Wedding Planning for Cool Chicks

My Fave Cool Chick Bridal Must Haves 

• Loads and loads of CANDLES. Not necessarily super original, but this creates mood like nothing else. Check out Cudge.net for some amazing deals on votive candles.
• Sassy brides need the sassiest WEDDING STATIONERY: Paper Bride will have you covered. This is my company, so I'm a bit prejudiced, but we really have some fantastic cards to take you through the wedding planning process from start to finish: bridezilla apologies, postcard save-the-dates, odes to your new mother-in-law and thank yous for everyone from out-of-town guests to your florist.
• Though GUEST FAVORS are, by no means, necessary (*if you are looking to save some cash, ditch em') if you do have them, there's no need to go boring. How about temporary wedding tatoos (a personal fave) or fab little personalized mirrors (with your wedding date, or wedding logo--yep, monograms are sorta passe). You can also never go wrong with food: how about a couple of krispy kremes and a morning paper? One Girl Cookies has adorable bakery box favors that can be personalized with your family photos. If you feel like being crafty and making these yourself these pink bakery boxes would be lovely with some black and white photos that you can easily print yourself with an inexpensive photo printer. You can "deckle" the edges yourself to make them look old with deckle scissors.
• I think your INVITATIONS really set the stage for the "feel" of your wedding and, as such, are pretty darn important. Again, traditional is fine, but also pretty darn boring. There are a number of fabulously talented designers out there who can likely create some of the snazziest invites you've ever seen. Some of my personal faves: For those of you with money to burn, Ceci New York has some of the most beautiful and creative invites I've seen. Though also pricey, iFete is another fave. For very simple modern designs, you can check out Paper Mints and Starshaped Press has some seriously fantastic letterpress invites. Sonic Stef Design has some great and really varied options and Not From A Box has some fun mix and match options. If you want to save some cash but still love the idea of calligraphy, try digital calligraphy at Inkspun. Or, if you want to get really serious and design your own invites, Paper Arts, Inc is my fave all purpose printer and can accomodate any request from letterpress to silkscreen to special die-cutting, etc.
• I'm not a big fan of the process of getting your wedding party all the same gift. Each of my friends/family members are all so different and unique and I want them each to know that I've thought long and hard about the special way I'd like to thank them for being a part of my big day. Here are some fun ideas for some coolio WEDDING PARTY GIFTS: Blurb is this fantastic new site that lets you create your own hardcover books with your own pictues and text. Prices start at only $29.99 and this really would be perfect for so many different sorts of gifts: a bridesmaid "yearbook" for you and all of your girls, a cookbook with family recipes for your new mother-in-law, a kids type book about how you and your fiance met (if you have any children either of you are bringing into the marriage). Shout Outs Stationery is an adorable idea for a bridesmaid gift. They take your photos and "illustrate" them onto stationery, photo books, posters, etc--super cute. Similarly, these personalized paint by numbers kits are made from your own photos and could be loads of fun for a bridesmaid luncheon or even a crafty bachelorette party. I lUV these silhouette portraits. Lulette makes gorgeous "message" scarves like this one that says "love conquers all." They can even do custom versions for you. For the groomsmen, Michael Graves makes fantastic, hip versions of all of your favorite games. For any DJ aspiring bridesmaids, Pottery Barn Kids has this great pink compact turntable. Or you can fill up these great personalized terry cosmetic cases with yummy bath goodies from beauty habit. How about personalized undies for all of the girls who come to your bachelorette party or super slick personalized sweatshirts for the boys at their bachelor party.
• There's no way around it: FLOWERS are pricey. Pay careful attention to which flowers are bloom during the time of year you are getting married and use lots of those. These days, you can pretty much get any type of flower at any time of year, but if you are looking for Peonies in February instead of May, be prepared to pay a pretty penny. For those of you who are more adventurous and feel like tackling your flower sitch on your own (or with the help of a few of your bridesmaids), check out Flowerbud.com, a great resource for seasonal blooms, FWX Flowers or Online Wholesale Flowers. For vases and other supplies, check out Jamali Garden or good ole K Mart. If you happen to live in a large city like San Francisco, Los Angeles or New York (flower market is on 28th street between 7th and 6th), go directly to the source and make deals with some of the vendors.
• For me, PHOTOGRAPHY is probably one of the most important elements of our wedding. I really detest the old school wedding photo practice of just taking tons of lifeless posed photos and it blows me away that people still want to do this. Of course, you need some great family shots, but I'm all about documentary style photojournalism and The Wedding Photojournalist Association is a great resource for finding just such a photographer in your area. Photobooths have also become super popular in recent years and are a great way to add an element of fun to your big day.
• Why not let everyone keep up with your planning and all your details through your own WEDDING WEBSITE?
• Some GENERAL TIPS: Keep track of all of your gifts wanted and received with GiftBox.com. Incorporate Spanx into your wedding wear...you won't be sorry. Keep track of your wedding to-dos with Tada List--you can even share these lists with your fiance and check off items as they are done. Trying to lose weight? A couple of my faves are Map My Run which allows you to map out point to point on a google map how far you are running or walking. I also love to check out the daily posts at Diet Blog. Another trick of mine: if you have a tivo, start taping exercise shows from Fit TV (my personal fave is Gilad). Unlike exercise DVDs, which tend to get boring very quickly, Fit TV has new shows every day that can help to keep your workouts fresh. If you are looking for an alternative to the typical registries, try Felicite.com. They allow you to mix and match gifts from any website on the internet, so that you don't have to just stick with one store like Macy's or Fortunoff. Set yourself up at Sendusoff.com if you'd like to set up a honeymoon registry.