Wedding Tip #7

Hey brides, make sure your photographer takes plenty of pictures of your reception site before your guest arrive, while everything is still in place and photo perfect!

Wedding Wisdom

If you have to invite your best friend to your wedding, you are marrying the wrong person.

Wedding Tip #5

Engagement photos are not just a fun way to capture your love for one another, they also are a good opportunity to "learn" yourwedding photographer in a casual atmosphere and create a common chemistry that will be used on your actual wedding day

Everything Wedding Blog Carnival: #4

Welcome to the Everything Wedding Blog Carnival!
Our wedding carnival is a monthly blog carnival that showcases outstanding posts about bridal and wedding information from both seasoned and new bloggers. Various bloggers take turns hosting the carnival to create a wonderful wedding resource that can be enjoyed by everyone. Hope you enjoy this month's edition!

The Bridal Bar takes us Inside Kleinfeld Bridal for an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at this world famous mecca of wedding dress designs! Did you know that on any given Saturday, the store sees 120 brides - in one day!!

Trash The Dress...For Real. The Weddingistas share an extreme TTD session that is as amazing as it is daring. Take a deep breath...are you ready?

Dana over at The Broke-Ass Bride gives us some great suggestions for coping with any unexpected side effects to pre-wedding stress. A definite must read for a planning bride.

Congrats! You're engaged...now what? Lauren from The Design Grove compiles a great list of some of the things a bride should do upon your engagement.

Want to learn how to prevent wedding planning burnout? Kara from With This Favor gives a few tips to help steer you down the path of “happily ever after”—or at least a happier planning experience.

Who needs a wedding coordinator anyway? Intrigued?? I thought so! The Champagne Wedding Blog discusses the stress-reducing benefits of having a wedding planner assist you on your big day.

Your walk down the aisle will be completely comfortable and picture perfect after reading these great tips from Modern Day Floral explaining the proper way to hold your wedding bouquet.

Love this article from Heidi at the Truly Engaging Wedding Blog that covers the top 10 Wedding Stationery Mistakes. Great stuff!

The Man Registry throws some clarity on the whole ring-buying situation with their groom's advice guide to 10 Diamond Cuts and Their Meanings.

Everyone knows that choosing your wedding party is an important part of the wedding planning process, so before you start narrowing down your choices, spend a few minutes looking over The Ten Bridesmaid Commandments over at Wedding Road Trip. We dare you not to giggle.

Even a newly engaged couple knows you can save big money by having your wedding on an off-day, but would you ever consider a mid-week wedding? Katie at Wedding Paper Divas wants you to sound off!

The Austin Wedding Blog keeps it trendy by sharing a Vera Wang Inspired Wedding Dessert Bar that is simply to die for!

We are huge fans of Amy Atlas! That's why we had to share this Pink and Yellow Diamond Dessert Table with all of our readers. Delicious perfection.

With the holidays quickly approaching this Winter Wonderland Dessert Table, from The Inspired Bride, will definitely set the mood for a romantic bridal celebration.

Even though this Colorful Candy Buffet was originally created for a birthday party, were sure the Hostess with the Mostess would agree that this would be a great theme for a wedding dessert buffet.

This DIY Parisian dessert buffet from Parisian Party is everything you need for a French-inspired wedding dessert bar. Ohh laa laa!

This daring Vintage Airport Engagement Shoot is simply stunning! Charmed Events shares this couple's day with a chic aviation theme.

The Ruffled blog features the Celeste + Scott's Offbeat Wedding that keeps a hip flair perfectly matched with the simplistic elegance of the day. Love the bride's dress!

Style Me Pretty gives us a beautiful traditional wedding with a twist of retro vintage vibe and a whole lot of style. We're in love.

{Swoon!} Alert! Junebug Weddings features the real wedding of Shelby + Rich complete with bridesmaid parasols and pink floral shoes.

When we saw Paige and Kevin's Green Wedding on LA Style Unveiled, we immediately fell in love with the entire theme! The soft colors somehow make a bold unforgettable statement.

The Lucky Me blog shares the fabulous real destination wedding of Valentina +Daniel. The couple chose jewel tones of purple, pinks and mauve and created an ambiance of beach blended with traditional Mexico.

Guests of Kacie + Darby's real wedding were welcomed to the lowcountry with beautiful jute gift bags and lovely palm fans. Thanks to Elizabeth Anne Designs for sharing this lovely day with us.

Snippet & Ink takes our breath away with the real wedding of Rebecca + Keith. When is the last time you saw a wedding incorporate archery lessons into the day? Big fun!

Bridal Buds put together a great Newlywed To-Do List that gathers some of the common things you should do as a newlywed.

Do You Pee with the Door Open? Francesca from About.com asks this question and opens a poll for all you newlywed couples out there.

Remember the popular gameshow, The Newlywed Game? We'll it's time to play along the Game Show Network and try your luck at winning some fab prizes!

She Just Got Married asks the question: When does the title of "newlyweds" not apply anymore? This post will have you thinking.
Have you seen these DIY Paper Lantern Centerpieces over at Project Wedding? This is a great idea for when you can't have a big or elaborate centerpiece for your reception table.

Green Wedding Shoes asks, What are your bridesmaids carrying? Any of these would be perfect do-it-yourself project to spice up any bridal party.

This project from Weddzilla will inspire you to create your very own DIY Bridal Suite Sign. Simply love it!

If you are looking for some handmade wedding inspiration, head on over to Beau-Coup and feast your eyes on this collection of DIY themed weddings. Lovely.

Listen up Bridesmaids…YOU can make your own dress! Your heard that right. Wedding Relay gives up some great tips about an online custom dress alternative.

Destination Wedding Store reminds us all to Think Twice Before You Take On A DIY Project For Your Destination Wedding. Great tips for any planning destination bride.

Think Splendid give us 7 Tips for Submitting Photos to Wedding Blogs that are a definite must-read for any wedding professionals that are thinking about submitting real weddings and content to wedding blogs.

A popular topic often discussed between wedding professionals is how hard it is to make money in the wedding business. Sean Low creates a great discussion around the Thoughts on Pricing and how narrow profit margins are only the beginning.

Are you hiding your prices? Saundra Hadley goes over why your sales sheet presentation pricing should never be in smaller font, buried in a paragraph or in a lighter colored font.

With more and more engaged couples cutting their wedding budgets, it's quick to assume that price is the main factor for brides as they plan their wedding. BridalTweet weighs in on the topic of 3 Things Brides Consider When Choosing Vendors During a Recession.

Feel free to take a badge!

Send us an email if your interesting in hosting an upcoming edition of the Everything Wedding Blog Carnival on your blog.

Wedding Tip #2

Remember to check store return policies BEFORE creating your wedding registry. Most only allow a certain number of non-registry returns per year.

How To Submit Your Wedding Article To BrideTide.com

Wedding professionals visit Bride Tide on a daily basis to keep up with the pulse of the industry while planning brides love the fresh, content that constantly updates with new ideas and inspiration. It's Everything Wedding!

BrideTide.com is one of the largest social news wedding website on the Internet. The entire wedding resource is user-generated by users submitting blog posts, articles or editorial content on a wide variety of wedding-related topics such as wedding contests, DIY weddings, green wedding tips, bridal fashion or general wedding advice. Every submission to BrideTide is ranked through a democratic voting system that is open to all its users. Did we mention it's 100% free to use!

Step One: Register your username

To being submitting your wedding articles to BrideTide you will first have to create a user name. Clicking on the "Register" link at the top right hand corner of the page will open a new page like the one pictured below. Simply create your username and password in the "New User" area and press the "register" button. That's all there is to it!

Step 2: Welcome to BrideTide

One you register your user name you will then be automatically logged in. The top right of the page will now show your username and karma points. Karma points are earned every time a submission or comment is voted "up" by another member. Points can also be decreased if other BrideTide members find your submission either off-topic, non-interesting or blatant advertising and vote it "down". Top karma leaders can be found here.

Step 3: Submit your article

The wonderful thing about BrideTide.com is that any user, whether your are a veteran wedding pro or a newly-engaged bride, can find benefits in the content submitted by other users. Wedding professionals visit BrideTide on a daily basis to keep up with the pulse of the industry while planning brides love the fresh, new content that constantly updates with new ideas and inspiration. To submit your wedding related article, simply click the "Submit" button found below our logo.

Step 4: Finish and Submit.
Every submission to BrideTide will need to include a Title, Category and URL. To drive more traffic to your article, take advantage of the description and picture fields in the submission area. These areas allow you to add a picture or a helpful description of the article. Once all the areas are filled in, click the "Submit" button at the bottom of the page and with seconds, your article will automatically be published to BrideTide. The most recent submissions can be found here.

Step 5: Browse around.

On the right side of the BrideTide homepage is a list of topic categories that when clicked, will bring up all submitted content related to that topic. These links can be used to filter your search to a specific group of articles or blog posts on an exact wedding topic.

And that's it! Once you register your username, you are ready to begin sharing your wedding-related blog posts, articles, news and inspiration with planning brides and wedding professionals who are looking for the latest bridal trends and information. BrideTide.com, it's everything wedding... in one place.

Join here!

Wedding Tip #1

Hey brides, to quickly fix a small stain on your wedding dress, simply rub a stick of plain white chalk over the spot. it will temporarily cover the stain and keep you looking picture perfect.

Don’t Forget to Prepare for the Marriage, Not Just the Wedding

Guest post comes from nationally renowned author Sharon Naylor

Sharon Naylor is the author of over 35 wedding books and has appeared as a top wedding expert on Get Married With Colin Cowie, I Do! With The Knot, Good Morning America, Inside Edition, ABC News, and many more. She is the iVillage Weddings expert and blogger, a host of ‘Here Come the Moms’ at Wedding Podcast Network, and a contributor to the top bridal magazines such as Bridal Guide, Southern Bride, Brides, and more. Visit her at www.sharonnaylor.net to find her books and articles.


We know you’re mastering the art of planning your wedding – you’re organized, you’re dreaming up fabulous, beautiful ideas for your big day, you’re hiring the best vendors and staying close to your budget, but there’s something else – something HUGE – you need to work on now: preparing for life after the wedding.

Couples who don’t take the time to pre-think how they’ll handle such essentials as finances, housework, how they’ll split holidays with their families, when they’ll have kids, and more, wind up stunned and overwhelmed when they return home from the honeymoon and Reality hits them. Hard. What do we do now? They call it the post-wedding blues, and some people think the semi-depression that weighs them down after the wedding is just missing all the action and attention a wedding gets you. But a large part of post-wedding blues is a numbing fear that you now have to make your marriage work. You don’t want to be that couple, so here are the top 10 insights from my book Home From the Honeymoon: The Newlyweds’ Guide to the Celebrations and Challenges of the First Year of Marriage to set you on the right path to marital bliss:

1.Create a plan for your finances. Money is a top stressor for married couples, and the weight of financial pressure really takes a toll. So sit down right now to make a plan about your bills. Decide how you’ll divvy up your bill-paying. Will you each choose separate utility bills to pay, or will you split each bill equally every month? Here’s your marriage-saving mindset: Agree that you can change your bill-paying plan down the road if either of you finds you’ve chosen the Big Ones. Just knowing you’re not locked in, not trapped, and can co-create a better bill plan together later is the essence of a healthy partnership.

2. Decide on your bank account plan. Establish one joint checking account, but keep your own individual checking accounts so that you have your own money. It’ll be a comfort to know you keep your financial independence, that you do get your own play money. Set up a joint savings account for an emergency fund, too, which every financial expert says is crucial right now. Even if money is tight, stash a little something in there every month so that you have a fund for peace of mind.

3. Make a plan for household chores. Yes, that’s right. Laundry. Food-shopping. Dusting and vacuuming. Believe it or not, even if you’ve already lived together for a while, something strange happens when you get married and one or both of you gets hit with the ‘wife expectations’ or ‘husband expectations’ virus. Why is it always my job to do the food shopping? Because I’m the WIFE? It might sound a little nutty, but you’d be surprised at how this topic can throw the newly-married couple. So choose your tasks, and again, your marriage-saving mindset is that you can sit down in a few months and trade household tasks. You might find that your husband loves doing the food shopping because he’s quite the gourmand, and you’re happy to take over his task of doing the dishes every night. Great partnerships require flexibility and compromise.

4. Give positive reinforcement. When you compliment your partner in lots of ways, whether it’s on the great job he did with the food shopping or how you’re still thinking about how much he impressed everyone at your office party, you put the focus on the positives. We all get criticized a lot at work, so isn’t it fabulous to come home to a cheerful, compliment-giving partner? Your marriage-saving mindset: It’s all about how you make your partner feel. Compliments make everyone feel fabulous.

5. Establish your own, independent life. Even if you love each other to pieces and love being together as much as possible, it’s still super-important for you both to maintain your own identities, spend time with your friends, get back into your favorite hobbies and find new ones that you can enjoy without your partner. Newlyweds say they love spending time together, but when one partner is a bit too clingy, it can start to feel suffocating…and then they don’t want to offend their partner by saying so, and resentment builds, and so on and so on. Having your own life keeps you interesting, captivating your new husband when you show your excitement to learn a new skill or language, and you get that great welcome-home kiss when you return to him after a fun night out with the girls. As he will when he returns from his guys’ night out.

6. Establish a good relationship with your in-laws. We all have different in-law experiences. Some of us are blessed with awesome in-laws who have embraced us and make us feel loved and welcome from Day 1. And some of us….not so much. Some in-laws are troublemakers during the wedding plans, and some just have crummy personalities. We take the hand we’re dealt. For your marriage to start off well, you need to accept that holding grudges against his family is just going to stress him out. Complaining about his mom or his sister isn’t going to make you look very good. Brewing a family feud just hurts your marriage. So wipe the slate clean, try to find something you have in common with the in-laws, and know that a lot of brides start off with contentious in-law relationships and then over time grow to love them very much. It will take time, so start off with forgiveness now, move into a pleasant demeanor when you see them, and be patient as you build a foundation of a more positive extended family situation. Your husband will appreciate you making the effort.

7. Establish a healthier lifestyle together. You’re in a big time of stress right now, and stress takes a toll on your body and mind. When you return from the honeymoon, you don’t want to turn into that couple who just spends their free time watching TV – even if they’re cuddling – and ordering pizza delivery because they’re so wiped out from the wedding season. It’s a common scenario, couples gaining the Newlywed 19 because they just want to chill out. Establish a healthier diet, go for walks together every night, play basketball out in the driveway or at the park…play together, and get healthier together. Staying fit brings more energy and self-confidence, not to mention avoiding bad health problems in the future.

8. Tackle combining your households with a better plan. If you’re moving in together after the wedding, or moving to a new home after the wedding, you’ll face the daunting task of setting up your household with His stuff and Her stuff competing for available space and your décor wishes. It can be immensely stressful to see all of your stuff replaced by all of his stuff – even if his stuff is fabulous Pottery Barn furniture you love, and yours was a bit less fabulous. Your marriage-saving mindset: Don’t throw anything out for six months. Your framed artwork, your coffee table, your wine rack…stow it all in your basement or attic if you can, so that you know you have the option to switch something of yours back into your décor plan. And the same goes for his chair, his barware, and whatever else didn’t make the cut. At a later date, when you’re a bit more relaxed in your marriage transition, then you can donate or sell anything you can live without.

9. Make intimacy a priority. Besides sex, we’re talking intimacy like giving each other a foot rub while you’re watching TV, or just coming up behind him while he’s drying the dishes, telling him he smells awesome, and kissing him on the neck. Just little intimate moments that make each other feel fabulous.

10. Don’t take on anything huge for a while. Some newlyweds are so excited to get started on their married life that they dive right into a home renovation or big landscaping project, or they adopt a puppy immediately. It’s part of the picture of married life they’ve always had, and it’s going to be so much fun! But when reality hits and that home renovation has your house in a shambles, covered with dust from the contractors’ work, and you can’t use your kitchen for months, and the puppy is howling through the night for weeks, that’s a lot of stress. Way too much stress for newlywed life. So just hold off on any big projects or commitments for a few months and just enjoy being together. Just enjoy celebrating those fun married Firsts like your first dinner party, the first time you get to see your wedding photos, the first friend’s wedding you attend as a married couple, and more. You have a great life ahead of you, a great partnership, and a great marriage to grow and nurture for as long as you both shall live…

Follow Sharon Naylor on Twitter!

Want a FREE copy of Sharon's latest book? Stop by her website and then leave a comment here on Bride Tide by SATURDAY, September 12th, 2009 (midnight CST), telling us which one of Sharon's 10 tips above you feel is the most important, and you'll be entered for a chance to win your own copy sent directly to you. We will choose one random winner. Please, one comment per person. Good luck!

My Thoughts On Hiring A Wedding Planner

"You don't just hire a wedding planner for what they do, you also hire them for what they know. Most brides only plan one wedding their entire lives while a wedding planner has the experience and understanding of coordinating numerous celebrations for each diverse individual client. Relying on a professional wedding planner to refine the details of the biggest day of your life is not only practical, it's an intelligent way of minimizing the opportunities for ineffectively handling any unforeseen situations that may arise."

Wedding Tips and Advice For 2009

Every so often, I catch myself jotting down bits of wedding advice that I feel might be beneficial to a planning bride or groom. While some of those little pieces of paper accidentally find their way onto the ground or in the trash, some bravely stick around and pile up patiently waiting for their moment to be shared. I'm proud to say that after some delay, I've put together a few of these to create a list of BrideTide wedding and bridal tips. My hope is that this list is useful and beneficial for planning couples everywhere. Enjoy!
Brides should remember to use a straw when sipping drinks to prevent from ruining their lipstick application.

Taller grooms better compliment a two-button tux jacket while shorter grooms
should opt for a one-button design.

Don't create your bridal registry too early. If you register for items too early, you will find that most of your selected items are either no longer carried or on clearance, which means those items will be harder to find by your wedding guests.

One bottle of champagne will yield approximately 5-6 flute glasses. Use this calculation when budgeting your reception wedding alcohol.

Before your wedding, make arrangements to have your floral decorations donated to a nearby nursing home or a local children's hospital. Flowers are meant to be enjoyed by everyone.

Engagement photos are not just a fun way to capture your love for one another, they also are a good opportunity to "learn" your wedding photographer in a casual atmosphere and create a common chemistry that will be used on your actual wedding day.

A small wedding cake can be made to look bigger and more extravagant by strategically adding flowers, ribbons or other themed decorations.

Pick out your wedding gown first. Decide on your hairstyle second.

One way to keep children guests entertained at a wedding is to provide a basket full of coloring books or printed games/mazes that are easily accessible.

Hydrangea is a type of flower that is is often overlooked but works beautifully for a wedding centerpiece filler.

Twice a year, have your ring professionally cleaned & inspected by a trusted jeweler to make sure your diamond is properly secured and normal wear & tear repairs can be done.

Learning to dance for your wedding is a special gift that you and your spouse-to-be can give to each other. If both of you feel confident and poised while dancing, it will ensure that your very first dance together as wife and husband will be a memory you and your guests will never forget.

Wedding vendors eat too! Remember to include your wedding photographer, DJ and other vendors in your overall reception food count.

The metals of an old ring can be melted down to make a new one.

If you are a DIY bride and are choosing to create your own floral arrangements, be prepared for a lot of prep work. You’ll have to clean, trim, and keep the flowers alive while timing the bloom for two to three days.

Enter all the wedding contests you can find! Not a week goes by that I hear about a luck couple winning something that helps improve their big day. People actually win these contests.

Have one of your bridesmaids designated as the "posture police". This person is in charge of reminding you a few times throughout the night to sit up and stand straight to ensure better photo opportunities. When she reminds you, you remind him.

No matter what you hear, hiring a wedding planner is still the easiest way to have an organized, stress-free wedding.

Registry information DOES NOT get printed on your wedding invitations. Instead, include that information on your bridal shower invites.

Remember to make sure your bridal party eats and has nourishment throughout the entire wedding day. Keep it light and healthy to keep everyone happy and content.

Wedding magazines are nice but wedding blogs are better. By the time a printed wedding magazine gets published, printed and placed for retail sale at the local newsstand, the info and trends inside are usually older than what would be found on a freshly updated wedding blog. Inspiration is constantly evolving.