Whenever I get an invitation for a wedding, I have a slight panic attack because I don’t have anything to wear!  So this forces me to go shopping.  But I never know quite what to wear to a wedding.  I mean, I know not to wear white or off white (God forbid you take away the bride’s thunder!), but what’s really appropriate?

Luckily, I found this article in US Weekly.   I can’t find a link to the article, but here is a scanned image I found.  Its a bit hard to read, but I typed out the most important tips from the article for you.

 

Tips for a black tie wedding
Go glam:  “This is an opportunity to break out your stilettos and jewels,” J. Crew’s senior VP of women’s design, Jenna Lyons Mazeau, tells Us.  “It’s important to look elegant – a long dress in a dark color is always best.”
Don’t show too much skin:  “Your neckline shouldn’t be too dramatic or plunging,” WedAlert.com’s Kristin Ciccolella tells Us.  She also advises steering clear of super-sheer fabrics.  “Your undergarments shouldn’t show through!”

Tips for a destination wedding
Don’t wear white:  “White (or off-white!) is for the bride – a pastel or subdued tropical shade looks best,” Ciccolella says.
Dress comfortably: ”It’s a chane to wear fun, seasonal clothing,” wedding planner Mindy Weiss tells Us.  Ciccolella suggests a lightweight fabric like linen or cotton to avoid sweating in the sun.  However, she warns, “dressed-up shorts are still WAY too casual!”
Sexy sandals:  “A rubber flip-flop is not acceptable, but a jeweled one looks great against a beach backdrop,” Mazeau says.

Tips for an evening wedding
Keep it short:  “Wear a beaiful,knee-length black dress,” Mazeau says.  “A long dress feels too formal.”
Add sparkle:  “After sunset, one bold piece like a cocktail ring or embellished clutch works well,” Ciccolella says.

Tips for a daytime wedding
Classic is key:  “The look is traditional, Audrey Hepburn-inspired,” Mazeau says.  “Wear a knee-length dress (no bold prints) with pearls.”  Thread designer Beth Blake adds, “Sparkle looks cheap for day – be ladylike”

Hopefully this helps, and next time you have to go to a wedding, you’ll know exactly what to wear!

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My invitation mock-up is here!!!  Eeek!  It is so beautiful!  I might want to make minor changes to it, but as a whole, my invites make me so happy! 

Even Mr. Butterfly was surprised at how pretty they were.  Heh – of course, his enthusiasm might have been partially motivated by me constantly telling him to be more enthused, excited, involved in the wedding process. 

I would love to post pictures, but I want to send them out first.  So, you readers will have to wait a couple of weeks before you can see them.  Sorry~.

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I think I may be a snob about good customer service.  A company that has bad customer service will forever be on my shit list.  Luckily for me, most of the vendors that I have dealt with have been amazing.  Since I haven’t rated my vendors in awhile, I thought I’d give a quick recap of why my vendors rock!

Cocomyles.com
When I first contacted them to get fabric samples, they sent them out within 2 days free of charge.  Then the customer service rep wanted me to call them to make sure I received it.  I have a junior bridesmaid in my wedding party, and I wanted her dress fabric to match everyone else’s.  However, at the time, Cocomyles did not have a junior line available.  This is what they had to say:

We hope you understand that we’d rather pass on making a dress that we’re not confident will be up to our existing standards.  In consideration of your having to wait for this answer from us (and the answer, unfortunately, being what it is) we’d be will to provide you with free fabric matching the bridesmaids dresses in the event you wanted to have the junior bridesmaid dress made by soneone else.  We hope this of interest to you.  In any event, we do hope you appreciate our not wanting to say “yes, we can do that” when, at present, we don’t feel entirely comfortable.

Without me even asking, they offered to give me free fabric so that I can get the dress made somewhere else.  Did you hear that?  F-R-E-E fabric.  Fortunately, they are now offering a junior line so they will definitely be getting my business. 

Final Rating:  A++

Custom-Programs.com
You guys already know how much I love my invitations.  The part that makes me love them even more is that I love working with Adrienne.  She has been so amazing and prompt in answering all of my questions, and making the smallest changes to make me happy.  Plus, the way she runs her ordering system is air tight, so there really is no room for mistakes.  I honestly didn’t know what I wanted my invitations to look like.  I just picked out a few fonts for certain lines, and she designed the rest.  I don’t know about you, but that service is totally worth paying for.  I am now waiting for a mock-up of my invitation.  Yes, she sends you a real invitation so that you don’t have to make the decision without seeing it in person first.  The mock-up is taking a bit longer to arrive at my house, so she offered to have it FedEx’d to me if I don’t receive it by today.  That, ladies, is how every vendor should do business.

Final Rating:  A+/A

That’s all I have for right now.  I really feel lucky that I have not had to deal with bad vendors yet.  All these good experiences keep me from becoming a bridezilla, which keeps everyone around me pretty happy. 

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Ok – so this isn’t really wedding related….but its such a cool idea that I had to pass it along!

Talk about innovative! 

Who doesn’t like aromatherapy?  I love aromatherapy massages and aromatherapy candles, etc.  This is just another level of it.  Who wouldn’t want to slip under nice, clean, scented sheets? 

I dont know about you, but I looooooove sleeping.  Plus my dog sleeps in my bed so his smell never quite goes away.  This linen cleaning service would be perfect for me!  But for those more practical, you could just use the “one time use service” for special guests, or during your spring cleaning.

And I have a coupon code for 30% off!  Enter ATC30PO under ”one time use service” option for the discount!

Go here for more info!!

I cannot remember for the life of me, if I’ve already mentioned this before.

My wedding party consists of Bride, Groom, 1 Best Man, 2 Groomsmen, 2 Ushers, 1 Matron of Honor, 1 Bridesmaid, 1 Jr. Bridesmaid, 1 Ring Bearer, and 1 Male Bridesmaid.  Yes, a male bridesmaid.

J and I have been friends since our freshman year of college.  We were both in Chem 1 at NYU, and we took the same lab.  We didn’t really talk to each other much during the first few years.  Then we both became officers in KSA.  We bonded and then became good friends.  I guess we hung out here and there during college, but not all the time.  Our friendship really got solid and strong after we graduated college.  Both of us were living in NJ, and we both work in the health care field.  Even though I don’t see him very often, I still consider him one of my best friends.

So, it made sense for him to be a part of my wedding, and standing on my side. 

But what do I call him?  I can’t call him a “Male Bridesmaid” on my program, and he’s not a groomsman, so what do I do?  I’ve been researching this, and apparently is an etiquette for this type of situation!  (Thank goodness for the Internet!)

In this website, the proper way to address a male bridesmaid is to call him a “bride’s attendant.”  However, the proper way to address a male MOH is to call him a “bride’s honor attendant.”  I know he’s not my MOH, but I really like the sound of “honor attendant” better than “bride’s attendant.” 

What do you think? 

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The last time I wrote about the groomsmen’s gifts idea that Mr. Butterfly came up with, I got a lot of comments saying that the business cards were a bit….useless.   Granted, the groomsmen and ushers will have absolutely no reason to use these after the wedding.  In fact, I don’t expect them to use it during the wedding either.  The whole point was that we wanted to get them something nice, but inexpensive, as part of their groomsmen’s gift bags.  We really liked the idea of a business card holder, and the cards are just a “filler” for fun.

Anyway, the cards came in last night and they look fantastic!  I’m so glad that none of the groomsmen and ushers read this site because it would ruin the surprise.

Of course, both of my bridesmaids read this site, so I don’t think I can post about the bridesmaid gifts until after the wedding.  Sorry girls!

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Mr. Butterfly is so sweet. 

Before we got engaged, I had my own apartment.  During the 3 years that Mr. Butterfly and I dated, I lived in 3 different apartments – one in NJ, and 2 in Manhattan.  Mr. Butterfly, on the other hand, pretty much moved into our current apartment about 1 month after we started dating.  Luckily for me, this apartment is walking distance to my job.

Anyway, after we got engaged, I moved into his place since it was so close to my work.  Its a large alcove studio* in a luxury building.  Even though its a pretty big studio, there just isn’t enough room for everything in the house.  When I moved in, Mr. Butterfly had to vacate his 2 closets and buy himself an armoire. 

Well, since we started planning our wedding, I’ve been basically bringing home a ton of wedding stuff.  And what did I do with them?  I left them strewn all over the apartment because there just simply wasn’t any room to accommodate it all. 

So this past weekend, Mr. Butterfly did this:

I should have taken “before” pictures to show you how our bookshelf was overflowing with books, DVDs, and CD’s that we never touched.

I’m sure he cleaned out the entire area because he got sick of me leaving things everywhere, but I’d like to think of it as a sweet gesture and a contribution to the wedding planning process.   

*For the non-NYers:  Studio – one room apartment with a separate bath and maybe a separate kitchen.  Alcove studio has a distinct separate area or nook for dining or sleeping.  Our is a large alcove studio – over 500 square feet.  Yes, unfortunately, that is considered “large” in NY terms.

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I love love love my match boxes!!!!  They are so cute!!  However, I’m not a huge fan of my candles.  The candles are actually a decent size, and I love the smell of them, but the personalized stickers didn’t come out so well.  I used the same “double happiness” chinese symbol that I used in the invitations, but in a different style of calligraphy.  I’m wishing I used the same one, so that it would be more consistent.  I don’t know what I was thinking.

However, each favor came out to less than $3 per person, and you can’t beat that!  I’ll just have to live with the stickers. 

Here they are individually.  I chose the gold organza bags because it was the only color that most closely matched my color scheme.  In hindsight, I probably should have gone with just plain white.  Oh well.

Here they are all wrapped up to go.  The organza bags I bought have a 1 inch square bottom to it, so that you can stand it up straight. 

Now all I need to do is make cute little favor tags, and tie it to the strings.

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