I love Tina’s idea of a bridal shower scrapbook - what a great keepsake for the bride!

When I host a shower, I make a scrapbook for the guest of honor that can be filled in on the spot with little to no work for the bride-to-be.

Using a large Vineyard album from Kolo, I:

* switch out the ribbon to match the color scheme.
* design a little cover image that has the name and date of the event.

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If you happen to be in Atlanta on Dec 3rd, don’t miss what looks to be an amazing party hosted by Christine Gallagher Photography!

*Editors note: I wanted to share this article I wrote for the Bridal Guide Blog, in which I share my best tricks for successfully navigating the bumpy road of negotiations. Learning to haggle is a valuable skill, which can cross over from wedding planning to many other aspects of daily life, so I hope you’ll find this advice useful for many years to come!

I’m not gonna lie…negotiating used to intimidate me to no end. I’d stutter, lose my words, blush and periodically melt into a puddle of self-deprecating goo. I’d look at my future fiancé and sheepishly say, “You talk.” It took baby steps and several years of practice, but starting small, I began to conquer the fear and, eventually, came to enjoy the art. I’m now proud to say I take the helm in almost all of our negotiations—wedding or otherwise.

In my research, I’ve noticed that many bridal resources encourage negotiation, but few offer solid suggestions on how to best approach the game. I want you brides to feel empowered to fight for what you want, so today I want to share some of my best tricks for handling the mighty task of haggling.

Many brides are intimidated by the thought of negotiating, but a bride in charge of “wearing the pants” (if you’ll pardon the antiquated phrase) has one of three possible effects: 1. It commands respect 2. It serves as a disarming distraction, or 3. It doesn’t faze the vendor at all. None of those reactions put you at risk, so why not give it a go? Now, let’s be straight. I’m not talking about pushy bridezilla pants. I’m talking about respectful, savvy negotiator pants. Trust me ladies, they’re much more flattering on you.

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Hi guys!  Just a note to let you know that we’re not quite done posting all of your awesome DIY submissions so we’re going to keep DIY month going until we have featured everything.  We hope you have loved all of the DIY as much as we have!

E.

We are so pleased to welcome the girls from Louella Court to EAD today for our next Advice From the Pros segment!  Louella Press and Two Paperdolls are sister companies specializing in retail stationery and custom designs, respectively.  They are based just outside Philadelphia.

EAD: What is the single best piece of advice you can give to brides and grooms as they begin to plan their event?

LC: whether you’ve got big plans or small ones for your wedding, give yourself until the week before the big day to get everything done. At that point, let go of any details that you didn’t have time for and let yourself relax. For lots of you, friends and family will be in town, so make plans to be with them or spend some solo time soaking it all in. When the time comes to walk down the aisle you’ll feel stress-free (or at least less stressed) and over time those moments will be more memorable than any wedding day details you might have planned.

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And on to the next part of the story: the proposal. Last week I filled in the background to how M and I met but more excitingly I expect, here are some details of the moment when I agreed to be his wife.

For me, it was just another surfing weekend in Cornwall. It was fitting that we were in Cornwall, looking back, as the first time M said the words “I love you” were whilst we were on a surfing trip to Cornwall, with our university surf club, lying together in an uncomfortable double bed in the attic of a guest house. This time though we stayed in a little hotel, nothing too fancy but what it did have were enormous beautiful views of the beach. I would show you a photo, but I forgot to take my camera battery charger and there was only enough battery for about three photos. And the view wasn’t one of them!

The first day of the weekend the weather was horrid and no surfing could be done but on the Saturday morning the sun woke us up early. M had brought a bottle of champagne with him and asked the hotel to chill it, saying to me that he needed to taste it as he was selling some to someone the next week and as he is a fine wine merchant this is a common occurence, so I thought nothing of it, save that it would be nice to have some champagne on the beach. We went surfing and then I lay down on the beach to dry off. After a while M joined me, bringing champagne, glasses, fish & chips and a newspaper. We settled down to eat lunch and suddenly M started to behave oddly. After a few minutes he sat up on one knee and asked me to marry him. I couldn’t respond straight away as I had a mouthful of chips but my heart missed a beat I was so happy, “are you serious?!” I gasped. He indicated that he was, so I hugged him (well, threw my arms around him) and said “yes, of course”.

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Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope that no matter where you are or whether or not you celebrate the holiday that you are having a wonderful day!

Amanda sent us a gorgeous DIY toggle necklace, which would be perfect for a bridesmaid gift!

You will need:

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Youn designed ceremony programs to go with her beautiful favor boxes and thank you notes. 

Instructions from Youn:

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I’d like to thank everyone for following along with me this week as I guest blogged here on Elizabeth Anne Designs. Before I return to writing about newlywed life, life in the lab as a graduate student, the full picture recap of my own wedding for those interested (to begin shortly) and soon the trials and tribulations of a long-distance marriage over at Disgruntled Julie: A Ph.D. in Progress, I thought I would step away from my own projects, and share my favorite memories from our wedding.

Please don’t tell my our parents (who helped to contribute financially), but looking back on the wedding, my favorite memories weren’t our amazing 10-piece band, or our beautiful flowers. I was recently involved in a discussion whether it was worth upgrading to nicer linens, and I couldn’t even remember if we had - I had to look at my pictures to see that we ordered the black linens through our florist. No, for me, the most memorable and meaningful events were the things that went wrong.

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Brooklyn Bride is hosting her second annual Holiday Card Swap! E and I were happy participants last year. It’s a great way to connect with other crafters and bloggers.

The rules:

• Send an email to Vane at brooklynbride at gmail dot com with Holiday Card Swap in the subject line by November 28. Include your name, address, email address, and website/blog address.
• By December 1, Vane will email you the names and addresses of up to 5 people to send cards to.
• Your cards must be handmade (think Gocco, glitter, photoshop, cut + paste, sewing, etc.) Make something that’s easy to do multiples of.
• Send out your cards by December 15 at the latest!
• Wait patiently by your mailbox!

Sadly, some people last year didn’t get cards from their partners, so please don’t sign up if you know you won’t have time to make cards. Also, the swap is open to international participants, so pay attention to postage.

We can’t wait to see our matches!
A.