Blissful Vows

Feathers may be a surprising touch to consider at a wedding, yet they seem to have crept into every element of wedding planning over the past year or so.  From dresses to decorations, cakes to invitations.  Here are some of our favorite uses of plumage at a wedding.

The Dress

When it comes to feathers and wedding dresses, no one does it better than the French-Libyan designer, Elie Saab.  His couture gowns are always extravagant and glamorous, and have been worn by celebrities such as Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez.  He is also a favorite designer for brides lucky enough to be planning a high end, luxury wedding in Europe.  His latest creation was for Rhianna at the Grammy awards. Read more

I love this compliation video that someone made for their wedding.  It's such a cute and funny idea!

Sometimes, you just don't know whether to laugh or cry!  Is it just me, or was this an accident waiting to happen?  A word to all brides... plan your wedding area carefully!

One of the biggest logistic problems a bride has is her purse.  The options:

a) go a full day without powder, gloss, hair pins, cell phone and the myriad of other accessories that keep a gal looking fresh and fabulous.  Not likely!

b) designate a bridesmaid to carry your kit... and risk not finding her for that last minute touch up before an important photo.  Hm, not an ideal solution.

c) buy a beautiful clutch and constantly be trying to work out where to put it as you air kiss guests and sip champagne.  This juggling act would be hard for even the most elegant of ladies to carry off.

b) use one of those satin drawstring pouches sold in most bridal stores.  Ugh, tacky.  Didn't those things all get burned with the gowns with poofy sleeves? Read more

Did you pay attention to our article yesterday about how to save money on your wedding dress at end of season sales?  Well, if so, then you should be well prepared to hit the stores this weekend, but if you can't quite face the crowds, or indeed are house-bound by the horrible weather, then have no fear because you can get a great end-of-season bargain from the comfort of your own home. Read more

January is one of the best months to go wedding dress shopping, as stores slash prices in the traditional Spring sales and are more flexible in their pricing in an attempt to clear out last year's designs and make room for the next season's collections.  Here are some top tips on how to get the best deal from end of season bridal sales. Read more

I love this fashion find from The Breast Cancer Site online shop.  A large white fabric clutch with a stylish black hoop handle and overlay of mother of pearl discs that shimmer as the purse moves,  it is the epitome of bridal style for women who like a more unique and eclectic feel to their fashion. Even better, the purse is made by women in Vietnam, as part of a Fair Trade scheme to create meaningful and creative employment opportunities. The program, called Global Girlfriend, supports women in third world countries by forming long term partnerships with local artists to help improve small communities. Read more

One of the key focal pieces of any wedding is the cake. Sitting in splendor at the center of your reception, the cake is often the pinnacle of a couple's wedding theme. So just how much should you spend on this particular element of your wedding? Well, if you are baker Michael Burns from Ayrshire, Scotland, then no price is too high. He has just designed, baked and decorated the UK's largest and most expensive wedding cake for his marriage on Saturday 12th December.

The cake, which reached a towering nine foot five inches, weighed several tonnes, and required a fork lift to transport it from his bakery to the venue. As the cake weighed several tons, the floor underneath it also had to be reinforced to prevent it from disappearing through the floorboards! Read more

Choosing a wedding dress is probably the most important part of creating your wedding look, but as every fashion conscious woman knows, the devil is in the details, and it is your accessories that can really take your ensemble to new heights. We tracked down the owner of online bridal boutique, Bridie's Baubles to ask her opinion on some hot wedding accessory trends.

One of the hottest bridal accessory trends that was seen in 2009 was vintage couture, with Bridie's reporting a rise in demand for bird cage veils, custom made veils and vintage accessories, as well as colored pearl jewelry which was bought to match bridesmaid outfits. In general, they said that sales showed an "overall all the desire for couture jewelry styles." Read more

Although most brides spend untold hours painstakingly planning each detail of their wedding to ensure that it is special and tasteful, there are some couple who just don't care.  They want their wedding their way, and are quite willing to flaunt the normal traditions, as well as stretch the boundaries of what is socially acceptable.  While I am all for couples celebrating their commitment in a special way that is relevant to them, there are some things are a just bad taste.  Highlighting the best of these wedding mockeries is Wedinator.com. Read more