June, 2008 | Manolo for the Brides

Archive for June, 2008

The Wonderful World of Bridal Blogging

Monday, June 30th, 2008

Since the fabulous Never teh Bride finds herself without access to Word Press today, you guys get another day of Twistieness this week. Let’s all wish NtB a fabulous day sort-of-off and get down to business.

There have been some great posts of late out there in the bridal world, and I thought I’d point you in the direction of a couple of stand outs. First on the list is not from a bridal blog. It’s from Shapely Prose, where Fillyjonk has written an excellent article on the difficulties brides of size find in getting what they need in bridal salons and how to bypass the Wedding Industrial Complex to get a great wedding outfit. FJ, I’m totally stealing the term Wedding Industrial Complex.

Nina’s Weddings Blog has some great advice for the bride who wants to make her own wedding cake. This is meant for someone who is already an experienced home baker, but it definitely takes some of the mystery and terror out of the concept. Trust me, if you can make a nice cake, you can make a simple wedding cake. She’s also got a link to another blog with an even simpler plan that sounds delicious.

The Engaged Guy gives us a timely reminder that sometimes even the groom has trouble getting the outfit he wants. Luckily, the story has a happy ending.

iDo Sugar discusses a…er…somewhat…specialized and painfully intimate bridal beauty product. This is probably not work safe and definitely not for the faint of heart. All I know is I’m glad nobody thought of it before and I really wonder what the hell prompted anyone to think of it now.

A Practical Wedding showcases a lovely, elegant small wedding held at a lighthouse in Sausalito, CA. Gorgeous and dignified.

A Little of This, A Little of That asks a question that had definitely been haunting me of late in light of seeing too many episodes of Say Yes to the Dress. I don’t know if an answer has been found, but the question definitely needed asking.

NtB will be back on the job tomorrow, so I’ll see all you guys next weekend!

Posted in Bride Blogging, Dresses | 5 Comments »

No, Really, That’s Not Etiquette

Sunday, June 29th, 2008

Over and over again on bridal fora, wedding reality shows, and in private conversation with soon-to-be-brides I’ve heard women talk about how they won’t be ‘doing all that etiquette stuff’ or they won’t allow etiquette to force them into doing things that make them uncomfortable. What boggles my mind most of the time is that the things they’re talking about aren’t in any way required by etiquette. In fact, they are often the antithesis of proper etiquette.

In a recent article at MSN.com discussing weddings, Judith Martin (aka: Miss Manners) had this to say about the subject:

I did a wedding book some years ago and I am revising it because there have been all kinds of horrible new ideas that have sprung up since I first wrote it. And people have come to believe a lot of misinformation that they are getting from those who have a financial interest in the situation, to the point where they’re pressured to do things that are, again, vulgar and greedy.

Miss Manners, I look forward to seeing your new volume on the subject. In the meantime, here are a few pernicious wedding ‘etiquette’ myths along with the real skinny.

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Posted in Etiquette, Gifts, Guests, Traditions | 19 Comments »

Twistie’s Sunday Caption Madness: The Incredibly Surreal Edition: The Result

Saturday, June 28th, 2008

Once again, you guys have truly rocked my socks.

Last week I hit you with this bizarre image:

And you scraped your collective chins up off the floor long enough to give me nine great captions for it! You didn’t make it easy for me, but since in the end there can be only one winner, I girded my loins and made a decision. The laurel goes to the fabulous Gemdiva for this, well, gem of a caption that happens to appeal strongly to my personal fondness for tales of the undead:

Wearing a gown cleverly crafted from the lining of her coffin, the recently risen vampire bride claimed her first victim, closely observed by a gallery of sycophantic Renfields.

Congratulations, Gemdiva! And thanks to everyone who played!

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Matrimonial miscellany

Friday, June 27th, 2008

My inbox is filling up fast, which means it’s time to do an all-purpose dump of all of the great stuff readers just like you have been kind enough to send me. Here’s just some of what y’all have seen fit to shoot my way:

Bride agrees to let groom just do lurchy side-to-side thing during first dance (+5)

During a traditional wedding ceremony in these countries, the bride and groom jostle for a chance to step on each other’s toes. The first to get off a solid stomp on their beloved’s foot will supposedly be the “boss” in the marriage.

McCauley says divorce cakes are in the same category as divorce cards and black roses for the ex. They’re novelty items, usually ordered by a woman to help bring a friend out of her funk.

A Virginia bride wants the wedding of her dreams, but doesn’t have the funds… so she started an auction on eBay. The winner will get to be a bridesmaid at her wedding next April. (GAH.)

A follow-up to the library wedding-themed invitations, in photos!

Posted in Ceremonies, Divorce, Weddings | 3 Comments »

LOVE/HATE: the bridal sneaker edition

Thursday, June 26th, 2008

These just kind of speak for themselves, really. Though it’s a bit hard to tell, the bride and her FG are wearing white canvas sneaker-mules embellished with “delicate satin roses, pearl beads, crystal rhinestones, and elegant sheer ribbon” from Savvy Sneaks.

Now, I have nothing against brides wanting to avoid podiatric pain when they say their vows! But someone — perhaps The Manolo himself — needs to tell ladies like the one in this photo that there are perfectly comfortable, event-appropriate shoes out there that do not look like the trainers your Aunt Ida bedazzled for you when you were in fifth grade.

It’s HATE all the way here. What do you think?

Posted in Brides, Bridesmaids, Shoes | 26 Comments »

Connecting families…with cuttlefish

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008

Fish as gift? Yes, when it’s culturally relevent. No, when it involves dumping a slimy, stinky flounder wrapped in newspaper on my previously clean kitchen table. Personally, I’d be delighted to receive Yuinou if I was the mother of a newly engaged lady.

You’re looking at Yuinou, gifts that traditionally mark an agreed upon engagement in Japan. I first saw them at Wedded Bliss, The Marriage of Art and Ceremony, a traveling exhibit currently at the Peabody Essex Museum.

Yuinou is exchanged for the various purposes. First of all, people can confirm that the engagement is concluded. At the same time, they pray for the conclusion of marriage by doing the ceremony. The engagement will be official through Yuinou. Secondly, a bridegroom side does it to express their gratitude to a bride side, because a bride is considered to be a member of bridegroom side after a marriage. The gratitude is against marrying a girl whom their parents have brought up with tender care.

The contents of Yuinou are important in their ceremonial significance — cuttlefish signifies happiness, seaweed signifies fertility, a fan signifies good fortune, and animal art signifying all sorts of nice things — but the appeal in my eyes is the beautiful packaging.

The examples I saw at the PEM were gorgeous, made as they were of vividly hued bamboo, balsa wood, foil, glass, and braided paper cord. The packaging is so artistically rendered that some newlyweds display the Yuinou in their homes after the wedding.

However, the once widespread and varied Yuino ceremony is being toned down by couples who would rather their parents spent the money they might spend on Yuinou on monetary gifts or contributions to the price of the wedding. That makes a lot of sense to me, but I do hope that the practice sticks around. It seems like such a nice way to bring families together and commemorate the blending of two families.

CONGRATS, JSTAR! Jstar, who suggested that I call my next book iDon’t: the 12,000,000 most common wedding planning mistakes has won a free autographed copy of iDo. Keep your eyes open for future minicontents because I plan to give away at least one copy of the book each month for a year!

Posted in Brides, Gifts, Grooms, Moms and dads | 1 Comment »

You can get everything else on Amazon, right?

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008

There are wedding favors, reception centerpieces, bridal jewelry sets, and wedding shoes for sale on Amazon, so I thought I’d poke around in their gown selection. Searching for ‘wedding gown’ net me plenty of results, but it appears that Amazon’s commitment to carrying everything under the sun does not yet extend to nuptial garb.

I know there are some perfectly serviceable gowns on Amazon, but looking at those is no fun. Plus, there are way more wacky wedding dresses for sale than there are the sort that most right-minded women would consider buying. Here’s a sample set for your amusement:

Home shredders are so convenient, right? Just be sure it’s nowhere nearby when you’re trying on your wedding gown, lest you end up with something that looks like this. But, hey, it’s no worse than this, right?

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Posted in Brides, Dresses, Wedding Dresses | 8 Comments »

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