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Mistakes From Brides When It Comes To “The Dress”
By The Knot, Contributing Writer
From the three-dress bride to the bride who accidentally texted the dress photo to her fiance -- check out these dress shopping mistakes from brides on our Attire and Accessories board so that you don’t make the same ones!
“My sister-in-law couldn’t make it to my first shopping trip, so I texted her a pic of my favorite. I didn’t realize that I’d sent it to the wrong person (MY FIANCE!). It’s hard to be sneaky.” katiethecutie
“Biggest mistake: expecting my dress shopping experience to go exactly like a 22-minute episode of Say Yes to the Dress  complete with crying friends and family and that OMGOMGOMG feeling.” Leslie&Ralph
“To save money I ordered my dress online, which gave me a better price than the bridal store in town. Big mistake! The dress came in and it’s huge. Now I have to pay a ridiculous price for alterations that are making the gown cost more than it would have in the bridal store.” jnic0319
“I have champagne taste on a beer budget. I tried on a Vera Wang for fun and I shouldn’t have. You can imagine that I fell in love with that beauty. Don’t try on wedding dresses that you cannot afford.” verbride
“I now have three dresses and only one that I’ll wear. Do not shop almost two years out, do not let fantasy get in the way of reality, and do not buy a dress before you have concrete wedding plans.” dizzinea
“I should’ve brought a bathrobe to the bridal salon. Having a robe makes it easy to spend time with your friends and family during the downtime while the attendant brings in gowns. It also helps you avoid hiding in the dressing room in your underwear.” Robyn5298
“Don’t try on dresses after a trip to a spray tanner. What I thought would make me look like a glowing bride later rubbed off on the bridal salon’s sample dresses.” mobridetobe
“Don’t wear a black thong!” barbbhoww
“I wish I’d waited until 10 to 14 months out to try on dresses for the first time. I ended up trying on over 100 gowns and it was completely overwhelming.” polichik
Read more: Wedding Attire: Wedding Dress Regrets from Knotties - TheKnot.com
www.wedding.theknot.com/bridal-fashion/wedding-dress-shopping/articles/wedding-dress-shopping-mistakes |
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Local Woman Launches Socially-Responsible Wedding Dress Line
This spring, local entrepreneur and Amherst resident, Marcie Muehlke is launching Joya Bride, a line of elegant, ethically-sourced wedding dresses. Although the business is based in Amherst, it partners with carefully-chosen producers in Southeast Asia and right here in Massachusetts. Joya Bride’s handmade, all-silk wedding dresses are designed to appeal to the growing number of “green” brides, and those brides that want a unique and meaningful garment for their big day.
Joya Bride is a social enterprise - an organization that operates as a business but has the heart of a nonprofit. Joya Bride wedding dresses are made by women’s cooperatives and other carefully - chosen producers in Southeast Asia and Massachusetts. Joya Bride uses luxurious, all natural silk that is fair trade, organic, traditional craft preservation, or peace silk.
“Green” and sustainable weddings are a growing trend. In 2011, David’s Bridal reported that 78% of respondents to its annual What’s On Brides’ Minds Survey “would take steps to make their wedding more environmentally-conscious.*” More and more couples are choosing to buy local and organic food and flowers, ethically-sourced jewelry, and more. However, there are few options for elegant, socially-responsible wedding dresses.
All Joya Bride wedding dresses are made under safe, fair, and empowering working conditions that improve the lives of women, their families, and their communities. No child or forced labor is used to produce these dresses. Joya Bride will look more beautiful, and feel more joyful on their wedding day because they know their gorgeous wedding dress is improving the lives of women around the world. |
Picking The Perfect Flowers For Your Special Day
By Courtney Crean, Staff Writer
One of the most wonderful advantages of living in New England is the changing of the four seasons. After the long cold winter months, spring is finally just around the corner. Spring cleaning is in session, new spring fashions are making their big debut,  and new life is in bloom, so what better time of the season for a wedding? When people think of weddings, one of the first thoughts that come to mind besides extravagant bridal gowns and new love is... flowers! With over 270,000 different types of flowers throughout the world, how do you decide which is the perfect choice for your bouquet, center piece or for your beautiful flower girl to throw down the aisle at your big day?
Each individual flower has their own special meaning, whether it’s the anemone symbolizing expectation or the tulip representing love and passion. The endless symbolic meanings behind flowers are not only portrayed by the type of flower being referred to, but also by their beautiful colors. A blue flower is used to calm anxiousness and worries, while offering peace and serenity; pink portrays youth, grace and happiness; purple resembles royalty and is most often used during a ceremony to represent pride, dignity and success, however when the purple flower is combined with other colors, the combination displays accomplishment and admiration. Red is most often associated with love, because its energetic bold color represents passionate love, the essence of desire and also strength; plain white shows innocence, humility and because of its pure beauty, elegance.
Yellow is hard color to resist with its joyful bright radiance, reflecting friendship, new beginnings and of course, happiness; the orange flower screams energy, enthusiasm and warmth but when made into an arrangement, the vibrant color means confidence, satisfaction and passion for life. The color green is most often associated with nature and resembles good health and good fortune; lastly, lavender, which differs from the meaning of the royal purple, displays refinement, grace and elegance and is also most often used in relation to being grown up.
Aside from color, the type of flower that you choose also holds a special important meaning behind the beautiful petals. If you are having trouble deciding between the wide varieties, choose a flower that may have some sort of sentimental meaning to you and your partner. Some flowers that are most commonly associated with weddings because of their romantic meaning are, alstroemerias which mean friendship, amaryllis’s meaning splendid beauty, gyposphilas display a fruitful marriage, ivy’s portray matrimony, peonies represent a happy marriage, phlox’s define uniting hearts, and most often used and most recognized is the red rose with its passionate meaning of pure love.
Flowers hold great meaning and magnificent beauty. With the wide ranging varieties, your flower choice represents your style, sophistication and most importantly, your personality. Making the right choice for your center piece, bouquet or for your bridesmaids to hold is important because they can make your special day even more meaningful and special by knowing the story behind the flower. |
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Pick and Choose Your Wedding Shows Carefully
Local May Be the Way to Go
By Weddings by Design, Contributing Writer
Unless you are having a Royal Wedding and every detail is being picked for you, I suggest you pick and choose the wedding shows you attend before your big day. 
There are a lot of National event planners out there that put on shows. Many, (not all) but many of the vendors that sign up for that show are National Vendors and because they can afford the space and big costly displays, many of the local vendors get lost in the shuffle.
I am sure you have heard the saying “Buy Local,” Well the same thing applies to wedding vendors. If you are getting married in say Massachusetts, then why would you want a commercial videographer from Pennsylvania that goes all over the country? If there is a problem with your pictures do you really want to deal with a vendor hundreds of miles away from where you live?
There are hundreds of great vendors and venues right in your own backyard.
National Bridal Expos charge ridiculous prices for one or two days for table space. It can be difficult for a local vendor to afford it. Prices in a National show can vary from $1000.00 a day and up. If you get anything for less money it is usually for leftover space and tucked away somewhere with less foot traffic.
There are usually local shows put on by various local wedding vendors. These are professional vendors and can afford the table space at these shows because it is much more reasonable, usually between $350.00 to $900.00 depending on size and location.
Usually in January through March you will find shows happening all around you. You can find them through Google, the local newspaper, magazine, or radio and TV ads. Get your girlfriends together and head on down to the local hotel to see the local bridal show and start your planning. These are the vendors that you want to see. They may not be David Tutera or Buddy the Cake Boss but they can certainly fill your dreams for a beautiful wedding day.
Look for wedding planners that are certified. This means they have had and continue to have training in their field, Ask to see the pictures of other weddings they have planned or consulted on. You don’t want a planner that hung out her shingle because she planned her cousin’s wedding and feels she is now a professional.
Some vendors at these shows such as local florists, caterers, halls and banquet places will have samples of food, flowers, and pictures or videos of their work. They also should have testimonials.
These shows will always have great fashion shows working with area Bridal Shops showing you the best dresses for the upcoming season. Even your hair and makeup stylists usually show up at the local shows and show you what they can do for your big day.
At the National shows you could be confronted with over 30 photographers, 30 to 40 venues and florists, caterers, printers etc. Not to mention all the bridal dress companies out there. It really can be very overwhelming. At a local show you usually have controlled vendors. This means that the show event hosts will not book more then maybe 3 or 4 in each category so that you have the time to meet with the vendors and make choices as to who you wish to employ for your big day.
Whatever you decide to do, do not commit to a vendor at the show. Some will try to get you to sign the contract right there, but I have seen too many brides end up with buyer’s remorse and wish they had gone another route after the deed was done and they could not cancel. Some vendors will offer a 3 day cancel policy, but many do not, or they keep your deposit. Do not give any vendor a deposit at the show. Some will say that their calendar is filling up fast and if you want your date with them, you need to sign today and give them a deposit up front. Not a good idea. Never let any vendor pressure you.
A good wedding and event vendor will offer you a free consultation and you can book that appointment at the show should you wish to. This gives you an opportunity to sit down with the wedding vendor and see his/her work in a non-rushed, more relaxed situation outside of a show. You should book your free consultations at the show with several vendors in each category. Once you have met with them, then you can weigh the pros and cons and make your decision. Remember, this is YOUR wedding. Their job is to give you the products and service you want for your wedding at a fair price and to do a great job.
Remember, Local can be the way to go. Local professionals are very concerned about their clients and they want each wedding to be memorable.
For more information or to schedule a consultation visit www.weddingsbydesign.org
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