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.

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?