Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Advice On Starting To Create A Wedding Theme (From Hallmark)

I always say that if you get a chance to chat with a professional, you should definitely do so -- especially if it's free to chat.

If you remember, I've gotten a chance to talk to celebrity wedding planner David Tutera (check that out here) and caterer and cookbook author Peter Callahan (you can check that out here).

Last week, I was able to speak with Tobe, a Hallmark creative expert. The first two chats were open to anyone, but this one was not. So since you weren't able to be there, I asked Tobe a few questions on your behalf. And since I was asking for you, I decided to publish the answers for you:


BRIDAL BABBLE: How did you start to create a wedding theme?

Monday, May 25, 2015

Should You Cut Your Hair Before Your Wedding?

It was two days before my wedding and my bridesmaid Allison and I were walking in the hotel where most of my guests were staying. I caught her hair in the light and noticed she had hair tinsel in.

"Oh my gosh, I love it," I exclaimed.

"Are you sure?" she said. "I can take it out if you want. It's easy. Just let me know and I'll pull it out."

"No!" I said. "I really love it. It's so cute."

And that was the truth. I really loved how it looked in her hair. And it matched her bridesmaids dress, so it was just awesome.

But for my hair, I was more of a traditionalist. I had cut mine two weeks after we got engaged and grew it out during our entire engagement (20 months). I wanted long hair so that I was able to do anything to it. I've had bangs on and off for my whole life, but at this point in my life, I'm bangless. So I wanted to capture that. And although I've dyed my hair black before and bleached the underside once, I left it my natural color.

I didn't want a completely new style for my wedding, only to look at the photos years later and wonder what I was thinking. But there was someone who I "made" get a hair cut before the wedding.


Yup, that's Pete, the weekend before our wedding.

As I was growing out my hair, so was he. He grew it long enough so that he could cut it and donate it to Pantene Beautiful Lengths before our wedding (and I actually cut mine after the wedding so I could donate mine there too). 

In case you haven't heard of Beautiful Lengths, it's a partnership between Pantene and the American Cancer Society. You can cut your hair, in excess of eight inches, and mail it (bound together and in a plastic bag) to Pantene. Pantene then provides the funds necessary to create free, real-hair wigs for women with cancer from your donation. According to Pantene's website, the shampoo brand has donated 24,000 free real-hair wigs to the American Cancer Society’s wig banks.

I actually really love donating to Pantene Beautiful Lengths because the wigs are provided to women free of charge. There are similar organizations, but those organizations charge for the wigs. Since Pantene is a part of the Unilever family, there is the financial backing to support this cause. We both donate now in honor of Pete's mom who passed from breast cancer (and is why Pete wore pink ribbon cufflinks at our wedding).

But, back to his hair. He was growing it and thank goodness it was long enough to donate before our wedding. I met him with short hair and when he asked how I wanted his hair on our wedding day, that's what I said. And he agreed. Of course, we had to photo-document the whole salon trip. You can tell the progression of the photos.

So, to answer the question: Should you cut your hair before your wedding?

My answer: As a bride, no. As a groom, yes.

And, speaking of wedding hair, be sure to check out my other wedding hair post: Five Tips About Getting Your Wedding Hair Done.

BRIDAL BABBLE: What do you think? Should you cut your hair before your wedding?

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Create A Best Buy Wedding Registry #BestBuyWedding #ad

The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free.

After we registered, Pete and I had a whole conversation about it. "I don't understand why we had to register," he said. "Why do we have to tell people what gifts to get us? We should just let them get us what they want."

"Here's the thing," I started. "What if we didn't tell anyone what we needed and everyone bought us a toaster. So now we have 50 toasters. But we don't need 50 toasters. We don't even need one toaster. We already have one toaster that we don't use. So we don't need 50 more of them. So we have to return them. But where did they come from? Target? Walmart? Bed, Bath and Beyond? A regifted gift? So now, in the middle of planning a wedding, not only do we have to figure out where 50 toasters came from, but we have to drive to 50 stores to return 50 toasters and then just buy what we need. So it's easier to just register and tell people what we need in the first place."

So registering is useful. Really useful. But it's still something new ... so new that Best Buy actually very recently launched its wedding registry.

Create A Best Buy Wedding Registry

You can head over to this link and create your Best Buy Wedding Registry. But, what would you put on your Best Buy registry? It's not like you can add plates and sheets like a typical registry.

First off, I would put a camera. We actually went to Best Buy over the weekend and I ordered the Nikon D3300 bundle pack. It wasn't cheap. It was on sale and it was still $599.99, plus tax. So is anyone going to actually purchase that off your registry for you? Probably not. But what I think the coolest thing about the new Best Buy Wedding Registry is is the fact that it has Group Gifting. Basically, your guests spend what they want and you get what you want. If one person can't afford $600 for your camera, but they have $25, they can buy a $25 gift card towards your registry. You accumulate all those gift cards and you can purchase those big ticket items. Your guests don't even have to call each other or go in together for it. Best Buy just handles that.

You can add things like CD's and DVD's to your Best Buy Wedding Registry, but the store actually has more than that. Since you can edit your registry online, you can add items that I've never seen in store, like this Lofty Ardant Diamond Silver Framed Mirror. I've never seen mirrors in an actual Best Buy store, but you can find them online. And with one click, it's added to your registry.

Create A Best Buy Wedding Registry


So dream big. Think outside of "guest bathroom towels" and add things like a Roku or a similar streaming service so your entire movie room can be set up the way you want it. Add a Bluetooth speaker for each room (we have two and they are fantastic). Or heck, if you really need one, add a toaster. Best Buy has a lot of those to choose from too.

BRIDAL BABBLE: What would you add to your Best Buy registry that you can't find anywhere else?

Create A Best Buy Wedding Registry



Love Best Buy for wedding ideas?


Check out our Groomsman gift idea using Best Buy items.


Groomsman-gift-idea



Monday, May 18, 2015

DIY Wooden Letter Guest Book

Deciding on a wedding guest book can be so hard. The possibilities are pretty endless ... well, depending on how creative you are.

Personally, we ended up going with a book. I found the From This Day Forward guest book, filled with quotes about love that I absolutely fell in love with. It was simple and to the point. And that point, I just couldn't DIY anything else.

But I was absolutely floored when Tatiana started chatting on our weekly wedding chat -- #BridalBabble -- recently. She shared her amazing DIY Wooden Letter Guest Book with us.

Want a fun wedding guest book idea? Check out this DIY Wooden Letter Guest Book from www.abrideonabudget.com. Yes! You CAN make it yourself!!

How cool is it that they made it for their wedding?

You can make it too. Tatiana (who you can find at @tatianaa_mariee on Twitter) shared what they did with us.

DIY Wooden Letter Guest Book


What You Need:
What You'll Do:

Want a fun wedding guest book idea? Check out this DIY Wooden Letter Guest Book from www.abrideonabudget.com. Yes! You CAN make it yourself!!

  • Draw the first letter of your new last name on a board of wood (using a pencil in case you mess up).
  • Cut it out with a band saw.
  • Paint with two coats house paint (in either black or your wedding colors) on both sides -- or you can use a paint primer if you aren't using house paint.
  • Sand.
  • Paint it again.
  • Let it fully dry. Set it out at your wedding with metallic Sharpie markers for your guests to use when the sign it.
I absolutely love this. I'm so impressed with it being homemade. I actually saw this wooden letter guest book on Pinterest and thought, "There's no way I could have done that." And then, poof, Tatiana comes into my life to say, "I made this."

It just goes to show you that no matter what you come across on Pinterest, you can make it. There's a way to make it if you really want to.

If you want this, but you don't have the tools to make it, you can actually purchase wooden letters on Amazon. Then, just follow the rest of the steps to complete the project.

Be sure to tweet Tatiana at @tatianaa_mariee and tell her you saw her beautiful wooden letter guest book here.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Would you be able to make this DIY Wooden Letter Guest Book?

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Succulents In Shells Wedding Centerpieces & Favors

My wedding twin Kristiana (who runs Kristiana Nickens Studios if you're looking to get photos taken) posted the most beautiful succulents in shells on her Instagram, and I was instantly obsessed. They are the perfect beach wedding centerpieces. But, even better than that, they are such adorable wedding favors.

Succulets in shells are the perfect wedding centerpieces and favors. Find out how to DIY them at www.abrideonabudget.com.

And, she said, they're easy to make too. And affordable, which makes them every sort of perfect.

Succulets in shells are the perfect wedding centerpieces and favors. Find out how to DIY them at www.abrideonabudget.com.

(Plus, doesn't that photo look like it was taken for a magazine? You want parts of your wedding that are just so perfect they belong in print.)

Succulents In Shells Wedding Centerpieces & Favors


What You'll Need:

What You'll Do:
  • Find shells. You can purchase some on Amazon (like this, this, and this), you can find them at the beach, or you could check a craft store for them. Kristiana suggests whelks and conch shells.
  • Clean the shell with bleach and hot water (just to make sure you're not bringing any bugs or fungus into your wedding).
  • Fill the shells with potting soil, leaving a bit of room.
  • Plant the succulent in the shell, making sure you bury the entire root.
  • Display.

Succulets in shells are the perfect wedding centerpieces and favors. Find out how to DIY them at www.abrideonabudget.com.

That's it. So easy. The cactus looks adorable in the scallop shell, which is a a little more out of necessity than style. See, the cactus root was a lot bigger than the succulents, so it needed a deeper shell.

Succulets in shells are the perfect wedding centerpieces and favors. Find out how to DIY them at www.abrideonabudget.com.

Your guests can water these from time to time and that's the only maintenance they need.

If you want to dress them up to match your wedding, you can actually spray paint the shells your wedding colors before planting succulents in them. They look beautiful that way too.

Succulets in shells are the perfect wedding centerpieces and favors. Find out how to DIY them at www.abrideonabudget.com.
Succulets in shells are the perfect wedding centerpieces and favors. Find out how to DIY them at www.abrideonabudget.com.
Big thanks to Kristiana Nickens Studios for the photos. To see more of her incredible photography, follow her on Instagram at @kristina.n.

Succulets in shells are the perfect wedding centerpieces and favors. Find out how to DIY them at www.abrideonabudget.com.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Would you use these succulents in shells as wedding centerpieces, favors, or decor?

Succulets in shells are the perfect wedding centerpieces and favors. Find out how to DIY them at www.abrideonabudget.com.