4 Subtle But Hilarious Ways Bridal Showers Are Different from Baby Showers

No expecting mom would be as happy as I was to receive lingerie at my bridal shower.

On the surface, it’d seem bridal showers and baby showers are indistinguishable from one another. They both tend to be held in some restaurant back room or in someone’s home, they both tend to be women only, and the main events for both are often eating, playing silly games, and opening presents. True, the main difference is pretty darn apparent–the guest of honor is either at the thinnest of her adult life or the heaviest–but do one of the following at the wrong kind of shower and the results would be awkward. Continue reading

6 Ways You’re Leading on Uninvited Wedding Guests

And a 7th: Don't text a picture of your engagement ring to people who neither are invited to your wedding nor ask to see it. It says, "I don't like you, but I want you to know that I have a diamond."

People understand when you can’t invite them to your wedding. With the exception of a house and your children’s college education, your reception is the single most expensive thing you’ll ever fund. But just as there’s a code to which your acquaintances stick (or should stick) regarding what they can and can’t say to you, the bride who’s not inviting them, there are some unspoken rules to which you should adhere–like avoiding these things. Continue reading

Just When I Thought I Was Out, They Pull Me Back In

Sorry for the Mafioso title; Paul and I recently started watching The Sopranos for the first time…the day BEFORE James Gandolfini died.

It’s a symptom of your early 30s (in my part of the country anyway): The wedding invitations gradually stop showing and baby shower invitations start picking up. In fact, this year, Paul and I were invited to only two weddings. On May 19th, my friend Jenn married her longtime love, Karina, and then, for the first time in nine years, Paul and I didn’t have a single engaged friend. Continue reading

Spoiler Alert: Almost Everyone on ā€˜Bridezillas: Where Are They Now’ Is Divorced

cake with beheaded groom topperWhile we were planning our wedding and for the couple years after when my livelihood depended on writing for brides, I watched a lot of wedding TV shows, including the weekly train wreck known as Bridezillas. These days, I’m more likely to flip to HGTV on a weekend morning to catch house-hunting shows. Today, though, when Love It or List It went to commercial, I changed to We TV (hey, I get to watch this stuff only when Paul’s sleeping—I’ve got to take advantage!). And while what I saw shouldn’t have surprised me, it made me sad. Continue reading

10 Things the Best Wedding Ceremonies Have in Common

I was fortunate enough to go to a fabulous wedding the other day (congrats and mazel, Lauren and Jon!), and even though the music was pumping, the setting was top-notch, and the food was flawless, it’s their ceremony’s that stuck with me. I realized as different as it was from every other of the 22 I’ve attended (yes, I counted), the most enjoyable ones shared some key characteristics. Continue reading

The Boston Marathon Wedding That Bombs Couldn’t Stop

Mere blocks away from the chaos and carnage that marred the annual Boston Marathon, a more serene scene was the background for a very special wedding for two runners. As Buzzfeed reports, a pair of athletes, who got engaged at the Chicago Marathon last October, planned their nuptials immediately to follow the Boston Marathon long before anyone had any inkling that a tragedy would take place there. Less than four hours after dual explosions rocked the Back Bay, Kelli Johnston and Robert Watling tied the knot in their running shoes in Boston Common. The couple thankfully had completed the race before the bombs detonated. Continue reading

The 5 Wedding Questions I Get Asked All the Time

Having worked for wedding magazines and websites and blogged about weddings, I’ve learned a few things along the way. My friends know this. My Twitter followers do, too. And because the world of weddings can be downright confusing, they often turn to me when they have a planning conundrum or an etiquette question. Some queries pop up more than others. So consider this the FAQs page on my site for brides and wedding guests. Continue reading

Surprising Ways Hurricane Sandy Can Still Affect Your Wedding

Hurricane Sandy had the power to knock out wedding venues’ electricity, and worse, flood them to the point of destruction. While losing your venue so soon before your wedding is horrific, it’s an obvious problem, one you’re hyper-aware you need to remedy. Other Sandy effects, like those that follow, aren’t as apparent–and you may not even know about them until it’s too late. Continue reading

Wedding WTF: She Threw Herself a Blowout Bachelorette Party…and Says She’s Too Broke for Mine!

An eye for an eye, a bachelorette party for a bachelorette party. My own celebration was pretty low-key, but goshdarn it, had we gone away, I’d sure as hell fly wherever a bridesmaid-turned-bride wanted me to travel to for hers. Of course, everyone’s on a different budget, but this particular bride doesn’t play by the rules in my opinion. You be the judge. Continue reading