Dresses for Weddings

So, I live on the 4th floor of a brownstone and sometimes if I feeling lazy I order Fresh Direct and slip the guy a tip to take my groceries up the stairs. Often my cheapness outweighs my laziness (or, more accurately, I simply have no food in my house) but this week, I going to change that because Fresh Direct is doing something awesome!!!

From now until April 21st, if you spend   Mother of the Bride Dresses   more than $100 on groceries with them, they will donate an arbor in your honor to the Nature Conseratory "Plant a Billion Trees" program. That amazing!

If you don have Fresh Direct in your area, it basically if Whole Foods would deliver to your house (and they have prepared foods as well). But regardless, this concept of donating a tree would be an awesome IN LIEU of FAVOR idea. Or for the "tree hugging" couple (using that term with affection, btw) it would make a great little engagement gift!

Well, if you haven been buzzing about this, you will be. So, that said, I really looking forward to it global approach, as it showcases real weddings, gorgeous gowns, honeymoon locations and more from here near our shores and way, way beyond! Of course, it will showcase classic Ritz-Carlton style and more. It being spear-headed by Carrie Tuhy,  Dresses for Weddings  the same editorial expert who brought us the gifts of In Style and Real Simple!

If you are wondering how to get your hands on a copy, you can pick one up at your site inspection at your near by Ritz.

As I mentioned, during my wild night in Vegas I got to spend some time with the absolutely wonderful Marc Wilson of Marc Wilson Design. Marc came to New York in 1986 to pursue his passion in arts and textile design and eventually found himself creating gorgeous floral designs at fabulous weddings around New York City.

While many of Marc creations can be over the top, he created several Wedding In a Box packages to allow brides in New York on various budgets access to gorgeous floral design with less of the hassle!

The Weddings In a Box package simplifies the sometimes daunting process of selecting wedding flowers by offering you the option to choose from lush, beautiful arrangements that speak to your individual style. Packages include personal flowers, ceremony pieces and reception decor and range from $5,000-$15,000 depending on the size and number of centerpieces, bouquets, etc. Brides can also personalize their package by selecting a la carte options like custom fabric wraps on their vases, pillar candles on each table etc. Here are some of the various, lovely styles from the talented Marc Wilson.

The Q: I really love to have a monogram for my wedding reception. I seen them projected on dancefloors and I love it and I thought it would be nice to use for my programs. But, I have no idea how to get one made. Any ideas? Is it expensive?

The A: Monograms actually bring out the inner romantic in me- it the graphic representation of two individuals uniting (sweet, right?) And I remember a few years ago being really excited because we had a client who was a graphic designer and able to create a great monogram that we used in several places around the wedding. Today though, it easy for  Cheap Party Dresses anyone to have access to great monograms at a really reasonable price. Here are some of my favorites:

I really like I Do Weddings- these are more logos than monograms, but for $45 they will send you a selection of 4 designs. These were for a beachy wedding theme.

If you want something MUCH more traditional, MC Designs will create an array of gorgeous monograms that they can imprint on items like towels, napkins and more. They are monograms for a lifetime (and are priced as such- $275!) but they are classic, traditional designs. The downside is the lead time AND you should call about getting a digital image for wedding use.

But probably my favorites were http://www.eveningdressessales.co.uk/ found on Marry Monograms. This site offers over 200 MONOGRAMS (not wedding logos- b/c some very nice ones can be found on beau coup) sorted into six different styles (Romantic, Classic, Contemporary), each for about $30.

So, our posts were a little erratic this week because Mayra was in the office nearly alone while I toured Amsterdam on an "All the Cheese You Can Eat" vacation to see my friend and her awesome new baby girl. any case, we are back and I don know about you, but sometimes I feel MORE stressed out AFTER a vacation than I do BEFORE. those EMAILS!!! in the spirit  Cheap Bridesmaid Dresses   of relaxation, I thought I share the joys of "Yoga for Weddings" with you. addition to your downward dogs and pigeon poses (I love the pigeon pose) they will work into your session some of the meanings and symbols of marriage as a way of keeping you in the zone. the wedding zone. think it would be an awesome alternative to a bridesmaids luncheon for the yogi bride out there, or just the girl who is kind of stressed out. />

They will also work you out in advance of the wedding, but private sessions for several months may not be part of the wedding budget these days. the less, I love the idea of a relaxation session pre-wedding. good to take it down a notch before it gets kicked up to full steam ahead!

My favorite group of girls (those lovely ladies at the Lower East Side Girls Club) just sent me word of their latest product offering at their store, La Tiendita: These absolutely awesome, eco-friendly, recycled newspaper roses! Just in time for Valentine Day!

But possibly the coolest thing ever for the bride on a budget or with the environment on her mind. Actually, I think that they would look soo awesome in a brigth blue or red or yellow ceramic vase at cocktail hour. :-) And the best part is that they are made by the girls of the Girls Club, and all proceeds benefit the Lower East Side Girls club and their amazing programs (in fact the Bake Shop, La Tiendita and their stand at the Essex Street Market are all girl-run; offering training in small business management as well as the opportunity to make cool stuff, like these roses :-)

They are flying off the shelves (at $2 each, and cheaper by the dozen!) and can be picked up at La Tiendita in Essex Market and at Sustainable NYC on Ave A and 9th St.

I was so delighted to hear from my new neighbor to the north (and by that I mean about 1 city street north of my office!), Navy and Lavender. Navy and Lavender offers beautifully packaged and well thought out gift bags, gift items and favors. Here is one of the classic gift bags (for around $35 as well as their "Baked with Love" theme favor, notice the stiletto cookie cutter)

I also was really taken by their lovely Favor Cake (which is basically a cake made out of favors), which is simply eye catching.

Currently, the favors are only available via phone order, but their array of great gifts for brides, grooms or groomsmen (including this cute T Time package!) can be purchased via their online shop.

As the nosiest wedding guest on the planet, I'm obsessed with ANY and ALL opportunities to provide guests with "back-story" about the couple at a wedding. I love finding ways to give out tidbits of info in the wedding program, on the table numbers, whatever. In our busy and crazy lives, it's not uncommon to be attending a wedding for a dear friend AND to not know a lick about the groom, or vice versa. based Isabel Lawrence Photographers. Isabel Lawrence already stages some of the most gorgeous and artistic engagement sessions that I've ever seen, but now they do one better: They will create a magnificent keepsake album/scrapbook from your engagement session with the story of how you and your sweetie met in gorgeous calligraphy. It's not just an amazing conversation piece for your guests to leaf through at the cocktail hour, but it will be an heirloom for your curious kiddies someday.

I think it goes without saying that this idea, with a lot of work and a creative hand, could also become a great DIY project. However, there is something to be said for Isabel Lawrence's amazing photographs. Here are some photos of the stunning books.

It seems like such a shame that the breaking of the glass is such a crescendo within a Jewish wedding ceremony, and then the pieces of glass are just, well, pieces of glass. I mustn't have been the only one who felt that way because we found Mazel Tov Glass, the heirloom mazel tov glass.

Founded by three friends who blew glass together for years, they designed the Mazel Tov glass last year as a gift for a wedding they were attending. The Mazel Tov glass comes as a small glass in a velvet pouch for the ceremony. After the ceremony, the pouch and the shards of glass are mailed back to Mazel Tov glass where they are blown into a beautiful vase. You can even select the shape. Pretty cool gift, I'd say.