Shape & Style: Choosing Your Bridal Jewelry

Bridal jewelry should accompany the overall wedding attire, and not overwhelm your look. Keep your hairstyle and dress style in consideration when picking out bridal jewelry. For example, if your hair is long and down, you will likely want to go with small stud earrings. If your hair is up and pulled away from your face, longer earrings are a good choice. If your face is square, avoid wide earrings, whereas if you have a narrow, angular face, wider earrings are a good addition.

Shopping Wedding Gowns

Try bringing along pictures of wedding gowns you like to show the bridal consultants and then ask their advice. Your bridesmaids can go with you on various exploratory trips to the bridal stores and to watch you try on the dresses. Ask your mother or maid of honor to take notes on everything you try on. You may also want to bring along a digital camera to take pictures of you in the dresses so that you can go back over the photos and your notes later.

Protecting the Bridal Dress on the Big Day

You’ve been planning for the big day since your soon-to-be husband popped the question. You’ve booked your venue, you’ve picked out your bridal dress, you’ve selected a menu and you’ve gone over budgets and more. It’s important to remember that a lot of time and care went into planning the wedding, so you want to follow a simple prescription to take care of the bridal dress, especially before the ceremony and reception. These tips apply to your bridesmaids and anyone else who is going to be coming in contact with you while you are wearing the dress before it’s time to walk down the aisle.

Protect the bridal dress on the big day by:

• Eliminate any stain causing foods or drinks from areas where the bride and bridesmaids are getting ready and dressed for the wedding. A few drips of coffee can discolor a gown.
• Discuss with your florist whether or not your flowers can stain your bridal dress. There are many things your florist may be able to do, including the arrangement and setting of your bouquet; if the flowers have an area that is likely to stain the bridal dress.
• Be sure that there is an ironing board and spray bottle with some water close by to help with any small wrinkles.
• Transport the bridal dresses in garment bags, especially if you are carrying it on the day of the wedding to another location.
• Use stain-free deodorant and antiperspirant before getting dressed.
• Donning the dress is the last part of your preparations; your make up and hair should be completely done before you put the bridal dress on.
• Be sure to walk with the skirt lifted as necessary to keep the bottom of the dress from scraping the ground prior to the ceremony
• Beware all stain dangers when climbing into and out of a car and be sure the seats are clean and dry with no oil or other cleaners that you might have to sit in
• Avoid areas where birds may have defecated during an outdoor wedding
• Don’t lean on anything or sit on anything, if you can avoid it, until after the ceremony.
  

Bridal Bouquet Tips

When you are selecting the flowers for your bridal bouquets, it’s important to explore your floral arrangement options. There is no hard and fast rule that says your bridal bouquets must be made of fresh flowers. However, you do need to be prepared for the elevated cost of that might incur. So here are some tips for choosing your bridal bouquets:

• Select Flowers in Season
• Check out Silk Flowers
• Check flowers that will hold up throughout the day
• Don’t Let Yourself Be Overwhelmed by the Bouquet itself
• Talk to and Show the Florist What you Like
• Discover the Flowers that Have the Special Meaning

Flowers Have Meaning Remember that flowers also have meaning. If you enjoy the deeper meaning behind flowers, then explore floral meaning in creating your bridal bouquets. Some flowers that have meaning include the following:

• Ivy means fidelity, friendship and marriage
• Violets means modesty and hope
• Zinnias mean thoughts of absent friends
• Jasmine is for happiness
• Tulips mean enchantment.

If you decide to place a special order with your florist, be sure to give them a few weeks notice especially if the flowers have to be flown in from another location. Talk to your florist about your options and ideas for your bridal bouquets.

Choosing Bridesmaid Jewelry

Selecting bridal jewelry is a part of wedding planning that is rarely talked about or shown. The jewelry is considered an accessory to the bridal clothes. Some brides may feel a bit overwhelmed at all of the little details that make up choosing their bridal gear, and picking out bridesmaid jewelry can increase that anxiety. Bridal jewelry may seem like a complicated series of decisions, but you can simplify the process by kepping the following thoughts in mind:

• Bridesmaid jewelry can actually double as your bridesmaid gifts, especially if you are choosing a specific style of necklace and earrings. You can present the jewelry in gift boxes and ask that they wear it when getting ready for the wedding.
• Always check about skin allergies to different metals.
• Remember the rules of accenting the style of dress, shape of face and hairstyle when picking out their jewelry.
• If you plan for your bridesmaids to wear hair accessories such as combs, ribbons or headpieces, then the earrings need to coordinate with the hair accessories.
• Keep the bridal jewelry for your bridesmaids simple, they should complement the bridesmaids wearing them, but not outshine you as the bride.
• Keep in mind the size of the bridesmaid. Taller and larger women will need larger necklaces; this is very easy to plan for as most necklace extenders will allow you to create the same effect no matter the size of the original necklace.
• Don’t worry about going for real stones. Colored crystals and rhinestones look spectacular, especially if your bridesmaids are wearing very colorful dresses.
• The jewelry for the maid of honor may be more elaborate than that of the bridesmaids and more in line with what the bride is wearing.
• If you are choosing bridal jewelry for your flower girl, look for something floral in design. It’s perfectly all right for a younger child to wear something completely different from the bridesmaids
• Consider an adjustable necklace and a headpiece made of flowers for the flower girl, this will allow her to keep the necklace as a bridal gift and wear it for more years to come

Shape & Style: Choosing Your Bridal Jewelry

When it comes to selecting your bridal jewelry, the type of hairstyle you will be wearing, whether or not you will be wearing a veil and even the shape of your face will play a large role. If you are wearing a headpiece such as tiara or crown, then your earrings and necklace should coordinate with those pieces. For example, a pearl necklace and earrings will complement a pearl headpiece.

When it comes to choosing the necklace, you want to pay attention to style of the gown and its neckline. A high neckline won't require any type of necklace. A V-neck will enjoy a drop necklace. Off the shoulders will be complemented by a choker or smaller necklace that enhances the shape of the neck. The more elaborate your gown, the more elaborate the jewelry should be to accent it. If your dress is simple
with few accents, complement it with simple jewelry.

The color of your wedding will also play a part in the selection of the bridal jewelry. White wedding dresses look great with pearls. Off white dresses look better with white or yellow gold. When choosing your bridesmaids' bridal jewelry, it is important that it is complimentary to what the bride is wearing, but in simpler format. For example, if the bride is wearing a choker of pearls, then bridesmaids may also wear pearls, but perhaps only two strands instead of three. Also, if the bridesmaids are all wearing identical dresses, be sure to put them in identical jewelry. If they are wearing different styles of dresses and different colors, you can mix and match their bridal jewelry as well.

Stop and Smell the Roses

Bridal bouquets are as much a part of the wedding ceremony as the bridal dress. Planning for the bridal bouquet is a unique part of your wedding planning and requires time and commitment. No matter where you decide to host your wedding - whether it’s on a beach, in a Church, or standing on the deck of a cruise ship - it’s important to plan and select the flowers that will make up the bridal bouquets.

Bridal bouquets can have meaning. They can have depth of emotion. They can be very romantic and they can be sentimental. The florist and the bride should work together to create a bouquet that features the bride's likes and wedding theme, but also works well in pictures and can be put together nicely in a bouquet. Listen to the advice, read up on the ideas and then choose for the bouquets what speaks to your heart.

Shopping Wedding Gowns

Planning to get married? Have you started shopping for your wedding gown? Shopping for wedding gowns is not an activity that you put off to the last minute. For the bride who wants to custom order her dress, most designers take 12 to 24 weeks to fill a special order. The minimum time before your wedding that you should begin shopping for your wedding gowns is 6 to 9 months ahead of time.

When shopping for wedding gowns, if you feel completely out of your depth – find a bridal consultant at a wedding dress shop and put them to work for you. Pick up copies of bridal magazines and flip through them. Look for ideas that you like and ideas that you don’t. Your wedding gowns may look nothing like what is in those magazines, but by going through them and cutting out pictures, you may very well discover what you don't want - and that's a great place to start.

Don’t be surprised if you don’t find the wedding gown you like on the
first trip. Once you know what your wedding dress is going to be it
will be time to start looking into bridesmaid dresses; once again –
take your time and remember, this is your day. If you decide to special order the wedding gowns, be prepared to put down a significant deposit to begin the process. It’s also worth mentioning that special orders are generally non-refundable or returnable so be sure that it’s the dress you want when you make your order.

Unique Wedding Dress Ideas: Love Gloves?

Choosing your wedding dress is one step, but deciding on the accents to your wedding dress is the next. Wearing gloves is an option for many brides and gloves can certainly add to the romance of the bride’s appearance. There are many different glove styles out there to choose from. The style of gloves should complement your wedding dress, but they should also flatter the bride.

When choosing your gloves for your wedding dress there is four basic glove lengths and styles to choose from:

• Opera Gloves: Long and climb up the length of the arm. These are wonderful accents to the sleeveless wedding dress.
• Elbow Gloves: Similiar to Opera Gloves, only the gloves only extend to elbow. The elbow glove offers another fairytale accent to a wedding dress with sleeves and off the shoulder wedding dresses.
• Classic Gloves: Come up along the forearm, but do not quite cover the elbow. This is a
  more traditional glove length and works well with most wedding dress
  types.
• Short Gloves: The short glove is a very slight glove that just comes up over the bride’s hand. They are extremely feminine.

Choosing a glove as an accessory to your wedding dress is an elegant addition, but it’s one that should be made with care. The gloves should also allow for slipping on the wedding ring to the ring finger. The shorter gloves are easier to remove during the wedding reception for eating. It’s also worth mentioning that the elegance of gloves are usually reserved for formal weddings

Great Flowers, Great Design

If you aren’t sure about putting together the bridal bouquets, then hiring a professional florist may do more than provide you with beautiful flower arrangements. A good floral designer can help you create some amazing bridal bouquets, while at the same time incorporating your wishes into them.

A professional florist can take your very ordinary spray of flowers and create something extraordinary. They can also give you good advice on whether or not the flowers you want in your bridal bouquet are going to stain, or if they will hold up during the course of the wedding. The last thing you want is for your bridal bouquets to be wilting while still taking pictures.

Talk to your friends and your family about the florists they have used in the past. If you have a wedding planner handling the details of your wedding, he or she should be able to provide you with a list of recommended florists and even help you discuss what you want with the florist. If you are shopping florists on your own, visit a few and then to narrow down your selection by asking them to put together flower arrangements for you.

When you decide on the florist you want to use, you’ll want to provide that florist with as much information as possible including floral preferences, colors chosen for the wedding, where the wedding is going to take place, any wedding themes and the style of dress that you will be wearing. The bridal bouquets are important elements of the wedding and a professional florist can make that happen.

Stop and Smell the Roses

When designing your bridal bouquets, consider the flowers that are the most important to you and then consider the look and feel of your wedding. Talk to your florist about your favorite flowers, and let the florist make recommendations on how to use those flowers in a bouquet that fits your wedding scene. Romantic bridal bouquets are those that mix color, scent and appearance in combination to accent the bride.

Pay with Plastic

Always pay for your wedding gown with a credit card. If something goes wrong with your dress order or with the bridal salon, you´ll have recourse via the credit card company.

Keep an Open Mind

When shopping for your wedding gown, even if you have an idea of what you want, be sure to keep an open mind. The styles that you like in photos may not look good on you. Many brides later say that the dress they ended up choosing was one that they never would have thought to try on!

Dress at Your Venue

Take the weather into account before disaster strikes! If you are planning a winter wedding, make arrangements to dress at the church or venue to avoid slush and salt stains on your gown. Enlist the ushers to shovel the entry way prior to the guests´ arrival.

Discount Gowns

If you want to save big bucks on your wedding dress, try calling local bridal shops in your area and asking if they have any clearance dresses. Often they´ll be clearing out past season´s dresses, demos or gowns with tiny mistakes and selling them for low prices.

Boutique Field Trip

When selecting bridesmaids´ gowns, get your choices narrowed down to six or seven dresses and have the store(s) write down the style numbers. Gather your bridesmaids together (maybe after a luncheon) and have them try on the various dresses so you can get a better idea how each dress looks on each maid.

Dancing in Your Dress

If you´re going to be doing a lot of dancing or moving around at your reception (which you probably will), you might want to consider getting a detatchable train or one that will bustle.