The OurWeddingDay Blog

Tips for Visiting a Bridal Spa

OWD — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:17:40 -0500

Spas offer clients a variety of beauty and health services in one convinient, relaxing location. Planning on preparing for your wedding at a bridal spa? Whether you're new to spas or you're a seasoned pro, use these tips when visiting and selecting the bridal spa for your wedding preparation.

Start looking for local bridal spas and bridal salons at least six months before your wedding. Popular bridal spas book quickly, especially during the peak wedding season.
Visit the bridal spa before you book your appointment. Ask for a complimentary tour. Take a look at the treatment rooms and try to get a feeling for the vibe and atmosphere. Look for cleanliness, a calming atmosphere, and attentive employees. Don’t feel obligated to make an appointment if you’re not completely happy with the spa.
When booking your appointment, schedule plenty of time for treatments. Try beginning your day with an aromatherapy massage, hot stone massage, or body scrub. To avoid surprises, remember to ask about all fees and additional costs while booking your appointments.
If you’re having your hair and makeup done at a bridal spa, meet with your aestheticians beforehand for a practice run of your hairstyle and makeup. Have a friend take pictures so you can see what the makeup looks like on camera.
Coordinate with bridesmaids well before the wedding so that you can make simultaneous appointments for attendants who would like to join you as you prepare at a bridal spa.
Call the wedding spa two weeks before your visit to confirm that the appointment is on the books and your preferred technicians will be available.

Demoting My Maid Of Honor... And Other Items On My Checklist

OWD — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:51:18 -0500

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.

Natalie from Irving, TX writes:

The week started with finding out that my Maid-of-Honor betrayed my trust on something significant, so she has now been placed as 3rd out of 7 ladies in the lineup...still keeping her in the bridal party because she's already purchased her dress.

I met with the florist and loved what I saw; we just received their proposal yesterday from our meeting 5 days ago. We have some questions and changes to be made to it, but we're closer to getting the florist lined-up for our big day. We're in communication with the photographer/videographer but we haven't come to a final decision and signed contract yet; still have a couple loose ends to cover with them before we feel comfortable locking things down with them and signing a contract.

The invitations are currently with the calligrapher until tonight; I will go and pick them up after 6pm. I will be able to stuff the envelopes tonight and tomorrow to hopefully get them all into the mail by tomorrow late afternoon...with the wedding May 29th, we're running out of time to get these out to our guests.

The wedding dress came in yesterday that I ordered back on January 20th, so I plan to pick this up on the 15th of March. Today, I am custom-creating the Thank You cards, just as I did with the invitations, using MyGatsby.com. And in this last week, I managed to get the guest book ordered, ring bearer pillow ordered, sand and sand vases ordered and engraved for the unity ceremony, gem confetti ordered, my garter ordered, and monogrammed cake knives, Swavorski crystal cake topper and six-pence all ordered.

:-D Yay!...My list is dwindling.

Happy Planning!

Last-Minute Wedding Planner Meetings

OWD — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:24:48 -0500

Is your big day almost here? Now that you’re approaching the final stages of wedding planning, it’s time to coordinate with your wedding organizer to make sure everything’s in place. Here are some tips for working with your wedding organizer before your wedding day:

Schedule a meeting with your wedding organizer the weekend before your wedding. During the meeting, get confirmation that all vendors are prepared for the wedding. Schedule any last-minute appointments you need to make, including a final fitting or picking up your wedding dress.
Have your wedding organizer prepare an itinerary for the upcoming week and the day before your wedding. This should include the schedule for your rehearsal dinner, picking up any accessories you need and attending last-minute appointments. If you’re planning to visit a bridal spa on the day of your wedding, include arrival and treatment times on your itinerary.
Establish boundaries regarding availability in the days before your wedding. If you have a close relationship with your wedding planner, you may feel inclined to turn to her in moments of panic or if you have questions. If you’re not working as closely with her or don’t feel comfortable, make sure you have a friend on call so you can vent or ask for last-minute opinions.

How to Avoid Jitters the Day Before Your Wedding

OWD — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:06:41 -0500

Wedding planning tools don’t warn you about the emotional turmoil you might experience after months of acting as a wedding organizer. Many brides experience wedding jitters and nerves on the day before their wedding. Avoid stress and discomfort by planning to fight away those jitters with healthy coping skills. Try these steps to a worry-free day before your wedding.

Don’t drink too much at your bachelorette party. A hangover can set off some seriously unpleasant physical symptoms and exhaustion. Go easy on alcohol or plan a relaxing spa party instead of heading out to bars. If you really want to have a big blowout, have the party a few weeks before your wedding.
Schedule spa treatments on the day before your wedding. Try a long hot-stone massage, aromatherapy massage or a pedicure. Just avoid facials or any sort of waxing or tanning that might alter your appearance right before your big day.
Exercise. This isn’t the time to run a marathon or take up a new sport, but it’s definitely a great time to try some relaxing yoga or low-impact aerobics. Working out helps you sleep and helps you naturally fight stress. Be sure to eat protein-rich, light meals all day to keep your stomach settled before and after your workout.

Massive Updates to the Dallas & Fort Worth Wedding Guide

OWD — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:24:20 -0500

We just updated our Dallas & Fort Worth Wedding Guide in a big way... with 10 new articles to help you plan your perfect wedding in the Metroplex!

Check out our complete local wedding guides for Baltimore, the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, Houston, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, Indianapolis, Los Angeles,Philadelphia, Miami, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Newark and Chicago.

What You Need to Know about Planning a Mixed-Religion Marriage

OWD — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:49:44 -0500

It’s not uncommon in 2010 for interfaith weddings to take place. If you and your fiancé are of different religions, your wedding can be every bit as traditional as you’d like it to be. There might be some issues specific to your situation, so read on for an interfaith wedding primer here.

Massive Updates to the Chicago Wedding Guide

OWD — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:44:15 -0500

We just updated our Chicago Wedding Guide in a big way... with 10 new articles to help you plan your perfect wedding in the Windy City!

Chicago Wedding Dress Shopping on a Budget
Chicago Bachelorette Party Ideas
Chicago Winter Wedding Tips
Chicago Warm Weather Wedding Tips
Chicago Wedding Dress Guide
Chicago Wedding Planner Advice
Chicago Wedding Photography Advice
Chicago Makeup Artist Tips
Chicago Weddings: Weather Guide
Chicago Weddings: Metropolitan Style

Asking a Friend to Officiate Your Wedding: What You Should Know

OWD — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:06:01 -0500

While most couples have a traditional clergy person or justice of the peace marry them, some couples prefer having a close friend or relative take care of the honors. While you probably can’t go this route if you’re having a religious, formal ceremony in a house of worship, it’s a perfectly acceptable idea for a more casual affair, like a backyard or beach wedding. The most common reason couples decide to have a loved one make it legal is the feeling of closeness you get from someone you know personally, especially someone who’s been a wonderful friend for years.

Click here to learn more about this lovely tradition, including the legal requirements.

To Cake or Not to Cake?

OWD — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 10:16:55 -0500

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.

Brooke from Corolla, North Carolina writes:

Seven months out and I am still surprised to run down my checklist and see that we have most of our wedding-related bases covered. For someone who prefers junk drawers to filing cabinets, this is a pretty big accomplishment. We have beautiful ceremony and reception venues, a delicious menu, a DJ known for getting the party started, and photographers who understand what we want (more candid, less posed and plenty of beach shots).

Most of the big decisions were surprisingly easy for us. In the weeks after our engagement, when discussions about our wedding were vague and completely uninformed ("It can't be that expensive to have be to have 200 guests"), I nearly drove myself insane with the thought of all of the overwhelming options. How will two people who REALLY love food ever choose a caterer? Do we want a DJ or a band? Formal church event or casual beach ceremony? I was literally losing sleep thinking about all of the future decisions we would have to make for our wedding.

When we finally started the planning process, my fiance and I were able to visualize the kind of day we wanted, which made all of those tough decisions I was stressing about pretty simple. We picked a few key elements that reflected our relationship and our personalities and just went from there. We knew we wanted it to be casual but elegant, intimate, romantic, and most importantly, fun. We pared down the guest list to 75 people, found a small historic chapel in the Outer Banks for the ceremony, and rented a giant beach house for our reception. Most of our wedding party will stay with us at the house the week before the wedding, and the rest of our friends and family will be nearby. I haven't second-guessed any of my decisions and I'm so excited that our wedding is all coming together so smoothly.

Yep, we've got everything covered. Everything, that is, except for the cake.

For some reason, my fiance and I are having an absurdly hard time choosing a wedding cake. In my opinion, the way the cake tastes should matter much more than the way it looks, and I am not opposed to something less traditional like cupcakes or a pie bar. He is leaning towards a more formal, three-tiered, white wedding cake that will cost more than we can afford to spend (and will more than likely not be eaten). I sort of think he only wants it because that's how he's always thought wedding cakes should look, but the rules are a bit different now. Not many aspects of our wedding are terribly traditional, other than the church and the white dress, so I don't see why our cake should be. The sad fact is, neither of us have strong enough opinions on the subject to argue about it, which also eans that we are completely ineffective when it comes to making this decision. I always thought this would be one of the easier things to check off the list, but I just can't seem to get excited about it. Hopefully that will change soon, or our guests will be wondering where their dessert is.

Has anyone else run into a similar problem? Maybe it's not the cake, but is there a certain element of your wedding that you can't decide on?

Wedding Planning While Out of Work

OWD — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:19:02 -0500

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.

Natalie from Lexington, South Carolina, writes:

I'm getting married on Saturday, May 22, 2010 in my fiance's hometown in the upstate of South Carolina. My fiance lives in a different town than I do, so I only get to see him on the weekends. We've been dating long distance for over a year now, and we are ready to finally be able to see one another every night!

I cannot believe how close the wedding day actually is now, and I still have so many little things to do. Luckily, my mom, my sister (my MOH) and my fiance have been incredibly helpful.

The one thing that I'm most concerned about now is what I'll do AFTER the wedding. I'm actually in grad school right now, and I'll graduate two weeks before the wedding. My fiance's actually looking to make a job transition since 1) he wants utilize his degree in management, which he's currently not doing, and 2) he's not living in the best area of South Carolina, so we're both looking for jobs, an incredibly scary (and stressful) process. The job stress, coupled with my excitement over the wedding, makes me feel like a yo-yo sometimes: one minute I am counting down the days until I get to walk down the aisle in my gorgeous dress, and the very next, I'm terrified my fiance and I won't have found jobs by the time the wedding comes around. The second scenario generally revolves around us setting up camp in a cardboard box somewhere in downtown Columbia, or having to move in with one set of parents, neither of which I want to consider as an option.

So, until one or the other (or both of us, hopefully!) gets that amazing call that offers a job, we're both sending out job applications right and left, and wishing and hoping everything will fall into place over the next three months. Has anyone else had a similar experience? How did you handle the dual stresses of job searching and wedding planning?