 Carly and her girlfriends at her surprise shower. Last Saturday night, Sean and I had plans to go out to dinner with his sister Rachel and her husband Colby to celebrate Rachel’s birthday. Rachel and Colby live in Delaware and were planning to come up to Philly for a night out. However, late Saturday afternoon Sean got a call from seven-months pregnant Rachel to say she wasn’t feeling up for the trip and that we should plan to celebrate another time. I was disappointed, as I love going out to dinner with them, but understood that between the threatening weather and her not feeling great, we’d literally need to take a rain check.
Luckily, we had back-up plans. My best friend Jill had planned a BBQ for Saturday night, which I’d thought we were going to miss because of our dinner plans. After Rachel and Colby cancelled, I immediately texted Jill to let her know we’d be coming over.
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If you had asked me before this morning what in the world you couldn’t get at Target, I probably would have said, “Um, nothing?” That would have been nearly correct—and now, thanks to the superstore’s newest addition to their inventory, it’s pretty much right on the money: Target’s now doing wedding dresses!
Watch the video below for the full scoop, but basically, they’ve now got four wedding dress styles, 10 for your ‘maids, and two for your flower girls. Sizes range from 2 to 28; prices from $69.99 to $129.99.
Kinda hard to believe it took ‘em this long, isn’t it? If anyone out there tries them out, please do report back!
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With product recs from a local makeup artist!
 iStockphoto I think it’s safe to say that every girl has got her little list of items that can always, always, always be found in her purse, no matter where she’s heading. That list might include blotting papers or lip gloss or a hair tie—and when you rummage around in your bag for one of them and come up empty, panic ensues. You do not want this to happen on your wedding day.
No, on your wedding day, you want to have put some actual time and thought into what supplies will be in your presence—not in your beautiful little vintage clutch, of course, but rather, in some handy tote stashed somewhere out of the way but where you can always get to it, and in the charge of one of your bridesmaids.
This topic happened to come up this week when a friend asked me what she should be bringing along by way of a bridal emergency kit like this for her sister’s wedding. To help her out, I dug up something I wrote several issues ago that put together a pretty comprehensive list, which I’m going to share with you, now, too. (Though I have, since the below was written, added band-aids and Advil, after the lovely experience of toppling out of the trolley and onto my knees when the bridal party I was in stopped at the Museum of Art for pictures before my friend’s wedding. Ouch. And blood.)
Here it is. Go forth and be prepared.
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 Kristy at her bridal shower last weekend. You know the saying “It takes a village to raise a child”? Well, it came full circle to me this weekend when I realized how many people, events, and moments made me into the person I am today. Sometimes, I guess, it takes a momentous event, like your bridal shower to make you realize it.
This past weekend, I gathered with some of the ladies from my “village” to celebrate our upcoming nuptials. There were women from all aspects of my life; ladies that babysat me before school, ones that fed me homemade meatballs every Sunday, ones that shared late nights and even ones that shared too many glasses of wine. But more importantly, ladies who have shaped me into a woman that will soon marry the love of her life. And what better way to celebrate this than good food and wine, amazing company, embarrassing soon-to-be-newlywed games, and a showering of presents!
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 The Alice flower girl dress from BHLDN's new line. Squeal!
If you’ve ever wished, while trying to narrow down which BHLDN wedding dress you’ll walk down the aisle in—or simply while drooling over the new items they recently put on sale—that the Philly-based bridal sister brand of Anthro would just add some darling flower girl dresses to its line of dresses for you and your ‘maids already, then you will be happy to hear that at long last, they heard you!
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 iStockphoto Once a girl and her girlfriends morph into a bride and her bridesmaids, the relationships become just a little more delicate than they were. Just like with your groom, all of a sudden, there is stuff concerning family and money and various obligations swirling all around where it wasn’t before, and it can definitely cause issues. Hopefully, only issues that can be resolved quickly over a bottle of wine, of course—but issues, just the same.
We’ve offered help to brides before who have found themselves with cranky or uncooperative or complaining bridesmaids, before—which, sometimes, let’s face it, is necessary—but because it can also happen, of course, that it’s the bride who is making her bridesmaids nuts, we wanted to share this great piece we saw on HuffPo this week.
It offers 10 tips for brides on how, throughout the whole process, both during engagement and on the wedding day, to keep their bridesmaids happy. From giving them everything from a say in their appearance that day to awesome thank-you gifts and a heads-up on any creepy groomsmen they might come into contact with, it’s great advice—and honestly, each of the ten is easy to do.
In what ways are you trying to make sure being your ‘maid is a fabulous, fun and easy thing for your girls to do?
RELATED: Are Your Bridesmaids Driving You Crazy?
RELATED: The Most Insane Email a Bride Has Ever Sent Her Bridesmaids
RELATED: Let’s Talk About Bridesmaids Wearing Pants
RELATED: PHOTOS: Gown, Venue, Bridesmaid Dress, Flower and Cake Ideas for a Philadelphia Ballroom Wedding
RELATED: PHOTOS: Gown, Venue, Bridesmaid Dress, Flower and Cake Ideas for a Philadelphia Garden Party Wedding
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 Below, find ideas for a gorgeous garden party wedding in the Philadelphia area. Not that we think you should put your wedding in a box, of course. But chances are you at least have a feeling when it comes to your Big Day: Will it be a swanky formal affair in a candlelit room with a marble rotunda? An airy soiree where your guests sip cool drinks from mason jars with fields of wildflower-dotted wheat in the background and cotton-candy clouds overhead? Whatever your vision for your wedding day, we’re here to help you plan it. In the following pages, you’ll find ideas for five different types of weddings—not just for gorgeous venues in the Philadelphia area, but for your flowers, gown, cake and bridesmaids’ dresses, all from local vendors and shops. Just find the one that feels like you, and you’re on your way.
{This article originally appeared in the Spring/Summer 2013 issue of Philadelphia Wedding.}
Click here for PART ONE: City Ballroom.
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Not kidding.
 iStockphoto That’s how Buzzfeed touted this roundup they posted the other day of 41 super adorbs flower girl dresses—and you know what? I was skeptical of that billing, but I kind of have to agree. I mean, the first one with the sequins? The airy rhinestone and butterfly collar frocks? THE PETTISKIRTS? Not even kidding, there is a good, solid handful more, too, that I would totally swipe my card for if they came in big-girl sizes.
I often find myself totally underwhelmed by so-called flower girl dresses. One of my best friends just had her little ladies wear leotards and tutus to trot down the aisle, and I thought that was just about perfect. But you’ve got to take a look at these. Now granted, if you outfit your peanuts in one of these, she just might steal the show—but for how cute they’ll look, it seems worth a shared spotlight.
See anything in here you’d go for? Anyone else have an amazing flower girl frock find to share with the class?
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Below, find ideas for a gorgeous ballroom wedding in the city. Not that we think you should put your wedding in a box, of course. But chances are you at least have a feeling when it comes to your Big Day: Will it be a swanky formal affair in a candlelit room with a marble rotunda? An airy soiree where your guests sip cool drinks from mason jars with fields of wildflower-dotted wheat in the background and cotton-candy clouds overhead? Whatever your vision for your wedding day, we’re here to help you plan it. In the following pages, you’ll find ideas for five different types of weddings—not just for gorgeous venues in the Philadelphia area, but for your flowers, gown, cake and bridesmaids’ dresses, all from local vendors and shops. Just find the one that feels like you, and you’re on your way.
{This article originally appeared in the Spring/Summer 2013 issue of Philadelphia Wedding.}
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 iStockphoto Are you having kids in your wedding? Are you having kids at your wedding? As many of you who are attempting to answer these two questions right now for yourselves undoubtedly have figured out, those are two very different answers.
You may opt to have a few children in your wedding party, and so, of course, those children will then be at your reception, too, if you and their parents so choose. But that doesn’t necessarily have to mean that you are inviting children, in general, to your whole shebang. Having your two darling nieces who are your world eating carrot sticks while sitting next to your sister at her table is much different than allowing all of your cousins to bring their five children each and having them take over the dance floor. Then again, if you’ve got a handful of tots in your life and you just can’t imagine your dance floor without them? The more the merrier, then, no matter the ages. Where to draw the line when it comes to munchkins at weddings is a decision every couple has got to make for themselves.
That’s why we really enjoyed this article from the Chicago Tribune today, as it makes good points, asks good questions, and doles out good advice when it comes to this topic. It covers, in smartly broken down pieces, the main things we always advise ourselves when it comes to having kids at your wedding: First, be really, really be true to yourself when it comes to how you’ll feel if a kid a) steals the show in a cute, spotlight-hogging way, or b) steals the show in a bratty, all-encompassing tantrum-throwing kind of way. And second, if you’re going to have them, prepare your party accordingly.
Are you having kids at your wedding? Why or why not did you decide to have them?
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