Blogs

If your parents are divorced, you're bound to run into some tricky situations while planning your wedding. Who sits where during the ceremony and reception? Who pays for what? How do stepparents fit into the picture? 

In The Big Wedding, which hits theaters today, the long-divorced Don and Ellie Griffin (Robert De Niro and Diane Keaton) decide to pretend they're still happily married when their adopted son's ultra-conservative biological mother unexpectedly decides to attend the wedding.
Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

While that approach probably doesn't work in real life, we do have some more practical solutions for dealing with divorced parents at your wedding. Here, get answers to your biggest questions:

"My parents have been divorced for over 20 years, and although both have remarried, they haven’t seen or spoken to each other in all that time. I’m worried about how they might behave toward one another at my wedding. What can I do?"

Bridal editors were swooning at a small event last week in his flagship store on Madison Avenue in NYC. Brian Atwood unveiled the launch of his new bridal collection; a lovely collection of fashion-forward fantastical heels. 

We are loving these fabulous heels. The plum floral heels can be customized to any color to match your wedding theme — love!

The bridal collection will be available in stores by June — just in time for wedding season.

To see more Brian Atwood, check out brianatwood.com.

—Naima DiFranco

This season, Romona Keveza's couture bridal collection takes you on a tour through time, drawing inspiration from the 1800s into the future. The show begins with a blush ballgown inspired by Princess Alice, then progresses to a 1920s Gatsby gown, an Old Hollywood glamour gown from the '30s, a return to luxury in the '40s, a sweet '50s frock, a gown inspired by Jackie Kennedy, a bell-shaped dress representing the '80s, a one-shoulder dress for the '90s, a lace and tulle number for the new millennium, and a glittering gold using fabrications never before seen in bridal for the gown of the future.

Watch the full show here:

See more from the bridal runways in our daily recaps!

—Kristen O'Gorman Klein

The Little House on the Prairie star and Dancing with the Stars alum married actor Timothy Busfield yesterday in a private ceremony at the celeb-favorite San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara, California. 

Photo courtesy of @melissaegilbert/Twitter

The pair got engaged in December. "They've known each other for quite some time, as their paths have crossed off-and-on over the past 20 years," a source told Us Weekly. 

The San Ysidro Ranch, a picturesque resort with an ultra-private vibe and luxe accomodations, has played host to a number of other celebrity couples over the years, including Jack and Jackie Kennedy, Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin, Hilarie Duff and Mike Comrie, and Drew Barrymore and Will Kopelman. 

Photo courtesy of San Ysidro Ranch, A Rosewood Resort

Tell us: What do you think of Melissa's red gown?

We scored an exclusive backstage pass to one of the hottest bridal runway shows this season — Marchesa. Their newest styles feature cascading peplums, light-as-air ruffles and ultra-feminine sleeves (more on gowns later!), but we also couldn't wait to show you the equally covetable hair and makeup from the show. 

Get the Look: Luminous and Angelic Makeup

Marchesa chose none other than renowned celebrity makeup artist Gucci Westman, dubbed by Vogue as “fashion’s favorite face-maker,” to beautify the models for their runway show. The Artistic Director of Revlon took a less-is-more beauty approach, which perfectly complemented the ethereal dress styles.
To create a radiant glow, Westman began by prepping the skin with a luminizer and primer (the key to long-lasting makeup). She used a light foundation, Revlon Nearly Naked, which provided coverage yet still allowed the models' natural beauty to shine through.

A Monique Lhuillier runway show never disappoints — this season, we got an exclusive backstage pass to see how the magic happens. Kérastase and MAC created a fresh and glam beauty look inspired by '60s starlets, like Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn. Come check it out!

Get the Look: Retro-Chic Chignon

First, Kérastase lead stylist Nina Dimachki applied a mixture of Volumactive Mousse, Volumactive Spray, and Ciment Thermique to add texture and create a second-day hair effect. Then, she blow-dried the hair to set the product, curled it with a one-inch iron and pinned up the curls while they were still warm.

Guest Blogger: Nathaniel Neubauer, owner of Contemporary Catering
Nathaniel’s mom says it best: “When Nathaniel was turning three, I asked him what he wanted for his third birthday. He said, ‘Quiche.’” Ever since, Nathaniel’s love for food has never been far from reach. With his presence, Contemporary Catering quickly became a major contender in the Los Angeles catering industry. From overseeing production to designing a nine-course tasting menu with five-star service, Nathaniel’s dedication to his clients and his company is unparalleled.

We believe fruit is a must for every meal, but what we don't believe in are fruit carving displays circa 1982. Fruit deserves to be to be served up in a much more appetizing and fresh way, and not just limited to cheesy buffets and sugary-sweet desserts. There's no reason fruit shouldn't be used in every course at your wedding, from chef-driven cocktails infused with exotic fruits to fruit in salads to fruit-adorned appetizers, like seared scallops with mango-melon salsa, and even savory main courses, like slow cooked lamb with a pomegranate orange sauce. 

Cocktails:

Guest blogger: Kate Harrison, creator of greenbrideguide.com.
After planning her own green wedding in 2007, Kate wrote the best-selling green wedding book, The Green Bride Guide: How to Plan an Earth-Friendly Wedding on Any Budget (Sourcebooks, 2008). In 2009, she founded greenbrideguide.com to help couples use their weddings to promote social and environmental change while supporting the local green economy. Kate has a JD in Environmental Law and a Master's from Yale in Environmental Policy. 

I got really excited about the cake topper at my wedding. I searched high and low for the perfect vintage piece, from local boutiques to eBay to my grandmother’s antique-filled attic. I was looking for something timeless and sweet, something that embodied our style and attitude. The topper I decided on was porcelain. It was from the 1920s, and the bride and groom were dressed as dapper flappers. Our whole wedding was vintage, and the cake topper was the perfect finishing touch.

Photo Credit: Redbreastedbird.blogspot.com

Put the finishing touch on your eco-friendly wedding with these cute and responsible cake toppers.

Guest blogger: Kate Harrison, creator of greenbrideguide.com.
After planning her own green wedding in 2007, Kate wrote the best-selling green wedding book, The Green Bride Guide: How to Plan an Earth-Friendly Wedding on Any Budget (Sourcebooks, 2008). In 2009, she founded greenbrideguide.com to help couples use their weddings to promote social and environmental change while supporting the local green economy. Kate has a JD in Environmental Law and a Master's from Yale in Environmental Policy. 

Once upon a time, a letterpress stamped our crests into rich paper, ecru or eggshell. We wrote in calligraphy, each letter a work of art. A wedding required a forest of trees that were felled, ground to a pulp, pressed on a screen, and dried in the sun. Today, the paper making process is industrial and includes cutting machines, duplex board machines, hydraulic head boxes, and pressurized screens. Smoke billows from tall chimneys and from the exhaust pipes of tractor-trailer delivery trucks bound to all four corners of the lower 48. We drive to buy the paper, choosing boxes from piles of boxes stacked to the ceilings of office supply superstores. Then we send it back out on another truck, to another destination. All of this energy — the fossil fuels, the man-hours — turns a wedding into a giant carbon footprint.

Guest blogger: Kate Harrison, creator of greenbrideguide.com.
After planning her own green wedding in 2007, Kate wrote the best-selling green wedding book, The Green Bride Guide: How to Plan an Earth-Friendly Wedding on Any Budget (Sourcebooks, 2008). In 2009, she founded greenbrideguide.com to help couples use their weddings to promote social and environmental change while supporting the local green economy. Kate has a JD in Environmental Law and a Master's from Yale in Environmental Policy. 

Photo courtesy of zuukusa.co.cc

There is nothing more fun than frolicking through a cloud of celebratory confetti. Launching things in the air is a timeless staple of any celebration. There is something so exciting about letting loose – hurling something into the wide blue sky to express the deepest joy. But there is a downside to all that hurling: waste. Traditional confetti falls everywhere: in your hair, on your clothes, and on the ground. All of those tiny pieces can be a real mess, especially if they aren’t environmentally safe. Protect nature and have fun with these great eco-friendly confetti options. Hurray!

Snowflakes