Who Says You Have to Wear White

During an episode of Say Yes to the Dress, a new bride was dead set on getting a black wedding
dress, despite desperate pleas from her mother to stay with the traditional white. While she did
end up going with an ivory dress, the black wedding gown she tried on actually looked beautiful.

White or ivory is not the only color to choose from and Jessica Biel is a perfect example of this
with the light pink dress she wore to her wedding to Justin Timberlake last October.

According to a Yahoo news report, there are over 2 million weddings in the US each year so why
not stand out and show some individuality. The report showed that this isn’t a new trend. Stars
have been doing this for years now.

Sarah Jessica Parker wore black to her 1997 wedding and Elizabeth Taylor wore yellow in 1964
and then green for another wedding in 1975. There all different kinds of wedding dresses such as
camouflage, sparkles and even an experimental dress that connects to the bride’s body so when
her heart rate increases the dress begins to light up.

At the end of the day it’s your wedding so do what makes you happy. Even if that means walking
down the aisle in purple.

~Alexis

Not Your Average Apps

With the use of smart phones there are many applications that can help making the planning
processing easier. By far, the best application so far is The Knot.

This app calls itself the “ultimate wedding planner” and once downloaded it asks for basic
information such as your address and the details surrounding your wedding. This enables the app
to give you tips on venues either in your area or ones in a destination you depict that you want to
have the wedding.

The app thinks of everything that goes into planning a winner including the mother of the bride
dress. There is a checklist section to help you organize things and even brings up topics you
might not have not even though about. One of these things would be figuring out if family
members will be contributing to the wedding and getting insurance on your engagement ring.
There are notifications in each section so an alarm can go off to let you know when events are
up. This is super helpful when you start to lose track of all the details.

It also gives examples of dresses, flowers, venues and offers many pictures to help set the scene
for your big day!

Another app worth looking at is TheKnotLB, which is a look book of wedding dresses. This
app starts off with asking for your body type, bra size, height, personality, wedding style, best
features and problem areas. Once your information is entered it opens a whole world of wedding
dresses to view.

Clicking on a dress opens it into a larger view where you can see the designer and style number.
On this screen you can click on a link that takes you to the website the dress is on, post the
picture on Facebook or Twitter, get information on the style and fabric and locate the exact store
that carries the dress within your current location. All of this hard work comes at the touch of a
few buttons.

This is definitely a whole new way to search for wedding dresses rather than flipping through
those bridal magazines. Since the app is looking for dresses with your body type in mind, it can
cut down some disappointment at the bridal shop when you find out that perfect dress you fell in
love with in a magazine just doesn’t work for your body.

These are two great applications that can be useful in planning and cut down on some of the
stress, which is always a plus!

~ Alexis

 

 

 

How to explain?

For a while now, I have felt like I have wanted to create a blog to share what I cook and sales I find and various other things. I love my wedding blog, but now that I have a house, cook mostly every night, workout and clip the occasional coupon -- I need a better outlet for my creative juices!

Omfg I love these photos.

In recent years, as I have evolved from learning to use the oven in college (yes, sophomore year), I have tried in vain to keep a running record of the meals I have cooked, recipes found and workout regimens that work. Even just a few days ago the hubs suggested that I start taking photos and documenting the recipes I do (he would be the fitness one of this relationship)

image via

I have been mulling over a few different blog ideas but never really felt like they full encompassed what I was trying to do here.

Basically, I am having an affair...an electronic affair with Pinterest (R). It saves what I want to save, it makes me laugh when I need it (insert: grumpy cat), helps me find amazing recipes (insert: red velvet poke cake) and helps me find ways to jam out while working out (insert: top 100 best running songs).

But let's be honest there are other ways to store ideas (bookmarking, Evernote, etc...) but this blogger is going to "focus" on her use of Pinterest and ways to share. To be clear this is NOT a blog dedicated to the site - but it is a site driven and inspired by it.

Carry on people. Carry on!

 

<3 you Charlie Sheen

The Name Debate

With more and more woman making a name for themselves professionally, and just dropping the
normal traditions associated with getting married, taking on their fiancés last name is not always
a given.

For those that watched the E! wedding special of Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries, saw that
there was a lot of talk about Kim taking Kris’ last name. Much of her reasoning went into her
name being a house hold brand, and did not want to confuse people with the change. Viewers
also were able to witness the emotions Kris felt as his new wife signed their marriage license
with her maiden name.

This has become a more common decision for many women today. Jaime Curto- McInerney, 32,
and her husband were faced with this dilemma.

“I actually didn’t want to take his name at all,” said Curto- McInerney. “He was upset, saying
he was a traditional guy. I then said I was going to hyphenate it. He still didn’t like it, but I was
determined.”

Why the strong need to keep the maiden name?

“I guess I really don’t get why we are supposed to. I was a Curto for 29 years, why change it just
because I got married?” Explained Curto- McInerney.

Christa Barsness Smith, who recently got married, believes it depends on each individual
woman.

“Honestly I don’t find anything wrong with keeping your maiden name,” explained Barsness
Smith, “especially in a time where woman are in professional careers, which may have started
before they got married.”

It seems some men feel the same way.

“Depending on her last name and if she had made a name for herself with it, then no I wouldn’t
have a problem,” said Alex Depew, 22. “But if she had no merit using it, I would be a bit
offended.”

~ Alexis


For another Daily Dose of Wedding view on this topic - check out my article from 2011: The Name Game

Fighting the Stress

Planning a wedding requires a plethora of details. After all the excitement of finally getting
engaged to the man of your dreams the realization of actually planning the wedding sets in.

Now, for most women, this planning has started long before the boyfriend gets down on one
knee and proposes. Women like to discuss the wedding details with their friends and describe
what they want. With sites such as Pinterest, Instagram and all the other apps on our phones, it
becomes easy to screen shot and “pin” things you want in your wedding.

Although it is easy to create this virtual vision of your wedding, it is a whole other story to sit
down and plan out all the details. Some of these are broad such as the date, dress and location,
but there are also the more intimate details such as the colors, themes, guest list and financial
budget.

Jessica Feon was only 18 when she got engaged and planned her wedding start to finish in six
months.

“The whole thing was stressful but the most stressful (part) was probable just organizing
everything,” said Feon. “There were so many phone calls to make and so many people to touch
base with. I made like three wedding related phone calls a day for four months straight.”

Feon suggests keeping a detailed notebook with checklists to keep things organized. Make a list
of what needs to be done and who needs to be called. After you have done something simply
check it.

“When I checked them all off I was done for the day,” said Feon.

Another common stress is the financial one brought on from planning a wedding.

Tracy Henn found the finical burden of a wedding to be the most stressful. Henn already had a
home with her fiancé and had a young child with him so she cut out some of the costly parts of a
wedding.

“I went with silk flowers instead of real ones and I made my own invitations to save some
money,” said Henn. “We also decided to have a private beach ceremony to spare the cost and
then had a get together when we came home with close friends and family.”

There are ways to organize your planning to keep from stressing and smart cost effective
decisions that can be made so you can still have the things you want without going overboard.

~ Alexis