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Top America Bachelorette Hot Spots

New York, New York…Ah, the mere sound of the city name. The city that doesn’t sleep. The playground for adults. The shopping, dining and arts mecca of America. It is clearly one of the best bachelorette party destinations where you can enjoy the best of the best with your best friends. Start off with breakfast at Isabella’s at Central Park, followed by shopping on 5th Ave., a tour of Metropolitan Museum of Art, dinner in Soho, Mama Mia on Broadway…the options are literally endless. Check out the super stylish Gansevoort Hotel where you need not leave the hotel to enjoy the last precious days as a single woman. Enjoy a spa treatment at the hotel’s G-Spa where you can indulge in pedicures, facials, and massages. For your happy hour, before you and the girls get dolled up to hit the town, enjoy a drink here in the company of your guests. The hydro pools have been morphed to create liquid-illusion dance floors.

What? You want to go the beach? Consider South Beach, Miami, Florida where the days are spent sprawled under the sun on the white beaches of the Atlantic Ocean and the evenings are filled with delectable dining cuisines and dancing beyond the velvet rope at ultra exclusive dance clubs. Enjoy a chilled mojito in a beachfront cabana on a comfy lounge bed at Nikki Beach’s Oceanfront Beach Club where a DJ spins the latest hot dance sounds. Or if you have the itch to shop hit the chic boutiques along Lincoln Road to select your new little party dress that will show off your tan. Many hotels like the Catalina Hotel & Beach Club have enticing “Style the Last Mile” bachelorette packages that are surprisingly affordable. Or consider Delano Miami, the all white modern luxury hotel featuring an unsurpassed Agua Spa and pool suited for those who have pampered relaxation on the mind. 

Who doesn’t love old Southern charm? Charleston, South Carolina is a quaint, but lively city that has a natural charm of its own. You and the girls can relax at your beach house rental at Sullivan’s Island during the weekend and visit Charleston for shopping and dining. Wear your pretty sundress and oversized hat as you take a stroll along King Street where you’ll find art galleries, antiques and modern clothing boutiques. You can even get yourself enrolled into a cooking class at Maverick Southern Kitchens. As the sun sets, unwind at a multitude of wine bars, the Torch Lounge for martinis or hit the Music Farm for live entertainment.

Last but not least is Viva Las Vegas, Nevada, baby. Have your lingerie shower in a limo and get chauffeured all night long. Options are seemingly endless in Las Vegas. From the thrill of the casinos, to infamous las vegas shows, to adapting your own stripper-inspired moves oat StudiOhm. Be sure to visit Pure, LAX, and Tryst, the star studded hottest nightclubs on the strip. To recuperate from your big night out enjoy spa treatments at Spa Bellagio, Vita di Lago at the Ritz, or the spa at Wynn Las Vegas. Or perhaps a little “hair of the dog” is in order.  If so, hit the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Beach Club where music fills the air and the pool with their underwater speakers. One of Travel Channel’s Top 10 pools, this is THE place for a raging pool party, swim up black jack and even a water slide in a beach like oasis. Don’t forget to check out what concerts are playing at The Joint, the Hard Rock’s premier live music venue.

With any of your travel plans we hope you’ll consider contacting our StrictlyWeddings.com travel partner Signature Travel Boutique.

Say I Do To The iPhone

What will they think of next? The iPhone now counts down your “I DO’s.” This new application allows you to be a bit more obsessed with your date. Now every time someone asks how long it is until the big day you can have an exact answer! Simply enter in your wedding date and time and let the countdown begin. Wedding Day application counts the years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and even seconds until you say “iDO!” Helpful in planning since every second counts for busy brides and grooms!

Wedding Day applications continues to work even after you say your vows, by tracking how long you have been married. Down to the second! Since your iPhone or iPod Touch is always with you, the countdown is only a click away. Wedding Day is a real time tool and available on the iPhone App Store.

Found on: BridalBarBlog 

Party Time…The Eco-Friendly Way

Everyone is talking green these days. Brides who are into the whole eco-friendly trend can get wedding confetti poppers! They are a chic, biodegradable alternative to rice and seeds. They are perfect to use as guests cheer you after the ceremony, at your outdoor reception or your grand exit. Wedding poppers are filled with white tissue paper confetti that shoots into the air when the safe, spring-loaded device is activated.

Photo by: f8studio

Marcy Blum and My Dove Chocolate Present Wedding and Entertaining Tips for the Summer Season

Marcy Blum, wedding and entertainment expert and author of Weddings for Dummies, offers tips to reflect this summer’s entertainment trends, with a focus on the personalization and individual touch of My Dove® chocolate.

This summer, wedding and dinner parties are all about intimate details. “Smaller, Chicer, Personal” touches are all the rage. The trend for over-the-top weddings has passed, and it is all about sharing moments with your guests. From handwritten place cards, to customized notes and personalized turndown service—everything is about intimacy.

Smaller
Keep the invite list limited to your nearest and dearest. This will give you time with those most dear to you on the most important day of your life. With a smaller guest list, every moment will be a lasting memory.

Chicer
As you plan your intimate affair, it is quality before quantity. “Mini-weddings” are the newest way to exude glamour and sophistication. Friends and family will feel treasured when treated to an elegant, intimate sit-down dinner. A unique venue like an art museum or a private yacht club allow for memorable, chic moments.

Personal
Create special memories for your guests that will last long after your dancing shoes have been put away. Be original and make them feel welcome—personalized notes for each person are an extra special touch. Or try something more engaging and leave a blank note card at each guest’s plate so everyone can write heart-felt sentiments for the happy couple. Handwritten notes will never loose their charm—enjoy reading them after the honeymoon or at your 50th wedding anniversary celebration.

While taking special care of your guests, make your wedding a reflection of you as a couple. Customize the cake, the place cards, and the wedding favors. You can make these favors reflective of your style with personalized messages printed on the inside of the foils of new My Dove® chocolate. Visit www.mydovechocolate.com, and share the most precious and intimate moments in life with your loved ones.

The Newest Wedding Album Trend

The mission at COUTURE BOOK is to create luxury, one-of-a-kind, handmade Coffee Table Books for your digital photos. Applying the highest standards of integrity, creativity, quality and innovation to create the most beautiful books in the world.

Combined with old-world binding techniques coupled with the latest technology in printing to create stunning, one of a kind, heirloom books. Using the most beautiful fabrics from around the world to design and handcraft each book, appealing to the likings of the most sophisticated customer. From conception to customer, each Couture Book piece stands alone on the strengths of its design and artistry and reflects the standard of superlative quality and care.

Here are some examples:

Available in Dallas through Gary Donihoo – f8studio

Wedding Shoes of Another Color

Wedding shoes have an enchanting history that continues to influence the look of the footwear that today’s brides choose for their stroll down the aisle.

Famous Footsteps

Cinderella, the most famous princess bride, married her prince wearing sparkling glass slippers. Catherine de Medici, one of the first brides in history to walk down the aisle in high heels, inspired a fashion trend that continues today. Anglo-Saxon brides tossed shoes rather than bouquets to bridesmaids who hoped to be the next to marry. Brides in merry old England followed the directive that they wear “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue — and a sixpence in her shoe” by tucking coins into their wedding slippers.

Queen Victoria inspired millions of modern-day brides by choosing a white gown and white shoes for her wedding in 1840. Until then, blue was the color of choice for bridal ensembles. Princess Diana, a statuesque 5 feet 10 inches tall, chose low-heeled, pearl-encrusted, ivory silk flats for her wedding, so as not to tower over Prince Charles.

Contemporary Styles in Wedding Shoes

Today’s brides make the journey from once upon a time to happily ever after in all manner of magic slippers — high heels, low heels, sandals, pumps and even bejeweled flip-flops, says Anna Pezik, senior editor at Brides.com.

“These days, wedding shoes make a real fashion statement. No one wants a cookie-cutter look,” says Pezik. “Brides are choosing their gowns and their accessories to reflect their own individual style. They’re taking bridal shoes a step further than the traditional white satin pump.”

In response, designers such as Vera Wang, Jimmy Choo, Stuart Weitzman, Kenneth Cole and Manolo Blahnik have filled shelves with wedding pumps, slingbacks, sandals and ballet flats in bronze, silver, gold and pewter metallic shades and soft pastels, as well as ivory and white. Detailing includes bows, beading, embroidery and lace. Heel heights and silhouettes range from flat to stiletto. Toes can be open, closed, pointed, rounded or squared.

“Are you planning a romantic wedding? A glamorous event? Bohemian rhapsody? Beach casual? A destination wedding?” Pezil asks. “Your gown and your shoe choice will help create the atmosphere. Wedding shoes are so gorgeous that no one wants to wear them for just one day and then put them in the closet,” Pezik says. “Brides are choosing shoes that they can wear again.”

Brides planning beach weddings have stylish choices that go beyond the humble rubber flip-flop.

“Stuart Weitzman makes an adorable jelly sandal with crystal accents and kitten heels,” Pezik says. “You can also find bridal beach footwear with wedge heels and platform heels.”

Even for the trendiest brides, tradition still plays a role. Several designers, including Fifi, line bridal footwear with azure-colored fabric to meet the “something blue” requirement.

A Very Carrie Wedding Dress

The fashion in Sex and the City is almost as famous as it’s stars and head stylist Patricia Field has revealed that even she didn’t get the final say when it came to Carrie’s wedding dress.

Patricia told journalists in the US that she wanted Sarah Jessica Parker to wear the Zac Posen dress worn by Kristin Davis (Charlotte) in the wedding scenes rather than the Vivienne Westwood creation she actually wore.

“It came down to a Zac Posen gown and a Vivienne Westwood gown,” Patricia revealed to the Chicago Tribune, “The Vivienne gown was chosen because the feeling was, not necessarily my feeling, that that gown was the quintessential princess gown.”

“The Zac gown that Charlotte wore in navy at the wedding was actually the gown I wanted Sarah Jessica Parker to wear in white,” she added.

“This gown had beautiful wings that came off the shoulder blade. I chopped them for the navy one because Charlotte couldn’t have these wings next to Carrie. On my end, I would have chosen that gown for Carrie, but you know it’s collaborative.”

Carrie Bradshaw wears a Vivienne Westwood wedding gown, which she accessorizes with a dramatic bird hairpiece. “Carrie was always the eclectic girl,” says Pat Field.

Just Follow The Steps and “Say Anything”

Now here is a unique gift to give the bride and groom, “say anything” design lets you choose from platters, frames or vases to customize what YOU want it to say.

Click here to visit their web site.

Survival Kits For The Bride, Groom And Even Bridesmaid!

Say “yes” to no stress with the new Bridessentials Kit by Ms. & Mrs. Tucked in a slim silver case, the Bridessentials Kit is compact enough to tote around for the entire wedding day. And with 25 essentials inside—including a “Something Blue” Heart-Shaped Crystal—this survival kit is comprehensive enough to conquer almost any wedding day calamity.

Prevent groomzilla sightings with The Groom’s Survival Kit by Ms. & Mrs. Inside this handsome attache is a collection of 26 personal care and emergency solutions designed just for the groom. He may think that he doesn’t need this kit — until disaster strikes, of course. Topped with a “stress” ball and chain, this practical collection can help any guy tie the knot with composure and confidence.

Bridesmaids are there to support the bride in every way. But who helps them when they face a minor emergency? Enter The Bridesmaid’s Survival Kit by Ms. & Mrs. This compact collection of 18 essentials comes in a discreet, silver-tone mesh case so that ladies can keep it within reach all wedding day long. The matching gift tag reads: “Thanks for being my bridesmaid. I couldn’t have survived without you.”

Say “I do” to disaster relief with the Wedding Day Survival Kit by Ms. & Mrs. Inside this chic, reusable train case are 30 must-have items to help brides fend off any last-minute fiasco. With these essentials by her side, a bride can be prepared for virtually any emergency on her wedding day and beyond. Topped with a white satin ribbon and “life-size” novelty diamond ring, this kit makes the ultimate bridal shower gift.

All kits are available at Mr. and Mrs.

From Veils to Cakes, the Top Celebrity Wedding Trends

From landscape centerpieces to dramatic first dances, celebrities are going all out to celebrate their nuptials. In Style Weddings magazine highlights the many stars incorporating the hottest, newest trends for their walk down the aisle:

Luscious landscapes
First it was monochromatic, all-one-color centerpieces, which Heidi Klum and Seal did, then it was multiples — lots of little centerpieces on one table. The new look? Landscapes. According to celebrity planner Michele Rago, who did the flower arrangements for “SVU” star Mariska Hargitay, new trends include bead-strewn crystal candelabras, potted herbs and even natural motifs like mushrooms.

Why are these a trend? Because celebrities and regular brides are looking for something different. Landscape centerpieces give a whole new dramatic atmosphere to the wedding. They might include pretty bowls, moss, and even just mushrooms. It goes way beyond flowers.

Dramatic veils
Celebrity brides are going retro by wearing dramatic veils for their ceremonies. Veils had fallen out of favor for the “two dress” trend, where brides wear one dress for their ceremony and then change into a different dress for their reception.

For a while, people thought that veils were too classic and old-fashioned (they date back to ancient Rome). A lot more celebrities are adding veils to their dresses, as it’s something every bride can do without spending too much money; a veil is a great way to change your look from ceremony to reception at a fraction of the cost. You can chose to wear the veil even during the reception! But for comfort’s sake, try a shorter style.

Groom’s cake
This Southern tradition has been gaining favor over the last few years and is now a full-blown trend. It’s a way for the groom to personalize the wedding. Foodie Tyler Florence kicked off the trend with his “Steel Magnolias” themed groom’s cake. For his lavish Beverly Hills wedding, Josh Cappo, jewelry designer Erica Courtney’s son, had an armadillo-shaped red velvet cake. The cake should pick up on something about the groom — a favorite sport, activity, hometown or even nickname.

The groom’s cake should be an interest of or connection to the groom. It’s a fun surprise that can be featured during the reception so people can see it, and it’s served with the traditional wedding cake.

Global-inspired favors
Favors are a great way to thank your guests. Willa Ford sent guests home with herb-scented candles that complimented her herb motif. “My Girl” star Anna Chlumsky embraced her husband-to-be’s heritage by giving chopsticks.

For a couple with Indian heritage, all the female guests can receive colorful bangles tied with a ribbon. Or you can embrace your hometown with candy apples for a New York City wedding. People think favors are lame and throw them out, so if you are going to go through the effort, make sure that they mean something!

Formal first dance
As the TV sensation brings ballroom dancing to America’s living rooms, more and more couples (this includes our favorite celebrities) are leading their reception off with classic, choreographed dance moves. Once a couple finds their song, they find the classic dance — from a fox-trot to something sultry like the tango — to choreograph their moves to. People are tired of that fumbling high school dance — they want something memorable! Katherine McPhee even did a traditional dance at her wedding, to a 16-piece band, with twirls and dips (the works).

It’s best to prepare for your first dance with the same care you give to your invitations, gowns, catering, flowers and music. Start planning at least six months prior to your wedding date so that you can choose your special song, the type of dance you want, and take lessons before “wedding frenzy” sets in!

Private lessons are best as you will be able to dance exclusively with your fiancé and choose your own music. And remember, always practice the dance in your wedding gown (or close to it) instead of jeans …

For more information and wedding tips, visit In Style Weddings magazine online.