September 21, 2007
Wedding Flip Flops
You'll flip for Dessy's new wedding flip flops!
Flip Flops in Bridesmaid Colors! Choose white for bridal flip flops or custom colors for the bridesmaids for a perfect match with your wedding theme. Ideal for beach weddings, they'll be fun at your bachelorette party or the wedding dance, too.
Don't limit your thinking to the wedding. Fashion savvy gals will want a pair to match every swimsuit they own. The flip flops will pack small in your beach bag to protect tender feet from hot sand and look adorable every step of the way. Order a matching fabric flower for your beach hat while you're at it!
The flip flops come in a beautifully made chiffon pouch with a matching satin drawstring. It's a delightful extra touch, and the pouch is so elegant that mine will likely do duty as a lingerie bag when I travel.
The flip flops have nonslip rubber soles and are made with Dessy's own matte satin in a rainbow of colors to match bridesmaid colors by Dessy, After Six and Alfred Sung. They'll make fun bridesmaid gifts, especially if you pair them with Dessy's matching satin totebags.
Note that you'll need to think ahead and order early. The flip flops are made to order in the custom colors you specify so you'll need to plan on eight to ten weeks for delivery.
Posted by at 07:30 PM
August 11, 2006
Friday Bridesmaids' Book: The Bridesmaid’s Guerilla Handbook
They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but we have to say this boisterous montage of stiletto boots and wine bottles had us at merlot. The war-like wedding strategies are a hoot, and we guarantee you will be a much savvier bridesmaid troop post-reading. What ultimately won us over was the way the amusing ironic tone of the book is paired with a priceless stockpile of useful advice. From preparing a bridal emergency kit to debates on bridesmaids’ dresses and worksheets for limited budgets, the Bridesmaid’s Guerilla Handbook is an indispensable guide for surviving the wedding trenches.
Posted by jade at 09:05 PM
August 05, 2006
Help Bridesmaids Save at your Destination Wedding
While most of your travel-savvy pals would jump at the chance to don tropical bridesmaids’ dresses and attend you at your Bora Bora destination wedding, there are always the cautious few that need a little coercion. If you’ve got a reluctant wedding bridesmaid or two, sweeten the pot by helping find cheap airfare and group discount hotel rooms, help pair up single girls to share a room, and (ouch!) say “no gifts” on the wedding invite. Some awesomely beachy bridesmaids’ gifts wouldn’t hurt either...
Posted by jade at 12:09 AM
April 08, 2006
Bridesmaid Blackmail
Aah, the bachelorette party. A beautiful evening of bonding, boozing and…blackmail? Brilliant! If the bride in your life is driving you bananas, stash a handy stowaway in your purse as you prepare for the bachelorette party: the awesome new Bad Girls photo album! Not only does this album include eighty pages for brides-gone-wild footage, it even has funny sticker captions like “Another fallen good girl” to perfectly commemorate the bride’s bad behavior. Not that you would ever use it of course, but it may come in handy during bridesmaid dress battles. Remember, a picture’s worth a thousand words.
Posted by jade at 12:06 AM
February 17, 2006
Sealed with a swatch
If you brides don’t want your bridesmaids mocking your choice of bridesmaids’ dresses for years to come, invest in this awesome non-bridezilla gesture: Order some bridesmaid dress fabric swatches online, enclose them with your bridesmaid invites, and let your girls decide together which fabric and color they like best. That way, you can be mocking their bridesmaid dress choices for years to come. See www.dessy.com for swatch information.
Posted by tamm at 10:38 PM
October 15, 2005
Bridesmaids Beware
As Halloween hovers, bridesmaids should be advised of Cosmopolitan editor in chief Kate White’s chilling new novel Til Death Do Us Part. This bewitching tale is the third installment in the Bailey Weggins detective series, but is the first to feature Weggins as a bridesmaid. The plot of this murder mystery thickens as two of Weggins’ fellow bridesmaids die in freak accidents shortly after the wedding.. As Weggins sets out to discover what really happened to her fellow maids, she wonders if she is the next bridsmaid marked for death. Read this cautionary tale before telling the bridezilla in your life to stick her color swatches where the sun doesn't shine.
Posted by tamm at 12:57 AM
September 15, 2005
Yay for Flower Girls!
No wedding party is ever complete without the Flower Girl. The bridesmaid plays an important role, of course, but the flower girl is essential. Often a younger relative of the Bride (or a Bride's friend), the flower girl usually wears a dress either matching the bridesmaids or in a similar style to the bride. In Latin America, the Flower Girl and the Ring Bearer are dressed as miniature versions of the Bride and Groom.
The tradition of the Flower girl began in the Middle Ages, when it was grain, rather than flower petals that the Flower girl carried and threw in the path of the bride. Grain symbolized both the bride’s new life and hope for ‘fruitfulness’ in the marriage. It is believed that having a Flower girl will bring happiness and extra luck. It was the English who introduced the tradition of scattering flower petals, rather than grain, during the Victorian era. Flowers symbolized the hope of a happy path in life together.
These days it is common to have more than one Flower Girl. My sister had two; her soon-to-be husband’s younger sister and myself. Dawn (the groom’s little sister), at the age of twelve, was much better at the tossing of the rose petals than I was! Being five years old, I didn’t get the whole ‘scatter’ concept. The result was clumps here and there all the way up the aisle where I made a beeline for the front pew and hid next to my mother.
My sister made an effort to make sure that Dawn and I were both included in the girly-girl portion of the wedding party and the thank-you gifts that she gave us were cherished for years. I still have mine!
Flower Girls, especially those in their ‘tweens’ will appreciate age appropriate jewelry such as pearl or rhinestone jewelry set as well as mementoes of the occasion such as a photo of them with the Bride.
Posted by tamm at 10:35 PM
June 15, 2005
Time-Out for Toads!
I'm taking a breather from the heady Paris Squared research-fest that I've been indulging in to offer some advice on what to give a bride and groom who are to be married in a non-traditional ceremony... also, perhaps, your bride and groom are not even human.
In India last week, two giants toads were married in a traditional Hindu ceremony by villagers hoping to cajole the rain gods into ending a dry spell.
400 wedding guests cheered and blew conches as the bride toad's bridesmaids put streaks of vermilion on her head while a band played music and priests solemnised the marriage to the chanting of Hindu hymns.
The toads were dressed in bright red clothes and brought to the marriage venue in a decorated palanquin.
After the ceremony, the toads were released into a pond in the village where it is assumed that they took up marital residence.
Toad skin is very sensitive - it seems to me that spa kit would be just the thing.
Posted by tamm at 08:03 PM
May 04, 2005
The Bachelorette Party!
Some wedding traditions go way, WAY back. Take the Bachelorette party, for instance. Bachelorette parties really got their start in the seventies, as a spin-off of the Bachelor or Stag party. Why should guys have all the fun, right? Brides-to-be and bridesmaids alike look forward to the Bachelorette party!
The Bachelor party itself originally started in fifth century Sparta, Greece. Guys would feast and toast one another on the eve of a friend's wedding. The party was an actual dinner, attended by the groom and his closest friends. The dinner served a dual purpose: it was an occasion to celebrate the impending wedding (or mourn the passing of the groom's bachelor status) and it was a chance to raise money for the groom so that he could continue to drink with his buddies after his wife took control of the finances.
These days it's very common for the bridemaids to throw the bride her own Bachelorette party and, while the modern bride no longer takes over the family finances, they can have just as much (if not more) fun at the Bachelorette party.
For a fun girl's night out, try these pretty Bachelorette Party Boyfriend Tanks! It's perfect for a girl's night out or a girl's night in.
If the party is in the house, try The Chick Game. Four fun levels of love-and-live questions that are sure to bring up some juicy details of everyone's past.
Or, if you are into scavenger hunting with a twist, try the That Guy! game. Deal out the cards and hit the town to search for That Guy! Various types of guys include Mullet Guy and Sweaty Dancer Guy. The party goer who meets the most guys in her hand wins!
Posted by tamm at 11:12 PM
What to Wear to a Beach Wedding
Editor's note: Taunt me, sure. I'm sitting here single in my old freaking age, and you post pictures of your glorious day on the beach, no less. Want to show off your ring, too? Huh? What? Whaaaat?
For my wedding on the beach, I told everyone to wear flip-flops. My sister said, "Uh....and what else?" Hmmm. This was a tough one. Most of the bridesmaid dresses out there were too formal and just too MUCH for the beach. The guys were wearing tan linen pants and white shirts, I was wearing a white dress (obviously). So we decided we needed to add some color to the mix. I knew I wanted bright flowers (sunset colors, is how I described it) so this bright blue Alfred Sung two-piece dress seemed like the perfect solution. Very airy and swingy, it kind of moved in the wind. Only not too much. My sister loved the color... totally worked for a redhead. And it looked groovy with the bouquet.
We bought this pairing at a local bridal shop, but you can get a sneak preview to mix and match all Alfred Sung separates at www.alfredsungdresses.com.
Posted by amanda at 10:52 PM
April 19, 2005
Wedding Hairstyles: Do the Pony
It's minutes before the wedding. Your bridesmaids are close to rioting as they try to get their hair in order. Chaos threatens. Groom starts to get nervous. Future in-laws and relatives begin glancing for the doorway, wondering if you've taken a flier.
But it's just the hair. What to do?
For an easy way to add sparkle to bridesmaid hairstyles, check out the 
Wedding Hair Jewels from Weddingstar. They simply twist into most hairstyles. Choose classic pearls or Swarovski crystals in colors to complement the bridesmaid dresses.
For more bridal and bridesmaid hairstyles, explore the Brides.com Wedding Hairstyles guide.
Posted by brideadmin at 03:32 PM
February 08, 2005
Avoid Bridezilla Syndrome
Here's a quick article about keeping your bridesmaids happy. Can't help you with the relatives who all want to sit in the front row, or the 300 friends who want to stay at your apartment, but at least your bridal party will be right there with ya.
Posted by brideadmin at 12:01 AM
