Bliss
 
Feel, look, live beautiful ... together

Dana Schwartz & Vanessa LaFaso Stolarski

Your heads are spinning with details of your big day and dreams of living happily ever after. Ease into your life together with ideas for before, during and after your walk down the aisle.

Digital Days of Our Lives
Wedding planning clicks into place with helpful online tools

While the term “bridezilla”may be used loosely these days, it’s pretty clear that modern-day brides know what they want and have done their homework for making it happen. The modern-day bride’s best friend? The Internet.

Susan Smith, a planner with Simply Elegant Weddings in McLean, believes that the Internet is the number one planning resource for brides. See if your wedding colors coordinate with your bridesmaid dresses, blog with other brides and even design your own wedding invitations.

We’ve compiled some useful planning websites to help the bride who wants to have control over her wedding.

But use the Internet sparingly. Smith recently discovered that research suggests, not too surprisingly, brides have let wedding planning take over their lives.

“I actually learned in a meeting that the majority of brides are on the Internet from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m,” she said.

Tying the Knot Made Simple
Some websites look at the big picture for couples, taking care of checklists, budgets and wedding web pages for guests to view. Most of these sites also have message boards and blogs for brides to ask other brides for advice and opinions.

WeddingWire (www.weddingwire.com) is a free site with social networking capabilities, a local vendor search feature, comparison shopping and wedding planning tools all based on their database of more than 15,000 vendors. Brides can use the interactive question and answer section and discussion section for advice and the helpful links page to post websites and articles they like for other brides to use.

Ewedding (www.ewedding.com) offers free services with a premium service of $9.95 monthly or $89 for the year. The premium service gives couples options like unlimited photo space, a guest book, an online R.S.V.P., honeymoon information, registry, maps and directions for out-of-town guests.

All of these sites offer couples a wide selection of wedding ideas and tools that are streamlined in one space, which eliminates the potential to confuse the details.

Meredith Tomasula, a planner with Elegant Engagements in Alexandria, said websites such as Wedding Wire are a great place to start doing research, but advised brides-to-be not to get too lost in all of the information.

“The best thing about the Internet is that they get to see all of the ideas and concepts online,” she said. “But brides actually can get really overwhelmed with all of the options that they need a planner to help them hold it all together.”

Dresses for Success
David’s Bridal has taken wedding dress shopping to another level. With their “Dress Your Wedding” tool (www.davidsbridal.com) brides can experiment with different trends, colors, fashions and accessories to create the wedding dress of their dreams. From there they can visualize what their whole wedding party will look like with matching bridesmaid dresses and tuxedos—personalizing it to the point of hair colors and styles, facial features and skin tone options.

Brides can view how dresses would look up against a background specific to the location of the wedding, from a beach to a formal banquet room. Add flowers to see how the colors would coordinate with the dresses. Up to 10 personal wedding albums can be saved and shared with friends and family members, and visitors can save their scenes and return to work on them when they have more time.

“The dress tool is very beneficial for brides, especially because brides are so Internet-savvy these days. They can go online and try different things out instead of having to go to a store and pick Dress A off of the shelf for their bridesmaids,” Tomasula said.

Carin Rosenberg Levine, owner of Hitched Salon in Washington, D.C., thinks it’s a great idea for brides to spend time online when searching for their dresses, especially to avoid surprises like high prices.

When it comes to doing research on dresses online, Rosenberg Levine said it’s also beneficial when brides come prepared to her store, and she definitely recommends that brides visit designers’ websites to learn about what kind of dress they might want.

Pictures in a Snap
Couples painstakingly plan for a wedding a year or two in advance, all for the day to pass in a flash, so photographs are crucial. Searching for photographers online is made easy by the websites mentioned earlier, but what about sharing your photographs with guests so that they can relive the day with you? Many photographers are now posting the wedding photos online for the couple and guests to view and order online.

“Photographers putting the wedding photos online is very popular these days; it’s an easy way for friends and family members to see the pictures and order them, which they never really had the opportunity to do in the past,” Tomasula said.

There are also several ways to share photos with guests and create scrapbooks, including those offered by websites such as www.snapfish.com and www.kodak.com.

DIY R.S.V.P.
Creating the perfect wedding invitation has become virtually painless. Couples are now using websites to create free wedding templates that they can print out at home. Websites such as Southworth (www.southworth.com) and The Paper Mill Store (www.thepapermillstore.com) provide printer-ready templates that not only allow the couple to personalize their invitations exactly how they want to, but also save a lot of time.

Tomasula said that although printing invitations up for showers and bridal parties is popular, she has noticed that most brides still don’t mind paying extra for their wedding invitations.

“They want to touch and feel the paper; they don’t want a cheap invitation to go out for their special day,” she said.

However, with the help of any craft store, do-it-yourselfers can find the paper, stock and embellishments that suit their tastes and bridal theme.

Flowers and Colors and Blogs, Oh My!
Do you want to experiment with different color palettes, but just go crazy with all of the paper swatches? Are you not sure what flowers are in season for your wedding? Is your best man the worst speechwriter of all time? Enter Bliss! Weddings (www.blissweddings.com). The wedding color palette tool helps mix and match different color swatches to find the best-looking combination. The floral generator is a database that helps brides search for flowers based on color, season, bridesmaid dresses and even region of the country.

The tongue-tied best man will find another helpful tool on the site: Bliss! Weddings has a wedding toast generator that takes the bride’s, groom’s and parents’ names and allows the user to choose the introduction section, content section and closing section, resulting in the perfect wedding toast.

Wedding planners, too, are creating websites that detail their services, as well as their own blogs. Tomasula started a wedding blog on her company’s website to keep clients up to date on trends in the planning business. “Blogs are huge right now; it’s a personal way to connect with the brides. They want to read something more personal rather than articles that are up on websites for the general public.”

Many wedding planners advise doing research and staying organized online, but note that nothing beats seeing your flowers or meeting your photographer in person.

“The Internet is a great tool for learning and exploring,” Rosenberg Levine said. “But brides still need to be open-minded when they go to do their planning. Things that look good online might not always look great in person. Use the Internet as a resource, and be open to changes that may happen.”

Fly Me to the Moon
Honeymoons Tailored to Taste

By Dana Schwartz

During the time spent ironing out details, stressing over the guest list and walking down the aisle, the honeymoon retreat lingers on the minds of all newlyweds. Who wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about relaxing on the beach of a tropical island next to their new spouse?

But many people don’t plan accordingly, under-budgeting and corrdinating poorly. Luckily couples can now call up the wedding planner’s close relative, the honeymoon planner, so that their romantic getaway truly is smooth sailing.

Teresa Belcher, president of Honeymoon Islands Inc., in Fairfax, has been planning honeymoons for 27 years. She’s turned her passion into a company that pulls in $1-1.5 million each year. With couples putting all of their time, energy and resources into the perfect wedding day, a honeymoon planner often comes in handy when planning for the relaxing and romantic trip that trails their magical day.

Belcher speaks with the couple to find out what they are specifically looking for; getting down to the “nitty grittys,” as she calls them, really helps her zone in on what the couple would enjoy.

“Finding out the couple’s expectations is the most important thing,” she said. “I want them to paint a picture for me, and it’s also important that they’re on the same page with each other.”

Belcher recommends that the couple sit down with each other and make a “T-chart,” with pros on one side and cons on the other. Each person should make his or her own list and then exchange them to see what the other expects out of the honeymoon. More often than not, each person has different ideas of what they want. Then they should write a chart together about what they want as a couple and prioritize what they’re not willing to give up over what they are.

Couples should consider what they like to do during the day and night, the importance of a beach, dining and nightlife. Would they like to hibernate or venture out at night? What amenities would they like? What don’t they want? Where have they traveled together in the past and what did they like and not like about it?

Then comes the budget. Belcher says that eight out of 10 couples budget so much for the wedding and barely anything for the honeymoon, spending thousands of dollars on a 20-minute ceremony and reception and only $4-5,000 for a seven-day trip.

Belcher recommends going by the 50-percent rule. She believes every couple underestimates their honeymoon budget by half, so they should take what they have budgeted and add 50 percent to that.

“The bottom line is to ask if they want to increase their budget to meet their expectations or to lower their expectations to meet their budget,” she said. “You can’t buy a champagne honeymoon on a beer budget.”

Couples also should keep in mind their planning timeline. While most couples get engaged one to two years in advance of their wedding, they don’t necessarily need to start planning the honeymoon right away. Reservations should be made six to 10 months prior to the honeymoon with the balance paid two months in advance.

A major advantage to working with a honeymoon planner is that they have more help on their side as opposed to planning by themselves. Belcher claims that honeymoon planners have the benefit of buying power; with connections at the hotels and airlines, they can take care of all the details. Also, planners have a 24-hour customer service number that you can call if there’s a problem on the trip, as opposed to trying to fix things alone.

“The difference is that the couple is only looking at the bottom line while honeymoon planners look at the whole picture and the bottom line,” she said.

Kenneth and Courtenay Brown enlisted the help of a honeymoon planner when they were planning their honeymoon to Maui at the Kea Lani Resort.

“Our honeymoon was over-the-top luxury and relaxation. Nothing could’ve prepared me and my husband for the Kea Lani. There is no other hotel on Maui that can compare, it even trumps the Four Seasons in my estimation,” Courtenay said.

When the Browns arrived to their room they found long stemmed strawberries, chocolate fondue and champagne.

“Needless to say, those items were the catalyst to a fabulous honeymoon,” she said.

There are also other perks to working with a honeymoon planner, such as the gift registry some use. This works best for couples who already have their home furnished and also for second-timers. Couples can register with their planners for a gift registry, and their guests can help pay for the honeymoon.

Wedding Dos (and Some Don’ts)

By Vanessa LaFaso Stolarski

We all have them. Salon nightmare stories of fried hair you paid for and over-easy dos you could have done yourself. No need to enter a chapter for your wedding day in that book of woes. Prevent coif catastrophes and makeup messes with this handy guide. The talented stylists at Circe salon in Alexandria offer a few tips for teasing and taming a tantalizing do.

Pro Hair Flair
Between mailing invitations and choosing the menu, getting your dress fitted and buying bridal party gifts, you’ve been pulling your hair out trying to get it all done. So sit back, relax and put your hair in someone else’s hands.

Angie Orwig, stylist and makeup artist at Circe, makes a few recommendations that will ensure a positive experience while in the salon chair.

1. Bring several photos with you to your trial in case your ideal do is not practical for you.
2. Use a damage remedy treatment on your hair one week prior to styling.
3. Color your hair at least two weeks before the big day, and do not go too dramatic. “It’s not a good idea to try anything new right before the wedding,” Orwig suggests.
4. Arrive with slightly dirty hair. Although this suggestion might get your crinoline in a bunch, Orwig says the natural oils help make the hair more manageable and give it some weight, which will better hold the style.
5. Make sure your stylist starts the curling iron at the center of the hair section to avoid frying the ends.
6. When touching up your do, crisscrossing the bobby pins will ensure a firmer hold.
7. During your trial run, your stylist should get your feedback while he or she is doing your hair. Be sure to ask questions and speak up if you do not like what he or she is doing.
8. Orwig says thermal styling sprays are a must. “They create a shield between your hair and the heating implement.”
9. Bring your veil or other head pieces to your trial run so the stylist can teach you how to put it in.
10. Stay still! Another Circe stylist recommends bringing someone with you to the final appointment to answer your phone and take care of business while you are in the chair.

The DIY Do
Maybe your taste is simple. Maybe you’re a bit of a control freak. Or maybe you’re just looking to save a few extra bucks. Either way, with the help of a friend, you can wow your spouse with locks you fixed yourself.

Maria Escobar showed us how to fashion curls and coax your hair to its maximum fullness. Keep a friend nearby to hand you bobby pins and help section your hair evenly.

1. Curl the top of the hair and hold the curls in place with pins. Do not let the hair fall or the curls will straighten after they cool.
2. To get lift, before curling, Escobar recommends teasing at the root area and then spritzing with hair spray.
3. For added height, brush hair over a roller pinned at your crown. The roller stays in for the duration of your do. For a half up-do, comb hair back over crown. Smooth with fingers.
4. Using small sections, bring pieces back little by little. Comb, smooth and pin according to where you want the pieces, and then separate them with the end of a comb.
5. Experiment with crisscrossing strands or pulling them through other curls.
6. Separate hanging half-do strands with your fingers and then finish them with a curling iron.
7. Work from the top to the left to the right. “The key is dividing the portions evenly.” Half-do self-stylists should focus on creating an evenly swept frame around the face.
8. Position your bangs across your forehead and pin back, if desired. Smooth wispy strands with hair spray.
9. For more fullness, twist remaining half-do hanging strands, then tease them up.
10. Once you are happy with the style, ask a friend to help pin flowers to the back of your hair or talk to a florist about fastening them on a hair clip.

Coiffure Couture
Gwen Gattsek, owner of Stems florist in Alexandria, offered her professional advice for ordering fresh flowers for your hair. “First you should figure out if you need them to match your bouquet or your dress,” she says. Then Gattsek says the florist will need to know your hair type. Brides with thin hair will want to avoid flowers that are too heavy or too large. “Talk to your stylist first,” Gattsek recommends. From there, Gattsek says brides have a few options. The florist can fasten the flowers onto a barrette or other hair accessory or, if the bride would like to weave them through a French braid, the flowers can be glued to a chenille (similar to a pipe cleaner). A halo of posies, on the other hand, has more to do with your florist than your stylist, she says.

(December 2007)