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Wedding Formalwear Tips
My Wedding: My Bridesmaids
Take a day where you and your bridesmaids can visit all the bridal shops and check out all the potential dress ideas. Make it a girl’s day, include a fun lunch and just spend the day having a good time. Have the bridesmaids try on a variety of bridesmaid dresses and take plenty of notes on what you like about the dresses and what you don’t like.
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AmericanBridal.com Tip: Custom Bridal Jewelry
Your bridal jewelry doesn’t have to be purchased from a bridal shop. In fact, if you’re having a really non-traditional wedding (gothic, for example) you’re probably going to have to get your bridal jewelry customized for the occasion. It’s easy to find traditional pearl earrings and necklaces, but to find really unique bridal jewelry to match your wedding theme, have a look at these ideas:
-Raid your grandmother’s attic. This is a great idea if your wedding theme is staged in a completely different era for example, Victorian times. Your grandmother (or other relatives) might have some costume jewelry on hand that she’s willing to lend you to use as bridal jewelry.
-Have a look in second-hand clothing shops. Sometimes they’ll have bins or buckets of cheap bridal jewelry or everyday jewelry that might fit into your wedding theme.
-Have a look at different bridal sites because they might just have the perfect bridal jewelry based on what you’re looking for.
If you’re raiding your grandmother’s attic, don’t forget to look for stuff your husband-to-be or groomsmen could use too. That way, you carry theme to everyone in the bridal party, not just the bride or the bridesmaids. Who knows…you might even find a vintage wedding dress or other vintage clothes to wear at the reception.
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You Do Not Have to Be Emily Post
Take a hint from the wedding invitation for the proper wedding guest attire. It's a good idea to consult with the bride's parents or the bridal party for Wedding attire etiquette questions. If you're unsure what to wear, always ask.
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AmericanBridal.com Tip: Bridal Accessories From The Neck Up
Let’s hope that when you walk down the aisle, or over the hot sand, or through the garden path, your guests won’t be looking at their manicured hands. You want them to look at you. Sure your beauty should be enough to turn some heads, but a little glint and glitter in the cranial region isn’t a bad idea on your wedding day! Believe it or not, there are a million things you can use for bridal accessories, but let’s stick with ten ideas:
1) Crystal drop earrings that dangle and catch the light as you walk by.
2) Rhinestone barrettes. Take three or four tiny barrettes and tuck them behind one ear for a nice effect.
3) Metallic eye shadow is eye-catching, but don’t overdo it unless you’re going for the street walker theme.
4) A gigantic diamond (or faux diamond) choker says, hey look at me!
5) Give yourself a light spray of self-tanning lotion the day before the wedding for a healthy glow. Either do it yourself or get a professional to do it. Just go easy on the application.
6) Glittery lips. If you’re going sultry with the eye makeup, slick a little glittery lip gloss on and smile all the way down the aisle.
7) Hair glitter or sparkles make a good substitute for a veil.
8) If you normally wear glasses, think about getting some contact lenses for the wedding day. Colored contacts can either brighten your eyes, or change their color completely. Even if you don’t normally wear glasses, you could get a disposable pair of colored contacts without a prescription just to give yourself a new look.
9) Get a good facial so that your skin glows.
10) Brighten up your smile by using a commercial tooth whitener before the wedding.
So, do you want to be remembered as the bride who lacked luster or the bride brighter than Las Vegas? Go ahead bride…put the glow on.
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The Wedding Defines the Wedding Attire
When it comes to choosing your wedding attire here are a few suggestions that will help out men and women alike. A dark suit or blue blazer is generally appropriate for men. Their wedding attire should include shirt and tie and well-pressed slacks. If the wedding is an outdoor wedding or the reception is outdoors, men can switch from dark suit to a lighter colored suit. Be sure to check the wedding invitation and whether it advises black tie or not. If the invitation requests black tie, it’s customary to obey the request or look out of place.
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AmericanBridal.com Tip: Wedding Accessories
Have you ever been somewhere, to an event or a party, and felt like there was something missing? No doubt it was the details that weren’t there. If you don’t dim the lights at a dance, it’s just a big glaring room with loud music. You get the idea. Even if you’re getting married in t-shirts and jeans, you still want to add some bridal accessories, like matching personalized belt buckles, to pull the look together.
You might think you’re ready for the big day, but have you included any of these hot little items for your bridal accessories?
-Hair or body glitter
-Rings that have a compartment to hold chap stick. You and your bridesmaids are going to be puckering up a lot!
-Are you getting married in your own backyard by the light of the moon? If so, you’ll probably want to have lots of lighted citronella torches to keep the mosquitoes away.
When you think of wedding accessories, you probably think about the pearl drop earrings and crystal hair pins worn by the bride and bridesmaids, but there are a lot of other things that can fall into the category of “wedding accessories” like extra pins or a tiny sewing kit in case of emergencies. Just think of all the possible mishaps or problems that could occur (but probably won’t!) and add them to your bridal accessory list.
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Wacky Wedding Accessories
The last thing your guests are going to expect is a squirt of water from a strategically placed squirt gun, or the sound of a buzzer when you shake their hands after the ceremony. If you’re known for your crazy sense of humor or your jokester personality, why not introduce a few props to your guests on your wedding day? People normally think of wedding accessories as things like candles, guest books, plume pens, and corsages, but there’s no rule that says your wedding accessories can’t be comedy tools. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
1) Instead of bouquets of flowers, have the bridesmaids carry squirt guns down the aisle (fully loaded with water of course).
2) Make sure your bridesmaids and the groomsmen all have cell phones on them, and make sure they’re turned on! Arrange for one of the guests to keep calling their phone numbers throughout the ceremony. Your wedding party will know what’s going on, but the rest of the guests won’t. If you’re a good actor, make sure to act really annoyed.
3) Crossword puzzles and pencils. Wedding accessories should include items to keep your wedding party from getting bored during the ceremony.
Of course, these are pretty tame practical jokes, so feel free to ratchet it up a notch. You know your friends and family better than anyone else, so gauge exactly how low-brow you want to go with your plans. It’s possible that nobody has ever used a Whoopie cushion as a wedding accessory before, but you could be the first.
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Pre-Wedding Bridal Accessories
Everyone knows that the wedding day is what all the fuss is about. All of the planning, saving, spending, partying, celebrating and promising boil down to that one day. Of course, that day is going to be crazy. It’ll go by in a blur, so you want to make sure you slow down at least once before the wedding to enjoy some time with your friends. When you’re planning on bridal accessories, don’t forget the pre-wedding down time. Bridal accessories like personalized slippers and bathrobes are a nice touch for your bridesmaids and they double as bridal party favors as well. Other pre-wedding bridal accessories that you and your bridesmaids can enjoy include:
Funny calendars or comic strips. Take some time to share a laugh.
Snacks, and lots of them. Indulge in some of the things you’ve deprived yourself of these past few months . Personalized bathing suits will look fine on you and your bridesmaids as you spend a day by the pool.
Come up with your own slogan and have it personalized on t-shirts for you and your bridesmaids to wear. Better yet, get some plain t-shirts, a ton of glitter, stencils, and fabric paint, and spend an evening creating your own personalized t-shirts.
Hair and makeup kits. Put together some quality kits for your bridesmaids to use before, on the day of, and after the wedding. Anything that’ll help smooth the transition from single to married, whether it’s something for a party, cushy bathrobes, or personalized slippers to relax in, should be considered essential bridal accessories.
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Zen Wedding Accessories
A Zen wedding is a wedding that offers the opportunity for an unpretentious and authentic exploration of self, love, and life. There’s no book of rules for a Zen wedding, because it’s more of a concept than an institution. If you’re interested in having your family and friends come together to celebrate your wedding day authentically, free of diversions that take away from the meaning of the day, consider adding or eliminating the following wedding accessories:
1) Eliminate walls and boundaries. If it’s possible, have your wedding outside where you can connect with the earth and the sky.
2) Opt for no music, or live music only. For a Zen wedding, you want music that’s restorative (think Yoga music), if you need music at all. If your wedding is going to be outside, ask your guests to focus on the sounds of nature and to breathe deeply and calmly as you say your vows.
3) In a lot of traditional weddings, there’s a lot of emphasis on bridal accessories and wedding accessories. Simplify your life and everyone else’s by eliminating as many distractions as possible. The day should be about you and your partner making a commitment together, not about the wedding accessories.
4) Depending on where you’re going to get married (i.e., outside), the weather conditions and the landscape, you might want to have a picnic style wedding where the guests dress in very comfortable loose clothing and sit on the ground (on mats). Just keep in mind that some guests may have physical limitations. You want your wedding your way, but you don’t want your guests to suffer either. Wedding accessories and bridal accessories are beautiful and fun to pick and choose. However, if you envision a simplified wedding day, less is definitely more
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Finding Or Creating Perfectly Cheap Wedding Accessories
Not everyone can afford a celebrity style wedding and not everyone wants to spend their money on expensive bridal accessories and/or wedding accessories. Why spend all that money for one day when you could be putting it toward the honeymoon of your dreams, or into a new house? Of course, the next question is, how do you find cheap wedding accessories that don’t actually look cheap? Easy! Do an Internet search for bridal sites that sell cheap or inexpensive wedding accessories. If you’re looking for more traditional items like plume pens, guest sign-in books, and bridal jewelry sets, you’ll probably find everything you need at one bridal site. However, if you’re going for something a little non-traditional, you might want to look at other ways of coming up with cheap wedding accessories. For example, do you really need a puffy satin pillow-topped guest book, or could you get by with a scroll for everyone to sign? Unless you have a thousand guests coming to your wedding, you’ll end up filling only the first five to ten pages of that expensive guest sign-in book.
Whether you’re getting married in a church or at home, do you really need to have expensive flowers pinned to every chair? Sure it looks nice, but in one year from now, will any of your guests be able to remember what type of flower marked their seat? If you’re into crafts, you could easily make your own placards as pew markers. Create your own cheap wedding accessories. Sure, it costs money to get the supplies you need, but it’s still cheaper than buying pre-made wedding accessories. Besides, when you do it yourself, you get exactly what you want!
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Sanity Saving Bridal Accessories
No matter how simple and easy you expect your wedding to be, every bride wants to look her best. It doesn’t matter if you’re getting married wearing shorts and a t-shirt, or a full-length gown, the bride and the bridesmaids need to have certain sanity saving reinforcements to make sure the day is as stress-free as possible. Get a small plastic portable tote, place it out of the way where guests won’t see it, but let the bridesmaids know where they can find it if necessary. Fill it with the following must-have bridal accessories:
A light body spritz for freshening up.
Hand sanitizer.
Extra deodorant
Safety Pins
Hair clips
Bobby pins
A mini sewing kit including a small pair of scissors, thread and a needle.
Feminine hygiene products
Powder
Breath mints or hard candy
Extra toothbrushes and toothpaste
Dental floss
Energy drinks
First aid supplies
Extra gel shoe inserts
A nail file and/or nail clippers
A couple of energy bars (especially if you or one of your bridesmaids has low blood sugar and needs a boost of energy between meals)
A hair brush
A small mirror
A small container of hair gel or hairspray
Chances are, you won’t need all of these items, but they’re good bridal accessories to have on hand!
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Crystal Bridal Jewelry
Not everyone wants to have the same kind of bridal accessories that their mother’s had when they were married. That probably means ditching the string of pearls and going with some different bridal jewelry. Have you given any thought to crystal bridal jewelry? Think about it! You can easily associate the shimmer of crystal to a starry evening, or a crisp winter day. That means no matter when or where you’re getting married, crystal bridal jewelry can really fit in and make a statement.
You can get a gorgeous pair of crystal earrings (clear or colored) for as low as $25.00. If you check out some bridal sites you’ll find that there are a lot of different kinds of crystal jewelry as well including special bracelets for the flower girls, or even crystal anklets for brides aiming for something a little less traditional.
The beautiful thing about crystal bridal jewelry is the fact that it comes in all shapes, sizes and costs. If you’re going with a non-traditional wedding theme, you can get crystal bridal jewelry to reflect the day. You can any color and/or style you want! The other nice thing about this kind of bridal jewelry is that it can be worn again and again, beyond the actual wedding day. If you buy something that screams “bridal” and bridal only, when are you really going to get a chance to wear it again? You’ll probably tuck it away with your wedding dress without another thought. Crystal bridal jewelry will look good on your wedding day, but it will also serve you well at work, at home, or on a night out.
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Accessories 101
Here´s the bare minimum for what brides should consider when planning their accessories for the wedding:
headpiece/veil/tiara
gloves
wrap/shawl
shoes
necklace
earrings
engagement ring/wedding rings
bracelet
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Tuxedos, Cumberbunds & Top Hats, Oh My!
When it comes to choosing the men'€™s wedding attire, it'€™s important that the bride and groom not only agree on what the men are going to wear, but that the attire they are looking for is available. Unlike the bride, the men are not expected to purchase their wedding attire and keep it forever. In fact, in many cases, a man may never wear a tux in his life before or after the day he gets married. Rentals are more than acceptable. Rental or not, great care goes into selecting the men'€™s wedding attire.
Tuxedos are always in fashion whether it's morning, midday or evening. The level of formality will dictate the style of the tuxedo. Colors include off-white, gray, white and black. Cummerbunds are great because the cummerbund color can match that of the bridesmaids' dresses as can the actual tie or cravat. Accessories for the bridegroom, groomsmen and best man should include cufflinks, leather shoes and a boutonniere. The groom's boutonniere should match the bride's bouquet.
When shopping for a suit rental, make sure all of the men's wedding attire is rented from the same location. This will ensure that the style, color and accessories are the same. It's also important to make sure that rentals are confirmed at least three to five weeks ahead of time and that the men present themselves for one fitting in case a suit needs to be altered. In the event of traveling for a destination wedding, the men's wedding attire should be rented from the same place the groom and groomsmen are coming from in order to avoid mix-ups during arrival. While tuxedos are standard, it's perfectly acceptable for men's wedding attire to reflect the theme or style of the wedding. That means casual dress for a casual wedding, costume for a themed or costumed wedding and more.
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You Do Not Have to Be Emily Post
Here are some basic wedding wardrobe etiquette tips for the Bride's side:
The Mother of the Bride The wedding attire etiquette for the mother of the bride is one of the most clearly defined because she is the second most important female at the wedding. The mother of the bride isn't required to match the female wedding attendants. In fact, the mother of the bride should stand out from the bridesmaids and have her own look and style, which accompanies the bride's color choices and decor.
The Mother of the Groom Wedding attire etiquette requires that the mother of the bride and the mother of the groom be in contact with each other over their choices of clothing. They should coordinate their colors so they do not clash and it is of vital importance that no competition is played out during the selection of clothing between the mother of the bride and the mother of the groom.
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My Wedding: My Bridesmaids
Sometimes the most complicated task is finding a bridesmaid dress that everyone likes. When it comes to shopping for your bridesmaids’ dresses here are some suggestions for making the process simpler and easier on everyone involved.
Plan a day dedicated to bridesmaid dress shopping. You may find yourself making this trip more than once, but when you’ve completed your research on bridesmaid dresses and how your bridesmaids look in the various dresses and colors, it will be time to make your actual choice. The color is your choice - review your notes and make the selection for the bridesmaid dresses.
Remember, the bridesmaid and the bridesmaid dresses should simply complement your wedding fantasy.
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The Wedding Defines the Wedding Attire
When you say the words wedding and wedding dress, you automatically presume that the wedding attire will be something formal and dressy. Many weddings depicted on television are blac tie or suit and tie events with the women being dressed in formal and fancy dresses. Wedding attire is a standard that is expected not only for the wedding attendants, but also the guests. The reality is that wedding attire is dictated by the style, time and season of the wedding.
For women’s wedding attire, there are a wider variety of options. Female guests attending a wedding can wear a dress, a morning suit, pants or skirt and blouse. A formal wedding or a black and white wedding can suggest the color black or dark formal attire for wedding attire. You should also avoid wearing floral patterns because they can cause you stand out in the crowd - something that should only be captured by the bride.
