There was a visible pseudotrend a while back that had moms and dads (and moms and moms and dads and dads) waiting to get married until their little one(s) were born. I call it a pseudotrend because I think plenty of people get married after having kids for a variety of reasons (health insurance, issues with school, circumstance, etc.), but the idea just kind of crawled into the public consciousness only fairly recently — thanks, celebrities! I’m kind of a traditional girl myself, but I figure that people get married when they want, why they want, and that’s okay by me.

The result of the pseudotrend in my social circle was the appearance of tiny, tiny flower girls and ring bearers. I’m talking about flower girls and ring bearers only just able to walk. You’d watch them sort of wander down the aisle and wonder if they’d make it. Would they lose their already shaky grip on the tools of their trade?

If you decided to reverse the usual order of things and got kids out of the way before tying the knot, think carefully before including your itty-bitty little guy or gal in the wedding party. Some very young tots find being stared at by rows and rows of grown-up people quite disconcerting — many a toddling flower girl and ring bearer has made tracks in the opposite direction rather than walk down the aisle unassisted. For those brides and grooms who simply must include a baby or toddler, I’d advise having someone familiar to the kid carry them down the aisle, perhaps one of the bridesmaids or groomsmen. Or not. The middle ground involves giving your son or daughter (or baby nieces, nephews, and such) a title and a symbolic role. You dress them up, include them in the photos, and parade them around, but they don’t actually have to do anything other than sit around and look cute… something I know from experience that babies are very, very good at!

And on to Inspiration for Ashley #3!

My two nieces will be flower girls! I’m not sure about their dresses yet – I am thinking about HAWT PANK and SHAWKING PURPLE (they are two and almost 4, and SO SO CRAZY INTO PANK AND PURPLE) – but I know beyond doubt’s dark shadow that they will both be wearing silvery angel wings on their adorable little backs. Because what good is a wedding without little girls wearing angel wings?

As easy as this sounds, there are definitely more pastel flower girl dresses and white flower girl dresses than there are flower girl dresses in colors one could describe as either hawt or shocking. Luckily, a number of online dress shops offer all of their designs in custom fabric choices. In other words, if they carry the fabric, you can get a dress made from it.

Pegeen, for example, offers most of its flower girl dresses in any one of 200 colors. I believe the color above is called “Boing.”

(more…)

Whether or not to include children in your wedding party and/or guest list is a purely personal decision. I want to make it very clear that if you choose not to include kids, I’m not going to make any sort of attempt to change your mind. Make your day adult, and have a great time with it.

If, however, you’ve decided to include children in your celebration, whether as guests or as participants, there are a few things you may want to consider in making your plans. After all, you want them to have a good time…and you want their parents to have a good time, too.

Don’t panic. It really isn’t that hard to do. If you follow a few simple tips, even your youngest guests and attendants will remember your day fondly.

(more…)

After yesterday’s disaster of a flower girl dress, I thought we could all use a flower girl chaser (think a unicorn chaser with less horn and more grin).

There’s something undeniably uplifting about flower girls — if they’re happy to be ambling down the aisle, they’re adorable and if they’re just a little afraid to walk the walk, that’s even cuter. Here are four uber cute satin tea-length ball gown flower girl dresses from David’s Bridal, of all places:

Hopefully these will wipe the sight of that other flower girl dress from your mind!

Got some netting? How about some dead rose petals? Then you, too, can make yourself a flower girl dress like this one:

Forget Me Knots Bridal describes this flowery frock thusly: Satin bodiece (sic) w/petals in tulle skirt. I would describe it by saying “Ew” and then asking how exactly netting can get melanomas. As flower girl dresses go, this one definitely earns my hatred, which is a pity considering how many cute flower girl dresses there are in the world today.

What say you?

The ongoing trend in flower girl dresses is white, shiny, and sashed. I cannot say that the image of the tiny tot decked out in satin and organza is a tired one, for who can tire of that particular brand of charm? However, with the economy being what it is, some brides and grooms are changing the way they think about… well, just about everything associated with weddings. As Twistie and our wonderful commenters pointed out in Saturday’s post, it’s now de rigueur to think way outside of the wedding box when it comes to buying wedding accessories and wedding garb.

In that vein, have a peek at these little girl dresses from Shabby Apple. Though these adorable dresses not white and furthermore are made from cotton (specifically Amy Butler cotton?), a flower girl in one of these colorful creations would make quite the splash at an otherwise monochromatic springtime or summertime wedding. Each dress costs about $30 (making pinched parents happy) and is durable enough to be worn again and again (making dress-obsessed little ladies happy).

Chances are that every wedding you’ve been to has included some sort of bridal party. Bridesmaids, groomsmen, a flower girl and/or ring bearer…these are common. In fact, I would bet good money that at least a hefty percentage of our readers have been in weddings where they were not the ones getting married. For my part, I’ve been a bridesmaid twice, maid of honor once, and once I got grabbed at the last minute to attend the bride at a spur-of-the-moment vow reaffirmation.

But now that you’re getting married, you need to decide whom to ask to attend you and in what capacity. That’s where things can get tricky. You may not really know what jobs there are, what sort of person is best suited to said job, or even whether you want these roles filled at all. The fact is that while you will need witnesses for legal purposes (anywhere from one to three people, depending on state law if you’re in the US), those people are not required to hold particular titles or wear matching clothes…but most of us do have those witnesses or other close friends and family members stand by our sides.

Fear not! Here’s a brief rundown of bridal attendants, common and un, in a typical western-style wedding. Read on to get a better idea of what your options are and how to best meet your needs in putting together a bridal party.

(more…)