Flower clips? Fascinators? Jeweled hair sticks? All lovely! But I was inspired today to go looking for something that the funkier bride who wants everything from her shoes to her accessories to be a little alternative could wear in her hair. My search led me to Mairzy Dozy, a shop created by two sisters with tons of business and design experience under their belts.

Among other things (like flower girl basket and ring bearer sets, floral headbands, and bridal bouquets) Dawn and Marie craft gorgeous, amazing, made-to-order hair forks that are perfect for securing a quick and spunky up-do, a classic bun, or a romantic French twist. Yes, hair forks are only for brides with hair longer than shoulder-length, but I think that’s a demo that includes a lot of brides.

Mairzy Dozy hair forks come in different lengths and are entirely customizable – just convo the sisters what you’re thinking of. Their specialty appears to be beautiful hammered copper with delicate hand-twisted wirework, sometimes featuring glass seed beads, jasper coins, and other pretty things. Too bad I didn’t know about Mairzy Dozy hair forks (or any hair forks) when I got married – I didn’t want big blossom or a veil, but something like these would have been perfect. In fact, if I still had long hair, I’d be buying one right now!

It’s not like I got married a hundred years ago, so what is up with there being like a hundred bazillion more wedding favor options than there were when I said my vows? Maybe I’m just imagining things, but when I browse for totally sweet wedding favors these days, I swear that half of what I see didn’t even exist three years ago. No fair, right? I take a quick look at Beau-Coup wedding favors and there are so many things I would have gladly bought for my own wedding guests. But I guess I felt the same way when I reviewed some Beau-Coup wedding favors way back when (and I still use my mini cherry blossom dishes because they rock).

So I’m totally tickled to be able to host a giveaway with Beau-Coup! One lucky Manolo for the Brides reader will win a gift code to put toward anything Beau-Coup sells – and since their prices are pretty reasonable, that gift code might just pay for most of your wedding favors.

Win it!

Beau-Coup wedding favors is offering Manolo for the Bride readers a chance to win a $75 gift certificate to that fabulous store. To enter, leave a comment on this post telling us which of Beau-Coup’s stylish wedding favors is your absolute favorite.

For additional entries, do any of the following (and leave a comment for each):

1. One additional entry when you add Manolo for the Brides to your blogroll or let us know we’re already on your blogroll so we can link back to you

2. One additional entry when you leave a comment on the latest post at Beau-Coup’s blog

3. One additional entry when you follow Manolo for the Brides and Beau-Coup on Twitter, and tweet about the giveaway

4. Three additional entries when you post about this giveaway on your own blog

This giveaway will end at 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, May 16, and the winner – chosen via the trusty random number generator – will be announced the next day. Good luck!

I’m super excited to announce the winner of the $50 Social Couture gift certificate! Chosen via my best friend and yours, Random.org, the winner is Ginger, who said that she’d probably go with one of Social Couture’s conversation-inspiring box of questions. Congrats, Ginger! I, along with someone from Social Couture, will be in touch shortly.

And to all the entrants who didn’t win, stay tuned for another giveaway, that will be posted later today!

In honor of the day, I bring you a mother of the bride PSA.

For your wedding, do not force your mother to wear a shapeless, moldy tablecloth.

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Ah my dears, you make me so proud.

Last week I inflicted this image on you:
and four of you took up the challenge, providing a total of five captions.

All of you did well, Grasshoppers, but alas, there can be only one winner. This week said winner is Leslie for this painful image that made me want to reenact the photo on my own:

The Newlyweds prepare after discovering that their parents have surprised them with a cruise to the Bahamas… as a group.

Congratulations, Leslie! And thanks to everyone who played.

Your bridesmaids may or may not help you fold wedding programs, assemble favors, address your wedding invitations, shop for your wedding gown, and let you call them at 3 a.m. when you’re thinking of calling off the wedding because you simply cannot stand the way your intended chews. (Seriously, who eats that loudly? *Barf!*)

Some brides-to-be expect the world from their attendants. Others don’t. But no matter which camp you fall into, it pays to choose bridesmaids you trust.

After all, it would do to have bridesmaids who, say, steals all the gift cards at your bridal shower, drinks and dashes at your bachelorette party, “loses” your wedding bands just before the ceremony, or tries to convince your new spouse to get busy in a closet at the reception!

Image via Jerry Yoon Photography (which is freakin’ awesome)

Phoenix, Arizona’s Tammie Coe Cakes is pretty awesome. The colors are beautiful; the flavors are amazing. Heck, they’ll even ship specialty cakes to most metropolitan areas, which means that if you were willing to have individual cakes instead of tiers, you could get your wedding cake via the post. Cool, that. But tell me, what is up with these?

My brain looks at these and thinks “Someone threw an old sheet over a wedding cake, tied it up with a ribbon, and called it a day.” I don’t hate Tammie Coe Cakes – far from it, in fact – but I do hate this particular style of wedding cake. Messy, messy, messy! Maybe there’s a totally sweet wedding cake hiding underneath that old sheet. Or am I just being too picky?

What say you?