Finding the Perfect Flower Girl Gift

From the desk of: Veronica

When you choose a little girl to be your flower girl, you are creating a lasting memory for a little lady in your life. To be a flower girl is a special honor, and I’ve never met a flower girl who wasn’t walking on air because of the delight she feels (can you tell I always wanted to be a flower girl? It’s okay. I’ll get over it one day.)

Traditionally, you will give your flower girl a gift, and the gift can be easily tailored to fit your flower girl’s age and tastes, but everyone could use a few good ideas to help them cross one task off that mile-long to-do list! Hopefully this list can do just that for you!

If your flower girl is young, a popular choice is to pack a bag with goodies to entertain them during the ceremony and reception. (some people might call this a bribe – get down the aisle and toys await! – call it what you will.) Coloring books, crayons, stickers, and any other quiet fun from the dollar store should be loads of fun.

Flower Girl Tote Bag

And heck, why not toss this little teddy bear in there? It’s only five dollars!

Flower Girl Teddy Bear

I got my flower girl a necklace, earrings, bracelet, and tiara to wear the day of the wedding inside a little silver personalized jewelry box, so I’m partial to the idea, even if it’s not the most original thing in the world. She loved it, and you can get nice jewelry boxes for as cheap as $14 or get a super fancy one to grow into.

Personalized Silver Jewelry Box

And obviously, there is a wide variety of jewelry to choose from, but I think this is darling.

Double Strand Pearl Bracelet

If you would have told me three years ago that I would have a child who is obsessed with snow globes, I never would have believed you. But here we are, and they’re a lovely idea for a gift a little girl will enjoy now and keep out in her room for years and years.

Carousel Horse Water Globe

The same goes for a Precious Moments figurine – something to be enjoyed now and cherished for years.

Precious Moments Flower Girl Figurine

I know piggy banks don’t scream “wedding,” but they are popular, and I totally get it – if there’s something my oldest daughter loves more than snow globes, it’s piggy banks.

Personalized Piggy Bank

If you want to get really long-term AND sentimental, might I suggest this doozy:

Personalized Flower Girl Handkerchief

Hopefully I could help you find the perfect gift for the little girl (or girls) who will share your special day.

You can find Veronica at her blog, Veronica M.D. (no, she’s not a real doctor), on Twitter, Instagram, (and Pinterest!). Feel free to stalk her. She encourages it.

Preserving Memories … Beyond the Photos

From the desk of: Amanda

A lot of time, thought, energy, and yes, money has gone into planning your wedding. If you’re like me, the day is going to fly right by, and while you had fun, most of it was just a big blur. A lot of the details that you spent so much time laboring over were completely lost. Thank goodness you had a photographer there to capture the memories for you, right? Photos are by far the easiest way to remember your day, but what about everything else? I’ve put together a list of ways to preserve various elements of your wedding.

The Flowers
The most popular thing to preserve after any event would be the flowers. My mom had her bouquet sealed in a glass box after the wedding, and it lasted for YEARS. If we hadn’t moved, where it was jostled a good bit, I’m guessing it would still be around today. There are other methods of saving your flowers as well. Here are a couple links to help you decide what’s right for you.

• A helpful guide from the folks over at The Knot, on how to decide the best method for preserving your flowers
  
• A Wiki-How guide to preserving your flowers yourself
  

The Dress
Next up, I would have to say that wedding dresses are the second most popular thing on the list. Most local dry cleaners or bridal salons have a preservation service that they offer. For a few hundred dollars, they will clean your dress, press it, wrap it in unbleached muslin, and then store it in a cardboard box for you. This process will help to keep the moisture away from your dress, eliminating that pesky musty odor that can occur when you use a plastic garment bag.

• Here’s a step-by-step guide, in case you’d prefer to store your dress without the aid of a professional.
  

The Cake
Saving part of your wedding cake is a tradition that some couples are starting to get away from. While there is the allure of the sentiment behind eating the very same cake on your first anniversary as was served at the wedding … I’d really rather eat it the night of the wedding. But, for those of you who are hard core traditionalists:

• Here’s a guide to saving the top layer of your wedding cake without losing any of the flavor.
  

The Finer Details
The next thing I’d like to show you is something that I’d never seen before (and was actually the inspiration for this post), but I think is super cool. Preserving your SHOES. I know, right? You spent months looking for the perfect shoes, and if you’re like me, you selected a pair that you can’t exactly incorporate into your daily wardrobe. What to do now? Check THIS out ..

• An awesome way to hold on to your wedding footwear
  

So simple! I absolutely love this idea.

A Shadow Box
Another great way to preserve the memory of your day is to bring almost all of these details together in a shadowbox. You can hire someone to do it for you, or you can head on over to your favorite craft store and pick up an empty box. They come in a variety of sizes, styles, and finishes, so you can pick something that will work well with your décor. The beauty of a shadowbox is, you can include as much or as little as you want. Here’s a list of items that you may want to include in yours.

• Shadow Box suggestions
  

Photo Credit: Love My Sister’s Closet

So, you see, there are about a zillion different ways to hold on to the memory of your wedding day. Have you heard of something or done something that I didn’t mention? Leave a comment and let us know! I love hearing what you have to say!

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Picking the dress…when perfect just isn’t good enough

Well, it’s official. He’s popped the question, you’ve said yes, and now the real fun begins! Your head is swirling with all of the planning that lies ahead of you. Where? When? What theme do you want? Do you even WANT a theme? Simple, or elaborate? Small intimate gathering of family and close friends, or something that the entire tri-county area is invited to? And that’s not even touching on your colors, flowers, cake, etc, etc. The list goes on and on. But you know where you’re going to start.

The dress.

It is the centerpiece of the day, and it needs to be just perfect. You want to take everyone’s breath away and knock the socks off your fiance all in one fell swoop. So many factors go in to selecting your dress, that it can seem almost mind boggling. Today, I’m going to offer a little bit of guidance for you. Partially from my own experience, and also with some wonderful resources to help you on your way.

My first bit of advice to you, as you’re combing the internet and bridal catalogs –  don’t get tunnel vision. When I was planning my wedding, I had this problem in a big way. I fell in love with a dress that I thought was absolutely stunning, and I could envision myself walking down the aisle in it. It had slightly off the shoulder sleeves, it was fitted at the waist, and every photo I saw of it made the bride look super slim. I cut out photos, showed it to friends and family, and said this is the ONE. I ran to the dress shop to try it on, and I was horrified. It was the single worst dress that I could have ever put on my body. I was fairly heavy at the time, and it made me look ten times bigger than I really was. The slightly sloped sleeves didn’t elongate my collarbone as I’d hoped they would, instead, they made my shoulders look like they were about ten feet across. And don’t even get me started on the armpit flab. I was devastated.  Here’s a quick guide to help you start looking in the right direction.

My second bit of advice to you is, go to a real dress shop. Even if you end up purchasing your dress online, at least be fitted by a proper bridal consultant. These men and women are trained to assess your body type, and help steer you toward the gown that is going to make you look amazing. Trust in them. My second mistake, beyond the bridal gown tunnel vision, was hitting up a fly-by-night shop at our local mall. The woman there was no help to me, she never measured me, and even though she kept bringing dresses for me to try on, TRYING to stop the constant flow of tears, she made things worse. She brought things that were three and four sizes too small, so I felt even worse about myself. It is definitely not a confidence builder when your dress consultant is grunting and groaning trying to zip you into a dress. Bad news, folks. After a few weeks, I decided to try dress shopping again. This time, I went to a well known dress shop in my area, and I was treated the way every bride should be … with courtesy, respect, and KNOWLEDGE. I told her my tales from the last shop, and the first thing she did was measure me, so that as I was combing through the racks, I was at least searching in the right size. She also informed me of something that I’d had NO idea about, and I’m sure you don’t, either. Bridal gowns do not run in the same size family as your normal clothes. I was a solid size XL/16, but when I finally found my gown, it was, get this…a size 22. Don’t let this discourage you. Just assume that the people who size bridal gowns are insane. It helps.

My last bit of advice is this – Let your personality shine through. This is your day, don’t let other people make you think that you have to follow “tradition”. If you want to
wear bright orange, you go for it. The possibilities for bridal gowns are nearly endless these days, so go right ahead … make this YOUR day.

Wondering how my dress fiasco ended up? Toward the end of my appointment at the real bridal shop, the consultant asked me if I’d like to try on a gown that she’d just received in. She knew it wasn’t quite the style I was going for, but that it was an amazing dress, and she’d like to see it on me. Even though I didn’t want to, I agreed. Something magical happened as soon as she zipped me up, and I knew THIS was the one. It fit perfectly right off the rack and I felt like a complete princess. Needless to say, I dropped my credit card on the counter that afternoon. Now THAT’S what you call a saleswoman.

This photo leaves a lot to be desired as far as wedding pictures go (click here to read Veronica’s guide on how to avoid this happening to you), but doesn’t the dress look amazing?

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