Manolo for the Brides

I only just came across this item from the “if it’s a joke, let people know it’s a joke…quickly” department. Katie Masters sent her attendants a document asking bridesmaids to legally agree they won’t gain weight, conceive, or get a haircut without the bride’s consent, but failed to append it with an easy to spot JK. Some bridesmaids didn’t see the humor in the contract and griped about it to others, who then forwarded it ad nauseam. The end result? Masters received massive amounts of hate mail, and people were calling her vendors under assumed names to cancel her contracts. The funniest part of the whole fiasco is that the guidelines were something she’d copied off of The Knot.

At the 99¢ Only Store in Lewisville, Texas, your dollar will get you more than a tube of toothpaste. To highlight the oftentimes overwhelming extravagance of today’s weddings, bargain shopping guru Sue Goldstein decided to hold a no-frills wedding event at the discount shop. Dressed-to-thrill couples with license in hand could take advantage of the services of ordained minister Melanie Hart, former assistant to Tammy Faye Bakker. Yes, that Tammy Faye Bakker. But even those to whom legal marriage is closed (folks already married, gays and lesbians, and, um, pets) were welcome at the all inclusive event.

And finally, a recent post over at Offbeat Bride featured a neat (and budget friendly) wedding cake idea found buried in a wedding-related thread over at the Lifehacker forums.

We told all the guests to bring a cake if they wanted to eat a cake, and we’d award prizes. We had 15 entries, some very simple, some really complex and amazing. A ton of fun, really interesting additional wedding-day activity (the contest), more food, more involvement.

I’m so competitive…my cake would have been out of control.

Happy Independence Day, people of the U.S.! We get so few vacations in general that this one always seems really special. To mark the occasion, here is a dress conceived of by Gregory Cherico, owner of Anne Gregory for the Bride.

And here is a cake to match, from Diana’s Dream Cakes — which is actually in Canada.

For full color coordination, look at last year’s July fourth post for a red, white, and blue ring idea. Too bad the fireworks are going to get rained out, at least here in Boston.

Looking for a unique keepsake that will last longer than a simple ceremony program or a favor that your loved ones will actually treasure? Courtship Stories writes, designs and publishes the story of how you and your fiancé (or fiancée) met in beautifully designed, full color multi-page booklets. The result is a cross between a wedding invitation and a magazine spread that your guests can peruse while they wait for the wedding to begin. Clients can choose between multiple designs and colors, so you’re sure to find something that matches your unique nuptial palette.

The couples I meet want to share with guests in deep and meaningful ways, says creative director and writer Ellen Braunstein. They want two families to get to know each other by learning why they chose each other… They want guests to remember how much they are in love.

Braunstein interviews her clients and uses their responses to compile a wonderful, engaging story of growing love. Snapshops are then chosen to enhance and illustrate the story she composes. I’m not sure how much this service costs — the site suggests calling for prices, and does mention that 100 50 booklets constitutes a minimum order. But if you can afford it, why not?

An unspoken code of secrecy surrounds bachelor parties. I think it’s to keep women on their toes, and to spare them the grief of the details. “The boys got together and went to a strip club,” is a heck of a lot less upsetting than, “We got trashed on cheap whisky, went to Hooter-Nannies, and I lost myself in a lapdance given by a tall, lithe woman who called herself Luscious Linda. Oh, and she smelled divine!”

Before I go on, let me just say that I am so happy that The Beard did not have a bachelor party. Even though I know that his friends – who are also my friends, for the most part – likely would have planned an evening of PBR and Wii, I’m still happy. Why? Because after reading Bachelor Party Confidential by David Boyer I now know that all it takes is one sleazy friend with a phone book handy to turn a relatively mild evening of male bonding into a sex crazed evening that could be considered grounds for annulment.

Maybe.

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