Skip the Gift Cards - For A Wedding Gift

Nowadays, when you cannot think of a gift, there seems to be a gift card for everything especially when you're thinking of a wedding gift. After all ,who can discount their convenience and practicality? But, if you're not one of the gift-card giving population and would appreciate something more personal and artistic, then the MoMa store is a great place to find that thoughtful gift such as:

Alvar Aalto Vase


Kissing Candle Holders by Karim Rashid


Snowman Sugar Dispenser by Maxim Vecovsky

Stephanotis - Wedding Flowers

Stephanotis - so beautiful and simple. As a wedding bouquet, it is perfect for the bride that just wants to be sophisticated without being ornate. This white fragrant flower is pretty much available year-round and holds great symbolic meaning: marital happiness. They're are also quite spectacular when constructed with a pearl or diamond studded center as seen here by Bouquet Jewels:

Sephora Beauty Tips

A little bit of vanity always does some boost to one's self-esteem. If you happen to drop by any Sephora store, you will be happily surprised to learn that they offer free makeup consultations, including tips and samples. It's a great feeling when you don't feel like looking in the mirror, and suddenly a little bit of blush, foundation, and lipstick - and you're a new "you." They also have a blog called "Beauty and The blog" that provides some unique insights and news on everything Sephora. Check out their section called "Beauty Central" featuring practical information on the use of their products.

Thanksgiving - For Brides

Thanksgiving - a time to get together with family and friends. There's nothing more heartfelt than having a wonderful Thanksgiving Turkey dinner. Did I also say that it's a "carbohydrate bomb." For this reason, if you want to avoid ruining your pre-wedding bod. Have you considered Thanksgiving for two instead? Try Cooking Light's recipes, there's some great dishes that might work out for anyone watching their waistline.

The Wedding of the Year

So, news reports have said that the wedding of the year (i.e., Tomkat Wedding) was a $3 million reception at the 15th- century castle called Odescalchi Castle. Amidst all the coverage, you gotta wonder about one thing. Oddly enough, the Bracciano's mayor has reportedly said that the couple has not applied for a marriage license. But anyways, if you want to read more about this and who isn't curious, here are some great articles:

About the location

What happened at the wedding reception

The wedding dress by Armani

Lynn Lugo Bridal Dresses

Gorgeous with a joyful spirit of elegance. At lynnlugobridal.com, I've fallen in love with this pretty A-line gown with a v-neck. Of course, that pretty contrasting sash is just so cute. Summer is a long way from now, but who can resist this dress.



They also customize so explore their site and have some fun!

Painted wedding cakes

There's a lot to be jolly about at the JollyBe Bakery owned by Ruth Seidler. The artist behind these wonderful works has been painting her wedding cakes like fine art - only these you get to eat and enjoy. Some of her breathtaking creations include:

Shaadi


Persian Style

H & M Bridal Gown by Viktor & Rolf

Finally, they're in Pasadena. Swedish retailer, H & M, has set up shop in Pasadena. Known for their stylish yet affordable clothers, it's not surprising that they have come up with their own line of bridal attire. Starting with the debut of their wedding gown by Dutch designers: Viktor and Rolf. At $349, how can you beat that?



In case you don't plan on wearing a gown, they also carry a black suit/tux:



If you're just as curious as me about who is Viktor & Rolf, this interesting and even humorous article should help.

Wedding Flowers - Learn by Video

For a bride aspiring to do her own bouquet is an admirable feat. But where do you start? Start by checking out the neat videos from Expert Village. This section covers wedding flower arrangements from creating bouquets to corsages:

Celebrity Wedding Planner with the Most Divorces

Question:

Which celebrity wedding planner has managed the most weddings of Hollywood couples that have resulted in divorce?

While I don't know the answer to that yet, I read this morning on The INSIDER that event planner, Edgar Zamora, is in charge of the upcoming wedding of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes in Italy. With a little more reading, you will find that he was also the planner of Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey, as well as Denise Richards's wedding. Hmmm. Oh, what a coincidence! Should we even be superstitious about it, though? You just have to wonder!

The Weddingsphere - More Like Divorces for the Week of Nov 3rd

Since this past week felt more like divorce court than anything else, I've decided to just cover divorces to highlight the ins and outs of the weddingsphere. Between the divorces of Reese and Ryan, and Britney and Kevin, you just have to wonder where did these guys get married. Oh, let's not forget the Paul and Heather Mill's divorce, too.

After some hunting, this is what came up:

The wedding of Reese and Ryan, back on June 5, 1999, took place at the Old Wide Awake Plantation near Charleston, South Carolina.

Britney Spears got married at a friend's house in Studio City. It was more of an intimate event as only 20 or so guests were invited. Just to let you, she wore a strapless bridal gown made by designer Monique L'Huillier.

Paul McCartney's wedding took place at a Castle Leslie, Glaslough, in the Republic of Ireland. Heather Mills wore a gown by Eavis & Brown of London.



Picture of the Week

The Classic Blue Suit

While black is almost always worn as a tuxedo, a groom in a navy blue suit raises the coolness factor a whole notch higher. And where do you go for such a suit, you get a Zegna and keep it. I mean whoever said that the groom can't splurge on his outfit!

via Neiman Marcus

Ice Sculptures for a Cool Wedding

It can be carved into a sculpture, made into a beaded wall, or crafted into a cool table centerpiece. When you think about ice, there's much more that comes into mind. At Ice Sculptures, they can do almost anything with ice (in an artistic sense, of course). If you've run out of cool decorating ideas, an ice sculpture could be just the right idea. How about a swan sculpture?

Cool Cufflinks Find

It's cool, classy, and colorful. Made by IMOOI, these bullseye cufflinks are made of stainless steel - able to withstand the most rugged conditions.

The Weddingsphere - October 30th Weekly Roundup

This past week of Halloween, the weddingsphere became more of a basket of oddities and outrages:

How not to have a low-key wedding
Ruler of poor Burmese country + lavish wedding for daughter = extreme public outrage

Let the Pope Bless your Wedding
If you're royalty, anything is fair game. It also doesn't hurt if you are the child of the Duke and Duchess of Kent. They say that this is the first British royal wedding to take place at the Vatican since the Reformation - after 500 years. This lucky couple even got a blessing from Pope Benedict XVI. He should get a nice party "favor" from the couple.

Make that an animal for my wedding registy
Move aside linens and china, this wedding couple wants animals - exotic ones, please.

Hot Wedding Venue Snatched
It's always disappointing when you've found the perfect wedding venue only for it to be bought out by some celebrity.

"A Hell of a Wedding Theme"
Yes, there is a village called Hell in the state of Michigan. So, being Halloween, one couple decided to go all out on their wedding theme with costumes and all their gore (i.e., trimmings).

A Fourth Wedding
Take the fourth and final wedding of Kid Rock and Pamela Anderson. I guess you can say that they just had to have four weddings to officialy tie the knot. Boy, they must have had one very happy wedding planner.


Picture of the Week
Snow has not fallen yet, but these snowflake cookies sure look good in time for winter! Check out the other great cookies at Dave's Cookie Gallery - pretty amazing stuff, here.

Gold leaf for wedding cakes

Something bright, something golden. An edible gold leaf wedding cake is so decorative and unique. It's a great choice when you have a wedding color palette with gold and ivory. Or, try it with red, orange, and brown. Some of these cakes below feature the different ways that gold leaf can be used to decorate cakes:

as miniature flowers via ww.maisiefantaisie.co.uk


as a box via www.justdessertsobx.com


as pretty flowers and leaves via www.scrumptions.com


Gold leaf is available if you want to use them as cake accents or embellishments such as:

gold sprinkles via www.fancyflours.com

Easy Suggestions for Bridal Hair Struggles

Everyone struggles with their hair..Okay. Correction...Some women tend to struggle with their hair and the situation gets worse when you're getting married. So, just what do you do with your hairstyle? Here are three easy suggestions for the long and short of it, and everything in between:

1) Wear it up
via (weddingtresses.com)



2) Wear it down (you can even use hair extensions, if you have short hair to begin with)
via (instyleweddings.com)



3) Wear it short and sweet
via (brides.com)



Still can't decide what to do? Then try out the cool virtual hairstyle tool on thehairstyler.com, or if it's still an impossibility, perhaps a wig? Maybe not...