Dialogue: Blogs or Magazines?

Magazines and websites are probably the most popular resources for brides today. You might even purchase some planning and etiquette books. Thankfully, blogs are another resource for brides that is free. Since a lot of you are probably on a tight budget, you don't want to keep draining your money on magazines. Magazines have lots of colors, photos, ideas, and advice from wedding professionals. These are the pros of magazines.

The cons?
Not free, lots of ads that soon don't apply to you the closer you get to your wedding day, and you get stuck with a large stack of bridal magazines that you may be attached to and your new husband won't like seeing stacked in a corner.

Blogs solve all those magazine cons, not to mention that you can get a fix of info and inspiration daily. You can search from archives to only look at what you need to see and read at the moment. You can also contact the bloggers and get advice or ideas specific to you. One more thing, blogs are community driven, so this means you read and respond to comments to help other brides who read the same blogs you do.

I love my bridal magazines as much as the next girl, but I will say blogs are the winner. Check out my favorites listed on the right side menu of my blog. Of course there are so many more than my faves.

Check out BrideTide's Top 100 of 2010 wedding blog list. 

 

Warning: Wedding Blogs are addicting! I love them!

Sorry!

I have been a little late with some posts and after missing yesterday's post, I realized that blogging during the holidays with family around is a little difficult. I am thinking that I might be like this until after the new year. I will try to post as many times as I can, but I just want to apologize in advance if I miss some days. :(

Don't worry, 2011 will be back to normal! I hope your holidays have been wonderful!

Christmas Gift

I got this in my email and thought I would share this. It is only available to the first 100 and as of right the time of this post, there are only 19. If you are having a hard time choosing a dress, this could be a pretty cool opportunity from an actual dress designer!

Email Content:

amy michelson 

Happy Holidays beautiful brides!  It is my pleasure to give you a fun designer present :) We've been having a great time on our Amy Michelson Bridal Gowns Facebook page, seeing gown posts from our gorgeous Amy brides. So I decided to create something NEW for your  holiday gift... a FREE one-on-one photo consultation for YOU, with ME on Facebook!   It's like a bridal Facebook fashion game... want to play?   I have a secret amy michelson style strategy  and mini essence quiz  I use in my bridal designs  (not used by any other designer, magazine or bridal salon)   that makes each bride look  her most exquisitely beautiful self on her wedding day.  Now through january 15th only, as an exclusive FREE gift for our first 100 Facebook fans to sign up, (a $$$$ value for personal consultations!)    I will personally look at your top dress picks and share how to make  the perfect, stress free choice  to look off-the-charts gorgeous! (and no, they don't have to be "amy" gowns!) :)   for the first 100 brides who enter here's how it works... TAKE THE MINI ESSENCE QUIZ and enter your answers in the message block of the facebook photo album you will send us!

Your Love Essence Quiz: Choose one letter- A,B,C or D that best describes the real you! A   Ladylike, serene, princess, thoughtful, dusk/twilight energy, graceful, thoughtful, gentle, orderly, gracious, lady of the manor, intelligent, sensual, lovely B   Earthy, lioness, firelight energy, harvest goddess, productive, dynamic, grounded, centered, purposeful, strong traditions, outdoorsy, spicy, passionate C   Fresh, playful, sunlight energy, fun loving, relaxed, buoyant, sexy, knockout, inspiring, light, creative, upbeat, outgoing, related, flirty, alive, new D   Cultured,  refined, elegant, priestess, moonlight energy, queen, sophisticated, calm, inner excitement, still, meditative, high quality, urbane, fine, exotic   Your Bridal Essence Quiz: choose any 5 words that best describe how you want to look. extravagant, fairytale, opulent, princess, corset, castle, bejeweled,  ball gown, church timeless, elegant, classic, minimalist, clean lines, city, sheath, chic, old Hollywood simple, hip, sexy, trendy, glamorous, relaxed, beach, goddess, flowing, mermaid feminine, dreamy, bohemian, eclectic, vintage, lacey, soft, country, rustic, garden   Your Details: hair color ~ eye color ~ skin tone (fair, olive, pale, freckled, tan, brown, pink etc.) ~ height ~ wedding location Write down Your Love Essence letter (A-B-C or D)Your 5 Bridal Essence words and Your Details. You will need to include them in the message block of the facebook photo album you will create. You'll create a Facebook album with: 1 head shot   1 full body shot   and 3 shots of favorite gowns you have tried on.

Now here are the 5 simple Facebook steps: We know that you already like us but become a Facebook Fan by pressing "Like" on our "Amy Michelson Bridal Gowns" Page. (see link at bottom of newsletter)   Use your Facebook search engine to find our secret bridal hideaway - search the words "Amy Unbridaled" and send a Friend Request (this gives you access to send us your photos). Create an album on your own Facebook Page.  Upload your five pictures (info listed above) and title the Album with your First Name followed by the word Bride, for example: "LisaBride"  so that we can easily identify it.  After they are all uploaded, in the Messageblock , please include Your Love Essence letter (A-B-C or D)Your 5 Bridal Essence words and Your Details for Amy to use for her recommendation. Re-open your new album.  At the bottom, click on "Share This Album".  Send it TO: Amy Unbridaled.  WE'RE DONE! ;)  * Please be patient, this a NEW WAY to use FACEBOOK! and be patient as Amy gets through each consultation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is very exciting... I can't wait to see YOU

 and your pictures online :)

Happy Holiday and New Year! 

XOXO,

Santa Amy ;)

Pickle: Where Oh Where is The Dress?

You are flipping through the bridal magazines and there it is! You have found THE Dress! Immediately you begin calling Bridal stores that carry the designer to see if they have THE dress.

The Pickle: The dress is a part of a new line of dresses from the designer that no store has the dress for you to try on. Do you risk ordering it anyway without seeing how it will fit on you?

The Solution: Pretty simple really, call the store and ask what they can do. Ask about a loaner program. You might be able to have the dress ordered in to the store for a few days for a fee. Then you can try it on and see if it is really THE dress. Also, check to see if the fee can be applied towards the cost of the dress.

The dress in a magazine I dreamed of. (Fiorella by Maggie Sottero)

Now, what if you called everywhere and not one store has a program like that? Bring the picture to the stores and see if a similar dress is available to try on. You will get a feel of how you might look in that particular style. Who knows? You may just fall in love with the similar dress and know exactly how you look and feel in it. The secret to finding the one really lies with trying things on. You never know how much you love or hate something until it is on you.

The similar style dress I tried on, fell in love with and bought. (Leoni by Maggie Sottero)

Emergency Kit: Make-Up pt. 1

Since I talked about Make-Up earlier this week, I decided to do today's list on Make-up.

1. Concealer- Zit popped up on you or on your bridesmaids? Make sure to have concealer on hand. Remind the girls to slip it in their make-up bag before they head out to your wedding.

2. Sunscreen- Use a face lotion with SPF or use a foundation with SPF in it. You'll want these in general for the protection of your face against aging and to keep from sunburning if you have an outdoor wedding.

3. Oil Blotting Paper- Blot out the oils from your face so you don't shine in a bad way.

4. Extra Make-up- As I mentioned in my earlier post, have this around in case someone's make-up just isn't working for them.

5. Tweezers- Your face looks perfect but a few stray hairs on your brow might just drive you crazy. Have these in hand to pluck those babies right out!

Have a Merry Christmas!

Dialogue: Bridal Magazine Overload!

We have all done it. Engaged or not, we buy bridal magazines! The moment you are engaged, you buy all the ones available on the stands. Let me tell you, it was wonderful too when my subscription to one magazine didn't end until after my wedding. I still had an excuse to read them! "What, honey, I paid for them, I have to still read them." Renew in secret, and you can just claim it was a 2 year deal when you first subscribed. :)

Credit: Bridalbuds.com Read this girl's post on what she did with her magazine collection. I'll be doing that soon too!

Now, you can't subscribe to them all (well, you can if you really want to) and with them being near 4-5 dollars a magazine, buying them each month is crazy, especially if you are on a budget for your wedding. For this week's commentary, I am going to weigh in on the magazines worth subscribing to and why.

Every magazine is going to give you lots of pictures and ideas. Not to mention they will even expose you to many dream dresses. But, after some time, you start to see the same things in all the magazines. When you have your dress picked out and your colors with ideas selected, it will come down to content. If you subscribe to any, here are the two not to miss:

Brides Magazine
Why? I love that they now publish every month (to get your bridal magazine fix sooner) and there are good articles to read and advice to read that you can still use up to your wedding.

Martha Stewart Weddings
Why? Everyone knows Martha for home projects and decor. Let me just say that although this magazine only publishes 4 times a year, it is full of ideas that the DIY bride will LOVE! I can't even tell you how many ideas I used for my wedding. Plus the corresponding website has printables and who doesn't love free stuff?

Pickle: The Bridal Party is Nationwide

It seems that many couples are getting married later than usual and with that comes the fact that many of our close friends and family have graduated college and/or have begun a new career. Those paths often spread the people you care about to different parts of the nation (or world) and rely on technology to keep in touch.

Photo Credit: http://www.takethehandle.com/?p=8777

You just got engaged and you automatically start thinking of your bridesmaids and your maid of honor. Then is hits you. . . your sister lives 3 hours away, your best friend lives in Oregon while your college girlfriend lives in Florida. While you are located in Texas, what do you do?

The Pickle: Long distance bridal party makes you nervous but you can't imagine anyone else in your wedding.

The Solution: Facebook, E-mail, Calling and Texting. Thank goodness for the advancement in technology otherwise this could be an impossible task. The truth is, it seems difficult, but it really is no hassle at all. Here is how:


Wedding Website- Many places let you put up a free wedding website which is not only nice for your guests but can keep your bridal party involved. My favorite is from mywedding.com. Below are only 3 of many, but they have really cute ones and you can purchase matching invitations for some designs.

Facebook Group- Chances are, you already communicate with your bridal party on Facebook. Go ahead a make a group so you can sent out messages and announcements to them all at once!

National Stores- If you ordered your bridal party wear from places such as David's Bridal and Men's Warehouse, then it is easy for your bridal party to walk in to their nearest store and get measurements and make purchases. Or, you can pick a dress/tux from a designer that can be found at a local bridal shop near your friends that they can make an order from.

Online Stores- If you wanted your girls to have matching shoes, Payless.com or Zappos.com (or any other shoe site you find) will make it easy for your girls to order just their size. You can do the same with accessories if you need to as well. Just make sure your girls order those shoes pretty early. Breaking in a shoe takes time, and if the shoe doesn't fit, there will need to be enough time to send the shoe back for a different size.

But what about the Bridal Shower, Bachelorette Party and Bachelor Party? It really is up to you and your bridal to decide what is feasible for attending those parties. All but one of my girls couldn't come to my Bachelorette party but I still had girlfriends nearby and acquaintances that attended and I still had a blast. :)

Poll: How much is that wedding?

Pickle: Bad Make-Up

You may be doing your own make-up, having a friend do your make-up, or you may be hiring your own make-up artist for the day. Either way you need to do a practice run of your make-up before the big day.

The Pickle: Your make-up looks terrible for your big day. You feel like you look like either a clown or a stripper.

The Solution: Prevent this disaster by doing the practice run. Take notes on what colors you did, the step-by-step process of how the make-up was done and take pictures to see how the make up looks on camera. You will want to do the pictures in different lighting. Take some outside, inside, bright light, dim light, flash, no flash. You don't want to think you look good and find that you have weird things going on with your face.

thestylebitches.com

Doing the day of practice? Make sure to have face cleaning cloths and have extra colors and shades of make-up to make sure you and your girls have the right combination of make-up available at hand. If you hire a make-up artist, make sure they will be bringing a variety of make-up options to decorate your face.

theboudoirshop.com

 Check out these websites for make-up how to's:
http://www.sokissandmakeup.com/tutorials/
http://www.makeupgeek.com/category/tutorials/

Scripture Sunday #3

Emergency Kit: Shoes pt.1

My shoe from Zappos.com!

They always say no pain no gain right? And, when you go out, sometimes you see girls in hot shoes but you know they are suffering as they dance the night away. Well, on your wedding day, pain is not a gain. This is your day to be different then you would on a night on the town. So comfort is a must! Here is the beginning of a list that deal with preparing for shoe emergencies.

1. Padding- The heel or ball of your foot can easily get blisters and padding inserts made especially for heels will help you tons! I would check out Dr. Scholl's. Only because they are a well known brand. I bought an off-brand from the shoe store and it didn't work for the ball of my foot very well.

2. Scuffing- This is important so that you don't slip on the dance floor. My mother fell on the dance floor at my reception, and then I followed suit by falling on the dance floor at my honeymoon. Funny stuff but really embarrassing! Avoid this from happening to you by having some sandpaper on hand. See how to scuff your shoes with sandpaper here. Or, if it hurts you to do that to your wedding shoe, it would hurt me!) you can buy a variety of non-slip grip products such as the ones I found on Amazon.com.

3. Band-aids- If you or any other ladies in your wedding are getting that little toe blister, use a small Band-aid and cover it up! Stop the shoe from rubbing that blister some more. Ouch! Dr. Scholl's also sells anti-friction products for this purpose but I thought Band-aids to be cheaper.

4. Flats/Flip-Flops- If you want to take your shoes off for dancing, these can keep your feet from touching the dance floor full of germs from shoes where people have been stepping on many dirty things to get there. (I'm a clean freak)

Personalized Flip-flops from theknot.com

Personalized flip-flops from theknot.com

5. Glue- Some shoes have adorable flowers, bows, etc. on them and if something happens where they are loose and can come off the shoe, glue it back on! I would look at a craft store for glues that work on any surface such as fabrics, leathers, etc.

Dialogue: Bridalplasty?

I'm sure everyone has heard about this show coming soon:



I get that how we look on our wedding day is important, but to what extent? It is one thing to get your make-up done, hair cut and colored, nails, toes, and to work out 5 hours a day to fit in a dress and look killer on your honeymoon. But nose jobs, boob jobs, botox, oh my goodness stop there.

Your pickle may be that you lost a lot of weight fast and need a tummy tuck  or something that assists in the appearance of a drastic body change. Or you might need something for health reasons. I am all in favor of doing what you can to feel like a princess on your day because you only get to do it once. You want to feel good. But don't drastically change yourself where you aren't the woman your man fell in love with. Besides, what if something goes wrong? Just not worth the risk right before your wedding. IF you must get new boobs, or a nose, I would do it after the wedding. A botched boob job on the beaches of Mexico? No thank you. I'll wait.

Now I worked out about 2 hours a day before my wedding. I didn't get to my goal but I eventually liked where I was for the time being and didn't want to stress anymore. In the end, we moved a button to make the dress fit me instead of the other way around. Took a huge burden off my shoulders. Any of you get anything done before the wedding? Any of you want something done but waiting until after the wedding?Any one going to tune in on the show?


The show seems shallow to me and misses the point of marriage. Please, ladies, keep your priorities straight and your eye on the prize. And I mean your husband as the prize, lol.

Pickle: Rainy Day

So, you have an outdoor wedding and no doubt you are praying everyday that it doesn't rain. Even indoor wedding brides pray for sunshine! Nobody wants a gloomy day! So you take precautions and look at the beauty rain can be, yes even on your wedding day.

The Pickle: Rain on your blessed day.

The Solution: If you think tents are ugly or circus like look at this tent site I found on theknot.com:

So much customization! Hire an awesome decorator.

If your ceremony is going to be outdoors, you can have umbrellas for your bridal party. Would it look ugly or tacky? Nope! Just by googling wedding umbrellas, you can find beautiful umbrellas you can match to your wedding. You can rent them, or buy them as gifts for your attendants. I found the one below from bellaumbrella.com.

Think of all the cute photo-ops you can do with these beautiful props even if it doesn't rain!

Now guys may not like this very much. Get them white or black umbrellas if you like, or they can just stand in the rain and tough it out right?

You know, a rainy day can be a blessing. Some jewelry companies offer giving you a free wedding ring if it rains on your wedding day. Talk about it raining money! lol.

Anyone watch the Jason and Molly wedding from the Bachelor on ABC? Talk about a beautiful rained on wedding!

The rain didn't bother them! Read about it here.

Poll Follow-Up: Using a Wedding Planner

I myself didn't use a wedding planner for two reasons: I assumed it would be too expensive and I am the obsessive compulsive type with control issues so I believed I could do it all myself. Let me tell you, what I wouldn't give to go back and hire a day-of coordinator so that I could have relaxed more and so that things would have gone more smoothly. It is hard to plan your wedding the day of and be the bride! Also, not being in the same town with my family, no one was really informed in details how I wanted things run. The 10 minute meeting I had with my family wasn't enough. Not having a day-of coordinator was my biggest mistake!

If you plan on having a wedding planner and/or day-of coordinator, lucky you! For the rest of you, consider a few things:

There are several kinds of wedding planners out there with different services to fit in your budget.

If you are dead set on not having a wedding planner for any reason, at least hire a day-of coordinator. I promise, the investment is worth not having to stress, or have regrets on how things went on your day. Forget being in control, being a guest at your own wedding is more rewarding! Sit back and soak in the moment!

Find great wedding planners at the Association of Bridal Consultants website.

Short Hiatus

I really hate to do this because I want this blog to be known to post at least once a day. However, I have just moved, the movers arrive tomorrow with my stuff and I expect I will be busy unpacking and what not for the remainder of the week. :( I plan to be back next week at the latest with more advice and solutions for your wedding pickles!

P.S. Check out fun project ideas for your wedding at Martha Stewart Weddings! I used this website a lot for my wedding and I recommend it to all my friends who are getting married all the time!

I got the idea of putting bands around my programs to personalize them from marthastewartweddings.com

Poll: Using a Wedding Planner

Pickle: Changing the Wedding Date Pt.2

Last week, the issue of changing your date before invitations are sent out was discussed. Now, for the more complicated issue.

The Pickle: You changed your wedding date and invitations have already been sent out.

The Solution: First, you will take care of the steps to take from last week's post so that you can have your new date and new locations if they needed to be changed. Now you got to get the word out. Sending out a whole new invite is costly and more time wasted. Time is crucial since your out of town guests may have already put money into attending your wedding. The sooner they know about the change the better. I would let people know in anyway you can, a phone call, email, Facebook, in person, whatever you can get your hands on for all your guests.

A fun idea for doing this is to maybe have a calling party, gather your bridesmaids for a team attack on the task and you will help relieve your stress and have your girls around to help you with the burden especially if you have a large guest list.

Now you don't want this to be a crazy free for all. This is a formal event so think about using these outlets of contact carefully. Talk to your girls about what to say for the phone call. Use evites like ourwedvite.com so that you can send a beautiful email of the changes. Don't forget to request a reply so that you know the recipient received the email. When it comes to Facebook or talking to someone in person, I would keep that between your closest of friends. I'm sure your sister won't care if you told her over Facebook that your wedding date has changed. She will probably be glad you told her right away. However, your Aunt, while she may have a Facebook, I would find it more formal to go the phone call/email route.

Now what about those friends of the parents and family that you don't know too well? You probably can send them an update via mail using the card template idea I discussed in the last date change post. You'd still be sending out updates and paying for stamps but you save money in cutting the list of who to send it to.

To me, the actual invitation you sent is enough for etiquette pushers. If anyone really has a problem with whatever option you choose to update your wedding info, then they are probably not someone who would be going to your wedding for the right reasons. However, if you are really concerned about formality and etiquette and you have it in your budget and time, you can definitely send out something similar to a Save the Date that announces your new info! I'm definitely not against that option. I just know that I wasn't fortunate to have that kind of cushion in my budget to allow for emergencies. It definitely can be a memento of your crazy wedding planning days to save for a scrapbook!

Scripture Sunday #2

How lucky are we that we found love, that we get to love and all because He loved us first! Embrace the blessing of love and enjoy the happiness you have because you know what it feels like. Just remember, the love we have in marriage is because of what our Savior first introduced to us by his own love for us!

Emergency Kit: Dresses pt. 1

 1. Sewing Kit- These can be found at many places, and basic colors are generally included but make sure you get string closer to the colors of bridesmaids dresses, mother's dresses, etc. Yellow or brown just won't cut it on gold! No one may notice, but it will but the person wearing it that's for sure.
2. Tide Pen- for minor accidents, this can really come in handy.
3. Double Sided Tape- If you are a girl like me who isn't blessed on top, filling in the top of a dress is a difficulty! Have this in handy for any girls worried about giving a free show!
4.  Extra Hose- If you have your girls wearing hose and the dress is not full length, a run in the hose will not be pretty in pictures.
5. Safety Pins- My dress ripped and was hanging on the floor. Without a safety pin to quickly get it off the floor, it would have been worse!

Dialogue: Email vs. Mailed Invitations

Save the dates are popular to send with fancy invitations. However, these days, everyone is penny pinching. You may be thinking, "Can I get away with emailing these things instead?" It surely is tempting with the cost of stamps having gone up to add to the costs but you will need to consider some things first.

Save the Dates: If your wedding is coming up pretty quick, you can skip Save the Dates all together because the invitation will suffice.

If your wedding is 8 months to a year away (and especially if it is a destination wedding) a Save the Date is the courteous way to go for your guests. Do you have to print them though? Here is where I say emails are fine. Here is why. It isn't the formal invite, it is a courtesy. Unless it can fit in your budget, go the email route. Some sites even have the option of setting up a really nice email to send out as a Save the Date that can match your colors and themes.

Invitations: It is generally looked down upon with the idea of sending wedding invitations via email but the savings it can bring are extremely beneficial for the bride in a pinch with money and is considered green. Why should anyone look down on your for trying to save money and help the environment?

Now, if your really want to go the email route, consider these things:
~ Some relatives and/or friends may not have an email or rarely even check their emails
~ Some may be old fashioned and expect a mailed invitation, you may offend an elder who may feel that an email can be a lazy, inconsiderate way to invite people for such a momentous occasion.

Here is what I say, do both! There is a lovely site called OurWedvite.com and it really is a wonderful solution to embrace the technical age, save some money and still get invites printed for those non-tech savvy relatives and friends.

Sample invite from OurWedvite.com

 The awesome thing about the site is that you can register your guest list and keep track of RSVPs, there are several beautiful designs and you can even print some for the people you need to mail them to!

Pickle: Changing the Wedding Date Pt. 1

Because the situation has solutions that are extensive, I will divide this post into two parts. Don't worry, I will address if you have sent out your invites already on Monday's post!

The Pickle: You have to change the date of your wedding and you haven't sent the invitations out yet. (I had to change my wedding dates, and I was lucky enough to be in this pickle rather than the other which I will address in pt. 2)

Solution: You have two ways this can go. You have already had the invites printed or you haven't. The ideal thing is that you haven't printed invites, and if that is the case, you will need to take these steps:

1. Pick the new date and have a back up date.
2. Review all of your contracts regarding date change. If you end up losing money, you will need to calculate how much it will cost in order to re-assess your budget.
3. Call all of your vendors and your ceremony and reception sites to set up your new date.

Now you will have your new information for your invites! Now if your date is sooner, you better get started!

If your invites are already printed, don't worry about reprinting all those invites. It will be a waste of money and effort. All you need to do is put in an insert in the invitation. Here is a sample:

This sample assumes all other information on the invitation has stayed the same.

A simple way to have it printed where you can save money and time without having it look cheap is to use the pre-cut templates for business cards or post cards. It is easy to do with Avery and work on it on Word to customize it with an image, and with colors.

I used postcard size to make these.

Click Here for Postcard Templates

Click here for Business Card Templates

Of course, take care of the steps mentioned above first so that you know what information you need to include on your Date Change insert. I would also make sure to put the insert in front of everything so that your guest will be aware of the vital details first thing!

Read Part 2 Here!

Poll Follow-Up: Short a Bridesmaid

For every poll I do, I will post a follow-up the following week to go more into detail on the topic. If you lose a member of the bridal party for whatever reason, there are a few different issues you may have to deal with. 

If a dress hasn't been bought yet, or shoes, or other items, then it shouldn't be a big deal other than an emotional stress that your friends can't be in your wedding. However, if money has been put into it and your bridesmaid has to bail, take these things into mind to prevent loss in money:

Remember a dress can be altered to fit a new bridesmaid. If a dress is already bought, maybe replacing your bridesmaid would make a better financial decision.

Whether, you or your bridesmaid buy the shoes, make sure to keep receipts (as you should for everything in your wedding) because it would make it a lot easier to exchange a shoe to a different size for your new bridesmaid.

If you already purchased engraved jewelry or gifts for your bridal party, you may have to accept the loss to buy a new one or if you don't replace that person, make it a special gift to that person :) I would check places like The Knot often because they are always having sales. So if you had to buy a new item to replace another, it won't hurt too much.

knot.com bridesmaids gift

Pickle: That's Not My Cake!

The Pickle: Not getting what you ordered for your cake.
When you looking at the hundreds of beautiful cake pics, you might be thinking, "I want them all!" Whether you got an idea of your cake in mind or if you end up planning a design with your cake maker, you expect to see the most beautiful at your reception waiting for you in all its glory. Really, the cake is the centerpiece of the party!

Imagine being inspired by this:

Designing this:

Then getting this:

I seriously think that it wasn't that she took creative liberty, but that she lost my design!

The Solution:
Always sign a contract, and if you did with your cake maker and something goes wrong you can at least fight it. Before signing though to avoid that happening, make sure your cake maker is open to communicating with you during the process of making the cake. Maybe ask for a pic sent to you as it is being made, or if you can visit, even just a phone call to double check everything is how you will like it. Always go by recommendations, see an album of their cakes, and if they don't do a tasting for you, you don't want that cake maker. Consider the question at the site below. Print it out and keep as a reference.

Questions to ask your Wedding Cake Baker or Designer

Scripture Sunday

Every Sunday, I want to bring us all back to what really matters. Not the petty wedding stuff but the blessing we have been given to even have a wedding. Your wedding day is a big day in your life and of course it will be stressful. I hope this blog helps you with that. However, we need to take a moment, take a breath. Your engagement is to be enjoyed! Celebrate the gift of Love that God has given us, allowing us to love others. You found love with your man, remember to focus on the blessing of marriage and the beginning of a new life together.

Every week, enjoy the scripture. Who knows you may even find one you may want to use in your ceremony!

Today's scripture definitely gives us a reminder that God loves us and gave his son as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. We need to love and forgive others for their sins. Keep this to heart with your future marriage. :)