Truly Wedding Blog

If you are looking for something out-of-the-ordinary to give your bridemaids, consider Giftapolis.

Giftapolis offers a terrific collection of celebrity and carton memorabilia in functional gifts. These gift ideas are perfect for your bridesmaids who are movie or TV buffs. Here are some examples of what Giftapolis has to offer.

Marilyn Monroe Compact Mirror
This metal mirror has a wondeful photo of Marilyn on the front with the phrase, “I just want to be wonderful.” Inside you wil find a double mirror - one which magnifies five times, making it perfect for applying mascara, inserting contact lens and any of your other makeup needs.

I Love Lucy Throw
For the girl who loves “I Love Lucy,” Giftapolis offers a variety of blankets, pillows and throws to complement any decor. These items feature a scene from some of the favorite episodes of “I Love Lucy.”

Giftapolis even has fun gifts for your groomsmen or other people in your wedding party. Check out these Simpsons shot glasses - perfect for the Simpsons fan on your gift list. Each set of four glasses features favorite male Simpsons characters such as Homer, Moe, Krusty the Clown, and Barney. You can get a set of four glasses from under $20.

Visit Giftapolis.com to find a variety of fun gifts, including housewares, snowglobes, picture frames, key chains and much more.

M. Flynn is a Boston-based accessories business owned by sisters Megan & Moria Flynn. Three years ago, these two sisters started their own company designing classic jewelry and handbags. They sold their goods to small boutiques around the country and started to garner quite a following.

Since they always made a lot of jewelry for wedding parties, the Flynns decided to make it easier for people around the country to order their items online.

Recently, they opened their new website - mflynnwedding.com, where you can find a terrific collection of earrings, necklaces and bracelets for the bride and her bridemaids.

What I like about their website (in addition to the jewelry being beautiful) is that it allows you to shop by color, as well as by design. This way, it’s easy to find jewelry to match your wedding colors.

If you can’t find what you are looking for on the website, brides can customize their existing styles like the twist necklaces and the freshwater coin pearl collection to match any dress, or they will work with you to create a custom piece.

M. Flynn offers generous bridal discounts for orders of 4 or more pieces:

4-6 pieces - 15% discount
7 or more pieces – 20% discount

Each item is finished with the crystal color of your choice and packed in a beautiful gift box with a jewelry pouch. Monogrammed pouches and engraved tags are also available.

If you are in boston, you can visit M. Flynn Accessories at:

46 Waltham Street, 101
Boston, MA 02118
mflynnstudio.com
(617) 292-0079

If you are anywhere else in the country, visit mflynnwedding.com to check out their fabulous wedding jewelry.

The necklace pictured features blue lace agate and is available for $198.

One of my favorite choices for bridesmaid dresses is Alvina Valenta. The dresses are simple yet very chic and always so feminine. Plus I just love their colors. Alvina Valenta also makes wonderful bridal gowns too.

If you have the opportunity to go to one of the Alvina Valenta trunk shows, you really should!

Here are some of their bridal trunk shows going on this month for their Spring 2008 Bridal Collection:

January 11 - 13, 2008
Mon Amie Bridal Salon - Costa Mesa, CA
714-546-5700

January 18 - 20, 2008
Proposals - Little Rock, AR
501-661-4696

January 25 - 27, 2008
The Bridal Collection - Denver, CO
720-493-9454

Additionally, they have these shows coming up for their Bridesmaid Collection:

January 18 - 20, 2008
Bridal Reflections at Massapequa - Massapequa, NY
516-795-2222

January 25 - 27, 2008
Adrienne’s - Islip, NY
631-581-4145

January 25 - 27, 2008
Boutique Victoria - Chicago, IL
312-226-9880

You can check out their website at alvinavalenta.com to locate a store near you, request a catalog or find other trunk shows in future month.

Most wedding experts will agree that wedding color trends for 2008 will include plenty of yellows, oranges and browns.

Though these colors may seem like fall shades, they will actually be used as wedding colors throughout the year.

Pale yellows will be popular in spring, while bright lemon yellow will be used in the summer. As the weather turns cooler, the yellows will darken to mustard, green-yellow and beige-yellow.

The trend is similar for oranges. In the spring, pastel peach will be popular with tangerine coming into play in the summertime. Many brides are choosing to use yellow and orange together in complementary hues, which is beautiful when used properly.

Brown is continuing to dominate the fashion runways in the form of dresses, suits, shoes and handbags. And the brown trend is carrying over in the world of weddings as well. Chocolate brown will be popular all year, particular when paired with a gold or pink. One of my favorite color combinations is dark chocolate brown with bright pink!

What about you? Have you chosen your wedding colors yet? Have you seen any interesting color schemes in weddings lately?

Please leave your comments here and let us know!

The brown bridesmaid’s dress pictured here is from David’s Bridal.

As the bride, you know all about gifts. After all, you’ve probably registered at a few different places (at least!) to coordinate all the new gifts you’ll be receiving with your new home. And even though you’ll generally be on the receiving end, there are a few gifts you get to give as well.

Bridesmaid gifts are a personal thing, to say the least. Unless you have extenuating circumstances, your bridesmaids are probably pretty close friends, and you’ll want to do something special for each of them. But what exactly should you do?

The truth is, you could probably do anything that sounds like a good idea, and you’d be set. While you certainly can spend a lot of money on your bridesmaids as a thank-you, sometimes a simple, well thought out gift says just as much. To get you started, here are a few suggestions:

• Try to spend the same amount on each gift. This doesn’t mean you need to get each bridesmaid the same thing, but it’s a good idea to not let anyone feel left out or shafted.
• Think about getting your Maid of Honor something extra special. She’s got a different title, hasn’t she? Well, there’s a reason for that, and her significance in your wedding (and in your life) probably warrants something a little extra special.
• Enclose a personal note with each gift. This way, even though your gifts might or might not match, each of your bridesmaids will know how important they are to you.
• Make your gift a little bit sentimental. Maybe you want to include a photo album of you all leading up to your big day, or even just a small trinket that will remind them and you of the good times you all had while planning your wedding. (You could even order a small, extra special something from Truly Wedding that coordinates with your wedding theme!)

Just remember that when it comes to getting bridesmaids gifts, there is no right or wrong answer. Just make sure it feels right to you, and they’ll love whatever gift you choose to give!

Your bridesmaids are your best friends. They have been by your side for years through all the laughter and tears. And now, they are helping to plan the biggest day of your life - your wedding day.

You can show appreciation to your bridemaids buy giving these adorable inspirations bracelets by Cynthia H Designs. These bracelets have become popular with celebrities and others. Fran Drescher ordered at batch for her “Cancer Schmancer” events and Heroes star Greg Grunberg placed an order to give to his friends and cast members.

Surrounded by colorful leather straps, the inspirational messages are engraved on steel plates. Some of the messages include “Listen to your soul,” ” Make the impossible possible,” “Celebrate life,” and “Follow your passion.”

After going through a rough time in her life, Cynthia Holvey channeled her energy to create Cynthia H Designs, a line of leather handbags, belts and other fashionable accessories. Later she added this really cool line of inspiration bracelets.

The Cynthia H Design Message Bracelets are available from $48-$54 each and can be ordered online at cynthiahdesigns.com.

These bracelets are a perfect way to give inspiration back to the women in your life that have inspired you.

You have a vision. You have a plan. Right down to the mini quiche with yellow peppers - chosen to match the napkins. But, when it comes to your bridesmaids - the ones who threw your engagement party, bridal shower, and your bachelorette party, bought you separate thoughtful gifts for each occasion, listened for two hours when your fiancé nixed your favorite frosting flavor and your mother-in-law-to-be casually mentioned you don’t need any frosting anyway – those peerless women don’t deserve to be associated with butt-bows. Especially big ones.

You chose your bridesmaids (hopefully) because you love them, and want them to share your big day. Since you love them, you don’t want them to be dreading your wedding with the same fervor they dread karaoke, mom’s 9-grain vegan casserole or, say, the smoking pits of a fiery hell. You want to look good on your wedding day and they want to look good too. Your motive doesn’t even have to be entirely selfless. Everyone is in a better mood when they know they look smashing.

If the wedding spreadsheet section labeled “bridesmaids, what to wear” includes the word “matching”, you may want to consider some revision. What looks good on willowy cousin Bess will only accentuate your sister Melanie’s lack of restraint when it comes to butterscotch cupcakes. Besides, Bess leans toward the Hot Topic aesthetic while Melanie veers toward Ann Taylor. Consider letting them choose their own gowns, maybe in different hues of the same color or with a universally flattering hemline. Rigidity is good when telling tippling Uncle Wesley that he can’t bring his own flask of whiskey to your ceremony. Less so when telling your friends to pony up for pricey dresses. Let them choose something they’ll wear again, and keep your friends past the honeymoon.

And enjoy the sudden halt to references of “flaming hallway of hell” when discussing their walk down the aisle.