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This lace mermaid gown features a sweetheart neckline, a scalloped hemline, and buttons running down the length of the train.
Tip of the Day: To highlight your toasts, event designer Sasha Souza suggests doing them as soon as you sit down. "You get more focused attention that way — and fewer intoxicated guests," she says.
Plus, check out our Cheat Sheet to Ace Your Maid of Honor Speech.
In The Emily Post Institute's latest book, Emily Post’s Wedding Etiquette: 6th Edition, Emily's great-great-granddaughters Anna and Lizzie Post tackle modern-day wedding questions that the original etiquette expert never could've dreamed about, from how to use (wisely) use technology, the rules for same-sex weddings, and much more. Here, the fourth generation of Posts tackle the biggest wedding invitation mistakes.
Photo Credit: Paperfinger via Lover.ly
Before you okay your proofs or send your invitations to the printer, review them for the following:
Check, double-check, and then have others check the wording. Be particularly attentive to spelling, the correct names and addresses of ceremony and reception sites, and the correct date and time.
Avoid any mention of gifts or listing of gift registries. Also, don’t include a notation such as “No gifts, please,” tempting as it may be. This keeps the entire focus of the invitation on the person you are inviting, not on any implied obligation to bring a gift. You can put registry or charitable-giving information on your website, or have family members and attendants help spread the word.
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Tip of the Day: It's important to meet face-to-face with vendors, and if that isn't possible, whether because you're throwing a destination wedding or you need to book now, then set up a Skype chat. Reading a potential vendor's facial and body cues will give you a better sense of their demeanor.
Plus, check out 5 Tips for Choosing the Perfect Wedding Vendors.
Tip of the Day: "Find five minutes (or more if you can!) at some point during the day to steal your groom away and step back to check it all out. Admire each other, the view, the venue, the décor, the music, the guests...all there for you two. Share your favorite moment of the day, steal a kiss, or giggle about your friend's silly dance moves. The rest of the day may be a whirlwind, but you'll never forget those five minutes!" says Shannon O’Neil from Cargo Creative.
Plus, check out 35 Romantic Ideas for Your Wedding Reception.
One of the biggest wedding-planning challenges can be cohesiveness — presenting a consistent vision for your event from start to finish. As a wedding planner, I see brides (especially those who are newly engaged) struggle with this all the time. They've picked their venue, theme and dress...but none of the three really match.
Throughout the process of falling in love with gowns, flowers, linens, and all things wedding pretty, you might find it difficult to maintain focus and your wedding can take on a life of its own. So, how do you prevent this from happening? The good news is that by outlining key factors early on, it's totally doable to execute your big day without getting completely lost in the process.
I've put together some easy tips to help couples stay on track throughout the months leading up to their wedding. By no means do you have to follow these to a T. My hope is that you will find a way to personalize these steps and bring your vision to life in the most magical way possible!
1. Book your venue before anything else.
This is the one key piece of advice that I've shared with all of my clients throughout the years that hasn't changed. In your venue selection, you'll narrow down the search by finding out what you're stylistically drawn to and what reflects you as a couple. Your entire wedding vision will become more defined throughout this process.
Featured: Hyatt Ziva
