Welcome your bridesmaids to your bridal party with these Personality Tees for the Brilliant Bridesmaid, Beautiful Bridesmaid, Flirty Bridesmaid (who has a sassy message on the back of her shirt!) and the BEST bridesmaid! I’m thrilled to launch my own collection of tees for the bridesmaids, and I invite you to shop my store to find the perfect gift for your beautiful, brainy, brilliant friends and sisters!
Tomorrow’s my big Bridesmaids Twitter Party with Bridal Guide (@bridalguidemag)! I’m answering bridesmaids’ and brides’ questions and giving away phenomenal prizes like a $50 gift card to Michaels Crafts, five Kodak one-time-use cameras, 24 copies of the Bridesmaids DVD, jewelry from www.KellyMJewels.com and signed copies of my books Bridesmaid on a Budget and The Smart Guide to Bachelorette Parties! Join us at 2pm EST for an hour of advice, answers, amazing swag and more! [See the Official Rules in the Comments section below!]
Oh, and here’s a little free look into Bridesmaid on a Budget! Check out these stats!
Bridesmaid Market Overview, from www.theweddingreport.com: In 2009, bridesmaids will spend an estimated $9.61 billion. Results from our recent bridesmaid study concluded there are an average 4.3 bridesmaids per wedding accounting for an estimated 9.53 million bridesmaids spending $9.61 billion. A single bridesmaid will spend $1,069-$1,269 on dress to travel.
Here’s the Breakdown of national averages spent by bridesmaids:
Bachelorette Party Expenses $152
Bridal Shower Gift $72
Bridal Shower Plans $60 to $200 per bridesmaid
Bridesmaid Accessories $52
Bridesmaid Dress $178
Bridesmaid Dress Alterations $56
Shoes $49
Hair Styling $65
Manicure (plus tips) $32
Pedicure $30
Outfit for Rehearsal Dinner $71
Plane Fare $303
Hotel (per night) $140
Rental Car (per day) $88
Wedding Gift from Bridesmaid $117
And these are the national average figures, combining the sky-high prices of the Northeast with the more moderate prices of the South and the MidWest. If you’re a southern woman, you might look at that $32 for a manicure figure and laugh in disbelief. If you’re a New York City or Boston woman, $32 might get you very, very excited and Googling to see where you can get a manicure for that low price.
No matter how the individual expenses stack up per category, you’re looking at a cash outlay of about $1,000. More or less. And in this economy, with where you are in life – maybe just graduating college or still in school and eating Ramen noodles, recently married and buying your own first home, struggling to make ends meet in a frustrating and low-paying job that drives you crazy but you’d still hate to get laid off anytime soon – that’s a lot of money to devote to anything.
“$1,000? That’s two rent payments,” says one bridesmaid, whose bliss bubble has burst after a week of being named to a bridal party. “It’s going to be tough to come up with that kind of cash.”
“My boyfriend is already paying most of the bills in our apartment,” says another bridesmaid. “He knows I’ve said Yes to being in the bridal party, but I’m already anxious about each check I’m going to have to write for my friend’s wedding.” And then there’s, “There goes my ski trip!”
But of course, there’s also this: “I know it’s going to cost a lot, but the bride is so very important to me, and this is just a short time of stretching my dollars. So whatever she wants, I’ll find a way.” Kinda want to smack this last one, don’t you? That’s the kind of breezy attitude tossed around by bridesmaids who aren’t living paycheck to paycheck, who have plenty of room on their credit cards, or who have parents who hand out cash like candy on Halloween.
But the truth is, we all have that belief deep inside of us. We love the bride. We’d do anything for her. And we’re trying to balance our money panic with a very real sense of, “It’s worth it.” That’s quite a seesaw, so get your Dramamine ready, because you’re going to be swinging back and forth between the two – money terror and friendly benevolence – until the day you walk down the aisle ahead of her…and maybe for a few months afterward when the credit card bills start rolling in.
What you’ve got here, though, is a handbook of secrets that’s going to cut down on your bridesmaid money terror. Way down. Way, way down. Because you get insider scoop on where to find fabulous bridesmaid’s dresses for a fraction of the national average price. And expert advice on how to throw a stylish shower that only looks expensive, but really costs very little. And…get ready for it….the power to have a say in what you’ll be spending.
Want more? Bridesmaid on a Budget is available now, at www.amazon.com, www.bn.com, www.sharonnaylor.net and more!
Most brides have no idea that their home computer’s Clip Art offers pretty wedding graphips, swirls, borders and designs that they can use in their printed wedding items — and bridesmaids will be happy to know that Clip art magic is free to them for the bridal shower as well. I spent about 3 minutes doing a simple search for the term ‘swirl,’ and here’s a PDF of what I found:
Photo courtesy of Godiva
We just polished off our first Godiva Chocolate Ganache Layer Cake, and we’re in chocolate heaven — as will your guests be when you serve this as the cake at your engagement party, rehearsal dinner or bridal shower cake. I’m thinking it would be the ideal groom’s cake, too, since so many of today’s grooms are requesting elegant, delectable chocolate cakes for their special dessert feature at the reception.
Godiva’s site says it serves 13, but it works beautifully for 16 or more. Ours arrived perfectly frozen, packaged in a secure box with a cardboard ring, and not a mark was on the smooth, chocolatey frosting when we unwrapped it. It was so gorgeous, we took pictures of it!
So if you’re looking for a rich alternative to the standard sheet cake, and want your guests to think you spend a fortune on an upscale cake (even though you didn’t,) this is the special wedding event cake for you.
Want to dress it up? Pipe on a starburst of fresh whipped cream and sprinkle with raspberries, then pipe a little swirl of raspberry sauce or chocolate sauce on each serving plate. Perfection.
Wedding season brings about lots of opportunities for wedding toasts and other speeches, so if you’re a bride or groom, Best Man, Maid of Honor, parents of the bride or groom or other honored guest, check out my Top Wedding Toasts Mistakes to Avoid post on Wedding Scoops!
I write a green weddings column for Gorgeously Green, and since so much has been mentioned about Chelsea Clinton’s vegan and gluten-free menu and cake choices for her wedding, I thought I’d share my article on planning a Green Bridal Shower to help you find an organic caterer and create your choices of green party planning elements!
Gorgeously Green girls love to find fun ways to share their eco-conscious brilliance with their friends and family, so when it’s time to host a bridal shower, your great, green ideas can take center-stage! Especially if the bride lives an eco-kind lifestyle. She’ll love it that you’re honoring her belief system, and that her party creates good in the world.
Here are your top tips for planning a Green Bridal Shower:
Plan an organic menu. If you’ll hire a caterer for your posh bash, hire a chef who specializes in organic menus. He or she can be a wealth of smarts on which types of seafood to include (Tilapia! Farm-raised salmon!), and how to serve organic chicken – traditionally one of the most budget-friendly menu items – in a luscious sauce, or as a sate using organic peanut butter. Party guests groan when the appetizers are greasy, fried puffs of yuck, so freshen up your lush, green salads with – here’s the crowd-pleasing secret! – food items they don’t get everyday! Slivers of beets can be cut into star shapes. Artichoke hearts can be marinated in organic pear dressing. Carrots can be julienned and tossed with equally-pretty julienned green and yellow squash. Celebrity caterers now offer these organic, fresh, salad and veggie-based dishes at mega-stars’ birthday parties and at Oscar bashes, so they’re perfect for your shower VIP guest of honor and her cherished friends and family. Find an organic caterer at the National Association of Catering Executives. For smaller-scale parties, a personal chef may be your go-to green source.
Green your drinks menu. Serve organic wines and champagnes, which you can find on Wine Spectator, also discovering some fabulous, award-winning vintages for less than $15 per bottle. Don’t forget that sources like Whole Foods and even your local supermarket are great for finding organic and fun sodas, such as Chill Guava, Chill Limon and Chill Pome from Chill, which are also low glycemic. Steaz offers 100% organic iced teas and sparkling green teas in flavors such as green tea and lemon, and these unique drinks give guests a thrill because they’re so adventurous and new to them. It’s not the same-old lineup of sugar-killed soft drinks. And of course, a 100% fruit juice-based punch with a splash of champagne and a dollop of sorbet on top is always a crowd-thriller.
Get a green cake. Yes, specialty bakers create gorgeous organic and gluten-free sheet cakes, cupcakes, even pies and chocolate-dipped berries, so green up the dessert and coffee hour with delectable desserts.
Use recycled papers. Shop for recycled or repurposed papers with which to make your invitations – and the same goes for envelopes. It’s so easy to find recycled papers at the craft store or office supply store that there’s no excuse not to use them for the bridal shower. And of course, there’s always the paper-free option of designing a pretty Evite invitation that helps you keep track of RSVPs and lets guests see who else is coming.
Skip the games. You don’t need to force fun on your guests, especially with those toilet-paper-wasting games in which guests make a bridal gown out of a dozen rolls of Charmin. Allow guests to relax and mingle – they’ll thank you for sparing them the clothespin game! – and enjoy the fabulous food you’re serving.
Use natural décor that can be replanted. Of course, organic cut flowers are on the market to be used as centerpieces, but a far eco-friendlier plan that does double-duty is to center each table with a collection of small, potted flowers or herbs that guests can then take home to enjoy or plant in their gardens.
Borrow! Ask your fellow shower hosts and relatives if they can bring over their platters and table linens, even sets of china that can be stylishly mix and matched on the tables, so that you don’t need to purchase any tacky and toxic plastic-lined plates and utensils. When Moms and grandmoms get to see their beloved china sets used at this fabulous party for the bride, they feel wonderful for their contributions and for the sentimental touch it adds.
Plan a display shower. It’s a hot new trend: send out a message to guests that they are not to wrap any shower gifts. You want to spare everyone that endless, grueling unwrapping session, and you want to avoid all of that terrible paper waste that comes from torn-up wrapping paper that gets no second life. The display shower is then created when guests set out their presents on a long, decorated table [potted flowers are great for this, and allow for extra take-home favors for guests!] with their card attached to the present. Guests can then stroll the gift table at their leisure, ooh and ahh at the pretty presents, and the bride can spend her party mingling with her guests.
Give green favors. Those potted herbs are always a winner, and guests also love to take home sweet treats in the form of organic edibles. Shop organic candy sites and you’ll even find yummy gluten-free cupcakes and candies if that’s the bride’s preference.
Choose charitable favors. You too can give a donation to charity in lieu of handing out favors, just like so many brides and grooms do for their weddings. Check out the I Do Foundation for details on how to connect with the bride’s favorite charity and arrange a donation in her name.
Take up a collection! It’s long been a trend for shower hosts to ask guests to bring along a little something for the bride. In the past, it might have been a recipe printed on an index card, or little household items to place in the wishing well. Now, shower hosts are using this practice to Give Back, by asking guests to bring canned goods and non-perishables that will be donated to a food pantry. Or, the guests might bring items to sent to deployed military troops. Or children’s books for a kids’ library. Or jackets for a coat drive. Guests love the giving element of these requests, and many bring generous collections to add to the pile. When the bride sees how her guests have supported a cause dear to her heart, that’s the best surprise of all.
