Ladies and (one) Gentleman..

So this blog has a male readership of one. And he, just like a bridesmaid, wants to be appreciated (that's right, I just compared my boyfriend to a bridesmaid). Oh, and he's the Best Man in his brother's wedding, which is just two weeks before T's W-day. It's going to be a very busy and vacation-day filled autumn for us! Ladies and (Joe)... presenting...well, Joe!

Diva Feva

The first thing on this bridesmaid's list was the bridal shower. Since T is getting married in October, I've decided to have the shower in June. The location will be at my mother's house -- a cute place just a few miles from the beach with a wraparound porch and a patio and garden out back. About 30 people are invited to the shower, so that allows me to have it at the house. If there were 10 or 20 more guests, however, we'd def have to move it to a restaurant for space. Let's just hope it doesn't rain!

This week I ordered the invitations. There is a GREAT website called Wedding Paper Divas that has classy, stylish options for any sort of taste/theme/decor you can imagine. They also customize everything and send you an email proof, so it's almost impossible to mess this up. Here's a link to the website:

http://www.weddingpaperdivas.com/

The Divas even have save-the-date cards (T ordered hers from here), and invites for everything from the engagement party to the wedding itself. If you don't trust the colors on your computer screen, you can order a swatch that is sent regular mail to get a better idea of what the colors look like when printed out.

For the shower invites, I went with a color scheme of pinks, yellows and oranges -- but no pastels! This isn't an easter celebration, and in the words of the woman in Macy's bridal boutique in New York City, "Just because you're a bridesmaid doesn't mean you need to tack out."

Well put.

Happy planning...

The Dress... No, the other one

We've all heard stories about the dress. You know what I'm talking about. It's pink. It has poofy sleeves. It makes you look 10 years older and 20 pounds heavier. Yup, it's the dress for the bridesmaid, and it's about as pretty as a jellyfish.

Lucky for me, my sister isn't a sadist and supports bridesmaids' rights. She promises no floor-length gowns that look like prom dresses from 1998. She scoffs at bridal catalogs with super-trendy, ultra-cheesy, canary yellow and sun-kissed orange frocks. She even threw out the line -- the line every bridesmaid wants to hear, and believe. "I want to get something you can all wear again."

The term "wear again" is a tricky one, ain't it girls? Wear again does not mean " if you take it to the dressmaker and get it cut and hemmed." It does not mean "maybe if you put a belt with it" or "it could totally be dressed down with the right jacket -- if you're idea of dressed down is looking like you're back in college taking the walk of shame after a fraternity semi-formal."

The definition of "wear again" should be this: It's a basic color. It's a basic cut. It's not made of cheap satin, polyester, or anything else that screams bridal bin. It doesn't have crazy bows or pin-on flowers. Think simple. Think classy. Think "I want my friends to still talk to me after the wedding."

This was the dress I had initially suggested. It's from Jcrew.com, which has an adorable selection of bridesmaid dresses that fit into the "wear again" category with almost no effort. Here's a photo:

Cute, right? But picking a dress isn't that easy. My sister has six bridesmaids, and it goes without saying that different women feel, well, different, in certain cuts and colors. And so begins the bridesmaid dress emails, which are a series of messages with links to websites for bridesmaid dresses. At least two or three people will like the same dress. Maybe even four, and on a miraculous occasion, five. But getting six women to unanimously agree on a dress would be like getting Congress to unanimously agree on a plan for Iraq.

The tip would be this: If you're the bride, pick the dress yourself. Think about your wedding day, about what you want as far as color and style, and if your friends are close enough to you to be part of your wedding party, they should be close enough to wear whatever makes your day perfect for you. If you have some sort of super-sympathetic complex going on, maybe from your own bridesmaid dress experiences, pick out a selection of two or three dresses that would make you equally happy and have your bridesmaids choose from that.

The other option (and JCrew is great for this -- even though I sound like an advertisement here) is to pick out a color from one retailer and let your bridesmaids pick their own cuts. Got a size zero flat-chested maid? No problem. Go with the strapless. Double-D's and killer hips? Stay clear of halters and let her show off her sexy curves with something high-cut and fitted.

If nothing else, this should make you feel better. Ladies and gentlemen (yeah, like any guys are reading this), a website featuring the WORST bridesmaids dresses ever:

http://www.uglydress.com/

Happy planning...

Puppy Love

No, not like the first guy you dated in high school. Since getting a new house and planning a wedding isn't enough, my sister also decided to get a puppy. Wedding planning is even lower on the list now that she's got pee to clean up off the rug. But...I have to say...as far as puppies go, Kody might just be as cute as they come!

I promised I wouldn't be one of those crazy women who posts photos of her pets, but here I am...even crazier...because I'm putting up pictures of my sister's pet. If anyone is still reading at this point, the photo on the left is Kody and me when I was on assignment in Washington, DC (where my sister and her husband-to-be live). The second is Kody posing near the Washington Monument (clearly).

Of course the question has come up whether or not it's a good idea to have Kody in the wedding. For now, I'm thinking no. Here's why:

1.) Some of the guests might be allergic. Even more, someone in the what-is-starting-to-look-southern bridal party (who will be close to the bride, and hence, the pooch) could be allergic.
2.) Picking up dog poo on your wedding day isn't fantastic. It might make the bride smell, like, well, you know. And even if someone else is willing to pick up up the stuff, doggie-poo bags are never a good accessory. No, not even for the bridesmaid.
3.) Most dogs aren't well-trained enough not to pee/jump/hump on things...like the wedding guests.
4.) Since the couple surely isn't going to be up walking the dog at 6 a.m., who will? I know what you're thinking. Don't even go there.

Don't think I'm insensitive. I like dogs. I'm a good puppy aunt. Just not on W-day. Then again, if Kody gets any more adorable, I might change my mind.


And now for your viewing pleasure, YouTube has a video of dogs marrying, um, each other:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0Ve4zFvzAA


As always, happy planning...

Let the Games Begin

So it's 2008. The year of Mice (according to the Chinese zodiac, and apparently a little critter that snuck through a crack in my "shabby chic" NYC apartment). And of course, it's the year of my sister's wedding (that's me and the "T" in the photo). I have a life of my own, but this isn't about me. Ok, it is about me a little bit (I am, after all, "my sister's bridesmaid"), but it's mostly about THE WEDDING.

I promise not to write that out in all caps and purple again. It's jarring, no?

Here's the deal -- my sister doesn't particularly care about the flowers, or the cake, or the colors of the bridesmaid dresses. She's not concerned with mood lighting or where to have the rehearsal dinner. Good thing for her, I am. Super bridesmaid! The best sister in the world! (See, I told you, totally not about me).

The only problem is that I haven't done this before. I'm not married, or engaged, or even really very good at relationships. BUT, I have a saavy sense of where to find all-things fabulous. I work in the sports world (still not about me) and therefore get very excited about the rare opportunity to talk all-things girly and wedding-ish.

So here you'll find out everything I find out up until the big day. There will be tips, rants and raves about all things wedding, and (for us single ladies) all things bridesmaid.

Do you hear those wedding bells? (Me neither. Probably just my Beatles "Love Me Do" cell phone ring stuck in my head.)

The jokes are likely just to get worse from here. But oh well, happy planning!