The lovely Elle of Wedaholic recently reviewed what she called “four great wedding blogs” and Manolo for the Brides made the cut. Go check out what she had to say and then check out the rest of Wedaholic, which is full of great advice!
When it comes to placating a ready-to-brawl bridezilla or an overwhelmed bridesmaid, there is nothing like a trip to the spa. But while we’d all love to grab our best friends and head off to Canyon Ranch for the weekend, it’s not always possible. If you’re me, it’s only possible when someone else is footing the bill. The next best thing, of course, is buying The Beard a ticket to the big game (in a totally obvious ploy to get him out of the house) and inviting everyone over for facials and frozen margaritas.
Someone–you know who you are–was recently awesome enough to buy me the
Joey New York Hawaiian Spa Body Kit It’s full of good stuff like Seaweed Body Wash, Coconut Oil Body Moisturizer, Hawaiian Pineapple Hand, Elbow and Foot Cream, and White Chocolate Body Shimmer. Uh, yum? Why can’t they make these things edible? Anyway, it would make a super sweet gift for bridesmaids-to-be or for a future bride who wants a beauty pick-me-up but isn’t quite solvent enough to take a weekend trip to Canyon Ranch.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go get my spa kit and my blender ready because it’s Friday, baby!
Eeeeeek! Too! Darned! Cute! I have this soft spot in my heart for little girls in pretty dresses. Sure, when I have daughters, I’m going to let them wear overalls every day if they want to, but on holidays you better believe I’m going to subject them to major frills and frippery. Like this super flower girl dress from Fox’n Lily. The bodice is silk dupioni. The skirt is composed of “two generously gathered layers of airy silk crinkled chiffon.” The sash is also silk dupioni and is accented in the back by a large flower of matching silk.
I love the color of the sash, which has a slight shimmer to it. But, for those whose tastes differ from my own, the sash can be had in fifteen other beautiful hues. Parents (or brides) can choose between three neckline options: scoop, rounded, and bateau.
My favorite part about Fox’n Lily? They don’t spackle their little models with pounds of make up like some other kids clothing companies.
Because the love two people feel for one another is special and unique, and different from all the loves that will come before or after, many couples choose to write their own wedding vows. Many of us, no doubt, have contemplated tossing the traditional religious vows and penning our own. So what’s stopping us?
Well, remember the hell you went through trying to write a compelling speech during elections for middle school class president? This is worse. How many TV shows, both comedic and dramatic, have made use of plot lines where loving but tongue-tied brides and grooms have tried and failed to write original wedding vows? Or have left it until the very last minute with hilarious results? The long and the short of it is: Writing vows is hard.
If you really, really, really want to write your own vows, you may want those vows to answer questions like: What is the most wonderful quality you’ve seen in your spouse to be? When did you realize she or her was the one for you? What does marriage mean to you? How has your vision of the perfect spouse evolved over the years and how does your spouse to be fit into that vision? You may also want to include some personal memories in your vows or discuss how you’ve grown together as a couple.
Ultimate wedding offers the following tips:
- Don’t embarrass your friends and family with details that are too intimate or lengthy.
- Sincerity is the key; the words should come from your heart.
- Decide whether or not the two of you will recite the same vows or different ones.
- Incorporate your wedding guests into your vows by having them responded with their blessings and support.
- Discuss your personal vows with your officiant beforehand.
- Read your vows out loud, which is a surprisingly effective way to catch errors, glitches, or awkward phrasing.
If you hit a roadblock, consider consulting a romantic books and poems for inspiration. Advice tomes like The Everything Wedding Vows Book, Promises to Keep : Crafting Your Wedding Ceremony, and A World of Ways to Say I Do : Unique Vows, Readings, and Poems to Make Your Wedding Day Your Own can help you put your thoughts onto paper if you get tongue-tied.
For brides and grooms who want to feature something whimsical and fun on their dessert buffets, there are always cupcakes. Cuter than the traditional wedding cake, cupcakes are like little bundles of cakey joy. And, for the nuptial do-it-yourselfers, cupcakes represent a project much less strenuous than wedding cake construction.
These gorgeous, colorful cupcakes are from Cupcake Royale in Seattle. If you’re in the area or nearby, they’ll happily whip up a batch of wedding-ready cupcakes in orange, mocha, lavender, coconut, lemon, peppermint, and more. Um, yum?
Sarah of Jinjur created these lovely cupcakes and gave readers a few tips on how to recreate them.
Brides and grooms eager to try their hand at cupcake making - and I recommend baking and decorating batch after batch until you’re sure you’ve got it down before the wedding - should check these out:
The Artful Cupcake gives novice cupcakers the step by step directions they need to create elegant, grownup cupcakes.
In Betty Crocker’s Decorating Cakes and Cupcakes, everyone’s favorite fictitious bakerwoman comes to the rescue again. The designs in this book are simpler and good for those who’ve never tried their hands at funky frosting creations.
With all of the strapless gowns out there, winter brides who would prefer not to freeze their buns off are faced with a conundrum. Perhaps they want something that will show a little skin yet don’t want to traverse the aisle with goosebumps running up and down their arms. While this gown from Bridal Originals isn’t for everyone, it might be stunning on a wintertime bride with a playful streak.
Synthetic fur accents the off-the-shoulder neckline and long sleeves of this matte Italian satin gown embellished with beaded lace. A similarly embellished three tier semi-cathedral length train gives guests something to stare at during the ceremony. Brides can choose between white, ivory, and red. But beware of the red. Few future brides envision themselves looking like Mrs. Claus on their wedding day.
Happy Mother’s Day, moms!
From seeds
You watered us.As we sprouted
You helped us grow
With the warmth
Of your radiant love.Along the way
You trimmed us
To keep us safe
From Harm.When we grew out of
Our little pods,
You replanted us,
Where you gave us hope
And showed us faith
That we may be able
To do for others
As you did for us.~Jim Little~
Image by Mike Shea Photography
If you’ve always felt the usual first dance songs are totally played out, it may be time to get personal. Lorraine (that’s her above) and Shaowen of Wedding Harmony will pen you and your fiancé an original tune based on the details of your relationship. For a mere $1,200, they will write you a song and perform it (provided you are within traveling distance) or write a song that you can sing to your new spouse while all your guests look on. A brief explanation of the service they offer reads:
We will meet up with you, get to know you better, understand how you would like your love story to be expressed in music, and write your wedding song.
It’s an interesting question. How would I, Never teh Bride, like my love story to be expressed in music? Perhaps something with an undercurrent of intense longing? How about you, dear reader? What existing song do you feel best expresses your personal love story?
As more of my friends get married, and I ponder whether being an old maid will really be that bad, at least I can enjoy the various crafty and fun save-the-date cards, announcements, and invitations I receive. Yesterday’s mail brought a homemade date card and magnet set, created by friends of mine set to marry in November. The date card, magnet, and the return address labels featured a personal logo they created themselves. I love magnets, so I got pretty excited and started bugging my friends to find out how they’d put it all together.
Using Adobe Illustrator or possibly Photoshop, they created a red and green heart-shaped logo that is a product of the first letters of their names, a C and a J. I love the idea of a personal logo!
They then printed that logo first onto notecards and then onto special magnet sheets that can go through a printer.
Finally, they printed the logo and their return address on Avery Clear Inkjet Return Address stickers and packaged their little bundles of happiness.
This could be an easy project for an enterprising bride- and groom-to-be who either don’t have a lot of cash to drop on mail or want to give their nuptial correspondence a more personal touch.
And, without further delay, here is the logo my friends created:
