I love finding games and virtual planning tools on the web. They’re great for playing, and some of them are also useful for doing serious planning. From color inspiration to figuring out the best time of year to hold your outdoor wedding to playing with virtual paper dolls, these tools and games can amuse and instruct any bride to be.

http://www.weather.com/activities/events/weddings/setthedate/?from=wed_mywx_prefs

Enter your zip code in the box, and you’ll get an overview of how the weather generally runs in the area where you’re getting married. Check average high and low temperatures and levels of precipitation. You know who could have used this? The couple I saw on Bridezillas recently who planned a beachside wedding on the New Jersey shore in April, and then were distraught when it rained! I could have told them it was a bad idea.

http://www.i-amour.com/

If you still love paper dolls in your heart of hearts, head on over to this site. There are literally dozens of games to choose from. Pick a designer, wedding party member, even a Hello Kitty wedding, and dress dolls up to your heart’s content.

http://www.weddingsolutions.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=planning&fuseaction.planning=weddingBudgetAnalysis

Enter your total budget, approximate number of guests, and the sales tax rate for your area and this will give you a budget breakdown based on average spending patterns, along with columns to organize your actual intended budget, and how much you go over or under on each item. It’s not perfect (‘reception’ is one cost, for instance), but if you haven’t got a clue how much money to put where, this could be a good way to start figuring it out.

http://www.games.com/game/dream-day-wedding/

A virtual game of hide and seek in which the player looks for hidden items in wedding-related pictures. Harder than it sounds. You never know where that darned koala may be hiding…and I never did find the firecracker at the wedding shower.

http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/colors.php

Upload a photo in the color range you like, and this handy tool will give you a convenient set of virtual swatches to help you refine the colors you’d like to use. Even checking out the samples shown could inspire you to color greatness.

There are dozens of tools and games out there on the web to help you plan your wedding and let off steam. Go have fun with them!

Long story short: A new comment on a post I wrote over a year ago inspired me to revisit polka dots. As far as themes and schemes go, polka dots are fairly mellow when you consider that there sci-fi weddings and sports-inspired weddings.

If you want to go above and beyond color without entering the megatheme zone, polka dots may just be your salvation. Big or small, colored or not, polka dots speak volumes about the brides who choose them. Far from dotty, these fun chicks take whimsy just far enough.

The deets: Favor boxes by Favor Ideas, dress by DollyDagger, cake by Baskin Robbins, invitations by Melissa Kelsey, tags by maythird, and travel cases by Beauty and the Beads.

Before it slips my mind completely, pop over to Manolo for the Big Girl to read all about a bridesmaid who was the victim of a size-related bait-and-switch. Ick.

I love that inspiration can come from anywhere, anything, or anyone. Just yesterday, The Beard and I were at one of our local beaches, swimming, soaking up the sun, and looking for beach glass. Amid the sea junk, The Beard found a mussel shell that was a vivid blue outside and a beautiful silver on the inside. After inspecting it for a bit, he said — and I was so damn proud at that moment — “Wouldn’t these make great wedding colors?”

To The Beard I say, “Here you are, my dear.”

Moving clockwise-ish from the top left, there is a Nicole Miller stretch taffeta dress, the Amaya pump from LAUREN by Ralph Lauren, a blue chalcedony sterling silver ring from Overstock.com, an invitation from Leigh’s Wishing Well, a JS Boutique cutaway shoulder gown, a hydrangea centerpiece, a deep blue aisle runner, and a hydrangea bouquet.

A lovely combo, yes?

Once upon a time, men (and women!!) in a country on the eve of its birth laid down their lives to cast off the yoke of tyranny. In the present day, those of us who live in the grand ol’ U.S. of A. celebrate their sacrifice by setting off Chinese fireworks, drinking too much, and laughing our butts off at people dressed in red, white, and blue.

Not that there’s anything wrong with dressing in red, white, and blue. In fact, a smart nautically-inspired suit that makes one think that one might like to travel back in time to the 30s can look chic and sharp! Generally, however, I think I’d prefer to wear my reds, whites, and blues separately or in groupings of two to avoid any erroneous implications. I say think because my everyday uniform is black on black with a little touch of black.

For those who can pull off color or the lack of it without looking like some crazed she-beast, here are three luscious frocks — two from Nicole Miller and one from Vera Wang — that could conceivable be used to send a message like “I love America” or “Why settle for something from David’s Bridal” or “Hey, I’m not afraid to grab two friends and make a spectacle of myself on a patriotic parade float.”

Looking at this gown lineup, I can even imagine some bride-to-be who loves her country very much dressing her bridesmaids in red and blue…hey, I said I could picture it in my head, not that I would actually suggest someone actually do that.

Happy Fourth!

For Annie Sprinkle and Elizabeth Stephens, it was love at first sight. And that love? Well, let’s just say it was way too potent to keep to themselves. Sprinkle is an internationally known multi-media artist, a former porn star, a Ph.D. sexologist, and “a pivotal player in the 80’s ‘sex positive feminist movement,”’ whatever that means. Stephens is a professor as well as a “an inter-media artist who works in sculpture, video installation, photography, web based media, performance art and home renovation.”

Together, they are two artsy people who have unsurprisingly turned their desire to tie the knot into an nuptial art project spanning years. Love Art Lab — achtung: sound — is where the pair documents the weddings they’ve had since 2005 and presumably where they’ll document the weddings they will have in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Each year’s wedding is based on one of the seven chakras…the latest one was green.

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I have it on good authority that the hot colors being adopted left and right by those planning weddings for later in the year are yellow and gunmetal gray. Gunmetal? Bring it on, especially in the dresses! Yellow in the frockular area? Um…I can’t say I’m a fan. A brief looksie reveals gowns that are playful to the point of being juvenile. Add to that the fact that yellow was associated at some point in history, according to Snopes, with lying, unfaithfulness, and oath breaking.

And lets not forget this little rhyme: “Married in yellow, ashamed of your fellow.” Now that’s how you condemn a color, folks, at least as far as bridalwear is concerned.

But all is not lost, for there are a thousand and one ways you can incorporate the happiest of all colors into your wedding palette. Flowers are an obvious choice, seeing as how Mother Nature saw fit to create oh so many lovely yellow blooms. A yellow cake…it’s a thought. How about some yellow stationery, done four different ways?

This lovely set from Crane’s includes invitation cards, inner and outer envelopes, reception cards, and response cards, and weighs in at $456.00 for just the invites.

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I’m not feeling very wordy today, so get ready for a post full of surprisingly colorful pictures of wedding dresses. Threadhead Creations is another one of those eco-conscious clothing makers I’ve discussed in the past, but its custom gowns surpass anything I’ve seen before.

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