Weddingzilla

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Mother Of The Bride and Groom Dresses Are Ugly!

Please, don't dress mom in these dresses!

Yes, I said it, UGLY, unattractive, frumpy and no one
really wants what the dress manufacturers are cranking out
for the mothers of the wedding. No one wants what you
are selling!

Most mothers dresses fall into two categories: Dresses that
look like great grandma's burial dress and dresses that look
like mom is going to prom. There are millions of Baby
Boomer and Boomlet moms who want to look fabulous
and would buy a dress if they could just find it.

Moms want to look 10 years younger, and 20 pounds slimmer.
They want their upper arms covered and they want the dress
to hide the nasty parts. Most moms want a jacket they can remove
and straps on the dress wide enough to cover regular bra straps.
They want to look age appropriate, yet feminine with a hint of
sexy. And they want to radiate style. They want a flattering color,
and honey, that's not beige or platinum gray. Those colors just
drainthe color right out of your face. Its not too much to ask.

They used to manufacture dresses that fit the bill, but somehow,
the manufacturers let go some of their designers, moved their
manufacturing to the far east and knocked off competitors prom
and bridesmaid dresses and are trying to pass them off as
mothers dresses. Geeze, hire a designer familiar with real
women and real women's bodies.

Do all of today's designers think that every mother of the wedding
wants to wear beige and platinum ball gowns with big poofy skirts?
I've sold mom's dresses for years, and have yet to meet a
a mom who wanted a strapless ballgown, yet I'm sure they
exist somewhere, just not in my area. Mom does not
want to look like an older prommie, a street walker or grandma.
Even grandma won't wear these styles!

If you are a bride, get your mom out shopping stat. If she has
to order her dress, she'll have to allow 8 to 12 weeks or more to
have her dress made. Most dresses are now made in Asia and that
is the time frame to complete the dress. Unless she is a sample
size and wants champagne or taupe, she's not likely to find what
she wants hanging on the rack.

Here's what you need to know about MOB (mother of the bride)
and MOG (mother of the groom) dresses before you go shopping.
Forget shopping for a petite,very few lines cut petites and the
petite still runs long. Either way,the dress is probably going
to need to be shortened.

Mom's dresses are made either in colors that blend with all
weddingcolors, like all pastels, sort of a unicolor MOB dress.
Or you'll find garish hot colors that don't match anything.
Any color in between will have to be ordered.
Some dresses are only made in two or three unicolors, others
come in a variety of colors. If you are lucky, they'll have her
colorand size in stock but don't hold your breath. The sooner
you shop,the better the chance of getting what you want.

Some dresses start at size 6 and go to size 20 only. If you are
larger or smaller, you are out of luck.

Don't expect to find tailored suits, high necklines and collars.
You'll find some suit like dresses with a jacket, but I haven't
seen a high neckline in years.

And plan for alterations, all dresses need alterations to
fit properly,just like the wedding dress. Very few dresses get by
without a few tweaks.

If mom insists on waiting to shop until she looses 20 pounds,
she'll be panicking before the wedding when she can't find
anything to wear. The department stores stock way less social
occasion dresses than they used to carry because women just
don't get dressed up very often. You'll have to start with your
local bridal salon. Get her shopping early. If she finds a dress
that looks good now, it will look fab if she looses the weight.
And the dress can be taken into fit.

If a manufacturer would just LISTEN to what women want,
they'd sell tons of dresses and trounce their competition.
Women will rejoice, look fabulous and be deliriously happy,
the manufacturer will be revered. Happy women will spread
the word faster than Twitter.And please, if any of you reading
this are manufacturers, drop me a line. I KNOW what we
women want. We just can't find it.

Monday, May 11, 2009

If You Are Going to DIY Your Wedding, DIR (do it right)

In today's economy, there are a lot of
DIY (do it yourself) brides. Its a way to personalize
your wedding, its also a way to keep
within your wedding budget. If you are going to
put your effort into DIY wedding projects, do it
right (DIR).

I was away on vacation and came home to a huge
pile of mail. Mr. Weddingzilla put the mail in piles,
his, mine, junk and catalogs. I looked at the important
stuff..and a few days later decided to throw the junk away.
What looked like a piece of junk advertising
mail turned out to be a wedding invitation.

This invitation was by a DIY bride who didn't DIR. OK,
before you blast me, hear me out. It was printed on a computer
but it wasn't spaced properly and it wasn't on invitation blanks.
It was on some paper that looked like junk mail paper. Nothing
wedding about it. The reception card was hand cut and it was
crooked. And the time to respond was less than a week from
when it was mailed and a full two and a half months before the
wedding.

This invitation bothered me because I had received
it after the response time and I felt bad about it. And I felt
bad I didn't realize it was a wedding invitation and I've sold
wedding invitations. It made me wonder
how many more people tossed it in the trash without
reading it.

Its OK to make your own invitations if you DIR.
Its a lot more work than it looks when you see the blank
invitations. You have to have time, motivation, ability
to do the task and a good amount of printer ink. And you need
to find out how to do it the right way. Get some advice
from a professional or get on the internet and get some
instructions. And I don't mean getting advice from Yahoo
answers where you ask a question and pick the answer you like.

DIY means you have to invest some money into the
components besides time and work.
If you aren't willing or able to do the work, don't attempt to
DIY whether its centerpieces, flowers , favors or invitations.
If you can't do it after you've bought the components,
you've wasted your money and time and you'll have to
spend MORE money to get the job done.

If projects stress you out, think before you tackle a DIY
project. Don't feel inadequate if your peers are all DIY
brides and you aren't. And don't attempt to DIY everything
yourself if your budget dictates it. Get help from your
wedding party, your family or your friends.

If its totally out of your field of expertise, don't attempt it
for your wedding. I met a bride who said she is making
her wedding cake but doesn't know how to cook. OMG!
She has to buy the pans, mixes, etc to make the cake and
she can't cook. She's bragging about how much money she
is going to save by baking her own cake. Say a prayer for her,
she's going to need it and put a bakery on speed dial.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

If you could do your wedding over, what would you change?

We posed this question to newlywed brides and grooms to get their answer to this question. Some of the answers were surprising, some were very provocative. See for yourself. If YOU could get a wedding do over, what would you do?

Jen: I'd make sure I kept on my shoes and didn't walk around the reception with a long necked beer in my hand. That picture will haunt me forever!

Ashley: Nothing, it was the perfect day!

Kerry: I'd have listened to my fiance when he told me not to sweat the small stuff. In retrospect, the flowers weren't worth all the tears, they turned out beautiful.

Dave: I would have paid more attention.

Jeff: I should have told the family to back off and let us do it our way. I think we had our mothers' dream wedding and it was more for them than for us. But it was awesome and the honeymoon.....(grin)

Taylor: I would have spent less money on stuff that really wasn't necessary and used the money towards a better honeymoon.

Kim: I would have eloped to the Caribbean and we wouldn't have been all the family hassles.

Emily: My wedding was exactly like I wanted, small and intimate. My only regret is that my grandparents weren't able to travel because of health issues.

Ethan: My wife planned her fantasy wedding and I was good with it. But I wish I would have reined in the budget just a bit.

Cole: (laughs) I wouldn't have had my bachelor party so close to the wedding. I felt like hell at the wedding. My buddies were in town, and you know, we had a few drinks, and a few more.

Lauren: I wouldn't have put on my dress and then had a glass of wine. Don't ask!

Shelli: I wouldn't have insisted on all the bridesmaids having their hair, makeup and nails done. I should have trusted them to do it themselves. I feel guilty now for the extra expenses I put on them. I still feel bad about it.

Kelli: I wouldn't have been such a control freak and insisted on doing everything myself. I took on way too much work and didn't get to enjoy the day.

Jay: I wouldn't have hired a friend to DJ. He would have made a better guest.

Crystal: I should have listened to the people I hired to do the job and not my friends.

Gerri: My husband wanted to get married in Las Vegas. We had a big expensive wedding and I was stressed the whole time. We should have eloped to Las Vegas, we'd have been just as married and a lot less stressed out.

Kent: I should have included my family more in the planning since they paid for a big chunk of the wedding. My parents were hurt and I was so caught up in the excitement I didn't see it until the deed was done.

Brian: Nothing, I married my dream woman!

Toni: I would have bought the dress I wanted instead of settling for a less expensive dress and cheaped out on decorations so I could get THE DRESS. I really didn't need chair covers, but at the time, I thought I did.

Ashlee: I shouldn't have forced my sister to make a toast. She was so nervous that she didn't have fun.

Joe: I would have kept tabs on my groomsmen. They got out of hand.

Janine: We had an awesome wedding. We should have put the same effort on planning the honeymoon. We both got sick from the water. Not fun.

And now I will answer the question: I should have insisted on having a smaller wedding. It grew from a small intimate wedding to a big Italian blow out, thanks to my family. Once it got going, it took on a life of its own. It turned out to be a great wedding, but it was TOO big!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Free Wedding Tee Shirt, I Love Free Stuff!

I love love love freebies. If its free, I want it,
even if I don't need it. I WILL eventually find someone
who can use it. And the price...free...rings my bell.
Well, I got an email today from Bridal Party Tees.Com
offering a free t-shirt to all of my readers.

Bridal Party Tees is the company that makes personalized
bridal party tee shirts with all the cutesayings on a wedding
tee. You know, the ones that say Bride to Be,
Matt's Bride, Matt's Hot New Wife, Bridesmaid,
Brides night out, Bride's Army. They'll print whatever.
Anyway, all you have to do is to sign up for their
email list and you get to personalize your own
tee shirt for free!

I've seen these tees and they are cute! They're perfect for a
bachelorette party or an engagement party...or cute to wear
on your honeymoon.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Tiffany Blue Wedding Colors, Accents and Accessories

Tiffany blue continues to be a popular wedding color.
By special request, we are revisiting and updating Tiffany blue
wedding invitations, favors and accessories for your wedding.

Tiffany blue blends well with the traditional colors: white, ivory,
cream, champagne, silver, and the ultra popular chocolate brown
accent.

Punch up Tiffany blue with an accent color of hot pink, cinnamon,
buttercup yellow, amber, burnt orange, coral, grass green,
lime green, and navy blue. Here are some of the colors against
Tiffany blue, the colors on your monitor may be different than
on mine, but this will give you an idea of accent colors.

If you want to keep to icy tones, accent with cool shades like
silver,navy blue or teal.

If you want to warm up the color, use coral to give
it a Caribbean vibe,hot pinks to play up summer and
lime greens to give it a bright punch
of color.

Here are some of the colors accenting the dresses
to give you an idea of how the colors actually
work together.

We've updated a previous post that with Tiffany blue invitations,
favors and accessories. Check them out or use them for ideas
to pick your perfect accent color.