play a role in the formality of the monograms, allowing less traditional couples to come up with young, modern twists of their own monogram . Many wedding stationary venues will work with you to come up with these unique and personalized monograms. Just be weary; true classic traditionalists argue that the monogram on any stationary prior to the actual marriage should remain with the couples initials seperately. So in our example above it would be either C & E or CH & EM on things such as engagement, rehearsal and wedding invites. Today's more modern couples many times opt out and stick with the joint one throughout.

It is likely many of you already knew this, but I couldn't help but share for those who didn't xo

(Image Credit: Pottery Barn)

Random Beauty Thought to Keep You Sane

2010-06-15T12:39:00.006-04:00

Despite our various countdowns to the big day, sometimes months start flying by and you approach the 2-3 month mark much quicker then expected. At this time, the wedding planning "lull" has zipped by leaving you in what I like to call the wedding "tornado." The to do list that was tackled now has a zillion new additions, many of which involve a lot of time and thought. With that, emotions are running high and excitement is through the roof making it hard to think clearly at time.

Let us do the thinking for you...Before it gets to the 2-3 month mark, start thinking about beauty in advance. What sorts of special things would you like done for the wedding? Make a list and try them out. This is the perfect type of thing to do during that lull. Any changes that you may want for the big day should happen at least 6 months before.

Heres a list of common ones to get you started:

-New medication Changes-Any additions or removals of medications should be avoided right before the big day. This goes without explanation as to why, but side effects, allergic reactions etc. can really damper a brides mood, not to mention really have a mood effect! (This includes visits to the dermatologist for your face and Gynocologist for Birth Control) This category also include any new vitamins and/or supplements.

-Facials/Peels

-Hair cuts/coloring-whether it be a new stylist, new do or coloring a shade lighter(even if it is JUST one shade), do it a 6 months before to ensure that you are satisfied with how it turns out. Then book your appt for right before the big day!

-Hair removal-lasar, waxing, threading whatever you decide be sure to make sure you try it out before.

-Makeup/Lotions-Any new foundations or powders should be tested out in advance to be sure that your skin doesn't have any adverse reactions

-Self Tanning-that glowing look might turn you into an orange or rub off on your white gown. Try it before to ensure that you love it. This is one that can typically be done about a month before, but at least give enough time for it to wear off it you don't.

-Any changes in diet/exercise- You could easily over exert yourself if leaving it to the end and you wouldn't want to have to sit out of all the dancing just because you decided to do an extreme boot camp after sitting on the couch for two years. My advice is avoid tdiets all together and begin to eat more healthily 6 months before. That being said any crash diet you plan to try out the week/day of, should at least be given a "test run." Cutting out certain food groups could cause for some sort of body or GI reaction that you do not want to be dealing with on the big day!

This might seem like a silly tip, but trust me, 2-3 months before the big day, freak outs and insanity kicks in. All of a sudden ideas such as eyelash dying or lengthening that were laughable prior, begin to surface and it becomes hard to tease out reality and this insanity.

Start making the list now to avoid such disasters xoxo

What crazy things did you try or think to try right before the big day ?

(Image credits; Anthony Vazquez photography for the bride & Style Me Pretty)

Perfect Moment VII

2010-06-14T21:09:00.004-04:00

Recently noticed a new "follower" on Twitter , Laura Vogt,(Forgive me, I am new to the the whole twitter game) and decided to check it out. An hour later, I was captivated by so many beautiful photos that I had to share one. This one particularly struck me in its beauty and obvious, perfect moment. You can almost feel the excitement of the bride and groom as they share one of their first moments as "husband and wife.'

So kudos to Laura Vogt Photography for your work and our letting us share our latest perfect momnt and thanks for the "follow!"

Emotional Turmoil

2010-06-14T12:38:00.004-04:00

When thinking about getting engaged and planning a wedding, never does it come to our minds the amount of emotional challenges that we are faced throughout the journey. A lot of people reading this who haven't gone through it will likely roll their eyes, but those in the midst are likely to find some reassurance in this post. No one really discusses the emotional turmoil that comes with family and friends that we have considered so close throughout our lives and with that, their is a huge self discovering that comes hand in hand with the wedding planning journey( as with most of life's journeys) .That self discovery usually comes with some tears and moments of utter shock, but in the long run is so beneficial.

While planning your wedding it is likely to be faced with disappointments from friends or others surrounding you. Sometimes those disappointments are our own hypersensitivity during this very stressful time and other times its others who fall way below your expectations You come across friends who are not interested, jealous, cannot be happy for you or out right mean while you are trying to go through this very happy, yet insane, time. I would have never expected that certain people who I shared so many years with would let me down and act as they had; self centered, removed, uninterested, defensive, and worst of all, so not understanding and unsupportive. But with those lows and very emotional times, I came to find a close knit few who were my rocks; constantly reliable, interested, caring, selfless, very much supportive and went above and beyond any expectation I could ever imagine. And so with planning my wedding, I also got a much clearer picture of who I wanted to be around and who I needed to stop being there for.

As we grow up, we come to realize that it isn't the amount of friends that count, but the strength of the friendships and relationships that we have, that counts. And while it is never easy to loosen ties with old friends or remain distant from certain relatives, we need to learn that its the people who will be there in years to come and who can share happiness and sadness with you that count. Those are the relationships we should sacrifice and support for.

Here are a few tips you can do to keep things sane during these emotional times. Remember, sometimes the other parties aren't sane and in those cases, chalk it up as a life lesson :)

1-Try to remember that the world doesn't revolve around you or your wedding. While we are all in our own wedding bubbles during the planning process, the people around us are likely to be going through their own life stressors whether it be their family , financial , school, occupation or their own rocky relationships or lack thereof and we need to be mindful of that. Maybe our floral decision making crisis or the snotty lady at the bridal shop seem monumental for us, but outside the wedding world, people may not truly understand or be in a place where they can relate to the importance of that. My advice for this, bond with other women in the wedding planning process who will appreciate the laughter and tears in their own similar experiences. And keep in mind, good friends are always there even when our troubles don't align and so your best friends should still be an outlet in times of stress. Just be sure that the wedding isn't the only thing discussed. Remember to ask your friends & family about what is going on in their lives. It is equally as important.

2-Communication. As one of the most important components to a good marriage, it is also one of the key factors in any strong relationships. Rather then get in a heated discussion when you hear about a friend or family memeber who has complained behind your back to others or becomes defensive, take the time to cool off and put the situation in perspective. Sure this isn't easy, but try to step out of the situation and look at it from a different perspecitve. Use your fiance as a sounding board. They tend to be more level headed when it comes to these emotional times. If the experience is with one of his family members, then I suggest finding another sounding board. Keep in mind that we are usually hypersensitive during this very life changing time in our lives and so we want to be sure that our feelings are not being too heightened by the experience. After you have gotten a handle on your own emotions, contact that other person and try to explain your feelings in a constructive manner. If that person isn't approachable, try sending a card or email. Although less personal, their are certain people who this type of communication is more constructive.

3-Take time for yourself. Whether it be walks, journaling, reading a non wedding magazine/ book, watching a good movie, cooking or getting manicure, any type of outlet you can find enjoyment in can help reduce stress and therefore release endorphins. With that, these emotional challenges will prove to be less significant and you will be able to better conceptualize and brush them off.

4-Surround yourself with real friends. Those that are supportive, carefree, and make you laugh. This makes everything better. No explanation needed. Keep these people and all that they did for you in mind especially during their own big, life changing events.

5-Remember, people can only what they can give. You know people who go above and beyond for their friends and others who tend to forget everything if it is not listed in their blackberry calendar or having to do with themselves. That's ok. Everyone has their own self threshold about what they can do for others and we need to remember that each person may just in fact be giving their all.

So when you find yourself unimaginably being yelled at, complaints about things that are beyond your control or that make you happy, when a friend or relative isn't there for something you need and with every unreturned phone call, try to keep these things in mind and stay sane. The ones that count will be there for years to come in good times, bad times and ORDINARY times. Stay grounded and do everything possible to reduce stress. This is a happy time and you cannot please everyone ...not to mention, stress only leads to grey hairs and pimples aka wedding disasters!

picking colors... picking a theme

2010-06-14T09:00:00.002-04:00

We've talked about the importance that color (or lack there of) can play at your wedding. I've never been a theme kind of girl and rather let colors play the part at my wedding. I was inspired by a post on WeddingChicks about how a bride picked her colors and wanted to share some tips about picking colors.

First, the best way to start is focus on a color that you naturally gravitate towards. While, this color may not play a part in your wedding it will definitely steer you in a certain direction. I tend to wear mostly black with certain signature colors, teal greens, pinks, corals, and greys. I love these colors and had I planned a spring or summer wedding they would have been top contenders. Which brings me to my second tip.

Know your season. Embrace your season. Some seasons like winter really give you a blank slate, but other seasons like fall have hues that play a very important role. There is no way in New England in the fall that you could even begin to compete with the reds, oranges, greens, and browns that are dripping from every single tree. Instead of trying to compete with the colors I embraced them. It doesn't hurt that one of the reasons I chose fall was because of the deep hues. However, I have seen some great fall weddings that really incorporated very little of the typical fall colors and they were beautiful

Third, know your venue. If you are lucky and the venue contains wood floors and white walls than go ahead attack with whatever colors you want, but if you are looking at a deep red or blue carpet you have to take that into consideration when planning your centerpieces. I'm not saying that in either of those situations you are forced to use white centerpieces or stuck with colors you hate, but don't attempt to do clashing colors.

Themes are a great alternative to colors. They can be as simple as a nautical theme which incorporates a couples love of sailing with hints of blues. A theme can also center around an object like a starfish, incorporating this item throughout the wedding and then throwing in some beach elements such as corals, ocean blues, etc.

In order for the whole wedding to fit together I'd suggest a simple inspiration board. Make as many as you need with minor tweaks in colors you'll be able to really pinpoint your wedding vision.

image credit: elizabeth anne design

This inspiration board compliments of elizabeth anne designs shows how effective choosing one color can be at tying together an entire wedding scheme. The olive green would blend well with so many seasons and isn't overpowering.

image credit : merriementevents.com via style me pretty

The pop of color on the table cloths ties in so well with the centerpieces which feature various shades of pink. One strong color can play such a fantastic part in a wedding and really brings various elements together.

image credit: marthastewartweddings.com

This was a real wedding in CA during the fall. I love how the bride did not use the typical colors, but embraced the season with the muted grey bridesmaid dress. The red flowers offer just the perfect amount of fall.

image credit: elizabeth anne designs

This deep red and gold inspiration board makes me so happy! I love that this is a muted palate. There isn't a ton of color, but the deep red and gold can so easily make a perfect wedding theme. This is also a great option for fall or winter especially if you are getting married in a country club like venue with the deep maghony.

image credit: atlelier isabey via style me pretty

This image just goes to show that you can have a perfectly put together wedding without a ton of color. I know a ton of brides that just don't do color in their day to day lives and really wanted a very black and white wedding. This wedding looks totally put togehter without crazy color schemes.

Have a color scheme you want pieced out? Have a favorite color and don't know how to pair it with complimentary colors, or have an object you must incorporate, or a theme you are hoping to use, send us your images, We'd love to help.

Designer Spotlight: Carolina Herrera

2010-06-11T08:12:00.001-04:00

We absolutely adore the designs of Carolina Herrera and so to kick off the weekend, I figured I would share a few of my favorites. I love that these gowns are all so different, but equally beautiful. While the price tag is high, you can certainly find her designs at sample and trunk sales across the country and if it still is out of your league, use these photos as inspirations or designs when on the dress hunt. Enjoy : )

Second thoughts on the Dress

2010-06-10T16:00:00.003-04:00

This is my story; I was totally that bride that bought a beautiful dress during a very overwhelming day of dress shopping. I followed almost none of F's great advice. I brought so many people with me. I let everyone else have opinions and I doubted myself. I visited only two salons and never even tried on the dress I had been imagining since I started planning. Almost immediately after purchasing the dress I had second thoughts. I wasn't really sure what to do and hesitated to tell my mom or my sister about my second thoughts. Mostly, because I loved the dress shopping experience and I did not want them to take my second thoughts personally. In addition, I did not want to see like a crazy bridezilla. I originally wrote my dress second thoughts off to the fact that the dress I picked was totally different than the dress I imagined I would be wearing. After a few weeks I was still looking at my original dream dress and wondering how everything got so off track. The next few months of wedding planning were intense and I sort of pushed my dress second thoughts to the back of my mind. I picked out details that I loved! However, I kept finding myself searching for dresses online. Googling things like "Picked the wrong wedding dress" & "How to sell a brand new wedding dress online." I let too much time pass before I cried to my mom a few months before the wedding. My mother immediately told me, that I was simply emotional and overwhelmed. She assured me that I picked the right dress. I was still not assured. I called my wedding dress salon and asked them what my options were. Unfortunately, not much. It was only a few months until my wedding and my dress was already in production. To add more to the kicker I customized parts of my dress which made it impossible for them to take the dress back as a sample. Basically, my only option sell my original dress and buy a sample. I decided I was going to go try on the dress I had been lusting after for the last few months and a few others that I liked. I brought my mom and my sister with me and prepared them both that I needed them to be honest and I needed them to think about the entire situation not just their opinion about my dress. Well, I tried on the dress and I was right, it was perfect. I thought it was perfect. My mom and sister were unconvinced they started listing the reasons why this dress wasn't perfect. The scenario repeated itself for several more dresses. Finally, my mom made me try on the original sample of my dress. I liked my dress, but I didn't love it. I didn't feel it was me. There was no denying the dress was beautiful and really fit the venue, but I still had second thoughts. My mom in her true mom fashion. Told me point blank, get over it. We bought this dress. We are not buying another dress. Suck it up. Get over it and enjoy the next few months of planning. I left pretty angry with her. It took me a few days to even talk to her, but after we spoke I realized she was right. I could not spend another insane amount of money on a brand new dress. I had a beautiful dress and I was going to have a beautiful wedding. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't think about the other dress again and wish that I had picked that one, but I knew it was just a dress. It wasn't the whole wedding. IT IS JUST A DRESS.

The day of my wedding I never once thought that my dress wasn't perfect. I never thought oh my wedding is ruined because I'm not wearing the dress I imagined I would. I thought this is the best day of my life and I look beautiful. Mom- I'm so glad I listened to you, ha.

Want to see pictures of what I wore and what I thought I wanted to wear?

First my dress:

Image Credits: Anthony Vazquez

Image Credits : Bride's personal collection

Now my original dress thoughts:

I was looking for something like this style, simple, but with some embellishment.

Image Credit: Amsale

The second and last dress are the dresses I imagined. I called them my dream dresses.

Image Credits: Brides.com

Our goal here is to help make you sane, if you take away any lessons from my story it would be First, Follow Francesca's advice about dress shopping. Secondly, Don't buy the dress the first day. Wait the dress is not going to disappear, I promise. Thirdly, If your second thoughts happen as quickly as mine did, call the salon and cancel the order. Go back in and dress shop again. Most salons will cancel the order within 24 hours and will more than helpful with finding you a new dress. Fourth, If you are like me and wait too long and are stuck with the fact that you cannot wear your original dress. Sell it and buy a sample. Sites like this , this, or this can help. In addition ebay always has tons of listings of dresses as well as weddingbee classifieds.

Dance Party

2010-06-10T10:45:00.005-04:00

F posted the other day about music decision, one of the many choices brides and groom have to make before the wedding is Band or DJ.

Sometimes the decision is a budgetary one and then it's easy you do what fits in your budget. Other times it's a space issue, having a wedding in a small space? A large band won't fit, easy choice.

However, there are times when the decision is a little more complex. Let's break it down with a good old pro con list (have I mentioned my love for pro con lists, serious love)

PRO

Band

Better sound
Live concert like feeling
Let's be honest, it looks impressive

Can play very different music i.e. cultural music
Club party like feeling
Can change types a of music very quickly if the party isn't picking up (However, good bands should be able to do this too)
Price
Fits into a smaller space not as much equipment

CONS

Band

Price
Takes up more space
Must ensure that they are talented and their repertoire involves different types of music

Must combat the club like feel if it's not your thing
Must ensure that the DJ is very perceptive and can change music when needed

Overall, the decision is a personal one. I chose a band for various reasons including a large venue, formal wedding, and comfort.

What did you choose? Band, DJ, Ipod play list?

Perfect Moment VI

2010-06-10T07:51:00.003-04:00

No words really needed. This photo was taken from Craig Paulson Photography. Even though the bride and groom are physically small in the picture, their love seems as moving as those wonderfully photographed clouds and calm waters. Thank you Craig for allowing us to share!

Grooms Gear

2010-06-09T15:34:00.011-04:00

So much discussion on bridal fashion and we sometimes forget (oops!) to think about our handsome men. Groom fashion has come a long way from the traditional black tuxedo and with that comes a variety of decisions.We like to think of the grooms fashion as equally (ok, almost!) important so be sure to add that to your wedding to do list.

Some of your fiances will not be too hung up on what they are wearing on the big day, many will probably not even know they had an option. That being said, Men everywhere have become much more in tune with fashion in general and so it might just be something on their mind. Start by asking what they imagine to be wearing on the big day. It is a big, important and long day and being comfortable is always key. While women tend to think pain is beauty, most men aren't exactly on board with that idea.

Ideas to keep in mind when deciding upon grooms gear:

-Formality of event; black tie calls for tuxedos but more casual affairs can opt for suits or jackets/pants. Wedding on the beach or backyard? Perhaps the groom would like to go tie-less or in shorts.

-Season; Spring and Summer allow for summer suits, khakis, and lighter colors such as beige where winter allows for wool or darker suiting such as brown.

-Color Scheme; The grooms accessories (i.e. tie, bow tie, flower, vest, pocket scarf etc) can coordinate in some way with the bride and/or bridesmaids. These accessories are a great way to expand on your wedding color scheme or tie in your wedding theme. Note though that the grooms wear doesn't necessarily have to coordinate, but should never clash! The bride and groom will inevitably be hand in hand most of the day.

I am a personal big fan of grey suits on the groom because I think they look sharp and sexy on men and provide a bit less of the traditional feel, but I can't deny the sexiness of a man in a tuxedo either, especially with the traditional bow ties. We opted for my husband (and groomsmen ) to wear navy suits on our big day. It was a bit less formal for our summer affair and I loved the richness in the pictures and how it coordinated so well with our bridesmaids.

Aside from comfortabless, be sure to allow your groom's personality to be shared however that may be. As brides, so much of our own personalities is exuded through our own fashion that it wouldn't be fair to limit that of our grooms. Sure, many of us don't want them showing up with a Yankees/Mets baseball cap while saying their vows, but allow them to incorporate their own ideas into their gear. For instance, the men in S & W's wedding wore black and white checkered socks under their formal tuxedos. This not only allowed them to share their personalities, but also made for excellent photos. My sister in law's groomsmen were gifted Ray -Bans by the bride and groom and then wore them around outdoors. This also made for an excellent photo-op.

So many creative ways to accesorize and make your love feel even better on his big day.

(Images taken via Style me Pretty)

Any other grooms/groomsmen fashion ideas to share?!?

Melissa Sweet Trunk Show

2010-06-09T09:13:00.008-04:00

If you are in the NYC area, Priscilla of Boston is hosting a Melissa Sweet Bridal Trunk Show starting tomorrow 6/10 through 6/14 which will include the new Reverie line as well. They will also be holding a trunk show for the Vineyard Line this month from 6/17-6/21.

Be sure to check them out! We adore Priscilla of Boston's Wedding Fashion from bridal to bridesmaid and with lower price tags, you cannot go wrong.

The Melissa Sweet Sidney style dress shown here is one of my favorites. I love the classic A-line shape and flowiness of the gown. Its lightweight, fun, classy, and flattering. So many gorgeous gowns to choose from!

For more details call 800- 664 -3316. They have a number of scheduled shows throughout the month in New York.

For those of you not in NYC, be sure to check out their website as they host trunk shows across the country throughout the year.

Music Decisions

2010-06-08T17:09:00.003-04:00

Whether you decide on a band or DJ, the music on your big day can be crucial in entertaining your guests (and yourself!) The pressure to choose the best vendor for this role can be tough and overwhelming. Before making the decision, be sure to take time to do some research and get some referrals.

(Image Credit, Amelia & Mark Photography)

-The best way to choose a band or dj is to have been at an affair where you, or someone you trust, has heard them. Pay close attention while attending others weddings or affairs to the music that is being played. Is their a good variety? Are people constantly on the dance floor or listening to what is going on ? How is the sound? What is the energy like? These are important factors to take note of. If you haven't been to any affairs since the music hunt began, try to think back to weddings or parties where you had a really good time on the dance floor. Ask those hosts for the vendor information and start researcher.

-Ask others who you trust for the same information. Have they recently been to a wedding where they loved the music that was played?

-Read reviews online. I write this with caution because everyone looks for something slightly different when it comes to music styles. Much of what is played is at the request of the bride and groom and so be weary when guests write about the types of music. Pay more attention to the quality and sound, the energy level, the trust in what they said they were going to do and actually did and what it was like working with the vendor in general.

-Listen to demos offered. Many of these vendors, especially bands, offer complimentary Cd's or DVD's that allow brides and grooms to listen to them perform. Again, caution with this because many of the bands that we heard via audio sounded very difference in person. Despite those discrepancies though, this is a good way to weed some of the options you are choosing between. A great deal of DJ's offer sound mixes on their websites as well.

(Image Credit, Docuvitae)

-Go see the bands live! If you haven't seen them at an actual wedding, this is the next best thing. Many bands and Dj's offer showcases where they perform for a short period of time at local venues such as catering halls. These are usually complimentary to the bride, groom, and any other interested parties and allows you to get a first hand ear on some of the important qualities. It also gives you a better sense of the type of music that the band is strong in, as well as weak. Comparing those strengths and weaknesses to your likes and dislikes can be important when making decisions. Be sure to bring a notepad and jot whatever critiques you may have. These end up being fun outings for you as well. JT and I enjoyed dancing away at some of the shows and when I took a few of my bridesmaids, we enjoyed the show over some wine. Makes for great bonding wedding moments.

-Ask questions; Be sure to ask what the cost is and what it includes. Do they require being fed at the affair? What are the hours? What are the overtime costs? Does the price include cocktail hour? If not, what is the additional cost? If lighting is something you are interested in, what are those fees? Who will be present the day of the wedding? If it is a band, do they require notice if certain band members can switched out? (Wedding bands happen to lose and acquire members over the course of time and considering some of us book these vendors a year in advance, this is an important question) If it is a Dj, do they provide handouts? If not, what are the additional fees? What types of music do they play? Do they work directly off a list of songs or do they do a range of similar songs? Do not assume anything when it comes to musical vendors, there are so many loop holes that can arise if the right questions aren't asked and no one wants to be disappointed with the outcome of their entertainment on the big day.

-Be sure to read the contract, small text included, before you sign. Find out about the payment plan and form of payment they will take. Many music vendors insist on cash only and this is an important factor to know when budgeting.

(Image Credit, Christian Oath Photography)

-Form a comparison list. List all the vendors with cost and then plus and negatives.

-Most importantly, get a gage on the personality of the band and how they will mend with you and your groom. This is the most important tip when choosing any vendors as these are the people you will be surrounded and in contact with in the months before and on the big day. Having vendors that are trustworthy and accessible whether it be by email or phone, is the best advice one can give.

Trying to choose between bands and/or DJ's in the NY Metro area, we can help! Afterextensive reviews and comparisons while on our own hunts, we would love to keep you a little more sane..

Engagement Photos

2010-06-08T10:00:00.005-04:00

I love good engagement photos. Honestly, I think engagement photos are a great way to get to know your photographer. You will be able to really tell how well your personalities and style match. Although, not important for all vendors it's really important your personality matches with your photographer because you spend so much time with them the day of the wedding.

(Image credit : Divi ne Light Photography)

(Image Credit: Angela Anderson)

(Image Credit: Kellie Kano)

(Image Credit: Kiss the Groom, Elizabeth Messina)

Some Tips

1. Don't wear white

2. Wear a bit more makeup than you usually do, but look natrual

3. I'm really anti the matchy match outfits, but coordinating is good, i.e if you are wearing a formal dress your fiance should wear something equally as formal

4. Wear something you can move around in, You want to be able to enjoy the shoot not worry if your outfit still looks presentable

5. Have fun. It's odd being the center of attention and if you do the shoot in a busy area it makes it even a little bit more odd, but if you have fun it will show in your photos!

Bridal Beauty

2010-06-08T08:00:00.002-04:00

There has never been a time in my life where I craved perfect skin, white teeth, and shiny hair more than I did in the months before my wedding. I figured I'd be looking back at these pictures for many many years and my perfectionist ways would be pretty angry if there was a big red pimple in the middle of my face. I want to teach you a few things I learned,

1. Don't freak if you do have a pimple, makeup artists and photographers work wonders.

2. Don't go crazy (read below for the craziest thing I did while wedding planning)

3. Preparation is KEY!

Let's break down this preparation:

Skin, the answer to many of my problems was a visit to the dermatologist. I was one of those lucky teenagers that never really had a pimple. Unfortunately, my luck ran out I had lovely little spots on my face the second I turned 25. I visited the dermatologist about 8 months before my wedding.

I Retin-A prescription cleared everything up pretty nicely.

Craziest wedding related moment: A few months before my wedding my dermatologist recommended a strong chemical peel. I have to say this was the most insane thing I did before my wedding. It made a huge difference, but I looked scary for a week. I would sort of recommend this, but with a warning. Plan do NOTHING publicly for a week. While I did attend class and go out, I was a scary, scary sight. I would certainly only advise doing this months before your wedding.

Think this:

but I'd be lying if I didn't say my face looked worse

There are CERTAINLY other ways to get great skin results and I recommend a few products whole heartedly, but I've learned that everyones skin is different and what works for me may not work for you. I swear by an insane amount of water (probably my only really healthy addition) and good facials. I try to eat a decent amount for fruit and drink coupious amounts of green tea which I think helped. Some other products I loved (I am a product junkie, It's a real problem.)

Skinceuticals Clarifying Cleanser , Clarisonic Hydrating Cleanser, Clarisonic, Obaji Clenziderm Treatment (My dermatologist recommended this line, but I really only liked and used the number 2 bottle), Skinceuticals C+AHA treatment (this was expensive, but lasted me over a year since you use such a tiny amount), & Dr. Gross Skincare Alpha Peels

Hair, Regular cuts and color upkeep. I had a clear glaze right before my shower and the week of my wedding. I used whatever shampoo and conditioner was on sale and then used Phyto nourushing shampoo once a week.

Teeth, Obviously visit your dentist. I was lucky enough to get whitening trays and bleach for free before my wedding and I had really great results, but I've also used Crest Advanced Whitening Strips and had pretty similar results.

I've always been slightly obsessed with beauty products and what not, but the wedding plans only escalated my obsession. I can't say I regret a minute of it because I really felt great at my wedding. However, this obsession was not cheap and slightly crazy. Who said we were always sane?

Have a beauty question? Don't hesitate to ask

Don't forget the guests

2010-06-07T11:31:00.001-04:00

Many brides choose to get married in destinations these days and thanks to the wonderful world of technology, many others choose partners who aren't in the same zip code(Always comforting to know that you have more options then your little town) For this reason that means that in most weddings there are at least a few guests who will have to make a weekend or night out of your big day. Because of that, bride and grooms usually like to make their guests feel at home or provide them with an agenda of things to do in the area.

We suggest putting together a small welcome bag for our guests. Be sure to include necessities such as water, asprin, a few things to snack on (i.e. chips, pretzels) and possibly something for the morning (Think granola bar, box of cereal etc). Gum and mints are also helpful to include. These are things that the guests will not likely pack on their own, yet will definately spend some cash on getting and what better way to thank your guests then by making them feel thought of. I think its a small gesture (and easy diy project) that can make a big difference. You can purchase already made "go green" type bags which lots of wedding sites offer (see above) or you can opt to buy regular paper bags. Spice them up with cheap, personally designed stickers such as these from My Wedding Labels which S & I both used or keep them simple with colorful paper that matches the color scheme of your big day (See below) To stay in budget while doing this, you can buy in bulk at a Costco or BJ's wholesaler or even check out the dollar store.

Don't forget to include a little thank you note to the guests and possibly a phone number or two in case they need to contact someone. Just be sure not it isn't yours or the grooms; think maide of honor, best man or your parents! If you have made arrangements for transportation so guests will not have to drive (Many hotels offer shuttle services that you can set up for your guests) be sure to include that information and times on the note as well.

Don't have the time to put these together right before the big day ? Try making this a project that you do during the planning lull that occurs usually between 4-5 months before the big day. Or if you have too many out of towners to do this, you can purchase pre made bags. A bit less personal, but a lot less of a hassle. We adore the ones by Navy & Lavendar. These are much more expensive then making them on your own, but definately worth the cost. Perhaps these might be a special treat to leave in rooms of your bridal party or to purchase as a bridal party gift. These come in special wedding themes and of course, I particulary adore the NY bag : )

Perfect Moment V

2010-06-07T08:20:00.004-04:00

It is Monday, yet again, so to lighten the mood we have chosen another perfect moment to kick off your day. I rarely choose perfect moments that are not couple oriented, but this one was just too beautiful to pass up. By our favorite, Anthony Vazquez, I couldn't resist but share this image.

What bride wouldn't love to take a moment, sit in a hammock on the beach, ponder, and watch her guests enjoy the big day that has finally come together perfectly, even if it is just for a second. We hope you all get a moment out of your big day to do the same. It is so important.

Thanks AV for sharing : )

Floral Inspiration III

2010-06-04T11:51:00.002-04:00

My younger sister had sent me this image while I was planning our wedding and I still adore it today. Taken from Instyle Weddings, it is a combination of calla lilys, cymbidium orchids and strong greenery leaves. I love the way the bright yellow pops against the dark green leaves . It is a wonderful summer inspiration.

Tablescape

2010-06-04T09:00:00.001-04:00

There are just so many ways to dress up a table these days! Little additions really can make your table stand out from the normal white tablecloth & white plate scenario. Often times brides that have their receptions in large rooms feel like they need to have really tall and large centerpieces. Believe me it's easy to see such a large room and get overwhelmed, but this is just not the case! Keep in mind that really large impressive floral arrangements are usually very expensive even if you stay with in season flowers. Here are some other great ways to dress the table up and add some beautiful details to your reception.

1. tablecloths, hello color! They are super easy to rent and with some shopping around can be rented for a decent price.

2. charger plates, They are on the table when everyone walks into the room. They are such an easy way to add color and texture to your table.

3. napkins, Same as table cloths super easy to rent and such a pop of color. Adding a fresh flower or punchy fruit to each table setting on top of

or next to the napkin, amazing detail!

4. fruit, Different and can really add dimension to your table.

5. candles, You can get a bunch of votives for super cheap and they really can add a glow to

your table. Just check with your venue about their regulations

6. containers, What you put your flowers in can really make the difference. Clear glass or crystal containers aren't going to add much to your table (although they look really modern and crisp). Try to use a metal or color container really will add so much to the flowers.

Keep in mind you don't need to or even want to use all of these details, but adding a few of these to your table may really make an ehh table go to a wow table.

image credit style me pretty

This table used a few of the elements I mentioned, Colorful tablecloth, a different charger plate, and a beautiful flower on each napkin. The unique centerpiece helps make the table something special

image credit julesandalbie.com via smp

This table has both a fun table cloth, great floral containers, and votives. The best part is there are really no crazy arrangement of flowers here(i.e no crazy expensive centerpieces). This is also something very DIY friendly.

image credit martha stewart weddings

Great tablecloth, apples, fun votive containers and very simple floral arrangements. The table looks done, but doesn't need to have some elaborate floral arrangement.

image credit style me pretty

This is a great spin on the typical white on white. Alternating between table runners and tablecloths really add dimension to the outdoor space and balance it nicely between formal dinner and rustic picnic. I really love the chairs.

This table uses the lemons to add some color, the individual flowers at each setting, and the containers of jam. (Tip: edible things like jam make great favors and if you stick a place card on their they make fantastic place card holders)

image credit elizabeth anne designs

Veil Trends...

2010-06-04T08:32:00.004-04:00

One of the newest wedding fashion trends out there is the birdcage veil. It has made its return as one of the hottest trends over the past two years and I have a feeling it will be one to stick around. Brides & Veils have gotten that much more complicated...It used to only be the decision of long or short veils, blusher or not, then it became to wear one at all or not and now this! It brings a vintage feel to the day.

These veils can be worn alone or with a flower or hairpiece attached. They can be pushed forward in front of the brides eye (as seen in this photo) or back into the bride's hair. Its less formal and more mysterious and I can't help but love the aura it brings. It also highlights the brides face and can be easily removed for a more casual look. To top it off, it has become an inexpensive version of veils, which are more costly then many brides can imagine until stepping into bridal salons.

While I opted for a long, classic, lace embroidered veil, I simply love this trend. Paired with the perfect dress, it makes for one fashion forward bride.

(Photo Credit, StyleMePretty.com)

Table Seating Tip

2010-06-03T17:00:00.001-04:00

Not too long ago we shared with you our RSVP card numbering tip, but we know that is only half the battle. One of the not so fun things involved in wedding planning is the actual seating arragement. Who can keep up with who gets along with who, who dated who and who can't stand who's children. It can get quite overwhelming and the problem is, you can't really do much about all the RSVPS are in, leaving you with the challenge just weeks before the big day. Staying sane at this time is hard enough without having to tackle so we wanted to share a little advice to make the process a little smoother.

If you are lucky enough to have parents and/or in-laws to help tackle some of this with you, I would strongly suggest using them for this. They have the best up to date knowledge about all the family 411 that might make or break your guests night. We do of course want everyone to have a great time. Jt and I actually were blessed with having both our mothers arrange our family seating, leaving us only to place a few outlier guests and our own friends. This cut the insanity in half!

If you aren't that lucky, no fear. We are here to help. Start out by getting a large piece of paper or cardboard. Draw out the room with the number of tables and place large landmarks such as entrance, door, windows, dance floor and music so that you can get a general idea of how the lay out will be.

Once that is done, get sticky tabbed page markers or cut up post its into strips. Write each guests name a seperate strip and then start sticking them to tables. This allows you to move people around simply by un-sticking and re-sticking them to a new table without a lot of messy crossouts or missing guests (both of which are likely to happen when you do it via computer or paper). Once you have arranged every guest (via sticky post it) you can then make a hard copy list to give to your wedding venue, as well as keep for the writing of the place cards.

Some sites offer seating table arrangement charts via the internet, but they often don't exactly mimic the room and to me, were more confusing and difficult to visualize. It also makes it easy to lose some guests as you are deleting and re-entering them.

Don't forget there is also the option to opt out of seating arrangements all together. This allows guests to pick and choose who they want to share company with throughout the night and makes for a more casual affair. Many brides have begun to go this route and it seems to work just fine! I would beware of using this option when your wedding is big though as it can become overwhelming to guests.

For more questions on this time saving, easy method or other seating arrangement tips, email us!

(Image Credits Robert & Kathleen Photography & Sweet Monday Photography respectively via Stylemepretty.com)

Perfect Moments IV

2010-06-03T12:09:00.002-04:00

We just had to share this image from Brian Dorsey Studios, one of our favorite NYC photographers, because it perfectly captures the joy that the couple is sharing on this big day. The expressions and emotions are ones that are found few and far between in our lives. Put a real smile on my face thats for sure.

Cake and Pictures

2010-06-03T11:36:00.003-04:00

Cake and Pictures is a website I stumbled across today. It's a directory of some of the best photographers! Such a great way to scope out local photographers. The BEST way to pick a photographer is based on images you love, so this website is a perfect jumping off point! Clearly, I have spent my morning looking at beautiful images of some fantastic weddings.

NYC Saks Sample Sale

2010-06-02T14:22:00.001-04:00

All this talk about dresses and we just had to share that Saks Fifth Avenue in NYC is hosting their bridal sample sale starting today through June 6th. While we haven't posted about budget dress shopping, how to approach bargaining, or sample sales just yet , we couldn't pass up the oppurtunity to share this event with you. Its a great way to get designer dresses like Vera Wang, Reem Acra, Monique Lhuiller, Amsale and many more, for SUPER cheap. Dresses start at $999. Remember, these are final purchases, but worth a shot to even go in and try some on. No appointments necessary for this one. To find out more info call 212.940.2269.

Have fun & keep us posted if you get the chance to go! xoxo

Dress Sanity II

2010-06-02T10:13:00.007-04:00

Picking up where we left off, once you have some inspiration (and organization!), along with that strong person to accompany you, its time to officially start the hunt. My first suggestion is to do some research in your area for wedding dress salons that you might be interested in. S and I would be happy to help if you are having any trouble.

Start by looking up the designers which inspired you and find where those dresses are carried in your area. Most of the time this information can be found on the designers individual websites. Once you have done that, search for local bridal salons in your area. My advice would be to start 2-3 places. I would suggest making sure one of those is a large salon that carries many different designers (Think Klieinfelds in NYC aka say YES to the DRESS) so that you get to try on lots of different options. Adding a few smaller salons is also nice as they are usually more personalized. Going to particular designer boutiques and salons is great too, especially if you are swooning over one particular dress and are dying to try it on. That being said, scheduling too many single designer shops can make for a little insanity with your already busy schedule. You can add these on later if you still haven't found the perfect gown.

(Rivini-above)

Once you have narrowed it down, start calling and making appointments. I would stick to 1-2 appointments a day as it can become overwhelming and give yourself plenty of time in between to unwind and make for any scheduling conflicts or hold ups that may occur. Make sure to schedule a lunch for yourself and your "assistants for the day" as the it can be long and you want to make it the most pleasurable and memorable experience possible! Chatting over lunch about the dresses is also part of the fun!

The day of the appointments, be sure to bring a strapless bra, some formal jewlery, a camera, a notepad/pen and your trusty inspiration folder! The formal jewlery just helps you get a better picture in your mind. The camera is a must as usually you can forget how certain gowns looked on you, or the details in it. Make sure your person takes pictures of all angles and a close up of any details.

When you arrive to the salons, it is not always what you had pictured in your mind. Some of the larger shops have rows and rows of dresses in bags that you can barely see. This is when then bridal attendant becomes really important. You have to describe to these woman what inspires you and your folder can really help in doing so. The bridal attendant at these larger places will just start pulling gowns while you wait in the dressing room and you get to say yes or no. It is OK to say no. Don't feel pressured or rushed to have to try on what they say. It is your time and you need to use it wisely.

(Vera Wang-above)

Some of the smaller salons will allow you to frolic and look at all the dresses which are usually displayed much more delicately. You can browse and select gowns you like and then the attendants will usually pull out other similiars based on what you had selected or what inspiration you have shown them. I found this experience much less anxiety provoking for me as I was overwhelmed when entering the larger salons. That being said, I found my dress at a larger salon, but then purchased it at a smaller salon that I felt was more personable (not to mention more budget friendly for the same gown!)

Another interesting moment during the process is the getting changed in front of the stranger aka bridal attendant and your person. These women are throwing dresses at you and expect for you to get in and out of them as they are right there. Try and stay comfortable knowing that they do this all day long, but if you still dont feel at ease, just communicate to them that you rather try them on alone and you will be out quickly. Sometimes getting the dress on may take some assistance so let them know you will call them in immediately when needing it. You have to feel comfortable during the process or you will definately go insane so preparing yourself for what you will and say can definately help.

Most women also get a little shocked when they realize the gowns only come in one size and that oftentimes they have to get clipped and pinned in. Sometimes its hard to imagine what the dress will look like without all the ridiculous pins, but keep in mind that if you are going to a good salon, the seamstresses will be able to tailor it to fit you perfectly. Before purchasing any gown, be sure to talk to the seamstress and verbalize everything you want done to the gown to ensure that it can be just the way you want it.

Before leaving, be sure to take down all the designers and names of the particular gowns you adore and even ones that you just like. When you get home, upload all the pictures and label them with the designer, name/style of gown and the price. Remember that the price is usually a bit negotiable, but for a ballpark figure it helps to have this listed under the gowns when you are going through them.

And my most important piece of advice; have fun, smile and stay in the moment-you are trying on wedding dresses !! Close your eyes and envision yourself walking down the aisle, dancing with your HUSBAND and taking pictures. Oh and by the way, try jumping around, walking, sitting and dancing in those dresses right in the middle of the salon. That is what you will be doing on the big day and comfort is a BIG thing. Almost as important as the fashion ; )

pink and champagne inspiration

2010-06-02T10:09:00.004-04:00

image credit (l-r) monique lhuillier sunday rose dress via smp, missy photography via ead, folio save the date via ead, erin hearts court via smp, amanda kraft via smp, smp, agnes lopez, a bryan photo via smp, smp, martha stewart weddings, studio emp, r. jack balthazar, suzanne ariz via smp.

Vendor Spotlight-Austin Wedding Photographer Eric Hegwer

2010-06-01T17:00:00.000-04:00

As you know, here at Sane Brides we adore perfect moments which are composed of a mix of amazing love and a sharp eye via excellent photography skills. So when we got a chance to speak with Eric from Eric Hegwer Photography we were excited to be able to share with our readers. Eric is a photographer based out of Austin, Texas who has a great eye for perfect moments and much more. He was able to offer us some great tips when it comes to choosing a photographer for the big day, a very important vendor selection. Check out his site to see more of his work and read below for some of the great advice and inspirations Eric has to offer...

SB: How would you describe your style?

E.H: At Eric Hegwer Photography we love all parts of a wedding - there are always tons of great candid shots, opportunities to make incredible portraits, and even a bit of commercial style photography when I take pictures of all the details. Overall I consider myself an accurate wedding photographer - I can shift between the photojournalistic "fly on the wall" style that is so popular with the brides, to a more traditional wedding photographer when the Mother of the Groom wants some of the standard family portraits. Depending on what the couple wants, I bring in 2nd (and even 3rd) photographers with additional skills to get the shots they want.

SB: In the south bridal sessions are a must for every bride, can you tell us northerners a little about them?

E.H.:Bridal Portraits are so much fun! A few weeks before the wedding, once the gown is ready, it is traditional for the bride to have a bridal session. This is when the bride gets all dressed up, and we head out to do a combination of fun, relaxed pictures, and a few traditional shots showing off the gown. The sessions are a great trial run for hair and makeup, and usually her mom, sisters, and maid of honor come to participate. We do all kinds of poses, and I love teaching them how to stand, and look great in photos. Then, a large framed print is prepared and displayed at the wedding. I've heard multiple reasons for doing this, but for me, it saves time on the wedding day. I know we have some great shots of the bride, so we can forget about those on the day of the wedding, and get her to the party faster.

SB: How long have you been a photographer?

E.H: For the last 5 years I have been a full time wedding photographer. Earlier this year, when my business began to really take off, I opened a studio and began to take on associates who share my style and philosophy. Starting a team has been a great bonus to the brides, because they get more pictures, faster. Oh yeah, In a previous life, I was a biochemist.

SB: Best question for a bride/groom to ask a potential photographer?

E.H:"How long will I have to wait to get my photos?" I've heard so many stories of couples waiting months or years to get their wedding pictures. In todays digital age, a great photographer should be able to get 99% perfect picture in the camera, and have to do little post processing after. I guarantee that my couples will get their photos within 3 weeks of their wedding. Even when I shoot a wedding with real film (I'm one of the few in the world who still uses film) I can get the shots developed and scanned in a few short weeks.

SB: What inspires you as a wedding photographer?

E.H. I find inspiration all over! From my dog, to my garden, to my yearly trips to Europe with my wife. I love going to museums, art shows, and street fares. There is so much beauty everywhere!

SB: On the day of the event, how do you typically work with your clients? What style/approach do you use?

E.H. To me, it's super important to learn as much as I can about the bride and the groom. How did they meet? What are their favorite foods, and movies. Do they like to travel, or see live music, or garden. The more I can understand about them, the better the pictures are. At the same time, I share bits about who I am. It's all about building trust, so when the time comes for photos, they can relax in front of the camera. Of course I have the experience to direct them when necessary, but if I see something amazing happening, I also know when to just be quiet and shoot.

SB:Do you ask clients to give you a list of photographs prior to an event?

E.H. Not usually. I generally attend the rehearsal, and get to know the immediate family, and bridal party the day before, so when it's time for formals they go quickly and effortlessly. I recommend every couple set aside a minimum of 20 minutes so I can take some creative portraits of the two of them. Sometimes they come to me with a particular shot they love, and ask me if I can re-create it. I tell them that this is a different couple's wedding picture, and I'll do my best to make a new one just for them.

SB:. How are you keeping up w the ever changing field of wedding photography?

E.H.Wedding photography hasn't really changed much in the last 5 years. Wedding trends change, but photography is still the same. I like to give clean, crisp, vibrant photos. It is very important for me to correctly frame and expose my pictures, and after that it's just keeping on top of what brides want. It's also very important that the couple have actual pictures to display around the house. Of course, they all get a Disc of the digital negatives, but I also encourage them to get prints made to show off their big day.

SB Here at sane brides, we adore the details of the big day. What are your favorite type of details to capture?

E.H:My absolutely favorite time of a wedding is immediately after the ceremony. The couple is now married, and doesn't know exactly what to do! I step back and just let events unfold. Sometimes they break down and start crying in joy, or family and friends rush over to congratulate them. Each time it's different, and incredible

A special thanks to Eric for sharing these great tips and his wonderful work. Be sure to visit his site for some more inspiration.

How to Juggle

2010-06-01T12:22:00.001-04:00

Unfortunately, I cannot provide you a step my step tutorial on how to juggle 5 lemons, but I can help with juggling wedding planning and um, the rest of your life! I planned a wedding in about a year and F planned it in about 18 months. I think we will both agree that although wedding planning is intense it can easily be done in less than time than we had. Of course, the first tip I'm going to give you is stay organized, I mean really you should just assume that from now on will always be my first tip, haha.

You want to plan on doing a few things pretty early on in your planning (and especially if your engagement is less than a year.);
1. budget
2. rough guest count
3. venue
4. photographer
5. band (if you are using a dj you can wait bit longer unless you have a very specific dj in mind in which case, book early)

The venue, photographer, and band can easily book a year ahead of time especially if you are planning on getting married during a popular month, which is basically March-November on the east coast. However, don't just assume that the band you love who is immensely popular will automatically be booked on your date, you never know!

After, you have secured the first major vendors I suggest working on things that are time sensitive i.e. save the dates. If you aren't doing save the dates you can start to work on the next bunch of vendors;

6. dress (give yourself as much time as possible. Most dress salons recommend at least 5 months)
7. florist
8. videographer
9. invitations (and other paper goods)
10. bridesmaid dress/groomsman attire

The key to juggling life and wedding planning is to give yourself time to research vendors and tackle wedding tasks. Cut out some time during the day. I was lucky to have some free lunches while I was in school. I would spend an hour or so a day reading blogs or contacting vendors. On the weekends I tried to isolate some time one afternoon or early morning to do quiet wedding planning like look for shoes, edit the guest list, look for inspiration images, etc. It's like you would plan your workday or to write a paper. Just make some time and focus on your task for that day. Try not to get too overwhelmed and once you make a choice, trust yourself and take a deep breath.

If you need hep, we'd love to! Email away.

Love Inspiration

2010-06-01T07:00:00.001-04:00

Summer has officially been kicked off and we hope everyone had a wonderful weekend soaking up the sun. We were lucky enough to attend a family wedding this weekend and it got me thinking. Sure, the purpose of this blog is to inspire and keep our brides sane during the crazy, beautiful thing we called wedding planning, but its so important to keep in mind that behind it all is the love that your fiance and you share for one another. I was inspired by the love that this couple brought and so I thought I could start your morning with an inspirational reading that I came across while planning our wedding. I actually framed it and placed it out around some pictures of us and our families because I was so inspired by it. I hope you are too. And I hope that when things start to make you a little insane, you can read something like this and remind yourselves the beauty that really lies in this day.

(Photo Credit-Christian Oath Photography)

Union

by Robert Fulghum

You have known each other from the first glance of acquaintance tothis point of commitment.

At some point, you decided to marry. From that moment of yes to this moment of yes, indeed, you have been making promises and agreements in an informal way.

All those conversations that were held riding in a car or over a meal or during long walks -all those sentences that began with “When we’re married” and continued with “I will and you will and we will”- those late night talks that included “someday” and “somehow” and “maybe”- and all those promises that are unspoken matters of the heart. All these common things, and more, are the real process of a wedding. The symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, “ You know all those things we’ve promised and hoped and dreamed- well, I meant it all, every word.”

Look at one another and remember this moment in time. Before this moment you have been many things to one another-acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, and even teacher, for you have learned much from one another in these last fewyears. Now you shall say a few words that take you across a thresholdof life, and things will never quite be the same between you.

For after these vows, you shall say to the world, this- is my husband,this- is my wife.

red, white, and blue

2010-05-28T18:41:00.003-04:00

image credit (l-r) amsale "nicole", elizabeth anne designs, donald yaegar , boutwell studio, darling dexter via ead, red ribbon studio, msw, & amsale

Venue Shopping

2010-05-28T17:19:00.005-04:00

image credit author's personal collection, Oheka Castle on my wedding day

So you have the perfect guy, bling on your left finger.........now what?

We'll first you need to get a general idea about your guest list. Are you keeping it small and under a 100 people? Or do you have a large family and your guest list is looking to be tipping the scale at 500 people? Knowing an approximate number of guests is key because some venues simply can't accommodate large weddings, and in other cases venues are so large that 100 people may get lost in the space. (Keep in mind that usually about 20% of your guests RSVP "No." )

After, you have an approximate number of guests you need to firm up your budget. The worst thing you can do is go venue shopping, find something you love, and find out that there is just no way you can make it work.

The first part of venue shopping is online and magazine research. Make sure you look in the area you were hoping to have the reception and some of the surrounding areas. You may be pleasantly surprised by some hidden gems. Magazines that cater to your city will be really helpful as they usually have a section in the back that can answer some of these basic questions. The first thing you are going to do is get organized!

Make a list of all of the venues that even look like something you may like. For each venue write down the information you find online. Your lists needs to contain at least the below basics;

1. Name of the place:

2. Location: (Is it convenient to public transportation or hotels, if that's applicable. Will you have to hire a shuttle from the ceremony location?)

3. Rental Fee: Not all locations have one, but most museums and historical venues do. This is just a fee to rent the grounds and doesn't include food. It may at some places include tables and chairs.

4. Price Per Person: They usually don't have this specific information online so you may have to go in to find out, but most bridal magazines will have a number range.

5. Number of people it can accommodate:

After you have a pretty decent list. You want to start narrowing it down. It isn't reasonable to visit 100 venues.

Things you are going to cross of right away: out of your budget, a large number of negative reviews online, & can't accommodate your guest list.

You should now have about 10 places, and it's time to start scouting them out. Most places will require you to make an appointment. Show up to the appointment a bit early and take a look around the outside space. If you can try to make an appointment on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday morning. Often times they are setting up for events so you may be able to get a better picture of what it looks like.

When you meet with the onsite event coordinator there are certain questions you want to make sure you ask and things you want to take note of. Here are a few; (keep in mind this may not all be applicable to your wedding)

1. Take a note of the grounds. Are they well kept? If you are having a daytime wedding it's possible your pictures will be taken here. This is why I suggested going a little earlier.

2. What is the decor like? The carpet? The chairs? Does it match your style or are you going to have to bring tables and chairs in? Will it need a lot of decoration (i.e. lighting and flowers)

What are the regulations about decorations? Are candles allowed? If it's a historical venue can you eat and drink throughout the venue?
OUTDOOR VENUES: what's the plan B? Where will the tent go? Where will you have cocktail hour, etc. Hash this out for every single venue if you are considering an outdoor wedding

3. Do they have an in-house caterer or do you have to hire someone? If they have an in-house caterer can you do a tasting before you book? If you don't love the food can you bring in an outside caterer?

4. Make a note of where the dance floor will go

Is there enough room for a band or DJ?

5. Does the wedding venue already own a sound system with adequate speakers or will that need to be rented?

6. Do they have wheelchair access, adequate parking? Will they valet cars and what's the charge?

7. What is the payment schedule?

What's the cancellation policy?

8. Is there an additional rental fee if you have your ceremony there?

9. Do they have a liquor license?

10. Do they have a place for the bride and groom to get ready and or relax?

11. Will the event coordinator be there the day of the wedding, If not who will be there?

12. Do they let you use any outside vendors that you want? Or do they require specific florists bands, etc. And if they do you should take a look at those vendors just to be sure you can work with them.

Now you should have narrowed your venues down to about 2-4. It's time to start thinking about the exact details of your wedding. Are you having your ceremony off site? Then be sure to get the answers to these questions;

1. How far are the locations and how will you get the guests from one location to another?

2. Do they both hold a similar amount of people?

Are you having your ceremony on site? Be sure to get the answers to these questions;

1. Does the wedding venue have an entirely separate area for the ceremony?

2. If not, how long does it typically take for the staff to change over the room?

Remember venue is likely to be the largest part of your budget and it sets the theme for your wedding. Before you sign any contracts make sure everything is very clear. If they are providing things like chairs, tables, table cloths, valet parking, etc. It should be in the contract. What time can you arrive at the venue to start setting up also needs to be in there. When you are making your final payment a few weeks before the wedding you don't want any surprises.

It's intense, but we want to help you say sane. We would love to help so email any questions you have about venues especially about venues on Long Island and NYC.

Bright Inspirations

2010-05-28T10:15:00.005-04:00

Happy Memorial Day Weekend to all! I hope this weekend finds you all with lots of sunshine and relaxation. Here is some inspiration taken from Martha Stewart's Wedding Blog that I think perfectly symbolizes the kickoff to summer....Maybe I am partial to the yellow, but this screams sunshine, fun, and carefree to me.

Thank you MSW weddings for letting us share this. We love your inspiration.

Dress Sanity...

2010-05-27T18:15:00.003-04:00

We covered the bling and shoes, but how can we talk wedding fashion without mentioning THE dress. As mentioned in an earlier post, the dress a bride chooses usually exempifies much about her personality, so how do you go about finding that perfect dress and remaining sane while doing so. Not always so easy. Here are some tips to help you prepare for the hunt.

(R-Provonias)

-Start off by browsing through bridal magazines and ripping out photos that are inspirational to you. Start a folder. Try to first look at dresses as a whole and once you have gone through the magazines and done that, take another look at the remaining dresses and their parts. Maybe you love the neckline in one gown, but hate the fabric, color, and style of it. Rip it out anyway and circle the part that you adore. Once you go through them, you will start to see similarities in style, color, fabric, beading, etc.

-Go through the ones ripped out and check the designers who made them. Chances are you are likely to pull ones from similiar designers. Once you have noticed some repeat inspiration, check those designers out online and browse their entire collections. You are likely to find others you adore. Print them out and add them to your folder.

-Check out other designers online that have been recommended or that you have heard about to get as much inspiration as you can. Even if the price range is out of what you are looking for, having pictures to show when going to a salon will definately be helpful.

-Check out the blogs (of course!) to get some more inspiration. Be sure to print everything out and put it together in that folder. When you are printing things out, be sure to label where you got them from so if you want to go back to see it, you have an idea of where to look.

(Vera Wang Sophia)

-Once you have some inspiration to go on, start deciding who you want to share this VERY special, exciting, moment with. Because it is so exciting, we are often flooded with so many people who show interest and/or who we want to be there with us. Beware of taking too many people at once. I would suggest going with one or two people for the first time. Their are a lot of opinions out there and the first time can be quite overwhelming. Before you choose who is going to go with you, make sure they have a calming (& helping) personality. Very few people buy their dress on their first excursion so don't worry you have plenty of time to include everyone in the process.

-Give yourself a realistic budget from the get-go. Talk it through with your whomever is dealing with the finances whether it be your fiance, parents, in-laws, etc. Their are plenty of ways to save when it comes to dresses so you may still be able to score that designer dress you are swooning over and still have money for the rest of the wedding.

-Go in with an open mind. What you love on the model, you might hate on yourself. Sticking to only one type of gown will limit so many options that are out there. You only get to do the hunt once, you might as well try on everything! Even if you are going for a sheath, lace gown, I urge you to try on the biggest satin ballgown just because you can. You never know what styles you will love on yourself. And even if you hate it, it makes for a good, calming laugh and a big understanding of what can be x-ed off your list. The dress I had bookmarked before I was even engaged (yes, crazy I know), turned out to be doozey, but I am thankful for that because if I hadn't been open minded, I never would have found my one!
(Amsale Nadine-above)

-Enjoy yourself and have a blast. It really is so fun.. No reason to stress -your dress is out there, I promise. And kind of like that amazing fiance' you have at home, once you know, you know.

More to come on how to schedule appointments and what to expect once you get there....

Same Day Edits

2010-05-27T16:00:00.002-04:00

Wedding videos have drastically changed since Aunt Sally and Uncle Billy left you some long winded message about the meaning of marriage and love. Here is a really modern same day edit by Still Motion. This is actually shot and then shown later at the wedding. I love the feel of it and love how they captured such special and intimate moments.

Credit Still Motion (Their work is amazing)

robin + carlos' sde from stillmotion on Vimeo.

vendor review: minted

2010-05-27T10:44:00.001-04:00

This morning we gave you some tips about making the invitation process a little less stressful.I have another tip for you. Find a great vendor! This is true for all of your wedding planning, but with invitations look for someone that is a good communicator, understands your sense of style, and is flexible.

If you find a vendor you love the whole process becomes incredibly easy. I was lucky to have W's cousin do beautiful, wonderful, custom invitations for me. She made the process easy and in the end I got just what I had dreamed.

Not everyone is lucky enough to have her, so I wanted to share another vendor I have worked with. I entered a contest at Minted (R) early on in wedding planning and won! I wasn't sure how I wanted to use the store credit, but I am so glad I decided to use them for stationary, christmas cards, and beautiful invitations (for another party).

Hands down their quality is better than other online invitation stores. The paper is thick and luxurious. It feels heavy and the texture is fantastic. The letterpress is intricately done and they will customize the colors to your liking. It doesn't end with great quality, their customer service is unparalleled. They will spend time emailing designs, walking you through the process, and answering any random questions you have.

There are so many stationary needs that come up during wedding planning, save the dates, shower invitations, thank you cards, bach-ette invitatations, and the wedding invitations; If you are looking for beautiful unique ideas without the cost that usually follows look into minted. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Here are some of my favorite designs.

Save The Dates: I love simple clean designs that get right to the point.

A great way to showcase your engagement photos

a picture not your thing? this is perfect and easy to change up to coordinate with your wedding color.

want something with more personality, don't fret minted has options for everyone.

Shower Invitations. I love anything from mod

ern to traditional with just the right amount of uniqueness

Wedding Invitations: I love tradtional with some color or design, again minted has everything from classic to modern.

Images all taken from www.minted.com