Manolo for the Brides

At least four of my recently married friends left cutesy gift bags at the front desk for out-of-towners like me and The Beard. These were homemade, and included all sorts of little snacks and thingamajigs to occupy us during the off hours of the trip. We considered doing something similar, as almost all of the people attending our nuptials came from distant locales, but in the end, we were just too dang lazy. Too bad I hadn’t heard about the Kate Parker Wedding gift baskets for guests — then I would have had a reason to spend even more dough!

Baskets are customized by state, and while the web site only lists a handful of choices, they can furnish you with gift baskets reflecting the unique character of any state in the union. I would have chosen the “Miami’ basket, even though the wedding was held on Merritt Island. It includes Orange Gumballs from Florida By Mail in New Smyrna Beach (my paternal hometown), a custom map including 4-5 points of interest for the wedding weekend, and cookies from The Pastry Studio in Daytona Beach, among other stuff. Had I married in Boston, guests might have gotten coffee from Indigo Coffee in Northampton and maps of the city for both walkers and drivers.

The baskets are pricey at around $35 each, but if you have the money to spend, Kate Parker Weddings could save you the trouble of having to whip up a bunch of gift bags just days before your nuptials.

This past weekend, Rebecca Romijn showed the world the right way to wear a light, airy, summery wedding dress. Her floor-length Ralph Lauren frock not only looks beautiful, it also looks comfortable. And don’t she and that Jerry O’Connell fellow look absolutely smitten with one another?

From what I could tell by taking a gander at the photos over at A Socialite’s Life, the new Mr. and Mrs. Romijna-O’Connell-Whatever had their guests sitting on bales of hay covered in country quilts. I can’t say I’m a big fan of theme nuptials, but when they are wonderfully underdone like this Western wedding, they can be super!

Now, here we have two summery bridesmaid dresses, and I’m rather fond of them both.

On the left, a Kirstie Kelly Couture frock makes its way down the runway on wonderfully healthy looking model. On the right, two Paula Varsalona creations get in the way of what promises to be a spectacular catfight…provided that the model outfitted in pink isn’t already dead. She does look about ready for her appointment with the undertaker.

I tend to spend so much time thinking about gifts for grownups that when it comes time to show the kiddies some love, I’m plum out of ideas. For birthdays and so forth, I like to stick to educational gifts, but when it came time to pick something out for my wonderful little flower girl, I chose pearls. Not every five year old goes in for jewelry, however. Er, especially not the boys…

Luckily, there is plenty out there for those whose flower girls and ring bearers would rather munch on a cookie than read a book about their nuptial responsibilities. Weddingish has a neat selection of gift baskets and other stuff for the little boys and little girls who will be accompanying you down the aisle. Cute, no?

(Oh, and by the way, ya’ll got it right yesterday. I loved the dress on the right with its pretty, lacy straps and plunging neckline. The one on the left with those weird sleeve things? Not so much.)

Here are two frilly and feminine wedding dresses from Claire Pettibone…

I really love one and truly detest the other. Guess which is which!

Carol shared this photo of her stacked-console wedding cake on GameDaily and discussed her choice to go with a confectionery design that reflected her passions. In case you hadn’t already guessed, Carol’s passion is console gaming.

I really wanted a four layer made with my precious game consoles. However, no cake maker would touch it. As luck would have it, I ran across this fabulous, much more unconventional cake making site where the baker was down to try whatever. This masterpiece was our composite brain child and the most emotionally painful thing I’ve ever had to destroy to eat.

Smart lady. I myself am a huge fan of Fancy Cakes by Leslie, and mentioned them earlier in the year while talking about the merits of choosing many mini cakes over a full sized one. While I have highlighted video gaming cakes in the past, most of them were single tier groom’s cakes. I hereby declare that Carol has gotten the power up and won the cake game — I mean, come on, she even had little icing controllers, and if you follow the link, you can see how insanely detailed the back of the cake was!

You don’t see a lot of polka dot bridesmaid dresses. Maybe because it would be just a little, I don’t know, busy? A polka dot table runner or invitation is a lot less conspicuous (read: distracting) than a gaggle of giggling ladies, all decked out in dots. But for a casual summery wedding where matching each bridesmaid wasn’t a priority, polka dotted dresses could make for some interesting visuals.

Of course, that’s just one permutation of the polka dot. There are smaller dots and larger dots, and how you space your dots is going to make a big difference in how others perceive them. I think a mixed set of bridesmaids in matching dresses with different polka dot colors could be oddly entertaining, but that’s just me.

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Going green isn’t always a walk in the park when weddings are involved. God forbid anyone think a bride and groom are trying to push a certain ideology — guests appreciate unobtrusive touches like organic wines, but they don’t usually want to know about the finer details of composting outdoor toilets. Greening up your floral selection? That’s a lot easier…you can use local flora, fill your bouquet with verdant shades, or both!

When I was thinking about my own bouquet, I knew I wanted to include at least a touch of green in the florals themselves. Of course, my friend Carla and I just winged the designs using the massive piles of silk flowers I’d bought, but I realize that’s not for everyone. If you’re looking for the perfect green bouquet and don’t like what you’ve seen so far, why not try making your own using the easy to follow instructions in Wedding Bouquets: Over 300 Designs for Every Bride or Creative Wedding Florals You Can Make?

Being that I went with chocolate and gold for my summer wedding colors, I did my best to avoid all permutations of orange lest anyone think I was embracing a fall theme. But orange truly can be awesome on its own without channeling autumn at all!

Pair orange with pink as people have done here, or try mixing orange with light, yellowy greens or deep, rich purples for a little zing.