Wedding Planner | Wedding Planning | Ultimate Wedding Planner And Organizer | mental_floss Blog » The Bizarre Origins of 8 Wedding Traditions If the throngs of crazed customers clutching registry printouts at Crate & Barrel are any indication, wedding season is once again upon us. Before you head off to the next joyous union on your jam-packed calendar, let's take a moment to reflect on the rich history of marriage celebrations and revel in the realization that weddings are, at their core, incredibly bizarre. 1. The White Wedding Dress Technically, today's wedding gowns aren't white. They are "Candlelight," "Warm Ivory," "Ecru" or "Frost 2. Remember that "Women's Studies" class you considered taking in college? 3. Talk about your runaway brides—the original duty of a "Best Man" was to serve as armed backup for the groom in case he had to resort to kidnapping his intended bride away from disapproving parents. Ladies: Believe it or not, the concept of the bridesmaid's gown was not invented to inflict painful dowdiness upon the bride's friends and female relatives thus making the bride look hotter by comparison. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Wedding Cake I f you've decided to make a wedding cake at home, congratulations on your bravery! Now, relax: We've got everything you'll need to create a masterpiece. We've enlisted Melissa Murphy, owner of the Sweet Melissa Patisseries in Brooklyn, New York, to help, and she's designed an elegant three-tiered cake decorated with delicate rosebuds and filled with luscious lemon curd and fresh raspberries. To help you reproduce it successfully, our do-it-yourself guide has multiple parts: Start with Murphy's recipes for baking the cake, then move on to our printable step-by-step assembly and decoration instructions. Recipes by Melissa Murphy; photography by Emily Webster; videos produced by Nondas Voll See more on weddings:
Mason Jar Painting I am loving the pastel colors of these spring time lanterns - a little reuse project I have been playing around with lately! The secret to all these lovely colors! Mod Podge colored with a bit of food coloring! I had a couple little stamped jars on hand and I got to thinking, if I colored them, they would probably resemble some of the vintage glass pieces that belonged to my great grandmother. So pretty on a spring brunch table set with vintage glass dishes. I wasn't sure whether to use acrylic paint or food coloring so I tested both. I tried out red acrylic paint first, adding just a tiny bit to a brush full (about 2 teaspoons) of Mod Podge. Hummmmm... not too crazy about the brush strokes. Maybe a bit of bubble wrap would add a more even texture. Y-U-C-K Not at all what I was looking for! Now to test the food coloring. I followed the same procedure as I did with the red, brushing it on then using bubble wrap to create texture. Oops! Red and yellow make orange! Mosaic Easter Eggs!
Rustic DIY Wedding - Bridesmaid.com - StumbleUpon Paper Bouquets Posted June 24, 2011 | 6 Comments Today we’re bringing you a round-up of 10 handmade wedding bouquets that are made to last forever. That’s right, lovelies – no throwing away the bouquet at the end of the night! Instead, place in your love nest and admire for years to come. And, we are going to walk you through each and every hand-picked (pun intended) find. First up, we bring you this beautiful purple hydrangea handmade wedding bouquet by Gabriella Design who describes, “I have always loved the look of hydrangea flowers with their small delicate petals and how they make this lovely round full look of fluttering flowers. The second bouquet is cute as a button! Buttons and felt make up this pretty bouquet with tons of vibrant colors. This romantic, vibrant violet bouquet contains 35 paper flowers and a sweet, swirly design. This modern, soft pink brooch bridal bouquet is gorgeous! If you’re looking for bright POPS of color, this handmade paper bouquet by Enchanted Bouquets is perfect!
Invitation Knot Tying Some people are just so creative! I love this wedding invitation concept by Christina Moralego. It is quite literally, the tying of a knot to represent the union of Lois and Chris ~ the happy couple. Here’s the translation: {Images via Behance } Don’t you just love it?! With a bit of trial and error working out the exact length of string needed ~ it’s a simple DIY option which would make such a memorable invite! Mismatched Bridesmaids For the last few years, mismatch bridesmaid dresses has been one of the hottest trends on weddings. Everyday visiting my favorite blogs, I discover tons of style-savvy brides who find the most creative ways to follow this trend. After all, I believe that allowing your bridesmaids to choose their dresses according to their budget, taste and type of body is a fabulous idea. If you decide to incorporate this plan to your wedding, just remember, the biggest secret of successful mismatching bridesmaids is to make your girls wear different dresses yet still look like your team… your bridal party. Bouquets, accessories and colors are elements that will help you achieve a chic mismatched bridesmaids look. Here are some fabulous options for a successful mismatched bridesmaids look. Option No. 1: Same color, different shades. Neutrals, including grey, are so hot this year, especially when it comes to bridesmaid dresses. Option No. 2: Different colors, same style. Option No. 4: Free Style Heart this?
Music Playlist If you’ve been around here much, you are getting used to the name Jessica Velarde. She is the highly talented wedding photographer who did the styled shoot that you can see glimpses of all over my blog, and she is also responsible for my fantastic blog design. She also shared her super sweet proposal story with us. And, if you hadn’t figured this out already, she’s one of my closest friends. I am big fan of fun receptions. 1901 – Phoenix ABC – Jackson Five Angel – Akon Better, Stronger, Faster – Daft Punk Billie Jean – Michael Jackson Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison Cha Cha Slide – Mr. Club Can’t Handle Me – Flo Rida Cupid Shuffle – Cupid Don’t Stop the Music – Rihanna Dynamite – Taio Cruz Firework – Katy Perry Footloose – Kenny Loggins Gonna Get This – Hannah Montana & Iyaz Gots To Get Her – Blake Lewis Hey Soul Sister – Train I Gotta Feeling – The Black Eyed Peas I know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) – Pitbull I Want You Back – Jackson Five Lisztomania – Phoenix More – Usher Only Girl in the World – Rihanna
Music Ideas Thursday, 28 January 2010 14:37 | Written by Team @ The Ring photo: A&M Sounds When the team at The Ring set out to create the Ultimate Wedding Tunes Database, we did so with the goal of creating the best first and last dance songs list ever (obviously) and also because it was just a super fun project. That was six years ago... making these tunes seriously out of date. But it's also true that many of them will always be romantic classics. S'mores Bar Today, many brides and grooms are incorporating more of their own personal style into their wedding day. Many couples feel if they are going to spend thousands of dollars on this day, it should be one that they will enjoy and one that is filled with all things that they enjoy. So, when I ran across the idea of having a S’mores Bar during a wedding reception, I immediately fell head over heels in love … It is such a warm, family friendly idea (reminds me of the times spent telling stories around the campfire). It is an idea that has definitely been preserved over the years and lately is seems to have had a ‘face-lift’. photo credit: ellybevents.comPin it You can now see a s’mores bar literally on a bar set in rocks with burners serving as your flame source. photo credit: ellybevents.comPin it photo credit: ellybevents.comPin it photo credit: 100percentcottam-austin.blogspot.comPin it photo credit: www.carolinetran.netPin it Interested in a more classic style s’mores bar?
Bridesmaid Request I love the idea of formally asking those whom you would like to be in your bridal party. I sent out a cards for my own wedding so that inspired me to come up with a cute project to do the same. I adore the paper chain people that we all learned to make in grade school and this project uses that simple concept to introduce your bridesmaids to everyone. Cut out the shape of the dress you plan on using in the color you desire and personalize each person with some paper hair. To complete the set I created a little card asking “Will you be my bridesmaid?” Enjoy! Anna of Rifle Design Supplies: 1. craft paper (for clothes & hair), 2. paper for bodies, 3. envelopes, 4. ruler, 5. scissors, 6. pencil, eraser & a glue stick Directions: First, be sure that your chain will fit in the envelope you chose. Cut out your rectangle and score the paper vertically between each set of tick marks. On the top of the stack draw the shape of your person. Resources: Martha Stewart 18″x18″ craft paper
Lace Heart Garland Happy Monday! A quiet little post for you today. You may have noticed the gift ornament in this earlier post. Here's how I made it. Tutorial: Lace Hearts You will need some lace, a heart shaped cookie cutter, Mod Podge, a paint brush, a needle and thread, and a pair of scissors. Use a paint brush to spread a good layer of Mod Podge on the outer side of your cookie cutter. Cover the mod-podged cookie cutter with lace as follows. Slather on a few more coats of Mod Podge. And that, as they say, was that! Note: I think fabric stiffener would be a good alternative to Mod Podge to stiffen the lace and make these hearts. Have yourself a heart-shaped Monday, and I will see you again soon!