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The bride and groom sharing a cookie
The groom pouring glasses of milk for the guests
To follow up on my recent wedding cookies post, this bride and groom had milk and cookies at their wedding instead of cake. I thought this was an adorable idea. I love the simplicity of the clear milk glasses and the stacks of chocolate chip cookies on various cake stands. (My apologies for the blurry pics, as my cousin took them from his cell phone) YUM! 
As we come to the end of the year, I thought it would be fun to look up what some of the best selling wedding planning and organizing books were on Amazon.com for 2009. Wedding books are really helpful for keeping you organized and provide tons of tricks and tips while you are planning your wedding. Here’s a list of a few of the top ones:
Source: Amazon.com
Source: Amazon.com
Source: Amazon.com
Source: Amazon.com
Source: Amazon.com
What wedding planning books are you using? Any recommendations?
Last week one of my Pittsburgh-native friends sent me an article from the New York Times titled, The Wedding? I’m Here for the Cookies, about the legendary cookie tables at Pittsburgh weddings. My friend didn’t even realize it was a Pittsburgh thing, she just thought it was the norm to have cookie tables at wedding receptions. However, reading further into the article, it’s actually a tradition unique to the area!
Source: New York Times
According to the New York Times article and confirmed by my Pittsburgh friends, moms, grandmas, and aunts all begin baking cookies weeks and weeks in advance. They make a crazy amount of cookies from peanut butter blossoms to Italian wedding cookies to Pizzelles (I personally love these) all for the guests to enjoy. Usually, the cookies are placed on one big table which allows everyone to help themselves during the reception. The trend lately is to have small containers, like Chinese take-out boxes, available for the guests to bring additional cookies home in, and can be used as favors.
Source: New York Times
Even though this is mainly a Pittsburgh tradition and would require a lot of preparation and work (or a great bakery contact), I think it’s a great idea for any wedding. Who wouldn’t want to bring home a few extra sweets?!
Source: New York Times
Are you having a cookie table at your wedding?
Source: jcrew.com
My sister is going to be in one of our friends wedding this July and she is super excited to be in it, but of course there’s a small catch. Our friend, the bride-to-be, has finally chosen the bridesmaid dress colors and they are……. pink and orange! Half the bridesmaids will be assigned to wear pink, and the other half will be assigned orange. Now that might not sound that bad to you, but to my fashionista sister, the possibility of having to wear orange is her worst nightmare especially when there’s going to be tons of pictures taken of her! Of course my sister will ultimately wear either color, but her telling me this news got me thinking about choosing bridesmaid dresses, and how a bride should go about making her decision from a bridesmaid perspective.
First and foremost, I believe that it is ultimately the bride’s choice on what her bridesmaids wear, no matter what her pickiest bridesmaids say. However, I think it is important to take all of your bridesmaids into consideration. Some things to consider are the price of the dresses, sizes available, style or cut of the dresses, fabrics, and the colors. Try to think about each one of your bridesmaids separately and picture each of them in the dresses that you’re considering. If they seem like they’ll work on all of the bridesmaids, then you’ve found the right dresses. If not, move on to different ones. Depending on the size of your bridal party and their level of maintenance, one great tip is to narrow your bridesmaid dress selections down to just a few and have your bridesmaids vote on them. That way the bridesmaids feel that they are a part of the process and will be more supportive of the dress selection. Another possibility is to give your bridesmaids options. Set a few guidelines like the color or style from a specific store or line and let them pick out the dress. That way they can choose the dress that best fits their personality. Most importantly, you want everyone to be happy and feel comfortable on your wedding day. And as for my sister, I know she’ll look great in either color, but fingers crossed that she gets assigned pink!
I know bride-to-be’s are always looking for new and creative ideas for bridesmaids gifts. One of my friends told me about these personalized water bottles, and I immediately thought they would make great gifts for bridesmaids. I have a few SIGG water bottles and just love them. Now that SIGG has teamed up with Cafe Press, you can personalize them for each bridesmaid, add your own photos, or even add phrases or sayings on to the bottle. Plus, if you’re having a green wedding these would be perfect since they’re eco-friendly and reusable! Check out the website: http://www.cafepress.com/designer/sigg/?src=hph2
Source: mysigg.com
Source: mysigg.com
Source: mysigg.com
I love engagement photos because the bride and groom can really be themselves and express who they are as a couple. They are often in more of a relaxed setting and the couple can be more playful with the pictures compared to on their wedding day. The couple can get really creative with scenery, props, and attire to show off their personalities and announce to all their family and friends that they’re getting married! I’ve known couples who have gotten professional pictures taken as well as couples that have had family members or friends take pictures for them. A lot of photographers even include engagement photos in some of their wedding packages. Engagement photos can be used for save the dates, sending pics into local newspapers, posting on personal wedding websites, creating guestbooks, and of course having them as meaningful keepsakes. Here are some adorable engagement photo ideas from onadaphotography.net:
Source: onadaphotography.net
Source: onadaphotography.net
Source: onadaphotography.net
Source: onadaphotography.net
Do you plan on taking engagement photos?? Or how did yours turn out if you already did??
For me, the wedding garter toss tradition is always a little too cheesy and maybe even becoming out dated. The groom digging through the layers of the bride’s dress to finally find the garter and then proceeding to do a terrible imitation of a Chippendale routine before flinging it into a crowd of overzealous groomsmen and single male guests at times seems awkward and forced. However, if the bride was wearing one of these garters I think my opinion of the garter toss could easily be swayed.
Source:www.juliannesmith.com
Source:www.juliannesmith.com
Source:www.juliannesmith.com
Source:www.juliannesmith.com
These garters are from www.juliannesmith.com and are the cutest ones I’ve ever seen. Normally, I feel like garters are often way too gaudy but these aren’t at all. They’re simple yet personal. Julianne is based out of Washington, D.C. and all of the garters are handmade. They are environmentally friendly and made from recycled plastic bottles. If you’re planning on going green with your wedding, then these are perfect! One of my bride-to-be friends is planning on ordering her wedding garter from here. She’s very conscious about the environment so these eco-friendly garters are ideal. She’s getting it customized with her wedding colors and embroidered with her wedding date. It’s going to be just adorable!
Are you planning to wear a garter and do the garter toss at your wedding?
Source: www.ultimatefakecakes.com
I was browsing this week through the website www.lemondrop.com and came across an article about a couple who ended up getting a fake wedding cake for their reception. Although they were expecting a real cake and were not too happy about getting one made out of foam, it got me thinking about the practicality of having an artificial cake. I know you’d miss out on smashing cake into the groom’s face, but I think having a fake cake is actually a great cost-cutting idea and would be great for outdoor weddings. Personally, I’m not a big fan of cake (gasp!), so having an elaborate multi-tiered cake would be on the lower end of my wedding must-haves. If a wedding cake is not on the top of your priority list, having a fake one could be an alternative to consider.
Source: www.ultimatefakecakes.com
Having an artificial cake at your wedding however, doesn’t mean there isn’t going to be any cake at all. One option with having a fake cake is using sheet cakes at the reception for serving your guests. According to the Bridal Association of America, a sheet cake will run around $1.50 a slice where as a mid-tier cake could run up to $6 a slice.
If you still want to be able to slice into your cake at your wedding reception, another cost-cutting alternative is having one layer of real cake and the others made of foam. This layer along with sheet cakes could be served to your guests. I know a lot of brides who have done this and it worked out really well.
Paying attention to the small details can add so much to your wedding day. As I attend more and more weddings, I find myself noticing all those personalized additions the bride and groom have to make their wedding day extra special. Here are just a few of my favorite “little things”:
My friend Kim had personalized coasters for all of the guests at her wedding.
Colleen had mini water bottles for her guests, which was perfect for the warm summer afternoon.
Linh had wine bottles as favors with personlized thank-you tags on each of them.
Angela hand-made these table numbers and added the adorable bows.
Are you planning to include ”little things” in your wedding?
One of my friends who is in the midst of planning her wedding came to me last week about deciding on a veil to go with her dress. Initially she didn’t want one, or at least didn’t want to spend too much money on one because she’d only be wearing it for the ceremony and pictures, but decided to see what options were out there. During her search she came across a great website www.wedding-veil.com. Having doubts about getting a veil, the site allowed my friend to order a number of veil swatches at no cost AND free shipping. She was really pleased with the quality of the samples from the site and was able to decide on the perfect veil to go with her dress while staying within her budget!
Source: www.wedding-veil.com
(My friend decided on a veil similar to this one. It’s floor length and dramatic- and to think she didn’t even want a veil!)
Source: www.wedding-veil.com
(I love this visor veil and it’s a great deal for only $40!)
I’ve noticed a lot of my friends having a wide variety of veils on their wedding day. I’ve seen visor veils, to floor length, to even one with feathers. I also know a few brides who chose not to wear a veil at all. It completely depends on your style and preference. When shopping for your wedding dress, almost every bridal boutique will be able to pair a veil with your dress. Trying on a number of veils in a number of different styles will help you decide which looks best on you and with the dress. That way, if you do go the Internet route, you’ll have a better idea of the style that you want. Here are a few tips that my friend gave me when ordering veils online:
Do you plan on wearing a veil on your wedding day? If so, what style do you think you’ll choose?
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