The Manolo for the Brides Sweepstakes!
By Never teh Bride
In the now grand tradition of the Teeny Manolo Sweepstakes, we’d like to present the Manolo for the Brides Sweepstakes!
We wanted to give brides everywhere — as well as all the former brides and wedding enthusiasts — a little extra buying power in these uncertain times, so we’re giving away two tasty $50 Amazon gift certificates and one grand prize of a $150 Amazon gift certificate. That’s enough scrap to purchase some extra favor boxes, a couple of cute monogrammed clutches for your maids, or a few shades of Chanel lipsticks. Yum.
To enter, do one of two things:
- If you have a blog celebrating all things bridal and groomal, add Manolo for the Brides to your blogroll and leave a comment on this post letting us know (don’t forget to include a link to your blog). We love cross-promotion, so we’ll add you to our own blogroll when we see your comment. You say you already link to us, but we don’t link to you? Très horrible! Let us know in the comments!
- If you don’t have a blog, simply leave a comment on this post describing the ultimate dream wedding product that, for whatever reasons, you can’t or couldn’t have. Maybe that perfect $15,000 dress just doesn’t fit into your budget. Was sourcing hand sewn lace from Burano too troublesome? Perhaps your dream product doesn’t exist yet… Tell us about it!
Easy peasy, right? Our job is easy, too — when the contest deadline rolls around on 12 a.m. EST, April 28, 2008, we’ll assign each commenter a number and use a random integer generator to choose the winners in a fair fashion. The first two commenters chosen will receive the $50 certificates, and the third commenter chosen will win the grand prize.
I should add that we here at Manolo for the Brides are tickled pink to have the opportunity to give something back to our readers and to get to know their blogs. So spread the word, and don’t miss out on a chance to win because time passed you by. Two weeks is over in a flash!
Thanks for finding and...
April 14th, 2008 at 11:29 am
My fiance and I are both musicians, so our dream wedding would include a full symphony orchestra to play for the ceremony! Can’t quite afford that, so we’re asking a friend from college to play harp for our big day.
April 14th, 2008 at 11:31 am
I fully enjoyed my wedding and reception and though not everything was perfect there aren’t too many things I could change given the circumstances. The one thing I wasn’t able to do/have at the time, that I wish I had been able to do/have is to have my hair done. I sort of did it myself, in my opinion unsuccessfully though friends and family are kinder. I wish I had been able to afford having a stylist try out hair styles on me and then do my hair in a lovely and glamorous way the wedding day. If I had to make this into a ‘product’ I’d say I wish I had one of those futuristic hair machines that look like salon dryers, where you put it over your head and when you lift it up your hair is perfect in every way.
April 14th, 2008 at 11:37 am
I’ve got you on my blogroll at The Creative Bride
April 14th, 2008 at 11:39 am
I would have loved to have a string quartet, but there was neither time, money nor space for one.
April 14th, 2008 at 11:45 am
I had a very small wedding on an even smaller budget. Our music ended up being a friend with a keyboard (who somehow missed the boat and stood up along with the other guests when my dad and I appeared, and we ended up walking down the aisle with no music!) and then a cd player with a mix cd. In my dream wedding, I’d have a harp for the ceremony, with a nice little combo for the reception. If I have to meet the rules for a “dream product” I’d say some sort of fancy jukebox that lets us pick whatever songs we like and includes the speakers and sound set-up to play and sound fantastic in whatever area it’s put.
April 14th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
For my spring wedding, I wanted to have flowers everywhere, especially as favors. In the planning stage, I had dreamed of a potted miniature white tea rose bush at each place setting as a favor that wouldn’t get eaten or die immediately. Unfortunately tiny rose bushes for everyone was cost-prohibitive, so I had to settle for big fluorescent impatiens in pots, two per table. Oh well! My dream would be for flowers to be in season whenever you needed them, although I doubt Mother Nature is going to change her laws just for me.
April 14th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
I’m not anywhere near a wedding of my own, but the “product” I would like to see would be a website that focuses on wedding-appropriate attire for guests… either a blog that shows when something cute and wedding-y is on sale, or something where you could search dresses based on criteria like “5pm” “indoors” “winter” and it would suggest dresses that fit the weather and fancy-level and stuff. I can never find good long sleeved dresses for attending winter weddings!
April 14th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
I would really like to have cute favors for my attendants. Because my fiance is a pilot, I would like to give out custom luggage tags and I don’t know if they will fit in our budget… I would also like to have boarding pass invites which are a little more than regular-type invites.
April 14th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
I don’t have a website, but I love your blog and have it on my Google RSS feed.
Right now I’m planning my wedding and I think my dream product would be the perfect flower for my hair. It sounds kind of silly, but I have no idea what to do here. I don’t know if I should do a real flower or a silk one, let alone which kind of flower! I haven’t seen many photos of brides wearing their short hair down, with a veil, and a flower, so I haven’t been inspired yet. I’ll have to be my own inspiration.
April 14th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
I’ve always wanted a big band at my wedding, however since music is on the list of bride & groom buys we opted for a cheaper dj! I’m still excited for our DJ, but a band would be what I would book if I hit the lottery tomorrow!
April 14th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Will be adding you guys to the blogroll! What a cool contest!
April 14th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
What a fun contest! I’ve got you on my blogroll.
http://style-ishwedding.blogspot.com/
April 14th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
I used to have a blog but it’s now-defunct, I was terrible at keeping up with it.
As far as dream product, I would LOVE to have enough budget room to get one of the fancy wedding photographers whose blogs I am addicted to. I love our photographers–they take nice pictures that make people look pretty–but some of the people out there are simply amazing and take breathtaking pictures (but unfortunately charge breathtaking prices and aren’t anywhere near where live).
April 14th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Tigerlilly loves you!
http://www.tigerlillyjewelry.com/blog/bridal_jewelry_blog.html
April 14th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
I think the first thing I’d need to get married is a willing partner. Should I ever obtain such a thing, I’d go with a hand-fitted, hand-sewn corset in screaming emerald green. *dreams*
April 14th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
A few months ago The Manolo posted a picture of my dream wedding shoes — gorgeous strappy Christian Louboutins with sparkly crystals.
http://shoeblogs.com/2008/01/28/christian-louboutin-for-the-gloomy-monday/
Alas, there’s no way I could afford this sublime shoe! Also, I almost never wear heels higher than 2″. I’d probably topple face-first at the alter if I tried to wear these down the aisle.
My dream wedding favor would be a bottle of our favorite wine from Sonoma for each of our guests (with something different for the kids, of course) but that would wipe out our entire budget!
April 14th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
The one thing I would have liked to do that just wasn’t possible on my budget was to buy these special flat, gold sandals that I found for my bridesmaids as part of their gifts, so that they could have changed into them when their feet hurt. Instead a couple of them just ended up barefoot, but still happy.
April 14th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
My fiance and I are getting married this January, and given the costs of most weddings we’ve opted out of having engagement photos. I would never let him know how sad this has made me because it was my suggestion that we cut it from the budget that was just too large for us to handle.
If I could, I would somehow make it possible for us to have some nice photos of us before we’re married.
April 14th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
If the budget allowed, I would be flying my hairdresser to my DW in Cancun. In all of my 25 years, she is the only person who has known what to do with my coarse, frizzy, not-curly-but-not-straight ramen noodle hair. It makes me a little scared to think about the pompom I am going to have on my head on my wedding day, what with the humidity and all… and my dearest LeeAnn won’t be there to flat iron it, spray it down or coax it into submission!
April 14th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
My dream wedding product would be an amazing diamond necklace to accent my dress. After spending so much on dress, shoes, hair, make-up, etc., really fancy jewelry is just pushing the envelop. I’m going to settle for a simple necklace for my wedding next May and even though it looks great, what could look better than a necklace dripping in shining diamonds?!!!
April 14th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
You’re on my blog!
As for the over the top accents to my future wedding, I’m all about these crazy and fun Christian Louboutin shoes: http://www.net-a-porter.com/product/27349. Don’t know if I’d have the guts to wear them though. I also love the stunning Louboutins that Melissa B posted about too: http://shoeblogs.com/2008/01/28/christian-louboutin-for-the-gloomy-monday/
And as long as we’re talking dreams, I think I could handle something like this too: http://weddings.theknot.com/odb/themes/realweddings/detailview.aspx?id=19167&type=3&wedding_details=Reception+Decor&MsdVisit=1
April 14th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
I want a whole wedding weekend, which is, sadly, out of budget. We wouldn’t have a rehearsal, but would have a fancy dinner the night before. For everyone. Then the day of we’d have the (short) ceremony, followed by an amazing dinner, with live music. Just a long party. Then the following day I’d want a really decadent brunch. But feeding a lot of guests three meals is way more than feeding them one meal.
April 14th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
We have you added to our blog already … and even though we have a wedding blog — we can’t even find alot of cool things for my wedding in November. I am having a “Day of the Dead” slash rockabilly themed wedding and the pickin’s are slim when it comes to cake tops and gads… invitations. If anyone out there knows of a place where we can find invitations… let us know. I am currently looking at http://www.cut-it-out.org to see if they can do a paper cut invitation for us – which is expensive … and I’m looking on Amazon.com and Ebay for a Mexican Styled Wedding dress. We also needs favors, etc.
April 14th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Vera Wang. For years I have dreamed of getting married in a Vera Wang masterpiece. Sadly, with my wedding looming, it has become clear that Vera will have to remain in my fantasy world, because my reality does NOT have that kind of a budget.
April 14th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
I would have liked to have a ritzy place to have my wedding reception — and that just wasn’t in the budget. My parents basement, with a buffet that was loving cooked by my mom, sister and the woman auxillary of the local firehouse. However it didn’t effect my marriage, as I am now married 36 years to the same guy!
April 14th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
I was married near Charleston, SC, and I was crushed that we didn’t have the money to get married on one of the gorgeous plantations that surround the area. We wound up getting married in my husband’s father’s living room. >< I also wish we’d been able to get a really excellent caterer. Food is a big deal with me, but we just couldn’t swing anything more than BBQ.
It wasn’t terrible or anything, but it definitely wasn’t the wedding of my dreams.
April 14th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
My husband and I got married over the Christmas holidays, and, due to our schedules and lack of funds, were unable to take a honeymoon. We keep saying that we’ll do it, but I wonder if we’ll ever have the money to do it!
April 14th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
I really loved everything about our wedding…except the photographer, but that was only after. My dream wedding would have been moved to a mansion in Newport, I think, in the warm spring, if I had completely had my choice. Otherwise, it would have been in a snowier place, in actual winter time, which is what we were trying for in the first place….darned nieces! That was my one compromise with Matt, to have a winter wedding. Everything else we pretty much agreed on, or he didn’t care much about.
Sorry for the rambling!
April 14th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
http://www.xanga.com/shoestringbride
I just started this particular blog, but you’ll be the first on my links list… once I figure out the stoopid html… grr.
I know right now that the first thing I’ll start cutting back on budget-wise will be my own appearance. I know the wedding is all about me and the guy and everything, but I can’t help but feel that if it’ll allow me to add one more person to the guest list or hire a better photographer, I’d rather borrow a dress and have my sis-in-law help me with my makeup.
So if I could have any wedding product, it would be something for me, like a more expensive dress or going to a salon to get my hair done. Oh, and maybe some nice clothes for the honeymoon
April 15th, 2008 at 12:08 am
I love great food and if my budget would have allowed it, I would have a great gourmet dinner with delicious tapas and sangria – sadly this was not possible with my budget..still fun to dream though
April 15th, 2008 at 12:11 am
I’m getting married in December on a relatively tight budget, so those masses of flowers I’ve been imagining may not be that attainable at that time of year. We’re thinking about using dozens of Christmas trees and loads of beautiful greenery to fill in…
April 15th, 2008 at 12:46 am
My wedding is coming up this October and one thing we would love to have is an alternative band… playing love songs
Our budget isn’t going to allow for the entertainment of our choice- so now we’re in the process of asking friends who play musical instruments. That band would be awesome though!
April 15th, 2008 at 12:59 am
You’re on the list of “fabulous wedding reads” at Bespoke – A White Box Blog. And, I want to sell your book at The White Box. Do I get extra points for that???
April 15th, 2008 at 1:12 am
Our dream wedding is to have my cousin as a guest! I know it sounds lame, but he means the world to me! He has been in the Canadian Army for the last 18 years (since I was 6) and I saw him for the first time in 16 years this past weekend. Out of all my 30 other cousins we are the closest. He’s been there for me through letters, emails and random phone calls. All I want is for him to be there and do the toast to the bride.
April 15th, 2008 at 3:27 am
There’s not much I would change about my wedding. To me, it was a dream. Nonetheless, I would have loved to be able to fly out my overseas relatives to attend the wedding…we had lots of his family there, which was nice, but I missed being able to share such a wonderful day with my extended family.
April 15th, 2008 at 8:29 am
Our wedding last September was everything we wanted – informal, close friends and family, live music, plenty of food, all our kids there and having a wonderful time. The only thing I would have wanted different was more time at the reception to greet and talk with everyone who came. It seems I blinked and it was over. Never did get to talk much with my brother and SIL or the former co-workers who came and brought their new baby….
April 15th, 2008 at 10:42 am
You are listed on my blog.
April 15th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Oh I definitely would have a hired this videographer I loved. They not only videotape your wedding and make a wedding video, but also can do a video of your love story. Considering I broke my arm on our first date, our love story would have been a really fun video for everyone to watch at the wedding.
April 15th, 2008 at 11:28 am
My wedding blog is just for me and the participants to coordinate price quotes, dresses, and the like, so it would be of no interest. There is a ton of things I’d like to have, but have no money for – a four-course plated dinner instead of an appetizer buffet springs to mind. Probably the most unusual is a set of old theater curtains – I have a theater theme and would love to hang them behind the head table with a suggestion of a proscenium arch on top. Fortunately, my fiance is a TD and can build me a reasonable facsimile for very little money.
April 15th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
My blog is all things wedding and planning and a touch of life’s tales. Two things I wish I did differently for my wedding: no DIY invites and get the letterpress ones I dreamt of and two: hire a different florist. But after its all said and done, we’re happily married and that’s all that matters!
April 15th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Just one? Just ONE dream wedding thing, right when I’m in the middle of dreaming my wedding? Can’t be done. thus:
1- a fantastic photographer, someone I really knew I could trust and love to take gorgeous photojournalistic and professional photos of my wedding, and yet could miraculously still afford. My photographer unexpectedly double-booked me with another wedding, and since my wedding was worth less money, I got dropped.
2- Orange blossoms. In theory, this should be so attainable, but I can’t seem to find the things anywhere, and at this point, if I did track them down, since they’re clearly quite…rare? they’d certainly cost more than I can blow on them, but they’re so lovely, and the smell is very special to my fiance and I.
3- Live musicians, of course! but at $2500, I just couldn’t do it.
April 15th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
My one and only ultimate wedding wish is that, when that day comes, my whole family — father, mother, stepmother, in-laws — can sit together and celebrate the new family we will be creating. For me, the wedding is second to the marriage which is itself second to the family. Weddings, marriages — these are about family, about bonds and love and support — and I just want everyone to be there together to share in my joy.
Time will tell, I guess!
April 15th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Everyone who knows me knows I have a huge sweet tooth. I would have loved to have done a candy buffet but unfortunately due to budget and time constraints, we won’t be able to do one.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:15 am
I really wish that we could have a videographer but it’s just not in our budget. I would love to have this to remember our ceremony in particular because I am afraid that it will go by so fast.
I think I’ll have a friend record it for us so that we have some kind of record.
April 16th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Yup you are on my blog roll!
April 16th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
My dream wedding splurges would have been an Irish bagpiper, along with mini battenberg teacakes as favors for all of our guests; my husband and I love Mr. Kipling’s brand teacakes in the UK, but the cost of buying them over here for a reception for 100 was totally prohibitive.
That, and a photobooth.
But the rest was really perfect!
April 16th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
just got engaged…lovin’ your site!!
April 16th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
I’d love best to have a fancy food/beautiful decor/string quartet kind of wedding, but have it be the huge, fun kind of wedding our enormous families could all make it to and have a great time. But the Texans and the Californians and the Pennsylvanians and the New Yorkers just can’t find a place and theme and bank account that will suit us all.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
I wish I had the resources and the space at my venue for a chamber orchestra. I’m a music nerd, and there’s a few pieces which would be amazing for the wedding that can only be done justice with a full band/orchestra, plus an organ and piano.
April 17th, 2008 at 4:03 am
My husband and I have been married for 26 years. We’ve always wanted to renew our vows, but we never had the money. We had 6 people at our original wedding and never had a honeymoon. Our perfect ‘wedding’ now would be to invite our entire family to a huge reception.
April 17th, 2008 at 10:21 am
A videographer. Alas, there’s absolutely no money for one…
April 17th, 2008 at 10:31 am
I would love a wedding where I would be wearing lots of Tahitian black pearls. A great necklace, earrings, a bracelet… I am not one for puffy white princess dress, so I would probably opt for an elegant formal gown (dark blue in colour), with hair tied up in a French twist. I am sure that it would be pared down yet lovely.
Since I cannot wear a ring, these pearls would be the symbol of our love. I would wear one item or the other every day from then on. Romantic enough?
Maybe one day!
April 17th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
There is a certain famous group(shall remain nameless)that I would love to have preform at my wedding.Suppose if I fell into a bunch of money,it could still happen.
April 17th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
My wedding’s over, but what I really, really would like to do now is be able to hire a really great photographer for a “trash the dress” session. I’m planning it whether I can hire someone or not- we’re going to take it with us on our next beach vacation and take pics ourselves.
April 17th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
My wedding is in a little over six weeks, and everything is coming together nicely.
But, what I would have LOVED is if we had been able to have the wedding in my college town, complete with a night in the local B&B-style inn on Main Street. That town felt more like home than where I actually grew up, and I’ve fantasized about having a weekend in a B&B for ages. But it’s just not my fiancé’s thing, nor would we have had an easy time convincing our (my) families to travel “out of town” for it.
April 20th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
What fun! Don’t know how much my blog would add to the wedding world, because everything wedding-related is re-posted on Weddingbee…. But my blog will continue to feature crafts and home design even after the upcoming post-wedding extravaganza is done. And I finally got around to creating a Wedding-Related blogroll, in which you’re happily featured!
April 21st, 2008 at 3:05 pm
My dream wedding would involve a gorgeous outdoor ceremony in a flower garden by the ocean followed by a reception that has:
Bowling
Arcade games
Ultimate frisbee
Croquet
We’d have a meal catered by the Millennium restaurant in San Francisco.
I would also love either Weezer and/or the Decemberists to perform. That would make my life complete.
April 21st, 2008 at 9:20 pm
mmm…. first and foremost, time! But other than that, I feel like being able to splurge on great food for a huge wedding would be next on my list…
April 21st, 2008 at 10:28 pm
If money were not object, then most of mine would be spent on great food! As it is, I’ll have to come up with something tasty and budget-friendly.
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:21 pm
I wish we could have splurged on a fancier cake, or at least more desserts. A cake was included in our caterer’s package, but we really didn’t get much creative control, and the flowers looked like something I could accomplish after a Wilton 101 class. I call them my “fruit loop” flowers, because that’s exactly what they looked like.
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:49 pm
I actually thought a lot about this before our recent wedding. There were plenty of things that would have been nice – a custom made silk dress for me and the BMs, kilts that were made to measure and purchased rather than rented for my husband and the groomsmen, a photobooth, fancier food, hiring my favorite wedding photographer in the area rather than someone who was just starting his business (we are very happy with his work, thankfully!), live music rather than DIY ipod ceremony and reception music.
But what I think I would have loved to do was pay for the travel and acommodations for the friends and family who weren’t able to make it due to financial constraint. We had several people who would have had to fly across the country and they just couldn’t swing it – which we understood – but we would have loved to have them there. For that matter, we would have paid travel and acommodation for everyone who attended if we could have. That way nobody would be put out, and everyone could just enjoy themselves.
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:49 pm
You are added to my blog! Actually, you’ve been there ever since Manolo and Company were kind enough to address my “California Black Tie” incident.
As far as a fabulous thing I would want at my wedding, there’s always the never-ending chocolate fountain that does not stain the bridal dress. But I’d really love a full banquet of Peruvian food and drink and an Argentine grill with steak imported directly from the pampas, a huge art-deco ballroom filled with chandeliers, a spa day for every woman involved in the wedding that I love (all hundred of them!), my honey’s favorite swing band, and an entire bridal jewelry set made of the ultra-rare Article 44 Swarovski beads.
And yet, the little 1940’s nightclub-themed wedding the honey and I are planning seems just swell.
April 24th, 2008 at 12:01 am
I’m with Martina… my dream wedding would find some way to include both of my (very divorced) parents, and maybe incorporate my step-parent in some meaningful way. That’s a dream, though… I don’t know if there would be a way to incorporate my step-mother without ostracizing my real mother.
My dream wedding would also involve all of my friends in attendance. Between me and the fiance, we’ve lived in many states and several countries. There’s no way all of our beloved friends could ever afford to meet in one place.
While I’m dreaming, maybe a speechwriter to help me craft absolutely stunningly beautiful vows with eloquence beyond my capabilities.
April 24th, 2008 at 10:42 am
I would love to have a live swing band at my wedding. There are only two problems with that fantasy (other than the fact that I’m not yet engaged): 1) Money. 2) Neither the boyfriend nor I know how to swing dance. We’d love to take lessons sometime, but as the relationship is currently long-distance, that might be hard. But I can dream, right?
April 25th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
I’ve been happily married for 34 years, and my dream would be to have all the people who were at my wedding reunite. Some are deceased now, but the memories are still there.
April 26th, 2008 at 12:35 am
We had a wonderful wedding last summer. Most everything went off without a hitch (nevermind that the champagne glasses never arrived — we made do with the wine glasses!).
I’m not that girl who planned her wedding from age 5, but I have been listening to a recording of the play ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ since I was 12. Mendelssohn’s Wedding March featured prominently and it grew to be one of my absolute favorite pieces of music. It was pretty much the only thing I *had* to have at our wedding. In my fantasy, we had a symphony orchestra performing the piece in a grand cathedral. Well, it turns out we both preferred a garden wedding to a cathedral, and as much as we wanted to hire the local symphony orchestra to play for us, we chose to budget for an i-pod and a brother-in-law DJ. Obviously, the recessional piece was to be the Wedding March, piped in on some great speakers.
We probably should have practiced a bit with the ceremony music ahead of time (you know, the cues and all), because as I walked through the garden to the ceremony site with my parents, we couldn’t help but laugh out loud as we approached (which made for some great photos!) — we were walking IN to the Wedding March recessional! By the end of the ceremony, brother-in-law DJ had figured out his mistake, and so we also walked out to the Wedding March. There was more Mendelssohn than I could have ever dreamed of
April 27th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
I would like a pill that takes the crazy out of everyone in my family when weddings come around! So everyone can be calm and cool and have fun!
April 27th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
You are part of my blogroll on Little Miss Planner! Your site has been an inspiration for me since the moment I got engaged! Love it all!!!
April 27th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
I have family and friends in Maine, California, Washington, etc. I would love a machine that could get them all to and from the wedding without the cost of plane tickets, hotels and time off work! It would also be great because travel for grandparents is not exactly easy.