Wedding Planning Blog

Wedding party dresses come in tons of colors and styles. The decision of what to choose can be a bit overwhelming. Kay, who is getting married in January, sent me this question.

Hello. I am in my mid forties & getting married (2nd time) I am wearing a long formal cream colored beaded dress. The wedding is in Jan at a church. Please give dress color ideas for the matron of honor, brides maid & flower girl (I had previously bought a white dress for flower girl) before I found mine. I live in the South so it is not usually very cold.
Thanks
Kay

Well, Kay (and for others of you who are struggling with this decision), here are my tips to choosing your bridal party’s colors.

1. Start with your favorite color. You want your wedding to reflect your personality and style, so think about what colors you want to see on your wedding day.
2. Consider the overall look of your wedding. Do you want bright, dramatic colors or monochromatic, formal colors. How will your favorite color fit the look?
3. If you feel that some of your bridesmaids may not find the color flattering, use your trusty Just Marry! color wheel to find a shade variation of your color. You may find that going slightly lighter or darker than your favorite will make your girls happier.
4. Let them be different. There is no rule that says your bridesmaids have to dress exactly alike. Encourage them to find dresses that are variations of your favorite color. Make sure they send you a photo for your approval.
5. I like white dresses with a splash of color to match the rest of the wedding party for the flower girl. The color can come from an underlay or a sash.
6. As for having your flower girl in white and you in ivory, that is a personal choice. I love the way ivory and white look together.

If you would like more ideas, the hot colors for Spring 2009 from Pantone.com can be found below: (Love that Lavender!)



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Since I wrote about choosing poems to include in your wedding ceremony, I thought it might be a good idea to post some of my favorite poems. I will sprinkle a few throughout the blog in the coming weeks. In the meantime, here is one of my favorites from
Elizabeth Barrett Browning. How Do I Love Thee?

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, — I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! — and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

Everyday couples tell me that they want to have a unique wedding. Unique is a very loft goal. Weddings are typically made up of the same things… a bride, a groom, a ceremony, guests, food, flowers, photography; how can a couple make their wedding stand out? I think the most meaningful way is to write the ceremony, or at least the vows.

Now for those of you who say, “I have never written a thing in my life, how can I start now?” Let me assure you, it isn’t as hard as it sounds. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Keep an engagement journal. Write notes on special events (big or small). Some of those stories may make good material for your vows.
• Ask friends to speak during the ceremony. They can use original writing or pick passages from famous poetry.
• Start brainstorming ideas three months prior to the ceremony. Look at the ideas a couple of times a week and take out what you don’t like.
• Two months prior to the ceremony, organize the ideas from friends and the ones you wrote into the ceremony.
• One month prior to the ceremony, your writing should be complete. Send it to your officiant so he can practice. You should practice too so you won’t be nervous.

There are many online resources and books for writing your vows. Even if you aren’t a confident writer, take a chance and put some ideas together. You may surprise yourself and your loved ones with a truly unique ceremony!

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In my career I have had to order thousands of bridesmaids dresses and tuxedos. It is typically a relatively painless process, but one portion of the ordering process is usually quite a challenge… getting accurate measurements!

Gone are the days when all the bridesmaids and groomsmen live in the same city. I have had to get measurements from New York to Hong Kong, Florida to Paris and beyond. If distance isn’t an issue, getting the wedding party to take the time to get measured can be. (There are always stragglers.)

Here are my suggestions for alleviating some of the chaos of getting measurements from your wedding party:

• Give the wedding party a final measurement deadline of one month prior to when you want it. You will probably have to send reminders (and sometimes nag), but if you give yourself enough lead time, you won’t be in a panic.
• Request that they go to a professional to get measured. The easiest way to do this is to order your tuxedos or gowns from a chain that has stores in your wedding party’s hometowns. If that isn’t possible, let them know that most tuxedo shops have an unwritten agreement to take measurements, at no charge, and give them to the groomsmen. That is not as common in bridal salons, but if your bridesmaid agrees to get her alterations done at the shop, they may be willing to help her.
• If any of your bridesmaids and groomsmen insist on not going to a professional to get measured, please encourage them to have a friend help them read the measuring tape. You would not believe the crazy measurements we get from bridesmaids and groomsmen who pull the measuring tape away from their bodies to read the tape. (No girl who wears a size 4 dress has a 40 inch waist).
• Make sure to review all the measurements with the professionals at the tuxedo shop or the gown salon. They will know by the height and weight whether or not there are any bogus measurements. Also, for those of you who have girls in the wedding party who are concerned about their size (so all of them), make sure to reassure them that the gown size will be larger than the size they typically wear.







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I am the biggest Techno-Geek I know. I have been since I was a young girl with my Radio Shack TRS-80.

Now I can regularly be found with my laptop in tow and I always have my Blackberry attached to my waist. Honestly, I rarely use pen and paper at all, especially now that I am trying to be environmentally conscious. Not all of my clients and colleagues work that way. In fact, my associate, Michele, can’t fathom doing anything without a legal pad in her hand.

So in consideration of Michele, and my clients who like things they can hold in their hands rather than stare at a computer screen, I started to think about the tools I used before I planned everything in my computer. Here is a list of my favorite low tech wedding planning tools.

1. Three Ring Binder: I think the three-ring binder is something no bride should be without. It is easy to carry and if you drop it, your papers won’t fall out. I also like that it is easy to add pages in when you find things you like and to take pages out when you don’t need them anymore (You know you’re going to change your mind a few times). This is a must-have low- tech tool!

 

2. Page Protector: This is the perfect accompaniment to the three-ring binder. Use them for papers that shouldn’t have holes (like contracts) and keep smaller items in them like fabric swatches and business cards.

 

3. Recipe Card File: This is a great low-tech way to keep your guest list. Put names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses on index cards and put them in alphabetical order inside. You will appreciate having your guest list organized in one portable place.

 

4. Hi Lighter: Organize your guest list by using different colored hi lighters. I suggest green for those you are sure will attend the wedding, pink for those who might attend and blue for those who you cannot imagine will attend. This will help you keep a solid estimate of guests for budgeting purposes.

 

5. Shoe Box: The shoe box is a great place to store response cards. Make one box for yes, and one box for no.

 

6. Rubber Bands: Use rubber bands for making your table assignments. Go to your shoe box with all of your “yes” invitees and put them in groups of people who you want to sit together. Use the rubber bands to secure the cards together by table.

 

7. Calculator: Okay, so an abacus would be more low-tech, but not nearly as portable. Put the calculator in your purse so you can easily tally bills and estimates so that you can make sure to stay on budget.

 

8. Color Wheel: I love my color wheel. Carry yours with you everywhere, especially when you shop for linens, flowers and dresses. I even saw a bride use hers when selecting eye shadow colors with her makeup artist. (you can purchase one of our Just Marry! Color Wheels at amazon.com)

 

9. Masking Tape: You must have masking tape with you on the wedding day. It is good for making shoes non-slip, repairing falling hems (it’s not gorgeous, but it works in a pinch) and securing slipping bra straps.

 

10. Rolling Suitcase: Everything can go in a rolling suitcase; favors, emergency kits, programs — all wedding accessories. If you pack things tightly, all will stay organized and you will appreciate not having to carry heavy containers full of stuff.

 

11. Small Notebook: I encourage every bride to keep a small notebook and pen with her at all times. Ideas will pop into your head constantly, even when you sleep. Don’t let any bit of inspiration get away or any “to-do” be forgotten.
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