Blogs

I recently discovered two fantastic florists, Vanessa and Michael Gonzalez, owners of Verde Flowers in New York City, who create gorgeous, unforgettable arrangements. (They also happen to be the sole florist for the New York Yankees!) Check out their dramatic cascading bouquet:

...organic elements they often combine with flowers:

...and this majestic centerpiece created for an escort card table:

I also love their amazing display of green-hued florals:

…and this centerpiece of pretty blooms paired with striking branches in a tall glass cylinder:

For brides marrying over the holiday season, Vanessa and Michael offer these tips, which they used for a recent wedding:

Apparently, getting married in a traditional wedding hall is so 2011. Check out 10 of the strangest places couples decided to tie the knot this year.

1. In 23 Different Places 
Think about all of the joy, energy and resources that went into planning your wedding. Now, imagine going through that experience not once, but 23 times. It sounds like a fantasy (or a nightmare, depending on who you ask), but this is actually one couple's reality.
2. On Jet Packs
Talk about making a grand entrance! After planning dozens of weddings as a planner, Amanda Volf knew she wanted to do something truly unique for her own nuptials. That's why she and her groom, Grant Engler, rented $90,000 water-powered jet packs to fly into their Newport Beach wedding.

Our wedding on September 2nd was an amazing party; we were thrilled to celebrate the most important day of our lives with 140 people we love, but mostly, with each other. Throughout the planning process, we strived to not only create an event that would reflect both of our personalities, but also prepare ourselves for marriage. Check out some of our favorite moments and photos below!

Pre-Ceremony

I woke up in my bridal suite at a downtown hotel around 8:02 a.m. (I feel that even numerals bring me good luck). My mom and sister treated everyone to bagels, mimosa essentials and coffee before we headed to the hair salon. Getting ready was fun, yet terrifying: This was it!

I had to accept that it was going to rain for most of the day, which made matters more stressful. I originally decided to wear a half-up, half-down hairstyle, but was forced to switch to an updo, thanks to the downpour. Do prepare an inspiration board with back-up hairstyles just in case you're faced with the same dilemma, like I did. I would have felt prettier with part of my hair down, but I embraced the more classic, formal look.

You don't always need jewels to make a big statement. Consider a gown with bold clean lines, crisp white fabric and expert tailoring for a chic, modern look. This look pairs well with slicked-back hair and a bold lip. While this style may be lacking in embellishments, the expert tailoring is sure to make this look sharp and bold. This is perfect for a city wedding, a chic downtown fête, or an art gallery. Here a few of our favorite modern wonders, from Amsale, Carolina Herrera, and Dennis Basso.

—Naima DiFranco

Hoping for a ring under the Christmas tree this year? Then you’re going to want your nails to look fabulous — all eyes will go directly to your left hand when you tell them the happy news!

Here, nail expert and Custom Nail Solutions president Katie Saxton shares the hottest nail trends for the holiday season and how to get the look at home:

1. Seasonal Sideways French Mani
Saxton predicts that sideways French manis will be the hottest nail trend of 2013; be ahead of the curve with a holiday-inspired look. Paint your nails green and let dry. Then paint a vertical stripe of red polish along one side of each nail. Let dry, then add a clear topcoat to each nail. 

2. Holiday Crackle
This fun and festive holiday effect is a cinch: Paint each nail red and let dry. Then, add one coat of a green "crackle" polish over each nail, which allows the red to peek through the cracks when it dries. 

12/12/12 marks the last repetitive-number date in our lifetimes; it’s no wonder that an estimated 7,500 couples plan to tie the knot on this iconic date, according to David’s Bridal — a 1446% increase over the previous year, even though the date falls on a Wednesday. 

This follows the trend set by other triple-number dates: David's Bridal reports that on 10/10/10 (a Saturday), 65,000 couples got married, and on 11/11/11 (a Friday), 57,000 couples said “I do.” 

Here, find out why these three couples have chosen this once-in-a-lifetime wedding date:

Nena and Marc

This couple first met 19 years ago on a job interview; Nena's final interview was with Marc. “When I first saw him, my palms started to sweat; not because of the interview itself but because I knew that he was the one for me.”

Marc proposed 12 (yes, 12!) years ago at Nena’s favorite Chinese restaurant in Manhattan, Mr. K’s. “When he asked me if I’d like an appetizer, he presented me with the ring. After that, I don’t really remember what we had for dinner!”

One of the most annoying parts of the wedding-planning process is gathering the addresses of your invitees. WhitePages just introduced a new tool that promises to make that task a little bit easier: WhitePages Mailer.

Photo courtesy of WhitePages

How it works: By connecting through your Facebook account, the tool will match up your contacts with relevant public records (based on their name and location), pulling in any possible address matches. I tested it out using my contact and found that nine times out of 10, the correct address was pulled in.

Pros:
► If a contact's name pulls in multiple records and you can't figure out which is correct, you can have the tool send a message to that person asking them to verify their address.
► You can organize your contacts into groups, so you don’t have to weed through all 500 of your Facebook friends.
► For your friends who aren't on Facebook, you can manually add their existing WhitePages listing to your personal database, allowing you to still store all of your contacts in one place.
► You can export the list as an Excel file, making it easy to send to your parents and future in-laws to double-check their invitees. 

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge delighted many royal watchers by announcing that they're expecting a child together. When the news broke, media outlets and civilians alike reacted with phrases like "Finally" and "It's about time!" One would assume that William and Kate have been married for ages; yet they tied the knot just over a year and a half ago. If you're reading this and you're a newlywed, you may also relate to being bombarded with questions from well-intentioned loved ones, eager to know when you're having your first baby.

Like many other couples, Wills and Kate reportedly mapped out their baby timeline prior to saying "I do." Just two months after getting engaged, Ms. Middleton told the press that, "I hope we'll be able to have a happy family ourselves. [The royal family has] been great over the years, helping me with difficult times, and we see a lot of each other, and they're very, very dear to me."

There are many factors that can go into the decision of starting a family. Couples may hope to conceive before reaching a certain age, while others leave it up to chance on their honeymoon or hold off until certain career goals are met. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average age of a first-time mom is 25.4. But when is the right time to have kids, exactly? In an effort to gain more insight, I turned to the all-knowing Facebook and posted a status asking, "After your wedding, how long did you wait (or will you wait) to have kids?"

Each week, we feature music recommendations from Scratch Weddings, the nation's leader with the best wedding DJs at affordable prices. This week's post comes from DJ Lil Ray. The Brooklyn-based DJ creates her infectious musical blend of with a mix of crowd favorites and unexpected hits. Since relocating to NYC from her native Atlanta, DJ Lil Ray has blown up: opening for acts like M.I.A. and Childish Gambino, spinning at SXSW and the GenArt Film Festival and making regular DJ appearances at NYC's hottest night spots. Lil Ray loves to spin weddings because of the special energy of a festive crowd. "Weddings are so much fun! It's great playing to a big group of happy people who are all there to celebrate together."

Photo Credit: David Schwartz Photography

The bridal shower — the better-behaved older sister of the wacky hat-wearing bachelorette party — is an opportunity for a bride to relax and enjoy this exciting time. Like a wedding, a well-planned bridal shower takes a lot of work — which is thankfully left up to close friends and family, so the bride-to-be gets to just show up and enjoy (lucky you!).

Q. “My fiancé and I are planning a wedding for about 150 guests, and half of them will be from out of town. Is it appropriate to have a cocktail hour and dessert reception? Or should I provide a full meal?”

A. It’s perfectly fine to have a cocktails and dessert reception. And I wouldn’t worry about not having enough food to feed your guests. Believe me, I’ve been to many a wedding where the cocktail hour fare far outshone the reception dinner! It’s all about offering fabulous, abundant food at stations as well as passed hors d’oeuvres.

Think pasta bar or a Tuscan table filed with Italian breads, cheeses and olives. Offer comfort foods (a surefire crowd pleaser) like mac ‘n cheese, French fries, mini burgers and grilled cheese sandwiches and shot glasses filled with soup.

Photo Credit: Mel Barlow
Photo Credit: Red Loft Studios

If your budget allows, you can have a made-to-order sushi station or a seafood bar featuring lobster, shrimp, oysters and salmon.