From My Wedding to Yours

We're back to the Bridal Veil series. Now that you've selected your headpiece, the next step is choosing the length of your veil. When considering lengths, first look at your gown's style and decide what you would like to accentuate. The veil should be above or below the gown's focal point. For example, if your gown has a very detailed bodice and your veil was short (ending where your bodice begins), then you will visually cut yourself in half. Not very flattering. In this case, choose a longer veil, such as a fingertip length, which won't distract from your gown's details. Here are some silhouette rules to help you . . . 1. The slimmer the gown, the longer the veil. For example, a figure-hugging wedding gown with a short train looks fabulous with long chapel-length veil. 2. If you want a long veil, such as chapel, cathedral, or grand cathedral lengths, then your veil should be slightly longer than your train. This way it doesn't look like you ran out of fab

Yesterday, I received this awesome email from a From My Wedding to Yours reader. She said: Dear Danyelle, I wanted to tell you about the shower I threw for my sister-in-law. Thanks for the great help! I put together your ideas with several others, and this is how it went. It was a "kitchen"-themed bridal shower. The centerpiece for the gift table was my gift to her - a basket full of kitchen necessities (canned food, dish soap, etc.). For the food table, the centerpiece was a vase full of kitchen utensils! I mostly chose tall ones (wooden spoons, spatulas, etc.) and mixed in a few little white flowers. It turned out pretty cute! When it was time to open gifts, I used your idea - the person giving the gift read a question to her. She was able to answer the question while she opened the gift, taking a little bit of the "everyone is looking at me" pressure off of her while letting us get to know her a bit better. Then, when the gifts were opened, I got out the vase of

So far, we've talked about the history of bridal veils and the order of things to do before choosing a veil . Let's quickly review that list: 1. Choose your gown. 2. Decide on a hairstyle. 3. Go veil hunting! Now that you're in the veil hunting stage, there's actually another list to work on. 1. Choose a headpiece. 2. Decide on a veil length, material, and color. 3. Consider which embellishments, if any, you'd like on your veil (ribbon-edging, sewn-on pearls, etc) Today, we are going to talk about the list's first step: Choosing a headpiece . There's a huge variety of headpieces, each with their own blend of pearls, crystals, rhinestones, sequins, and more. I suggest visiting a few websites to see which headpiece styles you prefer. Some fantastic websites with a plethora of headpieces are Bridal Fashion Mall , Bridal Headpieces , Wedding Veil , David's Bridal , and VeiluBridal . Then hit the stores and try on headpieces in those specific styles. You may

Wedding veils are one of the oldest bridal traditions - much older than white wedding gowns. The oldest record of brides wearing veils comes from the Roman Empire. Brides wore special cloths around their faces called flammeum . The cloths were painted with fire and flame designs to scare away evil spirits who might want to kidnap the bride. In fact, this superstition was so strong that families often brought bridesmaids as decoys for the bride. These maids would be beautifully dressed similar to the bride sans the veil. So if the evil spirits decided to attend the wedding, they'd over look the bride hidden behind her veil and choose one of the bridesmaids instead. Perhaps if we still felt this way today, there would be less hackling over who received the honored title of bridesmaid. Veils were also played an important role in arranged marriages. You know that saying that the groom isn't supposed to see his bride before the wedding? Heavy veils made it possible for the bride and

After getting engaged, the next thing you (and many other brides) do is purchase a bride magazine and begin picturing yourself in beautiful bridal attire. This includes your dream hairstyle and bridal veil. Now, before you get ahead of yourself, there is an order things should be done. 1. Pick out your wedding gown first. Why? How will you know what type of headpiece to choose if you don't know what you're co-ordinating with? Also, you gown could be white, ivory, off-white, cream, etc. There are so many, many shades of white available. When you find that perfect dress, you will want your veil to be the correct shade. Traditional white doesn't work with everything. 2. Decide on your wedding hairstyle. Why? Now that you have your dress, you have a better idea of what type of hairstyle would look best with your gown. Do you want a formal up-do or a casual loose up-do? Or perhaps you prefer to wear your hair down and flowing around you. Some brides prefer a simple hairstyle, an

The joyous day has passed and you're now officially Mr. & Mrs. Congrats! But wait! Remember that wedding to-do list you obsessively checked about a million times? Well, guess what? There's another to-do list you and your spouse now need to work your way through, too. What You'll Need: - Multiple official copies of your wedding license - about two or three should do. Note: Your wedding license is not the pretty certificate you received at the temple. You need to go to your city or county offices to request (and pay for) copies of the official license. - Any bills or papers that include contact information for the below organizations. Once you have your marriage licenses, you're ready to start tackling your to-do list. But first, I suggest you grab some of your favorite comfort foods while your work on this dreary task. As always, I highly recommend chocolate! After the Wedding To-Do List You will need to change your name and update your new address at the following

This past September, I attended my hubby's cousin's wedding and reception. One of the neatest parts of the wedding couple's reception was the lack of traditional wedding cake. You see, the groom isn't a big cake fan - but he loves pie. So rather than a four-tier wedding cake, there were tables all together in an L-shaped loaded down with pie, pie, and more pie! Cherry, apple, and pecan. Chocolate pudding, coconut cream, and banana cream. And of course, absolutely delicious cheesecake. There was a huge selection to choose from - and many of us sampled more than one! The table was beautifully decorated, too. A beautiful black linen draped the tables with white twinkling Christmas lights around the sides and on top. Then the pies were on stands of all different heights, creating a beautiful presentation. The couple's pie had a wedding topper. Hint: To keep the topper from sinking, add a support stand with legs to go into the pie, then place the topper on the stand. If

When I think of January, I think of a new year, celebrations, and lots of bubbly (LDS-style!). All of these are a perfect fit for a bridal shower. Decorations: Anything for a New Year's party - balloons, streamers, tiaras, and funny noisemakers. Choose a color theme to tie everything together. If the bride knows her wedding colors, you could use those. If not, silver or gold paired with another color always looks nice. For a very elegant but feminine look, try a combination of silver, black, and pink. Appetizers: For this party, think finger foods and lots of bubbly drinks! The recipes below are from A Bridal Shower .com Chicken Puff Sandwiches Ingredients 3/4 C. diced celery 1/4 C. diced green onion 2 t. relish 1/4 C. chopped almonds (optional) 1/2 C. Mayonnaise 2 to 3 dashes Tabasco Sauce salt and pepper Cut the chicken into small pieces, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Chill until ready to assemble. Puffs: 1 C. water 1/2 C. butter 1 C. flour 4 eggs Add