Archive for June, 2011

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Pretend the Wedding Is On a Wednesday

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

Wedding day stress is inevitable, or so people say. After all, it’s weddings that make perfectly lovely women turn into bridezillas. Weddings bring out the worst in people. Wedding vendors are all out to get you. Something terrible will go wrong. Men hate weddings. Or so people say, right to your face when you’re planning a wedding and just looking for some support or a little enthusiasm. Not me or Twistie, but definitely lots of people – probably the same people who, when they hear you’re pregnant, start ranting about how they tore from HERE all the way to HERE. Right.

Skip the stress by fudging your internal deadline

Here’s a wonderful antidote to wedding day stress that came up in a recent Brides.com post: Pretend your wedding is on a Wednesday. In other words, check off as many wedding planning to-dos before the Wednesday that’s before your wedding. Do the things that most brides and grooms do on Thursdays and Fridays before Saturday weddings on Mondays and Tuesdays. It’s probably one of the best wedding planning tips I’ve ever read. It’s the easiest way to make sure that on the night before your wedding, the only thing you have to worry about is getting a good night’s sleep.

Posted in Advice, Wedding planning | 2 Comments »

5 Concessions to Make for Your Littlest Guests

Wednesday, June 29th, 2011

She looks happy enough!

Children at weddings is one of those topics that’s been debated half to death, here and elsewhere, among couples and families and wedding guests. Some people maintain that children simply do not belong at weddings, while others counter that weddings ought to be family affairs where children are absolutely welcome. The simplest solution, of course, is to defer to the wishes of brides and grooms. If children are invited, then they’re welcome at that particular wedding. If children are not invited, then that particular wedding is an adults-only affair. Simple, no?

The same goes for infants. When La Paloma was very young, The Beard and I were invited to a wedding – our invitation said ‘The Terrys’ – and I made a point of getting in touch with the bride to ask if babies were invited. Because I was not going to inflict an unpredictable 8-month-old on someone’s special day unless she was definitely going to be welcome. She was, we went, and there were no difficulties with the exception of my trying and failing to nurse in the confines of my automobile.

Which brings me to the topic of this post, the concessions brides and grooms can make for their littlest wedding guests. I don’t mean the toddler+ set that can amuse themselves by sticking their fingers in the backside of the wedding cake and crawling under tables, but rather those wedding guests confined to strollers or bucket car seats, the guests who sup from breasts and bottles, and yes, the guests who may not only cry during your ceremony, but actually scream. Babies at weddings aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, that’s for sure. But if they’re yours, then here are 5 things you can do to make your littlest guests (and their mamas and papas) more comfortable in an unfamiliar situation.

1. Make sure that parents of infants know that the infants are invited. Not every invitee with a wee one is going to take the initiative like I did, which means that some may decline simply because childcare isn’t an option. The easiest way to ensure that babies’ mamas and papas know that the whole family will be welcome at your ceremony and reception is to include the little one’s name on their invitation. That doesn’t leave much room for confusion – though don’t be surprised if people are still confused since wedding invitation etiquette is not something taught in school these days.

(more…)

Posted in Guests, Wedding planning | 4 Comments »

Wedding Flowers That Rock!

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

My mom has been a rock & roller since the 70s and while she didn’t carry a bouquet at her 2010 wedding, if she had it might have been one very much like those produced by the husband and wife team at Flowers That Rock. Because, yes, those are guitar picks and the stems are actually reclaimed guitar strings. You probably already know that I love love love alternative wedding flowers of just about every stripe, from paper to wood to beads and crystals and ceramics, but these just might be my favorite alternative wedding flowers ever because they are too darn cool.

A guitar pick bouquet in the wild, snapped by Joe Hendricks Photography

Picks come in just about every color you can imagine, so yes, they have your wedding colors

Custom bouquet packages and even printing are available

True story: I didn't know they were picks the first time I saw them

In addition to guitar pick bridal bouquets, Flowers That Rock creates arrangements that could work as centerpieces and hair accessories and single blooms, which could be very interesting as part of a more traditional bridal bouquet. I love them! But what say you: Yes? No? Great for the right bride? Too silly? I never know how far some of you are willing to go when it comes to the alternative ideas that I think are so fantastic, so do feel free to tell me to take it down a notch!

Posted in Alternative Ideas, Bouquets, Flowers | 3 Comments »

Wondering What to Eat at Your Picnic Wedding Reception?

Monday, June 27th, 2011

I have written about picnic weddings at least once before, and I still think they are a daring and laid back choice for brides and grooms who don’t mind getting down on the ground in all their nuptial finery. A picnic wedding reception can be romantic and fun, lighthearted, and even a bit daring since it falls well outside of the realm of the norm. The question, of course, is what to do about refreshments. Now, just because you’re sitting on blankets and pillows piled on the grass doesn’t mean your guests have to much on sandwiches (though that’s all right, too). I’ve heard tell of caterers that have a picnic wedding reception meal option – complete with picnic baskets – though this is certainly one of those wedding reception meals that can be DIYed to some degree, from making all the food and putting together baskets solo to letting wedding guests pack their own, provided you have help from a few loved ones.

Find tons of vintage baskets that you can keep or give away, like Dani from Hello, Friend

Let wedding guests arrange themselves - from Rebecca and Derek's wedding via Martha Stewart

Even easier, have guests put together their own baskets a la Ashley of of Ashley Brooke Designs

The picnic wedding reception meal is just one of those ideas that I think not enough couples consider when planning a wedding. Especially all the brides and grooms getting married in parks – and really, parks and picnic weddings seem to go together like ceremonies and receptions, no? Of course, maybe I’m looking at this too much from the perspective of the brides and grooms. What would you, as a wedding guest, think of being asked to sit on a sheet on the ground, out of doors with the sun and the buggies, at a wedding reception?

Posted in Alternative Ideas | 4 Comments »

Doogie Takes a Husband

Sunday, June 26th, 2011


We here at Manolo for the Brides hope you will all join us in wishing many happy years to Neil Patrick Harris and his now official finace, David Burtka.

The two have been engaged and wearing rings for the past five years, but with the New York Senate’s vote to legalize same-sex marriage in the state, they can now plan the wedding of their dreams.

Congratulations, Messers Harris and Burtka!

We would also like to extend our best wishes to all the other same-sex couples in New York who can now decide for themselves when or whether to take the marriage plunge.

Posted in Celebrity Weddings, Law, Same-Sex Weddings | Comments Closed

Twistie’s Sunday Caption Madness: The Prisoners of Love Edition: The Result

Sunday, June 26th, 2011

Hey ho, camperinos!

Last week I committed visual assault on you all with this deathless image:
and asked you all to caption it to your heart’s delight.

Four of you bravely (and possibly rashly) answered the call with some truly hilarious responses.

In the end, though, there can be but one winner. This week, that winner is the inimitable Scraps for this gloriously ridiculous response:

Suddenly that Bonnie and Clyde-inspired wedding trip didn’t seem like such a good idea, after all.

Congratulations, Scraps! And thanks to everyone who played along.

Posted in Sunday Caption Madness | Comments Closed

LOVE/HATE: The Trying to Be Everything to Everyone Edition

Friday, June 24th, 2011

When you’re choosing a wedding dress, wanting too much can become a problem. You want a short wedding dress… no, a long one! A V neck! A square neckline! A wrap dress? A bubble hem?! There are just so many choices when it comes to wedding dress, from necklines to hemlines to fabric and more. The less decisive bride-to-be may find herself trying to find it all in a single wedding dress and ending up less than satisfied as a result.

I wish I knew who created this dress - any leads, my lovelies?

So what do we have here? To my eyes it looks like an example of a dress that’s trying too hard to be too many things. I’m not a fan of the short skirt/long skirt look to begin with, but I don’t think I’d be crazy about this wedding dress (with flowers flowers everywhere, no less) even if it had a uniform length skirt. I’m going with hate on this one – even if I could see it looking rather pretty on the right bride. Yes, I can hate something and still admit it’s pretty. What do you think? Too busy, or awesome in a Flamenco-meets-Broadway kind of way?

Posted in Dresses, Wedding Dresses | 3 Comments »

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