Home add your blog Archives Search Forum Contact RSS FEED

This site is an rss/xml news reader containing our favorite feeds. All articles are the copyrighted material of the blogs that wrote them.

Red accessories to complement your wedding dress

post from Red Hot Brides! on 15 May 2008 10:13:46 PM. © Red Hot Brides!

Find the perfect red accessories to complement your wedding dress.WOMEN’S RED FEATHERED RED HAT SOCIETY DESIGNER FASHION HATA wedding is about getting married and staying together as a couple. But for the bride, a wedding is also about planning,[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://redhotbrides.com/blog/index.php?blog=2&title=red_accessories_to_match_red_
wedding_dre&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

Digg this

A Faux Bois Wedding

post from Love Notes on 15 May 2008 09:52:00 PM. © Love Notes

Our last post on Oslo Press seemed to strike a chord, so we thought we would share a few accessories that complement the wood veneer invitations. Our beloved Martha Stewart is the Princess of Faux Bois, offering everything from beautiful craft supplies to unique wedding cakes decorated in this motif, which literally translated simply means "false wood". (The French translation always adds caché, doesn't it?!) Here are a few more ideas from MSW that will bring out the nature girl in you! ~aloha, robyn

(Photos by Oslo Press and Martha Stewart Living)

Read The Full Article:
http://pacificweddings.typepad.com/love_notes/2008/05/faux-bois.html

Digg this

Feeling Blue

post from Lucky Me! on 15 May 2008 09:32:00 PM. © Lucky Me!

The standard monogram for today is still in the works, but here is an inspiration board for you. I have been searching for a dress for an upcoming wedding, but I have now been sidetracked by these shoes!

Flowers and Cake - The Knot, Shoes - [b]ecker's blog, Earrings - Saks Fifth Avenue, Dress - J.Crew, Bride and Goom - Maurice Photo

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/onAX/~3/291695233/feeling-blue.html

Digg this

The Winner Is....

post from Wedding Soiree on 15 May 2008 09:23:00 PM. © Wedding Soiree

Modern Bride has launched the ?Modern Bride of the Year? contest in their current June/July issue and it will be announced tomorrow morning by Modern Bride?s Editor in Chief Antonia van der Meer on CBS? The Early Show.

Here is the opportunity for any readers who are currently engaged to enter. Five finalists will win a glamorous and action-packed trip to New York City and the winner will be photographed for the cover of the leading national bridal magazine. Brides-to-be can enter at www.brides.com.

Read The Full Article:
http://weddingsoiree.blogspot.com/2008/05/winner-is.html

Digg this

Ask the Wedding Planner :: Real Advice from the
Pros

post from The Wedding Planning Blog by Blue Orchid Designs? on 15 May 2008 08:09:00 PM. © The Wedding Planning Blog by Blue Orchid Designs?

One of our loyal readers, Kate, is getting married in October and wrote in recently with this wedding planning dilemma (and in case you're wondering - yes I have her permission to link to her site! I made sure to ask first since this is a sensitive subject). This is a long post, but I'd recommend reading it so you don't wind up in the same boat.

Hi Liene,

I love your blog and regularly get fabulous inspiration from your posts. So I wanted to thank you for taking the time to share all that you do with your readers. Being a blogger myself, I realize the amount of time an effort it takes to create the quality of content that you do.

With that said, I'm in a wedding planning pickle and I've been stuck thinking that there is no easy answer to my dilemma. While I'm sure the answer will not be an easy one to swallow, I thought you may have encountered a bride who has dealt with this before. I am not 100% pleased with my wedding planner. While she hasn't made any gigantic blunders thus far, I don't feel like I'm getting the attention I'm wanting - or paying for. I knew, after hearing her prices, that she would be at the cheaper end of the wedding planning package spectrum, but I had no idea the quality of service would be so low.

I purchased her "Full Planning Package" even though I had budgeted for a DOC [editor's note: day-of coordinator]. I thought that it would be nice to have someone to walk be through difficult decisions when they come up, so the few extra hundred to book her for the Full Service compared to the average DOC in this area seemed worth it at the time. Now, I'm two payments in and at the point of considering whether to make that final payment. Unfortunately, that final payment will no longer cover the purchase of a new DOC (that I can find) - so my choices are no wedding planner or her.

My main problem with her is that while she knows the major details (where the venue is...and that's probably all she could call of the top of her head), she doesn't seem to care about the minor details. She doesn't seem excited about my wedding at all. She keeps asking how many guests there will be, calling my cupcakes the cake, and I'm 100% positive she has NO idea what the color scheme is. There have been other mis-communications, explicitly promised services not fully completed, and well, to be honest, she doesn't help me make those difficult decisions at all. Most recently, in asking her how many shuttles to rent and for what time frames (after I told her the number of rooms we booked for our block to help her figure it out) she stated, "that's a really difficult question to answer without knowing the exact number of guests staying at the hotel." Excuse my French, but no sh-t!

I hate to be a Bridezilla about this. I'm extremely organized and have really high standards compared to the average person. But I say all of the above with that buffer in mind. I just kind of thought that my wedding planner would be more excited and at least care more about the event as a whole, rather than just treating it as a military-esque strategic plan. I feel really stuck now, as I really wanted to have at least a DOC so that my friends and family could just enjoy the day - but my budget is already blown up to about 150% of what it was (yet another service she stated she would help us with) and I can't imagine spending any more with concern I'd be in the same boat.

I'm so sorry - I know you're a very busy woman and I hate to unload this on you, but I had hoped that you might have a different perspective that would help me make a decision. Any thoughts?

Regards,
Kate

Hi Kate,

A professional wedding consultant should make your planning process smoother and less stressful, and I am so sorry that hasn't been your experience! Much of what I have to say may not help your particular situation, but it may help other brides in preventing themselves from getting stuck in a similar scenario.

The first of that is the personality of the planner. Regardless of whether she is interested in your wedding or not, she should at least act like it. I am not an advocate of putting on a false front or faking anything, but there is a certain level of professional courtesy that is due you and it is not happening. I'd recommend meeting with her in person or having a phone conversation and addressing this issue. Let her know that you don't expect her to be a hyper cheerleader-type, but that she needs to treat you with professional interest and not like you are another name on her calendar. There was a line on the short-run (and terrible depiction of the wedding industry) TV show "The Wedding Bells" that said something like "each bride needs to feel like she's the only special bride on her special, special day." And it's true. You should be treated like your event is the only one that matters to the planner regardless of how full her plate may be.

As for the shuttles, it's really not that difficult of a question for anyone who's planned events, and I'm quite surprised by her answer. While you won't have exact numbers, you can easily guess how many people will reserve a room in the block and how many people will share a room (couples, two college friends, etc). You can reserve your shuttles using rough numbers. If you have to guarantee the shuttles and can't make last minute cancellations, then be sure to ask how far in advance you can add an additional shuttle. If you can add additional vehicles later on, then reserve the minimum you'll need now and add more later if your guest count increases. If you're reserving a shuttle for the wedding party, be sure to include their spouses or significant others in your count.

When you meet with her to discuss your concerns over how she is treating (or not treating) you, I'd also address how that translates to your concerns on how she'll act on your wedding day. If she knows potential referrals and her professional reputation are on the line, she may step it up. You shouldn't have to deal with this in the first place, but unfortunately, you are. If that doesn't work, maybe showing her this post would help.

This is the part that may be hardest to swallow, but again, it may help other brides who are in the beginning stages of planning their wedding: the phrase "you get what you pay for" really is true when it comes to wedding planners. This can be difficult because planners usually can't push volume (we can only do so many weddings a weekend and there are only a set amount of weekends in a year - not many people get married on a Tuesday), so many of the good planners are at a higher price point. Often times planners starting out will have lower prices, but far too often their inexperience winds up hurting you. As a general rule of thumb, full planning usually takes 3-4 times longer to do than day-of services (a good DOC is about 20 hours including paperwork, vendor confirmation, and pre-wedding day prep time), so the price difference between day of and full planning should be somewhat to that scale.

Again, I'm really sorry that you're having to go through this. If it were in your budget and you were able to walk from your contract without penalty to you, I'd recommend considering that route. Unfortunately, since you've already made your first two payments and only have a third left (and I'm guessing at least the first is non-refundable), I'd definitely sit down with your planner and have a heart to heart. Hopefully you'll be able to salvage some of your sanity and enjoy the rest of your wedding planning, and more importantly, your wedding day.

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BlueOrchidDesigns/~3/291504771/ask-wedding-planner
-real-advice-from.html

Digg this

Parrot tulips never tiptoe their way into
blooming big, bright and brassy, they deserve a centerpiece all their own

post from Toast and Tables on 15 May 2008 08:08:00 PM. © Toast and Tables

A centerpiece incorporating tulips should have a place on every table. They're colorful,
they're fun and they're great performers. They come in an impressive range of flower
forms - from simple upright goblets to the double blooms of peony-flowered forms -
and every color you could think of - except blue.

However, the frilliest, fluffiest and most flamboyant tulips of all are the parrot tulips.
They are a riot of multi-colored blooms with fringed, feathered or wavy edges. They are
actually "moving" flowers; they stretch and turn in response to the light.

Carolyne Roehm acknowledges an extreme love for parrot tulips. ``I'm drawn to their
odd streaks of craziness and their individuality - no two are the same. Looking at a
bundle of parrot tulips is like staring into a pool of the fantastic. I wonder: How did
nature decide to follow such an eccentric course?''

Roehm's fascination with these fancy flowers is demonstrated in the first photo with
the centerpiece she created.

For longest enjoyment, buy cut tulips when the buds are still closed but are beginning to
show the flower color. Before arranging tulips, prep the stems by re-cutting the stem tips.
A fresh cut opens the stems' water uptake channels. Unlike most cut flowers, tulips keep
growing in a vase. Plus, as they grow taller-often up to an inch-they tend to bend and move
toward sources of light. The fact that tulips dance in the vase is part of their charm. Don't
bother with flower food. Add fresh cool water to the vase every two days so they won't
drain the vase dry. Place tulips in a cool spot.

sources: Carloyn Roehm, A Passion for Flowers; Martha Stewart and Country Living magazine

Read The Full Article:
http://toastandtables.blogspot.com/2008/05/tulips-never-tiptoe-their-way-into.htm
l

Digg this

Good Wedding Video!

post from BEYOND SMITTEN on 15 May 2008 07:26:00 PM. © BEYOND SMITTEN

I never thought I would want to sit and watch a wedding video from beginning to end until I saw this video from Elysium Productions of a outdoor wedding in California.
Use these links to see: Janeene & Serge's Wedding Video

http://www.elysiumblog.com/index.cfm?postID=95

These are lovely photos of the wedding taken by Ira Lippke

What a happy couple and moving ceremony!

This couple seems so familiar, and I can't figure out why I think I know them. They had a beautiful wedding. He is Haitan and I think they live in New York. Their New York Times wedding announcement tells all their business but I think we have some mutual friends, New York is truly a small town after all.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/01/fashion/weddings/01Fears-MacArthur.html?ex=1340942400&en=c9ca721724d68594&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Read The Full Article:
http://anthonyandarickawedding.blogspot.com/2008/05/good-wedding-video.html

Digg this

Eleven Commandments for a Memorable Ceremony

Topic: wedding officiant. Yes, we know there are only supposed to be ten, but we're trying to encourage untraditional thinking!

1. Be Creative! Don't think you are creative? Think again! Let's face it, if you've sustained a healthy relationship with each other, you've already figured out a number... Technorati Profile

Read The Full Article:
http://www.wedplan.net/articles/28/

Digg this

Top Celebrity Wedding Trends on a Budget

While many brides planning their wedding just choose flowers and colors that they like and[...]

Read The Full Article:

Digg this

Reality TV and My Village.

First let's talk about American Idol. I cannot stand David Archuleta. I feel bad for saying this but I doubt he will ever read my blog. He looks like a pudgy-faced baby who is happy and inspirational all the time and it drives me crazy! I cannot believe[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://groveavenuebride.blogspot.com/2008/05/reality-tv-and-my-village.html

Digg this