Bridesmaid Gifts!
Sisters…best friends…how do you say “thank you” for standing up for you on your big day and all of their efforts to help make this special time in your life so meaningful? Since they have expended valuable time and money on your behalf, it is incumbent upon you to find a personal way to show your appreciation. It doesn’t need to cost a fortune or create more inconvenience. Just plan a simple luncheon on the day of the rehearsal dinner!
It is not the venue or menu that matter—heartfelt words and thoughtful tokens are what will make it all worthwhile for these treasured women in your life. Spend some time searching for a gift that reflects your personality, or make it yourself! Use your clever imagination to tie it to your luncheon toast. A hand-knit scarf could be a metaphor for the warmth of your friendship, a designer clutch represents something that is always near and has just what you need for a night out on the town or that unexpected emergency, and decadent chocolates symbolize the rich, sweetness of a dear friend. If you need a little help thinking outside the box, check out the theKnot’s 50 inspiring bridesmaid gift ideas here. Remember…you wouldn’t be who you are today without them, so show them your love!
Creativity > $
Small wedding budget got you down? Think outside the box! Just because you can’t afford to host your reception in a castle doesn’t mean it can’t still be the storybook wedding of your dreams. Lauren and DJ did just that…for under $5,000! (Check out their Featured Capsule Gallery to see all the details.)
This romantically rustic barn setting in rural Alabama provided the perfect backdrop for an intimate, homemade wedding—the kind that is so beautifully natural, it just feels “meant to be”. Creative, savvy and utilizing the internet for inspiration, this energetic couple managed to transform a barnyard field into their own personal wedding stage. DJ collected discarded old wood from rundown local farms and built the simple, yet sophisticated wooden wall to frame the ceremony and add texture to the venue. On top of scouring for great deals on wedding wear, including finding her gorgeous gown on a $100-off-everything-on-clearance day, Lauren used burlap and fabric to give a crafty feel to wedding bouquets, boutonnieres and centerpieces. Operating within a limited budged does not have to limit your wedding experience! Check out the fabulous photos of how this couple not only pulled it off and came in under budget, but according to Lauren, “Everything meant so much more to us because of the time we spent working on it and the fun we had doing it!”
See all the details of Lauren & DJ’s wedding in their Featured Capsule Gallery!
Blushing Bride or Bridezilla?
Congratulations on your engagement! There are so many plans to make before you walk down the aisle on the day you have dreamed about since you were a little girl. You are determined to create the perfect wedding…careful…there is a fine line between “organized bride” and “bridezilla”! Avoid the three major pitfalls that can turn the happiest time of your life into tension-filled disaster.
There is a tendency for brides to think that they can do it all. Resist the urge to become a “Superbride”, spending every moment on wedding planning, you will burn out! Delegate the stuffing of envelopes and bundling of party favors to the loving friends that want to help and then, let them do it! Don’t be bossy and controlling. You have chosen the special people in your life to stand beside you at the altar, just as they have stood beside you in life. They are not your brides “maids”, they are your best friends. You are asking them to spend money on dresses and parties; be appreciative. Finally, and most importantly, remember your fiancé. Let the one person who has agreed to spend the rest of their life with you be involved in the preparations and make sure to take time together to enjoy the anticipation of your future! Wedding planning is just the beginning of forever. Make it something you both want to remember!
Congrats to Kendra & Tom! See their wedding in our new “Featured Gallery”
Destination weddings offer an ambiance ranging from incredibly personal to impersonally unnatural. Kendra and Tom’s wedding album proves that even if you ask friends and family to travel to the southernmost point of the USA, creativity and individuality can make for the most romantic of experiences for the betrothed and an unforgettable weekend for all their special guests. The bride and groom chose a tropical-themed wedding in Key West, Florida to celebrate their nuptials and judging by the photos, everyone was in vacation mode! The ultimate in elegant simplicity, the rhythmic dance of the ocean waves set the backdrop for tables covered in sand-colored linen, centered with unaffected floral arrangements of white orchids and hydrangeas, lit by crystal chandeliers strung through breezy palm trees. The bridesmaid dresses accented the venue with their own personal choice of style and shade of sunset orange, floor length gowns and the bride dazzled in her beaded ecru-toned bodice tied at the waist with matching ribbon over a white, silk mermaid skirt. There is too much to describe and so much more to inspire from this destination wedding…now you can see it all here and other original events at tryCapsule.com/featured!
Wedding Hair… Dazzling or Disastrous??
Your wedding day is a few months away, the gown of your dreams is ordered and now you are wondering what to do with your hair on the biggest day of your life. Remember those prom pictures with the fussy updo that made you look like your mom…or the not-so-classy photos of you as the maid of honor at your best friend’s reception, when you wore your hair down in long, soft curls that turned to tacky frizz by the end of the night? With trends ranging from elegantly glamorous to irresistibly innocent, it is not only the style that you must consider; many factors will influence whether your hair compliments your bridal beauty or whether you will never want to open that wedding album…ever!
Many brides are tempted to use their wedding day as an excuse to take “let’s play dress-up” to the extreme. Crazy, headache-inducing hairstyles, fake eyelashes that have never been tried before and spray tans are great ways to insure that not only will your fiancé not recognize you at the alter, but these fashion faux pas will haunt you each time you pass by the wedding portrait prominently displayed on top of your bedroom dresser. To avoid disappointment:
- Cut out pictures in bridal magazines of hairstyles that you like on women with similarly shaped faces and hair length/texture.
- Find a stylist that you trust and ask to see photos of their work.
- Make an appointment months before the wedding for a trial run—bring magazine pictures, a photo of your dress, any hair accessories you plan to use and a camera.
- Discuss issues with your stylist such as expected weather and how wildly you plan on dancing at the reception.
- Do not make any radical changes in color, texture or length of your hair.
- After your sample wedding day hair is done, have your stylist take pictures of you from every angle so that it can be recreated and because your wedding day photos will not all be taken from the front.
If your hair is everything you ever wanted, gorgeous from every angle and you still recognize yourself…go dancing! Make sure it holds up. Then, go home, take out all the bobby pins, look in the mirror and see if this is the way you want to look for the most memorable moments of your big day, the ones spent in the bridal lingerie! If not, make another appointment!
Wedding Music
The ceremony, venue, flowers and cuisine are the heart of your wedding…but the music is its soul. Make it personal, make it ROCK, make it yours! With so many options available, between a throw-back Motown band or hit-mixing DJ, choosing the sound is one of your most important wedding decisions and should be at the top of your to-do list. Although the average budget trend is 50% on catering and venue, 10% on flowers and decorations, 10% on photography (Capsule’s free ;)) and 20% on invitations, attire, transportation, etc., that leaves only 10% left to be spent on the one budget item responsible for all of the fun! Research is critical to stretching those dollars for maximum entertainment value; let’s face it, party favors and centerpieces will be forgotten, the dancing will not!
Live bands have a dynamic sound and know how to keep a wedding reception moving but there are limitations. Considerably more expensive, bands are also limited by the songs available in their repertoire, so it is critical that you take the time to study their song list and hear them live. Important issues to keep in mind are that they also take up more of the available dance floor space and you will be expected to provide meals for all members. DJs, on the other hand, are much more flexible for placement at the venue, tailoring the music to your specific tastes and providing an emcee for your reception. You can even provide a personalized script for the introduction of specific tunes that are meaningful to you and your friends and family. Whichever avenue you pursue, do your research and remember, the music IS the party…go with chicken instead of steak, order peonies instead of roses and pump up the dollars for the sound!
Invite All of Your Friends!
Ideally, you want to select your wedding venue after you have discussed your guest list and financial parameters with all the appropriate parties involved in the planning. Everyone envisions the special people in their lives that they expect will be in attendance to celebrate the big event, yet it is inevitable that lines will be drawn and difficult decisions will have to be made. In order to make this aspect of the wedding planning as non-confrontational as possible, start with a few lists.
Depending on how the event is being financed and by whom, you will need to decide what percentage of the entire guest list would be fair to both of you and your families. Then determine the “must haves” between the two of you and consider that “List A”: those friends and family with whom you enjoy close personal and enduring relationships. If you are limited by a pre-determined size constraint, you may need to stop there but it is worth the time to create “List B”: close high school friends you may have stayed touch with, co-workers with whom you expect a future, working relationship or relatives that are not a day-to-day part of our life but special to you, none-the-less. If size and money are not an issue, there is always the next tier of guests, “List C”.
Once you know exactly who and how many absolutely must be invited, the venue and budget issues can be resolved. It is important to keep in mind that if you set clear parameters for the invited, such as: aunts and uncles but no cousins, single friends without guests, then it is much easier to explain to someone why you were unable to extend an invitation. If you have your heart set on a small chapel, or a destination wedding with size constraints, or you are just unable to financially accommodate all of the special people in your lives, consider a post-honeymoon party. Instead of accepting someone’s generous offer to throw you another couple’s shower, why not suggest a wine and cheese reception to greet the newlyweds and invite all those friends you were unable to include in your wedding? Remember… “happiness is only real when shared” (Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild).
Wedding Stress??
So you are engaged…on top of all the things you were juggling, now you have a wedding to plan and finance! Your anxiety levels will definitely rise during this “happy time” and it is imperative that you make space in your day to balance the new pressure with moments of “you time”. Whether it’s yoga, reading a good book or quiet moments spent in meditation, schedule calendar time for your peace of mind and the health of your relationship. Let’s face it; life is demanding. Once the wedding has been paid for and all that tension has passed, don’t expect the rest of your days together to be a blissful, prolonged honeymoon. With each new blessing comes a new hurdle.
Home mortgages, colicky babies, inflexible in-laws—just a few of the pesky little problems that could arise at one time or another in every marriage. There is no better time to develop constructive coping skills, both as an individual and as a couple than during your engagement. It is impossible to offer your best self to your partner when your tolerance capacity is at its limit. Take a walk on the beach, spend some time with a friend or schedule a lavender-scented massage…for two!
TheKnot.com in paperback…a $12.95 investment will save thousands!
So he popped the question! Now what? With so many decisions to make, friends and family to contact, the bride can be overwhelmed with the how, when and where to initiate planning the most memorable day of her life. Following their great online planning success by offering comprehensive wedding planning advice and ideas, TheKnot.com has now made their invaluable checklists, timelines and tools available in an easy-to-carry book that will insure that all of the bride’s critical planning information and peace of mind are within reach throughout the dazzling whirlwind that follows, “Will you marry me?”
For just $12.95 on their website, The Knot Book of Wedding Lists by Carly Roney will save the bride, groom and their families thousands in the unexpected costs that arise from common wedding planning mistakes. With calendar-oriented tasks, it is a must-have for the bride, from the moment there is a wedding date circled with a big red heart on the calendar, to all that must be done until she says, “I do”. So why not have it right at your fingertips, conveniently tucked in your purse! For that matter, it is the perfect gift to alleviate unforeseen conflicts between bridesmaids and the mother-of-the-bride..buy a few.
Jerseymaid
Preceded by a parade of the beautiful sisters that have stood beside her through life’s journey, the glowing bride will float down the aisle in her stunning gown, personally selected to make her feel like the radiant princess she undoubtedly will be on her wedding day. She has spent hours, searching for the perfect dress to flatter her shape, convey her fashion savvy and insure the illusory image of her dreams is captured and memorialized in the wedding (Capsule) album. When each one is unique in their own way, why should her bridesmaids be conscripted in the uniform of a one-style-fits-all dress.
Check it out! Affordable for every budget and adaptable to any figure, The Jersey Maid convertible bridesmaid dress compliments every “body”!
