What Type of Bride are You?

If you identify your basic style, it will make the wedding planning process much easier. It’s all a matter of matching up the right bride to the right wedding concepts. The question is: what type of bride are you?

Traditional Bride:

Traditional Brides are happiest with wedding trappings that remind them of the black and white photos of their grandmother’s wedding. They love lace, and long trains, and pearl drop wedding jewelry. A traditional bride will be happiest with a wedding in a house of worship, followed by a reception in an historic hotel ballroom.

Classic Bride:

Classic Brides love clean lines, timeless style, and understated elegance. Your ideal wedding reception will be held in a yacht club or your family’s country club. The décor can be all-white for the most formal weddings, or can feature color combinations like pink and green or baby blue and chocolate brown.

Earthy Bride:

The Earthy Bride will be happiest with an outdoor wedding in a beautiful natural location. Seasonal, organic food served family style will be just right for your reception. An Earthy Bride will be radiant in a pretty linen bridal gown with unique handcrafted wedding jewelry.

Diva Bride:

The Diva Bride lives to be the center of attention, and everything about her wedding must be the biggest, the best, and the most extravagant. The diva will have all eyes on her in a heavily beaded bridal gown with opulent crystal wedding jewelry. Her motto is: “More sparkle, please!”. The wedding venue has to be absolutely fabulous for a diva bride – think St. Patrick’s Cathedral or a castle.

The truth is that all brides have a little bit of everything in them (especially the diva!) Finding the style that feels most natural to you will help you to personalize your wedding and make it really feel like your own custom event.

Big Apple Brides

New York City is a true American landmark. It is beloved not only by its millions of residents, but also by the millions of people who visit the Big Apple each year. New York is a fun and exciting spot to have a destination wedding.

There are many iconic New York locations from which to choose, and just as many others that are unique and lesser-known. If famous and fabulous is your dream New York City wedding, then plan to pull out all the stops.Weather permitting, the bride and groom could arrive at the reception in one of New York’s famous horse-drawn carriages.

And of course, since New York is one of the greatest fashion centers in the world, you will want to be dressed to the nines. Picture a chic and sophisticated silk gown accented by an elegant long veil and spectacular custom bridal jewelry.

Of course, there are as many approaches to take in planning a New York wedding as there are skyscrapers in the city. If big and glitzy is not your style, take an insider’s approach to designing your wedding. Hire a top notch planner to help guide you to the offbeat spots where the locals have their ceremonies and receptions. Private clubs, cool lofts, and harbor cruises would all be intriguing possibilities.

The great thing about having a destination wedding in a world-class city like New York is that you won’t even need to travel for your honeymoon. Spend a week or so taking in the sights, sounds, and flavors of New York. A New York honeymoon would be the perfect ending to the wedding for a Big Apple bride and groom.

Beautiful Bridal Bracelets

When choosing your suite or bridal jewelry, it is not only the necklace and earrings that are important. The ensemble is not truly complete until you have chosen a bracelet to wear. Bridal bracelets can be dainty or bold, subtle or striking; it all depends on your taste.

There are many styles of bridal bracelets available. You can select one that is an exact match to your wedding necklace or choose one that goes without matching for a more eclectic look. For example, if you have chosen a delicate crystal drop pendant, you can complete your crystal bridal jewelry with a chunky bracelet with large crystals all the way around.

One of the wonderful things about a bracelet is how easy they are to wear again after the wedding. There may be days when a full set of crystal bridal jewelry would feel like too much, but a sparkling bracelet would be just right. A pretty bracelet is a great way to add pizazz to a simple outfit, be it a suit for work or jeans and a dressy top for a night out with your husband.

A bridal bracelet is a terrific way to complete your bridal jewelry set. Whether you are wearing crystal bridal jewelry, pearls, or simple sterling silver pieces, you are not fully dressed until you slip on a bracelet. Choose one or two that you really love, since you will enjoy wearing them for years to come.

Should You Buy a Designer Gown?

The best part about planning a wedding is choosing the bridal gown. There is nothing quite like trying on all of those beautiful dresses and feeling like a princess. When it comes to time to actually buy a wedding gown, you will be faced with a big decision: designer or off-the-rack?

The most obvious difference will be the pricetag. Off-the-rack dresses can start at a couple of hundred dollars (or even less, during a sale), whereas designer wedding gowns will start at a couple of thousand dollars and go up, up, up from there. At this point, you may be wondering why anyone would even be considering a designer gown. In fact, the price is not the only thing that separates the two.

Designer gowns will be made from natural fibers, mostly various weaves of silks. A mass-made gown will be created from artificial fibers, such as polyester. There is no doubt that silk is a superior material.

Probably the best reason to opt for a designer gown is the ability to have it customized just for you. Because each one is made at the time it is ordered, numerous changes can be made to allow for fit and creative expression. If the gown is too low-cut, the train is too short, you want to add or remove embellishment or lace, those are all options with a designer gown.

The cost of a designer gown can be a major stumbling block. Before dismissing the idea out of hand, however, take some time to tweak your budget. Sometimes funds can be shifted from one category to another. For instance, perhaps instead of diamonds, the bride could look into fabulous but affordable crystal bridal jewelry sets. The money saved could go towards your dream gown.

Whether you decide to splurge on a designer gown or not, in the end, it is all about finding the one gown that makes your heart sing. Feeling great will make you look your most beautiful on your wedding day.

Tips for Petite Brides

There are many wonderful things about being petite. However, when you start shopping for your wedding gown and related accessories, you may find that being petite poses a bit of a problem. With persistence, and a really good seamstress, you will be able to find a gown that fits your frame perfectly.

A petite bride should steer clear of an embellished hemline. It is not only hemlines that pose a challenge for the petite bride. When trying on the sample dresses in bridal shops, you are likely to find that the waistlines hover somewhere in the vicinity of your knees.

In general, most petite brides will look best in gowns with a natural waist (hitting right at the smallest part of your waist), an empire waist (hitting right under the bust), or a princess seam gown (also known as a fit and flare style, there is no break at the waistline).

The accessories are easier because fit is not an issue, but you still want to pay attention to proportion. It should never look like your wedding jewelry, headpiece, and veil are wearing you instead of the other way around. Custom bridal jewelry is a wonderful option, because you can have bracelets made to fit smaller wrists, necklaces shortened as needed, and earrings made to be just the right length.

Even though the process may be a bit more involved, every petite bride can find a wedding gown that is perfect for her style and size. It is all a matter of good proportion. And a petite bride does not have to wear high heels if she doesn’t like them – you can always stand on a step above your groom for the pictures!

Planning a Long Distance Wedding

Planning a wedding is always a big job, and it is even more challenging when you are planning a long distance wedding. Whether you are getting away to a tropical beach, getting married in the town where you grew up, or some other place that struck your fancy, planning your wedding from far away is different than arranging for one right down the street. A long distance wedding requires that the bride and groom be organized, decisive, and flexible.

To be able to pull off a long distance wedding, you will have to find someone at your wedding destination that you can trust with a lot of the details. This is not so hard when you are having a destination wedding at a resort, because they usually have an event coordinator on site who will manage everything. For other locations, the bride will need a wedding planner, relative, or very trusted friend to do a lot of the legwork for her.

One of the biggest decisions to make when arranging your wedding from a distance is what to do about your bridal gown. Usually the bride is best off buying her gown in a salon where she lives or one near her wedding site. If you will be making multiple trips home during the planning process, it can actually be easiest to work with a salon where your wedding will take place.

Accessories are much easier. You can find beautiful handmade wedding jewelry online, so you don’t have the same concerns as with the bridal gown. Also, dainty handmade wedding jewelry is a whole lot easier to transport than an enormous dress! Just be certain to pack it in your carry on luggage if you are flying.

There are many factors that go into deciding where to be married. Often emotional ties are more important that convenience. Planning a wedding long distance may not be the easiest way to do it, but it will certainly be worth the extra effort to have the wedding of your dreams.

Waiting for Love

Although the average age of the first time American bride is 25, many women are waiting until their thirties or forties before making that trip down the aisle. A very good thing that has come of the acceptance of older brides is that women feel less pressure to get married just because they are approaching some magical age.

It is so much better to wait to meet the right man at 35 than to marry the wrong one just because you are turning 30. Waiting for love is always worth it.

Another great thing about older brides is that they are mature enough to know their own minds and have confidence in their personal taste. When shopping for wedding gowns and bridal jewelry sets, her decision is made much more quickly, and she is unlikely to second guess her choice. This is because she has the benefit of knowing herself better than the inexperienced young lady does.

The best part of waiting to have a wedding until you are in your 30s, 40s, or beyond is that you can do things exactly the way that you and your fiance want them. A mature couple does not have to worry about doing everything the way the bride’s mother wants it, because they are usually paying their own way. With that responsibility comes a marvelous freedom.

Like the old song says, “You can’t hurry love”. It is always worth it to wait for that perfect person to come into your life. If that means waiting to get married, then consider it time well spent.

Fabulous Wedding Fireworks

Every bride wants her wedding day to be fabulous and end with a bang. For some brides this memorable ending might be an incredible dessert bar, for others it would mean a late night d.j.. Some couples, however, take the big bang literally, and cap off their wedding with a spectacular display of fireworks.

There are so many choices; really the only limitation is your budget. You can choose an icy all-white display that will dazzle and sparkle like your crystal bridal jewelry. A sophisticated bride wearing elegant crystal bridal jewelry might decide to embrace the simplicity of white fireworks.

More exuberant brides will love a mixture of bright colors lighting up the night sky. Choose bold fireworks colors like re, green, and blue. A really incredible and impressive ending to your reception would be a fireworks show done in your wedding colors.

Fireworks can be the perfect ending to an event in any season. Just because you are a winter bride, don’t think that you cannot enjoy fireworks at your wedding. If you think about it, many cities have New Year’s Eve fireworks, so they definitely can be done at any time of the year.

A fireworks display certainly makes for a wedding that your guests will never forget. They can be a really fun and unique way to end your reception. Talk about going out with a bang!

Wedding Crashers

Wedding crashers – it was a great idea for a fun movie, but in real life wedding crashers are nothing but a headache. Your best defense is a good offense - try to deal with the problem well before the wedding.

Wedding crashers usually fall into two categories: invited guests who never sent in their R.s.v.p. and then show up anyway, or tag-alongs brought by invited guests. Be clear with the response cards. Fill in the names of the invited parties, and do not use the type of response cards that allow guests to fill in the number of people that they will bring. Too many people take this to mean that they can bring whoever they would like.

Follow up on your invitations. If there are guests who have not responded, it may be necessary to phone them several times (if they are rude enough not to reply to a wedding invitation, there is no guarantee that they will return a call in a timely manner). If they still do not respond, leave them a message saying that you will assume that they are not planning to attend the wedding.

Much more rare is the malicious wedding crasher. This type of unwanted guest is usually a jealous ex-spouse or former boyfriend or girlfriend. If you have that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach that someone from your past is going to show up an cause a scene at your wedding, it is important to be proactive. Designate a couple of point people to handle the crisis, should it arise. Groomsmen are perfect for this.

Weddings are complicated events, and there are always surprises that pop up. When the surprise is an uninvited guest, all you can do is deal with them pleasantly, either welcoming them to the party when feasible or gently sending them home if you cannot accommodate them. With a little foresight and planning, you can prevent wedding crashers from causing problems on your big day.

Be a Great Wedding Guest!

Being invited to be a witness to a marriage is a great honor. Observing wedding etiquette is not only for the bride and groom; wedding guests also should keep certain things in mind.

First and foremost, send in your response to the invitation promptly. If you have never planned a wedding, you may not realize what a terrible hassle it is for a bride to be hunting down guests at the last minute to see if they are coming or not.

For the ceremony, guests should plan to show up a little before the starting time of the service. This allows plenty of time to be seated before the processional begins. (If you are late, wait until after the bride has made her way down the aisle, and then quietly slip into a seat in the back.) Remember to turn off your cell phone!

A good wedding guest should never, ever do anything to draw attention away from the bride. A key component of this is dressing appropriately. The thoughtful guest selects wedding attire and wedding jewelry that is festive, well-kept, and appropriate to the formality and location of the event.

Whatever you do, do not bring uninvited guests along. This includes your four legged friends! Then just remember to relax and have a great time at the wedding.