From My Wedding to Yours

This blog was created for YourLDSNeighborhood.com when they hired me to be their wedding columnist. Unfortunately, they have decided to discontinue their blogging columns. This blog will remain here with all the awesome links and info, but I will not be adding any new content. If you have any wedding questions, you may continue emailing me at queenoftheclan@gmail.com And as always, you can find me on my personal blog: Queen of the Clan (www.QueenOfTheClan.com Happy wedding preparations, everyone! Danyelle Ferguson

First, I'd like to send a great big thank you to Wedding Paper Divas for donating a $50 gift certificate for this contest! They are super generous and awesome!!! The winner of the totally awesome gift certificate is . . . Joni Gardine! Congratulations! Please email me with your snail mail address and be on the look-out for your fabulous prize!!!

It all began with a monogram . As I researched for my post on a Monogram themed wedding, I discovered Wedding Paper Divas . I loved their colors and wedding invitation styles, so much I used them as exampled in another post about wedding zing . Lucky for me, Wedding Paper Divas knows how to use their Google Analytics and discovered I was linking up with them. Lucky for my readers, we struck up a conversation and came up with a totally fun spotlight and contest! Read on, my friends - read on! Like I said before, I love the modern/contemporary style of the invitations at WPD. I was able to choose some of my favorite invites, and WPD sent them to me to check out. Their colors are splendid and just as vibrant as they appear on the website. I really liked the thickness and texture of the paper, as well. Some things I love about their website: You can search for invitations by style or by color. I love that! If you want to bring your wedding colors into your invitations, it can be such a pa...

When my husband and I bought our first home, we were lucky enough to have an incredible neighbor named Laura. I loved living next to her. She was vibrant and always had a smile on her face. Laura was also in her early 80's and had been widowed twice. I learned a lot from Laura during our two years as next door neighbors. But the greatest lesson Laura taught me is that no one is ever too old to find or renew love. I still remember how excited Laura was to tell me about finding some of her former schoolmates online and renewing old friendships. One of those friendships bloomed into love as Laura re-connected with an old flame. Their wedding (Laura's third and his second) was truly a celebration. Laura was beautiful in her floor length bridal gown and simple veil. It was wonderfully romantic when Laura reached the front of the chapel and her soon-to-be husband took one of her hands and raised it to his lips. You could just feel the sigh from all the ladies in attendance. Today, it...

One of my friends just got engaged and emailed me with her wedding color selections - black, white, and lime green. This totally suits her personality - formal, with a touch of playful zing. Then, as I laid in bed this evening trying to get some much needed sleep, my mind kept coming up with all these awesome ideas of how to take some basic formal colors, in this case black and white, and add another color for some fabulous accents. Here are some of my ideas: Just for the Bride Tie some zing onto your gown by adding a colorful sash. A removable sash allows you to still wear your gown for the temple ceremony. When you return to the bridal room, you can put the sash on for wedding pictures and the upcoming reception. Sashes can be custom made with any color, material, or style your prefer. There are lots of wonderful ways to add zing to your wedding. I hope you find some inspiration and are bursting with creative ideas for your wedding. Smithfield Gown by LatterDay Bride The sash on this...

Sorry I didn't get this up yesterday. My hubby had an accident on Saturday, and we spent yesterday going around to various doctor appointments. Today's contest winner is announced on this video! Congrats, Laura! Please send me your mailing address and I'll get the Blanca bracelet, along with catalogs and 20% off gift certificate. Enjoy!!!

Around the Clock themed bridal showers are very popular. Basically, the idea is to assign each guest to represent a certain time of day. The guest then purchases a gift for that time frame. And yes, we're talking all 24 hours of the day! As the bride opens her gifts, have the guests tell her what her assigned time was and why she chose that gift. Here are some ideas to incorporate the Around the Clock theme into the bridal shower. First of all, let's talk invitations. These fun invites are from My Gatsby . Mod Clocks Party Invite Clock Mega Topper on Orange/Pink Base Jewel Clock on Green Slimline Invite If you're making your own invites, here's a fun way to word them: An Around-the-Clock Shower Come celebrate our bride-to-be Jane Smith as she prepares to have the time of her life when she marries John Jones An Around-the-Clock Bridal Shower and Brunch April 14th, 2009, 11:30 am. Your time of day is _____________ Please bring a gift appropriate to that time of day. For ...

Today we are going to talk about bridal jewelry. Just like diamonds, there's a vast selection of quality. When you finally narrow your selection down to one or two gowns, the store associate will probably pull out the big guns - the accessories. Just about every bridal store has it's own display of bridal jewelry. The associate will point out how one necklace matches the crystals on your gown, how another accentuates the neckline, and still another that co-ordinates with your veil. Your mind will be whirling with accessory overload. My suggestion - don't even look at jewelry that day. Shop around to other stores. While you're shopping, pay attention to the two types of jewelry most brides consider: Costume Jewelry and High Fashion Jewelry Costume Jewelry (cost: $20-135 per necklace) Most bridal stores carry costume jewelry. While it looks nice and is designed to match the gowns and bridesmaid dresses on display, it's lower quality than high fashion jewelry. It also...

As part of the "Your Temple Wedding" give-away, I asked you to leave comments about what you loved and hated about wedding receptions. While you gave me lots of reasons you hate receptions, there was one common theme of why you love weddings . . . You all said you love to seeing and visiting with friends and family. I totally agree. It's so much fun to be surrounded in one room by tons of people you haven't seen in a while. It's so much fun to bop from table to table visiting with friends and family, laughing and enjoying the reception. I love it when friends are so excited to see me, they grab me (interrupting whatever conversation I was in) and start a hug fest! Some of my favorite parts of the reception is seeing the wedding cake and pictures of the bride and groom. I just love all the different wedding cakes and think it's so much fun to see what the couple picks out. I also appreciate it when the bride and groom put up pictures and other fun things for th...

Make your wedding beautiful, simple, and sacred. Learn how to make the temple and it's sacred ordinances the focus of your special day. Jeri-Lynn Johnson and Amy Jones are here to help. They will guide you through all the details and help you create just what you have dreamed of - without the added stress. Today, I have the honor of reviewing the book, Your Temple Wedding , by Jeri-Lynn Johnson & Amy Jones . I really enjoyed reading Your Temple Wedding . It's a great book that gives simple answers to questions many brides have - from the ring to the honeymoon. There are also sections for difficult questions such as; What if one parent isn't able to attend the temple? Or if the one side of the bridal couple's family are non-members, how do you explain a temple marriage? Jeri-Lynn and Amy give kind, loving answers to help brides in these situations. My favorite part of Your Temple Wedding is all the gorgeous photography! Let me tell you, I was surprised at what th...