These days, faux flowers need not look like something you picked up at the local dollar store. Even if sometimes they still do. A quick look around the ‘net tells me that there are plenty of stores selling beautiful silk blooms and stems at relatively low prices. If you’re good with crafts or know someone who is, why not try your hand at making your bouquet, your attendants’ bouquets, and your centerpieces.

The trick is to start with really beautiful silk florals and greenery. If you go for the cheaper stuff, your floral arrangements, handheld or otherwise, will almost always end up looking cheap. The good news is that even really nice silk blossoms are economical, at least when compared to the price of fresh flowers. Check out the stems at both Afloral.com and Pick Your Own Bouquet for prices. And they won’t wilt, which is good news for those brides-to-be planning summer weddings in tropical climes.

Before you buy any blooms, though, collect ideas. Books like Wedding Bouquets: Over 300 Designs for Every Bride and To Have & To Hold: Magical Wedding Bouquets can help you decide on a color scheme and style.

Once you know what you want, you can either get yourself a how-to book like Creative Wedding Florals You Can Make or consult one of the many fabulous sites offering step-by-step directions that will help you create beautiful bouquets (and more). I recommend:

The magnetic flower toy applet at Links 2 Love, which lets you create a virtual bouquet. Maybe not so useful, but fun nonetheless.

Corrina M.P.’s easy-to-follow guide to making your own bouquets at the Associated Content web site.

The more technical list of floral arranging directions at eHow.

And the Do it Yourself Directory at Anvente. Though, to view the directory, brides-to-be need to pay a fee, the price includes the guidance of a real florist who will answer any questions novice floral artists put forth.

Don’t forget to give props to a veteran tomorrow if you’re in the U.S. And for everybody else, here is something veteran-related I found whilst scouring the headlines for cool wedding news…

Earlier this week, Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada hosted a renewal-of-vows ceremony as part of the country’s Year of the War Bride celebrations. More than 250 war brides (i.e. British and European women who came to Canada after marrying Canadian soldiers posted overseas during WW II) attended the day’s activities and 17 couples publicly renewed their vows. Here you see veteran Norman Hall getting a little sugar from his wife Gwen. Rawr!

Some shared their stories with The Chronicle Herald:

“I had a wedding dress (that) was made out of parachutes,” Mrs. Elsley Foulds, 85, said. “You couldn’t buy anything, so I rented a dress and shoes and a veil.”

“My husband had booked to go on leave the next day and he saw me across the room,” Mrs. Jean Sharlow, 81, said. “He cancelled his leave and we started courting. He said, ‘When you know me better, I’m going to ask you to marry me’ and I thought, ‘Oh, what a line these Canadians have.’ ”

Is that not just the sweetest thing you’ve ever heard? Of course, not everyone was pleased to see the war brides when they first started filtering into the country through Pier 21 from 1942 to 1948. Almost 40,000 war brides entered the country and many were greeted with boos and catcalls from Canadian women who were angry that the eligible Canadian men were being married up and that many war brides were able to get transportation to Canada before the soldiers themselves were permitted to make the journey.

The lovely Ruby asks:

Someone recently mentioned the tradition of a groom giving a “bride’s gift” to my fiance and his response was, “Isn’t that the ring?” Perhaps reasonably so? I know I’ve heard the terms “bride’s gift” and “groom’s gift” before, but can’t place them. I’ve tried Googling, but all I get are a lot of web sites trying to sell me things. Do you know whether this really is a tradition? And if so, what *is* the tradition?

Web sites trying to sell you things…tell me about it. Sometimes all you want is a little information and it’s such a pain in the butt to dig through all of the retail sites to find it. For some reason, hundreds of sites selling lace hankies appear in the search results when you Google wedding gifts in general. Though I think real hankies need to make a comeback, it’s not as if there is a huge market for them, as far as I can tell.

The tradition of the groom’s gift (given by the bride to the groom) and/or bride’s gift (given by the groom to the bride) has been around for a long time. Since waaaaay before the early middle ages, in fact. Like a dowry, it was frequently a standard part of the “marriage transaction” in many parts of the world back when brides and grooms hardly knew each other before tying the knot. The gift was often comprised of jewelry or fancy clothing.

Before wedding rings became a common part of the common Western marriage ceremony, the gifts brides and grooms gave one another were imbued with far more symbolism than they usually do today because they basically fulfilled the role rings do in the present, i.e binding the couple symbolically. Also, when wedding rings were first introduced, only women wore them so brides may have given their grooms some other gift in lieu of rings.

It should be noted, however, that this is not only a Western tradition. In ancient Israel, grooms would give their brides-to-be a mattan (or bride’s gift) to show his adoration for her.

Today, the groom’s gift and bride’s gift is often something frivolous (like sports tickets), personal (like jewelry or a watch), or intimate (like some memento of the relationship). Usually the gifts are not too expensive and serve as a nice pre-wedding reminder that all the hullabaloo is less important than the upcoming (and hopefully lifelong) marriage. And, of course, not all couples feel compelled to give this type of gift – like many elements of the modern wedding, it can be embraced or tossed aside at will.

But the tradition itself does stand separate from the giving of both the engagement ring and the wedding ring. So to those couples who feel inclined to exchange pre-wedding gifts, rings don’t count.

Here is my new standard disclaimer: Brides and grooms are under no obligation to give their guests favors. That said, I love me a good favor. A good favor, IMHO, is something I will actually use. Like soap, for instance. Everyone gets dirty, so everyone needs it at one point or another. Gettin’ your fall on? How about maple leaf soap leaves?

Of you’ve got kind of a girly thing going (quite common at weddings, I hear) you could opt for lavender scented rose soaps.

Prefer to DIY? Then flip through the pages of Favors with Flair: 75 Easy Designs for Weddings, Parties and Events, which shows brides and grooms (as well as other host-y types) how to make fabulous favors using easy to follow, step by step directions. The projects are easy, so even non crafty types – or clumsy ox types like me – can get into the act!

If only autumn and winter weren’t so dang long. Maybe you’re engaged however and deeply immersed in planning a spring or summertime wedding. That’s got to warm you up a little, right? Maybe you’re leaning toward a springtime wedding in your local botanical garden. Or perhaps you’ve got a destination or beach wedding in mind and are contemplating warm winds, salty sea air, and blue ocean waters.

Well, lucky you. That means you get to bypass all of the heavy formal gowns and peruse the a lighter, more feminine wedding dresses. Maybe even something in tea length, perhaps? Well, then, how does a retro taffeta sleeveless tea length dress with a boat neckline and gathered waist sound? Because it sounds fabulous to me. Observe:

What’s not to like? Thanks to Forever Bridals, I’ll be keeping warm thoughts in my head even though my hands and feet and freezing today.

I know I spaced and never dished on the wedding I attended in September. So look upon this as my attempt to make up for that. Yes, I attended a wedding this weekend. Two of my best friends, Chris and Jenny, tied the old knot in scenic Hamilton Square, New Jersey. It was a good shindig, particularly because, unlike many weddings, it reflected the tastes of the bride and groom. Plus, they did an absolutely fabulous job with DIY details like tulle-wrapped tea lights, pretty centerpieces, and pre-wedding gift bags (left for us at the hotel) featuring, among other things, cute bride and groom rubber duckies.

Furthermore, Jenny’s mock two-piece dress was beautiful and her choice of matching bolero jackets for bridesmaids (decked out in red strapless dresses, rawr) meant there were no frostbite causalities. And Chris made their wedding guestbook from scratch out of his family’s tartan. Super rad!

Highlights: In a word? FOOD. I love to eat and I love options. Their choosing brunch meant that guests could choose between breakfast foods like crispy French toast and lunch foods like marinated portobello mushrooms. Or they could have both, like I did. Though Chris and Jenny did cut a cake (their caterer practically forced them to have one), their desert buffet was defined by pumpkin, cherry, blueberry, and coconut cream PIE. Even though Jenny’s idea of using an elegant cake or dessert stand to display them didn’t work out, the pies still rocked. I probably gained ten pounds on Saturday.

Lowlights: During the latter half of the reception, the DJ, who was given a list of specific songs he was not to play, played almost every song on the “do not play list.” Think Paradise By the Dashboard Light, a song that does not belong at any wedding ever, and the Electric Slide. A word to the wise: Be sure you can trust your DJ not to futz with your music choices! Grill them beforehand using this handy DJ guide from Chicago Wedding Services.

Weirdlights: Sure, this isn’t a word, but what better way to describe actor Michael C. Maronna (of The Adventures of Pete& Pete fame) making naughty sausage sculptures for us?

Congrats, Chris and Jenny! You’re the best!

The mother of the bride has some very important tasks to take care of in the days and weeks and months leading up to her baby girl’s wedding. She needs to announce said nuptials with pride to anyone within earshot. She needs to carry around a picture of her daughter’s fiance so she can show strangers on the street an image of her future son-in-law. She needs to fret about what she will wear. And she needs to accept the bride’s tearful phone calls with poise.

So why not get mom a gift or two that lets her show off her temporary MOB status?

A mug with a message will let mom’s colleagues know she’s not losing a daughter, but rather gaining a son-in-law.

Or inspire mom to show off her mother of the bride pride at yoga, the mall, the beach, or anywhere else with this telling t-shirt.

Then, after your mom has made coffee (for her new mug, natch) and donned her MOB duds, sit down together and read Mother of the Bride: The Dream, the Reality, the Search for a Perfect Dress by Ilene Beckerman. I guarantee you’ll both enjoy a good laugh and a good cry.

It’s a great way to connect with mom without all the hassle and stress of tag-team dress shopping!