WeddingsInABox- The Links Blog

Sunday Wedding News

2008-12-28T08:56:00.000-08:00

High-tech tools make wedding planning easier
Portsmouth Herald News - Portsmouth,NH,USA
By Etan Horowitz I got married a few weeks ago, and as anyone who has planned a wedding knows, it's a ton of work, most of which was done by my wife. ...

Donat - Burch Wedding
Palladium-Item - Richmond,IN,USA
The bride wore the satin and tulle wedding dress first worn in the wedding of her maternal grand-parents Corky and Betty Cordell in 1946, and then in the ...

Anne Anderson • For the Enquirer • December 28, 2008
Battle Creek Enquirer - Battle Creek,MI,USA
With an increasing number of couples footing the bill for much (if not all) of their own wedding, a wedding is the largest investment many couples are ...

Bridal show offers wedding options
Youngstown Vindicator - Youngstown,OH,USA
The show offered everything a bride needs to put a wedding together, said Lori Dubasik, owner of Evaline’s in Warren. Although the event is traditionally ...

Newark hosts long-awaited wedding
The Newark Advocate - Newark,OH,USA
By ABBEY ROY • Advocate Reporter • December 27, 2008 NEWARK — Technically speaking, Grace Cooperrider has been helping plan the wedding of her daughter, ...

Do You Really Need a Wedding Planner?
Meadow Free Press - Meadow,ID,USA
Some wedding couples are not into organing anything for themselves. They feel that they are much better off delegating these “impossible” tasks to someone ...

Economic Slowdown Puts Damper On Lavish Indian Weddings
Voice of America - USA
By Anjana Pasricha Indian wedding celebrations are traditionally held on a lavish scale. But the economic slowdown is prompting many to trim the "fat Indian ...

Daytime dramas
San Jose Mercury News - CA, USA
"General Hospital": Robin was elated when Robert changed his mind and agreed to walk her down the aisle at her wedding. However, Maxie couldn't get over her ...

Short Brides Stretches 14 Inches For Wedding
Oneindia - Tamilnadu,India
The American woman has yeilded in bravely to the lengthening procedures to an incredible height of 14 inches before the day of her wedding. ...

Wedding telegrams going high-tech
Belfast Telegraph - United Kingdom
She has just taken delivery of her six foot tall touch-screen machine and has already secured her first wedding booking for next year. ...

Social Q’s
New York Times - United States
We are going to a wedding in Texas. I usually wear saris to weddings, but my husband thinks this would be poor etiquette because my dress would attract too ...

A Winter Wedding Extravaganza: Two Major Industry Players Say, “I Do”
Business Wire (press release) - San Francisco,CA,USA
Bridalguide.com and AmericanBridal.com celebrate winter wedding season by giving brides money-saving tips during the recession. ...

Holiday & Wedding Bells
One Bakersfield - Bakersfield,CA,USA
"Longer engagements give people a chance to spread out payments and make the wedding more affordable." For more information on wedding statistics and ...

Wedding planning for Christmas 2009?
Adesso Albums - San Francisco,California,USA
As couples across the country set off on a honeymoon following their Christmas Day wedding, newly-engaged couples in the early stages of wedding planning ...

Lake Granby: Couple opens Circle H to weddings, events
Sky Hi Daily News - Granby,CO,USA
What a location,” April said Wednesday about the place that has come to be her home, studio, lodging business and now, place of wedding memories. ...

Splitsville for J Lo, Anthony?
Times of India - India
American actress/singer Jennifer Lopez might have renewed her wedding vows with her husband Mark Anthony recently, but it seems that they have been facing ...

Noccalula Falls Wedding Chapel nearing completion
Gadsden Times (subscription) - Gadsden,AL,USA
By Andy Powell Brides-to-be who want to use the Noccalula Falls Wedding Chapel should have the Noccalula Falls Campground telephone number on speed dial Feb ...

Smoking harms health, friendship Wedding maybe-invitation is rude
Baltimore Sun - United States
About two weeks ago, a very nice woman who works with me gave invitations to her wedding to everyone except me and a few others. ...

Christmas Eve wedding bells
MyFox Tampa Bay - Tampa,FL,USA
A church wedding is to follow in another year, the couple says. “I now pronouce you husband and wife,” the clerk says. The Upchurches were not alone in the ...

Kendra's Playboy Mansion Wedding On—"For Now"
E! Online - USA
Close sources to the Bunny farm exclusively tell us of K's Playboy Mansion wedding and Hef giveaway: "It's on for June. For now. ...

Cinematography spotlight: Goodwin Films

2008-12-25T14:00:00.000-08:00

This just brings a smile to my face. Megan and Nate ran away and got married. Something about the super 8 film really brings the emotion and lovely images to the forefront.
Great talent over at Goodwin Films. Only 24 and I think he has this stuff down.

About themselves:

Goodwin Films is a video and film production outfit based in Springfield Missouri. We specialize in tasteful wedding documentaries that we call "Wedding Movies". In addition to an occasional short film or music video, we're also up to our knees in commercial freelance work. We've been doing this full time for about 3 years now and it's quite possible that you've known us as "Citizen Media Group" (our ex-name).

Favorite moments of ours:

Visit Goodwin Films here and they have many more sample films you can view, including a great" Trash The Dress Session", all great.

Happy planning!
~w.s.

Cinemotography Spotlight: Cake and Lemonade

2008-12-25T12:00:00.000-08:00

With a love for the nostalgic feel of the super 8's cake and lemonade deliver delicious memories, a true keepsake. You can tell that these do love what they do, it shows in their work on Rita Julian's wedding here.

Some clips from moments we loved:

Visit their site for more about cake and lemonade.

Field Notes: Old Timey Films

2008-12-25T06:00:00.000-08:00

Old Timely Films is an amazing experience that takes you into the day of the life of the amazing weddings featured on their site. The filming, editing and music selections are top notch.

From their site:

"We create wedding films that look like you want them to look—nostalgic, fun, artsy and timeless"

Old Timey Films - It's a feeling, a sense of nostalgia, an emotional memory of a wonderful time gone by, kind of like watching your parents or grandparents wedding films. Based in Boulder, Colorado (but we travel and shoot throughout Colorado and the U.S.) we are a dynamic film production company that takes a cinematic approach to Wedding Day filmmaking. Our retro cool wedding films have a classic 1960's era look and feel. They are magical. It's something to be experienced, something no medium other than film can capture. We use traditional cinematic techniques and the highest-quality, professional Super 8 motion picture cameras (Canon, Nizo and Beaulieu) to capture the true wonder of the most special day of your life!

Here are some favorite moments clipped from the video.

Visit them for more more information! Old Timely Films

Happy planning!
~w.s.

Spotlight on Super 8: paper Tape Films

2008-12-25T05:00:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Day!

It's a day for happiness, creating and capturing memories!

Last week we were falling all over ourselves in love with Fifty Foot Films. A wonderful company that provides amazing wedding day cinematography in a super 8 format. Their packages according to their website start at 12,500. Now, not everyone can get this in their wedding budget,(my pie chart over runnuth over). If you For such cases as this they are wonderful by recommending Paper Tape Films, a subsidiary company, whose packages start at a more realistic $3,000. Nice!

Paper Tape Films

I just watched the San Francisco Wedding and it brought me back to my days growing up there with shots of cable cards and the Golden Gate. Memories, they are a good thing.

Some clips

Go here on their website to see some more beautifull films they have created!

Check back throughout today as we feature other great wedding cinematography in this old style format!

Make memories, capture memories & have a very happy day!

~w.s.

Cookie Art

2008-12-22T05:00:00.000-08:00

I've been snacking a lot recently and keep finding cakes, cupcakes and cookies to die for. It started innocently enough with a simple recipe search and has turned into hours worth of a confection addiction and no cookies of my own.

These beautiful and edible treasures are made by Cuppie Cakes

Find Cuppie Cakes on Flickr

Sunday Wedding News

2008-12-21T07:52:00.000-08:00

Access Exclusive: Fergie & Josh Duhamel's Wedding Date Revealed!
NBC Bay Area - San Francisco,CA,USA
A little more than a year after getting engaged, Fergie, 33, and Josh Duhamel, 36, will tie the knot in a January wedding ceremony, Access Hollywood has ...

Ashley Force nuptials were a wintry 'dream wedding'
NHRA.com - Glendora,CA,USA
The Funny Car driver wanted a winter-wonderland theme for her wedding, and her wish was granted as snow began falling the day of her wedding, ...

Anne Hathaway Reveals Wedding Fantasy
Star Magazine - New York,NY,USA
"I'm not the sort of girl who dreams about her wedding. But you know what I find myself doing every once in a while? Putting together my ideal wedding ...

Jennifer Lopez Puts Her Wedding Rock Back On
Entertainmentwise - London,UK
Jennifer Lopez is wearing her wedding ring again to prove that her marriage to Marc Anthony is still solid. The couple have been pictured minus their ...

OneWed.com Invites Wedding Vendors and Brides-to-Be to "Spread the ...
PR Web (press release) - Ferndale,WA,USA
Since its inception in 2003, OneWed.com has established the largest online, searchable wedding vendor database. The site's vast network now includes over ...

Copyright cop wedding crashers fined by Spanish court
Ars Technica - Boston,MA,USA
The incident originally took place back in 2005, when SGAE snuck a private detective into the wedding reception acting as a cameraman. ...

NH couple goes ahead with dark wedding reception
WCAX - Burlington,VT,USA
AP - December 17, 2008 9:05 AM ET MERRIMACK, NH (AP) - The lighting was extra romantic for a Merrimack, NH, couple's wedding, thanks to the ice storm that ...
Bush shoe hero in wedding offer
The Sun - London,UK
By SARA NELSON AN Egyptian man has offered his daughter's hand in marriage to the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush. ...

I Do, The Dollars Don't - Recession Impacts Weddings
Orato - USA
Paradise East in Midwood, Brooklyn, is the largest Muslim-owned wedding venue in New York City. But the Coney Island Avenue site is suffering as the economy ...

Photographers Fail To Deliver Wedding Memories
KIROtv.com - Seattle,WA,USA
At the time, the Tacoma couple were expecting their first child, and still expecting their professional wedding photos, which hadn't been delivered yet. ...

New Wedding Rings Featured on Engagement101Mag.com
TransWorldNews (press release) - Monroe,GA,USA
Starting on December 17th, 2009, Novell wedding rings will be featured on the newly revamped wedding website for Engagement 101 Magazine ...

Exclusive: Inside Brad & Angelina's Wedding Deal
Star Magazine - New York,NY,USA
Before saying their I Dos, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie will sign on the dotted line. Star has learned that, at Brad's insistence, the power couple is ...

Weddings and Corporate Events Look to Chef2Chef.net Celebrity Chef ...
PR Web (press release) - Ferndale,WA,USA
Hiring a celebrity chef is a great way to spice up a corporate holiday party (unless you're AIG), or add flavor to your extravagant spring wedding. ...

Rumblefish Launches Music Licensing Site for Wedding Videographers
MSNBC - USA
PORTLAND, OR - This month, Rumblefish, Inc. the sonic branding and music licensing agency, launches the Wedding Collection, a music licensing store ...

Reality Bites: Heidi Montag, Spencer Pratt hiding their wedding
New York Daily News - New York,NY,USA
Ah yes, a secret wedding in front of MTV cameras with an Us Weekly reporter under the bed. No one will ever know! NOW THAT'S GOOD TV: Justin Bobby to the ...

Hugh Hefner Has "Second Thoughts" About Kendra Wilkinson's Wedding
TV Guide - USA
by Joyce Eng Hugh Hefner's getting cold feet about a wedding — not his, but Kendra Wilkinson's. Though he has vowed to walk his ex down the aisle at her ...

Wedding Blog Post Love

2008-12-20T05:00:00.000-08:00

Always a Blogsmaid - Who's Wedding IS it Anyway ?
Sharing her experiences filming the show Who's Wedding Is it Anyway?

Polka Dot Bride - Peacock Party
Wow, what an amazing inspiration board!

Offbeat Bride - Gasworks Park Wedding in Seattle
A colorful wedding in Seattle's Gasworks Park. Love!

It's a Jamie Thing- What To Do With Your Leftover Wedding Items
Jamie shares a great new find with us, the Bride to Bride Boutique

Once Wed - DIY Natural Bling
Holy cow! Talk about creative!

Wedding Bee - A DIY Rewind, Adventures in DIY

The Wedding Cabaret - Real Wedding: Shanah & Jerry’s Gothabilly Wedding
A Goth style rockabilly wedding that looked like a blast!

Wedding Obsession - Kate Hudson & Anne Hathaway are Modern Brides
Kate Hudson & Anne Hathaway briefly sat down with Modern Bride to talk about weddings and friends and their movie “Bride Wars” .

Any wedding blog posts really knock your socks off recently? Leave a comment!

Happy planning!
~w.s.

SugarBloom Cupcakes

2008-12-19T05:00:00.000-08:00

I've fallen in love and I haven't taken a single bite. These are simply put, masterpieces. I am sure they taste as good as they look. I may have to take a road trip to find out. Imagine adding SugarBloom cupcakes at your party. Stand back these cupcakes may steal the show.

There is no way to pick favorites, but I must say I love these little creations, "Tall Cupcakes". Go read her post here "Tall Cupcakes" The new collection!"

I want one! Or two...

Visit SugarBloom on their business blog and see more on Flickr, you may even get a recipe or two! Oh and last but not least, who can resist this cute cake? Read her comments, too sweet.

This Cake is for my hubby Dan's 30 something-th Birthday. The kids were both creative critics and quality control executives for this cake, bless 'em! The fondant puppy was modelled from a picture of our Husky "Titus" when he was a pup. He was lots of fun to make, these tiny pups are so cute. The cake is a 6 inch Caramel cake with Caramel Chocolate Mousseline Buttercream. Mmmmmm, so pleased I get to eat a bit of this one! The grosgrain ribbon was inspired by Kylie, thank you Kylie!

Happy Planning!
~w.s.

Field Notes: Fifty Foot Films!

2008-12-18T14:40:00.000-08:00

This is amazing. Instead of simply videotaping you wedding, get it filmed! In 16mm or super 8 format. Loving this technology from the past, history based technology, is somehow inherent and ingrained in us. With amazing soundtracks combined, the emotion comes through in the final product.
Companies like 50 Foot Films brings us back to our roots. The films see the events as the eye sees the events lending itself to the way we remember, emotionally. Read their philosophy here.

Take a look at theses snapshots taken from their films and go watch them in their entirety over at their screening room and view their wedding cinematography. A must visit.

Packages start at @ 12k and I am sure are most worth it.

This filming technique I think is going to continue to be a huge trend. Take a look and judge for yourself!

http://www.fiftyfootfilms.com/

Happy planning!
~w.s.

Live Chat on Get Married

2008-12-17T07:58:00.000-08:00

Wednesdays are the days for live chats on Getting Married.Com.
One of our favorite sites for inspiration by the experts.
Invitations by Dawn will answer any of your invitation questions.
You can also catch Invitations by Dawn on Lifetime TV every morning.
Click on over at 9am PST, Noon EST and jump into the conversation.

A Funny: Luke Love!

2008-12-16T08:20:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

A Funny

2008-12-15T09:45:00.000-08:00

Too funny! I love the DJ/MC pacing and loosing his temper.
So how to do set your reception time line to prevent this, and is your DJ doing this, a friend, a wedding planner?
Have you ever been to a reception that has gotten outta hand during toasts? Do tell, but be kind.

Sunday Wedding News - The Late Edition

2008-12-14T14:55:00.000-08:00

SNL: David Patterson, Gov. Blagojevich, Wedding Toast & More (VIDEO)

Huffington Post - New York,NY,USA
Another skit featured a few inappropriate wedding toasts to the bride and groom, including one from the bride's ex boyfriend, played by Fred Armisen.

Wow! What a wedding
Times of India - India
The day time affair had all the elements of a royal wedding. Vinay surely believes in living life king size as he reached the hotel riding on an elephant ...

Video: Bandmates Give Fergie Wedding Tips
AceShowbiz - USA
Taboo tells Stacy Ferguson to enjoy her upcoming wedding day to Josh Duhamel, whereas will.i.am jokingly tells her to "keep having sex" with her groom-to-be ...

Different Rules for Different Cultures: Be Prepared
New York Times - United States
Mr. Chen, 28, of Los Angeles arrived in his best suit for a Hindu wedding on a Friday afternoon in August 2006 and discovered — too late — that the dress ...

Gay protest surrounds Florida governor's wedding
AFP
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (AFP) — Hundreds of protestors convened on the church where Florida Governor Charlie Crist has been married to express their anger ...

Wedding Planner to Face More Charges
KFVS - Cape Girardeau,MO,USA
Cape Girardeau County investigators apply for more charges

"Top Chef" Finalist Sam Talbot's Wedding
Lovetripper.com - Austin,TX,USA
City Hall in New York City held all the right ingredients for Top Chef season two finalist Sam Talbot and model Paola Guerrero's dream "I do. ...

Did Jennifer Lopez Lose Her Wedding Ring, Or...?
Terra.com - Miami,FL,USA
... it took us more than 12 hours to realize that J.Lo left her wedding ring at home when she attended the premiere of Brad Pitt's new movie Monday night. ...

New Wedding Bands Line Introduced by WeddingBands.com
PR Web (press release) - Ferndale,WA,USA
A new line of wedding bands has been launched on WeddingBands.com, in 14K, 18K white and rose gold, palladium and platinum or combinations of these precious ...

Jessica Simpson's Texan wedding
China Daily - China
Jessica Simpson wants to "get married in Texas in the summer and get pregnant soon after". The 28-year-old singer - who is currently dating American ...

Jessica Simpson Will Play Your Wedding Or Bar Mitzvah
PerezHilton.com - CA,USA
Jessica Simpson is playing the Strawberry Festival in Plant City, Florida in March. And, compared to relative newcomer's Taylor Swift's $45 tickets, ...

Police to return 'wedding gifts'
BBC News - UK
The police have been told to return suspected stolen goods to a woman who argued they were her wedding presents. The district judge at Londonderry Crown ..

How to save on wedding costs without sacrificing
The Jewish Journal of greater L.A - Los Angeles,CA,USA
The average wedding costs about $30000, and in this declining economy it might not be too long before that will once again be a down payment in Los Angeles. ..

Wedding Inspiration Boards: Brown

2008-12-12T12:00:00.000-08:00

Combine browns with blues, pinks and greens for a very stylish and sophisticated look!
Thanks to these talented Bloggers for the fantastic Inspiration boards; Mintsflower.com, FineStationary, brendasweddingblog.com, Tastefully Entertaining, oahuwedding.com, Lucky Me, fuzzynk.wordpress.com. Add them to your reader!

fuzzynk.wordpress.com

Lucky Me

oahuwedding.com

Tastefully Entertaining

brendasweddingblog.com

FineStationary on Flickr

Mintsflower.com

Happy planning!
~w.s.

Cake Orgey

2008-12-09T07:30:00.000-08:00

I fell off my chair, I swear to God.

WeddingCakeChannel.Com

I just wish there were credits/links to the creators behind these...masterpieces!

Sunday Wedding News

2008-12-07T07:46:00.000-08:00

Honoring a deceased parent at one's wedding
GoErie.com - Erie,PA,USA
Q. My dad passed away four years ago, and I'd like to honor him at the wedding. What would be the best way to include him on the invitation? ...

Local jewelry store giving away five wedding rings
Chattanooga Times Free Press - Chattanooga,TN,USA
According to The Knot, an online wedding resource, about 17 percent of the 2.3 million engagements that occur each year happen in December. ...

Coconut Creek couple hold wedding 180 feet in air
Sun-Sentinel.com - Fort Lauderdale,FL,USA
The hum of the crane that hoisted the wedding party could be heard in the background as the bride and groom recited their vows. White ribbons wrapped around ...

Ask Martha: Is it OK to wear black to a wedding?
Independent - London,England,UK
A. It is much easier to get away with black at a winter wedding (I take it you are a guest, Toni?) especially if it is velvet/tulle/ a swishy fabric and if ...

Bride-to-be Concerned after Wedding Planner Arrested for Felony ...
KFVS - Cape Girardeau,MO,USA
A few years ago, Mike Erzfeld went from being a realty instructor and a mortgage broker to a wedding planner. Heartland News has taken calls and emails from ...

12 steps to having a destination wedding for under $12000
Examiner.com - USA
I accidentally stumbled on an Italian villa in Texas 2 years ago, upon attending a friend’s wedding. I’m not sure how many of these types of venues there ...

Couple's wedding day reward: their first kiss
Adesso Albums - San Francisco,California,USA
Claudaniel Fabien and Melody LaLuz had more than wedding photography and cake to look forward to when they walked down the aisle last weekend, ...

Did Spencer Pratt 'drug' Heidi Montag for wedding? Ask Mom!
Los Angeles Times - CA,USA
Heidi Montag's mom gives her daughter and Spencer Pratt's marriage “six months,” calling it “the biggest mistake Heidi's ever made." Wow, six months? ...

Wedding Designer Review
IGN - Brisbane,CA,USA
by Joshua Clark December 5, 2008 - There are few events in our modern world as celebrated and revered as the traditional American wedding ceremony. ...

Couples scale back wedding plans in rough economy
By ken
December traditionally brings a glut of holiday or New Year’s Eve marriage proposals, which help add up to an annual $1.9 billion statewide industry, according to figures from The Wedding Report, a company that provides research on the ...

mywedding.com Invites Montana Wedding Vendors to Online Wedding ...
International Business Times - New York,NY,USA
SEATTLE, Dec. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- mywedding.com launches its 59th localwedding guide in Montana. Couples planning to marry in Big Sky Country cansimply refer ...

Florida governor's bride-to-be chooses her gown for Dec. 12 wedding
Sun-Sentinel.com - Fort Lauderdale,FL,USA
By Linda Trischitta | South Florida Sun-Sentinel Carole Rome wore her status with low-key ease when she ordered her bridal gown from Wedding Atelier in ...

Wedding Songs Get Jiggy With It

Tango - New York,NY,USA

by Genevieve Lill As we know, traditional weddings are out and unique weddings—be them green, red or otherwise—are in. Weddings today are about adding a ...

Have a Happy Sunday!
~w.s.

Wedding Blog Post Love!

2008-12-05T08:00:00.000-08:00

Doing a lot of surfing these days. TONS of wedding blogs out there...seriously, many more than this time last year!
So many great wedding bloggers (wedloggers?), blogger brides and professional blogs...my reader is going to give a crackle and a sizzle and explode! So until that fateful day arrives, I wanted to share with you some wedding blog posts love!
These posts struck us as funny, useful, informative and fun.
Enjoy and add these great blogs to your reader!
Our best wedding blogs list is being updated to re-debut in the new year and will feature many many new favorites!

DIY Bride - Ensembles under $500
That's right! The craft bride's guide to less expressive ensembles!

Very crafty and resourceful ladies out together looks for less! Love the winners!
Weddings Affordable - How to Hire a Student Musician for Your Wedding
When choosing a musician to play at your reception here is something to consider

A savvy way to have the live music you want at your reception for a fraction of the cost...

A Wedding Tip for Every Day - Bridesmaid Dresses
Lena shares her thoughts on saving money and being savvy when purchasing those bridesmaid dresses! Including a link to great dresses for under $100.

Expand this idea by scoping out the sales after Christmas on beautiful cocktail dresses and scoop them up!

Brilliant Event Planning Blog - 12 Unique Meal Suggestions for Your Event
Perfect advice for setting up food stations for your buffet style dinner with menu suggestions!

Great tip! I am a huge fan of stations if you are going to do a buffet style dinner. Stations keeps one big buffet line from looking like a cafeteria line!

Wedding Obsession - Splurge vs. Savvy Bouquets
Take a look at a classic and very possibly costly bouquet then create a look a like that will fir your budget. Very savvy!

We love savvy brides and bloggers who can copy ta designer look and turn it into something truly cost effective! Great tips!

Wedding Vendor Guide - Courture Bouquets
The Wedding Vendor Guide introduces us to Emplume!

Such a great resource. Feathers instead of flowers! The fair feathered trend continues. Love it!

BridesClub.Com - January Wedding Expo Line Up
For those of us on the WEST coast, here are some wedding shows that might suit your fancy and schedule!

Hawaii in January...humm!

Globetrotting Bride - If the Bridal Flip Flop Fits
Fancy Up those Flip Flops!

So if you decide to join us in Hawaii for the Brides Club wedding expo, fancy up your flip flops with this great find from the Globtrotting Bride Blog!

Table 6 Productions (blog) - Our Crazy Idea
Back in October, Table 6 posted a crazy idea of having your cocktail party more of a welcome hour cocktail hour!

I sooo love this idea for so many reasons I can hardly stand it. Let your peeps mingle for a while while you get pictures taken..also good for the dreaded late guests. I love their crazy ideas because they are not crazy, they are inspired. Also an Event Solutions finalist (East Coast)!
The Event Essentials - B is for Birdcage Veils
In their DIY, ABC series, do it yourself birdcage veils.

Mrs. Designher does it again. Love the DIY attitude and love this post in particular. Remember, YES, we can!

And last but not least is Garnish and their Blog.
I love all the posts. Love the minimalistic sophisticated look of everything the say, do and sell.
They have ideas galore and once you find one you like, you can 'buy the idea' and they'll sell & send you all you need to recreate the idea and make it your very own. OR purchase the bits and pieces and create your very own idea with their awesome supplies.
Did I mention that I love them? You will too! Add a little garnish!

More? Yes, but that's it for now...enjoy!
~w.s.

Wedding Inspiration Boards: Purple!

2008-11-20T06:00:00.000-08:00

Ahhh, a passion for purples and lavenders!
Purple can feel overwhelming if not used correctly. Shades vary, complimentary colors can sometimes be in the eye of the beholder, no matter what the color wheel says.
Take these following inspiration boards for example of ways to work purples into your wedding.
Thank you shout out to these fabulous inspiration board designers/ bloggers: The Wedding Cabaret, finestationery on flickr, duwaxloolu.blogspot.com, stylemepretty.com, glamourousgowns.co.uk, theweddingdecorator.blogspot.com for reviva-weddings.com, nicholelynn on Live Journal and junebugweddings.com!

The Wedding Cabaret

finestationery on flickr

duwaxloolu.blogspot.com

stylemepretty.com

glamourousgowns.co.uk

theweddingdecorator.blogspot.com for reviva-weddings.com

snippetandink.blogspot.com

junebugweddings.com

Happy Planning!
~w.s.

Wedding Inspiration Boards: Pink!

2008-11-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

No matter if you are going with a hot pink and orange combo or blush and bashful with browns, pink is always pretty!
Thank you to these bloggers/ inspiration board creators we have featured here: Sassy Weddings For Cool Chicks, bridalbarblog, matrimonyinc.com, bridesclub.com, oahuwedding.com, glamourousgowns.co.uk, alannahrose.com.au, australiaentertains.com.au, bestweddingsites.com, ThePreppyWedding
Click the link to go straight to their site for proper photo and vendor credits. Enjoy!

Sassy Weddings For Cool Chicks

bridalbarblog

matrimonyinc.com

bridesclub.com

oahuwedding.com

glamourousgowns.co.uk

alannahrose.com.au

australiaentertains.com.au

bestweddingsites.com

ThePreppyWedding

Wedding Inspiration Boards: Reds!

2008-10-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

Red is such a dramatic color! Love, heat, romance! Take a look at theses great inspiration boards that feature reds.
Thanks you shout outs go to the following blogs/ creators: schaubphotography.blogspot.com, Flickr user: melissabumstead, bonmariage.blogspot.com, bestweddingsites.blogspot.com, ready2spark.blogspot.com, brillianteventplanning.com, thebridescafe.typepad.com, vowweddings.wordpress.com, budgetsavvybride.wordpress.com, bluskydesigns.blogspot.com!

Also, Elizabeth Anne Designs did an inspiration board review and had a week of red! This one is my favorite. Click here to see the rest of the red inspiration boards she spotlighted.

If you love the red with aqua mix (bottom of page), check out the Red and Aqua Weddings blog here where they have collected all the blue and aqua inspiration you'll ever need!

schaubphotography.blogspot.com

Flickr user: melissabumstead

bonmariage.blogspot.com

bestweddingsites.blogspot.com

ready2spark.blogspot.com

brillianteventplanning.com

thebridescafe.typepad.com

vowweddings.wordpress.com

bluskydesigns.blogspot.com

Happy planning!
~w.s.

Wedding Inspiration Boards: Orange!

2008-10-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

All of these orange hue inspirations boards are so very lovely. Orange has been combined with browns,greens, reds, yellows, pinks and even blues.

Orange is not a color that usually comes to mind when choosing wedding colors, but it's all in how you use the color. Take a look-see at these and link over to their creators to visit their very wonderful blogs, orange you glad you did?
The following inspiration boards were found on these fantastic sites; Brilliant Event Planning, Elizabeth Anne Designs, Best Wedding Sites, My Eco Chic Wedding, Weddings By Jess, Jason Angelini Photography, Snippet And Ink and Zinke Design.

Zinke Design

Snippet And Ink

My Personal Artist

Jason Angelini Photography

Weddings By Jess

My Eco Chic Wedding

Best Wedding Sites

Elizabeth Anne Designs

Brilliant Event Planning

2008-10-09T10:19:00.000-07:00

As I was putting together more posts of inspiration boards I love and the talent that created them, I became aware of a post over at Sparliattie the blog of Sasha Souza Events, posting support of a great post by Liene of The Smart Planner.

In this post over at Liene's The Smart Planner site talks about this new trend of how some wedding 'experts' are now selling inspiration boards to clients. It is an important post I think you all should read. It's so fun to look at pictures to find inspiration, but selling other professionals work and passing them on as work you have done is downright wrong. Liene spells it out.

The internet is a such a fantastic resource these days and with a _simple_ Google search and click of your mouse you can find all kinds of fantastic inspiration for your wedding, free with the proper credits to the hard working professionals who made these events happen.

I hope you continue to enjoy our posts to favorite boards, organized by color for the next week or so.
Please click the picture or the link under it to go to the home of the creator where you will find appropriate credits to the designers and photographers! Thank you to the talented board creators, planners, event designers, florists, photographers and bloggers. Thanks for keeping us inspired!

Happy Planning!
~w.s.

In case you were confused or wondering: These are not our events and in no way was WIAB-TLB involved in the creation of these boards or the events!
If you want to see events we have worked on, visit our profile at Wedding Wire were you can view some photographs of past clients who have given their permission to be used as references.
To contact the business side of this blog please visit weddingsinabox-services.com and/ or email us at weddingsinabox@gmail.com

Inspiration Boards! Yellow

2008-09-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

There are so many talented blogger who have come up with great inspiration boards, we decided we'd spend some time showcasing them!
Today the inspiration boards below come from: TickledPink, ZinkeDesign, BlueSkyDesigns, WeddingsByJess, TheBridalCollection, LemigaEventManagement, LIWeddings, Inspired Events, LuckyPaperie, WedSmack, ElizabethAnneDesigns,Sweetie Pie Pumpkin Noodle on Fllickr, LuckyMe, HalfBaked, Snippet&Ink, and last but not least StyleMePretty. Do you have a favorite? Thank you at all the talented bloggers for sharing these!

LemigaEventManagement

Sweetie Pie Pumpkin Noodle on Fllickr

LuckyMe

HalfBaked

Snippet&Ink

StyleMePretty

Be sure to click on the image that will take you to the creation itself where you can see a larger version or the link below the picture that takes you to the creators site/blog!

Happy planning!
~w.s.

Online Tools: A Round Up & Silly Fun

2008-09-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

So for the past few posts we have been sharing a series of great online tools to help you plan. Here is a round-up of those posts and to finish up, some silly online tools: fun!

Inspiration Board Generators
Play online on your lunch hour! Use the pictures on theses sites, from gowns to cakes, jewelry and shoes. Make an inspiration board for your wedding quickly and easily.

Wedding Widgets
Have a wedding blog you want to dress up a bit? Choose from many wedding weddings. Count down the days until your wedding, cakes, gowns, celebrity wedding news and polls. Add our widget up as well so you know what great stuff we are blogging about to make your online planning easier!

Wedding Color Generators
HELP! Have a picture you have simply fallen in love with? Want to copy that color scheme? Upload it and get the color palate and the color codes to streamline that style.

Wedding Mapper
DIY or choose a professional. Make maps to include in your wedding invitation and/or to give out after the ceremony so guests can make it to the reception and not miss a moment of fun.

Miss. Now Mrs.
After the wedding, a fantastic service for changing your name with everyone! Makes a great gift too!

Wedding Wire
Easily becoming a must for planning your wedding.

EZ Wedding Planner
An easy and simple resource for planning your wedding. The email alert telling you what's on your schedule that you can have emailed to yourself, or anyone you choose is a great help!

Wish Pot
A great resource with easy sign up, community and the ability to add to your wish list from any store online!

My Invitation Link
Want to go comppletely gree? How about an online invitation? Give it a shot! Handmake a few invitations for those on your guestlist who are not so savvy and save money! Now *that* is savvy!

Get Married - Online Chats
Over at GetMarried.Com you can log on and chat with the leaders in the wedding industry. Get advice from the professionals!

Here are some other tools you may find useful or just silly & fun!

Horoscope Compatibility

David's Bridal - Dress Your Wedding

iVilliage - Are You a Bridezilla

Online Flower Guide

Bliss - Wedding Floral Generator

Brides.Com - Flower Finder

Happy planning!
~w.s.

Online Tools: Create a Wedding Inspiration Board

2008-09-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

Inspiration boards are all the rage. Once a tool used mainly by designers as they developed a concept for a client, now a tool for everyone. Create on in Paint, Adobe or any other graphic program from photos off the internet or scanned photos from magazines. The use of photographs in certain colors or themes can really help in developing a wedding style that fits you as a couple.

There are some create online tools that have jumped on this inspirational bandwagon.

Today we'll share two!
First we have Polyvore.

Then we have Bridal Canvas. Both these sites are addicting fun. Here are some great cake inspirations boards we found while surfing these sites.

At Bridal Canvas, wedding cake inspiration:

Groom's cakes:

Cake inspiration over at Polyvore:

The easy search function allows you to search ready made boards from members by wedding cakes, wedding flower, wedding gowns and all kinds of wedding themes.
You can very easily register and start making your own boards within minutes.
Give it a whirl , you'll defiantly be inspired!

Happy planning!
~w.s.

Note: Polyvore and The Bride's canvas are not professional tools and IMHO they need more pictures and some tweaking to what they have in stock already BUT, it's still fun and they are getting better!

Online Tools: Wedding Widgets

2008-09-19T15:00:00.000-07:00

Do you have a blog for your wedding, sharing all the fun with friends and family along the way? Well, we have some great fun widgets you can add.
Take a look at these fun things you can add to your wedding blog! Oh, and here, you can add a quiz to your blog and find out how your bridesmaids really feel about that dress, 'doh, at MyStudiyo.Com!
All these fun widgets come from WidgetBox.Com.

What Great Stuff Are We Blogging About?

Wedding Countdown

LoveTripper- Celebrity Weddings

The Bridal Blacklist

Great Wedding Cakes,Ideas,Designs,Toppers,Decorations,and Accessories

Still Choosing That Honeymoon? Romantic Travel News

Cinematic Weddings (I simply LOVE this company)

Hot Wedding Auctions

Best Man Speech Insight

Photography Inspiration, Capturing Real Life (One of my favorite photographers!)

Indie Love - Wedding Songs

Blidget Promo Badgegreat free widgetsWidgetbox

Have fun & happy planning!
~w.s.

Online Tools: Color Palate Generators

2008-09-18T15:30:00.000-07:00

Choosing the colors for your wedding scheme may have been a daunting task in the past. Comparing ribbons in the fabric store or going to Home Depot for fistfuls of paint chips are certainly trips that are no longer needed.
A great benefit of the internet is the ability to browse thousands of pictures for inspiration as I am sure you already know! It's what you can now do with those photographs to create a clean and professional color scheme is what you may not know. Le us take you on a tour of four wonderful sites that have free online color tools you can use right this very second!

Try DeGraeve.com!
I used a background image I just love love love from COULORLovers.Com, and gave it to the generator to see what it came up with, albeit easy ;). They give you the color codes this pattern was made with, so matching is easily done. Seems to inspire me to use the colors from the pattern to throw someone a bridal shower and decorate the table accordingly *wink wink*! Still very acceptable colors for the autumn we are easing into.

I then went over to ColorHunter.Com
I used a photograph of a wedding arrangement from a wedding I worked on with florist, Wendy with Ravenna Bloom. She created this gorgeous arrangement for the tabletops that went so well with the overall grand design and colors of the ballroom at the Olympic Fairmont Hotel in Seattle. Let's see what colors ColorHunter came up with from those lovely flowers along.

Big Huge Labs also has a great online color generator.
In fact there is something about the very presentation that makes me usually pick them when I am looking for some color inspiration. Same interface as the other sites above, you take a photograph, upload it and see what the generator comes up with. Here at Big Huge Labs the generator the color gives you the option of downloading these swatches in Adobe Swatch Exchange (ASE) format for Photoshop or compatible applications.
I used the cover of Elegant Bride's summer issue to see what hues would come from this mostly monochromatic minty cover and cake...I like it (the pink did generate roof terracotta...interesting)! Perfect for a spring time wedding don't you think?

BigHugeLabs generates the ASE with the help of our next featured Online Tool...

COULORLovers.Com
Last today but not least I wanted to introduce you to ColourLovers.Com.
What? You haven't heard of them? Well, my dear, you simply *must* click on over, create an account and share the love. All the inspiration and codes you could ever need.

In addition to colors, there are so many creative folks sharing patterns, you may be able to find more than just colors for your wedding, but a background for your wedding website, your sideshow, a backing for your invitations?!

I am particularly crazy about this post since coloring as a kid was a favorite pass time. All 120 Crayon Names, Color Codes and Fun Facts! You can find ALL the color codes to that perfect color crayon you always coveted! Then work it into you wedding color scheme easily with the help of their fantastic tools and groups and forums! A must visit.

Choosing the right color combinations for you wedding just got a little easier with these fantastic online tools. With the code generators, it also makes creating some DIY elements much easier. Use the codes to continue the colors very easily into all your online, computer generated tasks so you can run that color theme though it all.
Also check out a previous post of our that will guide you in choosing wedding colors and most importantly *when* in your planning process you should make the color decisions.

Happy planning!
~w.s.

The Links

Here are the links, again, to the above online tools:

ColourLovers.Com

ColorHunter.Com

DeGraeve.Com!

Elegant Bride

other tool s I didn't mention above, but still like:

WellStyled.Com has a color scheme generator I enjoy.

ColorJack, super easy and quick.

Other articles from the web about choosing colors for your wedding!

WIAB - Choosing Wedding Colors

Favor Idea's - A Guide for Designing Brides By Blake

Also by Blake, over at Squidoo, Fall & Autumn Wedding Theme Trends

YourWeddingCompany.Com- Choosing Your Wedding Color Scheme

About.Com What is a Monochromatic Color Scheme?

Also at About.Com I really loved this article: Top Five Color Mixing Tips

BrilliantWeddingPages - Choosing Wedding Colors

WeddingHue.com has recently been posting about finding flowers in certain colors. Read thir post about flowers that are Purple, Red and Lavender

Online Tools: Wedding Mapper

2008-09-16T17:03:00.000-07:00

Annother great online tool for planning a wedding online is Wedding Mapper.
This site is beyond excellent. Having your wedding in a large city? Having out of town guests? Then wedding mapper is the way to go. Include a map in your wedding invitation or make it available online. Either way, providing a map is part of caring for your guests.

In addition to mapping your wedding sites wedding mapper offers more services. You can explore wedding mapper and gain inspiration by browsing their wedding photo galleries, chat on their message boards, explore real weddings from around the world and you can look for vendors in your area.

Wedding Mapper explains what they can do for you:

An innovative and unique planning tool for engaged couples:

A wedding map makes it easy to communicate detailed information about your wedding and the local area to a large number of people.
In addition to the key wedding locations, you can add restaurants, spas, parks, and your favorite local attractions to your wedding map.
You can add photos and custom descriptions make your wedding map more personalized.

You can easily share your wedding map with guests and your wedding vendors to ensure no one gets lost on the big day.
You can store vendor contact information, hidden from guests, on your wedding map to keep everything in one place.
It is easy to create a printed version of your wedding map. We have Professional and DIY options available.

A great resource for wedding guests and vendors:

Wedding guests can become familiar with the local area and plan their weekend itinerary.
Guests and wedding vendors can print custom driving directions to and from any location on the wedding map.
A search tool makes it easy for guests to find accommodations, stores, etc. that may not be included on the wedding map.
A list view of the wedding map gives guests an overview of where they need to be and when they need to be there.
DIY, with their help. Yes, there is a vendor out there who will support your DIY madness by actually helping you! See their DIY wedding map guide s.

But their services don't stop there, hold on there's more! You can upgrade at a very reasonable $9.99. When you upgrade you get:

Custom URL
Make it easier for your guests to read and remember your wedding map url. Perfect for wedding invitations. (eg. http://hisandjhers.weddingmapper.com)

Add Links
Add additional links to your wedding map. (eg. to your wedding website or registry sites)

Upload Files
Upload any files you used to create your wedding invitations so that your guests can print them out if they lose their invitations.

Enhanced Code Snippet
Add your wedding map to your wedding website with a location list, all photos, and driving directions.

Too busy to make your own map? You can have Distinctive Directions create it for you! Take a look at their packages here.

I highly recommend Wedding Mapper & the services of Distinctive Directions
Happy mapping & planning!
~w.s.

Online Tools: MissNowMrs!

2008-09-16T07:06:00.000-07:00

Here is a wonderful online tool for after the wedding!
For a mere $29.95 (what is *your* time worth) you can have MissNowMrs help you change you name legally.
Once the wedding is over you may take a deep breath sit back and relax knowing all the details are handled. With this service you'll now all the little details, what you need to change what and in what order these things need to be done! From your social security card, driver's license and banking needs this service makes it easy and stress free.

From their site:

MissNowMrs.com is the premier online name-change service created to simplify the name-change process for newlyweds. Once you select our $29.95 name-change package, you will be on your way to changing your name the easy way.

MissNowMrs.com will guide you through our three name-change steps:

Questions
You will be prompted to enter your personal information, which will be used to auto-complete your Social Security, IRS 8822, United States Passport, United States Postal Service, and State Driver’s License forms. You will then be asked questions, which will be used to complete name-change notification letters for your banks, credit cards, mortgage providers, utilities, medical providers, insurance companies, professional license boards, and investment companies. If you are uncomfortable entering certain personal information, such as your social security number or account numbers, you have the option to personally write it on each form.

Forms
Once your forms and notification letters are completed you will have the opportunity to review each form and letter to make sure that it is accurate. Upon approval of your forms and letters you can print them directly from the website or save them on you computer and print them.

File
Each form will print out with an instruction sheet. The sheet provides the order of submission, fees, required documents, office locations, and mailing addresses for each form. Notification letters also print with a set of instructions and a checklist to help you manage your form and letter filing.

What you can take care of with MissNowMrs:

Social Security
IRS
U.S. Passport
U.S. Postal Service
Driver's License
Voter Registration
Bank Notification Letter
Credit Card Notification Letter
Mortgage Notification Letter
Utility Notification Letter
Medical Notification Letter
Insurance Notification Letter
Professional License Notification Letter
Investment Notification Letter
Certified Marriage Certificate(s)

Certified Marriage Certificates

Many of the name-change forms require a certified marriage certificate to be included as proof of name change. MissNowMrs.com can provide you with an auto-completed form to request these certificates. Typically you only need to answer one more question to complete the request form. When you have completed the three MissNowMrs.com name-change steps you will be given the opportunity to purchase a marriage certificate request form for $4.95.

Click above and begin changing your name today!

Happy planning!
~w.s.

Online Tools: Wedding Wire

2008-09-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

Wedding Wire is quickly becoming a must have for planning a wedding.
W.W. has been around for a while and they keep getting better and better. Having all the tools you need on one convent site can be a real life saver.
The network they provide to you and to vendors is also very useful. You search for vendors in your area and see reviews. After your wedding you can leave reviews for the vendors you have used to benefit other brides.
Being endorsed by Martha Stewart also makes this service is a 'good thing'.
See what you can do with Wedding Wire's online tools for free!

My Website
Build a personalized wedding website with designer templates. Post info, pics, videos & more.
My Budget
Easily track your expenses and stay on top of your budget. Never miss a payment!
My Seating
The quickest way to create and manage your seating chart. Drag and drop people into their seats
My Guests
Track attendance, invitations, gifts and more. Integrated with the wedding website for online RSVPs!
My Timeline
Dragable timeline for all your wedding events and appointments.
My Checklist
Manage your tasks and track all the important wedding details.
My Binder
Store vendor links, websites, images, proposals, and contracts.
My Vendors
Manage all your vendors, record progress, and post reviews.

Happy planning!
~w.s.

Ellen & Portia

2008-09-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Ellen & Portia

Thank you for sharing your wonderful day with all of us!

From Newsweek:

Q&A
Ellen’s Big Gay Wedding

By Ramin Setoodeh | NEWSWEEK

Published Sep 6, 2008

From the magazine issue dated Sep 15, 2008

What did you do on your summer vacation? Ellen DeGeneres got married to girlfriend Portia de Rossi in California. Her talk show returns this week, but first she spoke to Ramin Setoodeh about all things Ellen.

You ' re one minute early.
I'm sorry. I'll call you right back. I am always either on time or way early. So one minute is perfect for me.

I read that your Ellen boxer briefs sell really well.
Everyone sells things, and they have obvious things like coffee mugs. I wanted something different, so I thought of boxer briefs. There are a lot of men that wear them all the time. I saw Martin Sheen at some airport. He pulled his pants down to show me he had Ellen underwear on.

Are you going to show your wedding photos on your show?
We have photos and video. We're not going to show the ceremony—that's too intimate. But we have this meadow. We were trying to take pictures before the guests arrived. Every time we went out, helicopters would circle, so we were running back and forth. There's a lot of footage of us running back and forth.

What ' s the difference between a gay wedding and a straight one?
Well, the food is gay. The water is gay. There's a gay vibe.

Was there a best man?
No. We did something that was nontraditional but not weird. I think you could find a straight couple that had a weirder wedding than us.

Did you cry?
Oh, yeah. I cried when I saw her, because we didn't want to see our outfits beforehand. Actually, I could cry right now thinking about it. I never thought I would have that experience of getting married. I didn't think I was missing anything. I just didn't think about it. But to see her for the first time and to cut a wedding cake, that was surreal for me and I got to experience that with our families around us. I didn't realize how special it was until I did it.

What kind of cake did you have?
Red velvet. It was vegan—we're both vegans.

Why a pantsuit instead of a traditional wedding dress?
I'd never wear a dress. I don't ever feel comfortable in a dress. The last time I wore a dress was 12 years ago. I've never liked them, even when I was younger.

But you ' ve worn a wedding dress on screen before.
Well, yeah. I'll do anything for a laugh. But I think your wedding day should be about being comfortable. Zac Posen designed our outfits. My shirt was sheer and it was lace and ribbon through it. It was more feminine than I would go, but it was still a gorgeous look. There's no way to compete with the dress Portia was wearing, so why try?

Are you going to have kids?
I don't know. They're cute, but they're a lot of trouble. There's always something to worry about at every age.

Are animals easier?
I worry about them, too. But they are a little easier. And they don't talk back to you.

© 2008

Online Tools: EZWeddingPlanner

2008-09-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

Since I have been introducing you to some great online resources recently, I thought I'd continue it this week.
See recent posts; My Wedding Websites, Wishpot Online Registry Service which are both free.

Today, another great and free resource.
I have recommended this site to all l the brides I work with at my venue.
As you know you can download a 'free wedding planner' at almost every wedding site on the internet. In my opinion these are a great starting point, yet hardly a planner. There are so many particulars that go into planning a wedding, it's almost insulting then you are given a 4 pages and wished good luck! These, my friends, are very very basic outlines.
EZ Wedding Planner however is all encompassing and is just fantastic. Kudos to the creators. Just take a look at all you can accomplish with this dynamic online service. There is no way I can describe their service better then they can. So from their site:

You have the perfect wedding in mind. But, with so many details to plan and track, how do you organize it all to pull it off easily and smoothly? EZ Wedding Planner can help! It's software you don't load onto your computer. It works from any browser, is password protected, secure and all your data is backed up daily. You always have the latest features and upgrades.
Budget: An easy place to calculate all of the costs contributing to your wedding. No need to overspend your budget. You can enter estimates, actuals, and what has been paid so far, along with who pays for each expense and comments on each expense. Are multiple people paying for different portions of your wedding? All expenses can be sorted by category (like floral, attire, music, etc.) and by who pays (family of bride, bride, family of groom, groom, etc.), for concise reports and easy budgeting.

Plan: A guide to help you keep track of all the must-do details, organized by due-dates, based on your wedding date. Don’t let important lead-times slip away, creating a time panic and/or booking conflicts. Over 100 items listed, plus the flexibility to add your own to-do’s and display all items or only those left undone. This feature alone is worth the whole package. You can get an instant look at what you have already accomplished and what still needs to be done and by when – from 15 months prior right up to the day of your wedding. You can also choose to receive emails of your planned items as they become due, so you won't forget anything. Plan items and dates can also be modified or deleted to fit your wedding. You can even see a month-at-a-time calendar displaying your items to do. Click on the yellow light bulb for great ideas and helpful hints about the Plan items. For example, Book organist and wedding soloists has lots of detail about ceremony music including over 400 suggested pieces.

People: After the Bride and Groom, the most important people at your wedding are your guests and attendants. Easily generate guest lists, track RSVP counts for wedding, reception and other planned events (like shower or groom’s dinner), and track gift lists and thank-you notes sent. Having a calligrapher address your invitations? Simply print out your invitation list with names and addresses and you’re ready to go. You can even enter birthdays, anniversaries, and other important information about your guests. Then view/print a report by date of these events, or choose to receive email x number of days before, so you will never forget to send those cards again. Your guest list is also automatically shown in the reception seating section, for taking one of the biggest headaches out of your reception planning. You can even specify if your guests smoke or not, for seating preferences.

Seating: The Seating feature simplifies one of the most complicated and tedious jobs a bride faces. Here you assign your reception guests to tables. You can select either to display the names of people who have rsvp'd yes, or to display the number in the party, regardless of if they have sent back an rsvp or not. You specify how many tables you will have, how many people can sit at each table, and the shape (round, rectangle, etc.) Table numbers will be assigned to each configuration. Then, you can "seat" each guest at a table. It's a snap to add or delete tables or to modify table data as well as moving guests to other tables, or off completely. You can even designate people as smokers (in their person profile) and a cigarette will show up after their name. So, you can easily group smokers vs non-smokers if you wish. Then, when it comes to making table cards, simply print your seating page and you will have all the names and associated table numbers in one handy list.

Vendors: All those people who help make your wedding so special will be kept in one handy place. Musicians, caterers, flowers, limo services, photographers and videographers, cake bakers, ministers, and anyone else of whom you want to keep track. Then on the day of your wedding, you will have a list of all of your important contacts, using the EZ Wedding Planner Vendor List. Did you have a wonderful experience working with your photographer? You can share your favorite vendors and venues with the other users of EZ Wedding Planner and look up vendors and venues from our master list.

Events: A convenient place to gather all of the details of those important locations (wedding, reception site, groom’s dinner, showers, or any other planned events.) Locations, dates, start/stop times, estimated and actual number of people attending, and notes for each event can be tracked. Have a bridal gown fitting at 4pm on the 22nd, meeting with a minister at 2pm on the 5th and then a hair appointment at 5:30pm on the 5th? Here’s a great way to organize these key events by scheduled times.

Options: This includes such items as allowing a change in the wedding date to automatically recalculate all of the Plan due-dates. You can choose to have email reminders sent to you reminding of plan and event items as well as guest birthday and anniversary dates. Your password to use EZ Wedding Planner can be changed here. The Wedding Day Timetable allows you to keep track of each scheduled event on the actual day of your wedding. Keep in one printable report details like when is your hair appointment, what time the photos begin, when the cake should be delivered, what time the reception hall is open for your guests, and a myriad of other details. Also, under options, you can assign a page where your guests can see details about your events, gift list, registries, bride and groom email addresses, your wedding day timetable and any personal notes you choose to tell them. You decide how much detail to show, assign them a password and specify if you want to be emailed with information of who looks at your guest page.

Lists: Printable worksheets for ease in organizing your wedding include: budgets by category and by who pays, including balances remaining. See your invitation lists alphabetical by name, sorted by address or by those who haven’t RSVP’d. Vendor lists with vital phone numbers and contacts, photography wish lists, event schedules and your wedding day timetables are included. You can list your registry preferences along with specific gift lists, both of which can be displayed on your guest page. Then track the thank you notes you have sent and those yet to be done. One of the items in the List category is the automated reception seating plan (or click on the SeatingList selections are an invaluable resource in wedding planning. icon). Here you can assign your guests to tables, of which you control the number, size and shape. Guests are easily moved around or deleted from tables. There is also a free-form notepad area to jot down anything you like. Overall, the

Gifts: Maintain a list of gifts needed and received along with details of patterns, sizes, colors, stores, models, etc. Select the gifts you would like from a large, categorized suggestion list containing hundreds of typical household needs in 25 categories. You can also specify at which stores you have registered.

Registry: This selection allows you to add and remove store names where you have registered. This list can be included on your guest page (selected under Options).

Advice: Over 50 major topics discussed, including advice on wedding invitations and programs, hair, music, flowers, caterers, reception details, seating, budget tips, and much more. Dozens of questions and answers are listed both on general wedding questions and on EZ Wedding Planner program operation. These questions have been emailed to us from brides all over the world who are using EZ Wedding Planner.

Log Out: This will drop your connection to your EZ Wedding Planner database. You will have to log back on to access and move around your EZ Wedding Planner data. This will ensure that anyone else using your computer will not be able to edit any of your data without first logging onto EZ Wedding Planner. If you are the only one using your computer, or this is not a concern to you, it is not necessary to log out.

EZ Wedding Planner!

I highly recommend using this tool!

More to come this week...

Happy planning!
~w.s.

Wedding Expert

2008-09-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

...or shopping expert?
Okay, no surprise that Wedding Savvy loves to shop! Honestly shopping *is* researching and I have always loved a good research assignment. Searching out the best of the best, the newest and coolest to the traditional and classic is my forte. The internet has expanded this hobby over the past few years to what, some might say, is pure addition!
So being picked as a Wedding (shopping) Expert on Wishpot, is indeed an honor, a privileged and another reason to keep shopping! Weu Weu!
What is Wishpot? Let's introduce you! It's a great shopping, registry site. You can surf all over the internet and add whatever you want from ANY site to your gift lists! You can create lists for your wedding registry or lists for friends or for yourself. You can also choose who you share your lists with. It's truly an amazing service!
We here at WIAB have created multiple lists of fun stuff and we are just getting started! Check out our lists here.
Thanks to their very savvy-ness, here are some video's via YouTube to help how Wishpot works! This first video will tell you what it's all about and how to use it! The second is how to use the add it to Wishpot button to your toolbarand the third explains how to use Wishpot for your wedding registry!

Happy wishing & planning!
~w.s.

My Wedding

2008-09-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

Have you met MyWedding.Com? You should.
A great resource that provides links to local vendors all over the States. Many of the vendors I have had the privileged of working with at my venue advertise here.

In addition to being a fantastic referral site, they have a great blog you should add to your feed.

As you read this they are having a giveaway in conjunction with Estilo weddings, win these cute cute cute lazer cute cupcake wrapers!

Leave a comment on what kind of cake you are having! They will choose the winning comment on September 10th!

And last but certainly not least, MyWedding.Com also has free (yes free) wedding websites available.

A wedding website is a fantastic addition to your wedding planning process. Let everyone involved know all bout your wedding all along the way! Here are some things you can do with a wedding website over at MyWedding:

Share a personal music playlist on your free wedding website
upload a limitless amount of images!
Guests can sign into your guest book and leave you personal notes!
It's a wedding 'blog' as well, let your loved ones experience this wedding planning adventure with you.
Skip the RSVP cards and postage when guests can RSVP from your website.
Created pages for every area of your event. Create a "Our Story" page, “Wedding Party” page, “Accommodations” and “Attractions” for out of town guests and use the “Wedding Events” page for the pre and post wedding activities! You can arrange these pages any way you like.
Keep vendor info all arranged and easioly accesable in one place. Import contacts from Outlook, Outlook Express, Yahoo, Gmail, AOL.
Integrate you gift registry. Using Wishpot with a free wedding website at MyWedding is easy. AND, if you go to an actual store to register, you can crate a store gift registry link.

In addition to all this, what I am especially in love with is that you can have invitations printed up to match the website! How cool is that?

Oh, and make sure you check out their links to wedding events in your area and check out a wedding show or two!

Happy planning!
~w.s.

Email Invitations?

2008-09-04T06:00:00.000-07:00

So if you and your guests are totally internet savvy, then this idea might just work for you!
My Invitation Link Twittered me and I like it, so I'm blogging about it!
Take a look see!

You can add 20 photos to your invitation slide show...

Choose some great music and end up with the invitation itself!

Pretty nifty stuff here and *this* idea is totally green. No ink, no paper, no postage!

Choose you template (there are many) and start today!

The rates are:

So check out the FAQ's here. This may be a perfect fit for the savvy couple!

Happy planning!
~w.s.

Get Married Live Chats

2008-09-03T07:52:00.001-07:00

Do you know Get Married? Get Married is the wedding section of Lifetime television and a great resource to those planning a wedding. There are a lot of great ideas there.
Every Wednesday they host live chats with wedding industry professionals. Today you can chat about your wedding style. Drop by today 12 noon EST, 9 am for us PST and chat with Divine Basics, about how to use creativity to create a celebrity-style wedding!

Happy planning! ~w.s.

Floral & Event Spotlight: Yvonne Floral & Decor

2008-08-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

Oh my, we are in love. Meet Yvonne Floral Design, Stunning Event & Floral Decor
If you are having a ceremony in Hawaii, we found the floral and event designer for you, take a look...

From her Bio:

Yvonne's passion for flowers developed early in life as she spent time between her family’s two floral design studios in her hometown in Washington State. Her unique and innovative style is influenced not only by the physical beauty of a flower, but also by its development and life process.

It was during Yvonne's studies in psychology at the University of Washington where her passion was taken to a whole new level as she was inspired by the power of a flower. She intuitively learned that flowers have the powerful ability to touch the senses: smell, touch and sight by recalling a memory, evoking emotion and creating an experience. This interplay is felt as she skillfully weaves artistry and emotion throughout her designs.

Before launching Yvonne Floral Design in Hawaii in 2002, Yvonne created floral designs for Donald Trump at his private club, Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida. It was designing for a plethora of celebrity events and weddings at Mar-a-Lago where her unique style truly blossomed.

Yvonne's love of color and texture is obvious, and her natural creative flair and stylistic approach allows her to constantly invent fresh and imaginative ways to incorporate flowers into special celebrations. Yvonne takes a simple idea and turns it into an exciting and distinctive floral piece beyond the imagination. Clients often collaborate with Yvonne's creative ideas to refine their individual style and to discover adventurous possibilities to customize their
event.
info@yvonnefloral.com
Happy planning!
~w.s.

Fab Finds! Love, Me!

2008-08-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

Today we were turned onto this nifty little tool. Perfect for your fall themed wedding turn apples and pumpkins into custom votive holders! It's okay Martha, we don't need the power drill this time!

Candle Carver

Who said you shouldn't play with your food? The Candle Carver turns the most basic fruit and vegetable into something extraordinary! Simply twist the Candle Carver into apples, pears, squash, mini pumpkin... and it carves a hole that is just the right size for a tea light. Think of the imaginative centerpieces and table setting decorations you can create!

Centerpiece Decoration
Food Presentation
Creative Chocolate Dipping
Unique Flower Vases

Made of Stainless Steel and measures 3.75� long v 3.5" wide.

~~~

What a fab find! Thanks to Bride's blog Wedded Bits!
~~~~

Some other great finds here at Love, Me.com, a series of products by Mindy Weiss, wedding expert extraordinaire. Get all your wedding planning supplies from Mindy!

~~~

If you feel like you are totally stumped for gift ideas, and who doesn't feel that way from time to time, check out Love, Me's personal shopper, Michelle! Sweet.

~~~

And last but not least,when you are need of some laughs:

Going Bridal Guide

This take-no-prisoners, tell it like it is guidebook doubles as comic relief for any bride in waiting who is in need of a laugh as she plans the big day.

From the quest for physical perfection to advice for the location challenged as well as how to handle friends and family who are on the verge of going bridal themselves, this is our hands down favorite pre-wedding survival guide.

P.S. I'd like to see the blog updated...

Sunday Wedding News

2008-08-24T09:57:00.000-07:00

Turlock hopes to bring in the brides
Los Angeles Times - CA,USA
The Central Valley farm town is making plans to be the state's top spot for wedding-related business. By Steve Chawkins, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer ...

Scarlett Johansson delays wedding
China Daily - China
Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds have delayed their wedding until after the US Presidential election. The 'Other Boleyn Girl' actress is keen to hold ...

Now on the Hallmark aisle: Gay marriage cards
LocalNews8.com - Idaho Falls,ID,USA
AP - August 21, 2008 9:23 AM ET The nation's largest greeting card company is rolling out same-sex wedding cards that include images of 2 tuxedos, ...

More Than 1000 Newspapers Accept Gay 'Wedding' Announcements
CitizenLink - Colorado Springs,CO,USA
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is heralding the fact that 1049 newspapers across the nation now accept "wedding" announcements from ...

Use common sense when designating wedding roles
Houston Chronicle - United States
What surprises Miss Manners is how puzzled people are when what they call the "roles" in the wedding party do not match the genders of those whom they wish ...

Official wedding photo: Ellen DeGeneres, Portia de Rossi
Los Angeles Times - CA,USA
Even though the British tabs already ran some sneaky blurry pixs of the occasion, here's the official Getty Images wedding portrait of Ellen DeGeneres and ...

Seeking cheap wedding tips
Baltimore Sun - United States
Couples spent an average of more than $28000 last year on their weddings, according to The Wedding Report. That's enough money to pay for things that ...

Tips on Decorating Your Wedding Day
Corsavoo.com - Bastia,Corse,France
Anticipate many factors such us, the them of your wedding, the number of guests you will be invited, cost of hall that you want to use, wedding decorator ...

CMT to debut 'My Big Redneck Wedding's new season on October 4
Reality TV World - Mansfield,MA,USA
By Christopher Rocchio, 08/18/2008 CMT has announced My Big Redneck Wedding's second season will premiere Saturday, October 4 at 9PM ET/PT. ...

Wedding in the Works For Kim Kardashian?
KOIN.com - Portland,OR,USA
Will Kim Kardashian be the next celeb to make it official? The reality show star told People magazine that she and her football beau Reggie Bush do indeed ...

Sparkly Wedding DIY - More Sparkle with Crystals

2008-08-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

I have been so inspired by the sparkling handicrafts I have seen recently! Just fantastic! I want to share with you even more ways to incorporate sparkly accents into your wedding designs using crystals! I hope you enjoy and are inspired!

A Sparkling Wishing Tree

Image from: Here Comes the Guide

One last look at a variation on the crystal tree. From Here Comes the Guide, this amazing variation of the crystal wedding tree...the wishing tree! Simply follow the instructions for the crystal wedding tree, although these do not have to be as tall. Place some wish tags and pens on the table and have your guests write wishes for the bride and groom. A sparkly variation to the traditional guest book that adds so much to your over all decor!

Crystal Stems & Accents for Your Wedding Bouquet

Image from:

These are pretty little sparkles you can add to your floral wedding bouquet from veilubridal.com. You can purchase these outright or DIY. Over at DIY Bride, she teaches you step by step how to make these accents yourself. Most florists will happily provide these for you, but you can also DIY and add then to your bouquet yourself (you may want to let your florist know your doing it, or give her the crystal stems for them to add, so the look is just right). You can also add a crystal monogram as seen above!

A Crystal Bouquet
Image from: Chris@geocities.com

Nothing but crystals for this bouquet! Chris has a blog over at geocities where she shares with us step by step directions. These are some of the best directions I have found to make your own crystal wedding bouquet. She shares pictures, tips and advice from her 'Knottie' friends as well. Remember practice makes perfect if you are a DIY'er, or of course you can purchase one ready made with a simple Google search.

Top This Cake Topper
Images from: STBMrsJ @vbride.com message board, gina674 @nycweddings.com message board and Hamiharri @ anotherweddingblog

Many brides have taken on this DIY project by adding crystals to their monogram cake topper. Purchase your initials precut and add the sparkles in colors and patterns that match your overall wedding style. At the blog, Expect Nothing But Perfection they describe exactly how to make a crystal monogram cake topper! Also, instructions here too at Another Wedding Blog.

Crystal accents for your paper lantern!

Image from: CREATE your STYLE™ with CRYSTALLIZED™ -Swarovski Elements

From CREATE your STYLE™ with CRYSTALLIZED™ -Swarovski Elements comes a most fantastic idea to ad some crystal accents to your paper lantern display. Hang a bunch of lanterns then decorate a few lanterns with crystals. Hang a few throwies inside (see this previous post on lighting your lanterns with LED's) and watch the WOW factor come alive!

Head Wreath & Tiaras

Wen Hsu has created some stunning bridal jewelry here at Mareas Headpieces as well as sharing tutorials on her site. Stunning.

The Links

DIY:
Our previous post for DIY'ing The Crystal Wedding Tree
Create Your Style with Swarovski shares many inspirational crafts at their site.
DIY Bride instructions for crystal stems for your bouquet

" " instructions for your crystal bouque t.
Wedding Ideas & Details has tips for making your own monogram cake topper.
DIY Network has some step by step instructions for making your own jewelry.
NVO shows you step by step how to make a tiara.
Jewelry Supply also shows you how to make a wedding tiara.
IO-Mareas shares their tutorials on how to make a beautiful head wreath and a headband!
Wed Craft uses the 'way back' machine to make some old listing of crafts come alive again. Many great ideas and sources here.

Vendors:

After the Dress sells crystal bouquet letters as well as some crystal stems.
Custom Crystals makes very pretty Swarovski crystal monogram cake toppers.
Veilu Bridal sells lovely bouquet jewelry.
Couture Cake Jewelry sells monogram crystal cake toppers.
Mareas Headpiece s Oh so beautiful creations. As well as sharing instructions for tiaras and headbands, you can purchase their products outright.

Crystal & Bead Vendors:
Decorating Studio a wonderful supplier. Great trims.
Art Beads has very affordable supplies.
Jewelry Supply has a wide variety of Swarovski crystals
Goodie Beads has a nice large selection of Swarovski & crafting supplies.
Cute As A Button has some pretty accent pieces.
Ebay offers great deals!
Panda Hall has all kinds of shapes of Swarovski.

Happy planning & crafting!
~w.s.

10 Ways to Add Sparkle to Your Wedding - Ribbon Sliders & Buckles

2008-08-21T12:00:00.000-07:00

Okay sparkly bride, here are 10 ways to add a little bling to your day.

Today we wanted to show you some easy ways to incorporate these very stylish ribbon sliders and crystal buckles into your wedding design.

1. Use a rhinestone buckle on your wedding invitation, seating chart, escort cards, table numbers...:

Image from:invitedpersonally.co.uk

2. Make a statement on your bouquet:

Image from: weddingsbycinda.com

3. Slide a little sparkle onto a ribbon and wrap it around the vase you use for your centerpiece:

Image from: Soiree Special Events Blog post, scanned from Bride & Bloom

4. Use a rhinestone ribbon slider/buckle on the napkin rings:

Image: decorative instincts

5. Continue your design on your unity candle:

Image from: prettyadversity On Flickr

6. A bit of bling on your wedding favor boxes:

Image from: RomanticFlowers.com

7. The bling continues to your guest book & pen:Image from: invitationsbydawn.com

8. Ribbon sliders used to embellish the ring pillow & flower girl basket:

Image from: theknot.com

9. Use a larger buckle for the sash on your dress, your bridesmaid dresses and for the flower girl:

Images from: dessy.com, davidsbridal.com & davidsbridal.com

10. Embellish your shoes or flip flops with a sparkly buckle:

Images from: dyeableshoesavenue.com & leighkarsch.com

The majority of images above are from professional vendors, which we have linked to below the pictures.

You can however add these little accents yourself if you want to DIY. We have linked to sites that sell these buckles & ribbon sliders so you *can* do it yourself!

The Links

Rhinestone ribbon sliders and buckles:

absolutecrystalcomponents.com
albertzoll.com
beadinpath.com
dreamtimecreations.com
ebay
jablonex.us
rhinestonejewelry.com
storydoor.com
syntego.co.uk
textstyledesigns
wildorchidcrafts.com
joann.com
victoryfashion.com

Happy planning!
~w.s.

Sparkly DIY - Crystal Wedding Tree

2008-08-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

Let's take a journey into DIY land and add a little sparkle to your wedding. Adding a few crystals to your dress, your invites and your decor may just be easier than you thought. We'll post a few ideas this week, so check back...

First up is the very trendy and modern crystal wedding tree. If you are looking for non floral centerpiece ideas, this is indeed a very popular trend. These can be used as centerpieces for each guest table, as accents for your escort card table, your bar or your candy buffet.

Cristalier.com is the premier source for information for purchasing a pre made tree, instructions on how to make your own as well as supplies. This video instruction below is fantastic!

How To Make A Crystal Wedding Tree

If you are not crafty, you can purchase these trees outright an sometimes find event designers to rent them from. Making your own can be fun and gives you the opportunity to fine tune the design specially to our event in your colors and theme.
Below you can find links to finding the right kind of branches and crystals to make your own crystal wedding tree. After your wedding you can give these as gifts or sell them to other brides in the planning process.

Links

Cristalier.Com - Shop supplies, browse their gallery and 'Map Your Creativity'.

EtherealDecor.Com - Offers great photographs, purchse ready made trees as well as tutorials and supplies for the DIY'er.

ManzanitaBranches.Com - Where to get Manzanita branches and how to use them. This is an ultra cool blog with a lot of great ideas for using manzanita branches in your designs. See their tutorial here.

BloomsAndBranches.Com - Create your own manzanita centerpieces and decorative manzanita trees for a stunning and dramatic look at your event or wedding. We have paper mache containers, artificial and preserved flowers, and hanging votive candles to get you started building your perfect centerpiece, and all sizes of manzanita trees and branches in both natural red and sandblasted white.

eHow - How to Make a Manzanita Tree Sculpture By Erinn Valencich

WildThings.Com offers a wide selection & variation of trees.

LoveToKnow.Com - Offers great instructions as well for your crystal wedding tree.

DecoratorsStudio.Com - A wide selection of crafty sparkly items for purchase.

Sunday Wedding News

2008-08-17T07:36:00.000-07:00

Ellen & Portia Prep for Home Wedding?
E! Online - USA
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi's wedding preparations have begun—and it appears the nuptials will take place at their $29 million love nest. E! ...

Does this mean the wedding's off?
Seattle Post Intelligencer - USA
The Associated Press reports that A Poulsbo woman was jailed after being accused of beating up her fiance at their prenuptial party. ...

Priscilla Presley's life has come full circle
New York Daily News - New York,NY,USA
One of the new arrivals this year is the first-ever Graceland-sanctioned Elvis and Priscilla wedding doll. The first few models were auctioned for charity ...

Saying "I do" to a green wedding
Seattle Times - United States
Making your wedding as green and eco-friendly as possible is hot right now. Here are some tips, many from a West Seattle couple who tied the knot on Vashon ...

A wedding gift for the excluded Earl of Lonsdale?
Telegraph.co.uk - United Kingdom
Caroline, Countess of Lonsdale now has the opportunity to offer her stepson an olive branch by inviting him to the wedding of her daughter, ...

A real Quaker wedding is not so easy
Boston Globe - United States
A Quaker wedding is neither easy nor hasty. Two committees must be appointed by a congregation. One of the duties is to sign the legal marriage license, ...

First Photos of Jewel Kilcher's Hush Hush Wedding on People
AceShowbiz - Surabaya,Indonesia
by Peter Rooley The singer shared details of her secret wedding to Ty and some photos from the event to this week issue of People magazine. ...

Have a Simple, Small, Green Wedding
Planet Thrive - Long Beach,NY,USA
A WEDDING IS ONE OF LIFE'S major rites of passage. It is certainly something to celebrate! Today, wedding books and magazines promote large weddings so that ...

Businesses can help save money on weddings
Village News Network - Fallbrook,CA,USA
Finding the perfect location, wedding gown and all the extras can add up quickly. Deciding what to serve guests, choosing the music and the wedding cake has ...

Have a nice wedding and buy your first home, too
Chicago Tribune - United States
She accepted and soon went into overdrive, planning a fancy wedding for 250 guests. But he wants to downscale the wedding plans. Why? ...

‘Dream Day Wedding’ game offers plenty of challenges
Asheville Citizen-Times - NC,USA
The latest in the franchise, “Dream Day Wedding: Married in Manhattan” (free to try for 60 minutes, then $19.95 to buy), will satisfy fans of the series, ...

Mariah Carey Post-Wedding Fantasy Comes True
Post Chronicle - USA
by Staff Mariah Carey and new husband Nick Cannon reportedly celebrated their nuptials at a star-studded post-wedding party at the weekend (09Aug08), ...

Couples pick 8-8-8 wedding day for good luck
CTV.ca - Canada
Wedding bells rang all across Toronto Friday, as couples looking for luck picked the triple-eight to say "I do." The eighth day, of the eighth month, ...

Man Struck by Lightning on Wedding Day
My Fox Colorado.com - Denver,CO,USA
EVERGREEN (MyFOXColorado.com) - A groom's wedding day got off to a rough start after he was struck by lightning just hours before the ceremony. ...

Wedding-day disasters didn't stop 'I dos'
CNN International - USA
By Katie Hawkins (CNN) -- Brandi Robinson hoped for a beautiful outdoor wedding in the hills of Central Pennsylvania. Mother Nature had other plans. ...

Couple plans for shoestring wedding
The Press Association -
A couple will marry on a shoestring budget of £407 after trawling the internet and picking up bargains for their wedding. ...

Wedding list firm Wrapit probed
Times Online - UK
ADMINISTRATORS for the failed wedding-list company Wrapit are investigating whether the group was trading insolvently before it went under last week. ...

Why brides should say ‘I don’t’ to wedding lists
Sunday Herald - Glasgow,Scotland,UK
IT WAS a wedding march with a difference. Last week, dozens of angry brides donned their frocks and, armed with some seriously frightening bouquets, ...

PinkCalyx.com Launches 24 Karat Gold Same-Sex Wedding Ring
PR Web (press release) - Ferndale,WA,USA
Internet jewelry retailer specializing in unique, artist designed jewelry creates a custom wedding band designed to celebrate gay marriage. ...

Star Wars fans have themed wedding with Yoda presiding

Telegraph.co.uk - United Kingdom

"Rebecca and I are massive fans of the films and when were were planning the wedding we thought why not Star Wars?", said Mr Duda, a school teacher. ...

GROOM SERVICE: Wedding gifts make me nervous
London Free Press - Canada
It’s just that wedding gifts make me . . . nervous. Amanda had to do some careful explaining to get me on board with the whole registry idea. ...

Rehearsal Dinner Invitations

2008-08-15T06:00:00.000-07:00

Whether it's a dinner out, at the club or your soon to be mother-in-law's home, you'll want to send out invitations.
A few weeks after the wedding invitations go out, send out the rehearsal dinner invites to those in your wedding party.
It's a good idea to be clear from the get go about the formality of this dinner as well as indicating to the invitees if they are welcome to bring a date or their S.O.

Here are our favorite rehearsal dinner invitations from The Wedding Paper Divas.

Although this sample is for dinner at a restaurant, we like the idea of using this invitation for a home rehearsal dinner..it's sweet and less formal.

Interesting how this invitations states the Allison family as hosting this dinner. Maybe a nice Auntie Sue stepped up to host. Wouldn't that be sweet? Remember traditions are guidelines, not rules.

You can incorporate your wedding colors into this invitation, but you don't have to. Make this dinner just different enough so the next night is still exciting and new!

Remember that if you start dinner at 7:30, you may find the dinner should only be a couple hours long...you all have a big day tomorrow!

A beautiful invitation with whimsy. Traditional hosting by the grooms parents. Don't forget to R.S.V.P. to his mom!

Happy planning!
~w.s.

Your Rehearsal Dinner

2008-08-14T16:31:00.000-07:00

After you have your wedding rehearsal most folks will hop over to a restaurant nearby for a rehearsal dinner.
The rehearsal dinner is a great time for everyone in the wedding party to get to know one another. In most cases this is one of the few times the wedding party together with your families sit down together and get to know one another better.

Make sure before the evening is over that everyone has a copy of their time line for the next day too. Of course that should have all been handled at the rehearsal, this dinner is about relaxing with those closest to you...just have additional copies available at the end of the evening!

Your rehearsal dinner is not mandatory of course, but believe me, it's a very nice way to be able thank these close family and friends for being part of your ceremony. You may not get a chance to thank them again until after your honeymoon!

Traditionally Speaking
Since the brides parents are paying for the wedding, the grooms parents host the rehearsal dinner. It's the time for the grooms family to welcome the bride and her family into theirs.

The Budget
Sometimes the traditions don't mesh with the reality. These days the couple may pay or the parents may split the costs. Don't let 'tradition' mess with your pocket book or your family dynamic, a good sit down with all family members involved is advised.

Toasts
The grooms father usually gives the welcome speech, often with his wife and toasts the bride and groom followed by the best man. After dinner the bride and groom should toast to their wedding party and give their gifts. Any other toasts may be given over dessert but before too many drinks are consumed. Depending on the formality of your restaurant you'll want to be aware that wait staff generally will not serve wile toasts are being given, out of respect. Wait to be served, then let the toasting being, or continue!

Giving your gifts.
This is also one of the best times for the bride and groom to present gifts to their wedding party and often the parents as well. After finishing dinner and the plates are cleared, the bride and groom can toast to the parents and wedding party followed by giving tokens of your appreciation.

Who to Invite?
Everyone in the wedding party plus the close family members like grandmothers who will be formally seated. It's nice but not mandatory to invite the spouses/significant others of the bridesmaids and groomsmen. I do not feel the obligation to tell you it's obligatory to invite out of town guests. Simply, if they are in the wedding party, they are invited. Don't forget your officiant plus his or her guest!

Where to have the dinner?
A restaurant is the obvious choice, no cooking, no cleaning, just celebrating over a great meal. Many times your ceremony venue will have a room available for a rehearsal dinner, ask! Another possibility is to have an informal yet intimate dinner as the host/hostesses home.
Skipping a more formal dinner and having an informal get together is just fine too. Having a BBQ or having a dessert get together after the rehearsal are just as acceptable.

The Food!
Are you focused on food? Should it complement what you are serving the next night at your reception? Not at all! You can feel free to explore what your local resultants have to offer. Maybe the grooms mother will decide to host the affair and cook up some family favorites? There are not limits, boundaries or etiquette on food type (just allergy considerations)!

How formal?
This is up to you and those hosting the dinner. If you are having your dinner in a nice four or five diamond restaurant, send out invitations with a word about with the formality included. The host and hostess should look the part. The dinner is another that is for the bride and groom, so dress up in a petty flirty cocktail dress. The groom, a nice button down shirt, tie and slacks is always acceptable no matter the location.

Being practical with timing, you'll want to mull these over.

A rehearsal dinner is just that, a dinner at dinner time. Think about the feasibility of that.
When does your rehearsal begin? Allow an hour for the rehearsal, then include travel time to the dinner.
Are you having your rehearsal on a weekday evening? Will all of your attendance be able to attend with work schedule and folks coming in from out of town try to plan a rehearsal dinner that can accommodate these issues.
If your rehearsal starts at 6pm, you may want to have a reseal celebration with deserts instead!
Are you having a special table setting or flowers brought in? Make sure the folks who are helping on that end are not also part of the wedding party (they will be at the rehearsal with you), ask your dinner venue for advice and we bet they'll help!
The evening should end early so everyone can get the rest they need for the big day.
The Bachelor and bachelorette party should never ever happen this night. Think abut it.

The Links

InStyleWeddings - from their planning gallery comes advice for the dinner.

iVillage - Why be stuffy or standard? The folks over at the Knot shared this advice for creative wedding rehearsal dinner celebrations!

Brides.Com has great information about your rehearsal dinner:

The Knot

Wedding Channel

On Your Own: How To Plan The Rehearsal Dinner, for the groom...
What To Wear To The Rehearsal: Bride
The Rehearsal Dinner: You're On!

Martha Stewart Weddings

1, 2, 3! Easy Wedding Reasearsal Guide

2008-08-04T08:02:00.000-07:00

Okay.
Seems we scared a few of you when we posted 'a quick reminder' about your wedding rehearsal. Now, I seriously didn't want to add any stress, that's not what I'm about. The point I was trying to get at was not to skip one. There are so many little details that that need to be looked into prior to a wedding and to be practiced at the rehearsal the evening before that I really truly recommend having a rehearsal with all the folks in your wedding party.
What I'd like to do now is give you a quick and simple outline for your wedding rehearsal. It isn't that hard. Every rehearsal can vary, so keep that in mind.
Here are the simple steps to make this process easy for all involved, it's the general outline for the rehearsals we conduct!

1. Gather the wedding party together. Often times we'll begin with a prayer from our officiant. Put the wedding party in their positions possibly using little place markers. Officiant, groom, and bride in the middle of course. To the Bride's right, maid of honor and bridesmaids. To the grooms left, his best man and groomsmen. We use this to start the staging. Each bridesmaid and groomsman are one step to the side and one step back to the person next to them, adjust as necessary.
Now everyone will know their places for the ceremony. If you have flower girls you can have her in front of the maid of honor, sometimes at the end of the bridesmaids. See what looks best to you. If the little one is under 5, have her sit out the ceremony and just be part of the processional & recessional. Same goes for your ring bearer, he stands in from of the best man, if he'll be standing with the wedding party for the ceremony. The ring bearer can also be seated in he first row to be called up for the ring exchange if the actual rings are carried by him ( you may also have 'fake' rings on the rin bearers pillow and the real rings on the finger of the maid of honor & best man.. Your officiant will go over the liturgy and instruct the bride and groom of their motions for the unity candle, ring exchange or other special inclusions.

2. Practice your recessional. After the officiant pronounces the bride and groom as Mr. & Mrs. to the congregation the bride and groom will start the recessional down the aisle. When they are halfway or thereabout down the aisle, they are then followed by the flower girl and ring bearer. Next the best man meets the maid of honor in the middle, in front of the officiant, the best man extends his arm to the maid of honor and escorts her down the aisle, as they are about a quarter of the way down the aisle, the next groomsman and bridesmaid meet and recess until all the groomsmen and bridesmaid have recessed. Next the parents stand and exit down the aisle. The Officiant will usually then make some sort of announcement about the reception and excuse the guests.

3. Now you are all in your starting positions for the processional. Excuse the officiant, groom and best man to their staging areas as well as groomsmen is they are not walking the bridesmaids down the aisle. The processional usually happens in what I like to call 'waves'. The first wave is the formal seating of the grandparents and parent of the bride and groom. The Officiant, groom and best man will now come to their positions in front of the altar. The next wave are your bridesmaids, they fan from out to in, in the places that were decided moments ago with the maid of honor walking last. The flower girl with the ring bearer walk next. The final wave is, of course, the bride and her father. Everyone takes the places that were just decided upon.

Now that was easy!

There are all kinds of ways to tweak your processional & ceremony with elements that are especially you or add/subtract formalities.

Candle lighters lighting the candelabras/ individual candles for the unity candle.
Having he mother listed the individual candles for the unity candle.
Including other members of the family in a sand ceremony.
Soloists, musical interludes.
Readings
Blessing of the Hands
Special moments like handing the mothers roses
Moments during the ceremony in which you honor those who cannot be with you.
Taking communion.
Signing the license during the ceremony.
We even had a couple once who has a session where the bride and groom washed one another's feet in a foot washing part of the ceremony.

It's just a matter of sitting down and thinking out every step, so when it comes to rehearsal, you, the bride are not running around trying to direct it all. It's always preferable to have a facility director or a wedding planner there to help direct! Have a savvy and stress free rehearsal!

We have put together these post we've made to help you along: Duties of the Wedding Party & Their Roles

Our 'scare the h*ll out of you post on the importance of a wedding rehearsa l

Vows and readings for your wedding ceremony

You Tube video's of wedding processionals (also included at the bottom of the post above):
Colorado Sample Wedding Rehearsal: Officiate Tips
Rehearsal Outakes
A Catholic Wedding Processional
'Wedding Processional Demo'
A Jewish wedding Processional
"Processional'
Joanna & Gregg Hazlett Wedding - Processional
The Wedding Entrance
OC-Wedding Rehearsal
Wedding Rehearsal - very well put together and cute!

Happy planning! ~w.s.

Tiaras

2008-07-31T20:00:00.000-07:00

Tiaras, bun rings, combs and pins add a special sparkle that can top off your wedding look perfectly.
Being able to come up with a hair style that compliments a beautiful tiara is also very important.
A simple Google shopping search sorted by best reviews will get you here. After sorting through various online vendors, we found the following that are just beyond lovely. There are so many vendors with the most gorgeous beaded, Swarovski crystal, and diamonds the choices are endless and leave our eyes twinkling!
Being aware of return and exchange policies is very important if you are purchasing online. If you can, find a local reseller.
We hope that these glittering tiaras will help to inspire you! Click the slide show above or the pictures below to get a larger view and follow the link within or below the picture to go directly to the vendor.

HomaBridal.Com

Above: Swarovski.Com

Naugi.com

Above: TiaraTown.Com

Above: PrincessBridalTiaras.com

SparklyCrystal.Com

Happy Planning!
~w.s.