The OurWeddingDay Blog

Celebrity weddings and glamorous bridal magazines are a lot of fun, but nothing’s more helpful than learning how real brides plan their big day.

Meet OWD's Real Brides: real OurWeddingDay.com Brides-to-be sharing their experiences.  It’s not about the “right” way to plan; it’s about each bride planning the wedding that’s right for her.

Oh my goodness...where has this week gone?!

In this last week, I have made great progress.  :)  The florist came to me on Monday out of courtesy and told me that they had just had a busy weekend: two brides looking to book May 29th, which is our wedding date.  Since they had been working with me for a couple months, fine-tuning our needs, they wanted to make certain I wanted to go with them by giving me first right of refusal; if so, I would need to secure the date with a deposit.  (I highly recommend Bella Flora for your floral and decor needs because of their professionalism just shown me. :)  I jumped on that by placing a deposit down with them, knowing that I can change our order well up until two weeks before the wedding.  So, that is now finally checked off my list.  

I didn't have the same great experience with our DJ service I was getting ready to book.  I was waiting for the DJ to get back with me on a question I had; I had been working with this company for about a month.  Instead of giving me the same courtesy shown by the florist, I was simply told, "Sorry, your date is now booked."  I was so upset, especially seeing I had to go back to the drawing board.  But all is good now, because I found someone even better and have booked their services.  I guess this was actually a blessing in disguise.  

The flower girl dress came in and her mom sent me pictures of her daughter in the dress.  I am so pleased; it turned out how I hoped.  So now, if only I could get my Bridesmaids to order their dresses, I can get that stress relieved and checked off my list.

Monday, I go to try on my wedding dress with a few Bridesmaids and my Mom there with me.  The first go round, the dress I ordered didn't fit at all, even though I had lost an inch and a half from the time they last measured me and ordered the dress off those measurements.  I am looking forward to actually lacing up, zipping and buttoning the dress for the very first time, and then getting it over to the alterations lady by the 2nd to 3rd week of April.  In that amount of time, I hope to continue to lose this baby weight that I am carrying only in my lower belly area.  Well that and toning up my arms some more, as well.  ;)

What I will work on in this next week is finals for my college class and stitching on hair combs to my two veils...one cathedral length for the ceremony and one fingertip length for the reception.  Oh and we are adding an 8th Bridesmaid, 8th Groomsmen and two more Ushers, making it now a total of 14 Ushers.  

Happy Planning!

Celebrity weddings and glamorous bridal magazines are a lot of fun, but nothing’s more helpful than learning how real brides plan their big day.

Amanda from Pittsburgh writes:

Helping a great friend of mine pick out bridesmaid dresses for her wedding was a fun day. Her cousin and I were able to try on a whole bunch of dresses. Some we laughed at, some we absolutely loved. Though I never expected that day would boost my confidence for my own wedding dress.

I ordered my dress about five months ago. This dress is everything I wanted in a wedding dress. But because the sample dress was so small, I had a difficult time finally deciding on this dress over another dress that fit as the sample. At least with the other dress I knew how it would look in the right size. I went with my heart and took the chance on the small dress.

When bridesmaid dress shopping with my friend, her cousin shared with us that her boyfriend took her shopping for an engagement ring. The great thing about the bridal shop we went to was this: we could handle the dresses ourselves. All of the dresses! Including the bridal gowns! The three of us did not have anywhere else to go so we started making her cousin try on wedding dresses. She had yet to even look through magazines at pictures and there we were pulling out the different necklines, fabrics, styles, etc. just to see what she liked.

While sorting through the dresses, my friend came upon my dress. I asked the lady if I could try it on so I could look at headbands and tiaras because I still need one and that’s my dress! When I saw that this dress was one size larger than the dress I ordered, I was beyond ecstatic. Finally, I could get a great look at what the dress will actually look like on me!

Needless to say, I did not want to take the dress off. I ended up finding my jewelry that day. And found a style of headband I like with the dress. Now I just have to the “the one” for me for my wedding day.

Now I am an excited-anxious for my dress to come in instead of a nervous-anxious

Once you’re married, it’s important to establish good habits in your relationship. As you spend your first year of marriage together, you and your spouse are bound to have little tiffs and disagreements. The key is communicating your feelings and desires with respect and openness.

First, remember that it’s okay to disagree. Life would be strange if you always got along with everyone—including your spouse. While you ultimately want to be happy with your spouse most of the time, a few blips and blowouts are just part of a healthy balance in life. Plus, making up can be fun.

Whether you’re arguing or getting along fine after the wedding, you need to share your emotions with your spouse. Are you annoyed when he leaves his socks on the floor in the bathroom? It might not be a big deal the first few times, but if you stew on it for months, it could lead to a huge unnecessary argument. Try explaining why it annoys you. Do you feel unappreciated at having to do the extra housework? Tell him in a way that doesn’t make him feel attacked—but don’t hold it in... Continue reading this article here.

Once you purchase your bridal gown, take the proper measures to store it and keep it in lovely shape until your wedding day.

Many bridal shops will store your dress for you until you pick it up a few days before your wedding. For many brides, this is the best option. Remember to give yourself plenty of time to have a dress ordered and altered. David’s Bridal has seamstresses on staff who can fit and alter your dress in-house. Even designer bridal gowns will require some amount of alteration to ensure the perfect fit.

If you purchase your dress early and need to store it at home, avoid hanging it in plastic. Plastic can actually trap moisture and increase the chance that mold and moisture will damage the delicate fabrics.

Never hang your dress for more than a few days. Most wedding dresses are heavy. The strain of being hung up can damage seams and cause warping. Instead of hanging your dress, lay it flat on a clean, dry surface. Use tissue paper—not newspaper—to stuff any puffed structural elements.

If you need to store your dress for a significant amount of time, schedule an appointment to have it steamed before your wedding day. Avoid trying to steam or iron your dress on your own. The last thing you want to do is damage your bridal gown right before the big day.

Do you know what's expected of the Father of the Groom?  How about the Ushers?

Wedding party planning is one of the first things to tackle on your wedding to-do list. This guide will help you understand who does what in your wedding party so that you can decipher whom to approach for each task.

Get the final word on everyone participating in your wedding, right here.

Celebrity weddings and glamorous bridal magazines are a lot of fun, but nothing’s more helpful than learning how real brides plan their big day.

Amanda from Pittsburgh writes:

The past few weeks have been difficult: I caught a virus and had a fever over 100 degrees that just would not break. In effort to save vacation days for the honeymoon in June, I allowed myself one day off work, unpaid. After I kicked the bug, a mere week later I came down with another flu! This time it was much stronger. Somewhere between the wedding planning, the bridesmaid shopping for a friend’s wedding, and my normal day-to-day life (including hockey, Pilates and rock climbing), I did not allow myself to properly rest.

This hectic, non-stop lifestyle was OK while I was in college when there was not a routine established. But now being out in the “real world” working my desk job five days a week for the past two years, I have come to realize that jam-packed weekends every weekend just is not healthy.
But I did not let my illnesses hold me back from keeping with my wedding planning. While I rested with my laptop in bed with me, I was able to research the last remaining items that are needed for both my wedding and my bridal shower.

I have one month to go until the shower, two months and two weeks until the wedding... I have mostly everything I need. My bridesmaids and I decided to let me have a significant role in the planning of the bridal shower. So I was able to research favors for my purse-themed bridal shower. I already had mini purse favor bags bought. Just needed something to put inside. I decided to go with personalized lip gloss because what girl does not have lip gloss or lipstick in her purse?

In addition to favors shopping, I was also able to find the right stationery for wedding programs. The programs I typically see are a normal piece of printer paper folded in half. I love the half fold over the tri-fold. But I wanted something special, yet affordable, I can print at home. With some extensive internet research, I came upon shimmery cover stock with normal pages inside. Perfect. Now all that needs decided is: pearl/silver shimmer cover with purple text or purple (lavender) shimmer cover with black text? The wedding colors are lavender with a touch of aqua.  What do you think?

Planning a bridal shower party and not sure how to get started?  Begin with a theme and everything else will fall into place.

First think about the bride’s personality.
Does she love sports and outdoor activities? Does she love shopping and fashion? Is she outgoing or introverted? The last thing you want to do is make the bride uncomfortable, so try to choose a bridal shower theme and tone that she’ll enjoy. Ask the bride directly if she'd prefer a co-ed bridal shower or not.

Find out what she’s planning for her wedding.
If her wedding will be ultra-formal, throw a formal, traditional wedding shower. If she’s having an outdoors wedding or an informal daytime wedding, you have more freedom when choosing the bridal shower’s theme. Remember that you’ll need to coordinate the bridal shower’s favors with the theme. Keep favors, food and decor in mind when you’re choosing the theme.

Don’t pick an overly elaborate theme.
When planning your bridal shower themes and decor, try to tie in elements that coordinate everything from the invitation to the bridal shower thank you notes. This can be as simple as a color shade or type of flower. While the theme can be funky—like a karaoke party—it's just as acceptable to be very simple and traditional.

Everything you need to do, everyone you need to hire, every step along the way...

Check out your wedding planning checklist here and be prepared for the biggest day of your life!  It'll simplify the exciting road ahead!

Celebrity weddings and glamorous bridal magazines are a lot of fun, but nothing’s more helpful than learning how real brides plan their big day.

Meet OWD's Real Brides: real OurWeddingDay.com Brides-to-be sharing their experiences.  It’s not about the “right” way to plan; it’s about each bride planning the wedding that’s right for her

Jenn from Jefferson Valley, NY writes:

If you’ve been reading my posts you’ve probably noticed that I’m ….well….err….cheap.   In addition, I’m not particularly crafty.  So, you wouldn’t think that I’d be one for making my own anything.  Especially not anything wedding related!

BUT!

I started looking at wedding invitations back in October of 2009.  I skimmed through the offerings at the local bridal shows and clicked to my heart’s content online.  And as I went I realized that I could make my own invitation set with little or no problem.  It’s not rocket science.  Now, I’m not talking about fancy shmancy invitations with ribbons and bows, or cutouts or even layers; I’m talking about straight up, simple one layer invitations.

I went to Michaels Arts & Crafts store to start poking around and found a very plain and simple invitation set (Gartner Studio’s “Create On Your Own Computer Invitation Kit”) of 50 invitations, outer envelopes, response cards and response envelopes.  They’re ivory paper with a raised pearlized border.  Very low key.  I bought two sets and eventually had to go out and buy a set of “All Purpose Cards” so I can insert an information card into the invitation for our out of town guests.

What about the invitation itself?   I cut, pasted, cursed and created a top and bottom border of kissing birds and some clip art from out on the world wide web to use as a background image behind the wording on each piece of the invitation.   After a couple of go-‘rounds with my mother about the wording of the invitation, I finally got it done.  AND printed!  Including ink it cost me less than $100.  I brought one to post office to get it weighed for postage and it’s ONLY $0.44!  That’s right, no extra postage for me!  WOO!

I do have one itsy bitsy problem, though: I’m inviting a significant number of people to the wedding who are neither married nor living with anyone.  I want to invite my single friends and family members with a "plus one," but there’s no interior envelope!  That’s where, traditionally, you would address the invitation to "Mr. Kevin Smith and Guest," or "Ms. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Guest."  So, I’m still chewing that problem over.   Anyone have a thought they’d like to share on this?

Thanks!  Here’s wishing you a stress-less planning!