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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Fitness Wedding Accessories
Are you and your partner fitness
buffs? You probably met in a gym or while jogging
in the park, right? Come on, admit it! If that’s
the case, why would you want to restrict yourselves
to uncomfortable wedding garb and ditch the trail
for a sit-down wedding? Your wedding should be a
reflection on who you are as a couple, which means
customizing the bridal accessories and wedding accessories
to suit the day. Forget tradition, pick up your pedometer
and walk through these wedding accessory ideas:
1) Sprint down the aisle (or trail!) by wearing sneakers.
Sure you can wear sneakers with a tux or a full gown,
but if that option doesn’t speak to you, why not
really make the day your own by wearing matching jogging
or track suits?
2) Have you ever been on a vacation where the hotel folds
your towel to look like a swan? Towels are cheap wedding
accessories that can really add to the day if they’re
folded into different shapes and used as decorations.
3) Guests love to throw things at the newly married bride
and groom. It’s true! In today’s eco-friendly
world, the last thing you want is your guests tossing
non-biodegradable stuff all over the ground. Keeping
with the fitness theme, why not give your guests fistfuls
of trail mix to toss? It’s biodegradable and won’t
hurt birds and animals who want to take a nibble. Wedding
accessories for a fitness themed wedding are so much
fun. Think headbands, pedometers as wedding favors for
the guests, energy drinks in the punch bowl, etc. Wedding
accessories don’t have to include straight backed
white chairs, you could offer stability balls for the
guests to sit on!
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!
Wedding Accessories For Non Traditional
Weddings
Let’s face it, not everyone is into the traditional
white wedding gown complete with tightly bunched yellow
roses and a jaunty little girl following behind with
rose petals in a basket. Some of us are into black strapless
dresses, biker-chic leather boots and pixie haircuts.
If you’re that kind of girl, you might want to
add the following wedding accessories to your list of
things to buy:
1) Leather cuffs instead of dainty bracelets.
2) False eyelashes – glittery
or jet black.
3) Forget pearl bridal jewelry, think onyx or sapphire.
4) Bring back a hint of the 80’s
with a glittery head-band.
5) Not sure what to do with your hair? Try a funky
wig!
6) Music. Whatever kind of music that speaks to you.
You’re inviting your friends and family to celebrate
your wedding and it should reflect your personality.
Don’t weird-out your friends by showing up looking
and acting like somebody they’ve never met.
Chances are your wedding location
will be as non-traditional as your wedding dress
accessories so make sure to add the final touches
to the décor. Accessories
for outdoor weddings could include anything from strategically
placed faux black crows to dozens of kites tied to
trees on a windy day. Indoor wedding accessories might
be limited, depending on what you want. It’s
always best to check with the owner of the land or
property before getting your heart set on something.
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!
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
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.
Sundresses & Open
Collars
A casual wedding can be elegant and beautiful. A casual
wedding embraces a relaxing atmosphere that seems a mix
between a backyard family barbecue and Christmas dinner.
The kids run around and make noise. The adults mingle
and seating is all together rather than separated out.
Casual wedding attire is exactly that – it’s
casual. It’s not the formal morning suit and big
skirted white dress. Sundresses and open collars dominate
the day. Casual wedding attire may include jeans and
t-shirts, shorts and tank tops or even swim suits, but
it's a good idea to check with the bride and groom first
before downplaying your attire. The idea behind a casual
wedding is to come as you are and celebrate the matrimony
between two people. Some popular casual wedding attire
for brides include:
- Wearing a bridesmaid dress in a different color
- Wearing a sundress
- Wearing a casual dress or pant suit
- Jeans, Khaki or Swimsuits
Bridal couples choose casual
wedding attire for any number of reasons. They may
choose it because it makes their wedding that much
more affordable if they aren’t
spending hundreds of dollars on tux rentals and bridal
dresses. They may choose it because they are going
for a low key feeling of a backyard wedding. Some couples
choose casual wedding attire because they want to spend
their money on an extended honeymoon or a house. The
great thing is that casual can be charming, fancy and
engaging. If you are choosing to go the casual wedding
route, let it reflect your personalities and tastes
rather than worrying about matching all the bells,
whistles and traditional expectations associated with
a wedding.
Bermuda Shorts & Poet
Shirts
Life’s a beach; why not
host your wedding there? The question is pretty rhetorical
because beach weddings are among some of the most
popular and most romantic on and off the big screen.
Interestingly enough, when you think of beach wedding
attire the mind leaps to Hawaiian dress. However,
Hawaiian dress is not necessarily what is required
for your beach wedding attire.
A beach wedding is set against one of the most magnificent
backdrops that Mother Nature provides. Casual is usually
the catchword when you think of beach weddings and beach
wedding attires. So whether you are getting married on
a sand or rock against the Pacific or the Atlantic with
yachts or lighthouses in the background – the time
of year and the weather influence your beach wedding
attire.
Beach wedding attire should be more relaxed and more
comfortable than your traditional wedding attire. For
the men, loose, button down shirts don’t have to
be tucked in. For women, loose flowing dresses with no
shoes are the way to go.
Veils may be beautiful, but they are not the greatest
idea for beach wedding attire, especially if there is
a strong breeze. Ultimately, a beach wedding is about
the couple joining lives together against one of the
most powerful settings in the natural world. The oceans
tides represent the tidal forces of your life and the
sunrise or sunset add to the wonderful color of two lives
blending together. What you wear is up to you. Don’t
be surprised if you see someone marrying in Bermuda shorts
with tuxedo shirts and black ties on the beach.
When you are planning your wedding on the beach, don’t
worry about fashion or the fashion statements, instead
enjoy the casual beauty and the relaxed atmosphere and
most of all – the beautiful spouse waiting to make
you theirs –
as for the rest of the beach wedding attire – it
will take care of itself.
African Wedding
Tradition &
Attire
Africa is a beautiful continent
that is comprised of multiple religions and cultures.
There are Muslims, Christians, Hindu, Baha’i and
more. There are many African wedding traditions and choosing
African wedding attire for your ceremony can add color,
culture and more to your ceremony.
Among the African wedding traditions you might choose
from include Ankole, Pygmie and Nile traditions. The
colorful garb of African wedding attire is a beauty in
its own right, so don’t feel like you have to use
these traditions in order to wear it. Your Christian,
African American family hosting a wedding in a Catholic
chapel can still wear African wedding attire for the
bridal party, the guests or all of the above if they
choose to. That being said, here is a little about each
of these African based wedding traditions:
- Ankole – Known
as a lake kingdom, Ankole’s King owned the cattle and
in theory, the women as well. Fathers of daughters
wanted to bring them to the King’s attention
because he gave such great wedding gifts. It should
be noted that slimness is not prized in Ankole wedding
tradition, whereas round and heavy is.
- Pygmie – In this tradition,
the groom brings a gift of game or arrows to his
in-laws and then takes his bride back to his family.
He is only required to provide for his new wife’s
family a girl willing to marry the brother or male
cousins of the wife.
- Nile –
Along the Nile if a man wished his sons to be married
well, he would need a large herd of animals. To
marry, a groom must present livestock to the many
members of the bride to be’s family. As a
part of the invitation, the groom would travel
among his own family, gathering up gifts of more
herd animals in order to present the bride’s
family with the best he can while still maintaining
enough to support his bride.
While you may not be interested
in incorporating these African wedding traditions into
your wedding ceremony, you can reference them – call
them to mind with your choices in African wedding attire.
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