So what do you do if you love DIY but don’t have the time or the space or the talent? Why you go to people who have those things and pay them to do it for you. And that’s where Etsy comes into play.


Your invitations will say a lot more than just the time and place you’re getting married. Whether you’re looking for something whimsical or elegant, modern or old fashioned, chances are someone is doing invites on Etsy that will appeal to you. Me? I’ve fallen madly in love with these hand calligraphed ones by PaperandCalligraphy. See? They’re even sealed with wax! At $4.00 apiece and frankly not very practical to send through normal mailing channels, they aren’t for everyone. Still, if you’re having a very small wedding and only inviting people close to home, it’s a charming option.

I’ve fallen madly in love with these pom-poms of dried flowers put together by EcoLectic Events. Styrofoam free and made of organically grown flowers, they’re completely eco-friendly. And at $19.50 each, they’re even pretty budget-friendly as bouquets or as general decoration in the room.

If you’re looking for a special veil on a budget, you might do a lot worse than this English netting bandeau veil with handmade flower decoration by Fascinating Creations. It’s a charming look, and at just $68.95 it won’t harm your wallet at all!

You can even get a custom wedding gown on Etsy!

How about this charming informal wedding dress by atelierTAMI? At just $530.00 (made to your measurements, corseted bodice and petticoat included!), it’s hard to beat for price or perkiness.

Even if you can’t DIY for love nor money, there’s no reason you can’t have a few custom, handmade touches to your wedding, if you want them. It’s all a matter of knowing where to look.

With just one entry, hers was the one I pulled at random out of Mr. Twistie’s hat (mine were all too shallow for the sheer volume involved; he has a top hat). After the wedding, Rebecca plans to donate both her gown and the tiara to the Brides Against Breast Cancer program.

Rebecca, contact me at gileswenchatyahoodotcom, let me know which tiara you’re choosing, and where you’d like your prize delivered. I’ll get the wonderful folks at USABride your information, and you’ll soon have your prize in hand.

I only wish I could have provided a tiara to each and every person who entered, if only to have the fun of imagining all the different wonderful ways you wanted to enjoy your windfall.

Thanks to everyone who played. I’ll be linking blogs over the weekend.

The wonderful people at USABride have offered up a great prize for all you lovely brides out there: one lucky winner will get her choice of one of four fabulous tiaras/headbands (value $129.95 each) for free!

The winner will choose between the Nicolette:

the Lucia:

the Vibrant:

and the Mariana:

Any of these would put the finishing, sparkly touch to a gorgeous wedding look!

Win It!

To enter the contest, simply leave a comment on this entry telling how you would use your tiara/headband after the wedding. I didn’t actually wear one on my wedding day, but if I had, I would totally still wear it whilst vacuuming the carpets.

For additional entries, you can do the following:

1: Score 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: Score two additional entries when you like USABride on Facebook or follow them on Twitter and let us know.

3: Score three additional entries when you Tweet about this entry or write it up on your blog.

All entries must be in by midnight PDT on thursday, March 29. The winner will be announced on friday, March 30 in this very blog.

Best of luck to all of you, and let the games begin!

I did wear the dress, but I ditched the veil. I’m just not a veil kind of woman. Besides, the woods are not the kindest venue to tulle. No, I wore a snood and topped it with a big silver straw bow. It took me all of five minutes to work out on my wedding day (when I woke up and realized I still hadn’t figured out what I was doing with my dome!), and when I look at the pictures today, I still like the effect.

It still amuses me that on my wedding day of all days I – Hat Woman – didn’t wear a hat, either. Still, I knew from day one that a veil was not for me. I’m betting you knew pretty quickly whether or not it was for you.

So, to veil or not to veil, that is the question. What did you decide, and why?

I know, it struck me – child of the sixties and Yellow Submarine fan though I am – as possibly a bit scary and OTT… until I saw it done right.

The key, as shown in this fabulous photo of a real wedding featured at Design Sponge, is restraint. Keep the backgrounds to stark white or black, and use the neons sparingly. Stick to just a couple colors, but don’t fear them.

As you can see here, a bright white background and carefully considered touches of neon pink, neon orange, and lime green make for a festive, fun, yet surprisingly sophisticated look.


One way to show you don’t fear neon is to put it on yourself. From funky jewelry to fabulous fun tights like these (though I have to say I dislike pairing them with white shoes. I would probably go bold on the footwear with them), or spectacular neon nail polish, you can carry out your theme in bold touches from head to toe.

While I saw several people encouraging neon bridesmaid’s dresses, I have to say I’m not wild about that one. It sounds like a great way to alienate your best friends and any sisters-in-law you have in your bridal party… unless they all love neon, too. My advice? Stick to your background neutral and dole out neon details like the nail polish, tights, and jewelry. Trust me, your bridesmaids will thank you.

For flowers, go with gerbera daisies, or just go crazy and do fabulous faux blooms, like these felt and button flowers I saw at Blog.Celebration.Co.Za.

Another great place to use neon is the dessert table. Whether you go for a super bright cake:
like this one I spotted at Pink Cake Box, or a variety of colorful treats such as Parisian macarons:

or cupcakes:

… you can go big with neon in the desserts.

Yes, a marriage is a serious thing, and I do believe in taking the wedding seriously. But it doesn’t have to be solemn, or timid in color. Have a blast… of neon!

It’s been quite a while since I talked about brides in glasses here, so I thought I’d discuss it a bit today.

Most of us know Dorothy Parker’s quip:

Men seldom make passes
At girls who wear glasses

But you know what? Men do. And women do. And some of those men and women who do make passes at girls in glasses wind up marrying them.

If you’re one of those brides who wears glasses, there’s good news! In decades past, nearly everyone would have advised you to leave off your specs and simply crash adorably into walls when you aren’t specifically on someone’s arm. This, though, is bad advice and the world is beginning to get the heck over it.


(Illustration via Postcards and Pretties)
Now more and more bespectacled brides are being encouraged to wear their glasses so they can see all the action clearly on their big days. Of course if contact lenses work for you and that’s what you’d rather do, I definitely have your back.

But if you usually wear glasses, then consider wearing them on your wedding day, too. After all, you’re going to spend your future with someone who knows you need corrective lenses. You should look like you. In fact, it might even be a good excuse to go out and get a great new pair of frames!

And if you really consider glasses a part of your personal style, you might even work them into the decorations in other ways.

(Illustration via Project Wedding)

The wedding veil.

Of all the bride’s possible accessories, this one is probably the single most controversial. To some, a woman is simply not a bride without one. To others it’s a symbol of virginity, lost to those who have sowed a wild oat or two before settling down and getting married. To yet others it’s a vicious reminder of the legal inequalities that for centuries kept women second-class citizens with no rights to their own property – or even their own children – until enough rabble rousers of both sexes managed to get women the vote and other legal protections.

Me? I just never liked wearing one. I had to in a couple plays I was in over the years, and I found the experience annoying. When I was planning my wedding, I knew from day one that there was no way in a million years of llama stampedes that I was putting one on my head again, if the choice was up to me.

Historically, the veil did start out as a specific requirement of all brides. In ancient Rome, it didn’t matter whether or not you were a virgin: if you were getting married, you wore a flame-colored veil. Period. First marriage or fifteenth, you wore it. Like another color better? Tough. It was flame-colored.

Over the centuries, though, this changed. Bridal headgear tended to be either a festive ring of flowers or else a version of whatever the currently accepted headgear of women in that area during that time. Brides wore hennins, gabled hoods, strands of jewels, or hats depending on when and where they were getting married.

And then at the very end of the eighteenth century, a world-wide mania for classical Greek and Roman styles hit everything from Architecture to women’s fashions. The veil was back for everyday wear. Soon it began being used for brides – in particular first time brides – again. And this is where things get odd.

Eventually fashions morphed into less and less classical styles and into the start of the Victorian sillhouette with the nipped in waist and very full skirt. The veil was replaced by fussy bonnets… but many first-time brides continued to wear veils. The bridal veil is the fashion version, in many ways, of an insect trapped in amber.

Whatever your personal feelings about the veil, it’s okay. Wear it. Don’t wear it. It doesn’t determine whether or not you’re a virgin or a tool of the patriarchy. You’re just as married whether or not you put a piece of lace and tulle on your head. The only way it really matters is whether you choose what makes you happy.

Over the years, pretty much every wedding planning book, magazine, blog, and zine I’ve ever read has suggested using more filler and less flowers to save a couple bucks on this major accessory… but how about we just cut out the flowers altogether?

(Illustration via The Wedding Talk Blog)
Gorgeous, isn’t that? All those delicious herbs! Dry it and use the results in cooking for months to come. Talk about savings plus repurposing!

It also has historical precedent behind it. You see, once upon a time bridal bouquets weren’t masses of flowers: they were handfuls of herbs meant to ward off bad luck and evil spirits. Over the years that simple gesture to luck has turned into an accessory that ranges from simple to sumptuous, minimalist to maximalist.

(Illustration via Floral Verde LLC)
For a rather spectacular display on the minimal side, I love this bouquet of silver tree with just a dash of ribbon and a pretty pearl pin.

Or consider using another sort of traditional filler to make the bouquet. For instance, I’m quite entranced with this gorgeous cloud of baby’s breath and stephanotis:

(Illustration via Kirsten’s Wedding)

A little bit of outside-the-box thinking can show you all kinds of wonderful ways of making your wedding special without breaking the bank.

But wait, there are other great accessories at Lo Boheme!


Then again, there’s no denying the delicate beauty of the Frankie Bridal Halo. It’s an ivory satin wrapped wire strung with delicate strands of swarovski crystals and adorned with a combination of vintage (1930s and 1940s) and new millinery leaves in shades of champagne and gold. To get a better idea, here’s a detail photo:

They also have flowers, shoe clips, ring pillows, and a variety of other rather gorgeous details to make a wedding just a little more spectacular. Oh, and rush orders are often available with a small extra fee.

The simple fact is that on your wedding day, you’re likely to spend a lot of time on your tootsies. Standing around in your wedding finery trying not to let anything get wrinkled, walking up the aisle, the receiving line or table hopping to greet guests, dancing, and so on and so forth… chances are at some point your feet are going to get mighty tired.

And while I can hear plenty of brides to be chorusing ‘no problem, I’ll have flip flops!’ I happen to think there are a plethora of better ideas for foot happiness that would not make the Manolo weep into his favorite pair of peeptoes. Hey, it’s your wedding and I can’t stop you, but I can offer alternatives to consider.

Pick a heel height you’re used to and comfortable wearing for long periods of time. Note that this will not be the same height for everyone. Some women can wear five inch heels all day and not be troubled with pain or agony. Others (such as yours truly) get a nosebleed from an inch and a half. Really think about what heel makes you comfortable for long periods of both dancing and standing around. And while you’re at it, think about other style options that make your feet the most comfortable. Do you need extra arch or ankle support? Find shoes that will give you just that.

If you’re worried about a significant height difference between you and your intended, don’t be. Look, you know how big the difference between your heights is. So does he. So do all of your friends and both families. I barely come up to Mr. Twistie’s shoulder, and on our wedding day I wore flat shoes (dancing shoes, in point of fact, so they had really thin soles, to boot, as it were) and he wore a tall top hat. The photos look great, because we had a good photographer and because we were entirely ourselves. Let your photographer worry about getting good angles on you as a couple. That’s why you’re paying a professional.

Consider wearing a pair of shoes you already own. Yes, I know a wedding is a great excuse to go out and buy a new pair of expensive shoes, and if that’s your decision then I say have at it and enjoy. But don’t simply rule out the idea that the perfect pair of shoes is already in your closet. After all, the shoes don’t have to be a perfect color match to your gown, and the shoes you already have are already broken in for maximum comfort.
(Image via Love the Schultzes)

If you do buy new shoes, get them enough in advance that you can break them in properly. The last thing you want is to discover on your wedding day that your new shoes are giving you a nasty blister or rubbing your foot raw somewhere. So make sure to wear those new lovelies around the house until you have them as comfortable as… well… old shoes.

Make sure you have places to sit at your reception, not to mention opportunities to use them! Enough chairs will make a huge difference, so make sure they’re handy. And don’t over schedule the day. Give yourself some breathing room to simply enjoy your own party. That way if your feet start feeling tired or sore, you can do something about it. If necessary, deputize someone to make you sit down every couple hours during the day.

Take good care of your feet in the days leading up to the big one. Pamper them with a nice pedicure or massage… if you’re not too ticklish! Frankly, I can’t have either one done to me. But whatever you can do to make your feet happy, whether it’s having that massage or simply putting them up for a while, go ahead and do it.

Your feet are not fashion accessories. They are an important part of your body. Make them as happy as you can on your wedding day. After all, you want them happy for your honeymoon as well!