Manolo for the Brides

In real life, when you don’t know what to give someone, you give them a scented candle or a gift basket. Problem solved. When it comes to your bridal party, you may find yourself similarly stymied — especially when each of your ladies has vastly different tastes. This is when purses, totes, and evening bags come in handy. You’ve got your beach carry-alls that say “BRIDESMAID” on ‘em. You’ve got your dainty monogrammed bags that match your bridal party colors. And you can even hold a make your own purses party so that everyone goes home with a bag they actually like.

But if that sort of thing is just far to gauche for you, why not drop a wad of cash on something a little more fabulous? Your ladies can still pack their purses with band-aids and safety pins on the big day, and they’ll be happy to use them during nights on the town later on down the line.

On the top row, you have a Sigrid Olsen mini purse in dark beige, a Loop Design Egyptian clutch, and a Betsey Johnson Lucky Stars clutch in brown. Below that, you have a Betsey Johnson Peddle Pusher clutch in green and brass, a BCBGirls Platinum Blonde clutch in plum, and a Hype Copacabana clutch in red. I tell you truly that I’d be pleased as pie if any bride in my life were to buy me one of these as an attendant’s gift.

I may be the only person in the world who missed this bit of wedding gown related news, but in case some of you good folks also missed it, a limited edition of the coffee table book “A Dress for Diana” by designers by David and Elizabeth Emanuel comes with 4-inch swatches of the silk used to fashion Princess Diana’s famous wedding gown. By which I mean the ultimate fairy tale gown…an ivory taffeta and antique lace confection with a wonderfully oversized train.

A piece of history will cost you, however. The thousand run-off limited edition book containing bits of the iconic fabric was originally priced at $2,000, but I imagine that this figure will skyrocket as the books begin to change hands.

The Emanuels were recent art college graduates when Lady Diana Spencer commissioned them to design the dress for her marriage to Prince Charles. Their creation, designed and sewn under high security as photographers went through their trash and rented rooms across from their studio, had a 25-foot train.

The silk that did not make the cut into the dress was kept in a bank vault for years.

Elizabeth Emanuel said she and her husband are not exploiting public devotion for the princess — although their book, which was originally supposed to come out on the 25th anniversary of the wedding is now tied to the 10th anniversary of Diana’s death.

If the book’s four-figure price tag puts you off, the original edition of the book costs about twenty bucks. You can also get your princess bride fix with other books like Debrett’s Book of the Royal Wedding, Invitation To A Royal Wedding, and Grace Kelly: Icon of Style to Royal Bride. And, of course, there is always the Princess Diana Paper Doll Book of Fashion, which is a bit of silly fun.

I’m the kind of gal who doesn’t like to be too far from a pair of jeans. Of course, I like to pair my denim with black fitted tops, fancy jewelry, and cute little pumps, so I like to think that I can make denim an integral part of a put-together look. Indeed, I believe that a sleek pair of jeans can be a part of a posh day out. But denim as wedding wear? I have my doubts. Most denim wedding dresses look like this example from Sat’n Spurs:

But jeans aren’t inherently bad. It is, as you’ll shortly see, entirely possible to wear denim at the altar without looking like some kind of hee-haw enthusiast. Here, Missyosigirl at TeamSugar proves that denim doesn’t have to be dowdy when integrated into a dress design:

Remember yesterday when I mentioned weird cakes? Well, I ran across one yesterday while browsing Metafilter.

Courtesy of The Ghetto Fab, we can gaze upon this many-armed cake. I don’t know anything about the wedding it graced, other than the fact that the bride was channeling a sparkly Mrs. Claus and the groom looks nothing if not shellshocked. But you gotta love those giant wine glasses, right?

Naturally, after seeing these, I had to poke through The Ghetto Fab, which led me to another site, Tales From a Ghetto Wedding. To my delight, I found a number of even more horrifying images.

(more…)

Wedding cakes can be pretty yawn-worthy, which accounts for the popularity of odder options like doughnut “cakes” and cuter options like cupcakes laid out on tiers. Wedding pie? It’s been done. Hostess cake? Check. Rice Krispies treats standing in for cake? I know a gluten-free couple that went that route. There is funny wedding cake, expensive wedding cake, and plain ol’ white wedding cake. If you’re looking through wedding rags and baker’s web sites in the hopes of finding that perfect confection, it can get kind of monotonous.

Well, honey, I’ve got your boredom cure right here. Enter croquembouche! The name is a combination of the French words ‘Croque en bouche’ meaning ‘crunch in the mouth.’ And this fanciful French wedding pièce montée does indeed live up to its namesake, thanks to the generous drizzle of lovely caramel that coats the outside of the structure. Inside the web of sugary goodness lies a protected pile of puff choux pastry filled with a vanilla creme patissiere. What’s not to love?

And, if you were wondering, the towering croquembouche above were created by Fancy That, a wonderful bakery in Oxfordshire in the UK.

Here we have a plain and lovely gown from Lady Roi Bridals. The bride in the photo has put on her most profound mug and is carrying a single red rose, no doubt in preparation for the drama that is the standard modern wedding. Or maybe she is just worried that no eligible men are going to happen along before her childbearing years are over.

On an unrelated note, I’m not sure why the photographer chose to shoot the model in the lobby of an apartment building. If you look closely, there’s even a stain on the carpet in the lower left hand side of the photo!

Marriage is hot in the media today, as I learned from Kirk this morning. He sent me a heads-up about Slate’s wedding issue, which sent me on a wild chase for more, more, more matrimonial news. Could it be that I’m pining for the days of my own wedding planning adventure? No way, Jose. If anything, reading about the bridezillas of the world reminds me how pleased I am to be happily married. But speaking of that mythical beast known as the bridezilla, the image above shows the newest Bridezilla contestants crossing Broadway in New York’s Times Square on their way to film the first episode of the fourth season of the WE hit.

So where did my adventures in matrimonial media lead me? Here’s an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune that celebrates sister-wives a la HBO’s Big Love…sort of.

We found ourselves confessing that plural marriage didn’t look so terrible, even in a drama filled with suffering and intrigue. It was kind of like the Waltons, what with the big family and the red-state setting. One always had company. There was help with the children. And though the three or more women married to one man didn’t seem so great, it seemed a small point.

Ever heard of Tom Thumb Weddings? Me neither. I should thank the Herald & Review for cluing me into this weird ritual. And here The Beard was thinking I’m weird for joking that I made the cats get married!

Another child, Christopher Butler, who played the minister, asked the bride and groom to place candy rings on each other’s fingers. The groom had to restrain himself after having eaten several of the rings during rehearsal on Saturday.

If you’ve served on the nuptial front lines as a bridesmaid under a domineering bride, you’ll smirk at Prudie’s tips on taming brides from hell.

The bride insisted this bridesmaid leave her glasses at home because “glasses are an inappropriate accessory for women’s formalwear, and the bridal magazines have convinced her that there can be no exceptions to the no-glasses rule.” It makes me hope that as the groom tries to explain this to his friend, he’ll find himself looking deep into her Coke-bottle lenses, suddenly declare, “Why, Miss Keeler, you’re beautiful!” and run away with her.

Read anything both intriguing and wedding-related in the news lately? Share it in the comments!

Changing your name in the U.S…what a pain, right? I should know. I just got back from the city of Boston’s Social Security office, where I waited two hours for a woman to glance at my passport before clicking her mouse twice and informing me that my my name card with my new name will arrive in about two weeks.

I mentioned a bit back that I’d be reviewing a few of those name change kits for brides that you see advertised on Google sidebars. But as I’ve perused a handful of such kits, I’ve come to realize that it’s not even worth it. So, instead of reviewing any of these flawed name change helpers in depth, I’m going to tell you what it wrong with them and then point you toward some online checklists that will guide you on your quest to become Mrs. Husbandslastname.

My first problem with bridal name change kits is that the product is not equal to the price. For example, I paid something like $25 for Law Guru’s Bride Name Change packet and it’s a good thing I can write it off as a business expense. It was nothing more than a nine-page Word document with some links to actual forms you will use during the name change process and some sample letters to let your utility company know you’ve changed your name. What I’m trying to say is that a quick Google search will net you all of the same information and links you’ll pay for in a kit.

Bankrate.com links to the same governmental forms and FAQs, and has a short checklist of organizations you may want to inform. EHow has a step by step guide with reader comments that may further help you navigate the wide world of post-matrimonial name changes. DMV.org will even outline the specific requirements for name and address changes in your state.

The main problem I have with those kits is that they do not do anything to alleviate your needing to do the legwork. The Name Change Kit for Brides does contain the Social Security and Passport forms, in addition to oddly-formatted, text-heavy forms that I would never send to the electric company for fear of confusing someone. But you’re still going to have to hit up a crowded Social Security office during business hours. You’re still going to have to take a number at the DMV. And you’re still going to have to lick envelops addressed to various governmental and private agencies. There really is no way to get around it.

Somehow, I trust that each of you who plan to change your name will be able to handle letting the phone company and your bank know you’ve changed your name. When in doubt, call and find out what they need to see to make the change happen. If you pre-order 10 or so certified copies of your marriage certificate, you’ll be set in that area. Change your Social Security info first, as other agencies will rely on this to know you are who you say you are. Then get a new driver’s license and send away for your updated passport.

Here are some of those links to get you started:

Change your Social Security info

Get a passport with your new name

Let the IRS know you’ve changed your name

Register to vote

Good luck, and leave the buying of forms in folders to the suckers of the world. The name change process will be just as slow, just as grueling, and, most importantly, just as effective without them.