Work With What You Have

Posted by Cheree Berry, whose wedding is in our new summer issue!

We absolutely loved our reception venue but there were certain elements that weren't perfect. Just like when you buy a house, you have to make adjustments based on what you have. Unless you hire David Monn to build a completely customized space for you that is. So, get creative. Our reception venue, Lumen, had a shadow box wall for displaying photos in frames. I think this is a nice idea, but I wanted to make a bigger splash with the wall. Therefore, we had photos of our family members' weddings printed on canvas the size of each shadow box to create a grand and graphic entrance to the space.

We had the canvases stretched on frames and they are now hanging in our house. The result: Instant artwork with lasting memories!

La Perla Sale

Posted by Sherri Caudell Brennan, Shopping and Fashion Market Expert

When you have a wedding to plan for, sometimes beautiful lingerie doesn't quite make the budget. But don't drop it off the list just yet. La Perla is holding a nationwide sale, with up to 60% off lingerie, swimwear, and ready-to-wear. Check out the cities below. Items are marked down until July 31st, so go now, and enjoy the finer things in life for less than half the price!

 Image courtesy of La Perla

Eco-Friendly Getaways

Posted by Jennifer Miranda, Associate Editor

It seems that everywhere you turn, everything's turning up green. (No, I'm not referring to our unusually verdant foliage this summer—thanks to three straight months of rain in the Northeast.) From using environmentally friendly cosmetics (just ask Cara, our Beauty Expert) to creating green registries to composting after their receptions, brides are getting behind the green movement and ushering in a new era of global responsibility. Now, I'm not suggesting that there isn't a long way to go, but every little bit counts, right?

So, I'm wondering: How many of you have taken eco-friendly travel into account when it comes to planning your honeymoon? I personally think carbon offsets are a cop-out, but it's better than nothing. What about eco-conscious hotels? These days they're just as luxurious and offer many of the same amenities as their classic counterparts. Here are a few tried-and-true places to get you started on your search.

The Nines looks like a high-design haven (and it is), but it's also LEED Silver certified and uses electricity from renewable sources—all within the quirky environs of lush, leafy Portland, Oregon.

Image courtesy of The Nines

Hotel Punta Islita in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, is a traveler favorite (seriously, the awards speak for themselves) tucked into a lively community of rural villages and committed to eco-minded living.

Image courtesy of Hotel Punta Islita

Fairmont Mayakoba on the Riviera Maya in Mexico is strategically situated before a pristine, carefully conserved coral reef, making it the perfect spot for sustainable sunbathing.

Image courtesy of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts

Be Spontaneous!

Posted by Cheree Berry, whose wedding is in our new summer issue!

On my wedding day, I wore a Carolina Herrera lace dress with a detachable bottom tier. I had always dreamed of wearing a short wedding dress, but when it came to actually deciding on The Dress, I didn't want to commit to a short number for the entire wedding day. I'm convinced that the dress I went with was made for me. The full dress was perfect for our chapel-style ceremony, and the short version was perfect for our whimsical reception. However, after my bridesmaids unbuttoned and removed the bottom tier before surprising Jeff, my veil felt a little heavy. The veil (a spunky puff of tulle) needed a haircut. Luckily, Style Director Katie Hatch was close by, and she was the only person I trusted with a pair of scissors! I closed my eyes while Katie gave my veil a blunt cut. It was perfect! Now that the ceremony was behind me, I was ready to enjoy the spontaneity of my wedding night!

Spaaaaaah

Posted by Cara Sullivan, Beauty Expert

Are you planning to indulge in a spa getaway with your girlfriends before the big day? If you can swing it, I highly suggest it! It's a such a great way to chill out, de-stress and spend time with your favorite people while getting away from all the hustle and bustle of the wedding.

Not exactly sure where to go? Here's a list of the top 10 US destination spas in 2008. I'm originally from Connecticut, and one of my favorite pampering spots, the Mayflower Inn and Spa in Washington, CT, just happens to be number 5. Go CT!

What's your favorite place to relax, unwind, and get pampered? Tell me about it so I can update my list!

 

A peek at the dreamy interiors of the Mayflower Inn and Spa's uber-luxe spa house.

Donna Newmans Tips

Posted by Darcy Miller, Editorial Director

Over the July 4th weekend, I visited my good friend, photographer Donna Newman, who had some very good advice to offer—she's even an expert in our latest issue's Expert Advice column (not to mention the gorgeous work she did on Cheree Berry's wedding by the way, Donna creates these  video clips s for couples right after their wedding to get a sneak peak at their wedding photos. Love this one she did for Cheree Berry). She was in Long Island shooting a party, but unfortunately the weather forecast called for scattered thunderstorms. The day turned out to be beautiful, but you may not be so lucky.

Though you can plan every detail from the flowers to the cake, there's nothing you can do to control the weather on your wedding day. Donna says the best thing to do is be prepared so that, if it does rain, you're not distraught. She always scouts a beautiful "Plan B" location for photo-taking, one that is ideally outdoors and in a covered spot. That way, she can still get an outdoor feel to the pictures without being too negatively impacted by the weather. She also suggests getting a large colorful umbrella to cover both the bride and the groom while walking from one location to the next; it gives the photos a fun feel without ruining your outfits.

It's really so important you think through these things ahead of time. Have you come up with any other "Plan B's"?

I snapped this shot of Donna with her camera—it felt very strange having our roles reversed—and I think it captures her positive, fun personality.

Channeling Dorothy Draper

Posted by Britni Wood, Style Expert

Let's get this straight, I love Dorothy Draper. Woody Allen's character in Annie Hall has a great line about love: "Love is too weak a word for what I feel. I luuurve you, you know? I loave you, I luff you." This pretty much sums up what I feel for her.

A perfect example of Draper style.

That being said, I also love bed linens. So, imagine my delight when I came across the Draper Stripe Duvet Set by DwellStudio. They're the most glorious linens in chic Chinois Blue and Ash. You can always count on Dwell to have the greatest patterned bedding, and these Dorothy Draper-inspired stripe duvet sets make me love them even more.

Are you including bedding in your registry? Or perhaps you have an alternative kind of registry?

Handmade Details

Posted by Marisa Sellitti, Stationery Expert

I've been feeling a bit nostalgic these days thinking about my dear friends Jayme and Chris. I was so lucky to have worked with Jayme for almost three years and had the honor of working on her wedding for the magazine. I can still recall the weekend we all spent crafting tons and tons of the folded paper rosettes that would decorate the ceremony site and reception.

It would be an understatement to say that Jayme is supremely talented (and so lovely). She's also one of the most detail-oriented people I know. Case in point, her breathtaking wedding last May at Lauxmont Farms in Wrightsville, Pennsylvania. It came as no surprise that Jayme found the time to design every last detail, right down to her beautiful cake topper, and even letterpressed her own save-the-dates!

Using a Japanese hole punch (one of her favorite tools), she meticulously punched out holes in the sleeve of the save-the-dates to reveal their wedding date. It was truly a work of art. Her letterpressed invitation booklets, which she designed and hand-bound, were exquisite and came in a pristine linen pouch she sewed herself. I could go on and on, but these are just some of the many handmade details that made her wedding feel so personal and so Jayme (and Chris). Throughout it all, Chris was the perfect fiancé. He was so involved in the entire process.

I was just wondering—what sort of handmade details are you incorporating into your wedding to make it feel personal?

Cheers To the Bridal Party

Posted by Cheree Berry, whose wedding is in our new summer issue!

Jeff and I felt so lucky to have such wonderful siblings and friends in our bridal party. We wanted to make sure they knew how important they were to us, so we had signature cocktails made based on each member's favorite drink. We also made personalized coasters for each person with his or her drink name and the ingredients to make it at home. Some of the names included Jungle Juice Jane, Scott-on-the-Rocks, Bourbon a-la-York. The next day at our wedding, we scattered the coasters around the reception for a fun conversation piece.

In addition to the coasters, we wanted to give other meaningful and unique gifts. I designed personalized stationery for all of my bridesmaids. A few of the designs can be seen and purchased on Minted.

When the Groom Writes the Thank-You Notes

Posted by Talley Sue Hohlfeld, Etiquette Expert

Every article we've ever written (or that I've ever read) about thank-you notes for wedding gifts insists that this shouldn't be the bride's responsibility alone. "Have the groom write the thank-you notes to his family," they all suggest.

Wouldn't you know, I didn't follow that advice?

I assigned my husband the task of writing to my side of the guest list. And I wrote to his.

Here was my reasoning: My family already knows me; they didn't know him well yet at all. I wanted them to start to see him as a real person—Bill—and not just as "that guy Talley Sue married."

At the same time, I claimed the right to pen the notes to his side of the family. I'll admit it was a blatant attempt to get some good P.R. out of the process. I figured they were going to assume that the TY notes are the bride's responsibility (his parents and their peers are pretty traditional in their approach to gender roles). If I made him do it, I was afraid they'd decide I was falling down on the job.

But most of all, I wanted the opportunity to make a good impression on them—especially on the women of the family, who regulate things like thank-you notes, wedding and baby gifts, and dinner invitations, and whose sorority I was now entering. I think that worked, too. (At any rate, my MIL says I have a good reputation regarding thank-you notes, so it apparently paid off.)

I know I wrote more notes—his family is MUCH bigger. I let him help with some of the ones to his side of the family, but I hogged the "older, more conservative relatives" and let him write the notes to the young, hip ones that we knew more intimately.

And there were a few that I let him write because I thought it would matter a lot to them to get a note written by their own grandson or godson.

Will you and your fiancé both write the notes? Have you thought about how you'll divide it up?