Check out these drop dead gorgeous head pieces from Twigs & Honey featured the other day on Style Me Pretty. Stunning. ‘Nuff said.
I see my brides shying away from the traditional veil and opting for intricate up-do’s or floral accents for their hair, dazzling barretts and bird cage veils. If you want to ditch the veil the only tough decision will be which one of these head pieces to choose! I want about twenty!
Silk flower & leaf headband by Twigs & Honey (click image to see more headbands)
When I was planning our wedding 7 years ago my dressmaker introduced me to Brides Rule!, which I consider an essential wedding planning tool. Brides Rule! is a simple, yet effective phrase that can be used to end quarrels, discussions, tiffs or nagging that may occur when planning your big day. In other words, it’s a tactful way to say back off!
Here’s how it works: If family or friends become too involved in your plans it may be time to exercise Brides Rule! (a “talk to the hand” gesture may accompany it). Once it has been invoked there are to be no further discussions about the issue at hand and all involved must respect the bride’s decision. Please use it responsibly, but do use it because it works!
Note: Brides Rule! is not intended to be used to overrule all of your partner’s ideas or to increase the overall wedding budget!!
Below: I had these fans made up for a bridal show several years ago. They were a huge hit!
Selecting your wedding dress can be a really huge decision. Some brides have been dreaming of their ideal dress for years, while others may have no clue where to start, what style they like or what will look best on their body type. No matter what you spend or what the label inside the dress says, your wedding dress oftentimes defines your wedding style and can help determine what the overall feeling of your wedding day will be.
A bride may feel that she wants a casual wedding, but after she selects a formal gown and sees her groom in a tuxedo those casual ideas might need to step it up a bit. As a florist when I see a bride’s wedding dress it tell me a lot about her overall style and oftentimes helps direct my design recommendations–especially for her bouquet. Elaborate dresses are complimented by less elaborate bouquets while simpler, slip dresses lend themselves to a variety of styles from classic, rounded bouquets to funky woodland-inspired blooms.
If you are just getting started on the dress hunt you should be armed with a few photos of dresses you like, a few (no more than 3!) trusted style advisers and you should have a desired budget in mind and you should do your very best to stick with it. Style Me Pretty has a “Look Book” on their site where you can peruse gorgeous gowns and get a sense of some of the styles out there. My personal guilty pleasure is Say Yes to the Dress…I never seem to tire of watching brides (and their families) search for the *perfect* dress. When she tries on a wedding dress that actually brings tears to her eyes (or her parents’ eyes!!) I am soooo happy to hear the bride say YES to her dress you’d think I was getting a commission on the sale.
Don’t stress over your dress. Try on as many as you need to find a style that looks great on your body. Choose a wedding dress that feels like you. Live happily ever after. Simple!
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=1c5e1f5f-410f-4536-abce-8fb8c14dbd0e)
Thanks to inspirational wedding blogs like Style Me Pretty, The Wedding Chicks, The Bride’s Cafe, Wedding Bee and Snippet & Ink (just to name a few!) brides have amazing access to fabulous wedding ideas! As a floral designer I think it’s so much fun when a bride comes to me with an inspiration board (or ten!) filled with swatches, samples & images that express a certain charm or elegance she wants to capture on her wedding day. Brides and wedding planners alike are fortunate to have a plethora of current & eclectic wedding bloggers who share vintage, rustic, modern and formal events to admire & inspire!
You never know when inspiration will strike! I got inspired by these white ‘Patience’ roses & lavender sweetheart roses when I heard them calling my name in the cooler at my wholesaler yesterday. Garden roses are a classic, romantic choice for bridal bouquets and wedding work in general! Use them alone for a simple, clean look or add greenery, berries or tendrils for some flow.
In case you haven’t heard the news Vera Wang will be partnering with David’s Bridal to create a collection of affordable wedding gowns, which is great news for brides who’ll be shopping for gowns next Spring! Read more about it here.
I look forward to seeing what Vera will come up with! You can bet they’ll be a far cry from the style of the 1920′s bride pictured here! By the way, what do you think of that bouquet?
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=308add3e-810e-4da7-aeb7-c788f226a0d4)
I‘ve heard the term “faking it” used a lot recently and it got me thinking that when it comes to wedding planning there are times when vendors decide to fake it–especially when a business is still finding an authentic identity (ie. what they really do well). My first few seasons were speckled with their fair share of faking it moments in an effort to never say “no” to anyone.
Can you decorate my tent poles? Absolutely! Have you ever done x, y, z before? No problemo. Is it possible for you to rent/build/invent something? You got it! I can learn how to solder by next June, can’t I?
While I can happily say that I have never promised something I couldn’t actually deliver (it’s not like I was just making things up as I went along after all!), I did fake it on occasion with the confidence that I could accomplish what was requested of me.
As my business has grown over the last 8 wedding seasons I have learned how not to fake it and experience has shown me the importance of being able to guide a bride in the right direction when design details become overwhelming, cost prohibitive, or out-of-line with the overall scope of the day. Don’t get me wrong, I will still take on design elements that I haven’t done before–that’s half the fun of my job and part of what it means to create custom designs!–but I can approach them with an accurate understanding of the time considerations and costs required to complete them.
Moral of the story?…An experienced wedding vendor won’t need to fake it and can help guide you in your planning process to create a day that reflects your wedding style. Personal style (of both the vendor and you, the couple!), pricing variables and gut instincts will be your guides when selecting wedding vendors. You should be comfortable and confident with your choices so you won’t feel compelled to micromanage the professionals you’ve hired. You have to trust your vendors, otherwise you should question why you hired them in the first place!
My super sweet and lovely bride, Heidi, who was married in August 2009 submitted a photo of her bridal bouquet to WeddingBee.com. Her inspiration was Ben & Jerry’s blue and green and her natural, DIY style was a lot of fun to work with. Check out the picture in the WeddingBee gallery here! Below is a shot I took of Heidi’s bouquet…It includes callas, freesia, dahlias, delphinium, spray roses, echinacea, sweet William, yarrow, dill and oregano for a summer inspired bridal bouquet with a local feel.
Many people feel they look their best with a little sun kissed color, but when I hear someone say that they are going tanning I must admit I cringe. Maybe it’s easy for me to say because I’ve never gone to a tanning booth (yes, I am from NJ and have never been to a tanning salon!) and I worked on a farm the summer that I got married so I had a bit of natural color on my wedding day, but seriously?…tanning for your wedding? Tanning beds have been bumped up to Group 1, the highest cancer-risk category, and are considered “possibly carcinogenic to humans”. A World Health Organization report finds that those who started using tanning beds before age 30 increase their risk of developing melanoma by 75%…hear it again, 75%! Melanoma is the most dangerous form of skin cancer and causes a large majority of skin cancer deaths. According to the report it may also increases the risk of melanoma of the eye.
Brides Magazine and Glamour both devoted pages in recent issues declaring that the fake bake is out! It’s clear that it’s a matter of when the damage will be visible as opposed to if there will be harm to your skin. So consider the fact that you are beautiful just as pale and pasty as you are! It is recommended that you apply sunscreen daily (at minimum SPF 15 to 30 is recommended in all seasons), even if you are trying to get a natural sun tan and keep in mind that there are lots of artificial tanners and bronzer options out there!
Don’t be fooled! Tanning beds are not “safer than the sun” and they won’t prevent you from getting a sunburn. The reason you only go in for a few minutes is because it IS so intense. If you do tan and you have no plans to stop (I know some people say they like how they feel after tanning), then you might consider taking up smoking as well or adding a sprinkling of asbestos to your cereal in the morning–what the heck! The bottom line here is: There is no bright side of tanning beds.
I am not sure if watching Paris Blues with Paul Newman over the weekend (whose eyes are so blue I swear they even look blue in black & white!) has anything to do with it, but I am in a blue mood so far this week. Brides can get creative when incorporating something blue into your wedding garb. Yesterday’s post featured blue wedding flowers, but there are other ways to fit blue into your wedding attire. Here are a few ideas to get your started…
Broach–Pin a blue broach to your dress, bridal bouquet or shoes. (I just love the idea of shoe jewelry! There is something so vintage about it.)
Earrings–Select a pair of blue earrings to add a small sparkle of color. Sapphires, turquoise or crystals all work!
Hairpiece–Incorporate a blue hair-pin or feather to your headpiece.
Hankie–Carry a baby blue handkerchief or have one embroidered with blue thread.
Sash–If you want to be more deliberate add a blue sash to your dress or tie your bouquet with blue ribbon.
Shoes–Find a pair of blue shoes to peak out from underneath your dress. Yes, Carrie did it in Sex and the City and so can you!
Destination Brides who are planning their Vermont wedding from afar need not worry. There are a lot of couples in the same shoes and as a wedding professional it is my goal to work to understand your vision and allow you to trust that the look and feeling you imagine can be accomplished. Whether you are as close as Boston or New York or as far away as California it is possible to plan the wedding of your dreams and rest easy knowing that everything will come together.
Here are 10 tips for destination couples:
This website is built by Matt Boynes and is proudly powered by WordPress.
Subscribe to my blog's Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS)
