Manolo for the Brides

There are few things I love so much in life as a great story. If there’s a little bitter bite to the story, so much the better, I admit it. Tales of other peoples’ disasters tend to be a lot more entertaining than concentrating on your own miseries, after all. It feels good to be able to point and laugh and say ‘better someone who isn’t me than me.’ I’m not proud of it, no, but there it is.

Thus it is that one of my favorite haunts to visit on the net is Etiquette Hell. There I can have my fill of cautionary tales about brides run amok and flower girls mooning the congregation, of grooms gone gaga and guests who have sadly left all their couth at home for the event. From ring bearers who drop the rings to bakers who drop the cake, it’s all there in glorious Technicolor and four-part harmony…with feeling.

Some highlights include the couple who noted a $115.00 cover charge for their wedding on the invitation, the maid of honor who didn’t invite the other two bridesmaids to the shower, the groom’s family who take over the entire process…without putting up one red cent, the vindictive ex-girlfriend of the groom who tipped off the police about where to find him to arrest him on an outstanding warrent on his wedding day at the altar, and of course multiple cases of actual assault.

If you need a little perspective (or a bit of etiquette advice), I highly recommend Etiquette Hell. Oh, and while you’re there, check out their recently added feature The Library which houses works on etiquette ranging from George Washington’s Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior In Company and Conversation up to the 1922 edition of Emily Post.

Now, back to those tales of woe. Heh, heh.

After checking out my shortlist of ways to put some pep into wedding pics, reader Ky suggested I check out Taaz. Can I just say I love synchronicity? It just so happens that I was planning on posting about Taaz, which describes itself as a “fun, easy-to-use website that gives women the opportunity to ‘try on’ the hottest makeup and hairstyle looks from the convenience of their homes.”

I’m interested in anything I can try on without having to battle my way through throngs of fellow shoppers, so I gave it a go. My original wedding day look is on the left, and my plasticized look is on the right.

But while I love makeovers as much as the next femmey-femme, I had no intentions of discussing how one might use Taaz to try on different makeup colors and hairstyles. Nor was I planning to wax poetic about the site’s product recommendations — circumstances dictate I be a Bare Minerals girl as much as I might want to worship at the altar of Chanel.

No, I want to talk to all frazzled and fried brides-to-be about Taaz’s potential as a stress reliever. Seriously…I just spent a hilarious forty-five minutes uploading snapshots of friends, family, and pets so I could make them look like geishas, freaks, and cross dressers. No one was spared the cruelties of my dastardly broad makeup brush.

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