Manolo for the Brides

How do I miss the Cheap Chic Weddings TP dress contest every year? I’m actually rather surprised that I heard nothing about it, as it appears the event is becoming somewhat famous. This year’s competition was sponsored by Charmin and Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!, and the three finalists were flown to New York where they participated in a live judging event at Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! Museum in Times Square.

Want to see this year’s winner? No prob! Here’s the front:

And here’s the back:

The winner, Katrina Chalifoux of Rockford, Illinois, took home a $1,000 gift card for her sheath dress with a raised flower pattern crafted from molded toilet paper. I am astounded at the level of detail she achieved using TP — is it just me, or do the dresses get more elaborate each year?

The second place winner, Terri Glover of Marlin, Texas, took home $500 for her gown embellished with intricate “lace” and delicate “beads,” and Ann Kagawa Lee of Honolulu, Hawaii took home third place (and $250) for her elegant and princessy entry.

Now I don’t know about you, but I’m tempted to enter next year’s contest!

News of iDo: Planning Your Wedding with Nothing But ‘Net is getting around, thanks to my ubercool publicist at Simon & Schuster and the word getting around. The sweeties over at Aisledash called me a “wedding guru,” which made my entire weekend. I was quoted in an article on Smartmoney.com, and I’m being interviewed for an article in the NY Post tomorrow. And there was an entire article based on iDo in the NY Daily News!

If you’d like to see what all the fuss is about — or you already own one copy of my book and you’d like one for a friend — tell me in the comments what you think I should call my next wedding planning book. Be as silly or serious as you want to be — there’s no guarantee I’ll ever cop your title, but you never know!

At noon EST on Wednesday, June 25, I’ll use a random number generator to pick the lucky commenter who will win an autographed copy of iDo.

Toilet paper wedding gowns have hit the international scene! In the tradition of the great grand annual Cheap Chic Weddings Toilet Paper Wedding Gown Contest, a New Zealand wedding expo decided to promote itself by hosting its own version of the contest.

I’m guessing that toilet paper producer Cottonsofts was a sponsor the contest, considering the rules were pretty specific when it came to just how much Cottonsofts participants were allowed to use (hint: two four-packs of the double length).

The winner, pictured above thanks to Stuff.co.uk, was one Vicky Heir. Good for her, I say. I wouldn’t have the slightest notion as to how to begin crafting an entire gown out of TP. It’s more than tough enough to get my sewing machine to behave when I’m dealing with plain cotton. I imagine crafting with toilet paper requires a great deal of sticky glue and a very steady hand.

Even though the contest took place some time ago, I can’t seem to find out if Ms. Heir won anything other than tickets to the expo. If I were the winner, I’d be hoping for something more like an opportunity to go to, say, a pool party with New Zealand’s sexiest exports. But that’s just me…

It’s official! The first ever Manolo for the Brides Sweepstakes is over. Dunso. Finito.

The first $50 prize winner, as chosen by a random number generator was Claire, of Confessions of a Chronic Dork. She described her ultimate wedding wish thusly:

I would love to have a live swing band at my wedding. There are only two problems with that fantasy (other than the fact that I’m not yet engaged): 1) Money. 2) Neither the boyfriend nor I know how to swing dance. We’d love to take lessons sometime, but as the relationship is currently long-distance, that might be hard. But I can dream, right?

On to the second $50 prize winner! Kristin, concerned with her coiffure, wrote:

If the budget allowed, I would be flying my hairdresser to my DW in Cancun. In all of my 25 years, she is the only person who has known what to do with my coarse, frizzy, not-curly-but-not-straight ramen noodle hair. It makes me a little scared to think about the pompom I am going to have on my head on my wedding day, what with the humidity and all… and my dearest LeeAnn won’t be there to flat iron it, spray it down or coax it into submission!

And now, on to the $150 grand prize winner, Debra. She’s already married, and from the tone of her comment, it must have been a beautiful day.

There’s not much I would change about my wedding. To me, it was a dream. Nonetheless, I would have loved to be able to fly out my overseas relatives to attend the wedding…we had lots of his family there, which was nice, but I missed being able to share such a wonderful day with my extended family.

Congrats to the winners are in order, and I absolutely have to thank everyone who entered. I LOVED reading your ultimate wedding wishes! FYI: Either I or the Manolo himself will be contacting the winners shortly.

If you commented to let me know that Manolo for the Brides is on your blogroll and I haven’t added you yet, rest assured that I’ll be doing that tonight. With so many comments coming in, I figured it would be easier to update my own roll en masse once the contest was over.

Cheers, and thanks again for playing!

This is just a quick post to say that there’s still just about three whole hours to enter the Manolo for the Brides Sweepstakes. The whole shebang will end at 12 a.m. EST on April 28, so hurry up and leave a comment for your chance to win!

In the now grand tradition of the Teeny Manolo Sweepstakes, we’d like to present the Manolo for the Brides Sweepstakes!

We wanted to give brides everywhere — as well as all the former brides and wedding enthusiasts — a little extra buying power in these uncertain times, so we’re giving away two tasty $50 Amazon gift certificates and one grand prize of a $150 Amazon gift certificate. That’s enough scrap to purchase some extra favor boxes, a couple of cute monogrammed clutches for your maids, or a few shades of Chanel lipsticks. Yum.

To enter, do one of two things:

• If you have a blog celebrating all things bridal and groomal, add Manolo for the Brides to your blogroll and leave a comment on this post letting us know (don’t forget to include a link to your blog). We love cross-promotion, so we’ll add you to our own blogroll when we see your comment. You say you already link to us, but we don’t link to you? Très horrible! Let us know in the comments!
• If you don’t have a blog, simply leave a comment on this post describing the ultimate dream wedding product that, for whatever reasons, you can’t or couldn’t have. Maybe that perfect $15,000 dress just doesn’t fit into your budget. Was sourcing hand sewn lace from Burano too troublesome? Perhaps your dream product doesn’t exist yet… Tell us about it!

Easy peasy, right? Our job is easy, too — when the contest deadline rolls around on 12 a.m. EST, April 28, 2008, we’ll assign each commenter a number and use a random integer generator to choose the winners in a fair fashion. The first two commenters chosen will receive the $50 certificates, and the third commenter chosen will win the grand prize.

I should add that we here at Manolo for the Brides are tickled pink to have the opportunity to give something back to our readers and to get to know their blogs. So spread the word, and don’t miss out on a chance to win because time passed you by. Two weeks is over in a flash!

Ever dreamed of a Hollywood wedding? Ever dreamed of walking the red carpet? Ever dreamed of being married on the red carpet in Hollywood? Well, here’s your chance.

In honor of Patrick Dempsey’s new film Made of Honor in which McDreamy (and I really, really thought that name was made up as a joke on Television Without Pity for a very long time) discovers he’s fallen in love with a longtime platonic female friend just as she’s being swept off her feet by the man of her dreams in Scotland and asks Dempsey to be her MOH, The Knot and Sony Pictures are teaming up to hold a contest. The winning couple will get married on the red carpet at the premiere of Made of Honor. Runners up will win shopping sprees and Made of Honor gift packs (contents unspecified). If you’re interested, you can get the details here.

Other than that, I was giggling at a couple wedding-related articles at The Onion, and thought I’d pass on the links so others can enjoy a laugh.

Mommy’s Wedding More Fun Than Daddy’s

Peasant Wedding Gets Out of Hand

And in conclusion, I give you the Peeps Bachelor Party:

FYI: Head on over to Handcrafted (one of my favorite blogs) between now and 7 a.m. EST on March 28 to enter to win up to $300 worth of customizable Redot jewelry for you and your wedding party. All you need to do is comment on the contest post with your favorite Redot earring style! How easy is that?

From the always debonair Isidore Gallant comes this pic of crazy veil madness:

This is a Kleemeier lingerie creation that was shown at the Bodylook fashion show at the IGEDO fashion fair in Duesseldorf, Germany. My take? First off, in an unprecedented turnaround, the model is actually too small for the garment. Check out the gap at her hip! Her immense headgear cannot camouflage her tiny frame. Secondly, I think it’s perfectly yawn-worthy. The whole getup looks like every other set of wedding night unmentionables!

Me? I wore ultra-sturdy rebar foundation garments.

The Day’s Aside
Worried that your wedding budget isn’t going to stretch far enough? Mirassou Winery’s third annual “I Do with Mirassou” contest will reward one lucky couple with $5,000 toward the wedding of their dreams. Brides and grooms, as well as their family and friends, can enter. Contest entrants can also view hot tips from celebrity wedding planner Mindy Weiss, who successfully orchestrated the union of Eva Longoria and Tony Parker. The contest is open now, with entries due December 1, 2007. Couples over the age of 21 whose wedding will take place in 2008 are eligible to enter.