Just Engaged!

Find out what the first tasks to complete on your wedding checklist should be in this week's episode of From "I Will" to "I Do" with our special guests: Jess Levin of Carats & Cake, Hope Weis of Hope Weis Consulting, Terry Hall from Kleinfeld (because we know shopping for your dress is at the top of the list!) and Emily Reifel from CPS Events at The Plaza. Watch the show below or over at Google+:

Weddings Styled for Photo Shoots

Many sites and magazines feature beautiful reception settings with an "Anthroplogie" feel.  You know what I mean - a long wooden table set in a field with mix matched china and chairs.

To rent these items for one arrangement is probably not too pricey but if you need 5, 10 or even 20 of these tables and other details your budget just got bumped up a lot.

While these images are beautiful, unless you can really afford it, they are for inspirational purposes only.  You can take elements of the image like the antique china or rustic feel and incorporate those elements into your wedding.

Just because you may not be able to afford everything you see on a page doesn't mean you shouldn't tear it out or bookmark it and show it to your vendors. They'll be able to help you bring your vision to life at a price you can afford.

Remember, you should not go into debt to pay for your wedding.

The Point of Inspiration

A lot of bloggers and magazines and Web sites write about inspiration and I think at this point we all pretty much know what inspiration for your wedding is: Any and everything that inspires you or gives you ideas for your wedding. But what exactly are you looking for?

It's important to see what things you are consistently gravitating to: colors, details, themes, locations. As you start to review the items that you are pulling and saving either alone or with a wedding planner or florist start grouping together images that are similar. You'll start to see a pattern. Those images will help you form your wedding color palette and wedding theme.

I'm sure you've selected dozens of pages of great ideas but you don't need/want to include everyone of those elements in your wedding. Some may not make sense at a wedding and you can save these other ideas for other occasions: Showers, cocktail parties, birthday parties, etc...

Your theme and color palette are created to help you and your vendors bring everything together so your wedding has a unique look and feel and is not a hodge podge of your favorite things. Trust me, you'll find a place for these other ideas at an event down the road.

Wedding Inspiration from the Muppets

I have no idea why the theme song to The Muppet Show is in my head, but I've been humming it all day and now that I'm home I've been singing it. I'm trying to think if there's a wedding tip in this and there are two things that I came up with.

1 - Inspiration. Think back to your childhood because there could be something from those years that inspires you. If you were the type of little girl who dreamed of her wedding day think back to what those dreams were. Did you always imagine walking down to the aisle to a particular song? What did the flowers and cake look like? What did you dance to with your dad? Was there something you remember from a wedding you attended as a child that you always wanted to do for your wedding? Inspiration can come from anywhere! Even from the Muppets.

2 - Music. One of my favorite songs about weddings is from the movie The Muppets Take Manhattan and it's sung by every character: Somebody's Getting Married. It's just one of those songs that make you smile. I made a CD of wedding-themed songs and played it while we were getting ready. The other songs on the disc were Going to the Chapel, With This Ring, Get Me to the Church on Time and The Boy I'm Gonna Marry.  I made a similar CD of shower-type songs for my sister's shower that we played while guests arrived.  I just thing it's a fun way to add to all the excitement.

Preston Bailey's Celebrations Book Party

Just got in from the fabulous party for Preston Bailey's latest book Celebrations and trying to think of a wedding planning tip based on something at the event.

The setting was gorgeous. The food was delicious. And the entertainment was amazing - Gloria Gaynor singing I Will Survive live! But a tip...

I guess it would have to be inspiration.

Of all the details that were at the party -from the passed hors d'oeurves to the dessert buffet, the sort of naked dancers to Gloria Gaynor's performance and the life size gold and silver statues to the cages lit with electric ice cubes - the party offered a lot of ideas for people planning an event, whether it be a wedding or other celebration.

When you're attending parties, wedding or otherwise, take (mental) notes about all the different details and party elements because wedding inspiration doesn't have to come from other weddings. You can be inspired by anything.

And if you're looking for some amazing inspiration, check out Preston's new site, prestonbailey.com.

Local Resources Can Inspire Everyone

I'm a huge proponent of local wedding resources. Bridal shows, in-store events, local magazines, Web sites and of course blogs are chockfull of great vendors, venues and real weddings specific to that city, state or region.

Today I got an email about a new blog, targeting the Boston-bride, or Boston-area bride. The blog, BeantownBride.com, features vendors, planning information, inspiration and real weddings.

Since it's a new site there's not a lot of info up yet but I recommend checking back regularly if you live in the area. They are sure to have useful resources for the beantown-area bride.

And if you don't plan on getting married in or around Boston the blog can still help you too. You may not be able to use their vendors for your big day, but their inspiration and real weddings may inspire your own wedding.

Tip from My Friend Vane of Brooklyn Bride

I'm on the phone with Brooklyn Bride blogger Vane discussing our talk for Saturday on How Not to Have a Cookie-Cutter Wedding and since I needed to write a post I asked her for a piece of wedding advice to share with my readers. Here's what she had to say:

"When it comes to planning your wedding don't follow the trends. Trends come and go and you'll find that when you look at your wedding pictures 20 years from now they may look dated."

I quite agree with Vane but don't not read wedding articles on trends to avoid being trendy. There may be a "hot" idea that you and your fiance really like and is very you.

Wedding Events Offer Amazing Inspiration and Planning Opportunities

One of my favorite places to get wedding inspiration and leads for great vendors in an area is at a bridal show. I know some can be cheesy, but remember it’s just as important to know what you don’t want/like as it is to know what you do like/want.

Here are two (non-cheesy) events coming up in January 2010:

The Wedding Co’s annual event in Toronto January 15 – 17 at The Carlu, 444 Yonge Street, 7th floor. Tickets cost $17 to attend if you purchase your tickets online by December 30th. After the 30th tickets are $20.

115 exhibitors will be on hand to help you choose the perfect details for your wedding, including: your dress, invitations, flowers, menu and more! For more information and to purchase tickets visit, theweddingco.com/events.

For brides getting hitched in the New York City area you should head over to the Wedding Crashers Event on January 9th at The Bell House, 149 7th Street, Brooklyn.

The event will feature 30+ vendors including caterers, bands, florists and stationers. In addition to browsing vendor portfolios and displays, bride are also invited to attend a variety of wedding-planning seminars on everything from ceremony planning to honeymoon planning, creating a budget to invitation 101, picking original seasonal décor to 10 tips on how not to have a cookie-cutter wedding.

The final item, How Not to Have a Cookie-Cutter Wedding, will be given by me and Vane from Brooklyn Bride at 3:45.

A bunch of raffle prizes will be given away along with a fabulous goody bag for the first 50 brides to enter the event.

Tickets are on sale for $40 for the entire day or $20 in advance for each three-hour wedding-planning session -- one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Visit brooklynbased.net/weddingcrashers for additional information and to order tickets.

TVs Most Touching and Terrible Real Weddings

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Wedding inspiration can come from anywhere, even ridiculous real weddings that (sometimes) take place just for the cameras.

The Huffington Post recently posted a slide show of the most touching and terrible real weddings featured on TV and I had to share them with you.

Of course we all remember Prince Charles' wedding to Lady Di and his wedding to Camilla Parker Bowles a few years back, but there are some tabloid-y/done for the ratings weddings that I had forgotten about, including the Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire couple and Christopher Knight (Peter Brady) nuptials on My Fair Brady.

Take a look and vote for the weddings that you think are terrible - okay, and touching.

Purple Wedding Palette Inspiration

I went for lunch with some Brooklyn-based bloggers last weekend and one of them told me that my wedding cake was featured in a recent post on The Bride's Guide Blog. So of course I had to find the post and read it!

Carolyn Veith Krienke, the Martha Stewart Weddings Color and Design Expert featured an inspiration board for "A Purple Color Palette" and it included our wedding cake made by Ron Ben-Israel and our stationery suite designed by Snow & Graham.

Here's the link to the purple color palette inspiration board where you can find the details for the images included.


Photo Credit: Martha Stewart Weddings/The Bride's Guide Blog

Two Blogs to Add to Your Favorites List

I received two emails this week about two new blogs – well actually they are new looks not new new blogs – and they look fabulous!

Ruffled was formerly known as Vintage Wedding Glam. The new site has some great new features including a photo gallery, navigation bar and free (and exclusive) downloads. The site is sure to be a must-visit Web site for brides looking for wedding inspiration.

The Sweetest Occasion also re-launched this week and offers readers beautiful inspiration for all types of parties, including weddings, birthdays, casual dinners and any other event Cyd can think of. She’ll also offer detailed DIY projects so you can recreate some of her exquisite party details at your own soirees.

Real Wedding Inspiration

This is a totally selfish post on my part but when Maria from Ritzy Bee found a photo from my wedding online and told me the whole wedding, which was featured in the Fall 2004 issue of Martha Stewart Weddings, was online I had to check it out.

Looking through photos of real weddings—either online or in magazines—is a great source of inspiration. Some bloggers pull images from a variety of sources to pull together a great inspiration board on one specific topic (see Snippet & Ink) or they’ll grab some of their favorite details to inspire their readers (see Ritzy Bee Blog).

Here are a few images from my wedding (c/o Martha Stewart Weddings) or you can see the entire spread with captions, here.

Our guest book—white cards placed in an etched glass jar—allowed guests to write well wishes to us.

The seating cards were placed on a glass tabletop etched with moons and stars (our wedding icon) and in the center of the table were the words: ...and they dance by the lgiht of the moon.


Each table had one of three colored floral centerpieces: lavender, pink or white. Small glass bowls with coordinating candies and short supper club style lamps also decorated the table.

Our wedding cake, by Ron Ben-Israel mimicked the design of the wedding motif (moons and stars) as well as the wedding color, lavender.

Wedding Details from A to Z: Thanks Ritzy Bee!

As I was searching bridal blogs for my weekly Wed-site Roundup post on Brides.com’s blog Wedded Bits, I came across the most fabulous series on Ritzy Bee. Back in November the blog began featuring their favorite wedding details from a to z. Gathering images from vendors as well as wedding magazines and Web sites, brides-to-be were treated to a twice daily dose of amazing and creative wedding inspiration.

Here’s the link to the first post in the series, but if you click through the last month you’ll find the others. Remember to print out your favorite images and store them in your Wedding Organizer!

Reel Weddings

I love wedding movies. They're great for ideas - you may find a dress, cake, flowers, shoes or even a hairstyle you like for your wedding. I know someone who chose their wedding song based on a song played during the reception scene in Father of the Bride. In fact I spoke with a planner this week who gets hired to find wedding crashers to actual crash real weddings.

A new film, License to Wed is premiering this summer. It stars Robin Williams and Mandy Moore. The film opens July 4th, and you should check it out for inspiration as well as good time. Remember to take a break from planning and spend non-wedding time with your fiance.

The film is holding a sweepstakes for two tickets to the premiere, and two nights accommodations at Chateau Marmont in Hollywood, $1000 cash and transportation too.

The contest ends on May 31st, so enter today because this could be a pre-wedding honeymoon vacation!